Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill over at Breaking The Spine. It's a weekly event that spotlights upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating.


Styxx (Dark Hunter #23)
by Sherrilyn Kenyon
published by St Martin's Press
expected release date: September 3, 2013

Summary (Goodreads): The most highly-anticipated novel in the Dark-Hunter series since Acheron is here—the unfogettable story of Styxx, Acheron's twin brother and one of the most powerful beings on earth
Just when you thought doomsday was over . . .

Centuries ago Acheron saved the human race by imprisoning an ancient evil bent on absolute destruction. Now that evil has been unleashed and it is out for revenge.

As the twin to Acheron, Styxx hasn’t always been on his brother’s side. They’ve spent more centuries going at each other’s throats than protecting their backs. Now Styxx has a chance to prove his loyalty to his brother, but only if he’s willing to trade his life and future for Acheron’s.

The Atlantean goddess of Wrath and Misery, Bethany was born to right wrongs. But it was never a task she relished. Until now.

She owes Acheron a debt that she vows to repay, no matter what it takes. He will join their fellow gods in hell and nothing is going to stop her. But things are never what they seem, and Acheron is no longer the last of his line. Styxx and Acheron must put aside their past and learn to trust each other or more will suffer.

Yet it’s hard to risk your own life for someone who once tried to take yours, even when it's your own twin, and when loyalties are skewed and no one can be trusted, not even yourself, how do you find a way back from the darkness that wants to consume the entire world? One that wants to start by devouring your very soul?

**I love this series and author. Plus this is Acheron's brother so we should get lots of the old gang.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

mini Book Review ~ The Demigod Diaries

The Demigod Diaries (Heroes of Olympus)
by Rick Riordan
published by Hyperion
genre: mythology, fantasy, MG/YA

Summary (Goodreads): What dangers do runaway demigods Luke and Thalia face on their way to Camp Half-Blood? Are Percy and Annabeth up to the task of rescuing stolen goods from a fire-breathing giant who doesn't take kindly to intruders? How exactly are Leo, Piper, and Jason supposed to find a runaway table, dodge a band of party-loving Maenads" ("who just might be a little psychotic), and stave off a massive explosion...all in one hour or less?
With his trademark wit and creativity, Rick Riordan answers these questions and more in three never-before-seen short stories that provide vital back-story to the Heroes of Olympus and Percy Jackson books. Original art, enlightening character interviews and profiles, puzzles, and a quiz add to the fun in this action-packed collection.

My Thoughts: Like The Demigod Files, I read this for the short stories. The illustrations were interesting as was the interview with Hermes' snakes and the pictures were better placed in this book. Now to the stories...

The Diary of Luke Castellan: It was good to get more of a background into Luke and how he, Thalia, and Annabeth came together. This story focuses on Luke and Thalia trapped in the house of a cursed demigod Halcyon Green. It has monsters, treasure and sacrifice. Overall, it made me like Luke a little more.

Percy Jackson and the Staff of Hermes: Percy and Annabeth are on a picnic when Hermes shows up to send Percy on a mission. The ginger, pickpocket, giant Cacus stole Hermes staff (on someone else's orders) and Percy needs to get it back before any of the other gods notice that Hermes cannot send messages. This was a cute humorous short that gives us more of a happy  moment with these two heroes than we usually get.

Leo Valdez and the Quest for Buford: I'll admit I kept getting confused on where this story took place. Every time I would see Jason's name I would think California even though they are at camp half-blood.
My favorite character in this story was the temperamental side table that ran away with an important part of Argo II.

The last short story was written by Rick Riordan's son, Haley. I was impressed by his writing and how well the story flowed with his father's work.

Son of Magic: Alabaster is one of the demigods who fought for Kronos and survived. We find out a lot in this short. How the mist is created and why monsters can smell half bloods. What happened to the rest of the survivors that fought on the losing side (gods and their bargains).
I didn't care for Dr Claymore but he was important to Alabaster's story going forward and had a minor growth in character himself.

Rating: 4

Monday, January 28, 2013

New Releases ~ week of 1/28/2013

*Links go to Goodreads

Stolen Nights by Rebecca Maizel (#2 in Vampire Queen)
Shadows in the Silence by Courtney Allison Moulton (#3 in Angelfire)
Out of Circulation by Miranda James (#4 in Cat in the Stacks Mystery)
The Temptation of Your Touch by Teresa Medeiros (#2 in Burke Brothers)
When Summer Comes by Brenda Novak (#3 in Whiskey Creek)
The Prey by Andrew Fukuda (#2 in The Hunt)
Speaking From Among the Bones by Alan Bradley (#5 in Flavia de Luce Mystery)
Shattered Circle by Linda Robertson (#6 in Persephone Alcmedi)
The Alpine Xanadu by Mary Daheim (#24 in Emma Lord Mysteries)
Proof of Guilt by Charles Todd (#15 in Ian Rutledge)
One Good Earl Deserves a Lover by Sarah MacLean (#2 in Rules of Scoundrels)
Immortal Craving by Kendra Leigh Castle (#4 in Dark Dynasties)
She Returns From War by Lee Collins (#2 in Cora Oglesby)
The Long Way Home by Mariah Stewart (#6 in Chesapeake Diaries)
Othermoon by Nina Berry (#2 in Otherkin)
Crazy Thing Called Love by Molly O'Keefe (#3 in Crooked Creek Ranch)
Cloudstar's Journey by Erin Hunter (#3 in Warriors: Novella)
Prodigy by Marie Lu (#2 in Legend)
That Scandalous Summer by Meredith Duran (#2 in Rules for the Reckless )
Haunted Moon by Yasmine Galenorn (#13 in Sisters of the Moon - Otherworld )
Safe in His Arms by Colleen Coble (#1 in Under Texas Stars)
Little Elvises by Timothy Hallinan (#2 in Junior Bender)
Asunder by Jodi Meadows (#2 in Newsoul)
Kalimpura by Jay Lake (#3 in Green Universe)
How to Entice an Earl by Manda Collins (#3 in Ugly Ducklings )
The Eldritch Conspiracy by Cat Adams (#5 in Blood Singer)
Death, Taxes, and Peach Sangria by Diane Kelly (#4 in Tara Holloway)
Shadowkiller by Wendy Corsi Staub (#3 in Nightwatcher)
Shattered Souls by Delilah Devlin (#1 in Caitylynn O'Connell)
A Shimmer of Angels by Lisa M. Basso (#1 in Angel Sight)
Front Page Fatality by LynDee Walker (#1 in A Nichelle Clarke Headlines in Heels Mystery )
Beach House No. 9 by Christie Ridgway (#1 in Beach House No. 9)
Into the Dark by Alison Gaylin (#2 in Brenna Spector)
We Only Need the Heads by John Scalzi (#3 in The Human Division)
The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd (#1 in The Madman's Daughter)
An Affair to Dismember by Elise Sax (#1 in The Matchmaker)
When She Was Wicked by Anne Barton (#1 in Honeycote)
Danger in the Deep Blue Sea by Debbie Dadey (#4 in Mermaid Tales)
Sweet 16 to Life by Kimberly Reid (#3 in Langdon Prep)
The Importance of Being Wicked by Victoria Alexander (#3 in Millworth Manor)

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Follow Friday

Follow Friday is now hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!


Q.What is the last book that kept you up late into the night just to finish it?

A. I just recently finished Changes by Jim Butcher ... cliffhanger ending, luckily I have the next book to read,

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Book Review ~ Belles

Belles (Belles #1)
by Jen Calonita
published by Poppy
genre: YA, Contemporary

Summary (Goodreads):  Fifteen-year-old Isabelle Scott loves her life by the boardwalk on the supposed wrong side of the tracks in North Carolina. But when tragedy strikes, a social worker sends her to live with a long-lost uncle and his preppy privileged family. Isabelle is taken away from everything she's ever known, and, unfortunately, inserting her into the glamorous lifestyle of Emerald Cove doesn't go so well. Her cousin Mirabelle Monroe isn't thrilled to share her life with an outsider, and, in addition to dealing with all the rumors and backstabbing that lurk beneath their classmates' Southern charm, a secret is unfolding that will change both girls' lives forever.

My Thoughts: I'll start with saying that contemporary reads make up only 5-10 % of my reading for a year. That being said I was grabbed by this cover and then the blurb was interesting enough to make me check it out from the library.
The characters were what you would expect in this type of book just by reading what it's about. Isabelle fits into the rags to riches role, Savannah is your classic mean girl and Mira is the mean girl with guilt who isn't sure where she fits in.
The writing is what made this book for me. I started reading and looked up and I was already 200 pgs in. The fact that the author grabbed and kept me for that long was the most impressive thing for me. The writing was very smooth and made for an easy read. There was also enough in the story line to keep me going even when I thought I knew what was going to happen.
I will definitely  take the time to read the second book in this series to see what happens next (kind of hoping someone knocks Savannah down a bit).

Rating: 3.5

Monday, January 21, 2013

New Releases ~ week of 1/21/2013



Moonlight Masquerade by Jude Deveraux (#8 in Edilean)
Ever After by Kim Harrison (#18 in Rachel Morgan / The Hollows )
Killing Time by Cindy Gerard (#1 in One-Eyed Jacks)
A Warrior's Heart by Donna Grant (#5 in Shields)
Boundless by Cynthia Hand (#3 in Unearthly)
Trinity's Book by Jan Bozarth (#6 in Fairy Godmother Academy)
The Darkness Dwellers by Kirsten Miller (#3 in Kiki Strike)
The Hob by Dana Marie Bell (#4  Gray Court )
Everbound by Brodi Ashton (#2 in Everneath)
Silence of the Llamas by Anne Canadeo (#5 in Black Sheep Knitting Mystery)
Arsenic and Old Puzzles by Parnell Hall (#14 in Puzzle Lady)
The Cowboy's Healing Ways by Brenda Minton (#4 in Cooper Creek)
The Dark Hunger by Joelle Sterling (#2 in Eternal Dead)
Imager's Battalion by L E Modesitt Jr (#6 in Imager Portfolio)
Bachelor Unclaimed by Brenda Jackson (#4 in Bachelors in Demand)
Cubs in Toyland by Bill Willingham (#18 in Fables)
The Archived by Victoria Schwab (#1 in The Archived )
The Easter Egg Chase by Robin Farley (#8 in Mia)
Ravage by Jeff Sampson (#3 in Deviants)
Walk the Plank by John Scalzi (#2 in The Human Division)
December's Thorn by Phillip DePoy (#7 in Fever Devilin)
One Tough Chick by Leslie Margolis (#4 in Annabelle Unleashed)
You Only Die Twice by Dan Gutman (#3 in Genius Files)
Cinders & Sapphires by Leila Rasheed (#2 in At Somerton)


Sunday, January 20, 2013

Blog Tour ~ Author Guest Post


Welcome to this stop on the Persistence of Vision blog tour. Book 1 of Interchron is a debut New Adult Book. Today we welcome author Liesel K. Hill.
Liesel can be found @ the following: Blog, FacebookTwitter, Goodreads



The Science of Interchron

While Persistence of Vision and the Interchron series at large aren’t hard-core science fiction, I do base the plot on scientific principles.

Before realizing that writing was my calling, I was studying science in school. (I hated the science major’s life. I was always off in my own head making up stories. Imagine that! :D) I was continually fascinated by the information I came across. How things work, how everything in the universe fits together—I just love to think about stuff like that. I knew I wanted to write a story that had to do with weird science, and what better than Quantum Mechanics? It’s the hardest stuff to understand and the weirdest stuff to learn about.

(Word of advice: unless you love, love, LOVE math equations, don’t go into quantum mechanics. Fascinating? Yes, but also headache-inducing!)

Because I’m also a hopeless romantic, I came up with Maggie’s storyline before introducing much science into it. I really liked the story, but I felt like it was incomplete. My final semester of college, I took a literary science fiction class. I don’t remember which story it was (really wish I did) but we talked a bit about collectives. I started thinking about choice and the moment someone makes the decision to pull away from a collective. I liked the idea of a character that does this. Once I linked him to the rest of the story, everything just fell right into place. I had my plot!

In the same literary science fiction class, I first heard the term “persistence of vision.” It means when something is no longer there, but you continue to see it. In the book, I have Karl describe it using the example of staring at the sun and then shutting your eyes and seeing an after-image. That’s a great example, and this is a true scientific phenomenon that physicists encounter. It’s a universal truth that everything we encounter, everything we observe in our lives leaves an impression upon us, even if it’s a fleeting one.

I got most of the way through the writing of the book but still didn’t have a title. It wasn’t until I started going back through my science notes, looking for inspiration, that I came across the term again…and realized it was perfect! That was exactly what happened to Maggie and her memories of Marcus. The title was born!

If you want to know more about quantum physics without getting yourself neck-deep in equations and college workshops, I would suggest the book, Quantum Enigma by Bruce Rosenblum. You still have to stop every so often and think about what’s being said, but they explain it in every day English and it’s fascinating! :D

Thanks so much for hosting me here today. Have a great day and make sure to brush up on your particle physics before reading my book. Just kidding. Mostly. ;D


Goodreads: In a world where collective hives are enslaving the population and individuals have been hunted to the verge of extinction, Maggie Harper, and independent 21st Century woman, must find the strength to preserve the freedom of the future, but without the aid of her memories.

After experiencing a traumatic time loss, Maggie is plagued by a barrage of images she can't explain. When she's attacked by a creep with a spider's web tattoo, she is saved by Marcus, a man she's never met, but somehow remembers. He tells her that both he and her creepy attacker are from a future in which individuals are being murdered by collectives, and Marcus is part of the rebellion. The collectives have acquired time travel and they plan to enslave the human race throughout all of history. The flashes Maggie has been seeing are echoes of lost memories, and the information buried deep within them is instrumental in defeating the collective hives.

In order to preserve the individuality of mankind, Maggie must try to re-discover stolen memories, re-kindle friendships she has no recollection of, and wade through her feelings for the mysterious Marcus, all while dodging the tattooed assassins the collectives keep sending her way.

If Maggie can't fill the holes in her memory and find the answers to stop the collectives, the world both in her time and in all ages past and future will be doomed to enslavement in the grey, mediocre collectives. As the danger swirls around her and the collectives close in, Maggie realizes she must make a choice: stand out or fade away...



Thursday, January 17, 2013

Follow Friday


Follow Friday is now hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!


Q: Who is your favorite villain from a book?

A. My first thought was Lord Voldemort but I figured that  might be said a lot. So I am going with Dolores Umbridge, who I thought was worse than Voldermort

Happy Reading and Have a Great Weekend!!

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Waiting on Wednesday


Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill over at Breaking The Spine. It's a weekly event that spotlights upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating.


The Red Plague Affair (Bannon & Clare #2)
by Lilith Saintcrow
published by Orbit
expected release date: May 21, 2013
genre: Adult, Fantasy, Steampunk

Summary (Goodreads): The service of Britannia is not for the faint of heart--or conscience...

Emma Bannon, Sorceress Prime in service to Queen Victrix, has a mission: to find the doctor who has created a powerful new weapon. Her friend, the mentath Archibald Clare, is only too happy to help. It will distract him from pursuing his nemesis, and besides, Clare is not as young as he used to be. A spot of Miss Bannon's excellent hospitality and her diverting company may be just what he needs.

Unfortunately, their quarry is a fanatic, and his poisonous discovery is just as dangerous to Britannia as to Her enemies. Now a single man has set Londinium ablaze, and Clare finds himself in the middle of distressing excitement, racing against time and theory to find a cure. Miss Bannon, of course, has troubles of her own, for the Queen's Consort Alberich is ill, and Her Majesty unhappy with Bannon's loyal service. And there is still no reliable way to find a hansom when one needs it most...

The game is afoot. And the Red Plague rises.

** I just finished the first book and enjoyed it. Glad there is not a long wait before I can read another.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Book Review ~ How Beauty Met the Beast

How Beauty Met the Beast (Tales of the Underlight #1)
by Jax Garren
published by Carina Press
genre: Adult, Urban Fantasy

**received from publisher via netgalley in exchange for honest review

Summary (Goodreads): The Beast

Scarred. Damaged. Living with a terrible secret. Agent of the Underlight Wesley "Hauk" Haukon has nothing left but the fight for liberty against the oppressive Order of Ananke. He's starting to lose hope…and then he sees her.

The Beauty

Despite her night job as a burlesque dancer, grad student Jolie Benoit has always played the mostly good girl. That all changes following a scorching sexual encounter with a stranger whose face she doesn't see. After she's kidnapped by thugs and rescued by a man with a very familiar voice, Jolie becomes a pawn in a struggle she never knew existed.

Hauk knows he cannot have her, and resolves to protect his heart and his secrets. But as they work together and grow closer, he finds new reason to keep fighting. Dare he risk hope in a new life, one where Jolie can see past his ravaged face and where their friendship can grow into something more?

My Thoughts: This wasn't a bad story, it just did not feel like the first book in a series. While reading this I continually felt like I was reading a prequel to a well established series. One where I should know more about the characters and world than I did going into this.
I still enjoyed the story. I liked Hauk and the Underworld. I can definitely see myself reading more about the goings on in this world. I just wish the first book was longer and gave us more of the world and characters so I felt like I HAD to read the next book rather than just being curious.

Rating: 3

Monday, January 14, 2013

New Releases ~ week of 1/14/2013

It's a small list this week...



Gates of Paradise by Melissa de la Cruz (#9 in Blue Bloods)
Enemy of Oceans by E J Altbacker (#5 in Shark Wars)
The Aylesford Skull by James P Blaylock (#6 in Langdon St. Ives)
Vortex by Julie Cross (#2 in Tempest )
The Prom Queen by Melody Carlson (#3 in Life at Kingston High)
Standing in Another Man's Grave by Ian Rankin (#20 in Inspector Rebus)
Touch of Death by Kelly Hashway (#1 in Touch of Death)
Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans (#1 in Memory Chronicles)
Enemy of Mine by Brad Taylor (#3 in Pike Logan)
Nest of Serpents by Curtis Jobling (#4 in Wereworld)
Fatal Decree by H Terrell Griffin (#7 in Matt Royal Mystery)
Shades of Earth by Beth Revis (#3 in Across the Universe )
Jelly Bean Jumble by Helen Perelman (#10 in Candy Fairies)

Friday, January 11, 2013

Follow Friday


Follow Friday is now hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!


Q.  IF YOU COULD CHOOSE ONE SUPERNATURAL BEING/CREATURE TO REALLY EXISTS WHAT WOULD IT BE AND WHY? EX. FAE { SUBMITTED BY @SEEINGNIGHT }

A. This is a difficult one if you stop and go beyond your immediate first thought. I'm going to go with shifters, every kind imaginable, just to give variety and ensure there would be some good ones in there somewhere.

If you're new to the blog let me know so I can follow back.
Happy Reading and Have a Great Weekend!

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill over at Breaking The Spine. It's a weekly event that spotlights upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating.

Angelopolis (Angelology #2)
by DanielleTrussoni
published by Viking Adult
expected release date: March 26, 2013
genre: Fantasy, Adult, Paranormal

Summary (Goodreads): She rose into the currents of icy air . . .”

A New York Times bestseller and global sensation, Angelology unfurled a brilliant tapestry of myth and biblical lore on our present-day world and plunged two star-crossed heroes into an ancient battle against mankind’s greatest enemy: the fatally attractive angel-human hybrids known as the Nephilim. With Angelopolis, the conflict deepens into an inferno of danger and passion unbound.

A decade has passed since Verlaine saw Evangeline alight from the Brooklyn Bridge, the sight of her new wings a betrayal that haunts him still. Now an elite angel hunter for the Society of Angelology, he pursues his mission with single-minded devotion: to capture, imprison, and eliminate her kind.

But when Evangeline suddenly appears on a twilit Paris street, Verlaine finds her nature to be unlike any of the other creatures he so mercilessly pursues, casting him into a spiral of doubt and confusion that only grows when she is abducted before his eyes by a creature who has topped the society’s most-wanted list for more than a century. The ensuing chase drives Verlaine and his fellow angelologists from the shadows of the Eiffel Tower to the palaces of St. Petersburg and deep into the provinces of Siberia and the Black Sea coast, where the truth of Evangeline’s origins—as well as forces that could restore or annihilate them all—lie in wait.

Conceived against an astonishing fresh tableau of history and science, Angelopolis plumbs Russia’s imperial past, modern genetics, and ancient depictions of that most potent angelic appearance—the Annunciation of Gabriel—in a high-octane tale of abduction, treasure seeking, and divine warfare as the fate of humanity once again hangs in the balance.

** I enjoyed the first book in this series and cannot wait for this to come out.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

New Releases ~ week of 1/7/2013



Memory of Light by Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson (#14 in The Wheel of Time)
The Llama of Death by Betty Webb (#3 in Gunn Zoo Mystery)
The Timekeeper by Alexandra Monir (#2 in Timeless )
Rise by Andrea Cremer (#2 in Nightshade Prequel )
Crash by Lisa McMann (#1 in Visions)
The Blood Gospel by Rebecca Cantrell, James Rollins (#1 in The Order of the Sanguines )
Merciless by Lori Armstrong (#3 in Mercy Gunderson)
Dream Eyes by Jayne Ann Krentz (#2 in Dark Legacy)
The Beggar King by Oliver Pötzsch (#3 in The Hangman's Daughter )
Footprints in the Sand by Mary Jane Clark (#3 in Piper Donovan /Wedding Cake Mystery)
Through The Ever Night by Veronica Rossi (#2 in Under the Never Sky )
Political Suicide by Michael Palmer (#2 in Lou Welcome )
Silentium by Greg Bear (#11 in Halo)
Lead and Follow by Katie Porter (#1 in Club Devant )
Revenge of the Crafty Corpse by Lois Winston (#3 in Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery)
A Grain of Truth by Zygmunt Miloszewski (#2 in Teodor Szacki)
Earth Thirst by Mark Teppo (#1 in The Arcadian Conflict)
The Third Bullet by Stephen Hunter (#9 in Bob Lee Swagger)
River of Lost Bears by Erin Hunter (#3 in Seekers: Return to the Wild)
Shadowlands by Kate Brian (#1 in Shadowlands)
Just One Day by Gayle Forman (#1 in Just One Day)
The Fairest Beauty by Melanie Dickerson (#2 in Healer's Apprentice)
1356 by Bernard Cornwell (#4 in Grail Quest )
Semper Fidelis by Ruth Downie (#5 in Medicus Investigation)
Watching the Dark by Peter Robinson (#21 in Inspector Banks)
Cleopatra Ascending by Maureen Lipinski (#2 in Shadow's Edge)
Hiding Gladys by Lee Mims (#1 in Cleo Cooper Mystery)
Burden of Truth by Terri Nolan (#1 in Birdie Keane)
Bad Kitty School Daze by Nick Bruel (#8 in Bad Kitty)
In a Blink by Kiki Thorpe (#1 in Never Girls)
The Space Between by Kiki Thorpe (#2 in Never Girls)
Awesome Blossom by Lauren Myracle (#4 in Flower Power)
Titan Base by Eric S Nylund (#3 in Resisters)
The Candy Smash by Jacqueline Davies (#4 in Lemonade)
Anatomy of a Single Girl by Daria Snadowsky (#2 in Anatomy of ...)
Janie Face to Face by Caroline B Cooney (#5 in Janie Johnson)
Collateral Damage by Stuart Woods (#25 in Stone Barrington)
The Lawyer's Lawyer by James Sheehan (#3 in Jack Tobin)

Saturday, January 5, 2013

2012 wrap up ~ 2013 book challenge(s)


I figured I should get one of these done before we got to far into this year.  Here of some figures from 2012...

I set up for 150 books and read 126 (41907 pgs)
first book read: The Good, The Bad,  and The Undead by Kim Harrison
last book read: How Beauty Met the Beast by Jax Garren
longest book: Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey; 1015 pgs
first review: Divergent by Veronica Roth (review)
last review: The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde (review)

2013 Reading Challenges 

I use Goodreads to keep track of my books read for the year (as well as other stats).
I'm going to try for 150 books again this year. I figure if I keep trying I'll eventually make it :)
I haven't really signed up for any others at this time. Might try and find a TBR or clear my shelves type of challenge.
I usually keep up with the Debut authors challenge but with all the drama last yea, even with a new host, I will probably just read the books but not keep track of them.

Happy Reading and Good Luck with all your Goals in 2013!




Friday, January 4, 2013

Moon Stalker Street Team ~ Haunted Moon

artwork by Tony Mauro
Haunted Moon (Otherworld #13)
release date: January 29, 2013

Summary: There’s a new Fae sorcerer in town—Bran, the son of Raven Mother and the Black Unicorn—and I’m the unwilling liaison between him and our new Earthside OIA. With cemeteries being ransacked and spirits being harvested by a sinister, otherworldly force, Aeval sends us to rescue the missing wife of a prominent member of the Fae nobility. Our search leads us to the mysterious Aleksais Psychic Network and, ultimately, to face the Lord of Ghosts where Morio and I must undergo a ritual that will plunge us directly into the world of the dead.

Cover ~ The cover for Haunted Moon (done by Tony Mauro) is one of my favorites for this series. I love the blue, it makes it seem lighter than the rest of Camille's books while still capturing the character's essence.

Author Contest ~ There is a month long contest going on at the author's website. The first is a daily YGWYG (you get what you get) contest leading up to the Haunted Moon basket contest. The only rule to enter is that you must answer the question (This month is my (Yasmine) birthday. You get to play my faerie godmother/father. Leave me an unusual/delightful/quirky/hot/happy birthday wish. And no wishes that I'd have kids--I'm not maternal. ;) ). Go to the contest page to enter (here).

Book Video ~ 

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Book Review ~ The Serpent's Shadow

The Serpent's Shadow (Kane Chronicles #3)
by Rick Riordan
published by Hyperion Books
genre: MG/YA, mythology, fantasy

Summary (Goodreads): He's b-a-a-ack! Despite their best efforts, Carter and Sadie Kane can't seem to keep Apophis, the chaos snake, down. Now Apophis is threatening to plunge the world into eternal darkness, and the Kanes are faced with the impossible task of having to destroy him once and for all. Unfortunately, the magicians of the House of Life are on the brink of civil war, the gods are divided, and the young initiates of Brooklyn House stand almost alone against the forces of chaos. The Kanes' only hope is an ancient spell that might turn the serpent's own shadow into a weapon, but the magic has been lost for a millennia. To find the answer they need, the Kanes must rely on the murderous ghost of a powerful magician who might be able to lead them to the serpent's shadow . . . or might lead them to their deaths in the depths of the underworld. Nothing less than the mortal world is at stake when the Kane family fulfills its destiny in this thrilling conclusion to the Kane Chronicles.

My Thoughts: Mixed feelings on this one. I really liked the story itself but I didn't like reading the parts that were told from Sadie's POV. Usually I like the self confident strong females. In this book it felt like more whining and me, me, me. It could also be the love triangle drama that I disliked. The resolution of the triangle fit well with this series and what we know of the magicians and gods but I didn't need all the rest that came before.
I liked Carter's POV just because it seemed to be more about the story as a whole than just Carter by himself. Carter's role in the final battle and the way he and Sadie worked together in the end was a nice conclusion.
Even though this was the final book in this series there are still some things left open that could lead to either further books in this series or bringing the magicians into another series. The way they were talking about other gods made me think about the Olympians and combining the two series. I'm not saying it's going to happen but I would be interested in reading it if it did.

Rating: 3.5

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Favorite Reads in 2012

Favorite Reads in 2012

These are a few of my favorite reads from 2012. Whether it's a single book or a series that I enjoyed reading.

Fair Game (Alpha & Omega #3) by Patricia Briggs (Goodreads/review)
The Paladin Prophecy (Paladin Prophecy #1) by Mark Frost (Goodreads/review)
Dark Currents (Agent of Hel #1) by Jacqueline Carey (Goodreads/review)
Series
Phedre's Trilogy (Goodreads) by Jacqueline Carey; Kushiel's Dart (review), Kushiel's Chosen (review)
Parasol Protectorate (Goodreads) by Gail Carriger; Soulless (review), Changeless (review), Blameless (review), Heartless (review)
Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Goodreads) by Rick Riordan; I read books 2-5 in 2012 but didn't review

There were also favorites from my go to authors