Goliath (2011)
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Illustrator: Keith Thompson
Genre: Science Fiction/Alternate History/Steampunk, Young Adult
Pages: 543 (hardcover)
Series: Leviathan #3

( Summary (from Goodreads.com) )

Why I Read It: Next (and last) in a series. There are possible spoilers for the first two books here, as well as some spoilers for this final installment. If you're paranoid, just skip to my "Final Verdict" and you'll be fine.

( REVIEW: no spoilers )

Final Verdict: I loved this series from start to finish and I'm so glad I read them all in one go instead of waiting forever to read them all (I have a nasty habit of reading the first book in a series, loving it, and then never getting to the rest of the series.) The world-building in this series has been some of the most well thought-out and imaginative I've ever come across and extremely likable characters to accompany it. This conclusion is somewhat predictable in many aspects, but those bits were so satisfying to read regardless, and there were enough surprises to keep things interesting. I seriously recommend this series. :)

Cover Commentary: It follows the scheme of the rest of the novels so I'm meh about it. Derryn still looks way too much like a girl and nothing like I imagine her to look like when I read about her (the illustrations do a much better job of that.) I like the UK cover quite a bit more.

Old Man's Cave (2007)
Author: Jeff Smith
Illustrator: Jeff Smith
Genre: Fantasy, Middle Grade
Pages: 128 (trade paperback)
Series: Bone #6 (33-37)

( Summary (from Goodreads.com) )

Why I Read It: Next in a series.

( REVIEW: no spoilers )

Final Verdict: This series still impresses me with its ever-widening scope of a story and I like that it's maintained a darker tone while still being kid-friendly. There were some awesome revelations in this volume (actually, it feels like there have been awesome revelations in pretty much EVERY volume since the third one). The ending perplexed me a bit, but I still liked it; it was just an odd mix of funny during a very serious moment.

Cover Commentary: This one actually kind of confuses me because Gran'ma Ben is actually much more regal in this volume, as opposed to this feral looking version we're privy to. But oh well.

Behemoth (2010)
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Genre: Science Fiction/Alternative History/Steampunk, Young Adult
Pages: 512 (trade paperback)
Series: Leviathan #2

( Summary (from Goodreads.com) )

Why I Read It: A loveeddd the first volume in the trilogy, Leviathan. Instead of letting the series sit unfinished until I could buy them though, I decided to sign out the remaining two books in the trilogy PRONTO and get them read sooner rather than later.

( REVIEW: no spoilers )

Final Verdict: This was an awesome second volume to this wonderful trilogy. The story is self-contained, so there's no fear of cliff-hangers, and the story is wonderfully fast-paced (as opposed to the first volume which was a little slow to start). The world-building continues to enthrall me, and Westerfeld's world is even further fleshed out in this volume. Alek's character really comes into his own here, though I still unsurprisingly prefer Deryn.

Cover Commentary: Guuuhhhhh. This is the cover that spawned the paperback edition of Leviathan that I was less than enthused about. I don't understand why the publishers felt the need to put faces on these covers when there are plenty of pictures in the book that show the characters faces. Not to mention that Deryn looks too much like a girl in this picture. It's just a bad cover and it makes me sad.

Rock Jaw: Mastern of the Eastern Border (2007)
Author: Jeff Smith
Illustrator: Jeff Smith
Genre: Fantasy, Middle Grade
Pages: 128 (trade paperback)
Series: Bone #5 (issues 28-32)

( Summary (from Goodreads.com) )

Why I Read It: Next in a series.

( REVIEW: no spoilers )

Final Verdict: This is another solid volume in the series, though I felt like it lost a bit of the forward moment that was accumulated in the third and fourth volumes. There was still lots of tension though as the enemies in this were actually SCARY and could do bad things to our heroes if they got caught. There's more world-building in this volume which was more than welcome; the world Smith has created continues to flesh itself out and become more and more whole.

Cover Commentary: I feel like I keep repeating myself, but: this cover is very pertinent to the story between the covers, so that's always a plus! All the important characters are present here.

The Dragonslayer (2006)
Author: Jeff Smith
Illustrator: Jeff Smith
Genre: Fantasy, Middle Grade
Pages: 176 (trade paperback)
Series: Bone #4 (issues 20-27)

( Summary (from Goodreads.com) )

Why I Read It: The third volume really kicked it up a notch, so I'm now willing to stick it out for the long-run. No spoilers ahead.

( REVIEW: no spoilers )

Final Verdict: This fourth volume took it up yet ANOTHER step and I loved almost every minute of it. I say "almost" because Phoney Bone continues to consistently piss me off, along with the stupid villagers who keep getting taken in by his schemes. We're privy to more revelations about Thorn's true identity and we get to see the Big Baddy a little more closely in this volume as well. There's a much darker tone permeating the entire volume and the stories continues to be more serious, wide-reaching, and to garner more age cross-over appeal (even though it's a largely simple Good vs. Evil plot.)

Cover Commentary: Ugh, too much Phoney Bone looking smug.

Leviathan (2009)
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Illustrator: Keith Thompson
Genre: Science Fiction/Alternative History/Steampunk, Young Adult
Pages: 440 (trade paperback)
Series: Leviathan #1

( Summary (from Goodreads.com) )

Why I Read This: I've been PUMPED for this book since its original release in 2009. I thought the concept sounded SO COOL (steam punk! alternative history set during the First World War! girls dressing as boys!) and the pictures were so pretty!! But at the time my TBR pile was massive (as it is to this day) and I couldn't warrant buying a big shiny hardcover (which was stupid because I've bought MANY a book since then). Anyway, for Christmas back in 2011 I bought the book for my brother because he was just getting into reading at the time and I thought it was something he would like, and I was kinda hoping it would push me to read the read book sooner rather than later. It still took me forever to get to it though, as you can see, but better late than never and all that. No spoilers ahead.

( REVIEW: no spoilers )

Final Verdict: A wonderfully demonstration of some of the best world-building I've seen in awhile. Westerfeld takes steampunk and totally runs with it, while also mixing in something completely new and fresh (Darwinism). The characters were both likable, though I have a very clear penchant for the wonderful girl-disguised-as-a-boy Deryn and her rough vernacular. Her story is overall more exciting, but I still liked Alek immensely as well. The secondary characters get plenty of development and page-time too. I loved all the wonderful illustrations that populate this book; they're very detailed and incredibly well drawn, and I'm glad that the publishers decided to publish this on nice high-quality paper (though it does make the book kind of heavy.)

Cover Commentary: This paperback edition makes me want to cry after the awesomeness that was hardcover edition. The hardcover looks SO COOL with all the gears and nice deep metallic colours with the reds and golds and steels and just.. *sigh*

Pink Smog (2012)
Author: Francesca Lia Block
Genre: Contemporary Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 208 (hardcover)
Series: Weetzie Bat #0 (prequel)

( Summary (from Goodreads.com) )

Why I Read It: Back in 2010 I read and really enjoyed Block's Weetzie Bat collection Dangerous Angels. It was a beautiful mix of borderline magical realism in a contemporary and cosmopolitan setting (they largely take place in Los Angeles). I haven't been in love with everything I've read by Block since then but she's still an author I'm almost always willing to give a chance. No spoilers in the review ahead.

( REVIEW: no spoilers )

Final Verdict: I really enjoyed this prequel to the Weetzie Bat series. It's much more grounded in reality (though there are sprinkles of magic realism/contemporary fantasy) than the other Weetzie books, but that didn't deter my enjoyment. I was wrapped up in Weetzie's sad journey of self-discovery amidst her mother's depression and the hole left by her father's recent absence. Despite the lack of magic realism, Block's flowery writing (without being annoyingly purple) was still present and brought the L.A. setting to life. I had some grievances with the (lack) of resolution for most of the secondary characters, but other than that I recommend this novel to newcomers to the series, as well as old fans.

Cover Commentary: I'm on the fence with this one. On the one hand, it's REALLY pink. On the other, I actually kind of like pink, and I like the shade of pink used here. I'm kind of freaked out by the weird look on the model's face, but there's also something oddly compelling about it.

Dead as a Doornail (2005)
Author: Charlaine Harris
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Mystery
Pages: 295 (mass market paperback)
Series: Sookie Stackhouse #5

( Summary (from Goodreads.com) )

Why I Read It: Brain candy. And I own the first seven books in the series and they haven't been offensively bad yet. No spoilers ahead.

( REVIEW: no spoilers )

Final Verdict: This was definitely the weakest Sookie novel for me thus far. The mystery felt largely lacking in regards to the sniper taking out the supes, and while I never really did figure out who set fire to Sookie's house, it felt incredibly obvious in the end and felt more like a lapse of intuition on my part than Harris actually constructing a GOOD mystery. The romance angle is starting to feel a little crowded with so many suitors vying for Sookie and it honestly all annoys me quite a bit, but I still like Sookie as a character.

Cover Commentor: *barf* At least it's kind of relevant with the fire?? Because Sookie's house DOES catch fire. It's still ugly as hell though.

Eyes of the Storm (2006)
Author: Jeff Smith
Illustrator: Jeff Smith
Genre: Fantasy, Middle Grade
Pages: 192 (trade paperback)
Series: Bone #3 (issues 13-18)

( Summary (from Goodreads.com) )

Why I Read It: I'm enjoying the series enough to keep reading. No spoilers after the cut.

( REVIEW: no spoilers )

Final Verdict: This volume felt like the turning point in this series for me; it went from being "yeah, it's all right" to "YES, I'm really enjoying this". There were some major revelations in this volume that really elevated the story and had me glued to the pages. The really awesome art helped as well. This is definitely a series I want to see through until the end, bar the series somehow jumping the shark.

Cover Commentary: Like the rest of the series, this cover is very relevant to the plot, which is always a plus.

The Graveyard Book
Author: Neil Gaiman
Genre: Horror, Middle Grade
Pages: 320 (trade paperback)
Series: Stand Alone

( Summary (from Goodreads.com) )

Why I Read It: I really enjoy most of Gaiman's work. I love love LOVE his Sandman graphic novel series, but then I was on the fence about American Gods (which is odd, because it seems to me to be one of his most beloved works.) Anyway, this book has quite a few accolades, one of them being the Newberry, which is kind of like the Oscar of middle grade novels, so my curiosity was piqued. Then my brother bought the book about a year ago and I finally decided to pick it up now.

( REVIEW: no spoilers )

Final Verdict: While I was thrown off by the format of this novel (the overall story arc is broken down into short stories), I still found myself enjoying it quite a bit. However, due to this structure I found myself more enamoured with some chapters quite a bit more than others (one in particular really stood out). That chapter set the bar too high though, so that's not to say that the other chapters were BAD; Gaiman handled the setting of the graveyard wonderfully and I loved the atmosphere and mood of the whole thing. I'm a little bit on the fence about what age group this book is marketed to, but it doesn't really change how I feel about it one way or the other anyway. There was something about the ending that left a little be desired from me, but other than that, I thought this was a solid Gaiman novel. (It's still not as good as Sandman though. :) )

Cover Commentary: I like it, but for the life of me I can't figure out what that thing is! I know it's a tombstone, but I can't figure out the shape.. it looks like a wing to me or something, but for some reason I can't be sure. It honestly makes me feel quite daft that I can't figure it out. Anyway! Other than that, there's nothing about it that's unpleasant.