Monday, July 25, 2011

Top 10 Urban Fantasy Reads

A fellow blogger that is a wonderful person and I like to call a great online friend has joined me in the fun of trying to narrow down our Urban Fantasy Reads for the last 2 years to a top 10.  Ha!  This is such a hard task to do.  But we both came  up with our lists.


We love to see what the other is reading along with we've found we enjoy many of the same books.

Mel's Top 10 Urban Fantasy List:
 1.  Mark of the Demon by Diana Rowland - like a detective story but with demons and magic
 2.     Kitty’s House of Horrors by Carrie Vaughn – love the Kitty series and this is one of my favourite in the series - isolated
 3.     A Madness of Angels by Kate Griffin – set in my home town, London with gorgeous prose. Love the magic element of this series were the everyday becomes magical
 4.     Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews – I love the different world setting of this series and this is the most exciting and emotional story so far 
 5.     Green Eyed Demon by Jaye Wells – love Sabina's character development here - plus a cross dressing fairy is alot of fun!
 6.  Embers by Laura Bickle - so atmospheric...I felt the fires of Detroit with this one
 7.     Rogue Oracle by Alayna Williams – such a creepy bad guy...I felt my skin crawl reading about him.
 8.     Hell Fire by Ann Aguirre – love the small town setting and dark atmosphere.
 9.     Hard Spell by Justin Gustainis – a cool police twist on UF
 10. Changes by Jim Butcher – the Dresden files is the most consistently excellent UF series out there and this was a great instalment complete with a cliff hanger!




Oh Mel... A few of these are on my shelves to start, and I've read a few.  But you have added some new books to my WANT list as well!  I do want to get into Jim Butcher's series here one day.  I do have the first book here. :)  Thank you for the amazing list!

My Top Ten Urban Fantasy List:

(please note these are in no order as I loved all these books and can't pick which one is loved more than the other, you're lucky you got only 10 out of me! lol.)

Double Cross by Carolyn Crane - The system of "magic" Carolyn uses in this trilogy is just so fun for me.  I love it and can see it easily.  And the story with these amazing characters.  Yep, you need this series!

Dead, Undead or Somewhere In Between by J.A. Saare - Oh, I loved reading this start of a great series.  Rhiannon really just caught my eye as she is a tough chick.  But then we have the smooth Disco too...

Bloodlines by Skyla Dawn Cameron - I found myself taken with the take on vampirism affiliated with demonism found in this book.  And just found a great new VBF (Vampire Best Friend) here.  Great characters!  And wonderful story to take the characters to their brink.

The Mage in Black by Jaye Wells - Sabina and her minion, Adam and her... well I'll stop there because for another arse kicking strong character you should read this series.  Great fun!  And wonderful fast pacing.

Iron Hunt by Marjorie M. Liu - Oh, now these I loved the idea of the demon boys being tattoos and the way they protect the Kiss family.  Just so much great story here.

Demon Bound by Caitlin Kittredge - This is one gritty relationship with Jack and Pete, and I love their banter!  In this book we seem to learn more of Jack and I enjoy the Black when we see it.

Unholy Ghosts by Stacia Kane - Talk about a Gritty world!  This is one of the harshest and darkest around.  I love Chess and her mistakes in this world.  She isn't perfect by no means and I love it.

Blue Diablo by Ann Aguirre - This series resinated with me because I soooo enjoyed the magic and the writing here.  Ann moves a story fast paced and full of action.  And there are turns I didn't see coming with the fast movement.  Enjoyment!

Tracking the Tempest by Nicole Peeler - Aaaa, this is a fun story with Selkie, Vampires, and all sorts of fun magic characters.  This one I loved and laughed with.  On of Jane's best qualities is being fun.  And there is a wonderful story and characters to keep you flipping the pages.

Grimspace by Ann Aguirre - This one has a twist of Science Fiction to it, but DO NOT let it stop you.  Ann Does not center the story on it, it's a side component of the books just a setting.  There is not technological terms or things you need to know about.  Just Jax and her new crew she finds herself with.  Wonderful characters!  And again constant fast movement forward with action and story.


Sound like some amazing lists here?  Hope you enjoy the books and picks of today.  What do you think?

30 comments:

  1. Great lists! So many of these books I haven't read yet but will one of these days. I will 2nd the Harry Dresden love though; Jim Butcher is a fantastic, edge of your seat writer :)

    And Happy Blogoversary!

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  2. I haven't read alot of UF series,,but one of my favorites of coarse is Karen Marie Moning's Fever Series,,and unfortunately I only recognize one book on the list,,that I am wanting to read,,and thats
    Stacia Kane's Downside Series,,that is on my list to read this year,,,
    thanks for sharing,,and
    I have a long list to go check out and probably add another page or 2 to my wish list..

    Jennifer

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  3. This post has made my TBR surge with new ideas. I have yet to fully dive into urban fantasy, but now I know where to start - the best of the best.

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  4. Most of the books on both lists are not ones I have read but I am glad to see Ann Aguirre featured on both.

    I really enjoy her books.

    Carol T

    buddytho {at} gmail DOT com

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  5. Wow - Melissa you've made me feel guilty that I have Unholy Ghosts and Mind Games sitting on my shelf unread at the moment. I will start on them soon - promise! :)

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  6. Great lists :D So many I wanna try, and a lot I have read already too

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  7. Shoot now my to buy list got just a little bit longer. I loved Rogue Oracle, too

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  8. Fantastic list! I think I'll look into Bloodlines, sounds intriguing. I'm glad I've read at least 60% of these books :)

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  9. Thanks for the recommendations! I have Blue Diablo and Dead, Undead or Somewhere In Between in my TBR shelf but didn't thought they were so good! I'll have to read them asap!

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  10. Well, this is just sad - I haven't read hardly ANY of these great books! Sure, they're on my TBR list, but I'm going to have to get up off my tushie and get some major reading done! Thanks for the must-read list:)

    jwitt33 at live dot com

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  11. Great post! So many great series up there. I am such a slacker though! I think the one that is mentioned on both lists that I haven't read is Ann Aguirre! Grr... I think I have a couple of her books on my tbr stack too. I just picked up Hard Spells but I like that authors other series. I also have had Kate Griffin's book on my tbr stack since it was released and never read.

    Great lists ladies! Now I just need to get reading some of them or catch up on the series.

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  12. Great list! I need to check out a lot of these books and add them to my TBR pile!

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  13. I loooove lists. And I'm sad to say. I haven't read any of these books mainly because they don't sell any of these at our local bookstores. Why? I have no clue. Theres always the book depository. :D Awesome list!

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  14. Oh you 2!!! You know that I have gotten several books on my shelves because of both of you? My pocketbook wants to have a word with you. ;)

    Such a great list from both camps!!!

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  15. I'm honored to be included, Melissa.

    The books there I've read, I've adored--I'll have to check out the others. My additions would be the Jill Kismet and Danny Valentine books by Lili Saintcrow and the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Adrews--I adore those series so. damn. much.

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  16. Love this list, amazing books you have there!! I add some to my tbr list.

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  17. Jackie - Thank you! Oh, now you need to read all these books. ;) And I have the first Harry Dresden book on my shelf here, begging for me to pick up. *sigh*

    Jennifer_After_Dark - Thank you for stopping by! I've heard great things about Karen Marie Moning's Fever Series. And glad to hear you enjoyed it. And I do hope you enjoy Stacia Kane's Downside Series when you get to it. Hope you like what you see when looking into all these new books. Thank you!

    StephanieD - lol. Oh, I do hope you get a chance to try out some of these books. ;) Thank you!

    BuddyT - Glad to hear you enjoyed Ann Aguirres books, and that we could share some new books with you. :) Thank you!

    Mel - lol. Oh, you have to get to Mind Games and Unholy Ghosts! lol. I think you would really enjoy them. Thank you soooo much for joining in the fun here. It was great to share this post with you. :)

    Blodeuedd - :) So glad you like the lists! Thank you!

    Nanny - Hello! Thank you!lol. So glad we could share some new books with you. And So glad you loved Rogue ORacle. I have it here to read and look forward to it. :)

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  18. Kara-Karina @ Nocturnal Book Reviews - Hi! Thank you for stopping by and glad you enjoyed the list. Oh, I really loved BLoodlines! I do hope you give it a go some day. :)

    Gaby - Hi! Thank you for stopping by. And you are so welcome for the recommendations. :) Oh, I hope you enjoy Blue Diablo and Dead, Undead or Soemwhere In Between. I really enjoyed them both.

    Julie = lol. Thank you! And I do hope you get to give a few of these books a try.

    WonderBunny - Hi! So glad you enjoyed the lists. I have several on Mels list on my shelves to get to yet. And the rest on my want list. :) So you are not alone. :) Thank you! So glad you enjoyed the lists.

    Jeanette8042 - Hi! And thank you for stopping by! So glad youlike the lists and hope you find some new favourites. :)

    Naj - Hi! :) And thank you for stopping by. So glad you enjoyed the lists. And hope you get to try a few of the books out one day. :)

    Melissa (Books&Things) - LOL!!! LOL!!! You are just as guilty to my poor pocket book too. ha ha ha... So glad you loved the lists. :) Thank you!!!

    Skyla Dawn - :) So glad. Aaaa, Lili's books are on my WANT list and I need to get them. I NEED to get them. They sound amazing and I've heard wonderous things of them. And the same with Kate Daniels too. Thank you for stopping by!

    Lissette Martinez - Thank you for stopping by and so glad you enjoyed the lists. :) Hope you get to try a few of the books some day soon. :)

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  19. Oh there are some books i didn't know, i'm curious to read them ! thanks !

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  20. Ok. It is official! sci-fi and fantasy have some of the best kick butt, breath stealing beautiful covers in the world of books. Look at them all! They would all look so pretty on a shelf - makes me wish I could draw lol :)

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  21. Melliane - Oh so glad to introduce you to some new books. :) Hope you enjoy them! Thank you!

    Alex @The Blethering Bookworm - Thank you for stopping by! And yes their are some amazing covers here. :) Thank yoU!

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  22. I have added the books I was unaware of on my list. Fabulous thank you.

    marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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  23. Marybelle - Hi! And thank you for stopping by! And so glad we could introduce you to some new books. :) Hope you enjoy them all!

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  24. Awesome lists. I've read about half of them and the other half are already in my TBR pile or on my wishlist.


    (\___/)
    (='.'=)
    (")_(")

    alterlisa AT yahoo DOT com
    http://lisaslovesbooksofcourse.blogspot.com/

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  25. i have read some of the books from both the lists but some of them are definitely going on my to be read list!

    justjanhvi at gmail dot com

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  26. There are so many books on this list that I have yet to read!

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  27. There are a few that I would list on my top 10 too! Good taste =) and reading your list now I have aces more in my TBR list!

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  28. Lisa Richards/alterlisa - Hi! :) So glad you like the list here. :) Thank you for stopping by!

    Janhvi - Oh, so glad I could interduce you to some new books. :) And glad you like the list. THank you for stopping by.

    Sniffly Kitty - Oh great to hear! THank you for stopping by and so glad you enjoyed the list. :)

    Lexi - Hi! So glad you like the lists and like them. :) Thank you for stopping by!

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  29. I haven't read any of these books. The truth is I haven't read many Urban Fantasy books. They seem wonderful!

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  30. Diana - Thank you for stopping by, and enjoyed the list. I hope you get the chance to give a few Urban Fantasy books a try. :)

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