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Regina, I loved the Karen Chance, Lisa Kleypas and Kelley Armstrong books. I have the rest of those series TBR too.

Cindy (eclecticfirefly) wrote: "Tough choices Regina.....I still love LKH and Kelley Armstrong. The Karen Chance books are fabulous! You really should start that series soon...."

Oh I put up the wrong Cassie. I need to read #4 next. I do like that series alot!

Since I am finishing my other 2 books I want a super fast read. I will likely read all of these. Oh!!! The LKH is audio so I may do that one. Can we do audio for bingo? If not I likely will do the KleypAs.

Yes, you can do audio for Bingo :)

Regina wrote: "I am really torn!

So here are my choices:
[boo..."

hahahahaha!

Have fun Amy! I love the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Can't believe I waited to long to read them.

Regina, you're still reading Laurell K. Hamilton's books? Are you still enjoying them after Anita went all... slutty?
Haunted is a great book, but I thought it was one of the weaker ones in the series. It's still very enjoyable though.

For the favorite-series I think I'll go with . I have to read the damn thing sometime. But if it turns out to be too long, I'll switch to another (:

Celine the last one I read is the one people say is her last good one and most people's favorite that is #9 in the series. So yes I am still enjoying it. I think #10 will be a different experience. :(. But I am okay with quitting after that book and I love many of the books up through 9.

@ Regina, Aww, that's pretty sad, to have to stop reading a great series because it gets so different. At least enjoy this one then (:

Finished !

I give it 4 stars. It's a great urban fantasy with a lovely plot, but I didn't like how the main characters were different from how they used to be. You can read my full review here.

Okay, I finished my 4-Star read.

Ravenous, Sharon Ashwood, 4 stars
I enjoyed this introduction into Ashwood's world. There were some very intriguing concepts and I can see lots of possibilities for future books.

Holly's difficulty and pain in using big-M magic becomes a major liability when she has to deal with a quasi-sentient house that has gone bad. This was one of the better "haunted" houses I've read about and I kind of wish we'd seen a little more of it. Once the situation has been dealt with, we learn that there are still major problems in Fairview. Someone's attempts to summon a demon have opened portals that allow other nasties through and Holly once again has to find a way to manage her liability. Alessandro wasn't really unique as vampires go, but his personality and conflicted feelings about Holly made him interesting. I'm definitely going to continue reading; I can't wait to find out more about the Castle and Mac.

The other shelves:

I can start Dragon Bound for my free-space tomorrow. Finally. It's one of my August challenge books too. :D


As for the Favorite Series shelf. Regina, I feel your pain. LOL. Here are my possibilities. I won't really know what I'll choose until I get home and look them over. You know. Touch them. Reread the back cover. See which one fits in my hand best. Whatever the heck it is that makes me pick one book over another for the next read. 8}

Daffodil wrote: "Okay, I finished my 4-Star read.

Ravenous, Sharon Ashwood, 4 stars
I enjoyed this introduction into Ashwood's world. There were some very intriguing concepts and I..."

I'm glad you enjoy it, Daffodil! :D This is one of my favorite series.

It looks like she's in the middle of writing a fifth story, currently titled "Hidden". I'm not sure if it's a novella or a full-length (20,000 words??) book. I hope it's a book, since I've seen comments elsewhere that Frostbitten was supposedly the last. :-(

Glad you enjoyed Ravenous, Daffodil. I really like that series. Of your choices for this one, I've read and enjoyed Archangel's Consort, Storm Born, Rush of Wings and Nice Girls. For a light, fun read, I'd recommend Nice Girls. I really liked #1. Storm Born is a cool read too. Archangel's Consort was good, but some people didn't like the PNR feel to it and Rush of Wings is a more "dense" read for me. If that makes sense. Plus, a lot of people don't like that one, but I really do. Just depends.

Good luck! Lots of great choices to pick from.

Finished 1 Aug
Rating: ✮✮✮✮☆�
Review: Picks up right where Waking the Witch left off (view spoiler)[with Savannah saying she'd give up her powers to help out Kayla's aunt who was imprisoned (hide spoiler)]. There's a war brewing, supes are gathering .... ALL of the WotO characters make an appearance, some have bigger parts that others. It was great to see them all again. Savannah is having to learn (a bit late, since she's 21) that it's time for her to put on her big girl pants.

But, be warned - while a few tiny bits of the story are resolved, many are not. The book ends on a, yep, you guessed it!, a cliffhanger. :\ So, now we anxiously await lucky #13 to find out what happens.

If not for that, it would've been a 5� read for me.

Hope everyone has a great week!! Good luck w/the brief, Regina! Hope you're able to choose something you'll enjoy, Daffodil! And hope you enjoy your books, Celine, Amanda & Amy! :)

I have decided that my book for this week will be

Steph wrote: "But, be warned - while a few tiny bits of the story are resolved, many are not. The book ends on a, yep, you guessed it!, a cliffhanger. :\ So, now we anxiously await lucky #13 to find out what happens."

I hate cliffhangers - especially when we are this invested (come on, it's book #12) in a series with almost a year. Oh well, it's going to my TBR to see the light of the day on the week before the release of #13.

I agree. I feel like they are en vogue now?

Yep, though I don't know why. I'm more likely to read books that don't end in cliffhangers. Was it because of the Fever series? Or did it make the trend more popular? I know Rachel Caine's series (Weather Warden, the vampire series) all end in cliff hangers. Of course, I read the Weather Warden series only after the last book came out.

Yeah, I don't like them either. This one wasn't too painful. It's one of those kinds where certain points brought up during the book are solved, but something "new" or "bigger" is just beginning when it ends. Make sense? It wasn't anywhere near KMM's, though I believe those will go down in cliffhanger history as being the most torturous to the readers/fans.

ok!! I finished 8/2/11 and it gets ★★★★.

Great read, but I have to tell you what bugged me. At first when I started reading this series, I thought it was a great series that would last forever; a timeless read. It is not. These books will be totally outdated and not readable in 5-10 years. It's the slang & the texting terms and the "thank you very much" at the end of a thought. It is so datable, that compared to what it would have been like in the 80's with all the "bitchen" or 70's with all the "cool/groovy maaaaan"s, there is no way. It is not a shelf keeper. It would have to be re-edited as time goes by. ESPECIALLY with all the texting terms.

Beyond that, it was an excellent book with great stories, because these books always have atleast 3 running, and this had 5. Brothers fight lessers, V's & Janes relationship, the new kids in town (bloodletters, the people V came from), Payne & Manny's relationship, Blay & Quinn. Everyone else stayed way off in the faded background.

The book is too good not to give it 4 stars or above. There are less F word throwing than normal, which was better. But the urban slang was so strong, I had to take one away. Language doesn't bother me, but if there is so much it takes away from a story just "like" when your teen tries to tell you something that happened at school & throws all these "like"s in... Like 50, like maybe not as much, like you know... I know you are getting my point.

It was a book to savor, but I don't think I will keep it around for years to come.

hmmmmm now what should I read? LOL!

Great review Amy, I'm not quite up to that one and their were no spoilers. Yay!

Can't help with the next one, having my own troubles there. LOL

Great review. I really like that she typically has a few story lines going at once (at least two), so if the main or side story doesn't thrill me the other typically does.

Free Space
Finished: 3/6


✔C±ð±ô¾±²Ô±ð - Broken 7/31 | 4â˜� (message 159)
Daffodil - Dragon Bound
Amanda
StephB
✸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: 4/6

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)
Regina - Never Let Me Go
✔Sassy (Amy) - Forbidden Highlander 7/25 | 4� (message 114)




Shelf #2: favorite series (G19)
Finished: 4/6

Celine - Graceling
✼·²¹´Ú´Ú´Ç»å¾±±ô - Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs 8/2 | 3½-4â˜� (message 185)
Amanda - Dance with the Devil
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)

Sexy list, thanks, Amanda. I still haven't chosen my FS read yet. Soon. Promise. :)

So I finished 8/3 and it gets 3 stars this was my bingo book for this week (7/31)

Here is my review:
This is often noted as the first book in the great decline of Anita Blake, but I noticed that it many of my GR friends have given it 4/5 stars. For me, this book was a weak book. It was weak because it lacked the horror and fear element. My favorite Anita Blake books are the ones with a very strong horror background. This was also a weak book for me, because really I couldn’t figure out why there was the conflict. It seemed to be a weak set up. And finally, the back and forth between Richard and Anita was just tiresome. It added nothing to the story and honestly, if my best friend was going on and on the way Richard and Anita do � I would refuse to listen to it. Enough. Enough already. The sex didn’t bother me, but there really wasn’t a lot of it in this book. Anita’s personality was still likeable to me, even though Richard with Anita annoyed me, I still like Richard and all of the men. I do like the addition of the leopards � but when is Anita going to raise the dead again? I likely will wait a good while before I go on to #11, and I may just skip ahead to the books that have Edward and Olaf in them.

Oh and the idea of were snakes really really disgusts me. Bleh.

So I finished 8/3 5 stars this was my free space book.

I love Harry. I love Bob. I love Molly. I love the new and improved Butters. I loved seeing Daniel Carpenter. I love this series. It just is such a comfort read for me. I had forgotten how much I love this series until I started to read this book. The mystery and quest were interesting and unlike much urban fantasy, it was unique � nothing I have read before. Maybe a little of Harry Potter, but I am okay with that. One of the things that is so fantastic about this series is that there are consequences. Consequences to dying, consequences to losing loved ones, and consequences to killing. Harry is self reflective and looks back on his actions � he considers what he should have done and questions his own actions. He has regret. This is such a rich, beautiful story. Action � of course there is action, but now too much. Some of the Dresden books have too much action in my opinion, but this one has a great balance. Some of the characters reactions to situations frustrated me, but they were reacting in a very human way. I also enjoy how Butcher revisits past baddies. In most books, the baddies die and everything is solved and the heroes move on to their next quest. Not in this world. In this world, it isn’t that the baddies don’t die, but there are reverberations � so that past decisions to take out the bad guys or remove them have caused new problems to arise.
Butcher has gotten better at describing Chicago, but I still saw some factual inaccuracies that drive my crazy. For example, when he was examining a priest’s night table he notes that one of the only earthly goods the priest ones is a King James bible, but Catholics don’t read the King James bible and in fact the Catholic bible is slightly different than the protestant bible. Minor, but I am shocked an editor or Butcher didn’t catch this. I just like being immersed in a story but when there is a glaring factual error, it takes me out of the story. However, I loved this story so much I am still giving it 5 stars.

Amy I agree with you about the BDB book/s. Unfortunately, Ward is dating her books. I just read a book from 1949 and it was surprisingly undated. My daughter is reading War of the Worlds right now and is shocked at how accessible it is. The BDB books won't be like that. But I do still love them.

@ Regina, Too bad to hear that you didn't like the LKH book that much. I never really liked Richard that much after he started getting so insanely jealous. Jean-Claude always seemed like a better pick to me.

Were snakes sound gross indeed.

Daffodil, that series sounds really interesting! What other series would you compare it too? Is it more UF or PNR?

Switching my favorite series book from Brisingr to . I'll be leaving for Italy in five days, and I found Graceling in my library to take it with me (:

I do still love the BDBH Books, but they won't be around forever. It kind of made me sad/disappointed that it will fade away because of the dating... oh well!

Even being very contemporary and everything, I found some slang in the BDB hard to understand. Maybe it's just me being Dutch, but I had to look up what a SOB was. Afterwards I felt pretty stupid about it, but oh well.

And it annoys me that the brothers listen to rap music constantly. I don't like rap music. I'm more of an alternative rock kind of girl. Sometimes I wish authors would let us readers fill in the blanks.

Favorite Series read

Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs, Molly Harper, 8-2-11
3.5 - 4 stars.

Did I notice anything new or innovative added to the vampire myth? No.
Did it matter? No. It was so funny, I didn't care.

I really love Harper's humor. Jane's unexpected trains of thought, snappy comments and overall personality charmed me. There were several moments that caught me by surprise, making me laugh out loud. Her quirky friends and crazy family only added to the mix. There were only a couple concerns that lowered my rating. The transitions to Jane's flashbacks were a little jarring. I feel they could have been smoothed out more. Jane's views on why a certain elderly gentleman was dating her grandmother, while funny, appeared twice, worded almost exactly the same. It seemed as if Harper forgot that she had included those comments in a previous chapter. And I didn't really feel one way or the other for Jane's love interest. When he was off-screen, I didn't miss him. I didn't hate him, I just didn't care about him.

Those concerns were minor and I'm definitely looking forward to getting my hands on the second book.

I agree about the rap. I love the books, but I often find the fact that the older brothers are so immersed in pop colture unbelievable. But I love the series, so I am okay with it.

Amanda, love the update, just a quick note - Amy read Lover Unleased not Lover Eternal, I know its easy to do cause the covers are so similiar :)

Sandra wrote: "Amanda, love the update, just a quick note - Amy read Lover Unleased not Lover Eternal, I know its easy to do cause the covers are so similiar :)"

good god! haahaha! it's so tiny!!! sorry!!!

Italy! Woohoo - Enjoy, Celine! Will you still be able to post updates while on holiday?

Thanks, Steph! I'm not sure if there is internet where I'm going.. Maybe I can borrow my boyfriends iPhone if I say pretty please. If not, I'm just going for one week, so I'll just miss one shelf announcement. ^^

Regina wrote: "Daffodil, that series sounds really interesting! What other series would you compare it too? Is it more UF or PNR?"

Ravenous is the first in a PNR series. I would say it's similar to Christine Warren's The Others series. (the mass-market books, not the Fantasy Fix series it's based on) Would you agree Steph?

Ashwood created a world with vampires, weres, witches, fae (mentioned but not really met yet) and demons. There is an alternate prison realm that's full of possibilities.

I just hope Ashwood keeps up the momentum. Because I personally feel Warren's record is kind of spotty. I absolutely loved some, . But, I was disappointed in and I heard was even worse.

Yep, I agree Daffodil.

I really, really disliked and I didn't get very far into at all. Just dreadful. And generally I love this series.

Actually, I haven't read CW's series. So, I couldn't say. But, Sandra agrees, so Yep! :D

Sandra wrote: "Amanda, love the update, just a quick note - Amy read Lover Unleased not Lover Eternal, I know its easy to do cause the covers are so similiar :)"

Oops! Thanks, Sandra! I didn't double check the book in her review, just went with her original post of what she planned to read. All fixed now! :)

Steph wrote: "Sexy list, thanks, Amanda. I still haven't chosen my FS read yet. Soon. Promise. :)"

I still need to choose a free space book too. Hopefully sometime this weekend. :)

: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'm almost halfway through my book. I had hoped to finish tonight, but it's looking like it will probably be tomorrow. I had to sit through a boring continuing professional education class all day today. I wish I could have read my book instead of listening to the speaker. :)

Yuck. If it was on your phone, you could pretend to be doing important work business. LOL! >;) Good luck with your CPE, lemme know if you need some toothpicks to hold your eyes open.

That is when reader come in handy! I try to do my CLE via web casts.

Oops meant ereader.