Bad Blogger Take n

I’ve been neglecting my blog recently.  And I don’t even have the excuse of the Olympics or Wimbledon or, well, anything else being on.  But here’s a quick catch-up on a new release, a new-to-me author, and new books (despite a fangirl fail):

 

First off, yay for Carolyn Crane a.k.a. CJ @ The Thrillionth Page’s “Mind Games” debut release! From her website:

Mind Games heroine Justine Jones isn’t your typical kick-ass type – she’s a hopeless hypochondriac whose life is run by fear.

She’s lured into a restaurant, Mongolian Delites, by tortured mastermind Sterling Packard, who promises he can teach her to channel her fears. In exchange, she must join his team of disillusionists – vigilantes hired by crime victims to zing their anxieties into criminals, resulting in collapse and transformation.

Justine isn’t interested in Packard’s troupe until she gets a taste of the peace he can promise. Soon she enters the thrilling world of neurotic crime fighters who battle Midcity’s depraved and paranormal criminals.

Eventually, though, she starts wondering why Packard hasn’t set foot outside the Mongolian Delites restaurant for eight years. And about the true nature of the disillusionists.

A very cool premise and I’ve already bought my copy – ummm… okay, I’m going to admit it.  I would have bought a copy regardless of reviews,  because I love Carolyn’s blog and her wickedly funny posts.  But it is an added bonus that fantastic reviews are popping up all over the place – I’m very excited about reading this.

 

**************

Next, I’ve fallen completely for Seanan McGuire’s October Daye novels, so thank you to those of you who said things along the lines of “one of the best new UF series I’ve read last year” whenever I mentioned I had the first book, “Rosemary and Rue” in my TBR pile.  You were right.

LesleyW reviewed “Rosemary and Rue” recently, and said:

I think I’d almost despaired of finding something new and original in UF – preferably ferret free – and yet here it is.

And I completely agree.  Too many UF series nowadays seem to blend into one another and there are only so many vampire and werewolf mythologies out there, unfortunately.  Ms McGuire focuses on the world of Faerie, seamlessly bringing the fae into an urban setting, and in the process, creating a fresh new world.  I loved that this is really a mystery whodunnit-type plot wrapped up in an urban fantasy, and a very-well realised cast of characters ticked the final box for me.

I bought the second book, “A Local Habitation”, pretty much as soon as I finished R&R, and can happily say it is as good, if not better, than the first.  The third book, “An Artificial Night” is due out in September, and I can’t wait.

 

**************

Finally, new books for me…

Megan Whalen Turner’s “A Conspiracy of Kings” arrived on my doorstep today *happy dance*   I may have stroked the cover several times, and peeked at the inside jacket blurb, but I haven’t yet opened it properly.  Because I know as soon as I start reading, I’m not going to want to put it down, and unfortunately, I can’t afford the time to do that today.  But this weekend, most definitely.

And I have Kelley Armstrong’s “Tales of the Otherworld”, her second short story collection.  It’s officially out in a couple of weeks, but Ms Armstrong was in London for a signing (thanks Nath for the heads up) and Forbidden Planet had out the paperback version of “Frostbitten” as well as this for the event.  Anyway, I turned up at about half-six (the signing started at six) and the queue was halfway around the store.  At which point, I decided to get the (unsigned) book and disappear, because as much as I like her books, I realised that didn’t quite extend to waiting 30 minutes or more to get the book signed.  I fail at fangirl-ness.

Advertisement