My Favorite Irish Song and Authors for Your St. Patrick's Day Festivities

I don't know if you're celebrating St. Patrick's Day, but my family usually gets together for some form of Irish meal (corned beef and cabbage mostly, but I think we're actually trying something new this year!), our annual watching of The Luck of the Irish, traditional green ware, plenty of beer, and of course, my awesomely festive headband:

But let's talk Irish authors, shall we?

My all-time favorite Irish author -surprising no one- is Eoin Colfer, my favorite author period. If you're looking for a good Irish read today, I'd recommend Iron Man: The Gauntlet, which he wrote for Marvel last fall. Tony Stark finds himself on the Emerald Isle and teams up with a few fantastic Irish characters to defeat a classic comic villain. Muahaha! It is THE BEST. EVER.

Second up, Derek Landy, for his fun and fast-paced Skulduggery Pleasant series, involving the magic underground of Dublin and the snappy-dressing, snappy-talking, walking, talking, flame-throwing skeleton sorcerer/detective.

And my favorite Irish song?

Of the bevy of songs my da used to sing to my sister and I at bedtime, one of my favorites was The Unicorn. It was only a few years ago that I ever heard the actual song by the Irish Rovers and it's amazing.

But even more amazing was discovering the song was written by my favorite poet -Shel Silverstein. Talk about happy coincidences!

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!

Who are your favorite Irish authors?

My Favorite 'To Reads' of 2016

So I did a completely abominable job keeping track of the books I read last year, much less reviewing them. I know there are probably more I could add to this list but, unfortunately, I didn't always write titles down. *epic fail*

Next year's resolution? KEEP TRACK OF EVERYTHING. To help with that, I actually got a really awesome gift from work. May I present...

*drum roll please*

Want one? Get it here: Barnes & Noble | Amazon

A READING JOURNAL!

Almost the entire book are pages for reviews. You might be thinking Isn't this what Goodreads is for?

Well, yes...
                            ...and no.

I love Goodreads. Don't get me wrong. But I don't keep it on hand when I'm reading a book and have a thought that would be great in a review. So my plan for this next year is to write down those thoughts as I read. You know, the ones I push aside, say 'I'll have to remember that for the review', and then forget it by the time I do write the review. Yeah, those ones. (This is bound to make review-writing more efficient too. Whew!)

Guys, I haven't even started using this book yet and I'm already in love with it. <3

At any rate, to get 2017 started off on a good note, here -in no particular order- are my absolute favorite reads from 2016. Most of these do not have reviews yet -but they're on the way!

John Wayne Cleaver series by Dan Wells:

I Am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells | 5 stars

Mr. Monster by Dan Wells | 4 stars

I Don't Want to Kill You by Dan Wells | 5 stars

The Devil's Only Friend by Dan Wells | 5 stars

Over Your Dead Body by Dan Wells | 5 stars

I'm saving my comments for reviews, but this series is incredible. Dark. Morbid. And incredible.

Iron Man: The Gauntlet by Eoin Colfer | 5 stars

Amazing. AMAZING. Colfer was the perfect choice to write this book and he dominated. I hope Marvel loves it as much as I did, because I would read every. single. one.

Calamity by Brandon Sanderson (Reckoners #3) | 5 stars

An Epic end to an Epic series. Pun very much intended.

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge | 5 stars
I wasn't sure I was going to like this. I did.

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton | 5 stars

Sequel comes out in March! Squee!

Vicious by V.E. Schwab | 4 stars

Fantastic book, amazing characters, great plot, but as a caution there is a lot of swearing.

Library Wars: Love and War Vol. 14 &15 by Kiiro Yumi | 5 stars

Wonderful finale. My favorite manga series of all time, bar none. ^_^

Beauty and the Clockwork Beast by Nancy Campbell Allen | 4 stars

Mistborn: The Finale Empire by Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn #1) | 5 stars

The Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas (Throne of Glass #1)

I'm still reading this, but I love it so much it's going on this list!

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone | 4 stars

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

These don't even have ratings yet. I've got a lot to say about these.
Like, A LOT. I just haven't pieced my thoughts together just yet.
(Except #1; I reviewed that awhile back.)

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany & Jack Thorne | 3 stars

This one I actually have reviewed, so you can read all the gory details for yourself.

And those are my top picks from my reads last year!

What were your favorite reads from 2016?

TTT: Books on My Fall TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is a blog meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Some (well, one) of these are new releases and some (er, most) are age-old TBRs from my shelf or Goodreads. All of them WILL BE READ this fall. (I know I've said that before, but this time I'm serious!)

Iron Man: The Gauntlet by Eoin Colfer
Yeah. No brainer. I haven't shut up about this book since it was announced and it releases on October 25th. LET THE COUNTDOWN COMMENCE! And I've already pre-ordered it. (You can too! We're talking a $9.65 hardcover pre-order from Barnes and Noble, people; don't think, just do it.)

The Fire Rose by Mercedes Lackey
I'd never heard of this, but I picked it up at a thrift store. It's a Beauty and the Beast retelling and I've got a list of those I want to read before March. (Gee, wonder why...)
Double bonus! I've been hearing recently about Lackey's Elemental Masters series, which sounds phenomenal. Turns out this is the beginning of that. Score.

Aftermath and Aftermath: Life Debt by Chuck Wendig
These are from my shelf and I'm rather ashamed I haven't gotten around to them yet. But seeing as the final book is due out in February, I ought to get them into my system. Also, I'm hoping it gives a good transition from Empire to First Order. *fingers crossed*

Vicious by V.E. Schwab
If you've lost count on how many times this has popped up on one of these season TBRs, you're not alone. I have too. But the next time this title pops up on my blog, it will be in sidebar 'What I'm Reading' section and then in a review because, come on, this is getting ridiculous.

Marvel's Original Sin and Civil War
Before Captain America: Civil War hit theaters, I planned to read the comic, but the comic was actually the last in a grand story arc so I had to read the rest of them. I got through the rest of them, but never actually made it to Civil War. Huzzah.
Original Sin made the list because I went to read the next issue of the Loki: Agent of Asgard and had no bloody clue what was going on.

Pwned by Shannen Crane Camp
Another title that's been on my TBR for a while, which turns a few cliches on their heads. Beautiful, popular, cheerleader co-captain Reagan West has a dark secret: she's a die-hard gamer, which is basically Loser Central.

Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
The sequel just hit the new book display at my library and it looks and sounds like a library lover's dream.

Dead Girls Detective Agency by Suzy Cox, Desolate Angel by Chaz McGee and Wicked Autumn by G.M. Malliet
October is always 'murder mystery' month for me, born of the annual theme at the library where I grew up and the fact that my family didn't celebrate Halloween, so every year about this time I try to read some nice good murders and these three are already on the list. We'll see if I can make it through any of them. Murder mysteries are notoriously sticky for me to explore; I tend to like stuff a little grittier than cozies, but that usually means they're nowhere near clean, either.

Crap. I think I put too many books on the TBR again. :P

What are you reading this fall?
And are you any better at finishing TBR lists than I am?