It's Monday, What Are You Reading? (August 15, 2011)

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

This was another slow reading but lots of computer gaming kind of week. My obsession with Gardens of Time and my newly discovered obsession with Facebook slot machine games remains unabated. Around that I did still manage to read 4 books this past week.


I read:

I finished The Marked Son by Shea Berkley and am ready to host the author on August 20. This was an interesting young adult paranormal. My review will be posted on August 20

Black Magic Woman by Justin Gustainis introduces Quincy Morris and Libby Chastain in this gritty urban fantasy series. I really enjoyed the world building in this one. I thought the story was great too. My review will be posted on August 24.

The Dragon's Tooth by N. D. Wilson was a middle grade fantasy that I received through review through the Amazon Vine program. The story was action-packed. The heroes were well-written and well-grounds. The adults in the story were much less admirable and the villain was an over-the-top loony. My review will be posted on August 25.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline was another book that I received for review. This is a science fiction dystopia that will warm any geeks heart. The product description says it best:

At once wildly original and stuffed with irresistible nostalgia, READY PLAYER ONE is a spectacularly genre-busting, ambitious, and charming debut—part quest novel, part love story, and part virtual space opera set in a universe where spell-slinging mages battle giant Japanese robots, entire planets are inspired by Blade Runner, and flying DeLoreans achieve light speed.


Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets.


And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune—and remarkable power—to whoever can unlock them.


For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that Halliday’s riddles are based in the pop culture he loved—that of the late twentieth century. And for years, millions have found in this quest another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive study of Halliday’s icons. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes’s oeuvre, playing Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his OASIS rig.


Suddenly the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the hunt—among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to survive and preserve everything he knows is to. But to do so, he may have to leave behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and face up to life—and love—in the real world he’s always been so desperate to escape.


A world at stake.
A quest for the ultimate prize.
Are you ready?

I thought this book was excellent. I know the movie rights have been sold. I can't wait to see this one in a theater. My review will be posted on August 20.


Books on my currently reading stack (and in the queue for next week) include:

I am currently reading the second book in the Morris and Chastain series. Evil Ways by Justin Gustainis is wonderful urban fantasy. I love the world building and the characters.

Face of Danger by Roxanne St.Claire is romantic suspense and made Amazon's list for Best of the Year So Far.

Two more young adult review books have made it to the top of the stack. Ultraviolet by R. J. Anderson. "Once upon a time there was a girl who was special. This is not her story. Unless you count the part where I killed her." is the quote that sold the book for me. I just have to find out what happens next.

I also have a middle grade collection of stories - Guys Read: Thriller by Guy Scieszka - from NetGalley waiting too.

Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer is a young adult paranormal featuring werewolves that I have been wanting to read for a while.

Blood Work by Kim Harrison is a graphic novel in the Hollows series. I like the series and want to take a look at this graphic novel.

I don't know how much reading I will get done this week. I need to travel back to work to attend a workshop on Thursday which means that Wednesday and Friday are travel days for me. I wish that I appreciated audiobooks because I'll be spending 10 hours in the car at the end of the week. 

What does the week look like for you?