New digs! December 19, 2012
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I’ve moved! My new site up and running on my own domain. Please come and visit me! Maybe subscribe to the RSS feed? đ
Have a great day!
It's Monday! What are you reading? December 17, 2012
Posted by thehypermonkey in Book talk.add a comment
This Monday meme is held by the The Book Journey. Feel free to join in and tell us what youâre reading!
Title: How to Disappear Completely
Author: Annika Howells
Available at: Kindle – Barnes and Noble
From Goodreads:
In Greenwood, fitting in is a matter of life and death.
Cynical seventeen-year-old Lycia wakes up in the dark, twisted town of Greenwood, unable to remember how she got there. Aside from her mother, who is trapped in a coma-like sleep, Greenwoodâs only other inhabitants are the hostile and eerily identical students who attend the school.
Lycia befriends the school outcasts; the eccentric Aster and his shy companion, Meg. Together they discover a trapdoor into a bizarre, dream-like underworld called Bassisha. When the violence in Greenwood escalates to deadly new heights, Bassisha seems like their only hope of freedom. But Bassisha has dangers of its own.
As madness sets in and reality crumbles, Lycia, Aster and Meg must find a way to escape from a nightmare of their own creation.
I just finished a book last night so I’ll be starting this book today. The author submitted it to me for review and I look forward to reading it. I read a sample of the book awhile ago and I liked it. The premise sounds promising. Lately I’ve read a lot of great books by Indie authors.
Title: Three’s a Crowd
Author: Mary Lydon Simonsen
From Goodreads:
In Threeâs A Crowd, we are introduced to Patrick Shea, a young detective sergeant with the Hampden Criminal Investigation Department, whose career is being fast-tracked by the Metropolitan Police in London. With an eye to an appointment with a murder investigation team at New Scotland Yard, Shea is doing everything by the book. Unfortunately, his love life is a bit of a mess and gets messier when he learns his former lover, Annie Jameson, has been assaulted on someone elseâs patch. Will Sheaâs involvement in the under-the-radar investigation of his ex-girlfriend put his career in jeopardy and possibly her life as well?
Title: A Killing in Kensington
Author: Mary Lydon Simonsen
From Goodreads:
Detective Sergeant Patrick Shea of London’s Metropolitan Police and his new partner, Detective Chief Inspector Tommy Boyle, have been handed a high-profile murder case. In the penthouse of Kensington Tower, playboy Clifton Trentmore lay dead with his head bashed in, and the investigation reveals a man who was loathed by both sexes. With too few clues and too many suspects, Shea and Boyle must determine who hated Trentmore enough to kill him. But as Patrick digs deeper, he finds his suspects have secrets of their own.
After How to Disappear Completely, I thought I’d treat myself to a mystery. Three’s a Crowd is the first in the Patrick Shea series and is a novella. It should be a quick read. A Killing in Kensington is the second in the series and is a full-length novel. It’s supposed to be grittier. I can’t wait to read these because I haven’t had a chance to read serious mysteries in awhile.
That should cover me for this week! What are you reading this week?
Stacking the Shelves (27) December 15, 2012
Posted by thehypermonkey in Book talk.Tags: book talk, books, reading, stacking the shelves
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![STSmall_thumb[2]_thumb](https://akamaireader.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/stsmall_thumb2_thumb.png?w=460)
Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by TyngaReviews.com and is a book haul post to show off everything you purchased or received for review.
Windigo Soul by Robert Brumm
What Alice Knew:A Most Curious Take of Henry James and Jack the Ripper by Paula Marantz Cohen
Wolf Girls:Dark Tales of Teeth, Claws and Lycogyny edited by Hannah Kate
Audie the Angel and the Angel Army by Erika Kathryn
Sophie and the Rising Sun by Augusta Trobaugh
The Legacy of Kilkenny by Devyn Dawson
The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer
Another plentiful week in the book department! I feel like I should give Thanksgiving every week since most of my books are on sale or free. The first book, Windigo Soul, sounds like a Soylent Green but it appears it’s something a little different. It’s a dystopian and everyone at the age of 60 dies. One family learns what really happens when you get “executed”. The book has a warning that it’s not meant to be read by anyone under seventeen. That sounds too enticing to pass up!
The next book is obviously concerned with Henry James and Jack the Ripper. What the title, What Alice Knew, doesn’t tell is that it also is about a bedridden, invalid sister of Henry James who has a mind bent toward solving the mystery of who Jack the Ripper is. As Henry James is asked to consult on the case, the two of them discuss the details and try to puzzle out Jack the Ripper’s identity. The reviews say the book is more then the mystery. It’s about the relationship between brother and sister. I look forward to reading it.
Wolf Girls is a short story anthology I received for review. It contains stories about female werewolves. I’ve already read one story and it was really bloodthirsty. I’m really interested in seeing how women are portrayed in the other stories.
Audie the Angel and the Angel Army is another book I received for review. It’s definitely a young adult book, but the sample charmed me and the writing engaged me. I can’t wait to read the rest of the book to see what it’s like.
Sophie and the Rising Sun takes place during World War II. Sophie is a spinster when she strikes up a friendship with her Japanese gardener. A romantic relationship ensues. The book is about their struggles during a time when interracial relationships was frowned upon, especially with the Japanese.
The next book, The Legacy of Kilkenny, is about werewolves. The reviews I’ve read have said that the relationship between the two central characters, the pack princess and the new werewolf, Abel is not a romantic one. I thought that would be a nice change. Another thing that sounds like a nice change is the female is the mentor and the male is the protegee. It sounds like a refreshing book if done right.
The last book, The Grand Sophy, is by my favorite romance author. Georgette Heyer is the best Regency writer in my opinion. Her research was impeccable and her books have a certain class to them that no one can imitate. The Grand Sophy is my favorite of all her books. Sophy is a spontaneous and free soul. Yet she manages everyone around her effortlessly. She tames her cousins tyrannical ways and straightens our her other cousins hopeless romantic life. I love this book and I love Georgette Heyer. I was lucky enough to find it on sale. Hopefully I’ll get to reread it soon.
That’s it! That’s my haul! I hope you find something you might want to pick up yourself.
There are changes coming on the blog. I’ll be moving to my own domain soon. I’m not sure what that’s going to do to subscriptions. I’ll have a feedburner option available for the new site and if you come to this one it’ll simply redirect you.
Have a great weekend!
Review – The Duchess of the Shallows December 14, 2012
Posted by thehypermonkey in 4.5 stars, Fantasy.Tags: "book review", books, daniel ravipinto, fantasy, neil mcgarry, reading, the duchess of the shallows
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Title: The Duchess of the Shallows
Author: Neil McGarry & Daniel Ravipinto
Publisher:Â Peccable Productions
Publication Date: March 2, 2012
ASIN: B007HTUXWC
Available at: Kindle  – Barnes and Noble
From Goodreads:
A game is played in the fog-shrouded city of Rodaas, and every citizen, from the nameless of the Shallows to the noblest of the Garden, is a player or a pawn. And no one is as he appears.
Not Minette, brothel-keeper and obsessive collector of secrets. Not Uncle Cornelius, fearsome chief of the gang of brutes and murderers known as the Red. Not the cults of Death, Wisdom, and Illumination, eternally scheming and plotting along the Godswalk.
And certainly not the orphaned bread girl known as Duchess.
Yet armed with nothing more than her wits, her good friend Lysander and a brass mark of dubious origin Duchess will dare to play that game for the most coveted of prizes: initiation into a secret society of thieves, spies and rumormongers who stand supreme in a city where corruption and lies are common coin.
The Grey.
Review: *I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The Grey is a network of thieves and spies as well as secret traders. Duchess believes her entrance into their society will give her the answers she seeks about her family. Entrance into The Grey is hard to come by and her task is dangerous to say the least. She needs to rob a nobleman’s house while he’s having a party. Â Not easy.
Duchess is very ambitious and she’s driven by a need to know what exactly happened to her family when she was a small child. She’s also extremely resourceful and smart. I grew to admire her as the book went on.  Not only that, she was handy with a  knife. Duchess had a good network of people in the Shallows to rely on. There was Minette, the brothel-keeper and there was Lysander.
Lysander was disarming with his sweet charm. I really enjoyed reading about him. He is a ganymede or a male prostitute. He’s made his living on his looks and his wits for more years then Duchess can count. They’ve been friends since they were young children. Best of friends. Lysander taught Duchess much about the way of the Shallows.
This book was fast paced and I was easily absorbed by the well developed plot and characters. The world building was exceptional. There are layers of social classes and religious sects, including criminal elements. I was disappointed when the story ended purely because I wanted to keep on reading about Duchess and Lysander. I look forward to the next book in the series!
Throwback Thursday (23) December 13, 2012
Posted by thehypermonkey in Book talk.Tags: a thousand splendid suns, book talk, books, contemporary fiction, khaled housseini, reading, throwback thursday
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Throwback Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by The Housework Can Wait and Never Too Fond of Books. While the spotlight is always on the new releases, Throwback Thursday features a book published five or more years ago.
Title: A Thousand Splendid Suns
Author: Khaled Hosseini
Original Publication Date: Â May 22, 2007
Available at: Amazon – Kindle – Barnes and Noble
Summary:
A Thousand Splendid Suns spans two generations and details the lives of two women and their struggles in Pakistan. The first is Miriam, the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy businessman who eventually marries an older abusive man. Â The second is Laila, a young girl who becomes the second wife of the same man. This is the story of their struggles.
Khaled Hosseini is better known for his book The Kite Runner but I liked A Thousand Splendid Suns more. I was more terrified for the characters in this book then I was in the other because they were female. It’s sexist I know, but I’m female so the correlation is there.
The atrocities the women suffered under Rasheed, their husband were unspeakable and I had a hard time reading it. I still feel it’s something to be read. It’s something that people need to know about. To gain sympathy for a people and to gain understanding for a people you need to gain knowledge first. In this way, reading is the gateway to that knowledge. This book is a significant piece of that gateway.
If I had to rate this book I’d rate it a five star book and I so rarely give five stars these days. It’s something to definitely pick up when you can stomach it. Just make sure you have something else to cheer you up afterwards.
Review – The Weird Girls December 12, 2012
Posted by thehypermonkey in 4 stars, Urban Fantasy.Tags: "book review", books, cecy robson, celia wird, novella, reading, the weird girls, urban fantasy
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Title: The Weird Girls
Author: Cecy Robson
Publisher: Signet
Publication Date: December 4, 2012
ASIN: B008EXNZZM
Available at: Kindle – Barnes and Noble
From Goodreads:
Celia Wird and her three sisters are just like other 20-something girlsâwith one tiny exception: they’re products of a backfired curse that has given each of them unique powers that make them, well, a little weirdâŚ
The Wird sisters are different from every race on earthâhuman and supernatural. When human society is no longer an option for them, they move in among the resident vampires, werebeasts, and witches of the Lake Tahoe region. Could this be the true home theyâve longed for? Um, not quite. After the sisters accidentally strip a witch of her powers in a bar brawl, they soon realize the mistake will cost them. Because to take on a witch means to take on her coven. And losing the battle isnât an option.
Review:
Celia and her sisters tangle with the local witch’s coven and it’s up to Celia to protect her sisters. She takes on the head of the coven in one on one match. Over the next few days she’ll have to face a series of challenges. Never knowing what will arise, Celia will have to stay on her toes to survive.
This novella starts off with a bang and keeps on going. It’s a thrill ride that has just enough energy in it to keep you going. The witch that Celia takes on is a royal you-know-what. Cecy portrays her so perfectly. I wanted to smack her myself.
I loved that this was about Latina heroines. It’s so rare that authors write about anyone other then those of Caucasian descent. I love what it adds to the story and I wish more authors would write about heroines like Celia and her sisters.
I really loved Celia. She was protective of her sisters without being motherly. She was fierce without being masculine. She was strong without losing her vulnerability. I loved her to pieces. I loved that she was a weretiger! Something other then a wolf! The difference was slight but it was just enough to make it noticeable.
If there were weaknesses in the story it was that I felt like the background on the curse could have been developed more. After all it made the Wird girls who they were. I felt like it was a vital piece of who they were and would have provided a lot of more to the sisters characters.
Other then that, this was a strong prequel to a series and I’m truly looking forward to the first book in the series. (Sealed with a Curse comes out on December 31st.)
Review – The Portal December 11, 2012
Posted by thehypermonkey in 5 stars, Sci-Fi.Tags: "book review", alan zendell, books, dystopian, reading, sci-fi, the portal
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Title: The Portal
Author: Alan Zendell
Publisher: FeedBrewer, Inc.
Publication Date: March 21, 2011
ASIN: B004TBC4DW
Available at: Kindle – Barnes and Noble
From Goodreads:
Harry Middleton is born in an America staggered by a century of decline, a time of medical and technological marvels beyond the reach of most people in a shattered economy. Pessimism and despair are more common than optimism and hope, and a desperate government bets the future on space. The lunar and Martian colonies have not provided the hoped-for salvation, so despite an angry, disillusioned public, the first star mission will soon be launched.
Harry is a special child, smart, precocious, his only confidante an embittered grandfather. When the old man dies, Harry is lost, until he meets Lorrie. At thirteen, they bond, certain theyâll spend their lives together, but a year later, she disappears, and Harry is desolate.
With help from his friend Carlos, Harry begins a quest to find her, but he quickly learns how powerless he is. Even the police lack the resources to help. Harry and Carlos can only depend on themselves and each other. An unlikely duo, Harry is an academic prodigy while Carlos is a stud athlete. Realizing that school and baseball are their tickets out of the morass theyâre caught in, they inspire each other to greatness in both.
Trying to move on with his life, Harry has a college sweetheart, but as long as Lorrie haunts him, he knows the relationship is doomed. He gains celebrity and wealth, but the thing Harry wants most, finding and saving Lorrie from whatever fate took her from him remains beyond his reach. And always, in the background, are the deteriorating state of the country and the coming star missions.
And of course, there’s the Portal.
Review: *A free copy of this book was given in return for an honest review.
This book basically chronicles the life of Harry Middleton during the 22nd century. It centers around his high school sweetheart Lorrie Grissom who disappeared when he was just fifteen. He spends a lot of resources searching for her and she’s never really far from his mind.
I’m a huge baseball fan. Huge. Naturally when baseball came up in this book I was thrilled. Futuristic baseball! Harry’s baseball career starts young and is an integral part of his life. His boyhood friend Carlos is also a baseball player and together they become a team.
Carlos was a rough around the edges type of guy. He was incredibly street smart. Harry drove Carlos to do better at his studies while Carlos drove Harry to do better athletically. They complimented each other extremely well. After Lorrie went missing, Carlos and Harry became inseparable.
The decline of America that the book shows is staggering. It shows itself all through the book. It made me wonder if that’s where we’re really heading. At the same time, the book shows the resiliency of the American spirit. Despite the dismal conditions, Americans still fought to keep their country great.
This book made me look at the future differently. I look at it with a bit of hope and with a bit of dread. Either way, I enjoyed this book tremendously and it’s something I hope to reread in the future.
It's Monday! What are you reading? (29) December 10, 2012
Posted by thehypermonkey in Book talk.Tags: book talk, books, cold days, jim butcher, reading
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This Monday meme is held by the The Book Journey. Feel free to join in and tell us what youâre reading!
Title: Cold Days
Author: Jim Butcher
Available at: Amazon – Kindle – Barnes and Noble
From Goodreads:
HARRY DRESDEN LIVES!!!
After being murdered by a mystery assailant, navigating his way through the realm between life and death, and being brought back to the mortal world, Harry realizes that maybe death wasnât all that bad. Because he is no longer Harry Dresden, Chicagoâs only professional wizard.
He is now Harry Dresden, Winter Knight to Mab, the Queen of Air and Darkness. After Harry had no choice but to swear his fealty, Mab wasnât about to let something as petty as death steal away the prize she had sought for so long. And now, her word is his command, no matter what she wants him to do, no matter where she wants him to go, and no matter who she wants him to kill.
Guess which Mab wants first?
Of course, it wonât be an ordinary, everyday assassination. Mab wants her newest minion to pull off the impossible: kill an immortal. No problem there, right? And to make matters worse, there exists a growing threat to an unfathomable source of magic that could land Harry in the sort of trouble that will make death look like a holiday.
Beset by enemies new and old, Harry must gather his friends and allies, prevent the annihilation of countless innocents, and find a way out of his eternal subservience before his newfound powers claim the only thing he has left to call his ownâŚ
His soul.
I’m still reading this book because it’s over 500 pages long. I’ll probably be at it all week long because it’s over 500 pages long. Don’t get me wrong, this is probably the best Dresden book so far. It’s just hefty! I have other things to do as well! Not to mention it’s a busy time of the year. It truly is the best book of the series yet though. Yes, this is book fourteen. It’s still worth investing your time and energy into this series. I’m already dreading the review I’m going to have to write. How am I going to do justice to this magnificent book?
Stacking the Shelves (26) December 8, 2012
Posted by thehypermonkey in Book talk.Tags: book talk, books, reading, stacking the shelves
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Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by TyngaReviews.com and is a book haul post to show off everything you purchased or received for review.
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Memoria: A Collection of Lies by Alex Bobl
Prison Nation by Jenni Merritt
The Bloodletter’s Daughter by Linda Lafferty
Stained by Ella James
The Weird Girls by Cecy Robson
Parallel by Claudia Lefeve
Three’s a Crowd by Mary Lydon Simonsen
A Killing in Kensington by Mary Lydon Simonsen
I got quite a few books this week. The first book I got, Memoria is an adult dystopia. You don’t see many of those so I was immediately intrigued. The society in the book Memoria is run by corporations.
Prison Nation is a young adult book. It’s about a young girl who is born in a prison. She believes in the rules of her prison nation but she begins to question her beliefs as she grows up.
The next book isn’t my usual cup of tea. The Bloodletter’s Daughter is a historical romance. I was interested in this book because of the time period and because of the location. It takes place during the 17th-century reign of the Hapsburg Empire in Old Bohemia. I know very little of that place or time so I look forward to learning more about it.
Stained sounds like it’s about angels. I’m pretty sure it’s about angels. It’s about Nephilim. That’s angels right?
The Weird Girls is by an author I met on Twitter. It’s a prequel novella to her book Sealed with a Curse which is due out on December 31st. I plan on reviewing it next week.
Parallel is an alternate reality story. I’ve always been intrigued by such stories. The “what if’s” have always crossed my mind. It should be an interesting read.
The next two books are books one and two of the Patrick Shea Mystery Series. This is also not in my usual range of reading materials. I was interested in this series because it said in the blurb that if you like Law and Order UK you’ll like this book. I love that series and I do love British mysteries. Three’s a Crowd is a novella while A Killing in Kensington is a full length novel. I can’t wait to dive into these! It’s been too long since I read a good British mystery.
That’s it from me this week. See you next week and have a fantastic weekend!
Review – Dearly, Beloved December 7, 2012
Posted by thehypermonkey in 4 stars, Paranormal Romance.add a comment
Title: Dearly, Beloved
Author: Lia Habel
Publisher: Del Rey
Publication Date: September 25, 2012
ISBN-13: 978-0345523341
Available at: Amazon – Kindle – Barnes and Noble
From Goodreads:
Can the living coexist with the living dead?
Thatâs the question that has New Victorian society fiercely divided ever since the mysterious plague known as âThe Lazâ hit the city of New London and turned thousands into walking corpses. But while some of these zombies are mindless monsters, hungry for human flesh, others can still think, speak, reason, and control their ravenous new appetites.
Just ask Nora Dearly, the young lady of means who was nearly kidnapped by a band of sinister zombies but valiantly rescued by a dashing young man . . . of the dead variety.
Nora and her savior, the young zombie soldier Bram Griswold, fell hopelessly in love. But others feel only fear and loathing for the reanimated dead. Now, as tensions grow between pro- and anti-zombie factions, battle lines are being drawn in the streets. And though Bram is no longer in the New Victorian army, he and his ex-commando zombie comrades are determined to help keep the peace. That means taking a dangerous stand between The Changed, a radical group of sentient zombies fighting for survival, and The Murder, a masked squad of urban guerrillas hellbent on destroying the living dead. But zombies arenât the only ones in danger: Their living allies are also in The Murderâs crosshairs, and for one vengeful zealot, Nora Dearly is the number one target.
As paranoia, prejudice, and terrorist attacks threaten to plunge the city into full-scale war, Noraâs scientist father and his team continue their desperate race to unlock the secrets of âThe Lazâ and find a cure. But their efforts may be doomed when a mysterious zombie appears bearing an entirely new strain of the virusâand the nation of New Victoria braces for a new wave of the apocalypse.
Review:
There’s a new Lazarus virus. It’s sourced to Patient Zero. His capture sparks an anti-life movement by the zombies called The Change. Meanwhile there’s a group of young bloods out to prove their mettle by killing zombies at will. As Nora’s father desperately tries to find the cure for this new strain of the disease, Bram and Nora get caught in the web of strife that sweeps New Victoria.
Of The Changed, I really liked Laura. She was brave despite being beaten down several times by those stronger then her. She was kind and generous. I also loved her flowers. I thought that was a really nice touch. I wish there had been illustrations of her with her flowers on her body. Between herself and Dog, I think they stole the show.
Nora and Bram don’t really grow as characters. That doesn’t mean they aren’t any more enjoyable to read about, but their romance became rather monotonous. There wasn’t any real spice to it. I expected something more to it. It does progress towards the end of the book. I was just disappointed that there wasn’t any real conflict like there might be in a more realistic situation.
We find Michael Allister involved with The Murder. I enjoyed reading about Allister because he struck me as particularly well-developed for an antagonist. While there weren’t many surprises when it came to Michael it still gave me great pleasure to read about him anyway. The clashes he had with Nora were extremely entertaining.
There’s enough resolution in this book to satisfy. There’s also an opening for the next in the series. I’m looking forward to the next book with bated breath!
The Akamai Reader 