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R8: SS Team Thirteen at Winterfell (13)
Jamie wrote: "ThatEzi wrote: "Jamie wrote: "I read Somewhere I'll Find You which is #1 in the series. I will review it Tuesday probably"I love that book!! Lisa Kleypas writes good stuff"
I agree..."
I have a bunch of her books that someone gave me. Don't think I've read any of them yet, I suppose I should give her a try.
ROLL #8, SPOT #60Series or Alternate: Series
by Ellis Peters - 9/04/16Book: The Virgin in the Ice
Series or Alternate: Brother Cadfael Chronicles #6
Rating: 4 stars
Review: I like Edith Pargeter in all her authory guises. :) Brother Cadfael is probably one of the first cozy mysteries I ever read, back when they were first being published. I love that worldly old monk and his interest in the world. My vocation, as I explained to the nuns, was not to become one of them, but to become a crime-fighting monk in the 12th century. Didn't work out for me, but I can still enjoy reading about him now.
Wow, fast review Allison! I'm still on chapter 7, oops haha.
My Olympic team is down to 3 people and I've committed to reading a bunch of books for that challenge. This was one too short to count so I powered through (enjoyably) to get it done fast. :D
COMPLETION PostWeek 8, Spot 60
The Professional
Kresley Cole
Qualification: #1 in Game Maker series
Pages: 400
Finished: 9/5/16
Rating: 2.5 stars
I was going to review a different book but this one irritated me more so I switched...now I'm fine with "bad guy" heroes, and with suspension of disbelief, especially when it comes to billionaires and what they can do, heck I read for fantasy so I'll play along. But this just constantly asked the reader to go along with more and more ridiculous stuff. First we have a supposedly scholarly, hard working virgin who is stalked and then abducted, okay... Then her abductors are so not bad guys, they're just in the business to protect others, okay... then the completely obvious "hidden bad guy" happens and we are whisked off to another location. The relationship between Natalie and Sevastyan was hot and cold and of course there's no conversation, and then when Natalie pushes for conversation it gets even worse. BUT all is redeemed in the end... It wasn't hard or terrible to read it just made me roll my eyes a few too many times to enjoy it.
Mod
Week 8, Spot 60
The Professional
Kresley Cole
Qualification: #1 in Game Maker ..."
I agree!
Too much sex, alpha male thing and too little actual plot movement.
Mod
Book: Love Restored by Carrie Ann Ryan
Qualification: Gallagher Brothers Book 1
Pages: 199
ThatEzi wrote: "Jamie wrote: "COMPLETION PostWeek 8, Spot 60
The Professional
Kresley Cole
Qualification: #1 in Game Maker ..."
I agree!
Too mu..."
Yeah I'd been waiting for that book from my e-library and was excited to read it because I've heard so much about Kresley Cole. But I guess Immortals After Dark is the better series to go with. I will still try that series but I'm not as in as much of a hurry.
Mod
I will write my review tomorrow, I had a busy first school week. I have about 80 pages to go.
Mod
COMPLETION Post
Week 8, Spot 60
Book: Nikolai 2 (Her Russian Protector, Book 6) by Roxie Rivera
Read: 9/6
Rating & Review: 5-stars
Nikolai Kaslasnikov and Sergei are my favorite male characters in this series so I'm so pleased the author gave us a second story after their marriages. Nikolai married Vivian, and now they are the King and Queen of Houston's underground.
Viv is pregnant and still uncomfortable with the secrecy that comes with her Kolya's job. They are also hiding Nikolai's true identity which someone discovers. Now Nikolai's greatest fear, losing Viv and their baby, seems a possibility. What is he willing to give up to keep them safe?
I love the writing in this series. While the author builds the plot, she gives extra attention to the characters. It's clear that Nikolai and Viv love each other despite their individual faults. It's an acceptance of each other that makes me enjoy the story. I never doubted that Nikolai would do whatever it took, but I loved the emotional wrestling they had to do emotional. Both are good seeds from bad parents. But I really felt the passing of the torches.
Week 8, Spot 60Stand Alone option
Charlotte by David Foenkinos - 9/8/16
Rating: 4 stars
Review:
This was one of those author-inserts-himself-into-his-novel situations. I've personally found this approach problematic - the author's 'presence' ends up overshadowing the rest of the plot. Fortunately, Charlotte Salomon's story, and Foenkinos' writing ability, are too strong for that to happen.
Charlotte Salomon was a real human being. She was born in Germany, was one of the only Jewish students allowed into the United States Schools for Pure and Applied Arts in Berlin, and spent the last two years of her life creating a large body of work that solidified her reputation as a significant artistic talent of the 1940s.
Her life was never easy. Her mother committed suicide when Charlotte was nine. In 1938 she was detained in Sachsenhausen, after which her family fled to France. She lived with her grandparents in Nice, only to suffer the loss of her grandmother to suicide in 1939.
She married Alexander Nagler in 1943, and in the same year, left thousands of her paintings with friends for safe-keeping. By this time, France was occupied and Jewish deportations to death camps were ramping up. She was five months pregnant when she and Alexander were arrested. She was dead by October, likely gassed upon arrival in Auschwitz.
I had read a biography of her several years ago, so I had some idea of what her life had been like. The interpretation of her story in this novel is at once, vibrant, almost darkly poetic and poignant, rather like her own artwork.
COMPLETION Post Week 8, Spot 60
Book: Throne of Glass
Read: 9/9
Rating & Review: 4,8
OMG, this is one hell of a book.
I loved the characters and I basicly loved everything except for the bou Celaena chose. I won't spoil it for you guys.
You really see Celaena grow during the book, she learns how to trust people again but she stays an assasin. The urge to escape is always there, but you realize she's a very smart girl. I really liked how the story progresses. And I would love to read some more of Sarah J. Maas's work. I'm hooked!
Week 9 - I rolled a nine, putting us on Spot 69. We can read a 6, a 9 or a 69 in a series. The alternate option is a book from the Priority Reads list.
Jamie wrote: "Nice roll!"Thank you! (bows)
So I really don't have either a 6 or a 9 in a series that I want to tackle this week. I'm torn between two titles from the Priority Reads list:
or
Which one I read will depend on which one is available at my library this weekend. I'm leaning strongly toward the second title, but I'll see if it's checked out or not.
I took a look through Priority Reads and I've already read anything that is a priority for me, so.... ;) I'll be reading
, Rizzoli & Isles #9. I'll have to find another #9 for when we hit the 90s, but I guess I have a couple of weeks to look.
Mod
Mod
Go with
Mod
Book: Rented Heart by Garrett Leigh
Qualification: Priority Read
Pages: 228
ThatEzi wrote: "69 huh? SMH. Y'all are corrupting my innocent mind with all that sex talk. Lol."Ha Ezi I went there immediately, too
Mod
Ha Ezi I went there immediately, too"
Cause you are bad like me!!!
ThatEzi wrote: "Jamie wrote: "ThatEzi wrote: "69 huh? SMH. Y'all are corrupting my innocent mind with all that sex talk. Lol."Ha Ezi I went there immediately, too"
Cause you are bad like me!!!"
~snort~
I was in luck today: Underground Airlines
was available at my library. So that's my choice from the Priority Reads list.
ROLL #9, SPOT #69Series or Alternate: Series
by Tess Gerritsen - 9/12/16Book: The Silent Girl
Series or Alternate: Rizzoli & Isles #9
Rating: 4 stars
Review: Enjoyed this thriller a lot. Fast paced writing and mystery, lots of twists and turns, intrigue and deception. Everything came together at the end but in a logical way and with the possibility of revisiting these characters in the future. Solid book with just enough whimsy to keep it interesting.
Allison Ann wrote: "ROLL #9, SPOT #69Series or Alternate: Series."
Speedy, you are.
I'm only a few chapters into my book, but I'm really liking it a lot.
Hmm, I think I will read The perks of being a Wallflower, I don't feel like reading, so I want to make this a quick little slumpy, haha.I will read Fangirl when I can read it without pressure, thanks for the tip though. I will read it directly after the challenge.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Marty wrote: "Allison Ann wrote: "ROLL #9, SPOT #69Series or Alternate: Series."
Speedy, you are.
I'm only a few chapters into my book, but I'm really liking it a lot."
Lazy, I am. :D I'm just letting my work pile up and reading for now. This time of year always turns me into a sloth.
COMPLETION PostWeek 9, Spot 69
When He Was Wicked
Julia Quinn
Qualification: #6 in Bridgerton series
Pages: 368
Finished: 9/15/16
Rating: 3.5 stars
I wasn't enjoying this book at first, Michael was just SO perfect, loving his cousin's wife but never acting on it and Francesca was a little irritating in her obliviousness. I actually didn't like it for probably 3/4 as they went about their London society balls etc it was sort of boring. Once they went to Scotland (which actually didn't make a ton of sense but whatever) then it did start to get interesting as Michael started his seduction campaign (what can I say, I got excited when I saw our roll was 69 this week LOL). I still can't say that I loved the plot but Julia Quinn's writing is always terrific and smart so in the end I did enjoy this.
Week 9, Spot 69Priority List option
Underground Airlines by Ben H. Winters - 9/15/16
Rating: 4 stars
Review:
I was intrigued by the premise of the book. In a nutshell, it's present day, the Civil War never happened, 4 states have remained slave states (the Hard Four) and are in theory subject to strict government regulations for 'humane' treatment of the 'Persons Bound,' and the Underground Railroad is now the Underground Airlines - illegal but still alive and well thanks to abolitionists in the North and South. The main character, Victor, is an escaped former slave who has more or less made a Faustian bargain: working as a government agent hunting down other escaped slaves in order to remain 'free' himself. In reality, all he has done is trade one type of servitude for another.
Victor is conflicted, to say the least, but views his job as his only means of escape. He is currently looking for a young runaway by the name of Jackdaw, who turns out to be as much a pawn in the abolitionists' game as Victor is in the government's. Nobody is entirely good or bad here, save for maybe Martha Flowers, the young nursing tech whom Victor befriends. The government is playing both sides, the slave owners (mostly big corporations) are both brutal and detached from the actual realities of slave life. The abolitionist priest and his minions are radicals who are so blindly dedicated to their cause, that end justifies any means to accomplish it.
Victor ends up being a double agent himself, venturing into Alabama to retrieve a package that is an unfinished part of the Jackdaw business. Martha is supposed to be his cover to get him into the state, since free African-Americans need a white escort to vouch for them. She refuses to leave him behind, proving to be a talented actress and ally when things go sideways.
I really enjoyed this book. I like the way this author writes. This is one of the few books I've read for which I would really like to see a sequel.
Mod
ThatEzi wrote: "Awesome review Marty."Thanks!
Mod
COMPLETION Post
Week 9, Spot 69
Book: Tall, Tatted and Tempting (The Reed Brothers, Book 1) by Tammy Falkner
Qualification: Priority Read
Read: 9/15
Rating & Review: 4 stars
This is the second time I have listened to this story. It's actually free on kindle and what a buy!
Kit was a runway girl struggling on the streets and one day she stopped into a tattoo parlor. She met Logan, a deaf tattoo artist. Logan and his siblings owned the parlor and things led Logan to inviting Kit home with him.
The rest of the story chronicles the intense connection Kit and Logan shared. But it also slowly revealed the secrets that both Kit and Logan were hiding from each other. The author told this story in such a way that it was sweet, engaging and with some angst. The chemistry was palpable and the actual romance kept me listening.
I have to add this book ends with a huge cliff hanger so go ahead and have book 2 ready. Book 1 was a carrot to get to plug into the series, It works though because it was written well and it was an interesting new adult book.
COMPLETION POSTBook: The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Pages: 212
Review: 4/5 stars
I really loved this book and how it coped with depression. The letters were stories that were really relatable. They were so relatable that I could really see myself in the stories and it was a great experience.
In the beginning it was very hard to get used to the way of writing because the letters were different from what I'm used to.
I really liked this book, so I give it 4,5 stars
(Un)fortunately, I'm still awake - stupid insomnia. So I'll go post our review and get those dice rolling. BRB.
Rolled an 8, so we're on Spot 77. Seven in a series, 77 in a series (is there such a book??) or the alternate option of Title C.
My choice for this week: Murder of Gonzago: An Antonia Darcy and Major Payne Investigation by R.T. Raichev, number 7 in the Country House Murder series
As much as I love this challenge for getting me to read more series books, I'm going to have to go for the alternate this week.Title C -
- 336 pages.
Mod
Book: Touch & Geaux by Abigail Roux
Qualification: Cut & Run, Book 7
Pages: 349
Turns out that my first pick is unavailable at my library right now. I'm switching to the C title option:Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood
I haven't picked my book yet but I haven't forgotten!
Mod
ThatEzi wrote: "So I changed my book my beloved Ty and Zane."Nice!
Mod
Nice!"
Stars and stripes is still my favorite though :D
This book 7 is when I began to loathe Abigail Roux for making Ty look like a douchebag. Plus, it began that stupid "whodunnit" that resulted in the worst set up for the fall guy I've ever read.
I will never accept the person she put up as the Bad guy trying to kill Ty and Zane. NEVER!
COMPLETION PostWeek 10, Spot 77
Cold Burn of Magic
Jennifer Estep
Qualification: Alternate - Title "C"
Pages: 323
Finished: 9/21/16
Rating: 3.5 stars
I had to read this for another challenge or else I never would have picked it up. It definitely felt "YA" but I liked the plot and the characters. We have our plucky heroine Lila who starts off the book alone except for Mo, the pawn shop broker who sends her out on jobs. There are hints as to why Lila is alone in the world and that part of the story is told incrementally. I have to say I figured out the plot pretty early, there were only so many characters in this book and it's part of a series so clearly it wasn't the ultimate bad guy being set up for a final confrontation further down the road. I liked the matchup with Devon although the insta-connection thing felt a bit off. While fluffy this was entertaining and I would certainly read the next book in the series if I needed something for a challenge. I'm not sure I'm in a rush to do that though.
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I love that book!! Lisa Kleypas writes good stuff"
I agree, Kleypas is an excellent writer