Top 5 Sundays #42 - Favorite Books Featuring Travel in Some Way!

Sometimes you just need to get away from it all. Unfortunately, when you're a character in a book - especially a book where magic is the norm and fangs commonplace - chances are good that getting away from it all is just going to land you in a whole different kind of trouble and mayhem.

So, without further ado, I present this week's Top 5 - my favourite books featuring travel in some way!

#5 - Michelle Rowen's Blood Bath & Beyond

After having spent all five books of the original series in Toronto, vampire fledgling Sarah Dearly and her boyfriend Thierry kick off the start of their new mystery spin-off series (or would this be a sequel series? O_o) by taking this couple on the road and relocating to the dazzling city life of Las Vegas where, naturally, their bad luck follows.

#4 - Jennifer Estep's By a Thread

After tying up the first major arc of the series, Gin decides to do what every heroine dreams of doing and heads to the seaside for a well-deserved vacation with her boyfriend, sister, and stepbrother. Lucky for Gin, she ends up in a town where her sister's best friend is dating her ex and a power-crazy vampire is up to no good. Definitely one of those instances of good intentions going horribly off track.

#3 -  Ilona Andews' Magic Rises

Yes, this book is still a month and then some away from release but, people, let's think about this for a moment: after five books of Kate and Curran staying within the city limits of a magic-eaten Atlanta, this book will have them setting sail and crossing the ocean to Europe. Are you thinking about it? Yup. Exactly. Need more be said?

#2 - Nalini Singh's Archangel's Kiss

So, while Elena and Raphael are based in New York City, they're both no strangers to travel. This book, however, is the first time they head off somewhere within the timeline of the main story. It starts off in the tropic-like Refuge of the angels - where Elena's period of rest and healing is marred by a would-be assassin stalking the halls - and then takes a trip to the Forbidden City - where you get zombie servants and, say it with me now, a would-be assassin stalking the halls.

#1 - Kresley Cole's A Hunger Like No Other

It begins with Emmaline being taken hostage of a half-crazed Lachlain who has only just gotten free from two centuries of torture. A forced road trip to Scotland ensues, with the narrative taking side-trips to New Orleans every now and then to check in with Emmaline's family, and, after a teleport and some epic battle scenes in Eastern Europe and a near-death experience and a marriage in New Orleans, a Scottish happily ever after ties everything up. Talk about your continent jumping...

Top 5 Sundays #6 - Fave Books from First Half of 2012!

When I sat down to put this week's Top 5 together my biggest problem actually turned out to be knowing whether or not a book was actually released in  2012 or in late 2011. This is what happens when you fall behind on your TBR pile - you start to lose track of when exactly you added any given book to the pile. It's sad really and clearly I need to engage in some major catching up over the summer. Cue sigh here.

Well, in any case, here is Calliope's Domain Top 5 Fave Books from [hopefully] the First Half of 2012.

#5 - Summoning the Night by Jenn Bennett

Publication Date: April 24, 2012 | Series: Arcadia Bell

This was a fun read with a good balance of adventure, mystery, romance and family bonding. It developed the characters and plot lines from the first book while simultaneously standing on its own. You can read my full review of the book here.

#4 - Sacrificial Magic by Stacia Kane

Publication Date: March 27, 2012 | Series: Downside Ghosts

What I love about this series is its ability to make me wince. Chess, the main character, is an drug addicted, ghost exorcising, haunting debunking, top-of-her-game witch living a world ruled by the Church with an underside that even Satan would hesitate to visit. And somehow what it all boils down to is a girl wallowing in self-loathing, solving mysteries that coincidentally interconnect, and having boy troubles. Honestly, what's not to love?

#3 - By a Thread by Jennifer Estep

Publication Date: February 28, 2012 | Series: Elemental Assassin

Finally, finally, those last pesky plot threads left hanging are tied up, neat as can be. Ever wonder what became of Detective Caine (the slime ball who left at the end of book two, Web of Lies, disappointed that Gin had managed to survive a mine collapse)? Were you left questioning whether Bria, Gin's cop sister, would truly be able to accept her sister The Spider? Did you want more Owen? This book delivered all that and more. 

#2 - Nice Girls Don't Bite their Neighbors by Molly Harper

Publication Date: February 28, 2012 | Series: Jane Jameson

Jane has got to be one of my favourite vampires. And why shouldn't she be? Between her love of books, her quirky, sarcastic, spastic nature and her inability to go more than a day without walking into one calamity or another, there's a lot to love about her. In this latest installment in her series, Jane tackles siring a teenage vampire - and dealing with the consequences - the homicidal intentions of some unknown stalker bent on revenge and, perhaps worst of all, planning her wedding. It was funny, it was surprising, it was every bit as good as its predecessors and, really, what more can you ask?

#1 - Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire

Publication Date: March 6, 2012 | Series: InCryptid

I loved this book! It was funny and quirky and romantic and surprising and a hundred other things, all of them good. I was intrigued by the premise and all it had to offer - an exiled family of cryptozoologists, the beasts they study, a daughter trying to balance her familial duties with her love of dance while striking out on her own in NYC, a hardcore monster slayer from an order of zealots trying to balance his duty with the intrigue he feels for a certain dancing cryptozoologist, and a whole slew of talking, devout mice, to name just a handful. All in all, an amazing read - I cannot wait for the second book to release!

And there you have it - my Top 5. Tune in next week for more. Ciao!