It's Monday, What Are You Reading? (Feb. 7, 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.

I just checked back on last Monday's post and, wonder of wonder, I actually read what I said I was going to read. This may be because I put myself on a book buying ban for February so that I could finally actually lower my number of TBR books.

Last week I read:

Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton is a Young Adult Debut novel this year that I had for review from the Simon & Schuster Galley Grab program. It was a good introduction to urban fantasy for young adults and a finished copy will be ordered on my next HS Media Center book order. The book will be published on Feb. 22 and my review is here.

Twice Dead by Kalayna Price follows Once Bitten and is a paranormal shifter/vampire sort of urban fantasy. It was very good and I'm looking forward to book 3 in the series which is coming this summer. My review will be posted on Feb. 10. (This is the book that precipitated my book buying ban. I knew I had it but couldn't find it anywhere. When I can no longer find books I own, it becomes time to reorganize and get rid of some!)

Deadly Vows by Brenda Joyce is the latest in the Francesca Cahill series. This book is a review copy that I received through NetGalley. I enjoyed both the mystery and the romance in this one. My review will be posted on Feb. 9. The book will be published on Feb. 22.

Timeless by Alexandra Monir is another YA 2011 Debut. This time travel romance was very entertaining. I know my high school romance readers will love it. My review will be posted on Feb. 9.

A Creed in Stone Creek by Linda Lael Miller is another ARC that I received from NetGalley. It is a traditional romance. I like Miller's style and her strong emphasis on family bonds. This book will be published on Feb. 22 and my review will be posted on Feb. 12.

Since I had caught up with review books that needed to be read NOW, I decided to look through my stack of TBR YAs to pick my next read. How to Grow Up and Rule the World by Vordak the Incomprehensible looked like just the thing. This was a funny, profusely illustrated book that will appeal to middle graders (and anyone else who aspires to ruling the world). My review will be posted on Feb. 10.

I am currently reading:

Primal which is an anthology that includes a new Breed story by Lora Leigh and three other stories by authors that I don't normally read. I am sincerely hoping that I don't like the other stories because I truly do not need any more authors to love. This is definitely a change of pace from Vordak.

Next week I plan to read:

Demon Song by Cat Adams is an ARC for a book that will be published March 1. It is third in this urban fantasy series. I liked one and two and am eager to read this one.

I also dug into the adult TBR stack and pulled out Wicked Appetite by Janet Evanovich which has been on the stack since last September. I like her books and want to see how she handles a foray into the paranormal.

The False Princess by Ellis O'Neal is a 2011 YA Debut novel that has a striking cover and an intriguing fantasy plot.

XVI by Julia Karr is also a 2011 YA Debut novel. This one is a dystopia.

I also dug into the older YAs that were waiting on the pile and chose these.

Enchanted Ivy by Sarah Beth Durst takes place at a magical Princeton University. It sounded interesting when I bought but it has been languishing on the pile.

The Ivy by Lauren Kunze and Rina Onur has been languishing longer yet. I bought this one last September. This is contemporary fiction about a young girl adjusting to life at Harvard.

I have been avoiding B.B.D. (Blurry Book Disorder) by alternating adult and young adult books. I will continue with this pattern. It also helps to alternate genres which is a little harder since so many of the books waiting to be read are paranormals but I am trying. 

What are your plans for the coming week?

In My Mailbox (Feb. 6, 2011)

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 wonderful books everyone gets. You will discover lots of great blogs and lots of books that you won't be able to live without.

I am trying to be on a book buying ban for the month of February. And I was pretty successful at not buying books this week. However, I need to rethink and restate my goal. My real goal is to whittle down the TBR stack. As you can see by the number of books below, week 1 was a massive failure.

I got Primal which is an anthology including a Lora Leigh story and The Perfect Play by Jaci Burton. I am a big fan of Lora Leigh's work and I love romances with professional athletes as the heroes. I had pre-ordered both of these books long before my book buying ban began.

I bought Unseen by Rachel Caine because it is the third in the Outcast Season series. I have read book 1 and have book 2 on my Kindle. This one was pre-ordered well in advance of my book buying ban too.

I also bought the ebook version of In Fire Forged: Worlds of Honor #5 from Baen Books. I really like the Honor Harrington series of space operas and wanted to read these side stories. This one just squeaked by the book buying ban. I got it last Sunday. The ebook was $6.00 as opposed to $14.50 for the print book.

I also added these free books this week.

Love at First Flight by Marie Force

Just Right by Erin Nicholas

Hara's Legacy by Biance D'Arc

Darkness Dawns by Dianne Duvall - This one is now $4.76 but it was free when I pre-ordered it on Jan. 12.

The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick

Love, Unexpectedly by Susan Fox. I see that it is $8.79 for the Kindle book today. Can I tell myself that I saved that much money since my price was $0?

I didn't actually buy any books since the beginning of February but you can see how spectacularly I failed at my attempt to whittle down my TBR stack. Maybe I'll do better next week. I plan to give myself a stern talking to!

Review: Once Bitten by Kalayna Price

Once Bitten
Author: Kalayna Price
Publication: Bell Bridge Books (January 9, 2009)


Description: Vampires and Shapeshifters. A Fictionwise bestseller: No. 1 on the Fictionwise Dark Fantasy list in Feb. 2009 


Kita Nekai, on the run and the smallest of her shifter clan-a calico cat among lions and tigers-is being hunted. She was expected to accept her role as her father's successor whether or not her cat was up to the task of leading the clan. She disagreed. Now she's less than a step ahead of the hunters, bone-tired, cold, and living hand-to-mouth in the city of Haven. And that's the high point of her day. She's also drugged, "accidently" turned into a vampire, and sentenced to death for recklessly creating a rogue shifter who tortures its human prey. She's got seventy-two hours to find the rogue, evade a city full of hunters, prove she's not responsible for the rogue, and keep the vampire council from killing her. All while sorting out an apprentice mage, a married ex-boyfriend shifter-hunter, and the vampire who made her. 


My Thoughts: Kita is having a very bad day. She is a runaway from her home world and is attacked by a rogue shifter, changed into a vampire, sentenced to death by a demon judge, and has her sentence delayed to give her time to bring in the rogue shifter. But she only has two days to find the shifter and get used to being a vampire. Kita is not pleased!


Nathaniel is the vampire who turned her. He becomes her companion on her hunt and is trying to convince her that being a vampire is a good thing. Kita is not convinced! In fact, she nearly starves herself to death before she can be reconciled to taking blood from a human. And then there are the vampire politics to play....


One of the hunters sent from her home to bring her back home where she is supposed to be the heir to leadership of her clan is her childhood friend, first love, and is now mated to someone else. Bobby is conflicted about bringing her home and helps her on her rogue hunt too.


Kita ran away for a number of unspecified reasons but one was surely that she felt that her form as that of a calico cat isn't really what the clan needs in a leader. Another reason was that she was not allowed to mate with Bobby. She has spent the past five years on Earth mostly as a calico cat moving from owner to owner as whim takes her. She moves on before she can become attached to anyone. She has become used to leaving.


This was a fun urban fantasy with great characters. I look forward to reading the sequel which is somewhere on my TBR stack to find out if Kita ever gets used to being a vampire and ever takes the chance on a relationship.


Favorite Quote:

I looked around to see if anyone else was waiting in line to threaten and utterly turn my world upside down. Vampires, demons, and psychos with wicked magic, so far. Perhaps Frankenstein's monster would show up next and demand my head for his bride. My quick search turned up only Nathaniel and Bobby, the latter disturbingly still. I crawled through the snow to him.

Source: Free book for the Kindle downloaded on Dec. 29, 2009.

Book Beginning: Once Bitten by Kalayna Price

Book Beginnings on Friday is now hosted by Katy at A Few More Pages.  


Anyone can participate; just share the opening sentence of your current read, making sure that you include the title and author so others know what you're reading. 


If you like, share with everyone why you do, or do not, like the sentence.

My beginning comes from Once Bitten by Kalayna Price. I chose it from my stack because:

• It is on my Kindle
• It was a free download
• It has a shifter as a main character

I wanted something that would fit into three of the challenges I signed up for this year. It was also a number one best seller at Fictionwise and is a debut urban fantasy book.

Here is how it starts:

In the last ten minutes I'd gone from miserable to totally screwed.

And it continues:

An hour ago I'd thought a city named Haven would be good luck. Now I wondered who it was supposed to be a haven for -- polar bears and penguins? Next time I snuck aboard a train, I would remember to check whether it was headed north or south. The snow-laden streets were the miserable bit; "screwed" began two blocks back when I picked up the scent of something never meant to exist in the human world. Well, a something other than me.

That opening just sucked me in and made me want to know lots more about the speaker.

Review: Blood Challenge by Eileen Wilks

Blood Challenge
Author: Eileen Wilks
Publication: Berkley (January 4, 2011)


Description: Ex-cop Lily Yu and werewolf Rule Turner's engagement announcement is stirring up ugly passions in the Humans First camp. There's hate mail, followed by death threats. And when a lupus in Tennessee goes on a killing spree, Lily realizes that it's only the opening skirmish in an all-out war.


My Thoughts: This was another excellent episode in the World of the Lupi series. Tensions are growing because of the strong pro-human group Humans First which is run by Robert Friar. Friar is trying to stir sentiment against all non-humans. He incites a man to take a shot at Lily which injures her and kills one of her bodyguards. This shakes Lily's world view because she realizes that she can't protect everyone.


She and Rule are in Tennessee because one of his Leidolf wolves has gone crazy and killed four people. The Lupi can go into something called The Fury which is an uncontrollable rage but it is unlikely to happen to an adult pack wolf. Someone or something has found a way to force a Lupi into the Fury. Someone is also making and stockpiling Gado. Gado is a drug that the government developed to control the Lupi. It prevents them from changing but also makes them insane. Lily works for the magical crimes division of the FBI. She is currently investigating a new date rape drug called Do Me which is making the rounds in Southern California. It is starting to look like all these threads have something in common.


Then her boss has a heart attack that may have been magically induced. And someone takes a shot at her that barely misses.


It looks like the Lupi's ancient enemy is trying again to seize a foothold on Earth. She can only works through agents and it is looking more and more like Robert Friar is one of her agents.


The romance in this story is between Rule's older brother Benedict and Arjenie Fox. Arjenie is part elf and works for the FBI as a researcher. As soon as Benedict sees her, sneaking around Robert Friar's home, he knows that she is his Chosen. Benedict had a previous chosen who recklessly lost her life trying to escape from their mate bond. Benedict doesn't want another but he can't go against the wishes of his Lady.


This was a complex and exciting entry into the series. We also got a chance to catch up with other favorite characters including Cullen and Cynna. Cynna is just about due to have their baby.


I recommend this one to lovers of great urban fantasy. If you haven't discovered this series, I recommend you search out the first volume and get caught up.


Favorite Quote:

With the first sharp crack! something tugged hard at her arm. She didn't have time to drop. Two hundred and forty pounds of LeBron hit her from behind even as a second and third shot split the air--and he wrapped himself around her, so that she hit the ground helpless but cushioned.

For a list of Eileen Wilks' books, check here.

Birthday Bestsellers and Song

I decided to take this opportunity on my half-birthday to post the list of bestsellers for the week of my actual birthday. I was born on August 2, 1950. And, FYI, I don't celebrate birthdays or half-birthdays anymore. They just seem to come around too fast anyway. I got the half-birthday idea from my elementary students who love having birthdays so much that they want to have two in a year.


You can find out the bestsellers for your birthday here at BibliOZ.com

This was an interesting exercise. I find that I have actually read two of the novels and have at least heard of a couple more. I have read, remember, and have copies of Jubilee Trail by Gwen Bristow and The Egyptian by Mika Waltari.

I have heard of The Wall by John Hersey but have never read it. I have heard of Nevil Shute and Robert Penn Warren but have never read any of their books. The others are almost completely unknown to me.


Not bad for books that hit the charts 60 years ago! What about you? What books were on the bestsellers list when you were born? Have you read any?


Edited to add: I recently discovered that there is a website with the Billboard number 1 songs for individual dates all dates. I am including the number 1 song for my birthday - Mona Lisa by Nat King Cole. I found a video on YouTube. I remember my dad singing the chorus but I don't think I had ever heard the whole song before YouTube.



Happy birthday (or half-birthday) to all!

Teaser Tuesday: Blood Challenge by Eileen Wilks

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!

My teaser this week is from Blood Challenge by Eileen Wilks. I love her novels about the Lupi. This is the seventh book in this urban fantasy series. Lily and Rule are dealing with the things that come along with their engagement - including death threats.


My teaser comes from the scene where one of the secondary characters meets his mate and is more than two sentences because it needs the set up.

He shook his head. "You can't be a guileless as you seem."


"I'm pretty short on guile. That doesn't mean I'm not a complex person, capable of great subtlety. Just not much guile. Am I a guest or a prisoner? And do you give prisoners or guests ibuprofen if their head hurts? Acetaminophen is OK, too, or even plain aspirin, but naproxen sodium doesn't do much for me."