C2 started it off, but I’ve got a list as well!  (And my choices are way better than hers.)  2008 was a great year for books, but here’s my top 10:

The Outlaw Demon Wails (The Hollows, Book Six) by Kim Harrison
Urban fantasy released by EOS 26 Feb 2008

Kim Harrison keeps this series going storng with an entry that solves a lot of ongoing questions and to open new ones. The paperback is now available with a bonus story just in time to reread for the release of White Witch, Black Curse.

Dark Needs at Night’s Edge (The Immortals After Dark, Book Four) by Kresley Cole
Paranormal romance released by Pocket 1 Apr 08

It was a toss-up between this and Dark Desires After Dusk. With this year’s releases, Cole set the bar high for Kiss of a Demon King. Seriously, any paranormal romance fan needs these two on their shelves.

Lament: The Faerie Queen’s Deception by Maggie Stiefvater
Young adult fantasy released by Flux 1 Oct 08

This debut has faeries, violence, music, and romance. What more can one ask for?

Dreaming Again edited by Jack Dann
Speculative fiction anthology released by EOS 30 Sept 08

Australia’s literary scene rocks hardcore. Here some of its best authors serve up 35 excellent stories. This anthology contains no misses.

Generation Dead by Daniel Waters
Paranormal young adult released by Hyperion 6 May 08

Zombies, high school, and sociology come together for a humorous novel that will stay with you for awhile after you finish.

Madhouse (Cal Leandros, Book Three) by Rob Thurman
Urban fantasy released by ROC 26 Feb 08

Just read this series. Please.

Delicious by Sherry Thomas
Historical romance released by Bantam 29 July 08

Another author with two brilliant releases to choose between -this and her debut Private Arrangements. Both are terrific, but only this one makes me hungry. Food porn and romance is a winning combination.

Embrace the Night (Cassandra Palmer series, Book Three) by Karen Chance
Urban fantasy released by ROC 1 Apr 08

This series really hit its stride with this book. Chance also debuted anther series with the excellent Midnight’s Daughter.

Undone by Brooke Taylor
Young adult released by Walker Books for Young Readers 22 July 08

Taylor’s debut is emotionally strong, which any romance reader can appreciate.

Paper Towns by John Green
Young adult released by Dutton Juvenile 16 Oct 08

Green understands the nerd lifestyle, strong females, and what makes a good story. I don’t know if the man is capable of writing a book that isn’t made of win.

Honorable Mentions

Wicked Game by Jeri Smith-Ready
Urban fantasy released by Pocket 13 May 08

Smith-Ready makes her urban fantasy debut with a series that takes an inventive approach towards vampires and adds to the genre.

Tarnished Beauty by Cecilia Samartin
Literary fiction released by Atria 18 Mar 08

This is not self-important literary fiction. It’s simply a beautifully written story.

Gwen’s review of The Outlaw Demon Wails (Rachel Morgan, Book 6) by Kim Harrison
Urban fantasy hardcover released by Eos on 26 Feb 08

I know I’m not alone here.  I know there are other Rachel Morgan fans out there.  I know there are some former Rachel Morgan fans out there who wrote her off as being TSTL.  I’m here to tell all of you, current and former, that RACHEL GETS A CLUE in this sixth entry in the series!!  Yes!!  Really!  No seriously! I’m not kidding!

In this latest episode of the Saga of Rachel, she discovers some home truths about herself and her family.  These revelations open whole new doors and exciting possibilities to our heroine.  She is still battling Algaliarept, Minias, Newt, Trent, Quen, and the FIB.  She has made an uneasy truce of sorts with the vampire and werewolf communities.  Her fellow white witches generally don’t want to have anything to do with her, believing she is a black witch who deals in demons (they deal in her, she insists).

This is also the Kisten-less Rachel.  I’m actually kind of glad that loser is out of her life.  He always struck me as vain and not very into what was good for Rachel.  Rachel begins a relationship in this book that has promise for something good in her life, with a guy who can deal with her, shall we say, eccentricities.  I won’t spoil the details, not that there are many to spoil, but this is a nice note in the book.

Rachel finally grows up in this book.  She realizes some things about her relationship with Ivy, and vampires in general, that she should have realized YONKS ago.  I’m glad she reached this point – at long last.  It makes her previous stupidity about Ivy (and Kisten) somewhat tolerable.  She kept putting herself, and her friends, in all these idiotic situations because she was such a bonehead.  Well, she finally twigged that perhaps that wasn’t such a good idea.

What I like the most about Harrison’s writing is that we’re not so much reading a book, as we are a diary of what happens in this witch’s crazy life.  Harrison really does a nice job of moving us from one story arc to the next and still moving her overall plot along.  Yes.  This book has a plot.  It isn’t just one interesting story after another, strung together loosely by some details.  We actually, almost, have an HEA at the end of the book, even if Rachel isn’t exactly riding off into the sunset with the love of her life at the end.

This was a VERY satisfying entry into The Hollows and Rachel Morgan world.  I learned a lot about our intrepid, sometimes stupid, little heroine.  And enjoyed the hell out of the story along the way.  I didn’t see anything on Harrison’s site, but I’m hoping we get a few more entries into the Rachel Morgan world.

I recommend this book to anyone reading the Rachel Morgan series.  If you’ve walked away from it, this might be a good entry to rejoin the fun.  If you’re new to the series, I recommend reading the extra materials on Harrison’s site before you attempt the book – it’s a complex world.

Grade: A

Summary:

     To save the lives of her friends, Rachel did the unthinkable: she willingly trafficked in forbidden demon magic. And now her sins are coming home to haunt her.

     As Rachel searches for the truth behind a terrifying murder, an even greater menace threatens, for the demon Algaliarept will stop at nothing to claim her, and the discovery of a shocking family secret throws Rachel’s entire life into question. If she is ever to live free, Rachel must first walk willingly into the demonic ever-after in search of long-lost ancient knowledge.

     But when you dance with demons, you lay your soul on the line . . . and there are some lines that should never be crossed.

     Read an excerpt.

Hey Bev – Unabridged Audio is released! 

Other books in this series:

	Book 1, Dead Witch Walking,  mmppb (mass market paperback) (Eos, Apr 04), coming in hardcover (EOS, Apr 08)
	Book 2, The Good, the Bad, and the Undead, mmppb (Harper Torch, Jan 05), coming in hardcover (Eos, Jun 08)
	Book 3, Every Which Way But Dead, mmppb (Eos, Jun 05), coming in hardcover (Eos, Sep 08)
	Book 4, A Fistful of Charms, mmppb (Harper Torch, Jun 06), coming in hardcover (Eos, Oct 08)
	Book 5, For A Few Demons More, mmppb (Eos, Nov 07), hardcover (Eos, Mar 07)