That being said, lots of my friends have the same tastes in books as I do.
Which lead me to my newest series obsession.
My friend Mira is really into this thing called steampunk. It's kinda hard to explain but basically it's like steam-powered victorian era. It's a combination of fantasy and sci-fi and there are a surprisingly large amount of books that can be classified as steampunk.
This book series is one of them.
It's called Leviathan (that's the title of the first book and the title of the series) and OH MY GOSH IT'S SO AMAZING! Here are the book covers
So first off, the plot is awesome. Basically it's the start of World War One. One of the main characters, Alek, is the son of that archduke who's murder was the catalyst for the war (there are some historical facts in the books). The other main character, Deryn, is a girl disguised as a guy so she can join the air force. Both Alek and Deryn find themselves aboard the airship Leviathan, and they have a bunch of adventures and stuff while traveling.
Wow...that sounded cheesy, but I don't know how else to put it...
Second, there are pictures in the book! Basically, in the past, lots of books had pictures - illustrations, really (there is a difference) - and some of the illustrators were even more famous than the authors themselves. Scott Westerfeld, the author of this series, decided to include illustrations in the Leviathan books too (for whatever reason). And they are so pretty! Here are some
The two above didn't actually appear in any of the books, but they're by the same illustrator. Alek is on the left, with Deryn on the right.
That's a picture that appears in Behemoth, the second book in the series.
So yeah, I'm completely obsessed. Anyone who knows me understands that I'm not super girly. I become girly when reading this book. I actually squealed from delight the entire way through. That's how obsessed I am, that's how happy it makes me. If any of you have time and like a great read, you should try this series. It is fantastic