Review: Scout's Progress by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

Scout's Progress

Authors: Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

Publication: Ace (April 30, 2002)

My Thoughts: This is one of my favorite books. I have read it countless times over the years. GoodReads summarizes the plot like this: "The second novel of the Liaden Universe-the story of a young girl who has won a starship, but now must learn to fly if she is to escape her dastardly brother." Which is basically correct but doesn't do the story justice.

Liad is a planet that is very much concerned with tradition and proper conduct. People are gathered into kin-groups called clans. Delms care for and protect the members of the clan. Everyone outside the clan is an enemy or a rival. However, Aelliana Caylon is not well-treated by her clan. She is abused by her brother who will be delm.

When she wins a spaceship in a card game, she is determined to leave the clan. However, she needs to learn how to survive in the greater world and is befriended by the pilots and scouts who are involved with the space yard where her ship is berthed. She learns that there can be honor outside the clan structure as she slowly learns to trust.

Daav yos'Phelium is delm of Clan Korval. Korval is the number one clan on Liad and is under contract to protect the people of Liad. Daav needs to marry to have a child but hasn't met anyone who wants him for himself. So he has reluctantly taken steps to enter into a contract marriage with a suitable woman. He is a retired scout captain and master pilot. He goes to his friends at the space yard to try to find balance in his life.

He meets Aelliana. He becomes her co-pilot but doesn't share his name and clan with her. As he gets to know Aelliana he comes to believe that they could be lifemates - two who are bound by a form of magic. But he is under contract to wed and she is determined to leave Liad for her own safety. 

The story is a beautiful love story as two people find each other and fall in love.

Challenges: RYOB Challenge, Flashback Reading Challenge, 2010 E-Book Reading Challenge

In My Mailbox (March 21, 2010)

The weekly In My Mailbox post is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. It is fun to see what everyone else gets in their mailboxes, shopping bags, and library visits.

Click on the link to The Story Siren's site to see the rules and join in the fun. I guarantee that your TBR pile will grow when you see all the cool books everyone gets. You will discover lots of wonderful blogs and lots of books that you won't be able to live without.

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This was a great week for me. I got a bunch of books this week from a variety of places. First, from Amazon, I got these releases by YA Debut Authors.

I have been looking forward to reading The Body Finder by Kim Derting since I first started seeing reviews months ago.

Princess for Hire by Lindsey Leavitt sounds really cute and I love the pink cover.

Voices of Dragons by Carrie Vaughn is a YA debut by an author I already read and enjoy.

I also got some books from the Science Fiction Book Club this month. They were running a special and I actually saved money by buying them there. Amazon would have been more even with free shipping.

Hastur Lord by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Deborah J. Ross is a new entry in a series that I used to love. I am eager to see if I fall back in love with Darkover when I read this one.

Angelology by Danielle Trussoni is an iffy pick for me. I have read great reviews of this book on the blogsphere but I am not a big fan of paranormals with angels. I have read a few that just didn't satisfy. I don't know if it was the theme or the authors that failed to connect.

I also added a couple of books to my Kindle.

Male Call by Denise A. Agnew had a hot cover and summary and was free.

Wolf Flight by Vivian Arend was the second in a series about werewolves. This was a good romance in a genre I really enjoy.

I also received a book I won in the Early Reviewers program at LibraryThing.

Spooky Little Girl by Laurie Notaro sounded interesting. This is described as light fiction/chick lit which is a little outside of my preferred genre. But I like to stretch my tastes a little every once in a while.

Short Take Reviews

I have been doing a bunch of reading this week of books that I don't want to spend too much time reviewing. I'd rather read the next book on my stack.

Local Custom by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller is an old favorite of mine. It is a science fiction romance between two characters from different cultures. I love the romance as two characters with strong senses of honor and strong love for each other try to overcome misunderstandings and forge a lasting romance. Anne Davis is a scholar of Linguistics who specializes in looking for the roots of language. She has studied Liaden literature. Er Thom yosGalan is a Liaden from a very powerful Clan. He is a pilot and a Master Trader. They meet when she is on a research fellowship and he is escorting a trade mission. They fall in love but separate. The story begings when Er Thom travels to see Anne to tell her that he loves her before he returns home to fulfill his duty to his Clan by marrying another woman. When he sees Anne, he is surprised that she has had his child and not  told him. Cultural misunderstandings occur.

Wolf Signs (Granite Lake Wolves, Book 1) by Vivien Arend is a paranormal erotic romance. Robin, who is deaf, is camping in the wilderness when Keil and his brother TJ come to stay at the same camp. Keil and TB are werewolves and recognize Robin as one too. Robin did not know she was a wolf. Keil also recongnizes Robin as his mate. There are touches of humor provided by TJ and hot romance provided by Robin and Keil. There is also some danger as Keil has to fight to be alpha of his pack and the other alpha contender is willing to ambush Keil so that the fight goes his way.

Scandal Sheet by Gemma Halliday is a cute contemporary romance. Tina is a gossip columnist for a Hollywood tabloid. One of the stars she has written about threatens her. Her boss hires a hunky bodyguard and Tina is off to try to figure out which star has it in for her. There are humorous elements. Tina is perfectly willing to tell outrageous lies to get to the bottom of the case. She lives with an elderly aunt, who is having memory issues and is very hard of hearing, in a retirement village. She has an IM boyfriend she calls the Man in Black.

Challenges: Flashback Challenge, 2010 E-Book Reading Challenge, RYOB Reading Challenge

Let's Go to the Hop

It's Friday! Let's go to the hop! The Blog Hop that is. Jennifer at Crazy For Books hosts this weekly event, Book Blogger Hop, where you can discover or be discovered by other bloggers. Add your blog to the list and hop around looking for kindred souls or interesting content. This is a fun chance to discover some new blogs. 

Friday 56: Sent by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Happy Friday everybody!! 

Rules:

• Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
• Turn to page 56.
• Find the fifth sentence.
• Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
• Post a link along with your post back to Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
• Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Sent (The Missing: Book 2)

by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Never mind saving Alex and Chip from history--how could Jonah save them from themselves?

 I brought home a couple of books from our most recent order at the K-5 school and this one was the closest. I read the first book - Found - when ot came out and hope that I can just pick this one up without having to read the first to refresh my memory.

 

 

Teaser Tuesday: Local Custom by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

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Local Custom

Authors: Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

Publication: Ace (January 29, 2002)

Liad

Liadens.

An entire culture that counted coup. that held melant'i and the keeping of melant'i to be vital work. A culture cutthroat and competitive in every imaginable area, where people were divided into two camps -- kin and opponents.

On Liad there were never first winners and last winners.

On Liad, you won. Or you lost.

 

This is a Flashback book for me. I do not know how many times I have read it. Certainly, I have read it at least a dozen times. It is a romance across cultures - vastly different cultures.

 


 

DNF: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Before I Fall

Author: Lauren Oliver

Publication: HarperCollins; 1 edition (March 2, 2010)

 

Description: What if you had only one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?

 

Samantha Kingston has it all: the world's most crush-worthy boyfriend, three amazing best friends, and first pick of everything at Thomas Jefferson High—from the best table in the cafeteria to the choicest parking spot. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life.

 

Instead, it turns out to be her last.

 

Then she gets a second chance. Seven chances, in fact. Reliving her last day during one miraculous week, she will untangle the mystery surrounding her death—and discover the true value of everything she is in danger of losing.

 

My Thoughts: This is the first book in a long time that I just could not finish. I decided that it is not a book for me. The review at Booklist says, "Oliver, in a pitch-perfect teen voice, explores the power we have to affect the people around us in this intensely believable first novel."

 

I think it is the pitch-perfect teen voice that is stopping me. Sam is one of the mean girls. She is disparaging of everyone around her. In the first 46 pages she smokes, drinks, cheats in class, treats others rudely, plans to sleep with a boyfriend that she neither likes nor respects just because she doesn't want to be the last virgin in her group, and skips class. I just couldn't read any more. I didn't like being in Sam's head.

 

Normally, I would put the book back on my TBR shelf and give it a try another day. But, since I intended to donate it to my HS Media Center when I finished it anyway, I decided to donate it today. Maybe some of my teenage readers can get through the part I can't to get to the good stuff mentioned in the blurb. I will be checking with readers after they check it out to see if it works better with my teen readers.