It's Monday! What are you reading? December 17, 2012
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This Monday meme is held by the The Book Journey. Feel free to join in and tell us what you’re 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, Greenwood’s 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 Three’s 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 else’s patch. Will Shea’s 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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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!
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: 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. 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.
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 you’re 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 wasn’t all that bad. Because he is no longer Harry Dresden, Chicago’s 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 wasn’t 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 won’t 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 own…
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!
Throwback Thursday (22) December 6, 2012
Posted by thehypermonkey in Book talk.Tags: book talk, books, reading, simon r. green, something from the nightside, throwback thursday, urban fantasy
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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: Something from the Nightside
Author: Simon R. Green
Original Publication Date: January 1st, 2003
Available at: Amazon – Kindle – Barnes and Noble
From Goodreads:
John Taylor is not a private detective per se, but he has a knack for finding lost things. That’s why he’s been hired to descend into the Nightside, an otherworldly realm in the center of London where fantasy and reality share renting space and the sun never shines.
This series is something along the vein of the Dresden Files. It’s gritty and full of magic just like Harry Dresden’s world. Except it has its own magic, its own characters. Its distinctive in that way too. The Nightside is a landscape that is hard to forget. It’s full of sorcery and demons. Witches and bounty hunters. It’s also full of violence. It’s definitely not light-hearted.
Although this series is dark, it’s still fun. It’s another series I keep meaning to pick up again. One of the many on my list.
It's Monday! What are you reading? December 3, 2012
Posted by thehypermonkey in Book talk.Tags: book talk, books, reading
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This Monday meme is held by the The Book Journey. Feel free to join in and tell us what you’re reading!
Title: Cat Bearing Gifts
Author: Shirley Rousseau Murphy
Available at: Amazon – Kindle – Barnes and Noble
From Goodreads:
A car crash, a missing treasure, a dead thief, and a suspicious blond divorcee have feline P.I. Joe Grey and his four-legged cohorts clawing for justice in this lively entry in the beloved, award-winning mystery series by Shirley Rousseau Murphy. “Joe Grey and Dulcie aren’t your ordinary feline detectives. Murphy’s raised the stakes of the feline sleuth genre.” (“Kirkus Reviews”) “Cat Bearing Gifts A Joe Grey Mystery” by Shirley Rousseau Murphy brings back the beloved furry team just in time for the holidays.
I’m REALLY enjoying this book, except I haven’t had time to read! I’ve been so busy! It’s killing me! I think this is the best book of the series. Can you believe it’s the eighteenth of the series? You’d think the series would get stale or repetitive. Maybe it’s because I love the characters so much, but I never get tired of reading about them.
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 wasn’t all that bad. Because he is no longer Harry Dresden, Chicago’s 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 wasn’t 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 won’t 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 own…
His soul.
This was just released the other week. I can’t wait to get to it. My friend Kate got this for me as an early Christmas present. This book will be number fourteen in the Harry Dresden series. I adore this series. The gritty adventure. The magic. The action! It’s always a treat to read a Jim Butcher book.
It’ll probably take me awhile to read this one since I’ll be busy this week as well. I’m still hoping I can squeeze in some reading time!
What recent releases are you excited about?
It’s Monday! What are you reading? December 3, 2012
Posted by thehypermonkey in Book talk.Tags: book talk, books, reading
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This Monday meme is held by the The Book Journey. Feel free to join in and tell us what you’re reading!
Title: Cat Bearing Gifts
Author: Shirley Rousseau Murphy
Available at: Amazon – Kindle – Barnes and Noble
From Goodreads:
A car crash, a missing treasure, a dead thief, and a suspicious blond divorcee have feline P.I. Joe Grey and his four-legged cohorts clawing for justice in this lively entry in the beloved, award-winning mystery series by Shirley Rousseau Murphy. “Joe Grey and Dulcie aren’t your ordinary feline detectives. Murphy’s raised the stakes of the feline sleuth genre.” (“Kirkus Reviews”) “Cat Bearing Gifts A Joe Grey Mystery” by Shirley Rousseau Murphy brings back the beloved furry team just in time for the holidays.
I’m REALLY enjoying this book, except I haven’t had time to read! I’ve been so busy! It’s killing me! I think this is the best book of the series. Can you believe it’s the eighteenth of the series? You’d think the series would get stale or repetitive. Maybe it’s because I love the characters so much, but I never get tired of reading about them.
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 wasn’t all that bad. Because he is no longer Harry Dresden, Chicago’s 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 wasn’t 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 won’t 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 own…
His soul.
This was just released the other week. I can’t wait to get to it. My friend Kate got this for me as an early Christmas present. This book will be number fourteen in the Harry Dresden series. I adore this series. The gritty adventure. The magic. The action! It’s always a treat to read a Jim Butcher book.
It’ll probably take me awhile to read this one since I’ll be busy this week as well. I’m still hoping I can squeeze in some reading time!
What recent releases are you excited about?
Stacking the Shelves (25) December 1, 2012
Posted by thehypermonkey in Book talk.Tags: book talk, books, reading, stacking the shevles
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Oxford Whispers byMarion Croslydon
Wide Awake by Danielle Lanzarotta
Triangle: False Mirror by D.G. Speirs
The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells
Royal Flush by Scott Bartlett
Demon Kissed by H.M. Ward
The Pale Hand of God by S.M. White
Red Madrassa by Terah Edun
Wow! I got a lot of books this week! It didn’t feel like it was a lot at the time. I actually bought books this book, but I did get one book that was free. Oxford Whispers was free. It has a Voodoo twist in the heart of Oxford. I thought that was intriguing. The rest of the books I bought were all under three dollars. I think I can afford that!
Wide Awake is a young adult paranormal romance. Kayla starts seeing ghosts and finds that Hunter can see them too. It leads to all kinds of wild shennanigans that I can’t even begin to understand having not read the book. I’ve seen mention of “The Fallen” which make me believe there are angels? But there’s also an Academy? So we shall see.
Triangle: False Mirror looks Really Good! Two people end up with Talents through personal tragedy. Now they’re chasing a killer and that chase leads them on an adventure with even more serious ramifications. The super secret organization Triangle is after the same killer and the killer is after Triangle’s deadliest weapon.
It’s been likened to a Joss Whedon/CW show hybrid. It’s supposed to be a rowdy adventure story and I can’t wait to read it. I paid the most for it out of all my books but I think it should be worth it. If it’s not I’m going to hurl my Kindle across the room against the wall and curse the author to the nine shades of hell.
Well. Maybe not.
I found out about the next book from one of the blogs I read. I should have made a not of which blog, but I’m a terrible person and I read too many blogs thus I forgot. The Cloud Roads is about winged shape-shifters. One in particular that has had to live among other species his whole life and has grown up wary and distrustful as a result. When he’s finally united with his own species he has a hard time connecting with them because he can’t let his guard down due to his distrustful nature. Little does he know, he plays an important part in a power struggle within the colony. He also doesn’t know that his species face extinction.
Demon Kissed is about a demon caller that resits the urge because her mother couldn’t and that sent her into hell. Unfortunately due to dire financial straits, she’s forced to start demon calling to stay afloat. There’s also a romance element. She falls in love with “the enemy”. I hope it doesn’t come off too forced or too tawdry. We’ll just have to see.
Royal Flush is a book submission, as are The Pale Hand of God and Red Madrassa. The three books couldn’t be any more different though. Royal Flush is a fantasy comedy. It’s about an incompetent Kind and his fiddler as they stave off a siege while the King tries to steal away the fiddler’s girlfriend. I was a bit skeptical as to whether or not I’d like a comedy but I read a sample and I enjoyed it.
The Pale Hand of God is a dark fantasy adventure about a warrior in a prison city fighting for his freedom.The Red Madrassa is a young adult fantasy adventure that has a complicated plot. Click on the link to find out more. It looks really good and I enjoyed the sample I read.
Phew! That was a lot of books! I hope you enjoyed hearing about them. Maybe you’ll decide to get one yourself! Maybe you’ll wait until I review them. 😉
Either way, that does it for this week’s Stacking the Shelves. See you next week and have a great weekend!
Throwback Thursday (21) November 29, 2012
Posted by thehypermonkey in Book talk.Tags: book talk, books, laurie r. king, mystery, reading, the beekeeper's apprentice, 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: The Beekeeper’s Apprentice
Author: Laurie R. King
Original Publication Date: 1994
Available at: Amazon – Kindle – Barnes and Noble
From Goodreads:
Long retired, Sherlock Holmes quietly pursues his study of honeybee behavior on the Sussex Downs. He never imagines he would encounter anyone whose intellect matched his own, much less an audacious teenage girl with a penchant for detection. Miss Mary Russell becomes Holmes’ pupil and quickly hones her talent for deduction, disguises and danger. But when an elusive villain enters the picture, their partnership is put to a real test.
This was another recommendation by my mother. She was attracted to the books because of the Sherlock Holmes slant. I liked it because it had an “audacious teenage girl.” Mary Russell is just about my favorite female mystery novel character. She’s smart and resourceful. She’s charismatic and she can impress the great Sherlock Holmes.
I also like how King handles the romance between Russell and Holmes. It’s never overly emotional or full of gushing frivolity. There may be a certain twinkle to the eye, but it’s not lewd. It’s handled with dignity and decorum as befits the great Holmes. It’s also a partnership. Holmes is never a dictator to Russell. He treats her as an equal in intellect. He even teaches her how to disguise herself so she can tail suspects.
There are instances of misunderstanding, as in every relationship. But they’re handled between two thinking adults with conversation and communication after tempers have cooled. Holmes never treats her like an infant despite her youth. That’s what I like the most in this book.
It’s a very good read and because it doesn’t take place in our own time, it’s practically timeless. If you like mysteries this one is worth picking up!
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