Recommendations for the Once-Upon-a-Read-a-Thon

The Once-Upon-a-Read-a-Thon begins Monday!  You can learn more about it here and sign up to join the fun here.  The read-a-thon will be hosted by Lori of Pure Imagination, Angel of Reading Angel, and Candace of Candace's Book Blog, and they have each decided to share a short list of recommended read-a-thon books today as a way of suggesting a few fast and fun books that you might want to consider adding to your read-a-thon lineup.  :-)


Here are a handful of my read-a-thon suggestions.  What books would you recommend?

Title:  Vampire Academy 
(All of the VA books)
Author:  Richelle Mead
Summary:

St. Vladimir's Academy isn't just any boarding school--it's a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They've been on the run, but now they're being dragged back to St. Vladimir's--the very place where they're most in danger. . . .


Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy's ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi--the world's fiercest and most dangerous vampires--make Lissa one of them forever.

Why this would make a great read-a-thon book:

The Vampire Academy series is absorbing and fun!  The sixth and final book will be published this December, so if you haven't read the first five books yet, now is the perfect time.

Title:  Chasing Brooklyn
Author:  Lisa Schroeder
Summary:

Restless souls and empty hearts
Brooklyn can't sleep. Her boyfriend, Lucca, died only a year ago, and now her friend Gabe has just died of an overdose. Every time she closes her eyes, Gabe's ghost is there waiting for her. She has no idea what he wants or why it isn't Lucca visiting her dreams.
Nico can't stop. He's always running, trying to escape the pain of losing his brother, Lucca. But when Lucca's ghost begins leaving messages, telling Nico to help Brooklyn, emotions come crashing to the surface.
As the nightmares escalate and the messages become relentless, Nico reaches out to Brooklyn. But neither of them can admit that they're being haunted. Until they learn to let each other in, not one soul will be able to rest.

Why this would make a great read-a-thon book:

Chasing Brooklyn is a compelling novel about loss and recovery.  Despite the serious subject matter, this verse novel is a quick and uplifting read.

Title:  The Darkangel
Author:  Meredith Ann Pierce
Summary:
The Darkangel, a vampire of astounding beauty and youth, can only summon his full power when he finds his 14th and final bride. But for Aeriel, whom he kidnaps to serve his brides, there is something about him--something beyond his obvious evil--that makes her want to save him rather than destroy him.

Why this would make a great read-a-thon book:

The Darkangel reads less like a typical vampire romance and more like a fairytale or an imaginative legend.  At only 256 pages, it is a very quick read, but the fable-like story will stick with you long after you've turned the final pages.  This book is the first in a trilogy.

Title:  The Body Finder
Author:  Kimberly Derting
Summary:

Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her "power" to sense dead bodies—or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes the dead leave behind in the world . . . and the imprints that attach to their killers.

Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find dead birds her cat left for her. But now that a serial killer is terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he's claimed haunt her daily, Violet realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.

Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved by her hope that Jay's intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she's falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer . . . and becoming his prey herself.

Why this would make a great read-a-thon book:

The Body Finder is a darkly captivating paranormal thriller with a sweet, best-friend romance.

Title:  Terrier 

Author:  Tamora Pierce

Summary:

Beka Cooper is a rookie with the law-enforcing Provost's Guard, and she's been assigned to the Lower City. It's a tough beat that's about to get tougher, as Beka's limited ability to communicate with the dead clues her in to an underworld conspiracy. Someone close to Beka is using dark magic to profit from the Lower City's criminal enterprises--and the result is a crime wave the likes of which the Provost's Guard has never seen before.

Why this would make a great read-a-thon book:

Terrier is significantly longer than the other books I've included on this list, but the engaging story and first-person narrative make it a surprisingly quick read.  I love all of Tamora Pierce's Tortall books, and this is the first book in her current trilogy.  The final book, Mastiff, is due out next year.