Reading binge

I've been on a bit of a binge lately.  I'm going to have to stop soon and get my thoughts down for some reviews.

Reading List:
Reining in Murder, by Leigh Hearon
Kernel of Truth, by Kristi Abbott
Hearse and Gardens, by Kathleen Bridge
A Story to Kill, by Lynn Cahoon (NetGalley)
Out of Nowhere, by Susan Dunlap (NetGalley)

And those are just the ones that I have read (or am still actively reading) in the last week!  The TBR pile on my coffee table doesn't seem to be getting any shorter.  And we won't talk about all the books waiting on my Kindle...

There are a few more books on NetGalley I would love to request, but I have 3 more books on my new shelf to read, so I am holding off on requesting anything more until I have at least finished a few and left reviews.

By the way, the sock I was knitting on during the Readathon?  It's about to hit the frog pond.  After 2.5 repeats, I realized that the blasted chart in the pattern is not only upside down, but reads from right to left as well.  *Sigh*  This is why I usually hate charts. I shall be stealing a sheet of graph paper from my daughter and re-writing it before I start again.

April Reads

My "To Read" list for April (In no particular order):

Rest in Peach, by Susan Furlong

Reading Up a Storm, by Eva Gates

An Unhappy Medium, by Dawn Eastman

Breach of Crust, by Ellery Adams

Blood Orange, by Susan Wittig Albert

Crime and Poetry, by Amanda Flower

The Obsession, by Nora Roberts

Shadow Rites, by Faith Hunter

Fire Touched, by Patricia Briggs

The Cracked Spine, by Paige Shelton

Chaos Choreography, Seanan McGuire

Plus, I just received approval for 8 books to read and review for Netgalley, so they'll come first.

Reading List for June

1. Spider's Trap, Jennifer Estep. Sci fi/Fantasy. ARC.
2. In Search of the Paranormal, Richard Estep. Paranormal. ARC.
3. If You've Got It, Haunt It, Rose Pressey, Paranormal Cozy Mystery
4. Dark Debt, Chloe Neill. Paranormal, Sci-fi/Fantasy
5. Spelled, Betsy Schow. Sci-fi/Fanstasy

That's just what I've got lined up to read right now. The first three are in progress, but I keep getting sidetracked by life and haven't been able to finish even one! And when I do manage to run away and read, I tend to hide in the bathtub, and welp, can't take my Kindle in there ;)

Help me out here!

The last several books I've read have been major disappointments, from Nora Robert's The Search (boring) to Carrie Vaughn's Discord's Apple (good, but too complex for what I wanted/ needed to be reading right now, I had to really pay attention because there's a lot of switching back and forth from world to world. Sadly, when I get off work I just want an easy read, something to melt into without a lot of effort. Discord's not that kind of book. Would have been a better book to read over the weekend when I had more time to keep things straight.)

Vaughn's newest Kitty Norville book was good, but not my favorite in the series. The White Queen by Phillipa Gregory was so-so, better than the much hyped Other Boleyn Girl, but not by much.

So what's a girl to read?

There are some books coming out next year that I am waiting for:

• River Marked, the next Mercy Thompson book. I'm hoping for more of Samuel, we'll see. Jan. 25, 2011


• Blackveil, Book 4 in the Green Rider series, a loooooong awaited book by Kristen Britain. Feb. 1, 2011


• Twilight's Dawn by Anne Bishop. A Black Jewels book, yay! March 1, 2011.

And of course we have the pre-holiday book season coming up:

• Intrigues: Book Two of the Collegium Chronicles. Yay, another Valdemar book by Mercedes Lackey! Oct.5, 2010.


• A Holiday Yarn: A Seaside Knitters Mystery, Sally Goldenbaum. Nov. 2, 2010


• Double Knit Murders, Maggie Sefton. Nov. 2, 2010


• Happy Ever After, Nora Roberts. Nov. 2, 2010


• Indulgence in Death, J.D. Robb. Nov. 2, 2010


• The Other Side, J.D. Robb, et al. Nov. 30, 2010 (Busy, busy month for Nora!)

And several more I am wanting to read.

But what about NOW?? Any suggestions?

Reading List

On my bedside table, waiting to be read or in the process of being read:
Single white vampire / Lynsay Sands.
Every which way but dead / Kim Harrison
Mummy dearest / Joan Hess
Greedy bones / Carolyn Haines.
Girl's guide to witchcraft / Mindy Klasky
The Lost / J.D. Robb et al.

Read this year:

99. Animal appetite : a dog lover's mystery / Susan Conant.


100. Sword and sorceress XXXIII. / Multiple authors.


101. Sword and sorceress XXXII. / Multiple authors.


102. Wild boy : my life in Duran Duran / Andy Taylor


103. Nightingale's lament / Simon R. Green.


104. Hex and the city / Simon R. Green.


105. The glasswrights' progress / Mindy L. Klasky.


106. The glasswrights' apprentice / Mindy L. Klasky.


107. Magic and the modern girl / Mindy Klasky.


108. The glasswrights' test / Mindy L. Klasky.


109. The glasswrights' journeyman / Mindy L. Klasky.


110. Heir to the Shadows / Anne Bishop.


111. Dreams made flesh / Anne Bishop.


112. Patterns in the sand / Sally Goldenbaum.


113. Daughter of the blood / Anne Bishop.


114. The testament / John Grisham.


115. Grave secret / Charlaine Harris.


116. Bed of roses / Nora Roberts.


117. The shadow queen : a black jewels novel / Anne Bishop.


118. Kindred in death / J. D. Robb.


119. Dark slayer: a Carpathian novel / Christine Feehan.


120. Frostbitten / Kelley Armstrong.


121. Never after / Laurell K. Hamilton ... [et al.].


122. Just one sip / Katie MacAlister ... [et al.].


123. 206 bones / Kathy Reichs.


124. While my pretty one knits / Anne Canadeo.


125. To light a candle / Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory.


126. When darkness falls / Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory.


127. Valor's trial : a Confederation novel / Tanya Huff.


128. The outstretched shadow / Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory.


129. Legends : short novels by the masters of modern fantasy / edited by Robert Silverberg.


130. The heart of valor : a Confederation novel / Tanya Huff.


131. Must love hellhounds / Charlaine Harris ... [et al.].


132. The Enchantment Emporium / Tanya Huff.


133. Everlasting bad boys / Shelly Laurenston ... [et al.].


134. I only have fangs for you / Kathy Love.


135. Garden spells / Sarah Addison Allen.


136. Goddess of the rose / P.C. Cast.


137. Dragon wytch / Yasmine Galenorn.


138. Demon Mistress / Yasmine Galenorn.


139. Noah / Jacquelyn Frank.


140. Dragon heat / Allyson James.


141. Hidden currents / Christine Feehan.


142. The perfect poison / Amanda Quick.


143. Casual hex / Vicki Lewis Thompson.


144. Crate & peril / J.D. Warren.


145. Dragon actually / G.A. Aiken.


146. Unusual suspects : stories of mystery & fantasy / edited by Dana Stabenow.


147. Reader and raelynx / Sharon Shinn.


148. Black Hills / Nora Roberts.


149. Elijah / Jacquelyn Frank.


150. Dead and gone / Charlaine Harris.


151. Huntress / Christine Warren... et al.


152. Jacob / Jacquelyn Frank.


153. The shape-changer's wife / Sharon Shinn.


154. Fortune and fate / Sharon Shinn.


155. Sword and sorceress XX / edited by Marion Zimmer Bradley.


156. The thirteenth house / Sharon Shinn.


157. Dark moon defender / Sharon Shinn.


158. Mystic and rider / Sharon Shinn.


159. The darkest night / Gena Showalter.


160. Espresso shot / Cleo Coyle.


161. Dropped dead stitch / Maggie Sefton.


162. Undead and unwelcome / MaryJanice Davidson.


163. Forbidden nights with a vampire / Kerrelyn Sparks.


164. Skin trade / Laurell K. Hamilton.


165. Vision in white / Nora Roberts.


166. Turn coat : a novel of the Dresden files / Jim Butcher.


167. Summer on Blossom Street / Debbie Macomber.


168. Borderline / Nevada Barr.

And yes, I broke down and read the Twilight series. That's all I am saying about that...

This list is only the books I checked out from the local library (they keep the records for me, lol). It doesn't count the ones I requested from other libraries, or anything I've bought myself this year. I read everything I could get my hands on by Tanya Huff, Sharon Shinn, Anne Bishop and Madelyn Alt. I easily broke the 200 book mark this year ;)

Getting close to 100, lol

96. Running Hot / Jayne Ann Krentz
    Part of the Arcane Society series (written as both Krentz and Amanda Quick), now I have to start from the beginning, lol.


97. Murder List / Julie Garwood
    Not as good as the second book in the series, but not bad either.


98. Kitty Raises Hell / Carrie Vaughn
    This one took me a while to get into, but by the time I hit the third chapter I couldn't put it down until I finished it. I love Kitty!

I've got 4 more books waiting at the library to be picked up today, woot! Two are in the Arcane Society series, one is in Tate Halloway's Garnet Lacey series.

More Twilight and other things

88. New Moon / Stephenie Meyer.
    Did not love this book. In fact had very little like for this book (but please, don't tell my co-workers! Lol). I've been told the third book is better. We shall see.


89. Mona Lisa Darkening / Sunny
    Not my favorite of the series, I really struggled to get through it.


90. Drop-dead Blonde / Nancy Martin, et al.
    Four different mysteries by four different authors. I've even found a new series out of it. Woot!


91. Fire and Ice / Julie Garwood
    I enjoyed this book. Not great literature but entertaining. This book is actually a sequel to Murder List, which I am now reading.


92. Wicked By Any Other Name / Linda Wisdom
    This was a bit of a disappointment. Same universe as the Jazz stories, but Jazz has only a small role. I missed her, lol.


93. Mr. and Miss Anonymous / Fern Michaels
    Totally improbable plot, but an ok book ;)


94. Thai Die / Monica Ferris
    My least favorite in this series so far. I just wasn't interested in the characters this time around.


95. Confessions of a Shopaholic / Sophie Kinsella
    Fluff. Pure and total fluff. Very much a Bridget Jones wannabe, and since I didn't care much for Bridget I'm not sure what the fuss is about.

Not enough time

to do everything I want and read everything I want to read, lol. May is a good month for me, with several of my fave authors coming out with new books. Authors like Michele Bardsley, Charlaine Harris and MaryJanice Davidson. And the next Anita Blake book (it's a train wreck, I can't turn away! There's always this tiny hope inside of me that the old Anita we knew and loved could come back, and Edward's in this one so...) is out next month.

So anyway, here's what I have been reading. It's been a slow week, I'm working evenings and that's cut into my reading time.

86. While My Sister Sleeps / Barbara Delinsky.
    I knew I was going to be in tears by the end of this one. The sister isn't sleeping after all, she's in a coma. And I did cry at the end. It was a good book though and a quick read. It's also the first Barbara Delinsky book I've read in ages, so I shall likely read more.


87. Hex Appeal / Linda Wisdom.
    Ms. Wisdom is one of the Witchy Chicks that I so love. Hex Appeal is the second book in her series about 700 year old witch Jazz and her on again/off again vampire boyfriend, Nick. It's a cute, fun read.

I broke down and read it

80. Twilight / Stephenie Meyer.
    A couple of ladies at work talked me into reading it, they both loved it so much and when one offered to loan it to me, I thought why the heck not. It seems to be a book that polarizes people. You either love it or hate it. Or at least the most vocal people anyway. Me, I didn't hate it, but I can't say I loved it either. I'll likely read the rest of the series, just because I want to know the rest of the story now, but if I didn't ever read the rest that would be ok too.


81. Wormwood / Susan Wittig Albert


82. White Witch, Black Curse / Kim Harrison


83. Oolong Dead / Laura Childs

I've read better by all three of these authors.


84. The Accidental Werewolf / Dakota Cassidy
    There were times I wanted to smack the main character, Marty, right upside the head. It was a cute book, but she was a bit too inane for me. One more mention of the bloody color wheel of life and I think I would have screamed.


85. Accidentally Dead / Dakota Cassidy
    Second book in the Accidental Friends series and I enjoyed it much more. The m.c. was smart mouthed, feisty and strong and much more likable than her girly-girl make-up freak friend in the first book. And third friend Wanda seems to be coming into her own now as well, so I can't wait to read her story, even if she's another damned color-wheel freak.

Hi!

75. Lords and Ladies / Terry Pratchett


76. Lavender Morning / Jude Deveraux


77. Sun in Glory / Mercedes Lackey, et al.
    How did I miss this anthology? Not as good as Sword of Ice, but good to see Talia's story of how she became a sunpriest.


78. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
    More re-reads. With the next movie coming out in July I thought the timing was good.


79. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
    Re-read. My very least favorite book of the series, lol. Prisoner of Azkaban is my favorite, but it's been pushed aside for the moment by a new batch of library books

I've skimmed several other books as well, but I truly thought most of them atrocious (hence the skimming) and don't consider them true reads.

I read my first Danielle Steele book in years, A Good Woman, and it was awful. Depressing and IMNSHO, dreadfully boring. Perhaps this is the reason I stopped reading her books...

I'd seen Kresley Cole books on a vamp booklist and thought I'd give it a go. Put one on hold and when it came in imagine my surprise when I discovered I'd checked it out once before and returned it days later after deciding it wasn't my cup of tea. I gave it another try and I have to say it still isn't my cup of tea. The second book of hers I had was returned to the library, unopened. *Sigh*

Blizzard!

We've had a seriously mild winter this year, and now we know why! Mother Nature was storing it all it for a March blizzard! And me with only one unread library book, oops. Lucky for me, I've got my own personal library to dig through if needed and a knitting project on the go as well.

But anyhoo, here's what I have read in the last few days:

58. Foundation / Mercedes Lackey.
    The first new Valdemar novel in 5 years! And I found it just as engrossing as any of the previous books. This one is set after Vanyel's time, but well before any of the others, at the very foundation of the Heraldic Collegium. I would say that this is more of a young adult book than previous books in the series, it is a bit simplistic. But I enjoyed it and didn't want to put it down and now I am anxiously awaiting the next book in the series, because I need to know what happened, lol.
    
    If you've read other reviews of this book (say on Amazon) I suggest getting the book from your local library and reading for yourself. A lot of the reviews I read were nit-picky and annoying. Yes, they played children's games. Yes they eat fondue (no fondue is not a modern day food, it's been around a long time). Yes they have machines that split logs (but Valdemar has always had artificers and you have to remember they also had magic until fairly recently, why wouldn't artificers come up with ways to replace magic now that it's gone?). Yes, the people no longer remember Vrondi. But hello, if you've read the entire Valdemar series, you'll know that in first the Mage Winds trilogy and more in the Mage Storms trilogy it's explained that knowledge of magic was magically suppressed by Vanyel to keep people from panicking at no longer having Herald-Mages, hence the pained look on Herald Nikolas' face when talking about them. Sheesh.

I've read a few more books lately as well, but this post is long enough for the moment, lol.

Knitting more, reading less. And this last week we were on vacation, so I didn't really read as much as usual, since there was so much to do :)

50. Ghouls Just Haunt to Have Fun / Victoria Laurie
    I love this series. Laurie has me absolutely hooked with her quirky ghost busting characters.


51. Deadly Housewives / Nevada Barr, et al.


52. Carrot Cake Murder / Joanne Fluke.


53. You're The One That I Haunt / Terri Garey
    Not my favorite in this series. I enjoyed the first two books a lot more. In fact, I will admit to skimming this book more than reading it, because I just didn't care for it.


54. Moving Targets and Other Tales of Valdemar / Mercedes Lackey et al.
    Love the Valdemar stories and it's interesting seeing other author's take on the world. I've two more Mercedes Lackey books for this next week, including the new Valdemar novel.


55. Baby, Don't Go / Susan Andersen.


56. The First Death / Laurell K. Hamilton
    This is the first of the newish graphic novels based on Anita Blake. I picked it up out of curiosity at the library. good to see the old Anita again, but not my thing.


57. Six Geese A-Slaying / Donna Andrews.

Needless to say, that more than fulfills my 52 books in 52 weeks quota. And I read every last one of them, not a single audible book in the bunch! (Sorry, audible books just seem like a cheat somehow, and besides, I prefer the way the characters sound in my head, lol).

I'll still continue to read (DUH!) and post them here. Now it's all about just how many books can I read in a year. ;)

46 - 49

46. Dead and Berried / Karen MacInerney.
    Second in a series.


47. Murder With All the Trimmings / Elaine Viets.
    This wasn't my favorite of the series. I really didn't like many of the characters, including the main character's wishy washy but hunky boyfriend.


48. Witch Hunt / Shirley Damsgaard.
    Another good story in the Abby and Ophelia series.


49. Murder is Binding / Lorna Barrett.
    I was disappointed, not because it was a bad book but because I'm an idiot! I saw the title at the bookstore but didn't pick it up to read the back. When it came in at my library I checked it out and started to read it as soon as I got home. Umm. Oops. I've already read this one. Lol. Maybe I can try the second book in this series next time.

44 and 45

44. Brimstone Kiss / Carole Nelson Douglas
    This is the second in a new series for Ms. Nelson. She's better known for her Midnight Louie mysteries (of which I am not a huge fan, I prefer her Irene Adler mysteries, but anyhoo...). This series features Delilah Street, a paranormal investigator in Vegas where vamps, weres and other things that go bump in the night are common.
    
    This has been an odd read for me. Normally when I like a book I don't want to put it down, but this one I've read in fits and starts. And I do like the book. Maybe it's that the pace of the story itself is slow, so I am taking it slow to read it? I don't know, maybe it's that I just kept getting tempted away by other reads!



45. Casting Spells / Barbara Bretton
    I highly enjoyed this book, starting it yesterday and reading well into the night to finish it, lol. I truly hope we see more of this town. it's was a good, light, romantic mystery. And for all you knitters out there, the main character owns a wool shop, the kind we all wish truly existed, where the wool never tangles and stitches are never dropped ;) There really isn't a huge amount of knitting going on though, so non-knitters should be fine (although Barbara Bretton really does knit along with several other authors. See the blog.

Books 39 - 43

39. Fed Up / Jessica Conant-Park & Susan Conant.
    Not my favorite in this series. I had trouble actually getting into it this time around, which was too bad, because I liked the previous 3 novels.


40. Immortal Bad Boys / Rebecca York, Rosemary Laurey, Linda Thomas-Sundstrom
    All I can say about this book is WOW. And not in a good way. The first story did in the rest of them for me. It was a total, "Oh no you didn't!" moment. Vampires on Viagra? No, no, no! And the third "light romance"? It was complicated and dull and not very romantic at all.


41. The Snow Queen / Mercedes Lackey.
    This one was slow to get moving and then ran right up to the very end. I like this series and its twists on common fairy tales.


42. Fish Out of Water / MaryJanice Davidson
    This, in my opinion, is the best Fred book so far. Too bad it's also the last Fred book :(


43. A Veiled Deception / Annette Blair.
    A good first to the series for me, it left me wanting more. Now! Lol. I didn't want to put it down while I was reading it, which is always a good sign.

More books

I've been reading several of these at a time, lol. Several contain novellas, which make them good reads for work and just plain quick. Most of my choices this week were just okay. Nothing special, which is likely why I switched around a lot on them this week. Anyhoo, here's my list:

29. Never Been Witched / Annette Blair
    I love Annette Blair's witches, but this is my least favorite of the Triplets trilogy. I honestly didn't like the characters much. But the book had a very open ending, so perhaps we will see more of all the sisters?


30. Furies of Calderon / Jim Butcher.
    I didn't like this as much as I like the Dresden books, but an interesting read none the less. I've picked up the next several books in the series.


31. Before I Wake/ Kathryn Smith.
    A first in the series book again. It was ok. I'm hoping things get better as she goes


32. Ultra Violet / Nancy Bush.
    Again, an ok book. Nothing special.


33. Free-range knitter / Stephanie Pearl-McPhee.
    It's the Harlot. She makes me laugh. What else do I need to say?


34. I'm Your Santa / Karen Kelley, Dianne Castell
    Very light and fluffy short romances.


35. Murder on the Rocks / Karen MacInerney.
    A good first outing for the series. I am waiting impatiently for the arrival of book 2 from our loan program at the library.


36. Irish Magic / Roberta Gellis et al.
    Light and fluffy and short romances again. Nothing stood out.


37. The Reinvented Miss Bluebeard / Minda Webber.
    This book made me laugh. I like Ms. Webber's take on the old fairy tale world, lol. I'd previously read The Daughter's Grimm and laughed out loud.


38. Accessory to Murder / Elaine Viets.
    I think it must be my mood this week, because this book just didn't do a lot for me. I wanted to smack the main character's best friend for constantly parroting her husband and for generally being a fool. Really, the one character was enough to make me lose interest.

Reading...

Moving right along...

24. Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand / Carrie Vaughn
    Yes, I finally finished this one. Not my fave Kitty book. Maybe I subconsciously deliberately left it in the daughter's loo?


25. Electric Blue / Nancy Bush
    Book 2 in this series. Better than book 1, need to get my hands on book 3 soon.


26. Irish Magic II / Multiple Authors
    Mostly short, simple and enjoyable stories.

Tomorrow I want to finish Men of the Underworld. I'm liking this book a lot because it fills in a lot of the holes in the back story about Jeremy and Clay, but I've had to read it in bits and pieces. It explains A LOT about Clay, lol.

The week in which the only book I've finished

is one with three novellas. So I give you the revised

23. These Boots Were Made For Strutting / Lisa Cach, Gemma Halliday & Melanie Jackson

It's not that I didn't enjoy Men of the Otherworld. Or Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand. Men is hard cover and large so I don't take it to work. Kitty got put down... somewhere. It was easier to grab a book that I'd just picked up from the library than to search before work yesterday. And honestly, the three stories inside of Boots were light and fluffy and undemanding, much easier to read in short break chunks.

Besides, as the year goes on I think that you will find that it's not unusual for me to have three books on the go at once ;)

So anyhoo: Boots. The theme of the book is shoes actually, not a single pair of boots in any of the stories, but that's ok. Each story is about a magic pair of shoes ordered from a special online shoe store (which actually exists and is shamefully plugged throughout the book. Only to seriously disappoint when you go to the site and find nice shoes but nothing magical about the web design at all, but I digress...)

Each pair of shoes brings each wearer out of their shell so to speak and into situations that they normally wouldn't dream of being in. In so doing each woman learns things about herself. Quite honestly, I read the entire first story by Cach, and found myself skipping around the next two stories. Light, fluffy and well, boring.

Regular readers of Gemma Halliday's High Heels mystery series will likely enjoy her novella, though it's not the same characters. I myself could never actually read a high heel mystery all the way through, so no big surprise that I couldn't get through this shorter story.

By the time I got to Melanie Jackson's ballroom dancing inspired story I had completely lost interest in the whole book and read only to finish. That may have had something to do with having actually looked at the website oft mentioned in each story and decided that crass commercialism was alive and well even in short fiction, lol.

If I were grading this book I'd have to give it a C- as I only really got through one story, and immediately upon finishing canceled my library hold on the previous book, These Boots Were Made For Stomping.

23. and 24.

23. Men of the Otherworld / Kelley Armstrong


24. Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand / Carrie Vaughn

Actually a bit of a cheat, since I am still reading the first and contemplating starting the second before I finish Men of the Otherworld, lol.

22.

22. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society / Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows

I picked this book up at the library after seeing the title. See, hubby and I spent our honeymoon on Guernsey. In fact we got stranded on Guernsey when it snowed and the entire island shut down. But that's another story.

I knew some of the history of the island (one of the Nazi bunkers was turned into an aquarium that we visited) but it's hard to imagine what the islanders went through during World War II seeing the way things looked nearly twenty years ago, and imagine things have changed even more since then.

This book was wonderful. Sweet, laugh out loud funny in places, and sad as well. Bits of history interspersed with the fictional tale fascinated me.

(Added note: Hubby has now picked up the book and has read at least half just today. His opinion so far? Odd. But good. Lol.)