Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Breaking the Spine to spotlight books we are eagerly awaiting.  I decided to join this time because there is a whole plile of novels that I'm excited to get a hold of....can't wait to read them.

Below are two that are currently out, but that I haven't gotten the chance to read yet.

Heir to Sevenwaters by Juliet Marillier

Published by Penguin 

Nov. 2008

I have no idea why I missed the release of this one. I love.....LOVE....Ms. Marillier's writing style. I've been twitterpated with the Sevenwater's clan since the first time I read Daughter of the Forest years ago.  This one has been requested from the library. I wish I could own it, but my wallet doesn't agree with me on that one....right now.

Arch Enemy (Part of the Looking Glass Wars) by Frank Beddor
Published by Penguin
October 2009

Yet another that has been out for a while. Only this one I didn't miss...I just haven't read it yet. It's sitting there on my self surrounded by the other Looking Glass books waiting for it's turn at the top of the TBR pile (which is coming soon btw!).

What are you waiting for?

Ghostland

Title: Ghostland
Author: Jory Strong
Genre: Urban fantasy, paranormal, romance
Source: Borrowed from Pat as part of her new Borrow My Books Tour ~ Part 1

I have been on the look out for this book for a while now. The plot line just intrigued me.  (From the author's website) In a post-Apocalyptic world where supernaturals have emerged from hiding, wealthy humans delight in decadence while the religious gain power through temptation. For the masses, fear reigns from birth to death, and the afterlife holds beings that only the bravest can summon—or dare to desire…

In other words...not only are we dealing with a post-apocolyptic society and all the foibles therein, but we now have a large gaping whole between the classes, and all those paranormal things we've been afraid of turn out to be true. Awesome! That is why I was looking forward to this book.......well that and the cover. OHmygoshdidyouseethecover!?! Pure, beautiful awesomeness.

What I liked:

1. The main character, Aisling, is a brave, strong girl who is doing her best to get through the situations she's been put in, save lives, and save her family. She adjusts easily to new situations, but for the most part doesn't let them overtake her. That being said she's willing to dive head first into any problem.

2. The male lead, Zurael, is a demon. I like him because he walks a strange line between being the alpha male and being completely taken with her. 

3. The ferret! More leading ladies need a magical pet/friend of some kind and it is wholly appropriate for Aisling's to be a ferret.....this time. 

4. Seriously hot sex scenes. I wasn't expecting these. I don't know why, but I just wasn't. Yes, in some cases they were a bit gratuitous, but they didn't interrupt the flow of the story. Actually, I'd be willing to say they added to it by further backing up the growing relationship between Aisling and  Zurael. Oh and btw....hot! 

What I didn't like:

1. The whole story/mystery part gets wrapped up to neatly and too quickly at the end. There was a lot of build up, a lot of obstacles to overcome, and then *poof* things just get wrapped up. It's a bit hard to believe even when all the tangles are clearly undone. 

2. Gratuitous sex scenes.  There were only a couple of times where I felt that the characters were edging towards this. Specifically with Zurael. Demon boy can't keep it in his pants. It appears that when he's apart from Aisling (as in worlds away) he's fine and capable of thoughts, but anywhere near her (i.e. her world) he's a raging ball of D/s hard-ons.  I won't go into a lot of detail, but it did get a bit tiring to hear about him wanting to bend her over the counter again and again and again.

Overall, I'm still extremely happy that I had the chance to read this book. I loved it. Devoured it. I'm currently adding Ms. Strong's other books to my TBR list. 

 

The last of the candy - Sookie Stackhouse

What did you do over Christmas? I read. Between my SIL and I both reading (see devouring) the Sookie Stackhouse novels and some pending library due dates, I had to quick get finished with the books that were hanging around the house or risk not getting to read them for several more months.

Title: All Together Dead ~ Southern Vampire Series Book 7
Author: Charlaine Harris
Genre: Paranormal, Romance, Mystery
Source: Library

This is the one I accidently skipped. I'm glad I read it though. It filled in the blanks on a couple of spots and gave some nice juicy details about Sookie's relationships with both Eric and Quinn. I'm sad to see that Alcide disappeared so quickly, at least out of the relationship game, but oohh wee! Things sure are getting hot with Eric.....and then you throw Quinn into the mix. Makes a girl wanna purr!

Title: Dead and Gone ~ Southern Vampire Series Book 8 (Most Current)
Soure: Library

This one was great, caught me right up into the action, and now I'm a bit sad and disappointed that I'll have to wait until May 2010 for the next installment.  Eric's up to his "I play with words and don't tell whole truths, but you will still do as I say because I'm all powerful and you love me" tricks.  But things sure are steaming up between him and Sook. Sookie's great-grandfather Niall is playing a major role in her life...and leaves her with a mysterious thought, "The vampire loves you and is a good guy." That's not a direct quote but it's the right thought. All I can add......please please please Ms. Harris and her novel writing muses, please let it be Eric that he's talking about. Yeah, yeah, I know Bill's stable and homey and in his own quiet way he really does love Sookie....but so does Eric. And he's much more desirable to play opposite her in the long run.

Title: A Touch of Dead (Short Stories from within the Sookie Stackhouse universe)
Source: Library

This is a collection of short stories, some have to do with situations alluded to in the novels and some are just side situations. Most have to do with minor characters - giving them an opportunity to take center stage.  It's a quick, easy read, but only a few have the same magical story-telling touch that is part of the novels.  Worth reading for fans, but not the place to start if you haven't read the series yet.


Overall: I can't believe I have to wait until May!  Luckily my secret santa gifted me with the first two...I can read them any time now! Plus, my Sookie Stackhouse reading challenge is now complete! (I'll fix the side bar later...sleep now.)

Merry Christmas!

I made it! A house full of my husband's family (mine live too far away to do the house-filling gathering thing), music, food, Christmas traditions out the wazoo, and in the midst of it all I was finally able to open my Book Blogger Holiday Swap and Secret Santa gifts!

My Santas gave me awesome loot!

On the left is the gift from a lovely gifter as part of the Secret Santa. They gave me the first two Sookie Stackhouse books (Squee!), a whole pile of book marks, and an additional gift of a magical expanding washcloth. I haven't tried it yet....my husband wants to see it expand too!  

(I have no idea who you are.....will you tell me?)

The right is from Susan as part of the Book Blogger Holiday Swap.  She gave me a beautiful set of stationary cards, and glammed-out pen to write on those pretty cards. There was also a Santa postcard ornament and a set of joyful magnets. The ornament went up right away and the magnets are already making a home on our fridge!

(The name and address were smeared on the package. I can only make out Susan  from Escondido, CA.  Would you tell me if this was you?)

Thank you!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Fall Into Reading Wrap-up

The time has come for this challenge to come to a close. I'm a bit unsure of the outcome of my challenge.  When I posted my original reading list it looked something like this:

From the library:
1. Blood From Stone ~ Laura Anne Gilman
2. Dead If I Do ~ Tate Hallaway
3. Fragile ~ Shiloh Walker
4. Lords of Desire ~ Virgina Henley, Sally MacKenzie, Victoria Dahl, Kristi Astor
5. Would-Be Witch ~ Kimberly Frost
6. A Drop of Red ~ Chris Marie Green
7. Over My Dead Body ~ Michelle Bardsley

From my shelves:
8. Prom Nights From Hell ~ Meg Cabot, Kim Harrison, Michele Jaffe, Stephanie Meyer, Lauren Myracle
9. My Soul To Take ~ Rachel Vincent
10. Intertwined ~ Gena Showalter

For book clubs:
11. Never Cry Werewolf ~ Heather Davis (Blogs With Bite)
12. The Postmistress ~ Sarah Blake (Barnes and Noble First Look Club) DNF

  

Notice that some are crossed out, others aren't. I ran into a bit of a snag. I just kept finding more and more books that just had to be read. Some were replaced. Then others were replaced. Eventually the library called all the books back. I had to find more.  Here's were the conflict comes in. I did read 12 books. In fact, I read over twelve books in the challenge time...I read 20. Well, more like 19.5 ~ I didn't finish one of the books.

So here's the question: Does the fact that I read 19.5 books count as my completing this challenge? Does it count even though I didn't read all of the original 12 books on the list?

I think I'm going to count this as a draw. Completed but not perfect. Sound good?

Fun!

I saw today's reading challenge over at Bookworming in the 21st Century. I couldn't resist it! I'm not joining in the official challenge, but just had to join in.

For this challenge all I have to do is:

1 - Pick up the book you are currently reading.

2 - Since it is December 22nd, turn to page 22 in your book.

3 - Count down to the 22nd line on the page. (If there is a partial word on the line you can leave it off.)

4 - Post a picture of your book cover along with the 22nd line from the 22nd page on your blog.

 

My line:

                   "They were on the cusp of the present."

From:  

                 

More Sookie!

Title: Dead As A Doornail ~ Southern Vampire Series Book 5
Author: Charlaiine Harris
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Source: Library

This one is just a treat to read! Our darling Sookie has to deal with her brother changing, a real-life fairy godmother, Alcide using her ability as a psycic lie detector, and let's not forget about the new Pirate vampire.

That's right. You heard me.  Pirates and faeries! Bill is still on the outs, but takes every opportunity to try to kiss up to Sookie. Fangtasia has a new bartender who likes to buckle his swashes. Jason going through some changes. And oh yeah the Were world is in upheaval. I liked this one quite a bit, though I am a bit disappointed that Alcide is shaping up to be just as self-centered as Bill. *sigh* I am not disappointed that Sookie is still not giving him the time of day.

Title: Definitely Dead ~ Southern Vampire Series Book 6
Source: library

Hey, there's a tiger in this one! Ooops, I gave it away. Not really, I think the cover does that anyway. So Sookie has a whole host of guys....undead, were, and shifter falling for her. It's a bit frustrating that just by being Sookie she seems to be able to get every hot guy interested in her. Not just "hey, she's a looker" interested, but willing to take bullets and or die for her interested. The only thing that seems to be keeping this series from devolving into something akin to the Anita Blake series (ya know....less plot more sex) is that Sookie seems to be a one guy girl. She may have a whole bunch of ex's just waiting to help her out of trouble, but when she commits to one she commits.

Title: From Dead To Worse ~ Southern Vampire Series Book 8
Source: Library

Umm, yeah, not sure how I got out of order without noticing, but I did. There were a few moments right at the beginning where I thought that perhaps I'd missed something. There were references to wars that I'd only seen the beginning of ...which were now over. They should have been a sign I was actually out of order. On the flip side, the story was so engaging that nagging doubts only lasted a minute and then I was swept up into Sookie's world again. I think that's a testament to good story telling that information can be missing, but I still want to keep going and figure out what's happening next.  A lot happens in this novel, but in my opinion the most important thing to was meeting Sookie's great grandfather.....Niall the Fairy. Squee!

**All novels were read as part of the Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge.**

A Highlander Christmas

Title: A Highlander Christmas
Author: Janet Chapman
Genre: Romance, Paranormal-ish
Source: From Publisher with intent of my participation in the book blog tour - book is mine to keep.


When it comes to romances, my escape from traditional (see vampire, witches, were-whatevers) paranormal stories is stories about Highlanders. There is something about alpha males in kilts that does it for me. Now, through in a bit of magic and possibly some time-traveling and I'm a devoted fan for life! I blame Karen Marie Moning for this. She created the first time-traveling, magic wielding, Highlander series I fell in love with. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Ms. Chapman's book also dealt with those delicious, magical, Scots.

From the Publisher:
Camry MacKeage has absolutely no intention of telling her parents that she left her job as a NASA physicist for the small-town life of a dog-sitter -- which is why she's spending the holidays alone in coastal Maine with her furry friends Tigger and Max. Unfortunately, her irresistibly handsome rival, scientist Luke Pascal, accidentally spilled the beans. Now he's on a mission from her mother to tempt Camry home for the family's annual winter solstice celebration. But Luke is hiding his own secret, and he'll need a little bit of magic to earn Camry's trust...and a whole lot of mistletoe to seduce his way into her heart.



This novel takes place somewhere in the middle of Janet Chapman's Highlander series and while it doesn't have a whole heck of a lot to do with Alpha-male Scotsmen, it does have more than a touch of magic and quite a bit of time-traveling. 

What I liked:

1. Even though it is smack in the middle of the series I was able to understand and follow everything that is going on. Yes, there are some references to people and happenings that occured previously, but they are explained as much as necessary within the story. This really is a series novel that is also stand alone.

2. The alpha-male Highlander is still lurking in the background, but he generously gives up this story to his daughter and her nerdy scientist hero....and their dogs.  The bits and pieces of the Highlander's story that were mentioned within this book added to the feeling of completeness and left me wanting to find out more about this family.


What I didn't like:

1. There is very little on the cover or in the blurb that would lead a first time reader into guessing that this was part of a time-traveling, magic using, Highlander series. In fact, I had no idea until my husband and I did some internet researching (see: we googled).  As a reader who is terrible about judging books based on their cover matter....I wouldn't have guessed it was anything along those lines. But, now that I know it isn't anything to worry about.  Does that make this an invalid dislike?


Overall: I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. The main characters are satisfying and still defiant enough that they will continue to grow through other books. If you're looking for a sweet Christmas timed romance this one would be perfect!

Thank you Sarah Reidy and Pocket Books, for the opportunity to read this novel!

Pocket Book Tour Participants - a.k.a. other places to read about this book:

Books Reviews by Buuklvr81: http://www.buuklvr81.blogspot.com
I Read: http://sumanam.wordpress.com/
Seductive Musings: http://seductivemusings.blogspot.com/
What Book Is That: http://whatbookisthat.blogspot.com/
My Five Monkeys: http://www.tableforseven-julie.blogspot.com/
Rundpinne: http://www.rundpinne.blogspot.com/
My Overstuffed Bookshelf: http://myoverstuffedbookshelf.blogspot.com/
Book Junkie: http://myfoolishwisdom.blogspot.com/
Just Another New Blog: http://justanothernewblog.blogspot.com/
Drey’s Library: http://dreyslibrary.blogspot.com/
My Book Addiction and More: www.mybookaddictionandmore.wordpress.com
My Reading Room: http://myreadingroom-crystal.blogspot.com
Frugal Plus: http://frugalplus.com/
Book Magic: http://bookmagic418.blogspot.com/
The Bibliophilic Book Blog: http://www.bibliophilicbookblog.com/
All About {n}: http://www.bookwormygirl.blogspot.com/
Psychotic State: http://www.psychoticstate.blogspot.com/
That’s a Novel Idea: http://thatsanovelidea.blogspot.com/
Brizmus Blogs About Books: http://brizmusblogsbooks.blogspot.com/
Found Not Lost: http://jmomfinds.amoores.com/
Wendy’s Minding Spot: http://mindingspot.blogspot.com/
Pam’s Personal Reflections: http://hip2bhomeschooling.blogspot.com/
A Book Bloggers Diary: http://abookbloggersdiary.blogspot.com/
MetroReader: http://metroreader.blogspot.com/
I Heart Book Gossip: http://juniperrbreeeze.blogspot.com/
Jen’s Book Talk: http://jensbooktalk.blogspot.com/
The Princess and the Monkey: http://kennedyandzach.blogspot.com/
Marta’s Meanderings: http://martasmeanderings.blogspot.com/
Readaholic: http://bridget3420.blogspot.com/
Angela R. Simmons’s Blog: http://bookblogs.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?user=2xqn4gl4wjnvi
Broken Teepee: http://www.brokenteepee.blogspot.com/
Books, Books Everywhere: http://bookbookseverywhere.blogspot.com/
Books, Books, The Magical Fruit: http://booksbooksthemagicalfruit.blogspot.com/
Find the Time to Read: http://www.findthetimetoread.blogspot.com/
Libby’s Library News: http://www.libslibrary.blogspot.com/
Reading at the Beach: http://ilratb.blogspot.com/
Book Soulmates: http://booksoulmates.blogspot.com/

Secret Santa Update

I've sent and received the gifts for both of the Secret Santa type exchanges. I'm trying very.....very hard to be a good girl and leave the gifts alone until Christmas. It's so hard to resist!

I'm also feeling a bit like a schmo. I didn't gift wrap my presents. I did include a nice card, but I just slid the gifts into their packing envelopes and called it good. Oddly, it didn't occur to me that generally Christmas gifts come wrapped, so therefore these probably should have been as well. I'm a terrible Santa. Hopefully, the gifts make up for the lack of wrapping!

Presents!

I know that normally the "In My Mailbox" meme is on Mondays, but I just had to share what arrived today.

  

I love these books!  I fell into deep adoration of Kate DiCamillo's writing style when I first read Tale of Despereaux....several years ago when I was doing my student teaching. I'm so excited to have won copies of all three of these! Thank you Ely!

Heat Wave

Title: Heat Wave: A Nikki Heat Novel
Author: Richard Castle
Genre: Mystery, Crime Thriller, TV Tie-in
Source: Library

That's right folks, I'm such a fan girl of Nathan Fillion and his newest t.v. show Castle, that I borrowed the book his character wrote during the first season of the show.  And I enjoyed it! It is almost exactly like reading an episode of Castle, which was a bit surprising. For some reason I was under the impression that this was a crime novel that just happened to have a detective based off Beckett. Instead, it's the crime / detective part of the Castle show. Don't get me wrong, there is a crime to solve and a lot of detective work. It is also paired with familiar characters and a sexy scene that got me thinking about Nathan Fillion...err....Castle naked.

Overall: It's a quick, easy read that will be lots of fun for Castle / Fillion fans.

Ballad ~ BWB Review

Title: Ballad

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance

Source: Library

What's a guy to do? What's a guy who can see and hear faeries supposed to do.....especially now that Death is calling? He has to choose to save only one of the girls he loves.

Doesn't that sound exciting? I bought into that plot synopsis from the get go. Coupled with reviews saying things like "great stand alone sequel" and the awesome cover, I thought I was going to fall over heels in love with this novel.  Normally, it is right up my alley.  However,  I'm now stuck trying to write a review of a book that I'm not sure how to review.

See, I want to know these characters. I want to care about their plight and find it interesting, but for some reason I don't.  Maybe I'm missing character building information that was probably given in the first book? Maybe I'm just being a brain dead reader and wanting the author to spoon feed me details? Or maybe I'm just not in a reading mood? Whatever the reason, it's not working for me. (I'll have to get ahold of Lament and start over...maybe that will work?)

Blog With Bite Discussion Questions

1. James is a flawed and heart broken character, do you find his mental peculiarities charming or annoying? Please do explain    I do find them charming. They are a piece of him and he is doing what he can to remember the things he needs to survive.  Like everyone else's quirks they could become annoying ...what if you had something you really needed him to remember and then he took a shower? The writing would be gone.  But overall, they are enduring.
2. What did you think of James and Dee's kiss? This being a pivotal moment for their relationship, how do you think it changed James?  I believe this is the point where he gets direct confirmation about his attraction or unknown lack to Dee.
   
3. Whom do you prefer Dee or Nuala? Ummm, yeah. Seeing as I just couldn't get into the book, I don't feel it's fair to answer this.
   
4. What's your verdict on the best way to read Ballad?  Is it a stand alone book or do you need to read Lament first?  If you read Lament, what did it add/not add to Ballad?  If you haven't read Lament, do you think it would have added to your reading of Ballad? I definitely don't think that this is a stand alone novel. I have lots of hope that reading Lament first would have helped me to enjoy this story. I'm willing to add it to my reading list and give this one another go, too.
   
5. We've been reading a lot of stories with fairies as the central paranormal creatures.  What are your thoughts on the "Fair Folk".  Do you believe in faires? I do believe in faeries. They are beautiful, tricky, wonderful, terrible folk who occasionally crash into humanity.

Kick Ass Blog

Natalie over at Mindful Musings gave me the rockin' award. Thanks, sweetie!

Here are the rules:

• To play you must be awarded this blog button by someone. Accept the badge, stick it on your blog- then post about it. Make sure your badge links back to the person who gave it to you.
• Name five blogs in your post that you think are *worthy* of this sweet kick-ass badge. Don't forget to let them know you've nominated them =)

1. Patricia @ Peace Love & Pat

2. Rachy @ Parajunkee's View

3. Rex Robot Reviews

4. Froggy @ Froggaritaville's Bookcase

5. Nely @ All About {n}

I hope you all think this is as awesome as I do!

2nd Anniversary!

Teel and I have been married two years!

We've been together for three!

Last year, for my birthday, Teel gave me a wonderful book ~ Six Word Memoirs on Love & Heartbreak.  Based on Hemingway's famous six word story, these are stories from celebrities and everyday people on the topic of love. Here are a few of my favorites:

Love plus laughter: happily ever after.  ~ Dan Goggin

Offered my heart; he embraced it. ~ Sue Kimber

Kissed many frogs. Finally found prince. ~Lacie Cannon

He always stirs my chocolate milk ~ Sarah Thornburg

And my turn:

Midnight cuddles to show his love.

and

He promised me 100 years married.

Here's hoping for another 98 wonderful years! (at least! )