Ghosts and Old Books

There are more reviews forthcoming but I've been busy lately ... okay, I've been reading a lot and it's kept me from the computer. Anyways, I was watching the Ghost Whisperer last night and came to a somewhat startling (to me, anyways) conclusion - I'm afraid of ghosts. Weird? Maybe. There's just something about a being that can disappear and reappear at will, move stuff around and generally make your life miserable (for however long or short that may be). It's terrifying. Yeah, I didn't even get through one episode (which is exceedingly pathetic, I know). Don't laugh! I was home along and my house is TOTALLY one that would be haunted. We even have a "Grudge Room" (from the title, I think you can understand why I don't often go in there ... and I've never slept in there. We stick any guests that come over in that room and everyone has survived ... so far).

Anyways, I was rereading The Secret Circle these last two days and ... man, they're just as good as I remember. They actually gave me the desire to hunt down The Forbidden Game trilogy and read those. LOVED those books as a kid. And there were others about werepanthers (they weren't called that I don't think) and they were AMAZING but hell if I can remember what they were called. I've tried searching and found nothing so far. *sigh*

Book Reviews, Part II

Okay, so I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately and I thought I’d share my opinions. Since there are 14+ books, I’ll do it over the course of a few days.


Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce
This book was amazing – definitely her best yet. It is the second book in her Beka Cooper trilogy and it surpasses even Terrier. In it, Beka and Goodwin have to go leave the city (and Beka’s comfort zone) in order to pursue an investigation. I’ll leave it at that to avoid spoilers. The only thing I would have liked would have been to see more of Rosto. Overall, though, it was a great read (and over 500 pages!) and I devoured it in less than 24 hours. 10/10


The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong
Again, another second in a trilogy – and, again, better than the first. I felt like the first book was great, but there wasn’t a ton of action (besides that freaky incident in the crawl space). Well, this book totally makes up for that and then some. It follows Chloe, a teenage necromancer, as she and her friends (and sort-of-friends) try to escape their pursuers. There are some things explained that I was curious about in the first book and my hunch about one particular character was TOTALLY CORRECT. And we see a lot more of Derek, who happens to be my favorite character. 9/10



Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs by Molly Harper
Warning: this book will make you laugh until you’re crying which will, in turn, earn you odd looks from family and friends. Seriously, I laughed throughout the entire thing. Jane’s outlook is hilarious and her misadventures (she gets mistaken for a deer and shot!) still make me chuckle when I think about them. I was hesitant to pick this book up because I’m not crazy about vampires these days … but I am so glad I did. I’m eagerly looking forward to the second book (Nice Girls Don’t Date Dead Guys)! 10/10


Lover Avenged by J.R. Ward
First off – I like this series. I personally think that the first three books (Wrath, Rhage, and Z) were the best. I read through this book quickly and enjoyed it … but I didn’t love it. In previous books I LOVED Rhevenge … but he let me down in this one (although there were some really interesting aspects of the sympathy colony). His love interest Ehlena was alright but I didn’t like her like I have some of the others female leads. Basically, I liked this book but I wish I would have waited for the paperback. 6/10


Blue Diablo by Anne Aguirre
I know I’ve mentioned this book before on the blog, but it’s worth mentioning it again. I LOVE IT. The fact that Corinne and Chance has a relationship before she walked out on him brings in all sorts of delicious tension. Both characters are incredibly (and believably) damaged – but still sympathetic. As usual (from her Jax novels anyways) Aguirre brings in a host of fantastic secondary characters that I hope to see in the next book. Basically, just drop what you’re doing right now and go buy this book – actually, while you’re at it go buy Grimspace and Wanderlust, too. You won’t regret it.10/10

Book Reviews, Part I

Heir to Sevenwaters
I absolutely adore this series and this particular book is now my second favorite (after Son of Shadows … because, really, that’s one of my top 5 books EVER). Clodagh is the main character, daughter of Sean and Aisling. She’s another twin (Liadan and Sean were in SOS). On thing I really enjoy about Marillier is that she’s constantly switching things up with her heroines. Clodagh is a homemaker, she steps in when her mother is too far along in her pregnancy to run the household. Cathal is one of Johnny’s men and he’s very reminiscent of Bran (*gusty sigh*). Anyways, we get an up close and personal look at the Fair Folk in this book and they’re not the pleasant ones that we’ve come to expect in this world. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the dialogue between Cathal and Clodagh was great. All in all, it was a beautiful, FANTASTIC read. 10/10



Curse the Dawn by Karen Chance
I really need to go back through and reread this series. I meant to do it before I got into this book, but life got in the way (as it often does). So I felt a little behind, like I was constantly playing catch up. As far as I can tell, this book happens right around the same time that Midnight Daughter’s events happen (another great book, by the way). Cassie always amuses me because she seems to get into all sorts of trouble without trying … and she’s not really equipped to deal with it. Pritkin is probably my favorite character and their interactions never ceased to make me laugh. I find myself almost hoping that they’ll get together even though I really do like Mircea. Can’t wait for the next one! 8/10


The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers by Angie Fox
Honestly, I picked up The Accidental Demon Slayer on accident (sort of) and didn’t stop laughing through the whole thing. It was refreshing (biker granny witches … YES) and fun. That’s why I went into this book expecting … more. Don’t get me wrong, it was good. It just wasn’t GREAT. Dmitri really bugged me – and I’m still not sure why he took off by his lonesome. The whole concept of having to get a demon slayer license (and permit, heh heh) was hilarious, but the rest of the book felt like a letdown and there definitely wasn’t enough granny bikers! 7/10



Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson
I have an admission to make – I’ve never read any books by Johnson before. I figured I’d start with the newest and see what all the fuss was about. I’m not generally all that into these types of books but I did enjoy this one. Spencer is one of the realest (that sounds weird) characters that I’ve ever read. He’s the older brother that I always wished I’d had. But enough about me. Scarlett was great and it amused me about how her ideas never quite worked out like she thought they would – and she was constantly being roped into MORE bad ideas by the FANTASTIC Mrs. Amy Amberson. Amberson was great and I was constantly laughing at her antics. All in all, the ending was not quite what I expected but I appreciated that it was far more honest to the characters than other authors might have been. 7/10



Eternal by Cynthia Leitich Smith
This book looked interesting and I’ve been branching out into YA more and more often so I thought I’d give it a try. Honestly, I wasn’t all that impressed for most of it. I found Miranda really hard to emphasize with and she seemed really dull (both before and after her death). I like Zachary but that was it – just like, not love. Although the ending reminded me of a certain play that I HATE but it still reached out to me. It was an interesting ready, although I wish I would have waited until it came out in paperback – or at the library. 5/10