Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

LOL! Thanks, Steph! That's a good idea about the phone. This book is on my Kindle, so I thought pulling that sucker out would make it pretty obvious that I was bored. I'll have to be better prepared next time! Unfortunately, I have to get 40 hours a year and I'm only halfway there.

I like the web casts better too, Regina. I try to do them as much as possible.

If you have the Kindle app on your phone you could pull the book onto it. :)

Good luck! Hope it's not too painful.

Steph wrote: ":D I just bought the other day and Cindy's added it to the Aug new rls list, so I'll probably go with that. I'll let ya know when I start it."

Gee Steph - that must have been why I was working all day on the New Release Post instead of cleaning......

Steph wrote: ":D I just bought the other day and Cindy's added it to the Aug new rls list, so I'll probably go with that. I'll let ya know when I start it."

I just got both books today! I am so excited!!

** on a side note, I found out that many of my reviews of books are missing, so I am redoing them... Kind of weird but oh well... That way I can keep track and remmember what things were about. I have reread a couple books and realized I had already read them. AHHHH!

Amy, if you reread books, don't they seem very familiar? (;

LOL! That sucks. I'm reading Storm's Heart now. That'll be my free space book. I'll post a review when I'm done.

I finished Never Let Me Go. 3 stars.

Started yesterday for my free-space read. I had stamp/scrap club last night, so I haven't gotten very far yet. But I'm really loving what I have read.

Never Let Me Go (I can't add link right now GR is acting funky) 3 stars

2 stars for the first 50% and 4 stars for the last 50%.I did not enjoy the first half of this book. I liked the characters, the world and what I believed the big mystery to be. But the way the author told the story drove me crazy, the flashback and memory within a flashback just was too frantic and silly for me. This book appeared to be my ideal book � a marriage between two of my favorite genres: dystopia and literary fiction with a dash of romance. It just didn’t work for me. The last half of the book was compelling enough for me to stay up all night to finish. The story is truly heartbreaking. Heartbreaking because of what is facing the key characters and heartbreaking just in theory. This story is told in a manner that leaves the reader without hope, without inspiration � it appears nothing will improve for individuals similarly situated as the main characters and in fact the situation is likely to decline for them. I was close to tears during several scenes at the end of the book. And then I was up for an hour or so thinking about what was the author’s point? To make readers sad? To break hearts? Is his message that every life is worth living? That we all have a soul? That human beings need to be cherished and loved from a very young age? What the story made me think about was abandoned and neglected children everywhere. Orphaned children in decimated countries or warzones who have no support. The story did not inspire happy thoughts, but the best books do not always take us to happy places. This story reminded me of a seemingly opposite book, which I also had a conflicted reaction to � Atonement by Ian McEwan. A beautiful and haunting book, but also left me with no hope and seriously depressed. So I will continue to search for the greater meaning of this book, any ideas? Suggestions? Or was it a trick played on readers to pull our heartstrings?
(view spoiler)[Another question � how could a very smart woman, raised to critically think, read and express herself be so blindingly accepting of the status quo? How could she not be critical of the situation? At the beginning of the book I thought the mystery was that the children didn’t understand the concept of the “donations�. But that was not the mystery � it appears they knew this from the beginning. So perhaps she was so brainwashed. But there was no mystery. There was only sadness.

(hide spoiler)]

So I am done with my first two weeks of books and my free space. Just waiting now for Sunday!

Enjoy DB, Daffodil! Such a great book. Looking forward to your review. Stamp/scrap club - what fun! I haven't had (made) time to scrap in so long it looks like I'm selling the stuff instead of using it.

Yay, Regina! That book sounds odd. I'll have to read more about it when I'm at my computer.

Next shelf announcement on Sunday :)

PS - why does my phone correct all the words it shouldn't and never those it should? gggrrrrr

I am hoping that Dragon Bound fits into the Sunday shelf, but no matter what I am reading it next week. :)

so frustrating! happens to me all the time.

LOL! It's a very good book, IMO. Hope you like it.

Right?! What the hell? LOL!

Arrrghh!

I was reading my book on my lunch hour, just got to an interesting part (view spoiler)[The elves shot Dragos and he's holding tight to Pia. She's trying to get him to calm down, reminding him what "please" means, preparing to tell him something and - (hide spoiler)] and I had to go back to work! Now the book is sitting on the corner of my desk, taunting me. ::sigh:: 4 hours and counting.

Oh I can't wait to read this book!

Oh man, what a tough spot to have to pause, Daffodil.

My free space read: , I've got about 25% to go. I'm enjoying it, but it's not 10+ stars like book one.

I'm still waiting on my mailman to deliver it. LOL

I broke down and bought the eBook instead of waiting for the PB.

Finished 8/6
★★★★

Dance With The Devil is a wonderful installment in the Dark-Hunter series. After reading Night Embrace, I was really looking forward to finding out more about Zarek. He had such a tortured past and heartbreaking story that he really deserved a HEA. In this book, Astrid is a nymph sent to judge his fate and whether he is beyond redemption. She unexpectedly falls in love with the haunted man as she delves deep into his psyche and bitter past. The development of their relationship was fun to watch. I love that more information about Acheron is revealed in each book and I can't wait to read his story. It was also interesting to learn more about Ash's demon, Simi, in this book and I hope she appears even more in future books. She's a riot! With the 20th book in the series released this week, I have a long way to go to get caught up but I really enjoy this series.

Free Space
Finished: 3/6


✔C±ð±ô¾±²Ô±ð - Broken 7/31 | 4â˜� (message 159)
Daffodil - Dragon Bound
Amanda - Changeless
StephB - Storm's Heart
✸é±ð²µ¾±²Ô²¹ - Ghost Story 8/3 | 5â˜� (message 178)
✔Sassy (Amy) - Pride Mates 7/24 | 5� (message 102)



Shelf #1: 4 stars (B3)
Finished: 5/6

Celine - The Queen of the Damned
✼·²¹´Ú´Ú´Ç»å¾±±ô - Ravenous 7/31 | 4â˜� (message 160)
✔A³¾²¹²Ô»å²¹ - The Iron King 7/26 | 4â˜� (message 117)
âœÖÀ³Ù±ð±è³óµþ - Dragon Bound 7/29 | 5â˜� (message 133)
✸é±ð²µ¾±²Ô²¹ - Never Let Me Go 8/5 | 3â˜� (message 210)
✔Sassy (Amy) - Forbidden Highlander 7/25 | 4� (message 114)




Shelf #2: favorite series (G19)
Finished: 5/6

Celine - Graceling
✼·²¹´Ú´Ú´Ç»å¾±±ô - Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs 8/2 | 3½-4â˜� (message 185)
✔A³¾²¹²Ô»å²¹ - Dance with the Devil 8/6 | 4â˜� (message 222)
âœÖÀ³Ù±ð±è³óµþ - Spell Bound 8/1 | 4½â˜� (message 164)
✸é±ð²µ¾±²Ô²¹ - Narcissus in Chains 8/3 | 3â˜� (message 177)
✔Sassy (Amy) - Lover Unleashed 8/2 | 4� (message 171)

Thanks Amanda.

Well - I guess we are all hoping we can read the Books for this next round!

I would be....but I don't have either one yet. Gotta get that fixed soon!

Celine wrote: "Amy, if you reread books, don't they seem very familiar? (;"

Yes, but I have read so many in the last year, some of them are familiar stories anyway like HR books. Add werewolves & they read alike, some just better than others. Like Rhonda Thompson & Amanda Ashley etc. I get cross over too thinking one character from another series is supposed to be in the book I'm reading at the time. I have that with Christine warren & Alexandra Ivy & someone else I can't remember right now.

Our Next Shelf is: 'dark'
DIRECT LINK: 'dark'

Happy Reading!

I've only recently done some re-reads. I had forgotten some stuff and loved re-discovering what made me fall in love with them. I won't ever be a big re-reader, too much new stuff TBR, but I am enjoying it when I do.

I'm not sure which I'll read for 'dark' yet. Here are my choices: the first batch are in challenges, the second aren't. Not sure which I'm in the mood for yet, still trying to finish up with Storm's Heart





I'll post soon w/my choice. Hope everyone has a great week! SIL+fam arrive today from the US! WOOHOO!

I'm going to read for this week's shelf.

I finally decided on a free space book too.

Steph - you HAVE to read SOON!!!!! Fabulous zombie book.

Cool! Thanks for the rec, Cindy. Now, should I read it for this shelf or save it in case the zombie shelf is announced? ;)

We have a zombie shelf????? *drools* Does the randomizer take bribes?????

Cindy (eclecticfirefly) wrote: "We have a zombie shelf????? *drools* Does the randomizer take bribes?????"

Er...no "zombie" shelf, per se. Steph didn't put an actual "zombie" space on the bingo cards. I had to do a double-check myself.

LOL! Oops! I think I ended up using post-apocalyptic instead since it had more books to choose from. Sorry to get you excited for naught. ;)

ok.... It took a while to figure out what I wanted to read... Sooooo I am going with

Steph wrote: "LOL! Oops! I think I ended up using post-apocalyptic instead since it had more books to choose from. Sorry to get you excited for naught. ;)"

I figured. ;) But, with the way people "shelve" their books on GR, zombies could show up anywhere. :D

Maybe I should add some zombie books to a Chick-lit shelf. After all, I am a chick and I love zombie lit!

LOLOLOL

Wouldn't that freak some folks out.....

@ Cindy, you would totally give some horrible shallow girly person the scare of her life.. I love it!


For dark I'll probably read Fool Moon. Depends on what I feel like when on vacation.

Speaking of vacation... I'll be leaving in 6 hours to the always beautiful Italy! I'm not sure if I have internet over there, so if not, I'll talk to you guys again in a week!

Happy reading (:

LOL! Too true, Christina :)

Sorry, guys, I still haven't decided on a my 'dark' book yet. Family visiting from US and no time to read at the moment. I hope to choose one by tonight/tomorrow so I can read at night. I'll get back to ya soon w/my pick.

Have fun in Italy!

Steph those are all good choices, but I am extremely partial to downside ghsots. :) Have fun with your family.

I haven't decided yet either.

Enjoy Italy!

Thanks, Regina. I read a couple of pgs of City of Ghosts this AM. But, I should read I Don't Want to Kill You b/c it's in the Baseball trilogy challenge which is due in Sept. So, it's between those two. LOL. Least I've narrowed it to two. :)

Finished my Free-Space read!

, Dragon Bound, Thea Harrison, 8-7-11

I loved this book. I mean really loved. It drew me in right away. Even when RL was unfortunately getting in the way of reading, all I could think about was how soon I could get back to this book. LOL.

There were so many things I loved, where do I start?

First, the world building. Fantastic. Harrison created a rich world for us to explore and it was presented in an enjoyable, non-confusing way. The varied Elder races are ripe with many possibilities and I'm hoping we get to explore them all.

Harrison excelled at characterization for the most part. Dragos and Pia both had complex personalities that at first wouldn't seem to mesh. But then, somehow, they did and it wasn't in an unbelievable way. It might seem that Pia gave more in the relationship, but that fits exactly with her nature. And while Dragos' dominant personality made it more difficult for him to give, he did learn to bend. His developing humor was a surprise to everyone, maybe himself most of all. Harrison didn't stint on secondary characters either. The Wyr and other members of Dragos' corporation obviously received more attention, but their were enough interesting tidbits about some of the other races to leave me intrigued.

If she fell short anywhere it was in portraying the bad guys. The Goblins were described as a collective, interchangeable really, and Urien was sketchy at best. Supposedly one of the big evils behind events, we barely met him and the final battle scene was anti-climactic. For all the build-up he was rather easily defeated when it came down to it.

One more problem, what happened to Quentin. We met him in the beginning and I kept hoping Pia would meet back up with him at some point. I'm definitely hoping to see him in a future book.

Neither of these issues mattered enough to lower my rating. I loved it that much.

If any book comes with a glowing recommendation, this one does. You must read this book!

Free Space
Finished: 4/6

✔C±ð±ô¾±²Ô±ð - Broken 7/31 | 4â˜� (message 159)
✼·²¹´Ú´Ú´Ç»å¾±±ô - Dragon Bound 8/7 | 5â˜� (message 243)
Amanda - Changeless
StephB - Storm's Heart
✸é±ð²µ¾±²Ô²¹ - Ghost Story 8/3 | 5â˜� (message 178)
✔Sassy (Amy) - Pride Mates 7/24 | 5� (message 102)



Shelf #3: dark (B4)
Finished: 0/6

Celine - Fool Moon
Daffodil -
Amanda - The Darkest Kiss
StephB - I Don't Want to Kill You
Regina - Sharp Objects
Sassy (Amy) - Dreams of a Dark Warrior

I'm condensing the updates to only include the Free Space (until finished) and the current shelf. The full list is on the first page of this topic.

I hope to finish my book tonight so that I can squeeze in my free space book sometime this week too.

I am reading for this week's shelf.

Thanks Amanda!

I just finished Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. Four Stars. I will publish a review later. But wow - -this book brings DARK to an entire new level.

Hey Guys! May be w/o internet for the next three days, but no worries, the next shelf announcement will be on Sunday and I'm reading I Don't Want to Kill You for my 'dark' book.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Enjoy your unconnected time!