I got a few messages from people on AFF and Tumblr saying that they read my review on Cinder by Marissa Meyer and liked it, and they asked me if I could recommend them a few books as well as continue reviewing the ones I read. Well, I won't review all the books I read, just the ones that I think are interesting enough to be reviewed. But in reply to those people, I decided to put together a list of books that I'd highly recommend to people (^^) So, in no particular order:

1) I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak

Zusak's I Am The Messenger is told from the point of view of the complacent underage Australian cab driver, Ed Kennedy, who spends most of his time playing ball with a few friends, drinking and playing cards, hanging out with his lazy dog, and being helplessly in love with his best friend, Audrey. His life is pretty normal and despite his less-than-ideal living circumstances, he's pretty content with his life until he inadvertantly stops a bank robbery. Since that day, he begins receiving playing cards in his mailbox with mysterious, puzzling messages on them. When he decides to act on the messages, things start changing all over the place. 

Messenger was the first Zusak books I ever picked up and it certainly got me started on stalking all of Markus' books after that. Messenger is told with a crisp, light, and uncluttered writing style which makes it easy to read without making it devoid of literary merit or emotion. Ed is a sympathetic narrator and tells his story with a lot of life and wry humor. He's the type of narrator who tells it like it is and isn't afraid to admit that he's incredibly ed up. But on top of all that, the story comes with a really profound message about living a life of purpose and courage, and making a difference. It doesn't have to be a huge difference, you just have to make one. It's a story about rising above one's circumstances and making the best of what you've got. 

2) The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern 

"The circus arrives without warning" mark the the first words one would read upon opening Morgenstern's debut novel, The Night Circus. Now, I told you I have a terrible habit of judging books by their covers, and true to that, I first picked this book up at a gift shop in the airport at Belgium. It was one of the few books there that were in English and I was drawn to the cover, which was entirely black and white except for the silhouette of a red scarf tied to a girl's neck and flowing in the wind in front of a big white circus tent. I was intrigued, so I bought it and started reading, and finished it by the time I was back in LA. 

The Night Circus is about two magicians, Celia and Marco, who are raised since childhood to use their magical powers to compete in a duel against each other which will eventually lead to one of their deaths. After training intensley for years to face each other, they finally meet up at their masters' chosen venue: The Night Circus. Mysterious and magical, enchanting and sensual, the Night Circus is known for its unpredictability and elusiveness, and it is here that Celia and Marco, disguised as the circus illusionist and the CEO's assistant, respectively, decide to find out which of them will be the victor. Upon meeting, however, the two fall in love and in their desperation, find a way to unbind each other from their duel and save the circus. 

This book was incredibly fun to read. I totally enjoyed the Night Circus as a backdrop for the events of the novel. The characters were three-dimensional and each had their own indivdual personalities. The plotline was thick and riveting and full of secrets. I'd highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys books about magic and romance ^^

3) Eon: Dragoneye Reborn & Eona: The Last Dragoneye
by Alison Goodman

Hands-down my favorite book series. Or rather, my favorite book couplet. This series tells the story of Eona, a sixteen-year-old crippled girl living in a fictional Asian-based land whose master disguises her as a boy in order to teach her the Dragon arts, which girls are forbidden to learn. After mastering her lessons, Eona (disguised as Eon, a boy) takes the Dragoneye exam to qualify to become the next Rat Dragoneye apprentice (apprentice to the Dragoneye, who controls the power of his respective dragon, which are based on the Chinze Zodiac), but in a turn of events, Eon is instead chosen to be the Mirror Dragoneye when the elusive Mirror Dragoneye returns after hundreds of years of disappearance. As the Mirror Dragoneye, Eon is taken to live in the palace where she continues to receive Dragoneye and ilitary training alongside the Emperor's teenaged son, Prince Kygo. When the corrupt Rat Dragoneye, Lord Ido, decides to summon his evil uncle, Sethon, to kill the king and usurp the throne, however, Eon is forced to abandon her disguise and use her Dragoneye powers to save the Kingdom. And that's just the first book.

In Eona, our heroine continues her adventures. After Sethon takes the throne, the Prince goes into exile and Eona is separated from him. She and her team must find the Prince, defeat Sethon, and restore Kygo to the throne before the Day of Rightful Claim are over. Lord Ido comes back an even more complicated character than before. Eona learns more about her past and about her ancestor, Kinra, who tried to murder the King and was executed. Meanwhile, Kygo is pulling his hairs out trying to figure out who to trust and in his desperation appoints Eona, who was his closest friend at the palace, as his highest advisor. 

Goodman's novels are the perfect mix of adventure, suspense, fantasy, and romance. The plot is incredibly thick and juicy and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment I spent reading it. The characters are so vivid and real and I will never forget Eona or Kygo. The world she creates is so colorful and vivid and ethereal, and I just can't even stop myself from fangirling in order to write this review properly. UGH. Just read it, it's so amazing, you have got to read these books. I just can't even say anything anymore, these books are amazing, go read it. Eona and Kygo are my OTP, also. 

4) The Host by Stephanie Meyer

Twilight prejudice aside, The Host was actually not that bad. A huge contrast from Twilight, The Host is the story of Wanderer, an extraterrestrial soul who inhabits the body of Melanie, a teenaged human girl whose own soul still resides within her body alongside Wanderer. Together, the two souls works together to find answers to their questions and get back to the ones they lvoe. For Melanie, it's her little brother and the boy she loves, Jared. For Wanderer... well, she's trying to figure that one out. 

Although I didn't enjoy this book as much as the others on this list, I still have to admit that I was really enamored by the premise of this story. I'd never read anything like this prior to reading The Host. It's worth a read, if you ask me. Stephanie Meyer may not be the best known for her writing, but I still applaud her for this one. The only thing I'd say that bugged me was that it seemed much longer than it needed to be. Still, the science fiction genre here was a big decision straight from left-field for Meyer but it seemed to have worked this time around. I just hope they don't botch up the movie. I was a bit disappointed that they cast Saoirse Ronan as Melanie/Wanderer because I actually like Saoirse Ronan, she's an incredibly young actor and she has so much potential to be a wonderful actress alongside big names like Natalie Portman and Cate Blanchett, but now she's in a Stephanie Meyer movie. If the movie flops or the producers totally botch it up, it'll be bad for her career. In opposition, if the movie does really well... well, then I guess she'll get super famous. But I don't know, I'm a little prejudiced against actors who gain fame from big blockbuster films like Twilight; their fame just rides on the whims of young impressionable teenagers and not necessarily on talent. You know who I really admire as an actress? That girl who played Alice in Burton's Alice in Wonderland, Mia Wasikowska. And Saorise Ronan so I hope they don't mess up.

Also, while I was reading the book, I was totally imaging Jake Abel as Ian and then he got cast in the movie. That's the SECOND time I imagined him as a book character and he got cast in the movie version. First time was with Percy Jackson, I imagined him as Luke. He was a PERFECT Luke, everyone else botche dup the characters. Uh oh. I'm getting off-topic.

5) The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti

Contrary to the title, The Good Thief is not about the good thief who got nailed on the cross alongside Jesus at Calvary. It's actually the very opposite. This book is about an orphan living in 19th century New England named Ren who not only has no idea who his birth parents are but is also missing one of his hands. As in, instead of a hand, he's got a stump. While residing at St. Anthony Orphanage, he's suddenly picked up by a smooth-talking con man, Benjamin Nab, who uses Ren's disability to the advanatge of his cons while involving Ren in grave robberies and thieving. Left with no other choice, Ren throws his lot in with Benjamin and finds that the life he chooses has its own consequences. 

This book was a lot shorter than the other ones I read and it's been described as Dickensian. True to that, the book does give off a Charles Dickens feel; Ren, an orphan, is whisked away by a crook and learns to make the best of the life he has while searching for truths, pleasant or unpleasant. The historical setting was a nice treat as well, since I read the book around the same time I was studying that time period in history class, so it was fun to see how the story went along with the time period.

6) Ophelia by Lisa Klein

Okay, fangirl moment here. Hamlet is my favorite Shakespeare play, hands-down. I wasn't completely enamored by Romeo and Juliet; the storyline was too rushed and too predictable and Romeo and Juliet's superficial love didn't interest me at all. Hamlet is full of revenge and murder and mystery and ual innuendo, haha, much more interesting than Juliet and her Romeo. When I read the play, I was really captivated by two characters: Hamlet and Polonius' impressionable daughter, Ophelia, who basically gets picked on the entire play. I was really interested in Hamlet since there seemed to be so much more to him than the playwright gave us and he was so intellectual and complicated. And at the same time, the lack of focus on Ophelia made me wonder more about her. And in my search to know about her, I came across Lisa Klein's take on her story, Ophelia. 

This story is about Ophelia, of course. It tells about her childhood growing up without a mother, with her power-hungry father and her older brother, Laertes. Eventually, her father finds a position in the King's court at Elsinore and the whole fmaily moves there. Her older brother quickly befriends the young Prince Hamlet and his friend, Horatio, and Ophelia begins forming a small childhood crush on him. Years pass by and Ophelia grows in the queen's favored and becomes an intelligent and beautiful young woman, enough so as to capture the Prince's attention. The two of them start their romance, but their bliss is cut short when Hamlet's father, the King dies and his uncle usurps the throne and marries his mother. 

Having read the play before reading this, it was a lot of fun to pick out the familiar places in the novel where the story matched up to Shakespeare's. The dialogue matche dup nicely with how it was worded in the play and I finally got that personal time with Ophelia that I craved. If you're a Lit nerd like me, you'll definitely enjoy this. And even if you're not, if you just like murder mysteries and steamy romances, read this book! You don't need to have read Hamlet in order to enjoy it.

7) Divergent by Veronica Roth

I feel really hipster when I find out about a cool new book series that hasn't been super hyped up yet. Divergent is one of those series/books. Set in dystopian Chicago, Divergent tells the story of Beatrice who is born in a world where factions rule and those factions include Abnegation (those who value selflessness), Candor (who value honesty), Amity (who value peace), Dauntless (who value courage), and Erudite (who value knowledge). Beatrice is born in the Abnegation faction and on the day of the Choosing Ceremony, Beatrice, feeling that her heart belongs in another faction, chooses to switch to the Dauntless Faction instead. During intiation, she discovers things about herself, makes new friends, and learns to be brave. However, she soon begins to notice that things aren't right in their world and unconvers plans that could ruin everyone's way of life forever. 

I admit that I looked forward to this book because I was craving a good action/romance story, but when I read this I found myself way more engrossed by the action instead. It has a nice pace that grips you into the story and reels you further in with each of Beatrice's encounters with danger and risk. Although I admit that it doesn't have much to distinguish itself from other books of the genre, I'll still say that it was quite well worth its time. Give it a read!

8) The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks

I am a total er for Nicholas Sparks novels. I went to a thrift store one day and bought 8 Nicholas Sparks books and read them all over the course of two months. The Wedding Happens to be the most recent one that I read, and it is a companion novel to The Notebook. Ally and Noah's daughter Jane meets and falls in love with a brainy young college student named Wilson. The two court and fall in love and marry. They have kids and live a blissful married life. However, decades later, the two fall into a stagnant voic in their marriage as surprises grow rare and routine becomes the new norm. As they are planning their daughter's wedding, Wilson comes to the painful conclusion that his wife is no longer in love with him. In an effort to save their years together, Wilson seeks out Noah's advice and decides that he has to make her fall in with him all over again.

Yupp, sappy cute sweet love story but I can't help myself. If you love Nicholas Sparks novels and movies, you should definitely give this one a try. Not much else to say on this. 

That's the end of my list of reviews and I'm running out of titles to suggest. I haven't even gotten to a list of my favorite classic books. But, without going into too much further detail here are a few other noteworhty titles and authors:

1. The Vampire Stalker by Alison Van Diepan:
Okay, I know I said I hated vampire novels, but sometimes i just get curious. Plus this one was easy to relate to! It was about a girl whose obsessed with a series of vampire novels and dreams of finding a guy similar to the main character in the book, a fictional vampire hunter named Alexander Banks, but knows that it's impossible. One day however, she is rescued from certain death at the hands of deranged lunatic by someone who looks exactly like Alexander Banks from the novel and she finds out that the books are coming to life... literally.

2. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Grace and Maragret Stohl: 
The beginning is a little bit slow and the stroy line a bit similar to Twilight (small town, beautiful new girl, supernatural things) but it holds up on its own really well. It's about a boy named Ethan who meets a lovely new girl in his small town named Lena Duchannes. Things happen and they find out that there's something infinitely more special about Lena than somehow involves Ethan, too.

4: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins:
If you haven't read this book yet... shame on you. LOL, just kidding, but for real if you haven't, you really should go get a copy ^^

5. Anything by these authors:

• Mitch Albom
• Stephen King
• Amy Tan
• Isabel Allende
• Nicholas Sparks
• Markus Zusak
• Jodi Picoult
• John Green
• John Grisham
• Jane Austen
• Madeleine L'Engle
• Haruki Murakami
• Charles Dickens
• Ian McEwan

That's pretty much it, guys. If you do decide to read this books because of my recommendation, write a review of your own or please let me know what you thought of it. Even if you didn't like it, let me know. I won't be offended. I like reading and I rarely have people I can discuss it with (^^) If you have books you'd like to recommend to me, let me know that also! Kthnxbai!