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Introducing The Keeper Shelf and Evernight by Claudia Gray

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The Richelle Mead Keeper Shelf // Vampire Book ClubMost of the time we review new books here at VBC. In some cases that’s just because we’re excited about the new stuff, other times it’s that we’ve read the backlist stories before I started this blog. I want an opportunity to recommend my favorites to you (and let the associate reviewers Jo and Candace have their hand at telling you what’s OMG-You-Must-Read good, too). So, I’m debuting a new feature here at VBC: The Keeper Shelf.

We all have our keeper shelves. The books we proudly display, maybe the ones we re-read the most and even the signed shelf, if you’re lucky enough. I’m including a couple pictures from my keeper shelves in this post. If you’ve ever looked at my recommendations pages, you’ll find Richelle Mead’s novels littered throughout. So, it’s not really a shocker that she has her own shelf in my office. It’s a square photo, but yes, her Dark Swan and Bloodlines novels are up there, too. Sometimes a girl just has to play favorites.

I did convince the husband we needed to have a few keeper shelves in the living room by introducing Portal bookends. Here we’ve got our test subject escaping from zombies, ghosts and a whole lot of adventure. (Before you ask, I found the Portal bookends at ThinkGeek.)

Chelsea's Keeper Shelf, Portal StyleKeeper Shelf: Evernight by Claudia Gray

Now that I’ve given you a little glimpse of my keeper shelves, let’s get to business. In the last week, I’ve had several requests for great young adult novel recommendations. I have readers coming to me having already read the Vampire Academy or Morganville Vampires series and saying “what next?”

Easy answer: Evernight by Claudia Gray. If you’re looking for angst, vampires, love and complications in a YA setting, Evernight will do it for you. I’ve interviewed Claudia here at VBC and reviewed the final Evernight novel, Afterlife.

The thing that makes Evernight so engaging is the ever-raising stakes. We have a girl who doesn’t fit in at a vampire boarding school. She doesn’t know who or what she is and how that can fit in at this place. The vampire students are physically flawless, and it makes it hard for a mortal teenage girl to keep up. We have a boy who hates vampires, but is still at their school. Big secrets are revealed by the end of this book and the series progresses in star-crossed lovers fashion.

Your turn! If you could recommend just one book today, which one would it be and why? Hit the comments and help everyone build their to-read lists.

14 Responses to “Introducing The Keeper Shelf and Evernight by Claudia Gray”

  1. Stephanie says:

    Oooh I absolutely loved the Evernight series!

  2. Dianne says:

    My number one rec would be the Discovery of Witches trilogy (3rd not out yet). Found them to be absolutely enthralling. Second would have to be the Fever series.

  3. Rain Maiden Jen says:

    Shadow and Bone was a book that is on my keeper shelf. Love when I can discover keeper books.

    • Megan S. says:

      I’m reading Shadow and Bone right now and I’m really enjoying it,too. Picked it up from the library yesterday and stayed up way too late reading it last night.

  4. Adriana Jovel says:

    I would really really rec Witches of East End by Melissa de la Cruz. An amazing witch story with juicy secrets.

  5. Rivka says:

    I have 5 book shelves of Keeper books!! Just cant bear to part with them. It’s not vampire but the set of books read more often than anything else on my shelves are the Stephanie Plum Bounty Hunter books by Janet Evanovich. They’re just so off the wall and funny. Guaranteed pickmeup on a rainy day 🙂

  6. P.L. Blair says:

    My keeper shelves … Those Who Hunt the Night by Barbara Hambley. Pretty much anything by Elizabeth Peters or Barbara Michaels. Dennis McKiernan’s Mithgar books. Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe series. Richard Rhodes’ The Making of the Atomic Bomb (nonfiction). Plus at least a hundred more …

  7. RVASarah says:

    ThinkGeek can do no wrong, IMO.

  8. Teresa Morris-lloyd says:

    If I were to recommend anything it could never be one book, I could only get that down to one series, and even then it is hard to do, but I would say it would be Kate Douglas “Wolf Tales” Yes there are quite a bit of sex in these books, but what I got out of these books are people that love, trust,and count on one another. She shows in this series that you don’t have to share the same blood running through your vain’s to be called a family. And even though there may be couples, they all share one another with so much love for all. The Chanku which is a group of people that all share one thing and that one thing is what holds this beautiful family together. So if you do decide to read this series, please keep an open mind and give it a chance before you say this is something that just does not interest you. I almost laid this series down and was not going to finish the first book, but I stuck with it and I am so glad I did. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
    Happy reading and writing*
    Teresa <3
    tess102063@yahoo.com

  9. Pklagrange says:

    I would recommend “Magic Bites” by Ilona Andrews, the first book in the Kate Daniels series. Although I do not think it is the best in the series (“Magic Strikes” is my favorite), it is the start of an amazing series with detailed world building, thoughful chacterizations, absorbing plots and great humor. All of this is skillfully woven together and the series gets better with each book. The romantic developments are paced, which made it all the more interesting for me. Hope you all love these books as much as I do.

  10. Joanna says:

    Too many to name!

  11. Angela says:

    One book? I’d recommend Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry. It’s YA and features Zombies which I usually do not favor much. This series however puts a very different aspect on it and it is not the undead who are the ‘monsters’. Surprisingly emotional and 3 books are already available – if anyone is interested, check the author’s site (or goodreads) as two prequel shorts are available for free.

  12. ForeverReading1 says:

    This was a hard decision, because my keeper shelf contains a smorgasbord of books which has a wide range from classical to historical romances. Out of all the books I have read, Francine Rivers ‘Redeeming Love’, is the one I would recommend (have a box of Kleenex ready). This book is not a safe Christian fiction romance, but a heartbreaking romance between a prostitute and a kind farmer (with the patience of Job) who marries her. This book is a reminder of unconditional love, forgiveness, finding oneself, and the wrongs of judging others; as well as depicting a realistic portrayal of the destructive behavior some abuse survivors develop.

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