I’m Still Here, Really…

Even though it’s almost been three weeks since I last posted. 

I’ve been away on work-related matters for the past week or so, and although I was planning on sticking up a “Gone Away” post, I was my usual disorganised last-minute self and ended up running out of time. 

Anyway, am back, slightly jetlagged, and to my joy, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller’s “Mouse & Dragon” is available online at Webscriptions.  I sneaked a peek because Baen does release e-versions early (it’s hitting the shelves June 1), and yay!  I believe M&D is the direct sequel to “Scout’s Progress”, one of the earlier books in their Liaden universe.

I didn’t actually read that much while travelling.  Actually, I ended up not bringing my e-reader with me. 

I know.

I debated this for quite a while, because I have so many ebooks I am yet to read (seriously, we’re talking a lot), and hey, isn’t one of the key selling points of an ereader is that it’s easy to carry around?

But I finally ended up setting it to one side, because I knew I wouldn’t have that much time to read, hence there being no point in bringing a wide selection of books.  And I was lugging so much work stuff in my carry-on that I really didn’t want to chuck a not-so-sturdy ereader in the mix.

So I decided it was an excellent opportunity to tackle my physical TBR pile and selected the following:

• Robin McKinley’s “Sunshine” (urban fantasy): I have been meaning to read this forever.  Seriously.  I mean, everyone seems to love it.  And Angie did a recent post on its various covers, so it was in the forefront of my mind.
• Susanna Kearsley’s “The Shadowy Horses” (romance): I picked this up a while back, err actually seven months back, looking at the date of that post, and have never quite felt in the right mood for it.  But I figured this would cover any romance cravings I had.
• George Mann’s “The Osiris Ritual” (steampunk fantasy/mystery): Added to my TBR piles at the same time as the Kearsley, and yes, again it was never quite the right time.  So I added this to my travelling pile to deliver a mystery fix if I wanted one.

And I was really rather pleased with my selections because I had pretty much all bases covered and three books I’ve been meaning to finish for a while.  Yes, I probably put more thought into this than the rest of my packing.

Well, best-laid plans and all that… guess how many of the above I read? Three-quarters of one.  Wait, I can explain!

The day before I left, I had one of my library requests come in – Richelle Mead’s “Succubus Shadows”, the latest in her Georgina Kincaid series.  Now, I’m trying to make more use of my local library.  And Mead is one of those authors whose books I do like, but not love.  So I thought it would be a good library candidate and added my name to the reservations list, not expecting it to come in so soon, but arrive it did and I collected it the morning before I left.

And guess what?  Obviously I started flipping through it on the way home from the library, obviously I decided that since I had started, I needed to finish it, and obviously it ended up being the one book I did finish on the trip.  So much for tackling my TBR pile.

The three-quarters book is “Sunshine”, and I am determined to get through the rest of it this weekend.  I am liking it, but – and maybe it’s because I’ve been reading it at spare intervals throughout the week – I’m not that deeply invested in the characters.  It is very good writing, like the other McKinley stories I’ve read, but I’m missing that magic spark that makes me flip pages frantically until I hit “The End”.

And I may be distracted by that “Mouse & Dragon”.

2009: Recap of My Reading Year Part II

Continuing my January to June recap, here’s the second half of my 2009 in books:

 

July

I finally got around to reading Megan Whalen Turner’s “The Thief” and yes, kicked myself in the what-took-me-so-long kind of way.  Because this series is an indisputable gem, so cleverly written and populated with wonderful characters.

I hit double-digits in terms of books read this month, a whole eleven books, most of which were good.  On the not-so-good side, I think I gave up on Janet Evanovich’s Plum books.  Or at least buying the hardcover.

 

 

August

Another Patricia Briggs book, this time “Hunting Ground” in her Anna and Charles series, was the standout book of the month for me.

I also loved Robin McKinley’s “The Hero and the Crown” (YA fantasy, and a beautifully-told coming-of-age story), which I picked up thanks to a rec from Angie, and heaved a huge sigh as I turned over the final page of Megan Whalen Turner’s “King of Attolia”.  Ah, Gen.

And with eleven books read this month, this quarter was looking good.

 

September

Wait for it… I read a massive 21 books.  Yes, I was on holiday.

 Lisa Kleypas’s contemporary romances “Blue-Eyed Devil” and “Smooth-Talking Stranger” impressed me with the way she dealt with serious issues while keeping the romance firmly at the centre of the story – her contemporaries are now autobuys for me.

I also got around to reading Mary Ann Schaffer & Annie Barrows’ “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” – it made me laugh and cry (at different times, before you ask).  A proper feel-good book.

And I also enjoyed Lisa Lutz’s “Curse of the Spellmans” (mystery, funny with heart), Ellen Crosby’s “The Merlot Murders” (mystery, loved the winemaking focus), and Mary Kay Andrews’ “Savannah Blues” (contemporary romance, filled with Southern charm and lots of humour).

 

October

So after the wonder that was September, I read seven books in October.  But they were mostly good.  I loved Sharon Shinn’s “Quatrain” (fantasy anthology) because her writing is beautiful and it was like revisiting old friends.

I finished my mini-glom of Joanne Dobson’s Karen Pelletier books (mystery) – I very much enjoyed the small-town college setting and the literature element of the mysteries.  And I really liked Ilona Andrews’ “On the Edge”  (paranormal romance, which felt almost like a frontier-set historical romance) and Ellen Emerson White’s “The President’s Daughter” (YA, and read thanks to another rec from Angie – no prizes for guessing who was responsible for quite a bit of my book spending this year).

 

November

A measly four books read (I think this was payback for September).  I made time to read Juliet Mariller’s “Heart’s Blood” (fantasy), and it was very much worth it.  Not quite as magical as her Sevenwaters world perhaps, but a very good read.

And really, that’s all I can say about November, which saw my number of blog posts also fall to a dismal three during the month.

 

 

December

Rounding off the year with 17 books read, I read and raved about Kristin Cashore’s “Fire” (fantasy) and Josh Lanyon’s “The Dark Tide” (mystery / m/m romance) in the final days of 2009.

But before that, I also loved Eloisa James’ “A Duke of Her Own” (historical romance), which wowed me with the very sexy and steamy chemistry between the hero and the heroine.  Unusually standalone for an Eloisa James book as well.

And technically a 2010 release, except I read it this side of the new year (just), I adored Karen Chance’s “Death’s Mistress” (urban fantasy), which was packed full of action and humour, and sneaked into my list of top reads for the year.

 

And that brought my total number of books read over the year to 115, which, while 40 fewer than what I read during 2008, had some truly excellent books.

One more post with lists and numbers, and that’ll be it for 2009, I promise!

MIA but in a Good Way

I haven’t been blogging much (again) but this time it’s because I’ve been reading.  I’m glad it’s Bank Holiday weekend, because I needed that extra time to catch up on my sleep, I’m been staying up way too late to finish “…just one more chapter”.

So an overview of my recent reads (pretty much spoiler-free as it’s more about my reaction to the books as opposed to the storylines):

 

Patricia Briggs’ “Hunting Ground” (urban fantasy):  I really can’t put my finger on why Ms Briggs’ writing works for me – all I know is it does.  So much so that I find myself re-reading passages all the way through the book, just to savour her words.  I never want to reach the last page.

Anyway, the story itself?  Very good.  I’m loving how Anna and Charles are slowly getting to know each other.  It’s refreshing how the “werewolf mates” device is not used as a panacea for all things, they still have issues to work through and their relationship isn’t necessarily all hearts-and-roses-forever just because they’ve bonded. As for the plot, I figured out the whodunnit just a couple of pages before the reveal, which was rather satisfying.  I’m also really enjoying getting another view on Ms Briggs’ world – very rich world-building indeed. 

And here’s something I just stumbled upon.  Here’s the cover to the next Mercy Thompson book “Silver Borne” (March 2010) from Ms Briggs’ website (link via OCD, Vampires, and Rants, Oh My!) in all its shiny glory.  I would squee a bit more, but (a) it’s a good eight months away and (b) us UK readers are probably going to end up with a totally different monochrome cover. 

ETA: I was right – UK version added on the left.  I mean, it’s not bad (and it’s still mass market paperback), but it sort of pales next to the US cover art.

 

Jo Beverley’s “The Secret Wedding” (historical romance):  It’s taken me a while to get around to reading this April release, but I haven’t been in the mood for a historical romance until recently.  This is second in a loose trilogy set in her Malloren world (the first, “A Lady’s Secret” was released last year, and the third, “The Secret Duke”, is out next April).  

I’m a fan of Ms Beverley’s books, especially her Malloren family books, so it was very nice to return to this world and revisit familiar characters.  To me, this book was solid, but lacked a bit of “oomph” relationship-wise.  I’m also not massively keen on plotlines that revolve around concealed identities, so I spent the first half of the book being slightly frustrated at Caro and Christian pretending to be other people.  But that is very much my personal preference, and once identities were revealed and Rothgar & co came onstage, there was no way I was putting it down.  Also, as with all Beverley books, this is in no way a wallpaper historical – the Georgian setting is beautifully described and comes alive.  And Thorne, the hero of the third book, completely caught my attention in this one – I’m very much looking forward to “The Secret Duke”. 

All in all, one that would be satisfying for long-time series fans, but probably not one I would recommend to Malloren newbies.

 

Richelle Mead’s “Blood Promise” (YA urban fantasy): I wasn’t 100% sure if I should shell out on the hardcover price for this book, but in the end I caved in.  Ms Mead has a trick of keeping you engrossed in the story, meaning I kept on turning the pages way into the night.  Having said that, while I do like this series, I’ve come to realise I’m not in love with it and I’m trying to figure out why. 

I think it’s because I’m not completely invested in the characters and their story, I’m not feeling everything that they are.  Having said that, I am impressed by the way Rose develops in this book and I have a feeling she’s pretty much left her younger self behind for good.  And something I appreciate about Ms Mead’s books (and this includes the Georgina Kincaid books as well) is that she’s not afraid to progress the series arc, there is a feeling of we’re heading somewhere, and even more, I trust her enough to sit back and enjoy the journey. 

I’m still not entirely sure that “Blood Promise” is worth the hardcover price, but then again, I did enjoy the book and finished it over a couple of days.

 

Robin McKinley’s “The Hero and the Crown” (fantasy): I bought this based on Angie’s rec earlier this month when I posted about YA/adult fantasy crossovers.  While I had read Ms McKinley’s “The Blue Sword”, I wasn’t aware that there was a prequel.  So when I spotted this in the bookstore the other day, I had to pick it up.

I loved Ms McKinley’s use of language and her storytelling.  Within a few pages, I was firmly settled into her world – no mean feat considering I was reading this on my way back home, standing in a crowded carriage on the Tube. 

I will admit I had mixed feelings for a few chapters, and took a while to realise why.  The first chapters of this book had me thinking it would be a romance, and so I was reading with my romance reader’s hat on, firmly believing this would be Aerin and Tor’s story.  And then Tor disappeared from the pages, Aerin took over, and this very much became Aerin’s voyage of self-discovery. So, my bad… I adjusted my expectations, and it was all good.

Very very strong coming-of-age story, beautifully told, and totally deserving of its Newbery Medal.  And now I want to re-read “The Blue Sword”.

 

Next up: Diana Peterfreund’s “Rampant”.  I’m a few chapters in already, and it’s all very addictive.