January Library Haul

I can't remember the last time I've had a library haul this good. I'm going to hope that it's an auspicious sign for the rest of 2016. I got so many books that I've been looking forward to...and there were so many good options that I actually had to leave some at the library! I'll go back for them next time, but for now, here's what I have:

The Accident Season by Moira Fowley-Doyle: This is about a girl named Cara whose family has a particular propensity for accidents around the end of October each year. That premise alone intrigued me, and I knew I wanted to read it before I saw what anyone else thought of it. After Halloween passed and took my inevitable seasonal desire to read every creepy book I can get my hands on with it, I was ready to let this one go until next Halloween, or at least for a while...until I saw that Cait @ Paper Fury gave it an absolutely glowing review. Now, I can't wait to pick it up. It looks like a quick read, so I'm sure I'll fly through it!
 

Pretending to be Erica by Michelle Painchaud: Another creepy book that I knew I wanted to read as soon as I saw the synopsis. This is about a girl named Violet whose father is a con man. She spends her entire life preparing to pretend to be an heiress who disappeared at age 5 so that she can slip into that life and steal a painting. I've been trying to get my hands on this one for months, but the library never had it. But now, finally...it's mine! (For three weeks, anyway.)

Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman: I don't actually know a lot about this book, and I think I'd like to keep it that way before I read it. It's not the kind of thing I'd generally pick up, but I've heard good things about it (including that it's one of those rare YA books with no romance), so I decided to give it a shot. Even so, I might not have picked it up so soon, but it does fit the Week 5 challenge for the Around the Year in 52 Books Challenge (a book that starts with the first letter of your first name). I'm still not sure how much I'll enjoy this, but I'll see how it goes.

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon: Yet another book that I've been looking forward to reading from the minute I read the synopsis. Have I mentioned that this was a great library haul? This is a book about a girl who's basically allergic to the outside world and has never let her house. One day, a new family moves in next door, including a teenage boy named Olly...romance ensues. I actually managed to read a few pages of this last time I was in a Barnes & Noble, and I could barely put it down. It also happens to fit the week 3 challenge for the Around the Year in 52 Books Challenge (a book that was nominated during the Goodreads Choice Awards), so I'll be picking this one up soon.

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray: I've been warned not to judge this book by its cover. This is about a group of teen beauty pageant contestants whose plane crashes on an island who then have to hope to be rescued and learn to survive in the meantime. I've liked every Libba Bray book that I've read so far, so I have high hopes for this one. Also, people have told me that it has amazing diversity, which is always a bonus.

Days of Blood & Starlight and Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #2-3): I read the first book in this series, Daughter of Smoke & Bone, in December without really knowing what to expect. After reading that, I have even less of an idea of what to expect from these two (except hopefully more Zuzana). These both fit the Week 4 challenge for the Around the Year in 52 Books Challenge (a book by an author you discovered in 2015), and I figured that since the library had both of them, I might as well finish off the series. I will have to pick up Night of Cake & Puppets in order to completely finish it off, but as an ebook novella, it wasn't exactly something I could get at the library. I'm a bit apprehensive about these two, since I didn't particularly like the second half of the first book, but I've heard enough good things to be hopeful.

Blood Promise, Spirit Bound, and Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead (Vampire Academy #4-6): I ran into a slight problem with the Week 6 challenge of the Around the Year in 52 Books challenge: I was supposed to read the highest-rated book on my to-read list. I decided to change 'book' to 'novel,' as the highest-rated books that I want to read are all Calvin & Hobbes comic compilations, and I like to save those for rainy days. That left me with Last Sacrifice as the highest-rated. So far, I've only read the first three books in the Vampire Academy series, which only left one solution...marathon the last three! I never thought I'd like these books (vampires? really? and look at those covers.), but after hearing half a dozen people tell me to not judge them by the synopses or the covers, I finally decided to give them a chance, and I'm so glad I did. These are usually pretty quick reads for me, so these shouldn't take too long, even though they are significantly longer than the first three. I won't be picking these up until the beginning of February so that I can get to the last one when the challenge starts, but I'm still very excited for them.

Besides the ones that I have to read during a certain week, which of these should I pick up first? Have you read any of these? What did you think? Are there any you want to read? Tell me in the comments!