April 2013 Rundown and Upcoming in May

So… April was an interesting reading month for me. With the end of the semester I’ve been spending lots of time on papers and presentations and the like and less time reading for fun sadly. What I did manage to read was an interesting batch though.

The first book I read was a continuation from March, Nobody’s Perfect, the fourth book in the Rescue Me series by Kallypso Masters. I was really excited when I actually got to this book and I have to say it didn’t let me down.

The second book I read was Fever by Maya Banks, the second book in the Breathless trilogy. I knew this book would be… gritty, is the best word I’ve got, but it was amazing, I loved it. Now I’m stuck waiting until AUGUST for the third book. I hate waiting.

Suicide Note by Teresa Mummert was the third book I read which was less than fantastic, unfortunately. I’ve reviewed it here, along with another of her books if you’re interested.

I also read Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren in April. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great. I’m kinda ‘ehh’ about the book to be honest.

Around the middle of the month I got an itch to read some more of Lora Leigh’s Breed books, so I read four of those this month, one of which was a re-read. I read:

• Mercury’s War, #16
• Christmas Heat, #17 (which is actually a novella)
• Styx’s Storm, #22
• Navarro’s Promise #24 (the re-read)

I’ve been jumping around in this series for the last couple of years, but I’m finally filling in some gaps and forcing myself to go in order for the rest of it, because OMIGOSH, the stuff that happens. O.O

In April I also read Things Are Going to Slide by Rangeley Wallace as part of a book tour and I loved it!

I satiated another bookish curiosity by reading a cheap-o copy of Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire that I picked up during my trip to the used book store recently (look out for the book haul this Sunday ’cause…. ZOMG). It was good even if that book will win every single award for most dysfunctional relationship ever. It was good enough that I’d like to pick up the companion novel Walking Disaster if I can find it cheap enough.

And last but not least… I started re-reading a series that I first read about ten years ago because I finally replaced the books I was missing and then I just HAD to read them. So last month I got through the first two books of the Sweep series:

• Book of Shadows, #1
• The Coven, #2

I’m unsure how I’ll review these books at this point, but I’d like to because of the different way it looks at witches (as opposed to say, Harry Potter).

What will May bring?

I’m reading a few books right now actually, I’m on book 7 of the Sweep series… yes I’ve read books 3-6 in the first two days of May, lol. I’m also reading King of the Class by Gila Green which is really interesting. I’m definitely liking that one. The last book I’ve got going right now is Coyote’s Mate, the 18th book in the Breeds series.

To be honest, I don’t know exactly what else I’ll be reading this month yet because I have my last two weeks of school and SO many new books and there’s so much temptation and feelings of, ‘I MUST READ THIS!!!!’ I can say that I’ll probably finish the Sweep series seeing as I read them in a couple hours a piece and because they’re addicting! Other than that, it’ll be a surprise for all of us I suppose, lol.

What did you read last month? Anything good? Anything in particular you’re looking forward to this month? Inquiring minds would like to know.

February 2013 Rundown and What’s Coming Up

February was my first full month back here, and while I didn’t get as much accomplished as I had hoped to (thanks muchly to research papers) I’m still going to be getting back into the monthly rundown saddle.

So… What happened in February? I read 13 books! It’s been so long since I’ve been reading like that – I’m ecstatic!

In the review catch-up category I read and reviewed A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan. Overall I liked it, but I struggled a little at the start. Also in this category I re-read A Watershed Year by Susan Schoenberger. I haven’t written my review yet, but I can say it is an AMAZING book.

Other books I read include:
- Containment by Christian Cantrell
- Fatal Affair (Fatal #1) by Marie Force
- The Magician’s Nephew (Chronicles of Narnia #1) by C.S. Lewis
- Glory in Death (In Death #2) by J.D. Robb

I was also sidetracked by a couple (or seven) suggested reads from a Goodreads group. Among those are:
- Gabriel’s Inferno (Gabriel’s Inferno #1) by Sylvain Reynard
- The Reluctant Dom by Tymber Dalton
- Cherise Sinclair’s Masters of the Shadowland’s series, I only have book 3 (of all 6) left to read since there’s a formatting issue with the copy I have.

I also have a couple of books to finish reading from Feb. since I got totally sidetracked.
- Phantoms in the Brain by V.S. Ramachandran
- Escape Artist by Ed Ifkovic
- One Bullet Away by Nathaniel Fick (When I wrote up my lists the other night I hadn’t finished this yet, but I finished it last night… sooo, this is finished.)

That’s all of my reads from last month. As for whats coming up in March… I still have six books/ebooks from my last library stop to finish. A few of them are part of my review catch up books:
- Phantom Evil by Heather Graham
- Creed’s Honor by Linda Lael Miller
- Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman
The other books I have from the library are:
- Homeland by Cory Doctorow – I may wait to read this since I found out after I took it home that its actually a sequel to another book.
- Leviathan by Scott Westerfield – I’ve heard lots of good stuff about Westerfield so I’m looking forward to reading something by him.
- The Book of Madness and Cures by Regina O’Melveny – this was a total impulse pick up, but I’m seriously looking forward to it.

Other books I’m planning to read in March are:
- Rush (Breathless Trilogy #1) by Maya Banks – I actually started this one already and am loving it, but then… I’m a Maya Banks fangirl – I’ve yet to dislike one of her books.
- Immortal in Death (In Death #3) by J.D. Robb – If I can read at least one book a month from this series, I should be caught up in about… 3 years, lol.
- Gabriel’s Rapture (Gabriel’s Inferno #2) by Sylvain Reynard – I really liked the first book and can’t wait to see what happens next!
- The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis – I’ve gotta stop getting too sidetracked from the Narnia series before my friend takes my head of. She’s impatient for me to read these.

Okay, so that’s a lot. Just one more thing to mention… additions to my own library! Best part, right?

I only bought three new books this month. First is Rush by Maya Banks. Then I went to Barnes and Noble on a whim the other night and got Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, I’ve been hearing great things about this book so I grabbed it right up when I saw it. The last book I got was the first book of the Strain trilogy, which I’m hyped about. I totally had no idea until I read someone’s BTT post this week that Guillermo del Toro was a published author so I was all ZOMG about it. Then I’m at B&N and what do I see? The first book of the trilogy for 5 bucks… can you say bookish fate?

Also… I totally accepted some review books. Now, I told myself not to for a while, to control myself, but then those golden nuggets of awesome bookishness were dangled in front of me and I could. not. resist. So, for review I got:

White Shanghai: A Novel of the Roaring Twenties in China by Elvira Baryakina – I absolutely LOVE the cover and cannot wait to read this!

Harlequin’s Costume by Leonid Yuzefovich – this is the first book in a trilogy that’s actually based on a real person, Ivan Putilin, who was Chief of Police in St. Petersburg from 1866-92.

I received both of these books from the publisher, Glagoslav Publications.

The next book I received for review is Laura Meets Jeffrey: Both Sides of An Erotic Memoir by Jeffrey Michelson and Laura Bradley. I found out about Laura Meets Jeffrey when I was browsing Goodreads and I marked it as “Want to Read.” A few days later I get an offer of an e-copy for review from the author and I was totally psyched! Of course, I accepted!

The last book I received is Things Are Going to Slide by Rangeley Wallace. I’m really looking forward to reading this one just because the leading female seems to be one of those strong, head on straight kind of characters that I like. I’m actually going to be participating in the book tour for this one in April, so it’ll be a while before I review it, but you can always keep an eye out if you’re interested.

So, that’s what was and what’s coming up for me. Have you read anything good recently? Something you’re looking forward to starting? New additions to the home library that you’re psyched for? Do tell.

October Rundown and the Crazy November Ahead

I really cannot believe it’s already November, but here we are. Things have been mighty slow around the blog lately mostly because I’ve had several large mid-semester projects at school which have been my priority. I am slowly getting myself out of the horrible reading/blogging slump I was in for a couple of months and am hoping to get entirely back on track during November.  The read-a-thon I participated in two weeks ago definitely helped me get used to the whole blog post/reading a lot thing again.

So, what did I read in October?

Forbidden by Suzanne Brockmann
Bad Boys Do by Victoria Dahl
A Billion Wicked Thoughts: What the World’s Largest Experiment Reveals About Human Desire by Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam
The Sweetest Taboo by Alison Kent
Breeding Ground by Sarah Pinborough
Seeing Red by Jill Shalvis
Geek Girls Unite: How Fangirls, Bookworms, Indie Chicks, and Other Misfits Are Taking Over the World by Leslie Simon
Don’t Sing at the Table: Life Lessons from my Grandmothers by Adriana Trigiani (For TLC Book Tours)

Okay, so that’s only eight books, but it’s better than the two or three I was reading here and there previously. It also didn’t help that I finished off October without power thanks to the Nor’easter that hit this weekend. Who knew it was so difficult to read in the freezing cold by flashlight?

I’m one of the lucky one’s who has had power restored, as of last night for my house (apparently living on a busy street has it’s merits), I can finally get all caught up on the reviews I intended to write this past weekend. I have a HUGE backlog of reviews that I have yet to finish, some reviews going back a few months. I’m hoping to get some of them polished and up by the weekend which I’ll be doing in between catching up on homework I couldn’t do this weekend, studying for four exams, and working on a few small papers and one large research paper.

I’m also going to apologize  now if I don’t stick to the reading/posting schedule I set for myself over the next two weeks. In addition to all of the schoolwork, I decided I wanted to participate in NaNoWriMo again this year, and that kicked off yesterday. I have this horrible, morbid, very basic idea of a story I came up with when I was in a bad mood, and decided to fly by the seat of my pants with it. So that’s another thing I’ll be doing this month.

I also want to mention my reading challenges. Some of them are complete, or nearly complete, and others I’ve yet to start.
My main goal for myself comes from the Outdo Yourself Challenge. I signed up to finish six to ten more books in 2011 than I did in 2010. I read 157 books last year, so I’m shooting for 165 this year. As of today I’ve read something like 145 books (I have to update my 2011 Reads list which lists 141).  I’m pretty confident I will reach that goal.
For the Non-Fiction Challenge, I’ve got five categories to go: Art, Food, Medical, Travel, and Money.
The Off-the-Shelf Challenge is one of the two challenges I don’t think I’ll finish, doesn’t mean I won’t try, but I don’t think I’ll finish it. I’m about halfway to my goal of reading 50 books that I purchased before Jan. 1, 2011. The other challenge I’m hesitant about finishing is the Vintage Mystery Challenge which is the one I’ve yet to start on. I’m very much intending to change that this month though.
The lone challenge that I’ve completed is the E-book Challenge. I am signed up for the Obsessed, or 20 e-books level, but when the host added new levels I decided to shoot for those. I believe I have read 48 e-books to date.

Okay, so the last order of business. What am I planning to read this month…
- Rembrandt’s Whore by Sylvie Matton, I started this during the read-a-thon and just have to finish it.
- Persuasion by Jane Austen, I decided it was time for another Jane Austen and this is the lucky one my finger landed on.
- House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski, I wanted to read it for Halloween, but realized pretty quickly that it is probably a book best saved for when I’m not forced to read by flashlight.
- Raymond Chandler and Agatha Christie, for the Vintage Mystery Challenge.
- The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
- The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
- And lastly, I’ll be reviewing two books for TLC Book Tours this month as well. A Train in Winter: An Extraordinary Story of Women, Friendship, and Resistance in Occupied France by Caroline Moorehead and A Watershed Year by Susan Schoenberger

As always I’ll be leaving room to change my mind about what I read (with the exception of the tour books), but what’s above is ideally what I will read this month. And with all of that, Happy Reading!

August 2011 Rundown

So, generally this is where I tell you all about how many books I’ve been reading and all those reviews I’ve been writing. However, between a funeral, family visiting from down south, starting school again, getting sick, etc etc I’ve once again been neglecting the blog a bit and my reading has been seriously lacking.

As for what I’ve read recently, I read and reviewed Wherever You Go by Joan Leegant which was phenomenal. I also read Bonk by Mary Roach and The Purity Myth by Jessica Valenti, both of which were great and are permanently in the category of books I’m going to gush over in conversation. In addition, there have been the obligatory romance novels that I always get sucked into.

I have a few reviews coming up as well. The Purity Myth and Bonk reviews can both be expected shortly. There is also my review of The Electric Church by Jeff Somers that has been half written for about a month and a half now, and I’m planning on finishing that shortly as well.

As for what I’m reading now and the books I’ve got in the future… I still have The Artificial Ape to finish. My recent mental state just hasn’t been quite right for that type of reading and I’m looking forward to jumping into it again. I’m also reading Bedbugs by Ben Winters which I received for review from the amazing Quirk Books.

A recent trip to the library also landed me a copy of Sex and Sensuality in the Ancient World by Giulia Sissa and Paradise Lust by Brook Wilensky-Lanford which is about people who have tried to find the “real” Garden of Eden. I’m looking forward to those as well as the two books that were finally delivered today; Never Enough by Lauren Dane, the last book in her Brown Siblings series and A Billion Wicked Thoughts by Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam both of which I am beyond excited about. So keep a lookout for my thoughts on those as well.

May 2011 Rundown

I had every intention of getting this post up earlier today during my lunch break, but of course I ended up working through lunch and spent my afternoon attempting to accomplish something amidst constant interruptions and calming my boss’s son over the nearby-ish tornadoes and local tornado watch – something that we New Englanders just are not used to.

As for May, well May is always a crazy month. I finished up another semester of school, had mothers day and my mom’s birthday, my grandfather’s birthday, and of course Memorial Day this past weekend – by far one of the busiest weekends of the year at work which means I’m currently exhausted and sunburned, but hey… that’s life, right?

Throughout the month I still managed to read 16 books. A fair share if I may say so myself. What I read:

Non-fiction:
Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff, which I read as a part of my first TLC Book Tour and which was phenomenal.
Unprotected Texts by Jennifer Wright Knust, which proved to be very interesting and informative.

Fiction:
Death’s Daughter by Amber Benson, which had both good and bad parts, but I’ll keep reading the series.
The Meowmorphosis by Franz Kafka and Coleridge Cook, a mash-up that proved to be better than the original.
Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris, another great Sookie Stackhouse novel, No Mercy by Sherrilyn Kenyon, because I felt like jumping ahead in the Dark-Hunter Series a bit and this was on hand, and Moonlight Cove by Sheryl Woods, which was a much anticipated Chesapeake Shores read; all of these will be reviewed, umm, soon.
I also read a handful of other romance novels, reviews of which can be found here, the books: A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole, Inside Out by Lauren Dane, SEALed Forever by Mary Margret Daughtridge, Maverick by Lora Leigh, The Rebel by Rhonda Nelson, and Flashback by Jill Shalvis.
The best for last: I started Deanna Raybourn’s Lady Julia Grey series which is addictive and amazing. I’ve only reviewed the first book so far, the other two will be up soon as well.

So what’s coming up:

Raybourn’s books ended up taking precedence over the other books I had planned, so I never got to reading Dream When You’re Feeling Blue by Elizabeth Berg, The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James, or any Neil Gaiman. I’m planning on getting around to those shortly though.

Currently I’m reading and enjoying the fourth Lady Julia Grey book. Then I’ve got some more NetGalley reads and the above books coming up. A friend of mine also lent me a copy of her favorite book, The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall, so I’ll probably read that soon as well.

As for other non-fiction I’d like to read, well I have a huge pile of unread non-fiction so I’ll being digging through that for something that catches my interest. Oh, and Bill of Wrongs by Molly Ivins, which I still haven’t read, and which my mother still asks me about constantly.

That’s my recent reading and my tentative future reading. Any good reads lately?

April 2011 Rundown

Another month has come to an end, who can believe it? I sure can’t.

I must say, April has been an interesting month for myself. Even with several projects between work and school and that almost week long reading slump I managed to read 22 books, which happens to be more than I’ve read during January, February, or March. Oh, and not only did I read a lot – but I read a lot of great stuff too. April was certainly a kind month for reading!

In addition to tons of reading, I also belted out quite a few reviews this month. Two posts full-up of short reviews of several romance reads are what really enable me to say that, though (A Series of Short Reviews and More Short Reviews).

I have several full reviews this month as well:
- NetGalley books:
The Vampire Voss and The Vampire Dimitri, books one and two of the Regency Draculia series, which I’m loving and cannot wait to finish!
Ascension, which I think is an AMAZING debut novel, I’m most definitely keeping an eye out for more from Sable Grace.
The Scorpion Queen, just as much erotica as fantasy, and actually quite interesting.
- Zebra Horror:
Cold Kiss, not terrifying, but certainly enjoyable!
- Urban Fantasy:
Bayou Moon, I’m thinking book two is better than book one… definitely loving this series
- Pride & Prejudice Variation:
The Perfect Bride for Mr. Darcy, unfortunately I was kinda bummed with this one. I feel like the author was trying too hard to be Jane Austen, which, lets face it, not gonna happen.
- Steampunk:
Steamed, I definitely liked this one, though beware – it’s very much a romance novel and reads like one.
- Young Adult:
Hush, Hush, I really wanted to see what all the fuss was about, and while I get the appeal of the fallen angel idea, I wouldn’t let my kid read this book without first reading it and then discussing certain aspects of the book.
- Non-Fiction:
Yes Means Yes!, a phenomenal collection of essays confronting the public view of female sexuality and exploring ideas of how we can fix the problems that view creates.

What else did I read?

In non-fiction I read I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced, a memoir of a girl who has become an inspiration. I will review this as soon as I find the words.

In fiction, I continued the Dark-Hunter series with book seven, Sins of the Night.
I finally got a copy of and read Sin Undone, the fifth and final book in Larissa Ione’s Demonica Series. A phenomenal read, but I’m so sad to see this series go. I will be following her in the future though.
I continued Lora Leigh’s Breeds series with book four, Kiss of Heat. I was so excited for Sherra and Kane’s story that I actually skipped book three, so I’ve got to go back for that one now.
I read two other Pride and Prejudice variations as well, Darcy’s Voyage, which I’m shocked to LOVE, and Mr. Darcy Presents His Bride, which was very good also.

With finals starting Friday, I’m hoping to get my reviews up before then otherwise I’ll loose everything bookish in my brain – and wouldn’t that just suck?

What I’m hoping to read in May:

Even with finals week coming, I’m sure I’ll be reading – especially when one considers my odd study habits.

I’ve got a few more NetGalley books I’m hoping to read and review this month – my queue just keeps growing! – so you can keep an eye out for those if you like.
I mentioned this before, I think, but I’m participating in my first TLC Book Tour this month for Mitchell Zuckoff’s Lost in Shangri-La which I’m super excited about! My review will be up May 19th.
I’ve also got Jennifer Wright Knust’s Unprotected Texts – assuming the library doesn’t want that back before I get to it this month you can expect a review of that.
I am hoping – after classes/finals are done – to jump into William James’s The Varieties of Religious Experience, though I have yet to figure out how I’ll discuss it here. Do I wait until I finish the book in its entirety and have one long post about it, or do I discuss by lecture? Honestly, at this point I’m just interested to see what the book is like – I have yet to give it more than a passing glance.
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan – another library book just sitting around, waiting to be read.
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell, I finally bought a copy of this – I LOVED the mini-series, and it wasn’t only because of Richard Armitage (though he certainly didn’t hurt!).
Dream When You’re Feeling Blue by Elizabeth Berg, I had a copy of this from the library, but for some reason I never finished it while I had it – well, that’s about to change.

There’s always the high chance of my deviating from the above list, but I’m still hoping for a good summer of reading.

And that is pretty much that. How was April for you?

March 2011 Rundown

March was a pretty good month for reading. I completed 19 books during March and started a few others I’m still reading. It is true that most of my reading this month was, again, romance. But that’s ‘kay, because a lot of them were from series and authors whom I love.

Among the books I did full reviews for this month, some were books I read in February. Those would be a new series I started The Parasol Protectorate, the MacCarrick Brothers trilogy, and Pleasure Unbound from the Demonica series. March reads that I reviewed include a review copy of Steve Hockensmith’s Dreadfully Ever After, the last of the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies trilogy, Monster by A. Lee Martinez which I adored, and in non-fiction, Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love.

I have upcoming reviews for several books. Unfortunately I’m still further behind review-wise than I planned to be, but that’s because I am a lot more likely to read in my off time than I am to blog. It’s also because of school, I had a huge IRB proposal to prepare for my Psych Lab this month so I had much less free time than usual. Review posts upcoming include some February reads as well as Infamous by Suzanne Brockmann, books four and five of Kerrelyn Sparks’s Love at Stake series,  books two, three, and four of the Demonica series by Larissa Ione, and The Vampire Voss by Colleen Gleason.

Other books I’ve read this month include…

Swept Away by Toni Blake, this is a book I picked up sometime last year just for the heck of it. It didn’t seem like it would be that bad, how bad can having your own private island getaway where a sexy FBI agent washes ashore be? I didn’t really know what the book would be about beyond what I mentioned before, but I definitely got more than I expected. What I was expecting to be a mindless steamy romance actually ended up being quite intriguing what with the smuggling of antiquities and being chased by smugglers with deadly weapons through the private island jungle. The books were filled with great characters, several of whom were forced to look seriously at themselves and their decisions. Swept Away was lusty, but there is so much more that recommends it. Definitely suggested for those who are fans of a good romantic suspense.

Coming Undone by Lauren Dane is the second book in her Brown Siblings series. I read the first book, Laid Bare, last year and fell in love with Dane’s writing. Unfortunately this is the only book I’ve been able to read since, but the wait was so worth it. Dane writes characters that you just can’t help but love. They each have stories of survival that speak of a great personal strength. Dane’s books definitely aren’t for people who don’t like some spice with their books, but if sex won’t bother you, they are great romances. I look forward to continuing this series as well as reading some of her other works.

Last year I read two Mary Margret Daughtridge books, the first and third of her SEAL romances. SEALed with a Promise by Mary Margret Daughtridge is book number two in the series and I finally, gloriously got my hands on a copy and read it this month. I was not disappointed. SEALed with a Promise features Emmie Caddinton, the plain college professor with social contacts she’s never really cared to use, and Caleb “Do-Lord” Dulaude, Navy SEAL who is determined to get revenge for his mother. What ends up happening instead (hint: serious personal change for both parties) is even better. I was glued to the pages of SEALed with a Promise, each of the books in the series is fantastic.

How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf by Molly Harper, okay, I totally bought this book because of the title. This book wasn’t exactly what I was expecting… I let the title influence me into thinking that the book would start off with some hilariously awkward meeting between a naked werewolf and an unsuspecting bystander and go from there. While that didn’t happen, the story of Mississippi native Mo Wenstein packing up a pickup and moving to a small Alaska town where she meets Cooper Graham, an Alpha werewolf who decided being Alpha wasn’t for him after all, was catchy. I thoroughly enjoyed reading How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf and look forward to the next book in the series, which hopefully I get to this weekend.

I continued reading Linda Lael Miller’s McKettricks of Texas series this month with Tate and Austin’s books. While the idea of three brothers marrying three sisters seems a little strange to me… I mean, what are the chances? I still enjoy Linda Lael Miller’s books immensely. She writes some pretty irresistible cowboys, so she won’t be getting any complaints from me. Tate and Libby and Austin and Paige all find themselves back together again. It was also nice to have some of the holes filled in what with reading book two, then three, and the first one last. Bottom line, two more great reads from Miller.

Saddled and Spurred is book two in Lorelei James’s Blacktop Cowboys series. I have been waiting for this book for months! I was ecstatic when I finally grabbed my copy and was able to plop down and read it. It’s no secret that I love my cowboys and Bran Turner was no exception. Harper Masterson was easy for me to like also, she was faced with a difficult situation and stepped up to do what she had to do. As one can always expect from James, Bran and Harper’s relationship was off the charts steamy. The only thing I wish was different, I’d have liked to get to know Bran a bit better. Really though, another fantastic read from James. Now I’m stuck waiting for her next release… until the end of June.

The Heat is On by Jill Shalvis was a fun read from Shalvis. I absolutely love Shalvis’s romances as I have ever since that first one last year. In The Heat is On, someone is targeting free spirit Bella Machelli’s dates from a blind date program, Eight Dates in Eight Days. One morning she finds one of her dates outside the pastry shop she works at and when she calls the police, none other than her final date – the one who she had a one night stand with – shows up revealing himself as a detective. The Heat is On had some great characters, and aside from the one unlikely situation of someone being entirely obsessive over Bella to the point of killing her dates after knowing her such a short time, was a great read.

I’ve got a few books that I’m reading now and some new stuff coming up as well. The second book in Molly Harper’s werewolf series was released a couple of days ago as well as Vampire Mine, book ten in Kerrelyn Sparks Love at Stake Series. I’ve been waiting for Connor’s story and its finally here. I’m hoping to get to those soon. Jill Shalvis also has a new release in her Lucky Harbor series that I’m looking forward to in the near future.

There are a few books that I started in March that I’m looking foward to finishing. I am a few chapters into Steamed by Katie MacAllister and I’m interested to see what all the book brings. I’ve also started Blood Dreams the first in Kay Hooper’s Blood trilogy from her larger Bishop/Special Crimes Unit series. In addition, I also started a series mentioned by fellow blogger Cyberkitten. Way of the Wolf is the first book in E. E. Knight’s Vampire Earth series. I spotted it during a recent bookstore trip and I had a ‘why the hell not’ moment. 100 pages in and I’m quite liking it. Lastly, I’m reading Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power and a World Without Rape, a collection of essays edited by Jaclyn Friedman and Jessica Valenti. My thoughts are mostly positive at this point. I also plan to pick up the Freud/Lewis book I started a month or so ago, what with having a week before it’s due back at the library.

Speaking of the library, I stopped by Friday and grabbed a few books. I went with the intention of getting Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick and Unprotected Texts by Jennifer Wright Knust. I left with both of those and a few other books as well. I spotted an Isaac Asimov book, Out of the Everywhere while browsing the non-fiction floor, and while I haven’t read any of his works yet, this book looked to be interesting. When I was searching the new non-fiction section for Unprotected Texts, I spotted a book called The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Quest for What Makes Us Human by V.S. Ramachandran. A quick gander and I figured this would be a perfect fit for me – after all the brain amazes me. My last find was Transforming a Rape Culture which actually seems to be quite similar to Yes Means Yes, but as the book is from the early 90s, I’m looking forward to reading it to see what was thought about rape culture then and how it compares to today.

I will admit that I had no intention of reading Hush, Hush as fast as I did, but I picked it up when I got home and didn’t put it down until I finished it a few hours later. That’s another review that I’ll post once I’ve organized my thoughts a bit better.

I do believe that sums up March and what I have coming up. Happy Reading!

February 2011 Rundown

February really is such a short month. I did a fair amount of reading this month, but as it was a month plagued with my being exhausted and sick and the CONSTANT writing of papers (several per week, I mean) the majority of my reading was romance – as we all know, romance is my shut off the brain and relax reading. While I did read a little bit of non-fiction and science fiction, the only books I actually finished during the entire month were romance, or fantasy with a bit of romance in them. That said, I quite enjoyed them all – all… eighteen. =]

So all that romance, which books did I read?

February was a great month for firsts – I read a few new authors, started some new series, and even jumped into a new genre.

Unfortunately, due to the craziness of my schedule I only reviewed three of the eighteen books so far. This is also in part because I’ve been feeling crappy the past couple of weeks and have been doing more reading in my off-time than anything else. I reviewed Ilona Andrews’ On the Edge, which I really enjoyed, and was my introduction to both Andrews’ work and the Urban Fantasy genre. I promptly went out and bought a copy of the second book Bayou Moon which I look forward to reading in the near future as well as more from the Urban Fantasy genre. I also reviewed Fantasy Lover, what I refer to as the ‘Pre Dark-Hunter’ novel by Sherrilyn Kenyon. It is a great introduction for the series, I say. Lastly, I reviewed Sheryl Woods’ Driftwood Cottage from her Chesapeake Shores series. I really liked the story and look forward to reading the others.

I recently finished Desires of a Perfect Lady by Victoria Alexander, a historical romance which I quite liked. Recently widowed Lady Rathbourne finds out that her late husband has found a way to keep control over her even in death, but she is determined to gain her freedom to breathe. Even if that means heading a treasure hunt to complete three of her husbands antiquity collections. Lacking the means to do what she must to satisfy the will for her inheritance, Lady Rathbourne must go to the man who she once loved, the man who once let her down. I found Desires of a Perfect Lady to be a fun read and it sucked me in pretty quick. Definitely a good curl up with cocoa and get your mind off serious stuff read. I’m definitely going to be checking out some of Alexanders’ other reads.

Marie Force is an author I’ve been seeing a bit of lately, so when I saw a free ebook copy of Love at First Flight at Barnes & Noble I decided to give it a go. Love at First Flight is about two strangers who meet at the airport and end up next to each other on a flight south to spend the weekend with their significant others. When they end up on the same return flight home they share stories of weekends gone very wrong. One thing leads to another and they become good friends, living together and helping each other out. As their relationship buds over time though, Juliana and Michael face a slew of unexpected events and difficult decisions. While that short description leaves a lot out, I don’t want to ruin anything. Suffice it to say that when I thought I was just breaking into a fluffy and mindless read I actually found myself emotionally invested and unable to look away within the first couple chapters. I enjoyed this story much more than I anticipated and look forward to reading some of Forces’ other works.

Last summer I saw this book called I Kissed an Earl by Julie Anne Long. Since the title sent me into fits of laughter and resulted in a Katy Perry moment I just had to get this book. I didn’t even read the synopsis, I just saw the title and clicked add to cart. I found out its the fourth book of a series (Pennyroyal Green), but I can always go back and read the others later. This was another book that I didn’t really have any expectations for, but I have to say I loved Long’s main characters. Even for her characters along I plan to read on in the stories. I Kissed an Earl features a young woman who buys her way onto an all male cargo ship to save her brother (without the captain’s knowledge) and an American captain who has spent most of his life at sea, but was recently given a post as Earl by the King for his noble behavior.  I enjoyed this read far more than anticipated.

Rider on Fire by Sharon Sala is another impulse buy from last summer. It’s another book I went into without expectations. I had heard good things about the author before, but didn’t know where to start so when I saw a two-in-one for a really good price I jumped right on the opportunity. Rider on Fire follows an independent female DEA agent with a price tag on her head, her introduction to the father she never knew existed, the man who becomes the love of her life, Oh!, and that homicidal drug lord who is out for her. There was the romance, a little bit of action (who doesn’t love a gunfight in their literature every now and then), and discovery of family. Rider on Fire grabbed my interest and my emotions very, very quickly and I really ended up enjoying the book. Another plus is the fact that the majority of the story takes place on an Indian reservation in Oklahoma. I love stories that have Oklahoma Indians in it because I actually have ancestors who were full-blooded American Indians from (guess!) Oklahoma and it always just hits home for me when I see that. The bottom line: loved Rider on Fire and looking forward to more Sala.

I read a couple of books that were new in February. Animal Magnetism by Jill Shalvis is one. I read Shalvis’ Wilder brothers books last summer which led to an immediate obsession with her books and since then I’ve been working on reading all of them. Animal Magnetism was released at the beginning of the month, I bought it, read it in a couple of hours, and immediately started looking to see when the next book was coming out. The other Feb. release I read is, of course, This Side of the Grave by Jeaniene Frost. This is the long awaited fifth installment of the Night Huntress series. It was so good! I can’t wait until book six in the fall. Can’t. Wait.

I started another new series in February as well, the Demonica series by Larissa Ione. Pleasure Unbound is the first Demonica book, and much as I went into with no clue… I came out hooked! I bought the second book right after finishing the first and I’m definitely looking forward to continuing the series. The other series I started was Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate. One night I couldn’t choose anything I wanted to read from the 4,000 some odd books and ebooks I have at my disposal – go figure – so I decided to see what ebooks were available from my library – not that I don’t have seven books checked out right now – and came across Soulless. Needless to say I checked out the first book intending to see what it was like and read the entire book that night. The next morning I went out and bought the three that are out, read them all, and now I sit impatiently awaiting the release of book four this summer. So… in my opinion, Parasol Protectorate equals win.

The last five books I read were all historical romances. Last year I read Victoria Dahl’s contemporary romances and loved them so I went and got a couple of her historicals, which I ended up loving. A Little Bit Wild is the first book of a new series by Dahl and I loved it. I also read To Tempt a Scotsman. I’ve got one more of her historicals on my shelf to read and one more to buy and a couple of anthology stories and then I’ll be all caught up. And, last but not least, I read Kresley Cole’s MacCarrick Brothers trilogy (If You Dare, If You Desire, If You Deceive). I’m thinking that Cole is more known for her paranormal romance’s, but I really enjoyed these historical romance’s. These also work out to be the first I’ve read by Cole and I certainly look forward to jumping into her paranormal’s. I’ve seen a lot of positive reviews for them.

I’ve been working on my reviews for all of the books mentioned post-Sala and hopefully I will have all of those up by the end of the weekend.

About half of my February reads counted toward either the E-book challenge or the Off the Shelf challenge that I am participating in. Titles counting toward the E-book challenge: Desires of a Perfect Lady, Love at First Flight, and Soulless. Titles counting toward the Off the Shelf challenge: If You Dare, To Tempt a Scotsman, A Little Bit Wild, Fantasy Lover, I Kissed an Earl, and Rider on Fire.

And that, my friends, is February. As for what’s next…

I’ve got a few review books this month including Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After, which I am waaay excited to read. I”m going to be busting into that this weekend and my review will be up on March 22.

I’m also planning to finish up my first Star Wars novel soon. I went way back to the movie based Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker, released just a few months before the original movie, to start with this endeavor.

I’ve got a few non-fiction books piled up to read this month once I finish my Freud/Lewis book and the non-fiction review book I’m working on.

Other than that I’m still working through a bunch of romance novels, but then… aren’t I always?

The only other thing worth mentioning is that I’ve got a post that has been in the works for a while know about why we read, so keep an eye out for that post. I wanted to have it up long before now, but I just have not had the time or attention that I want to give it available, but that should be changing.

What have you been reading?

January 2011 Rundown

I’m taking a much needed break from research papers to introduce a new… thingymicjigger – for lack of a better/more intelligent/prettier term.

One of my personal blogging goals for this year is to review more of the books I read. Unfortunately, I live in the real world and I know that I won’t be able to review every book I read. It was while I was thinking about that that I came up with the idea of doing some sort of month end post. Basically I’m going to mention what I read and write a little something about those books that I didn’t review for the month, or at least not yet. I might throw other random stuff in here, perhaps links to fellow book bloggers about something that caught my interest, maybe something about what I’m looking forward to or planning for. The choices are endless, and ultimately whatever I want to be. That being said, the January 2011 Rundown.

This month I finished 13 books, an essay – on the long side, and I’ve also started a few other books. Lately I’ve been experiencing ‘jumpy reading’ where I get bored and pick up something else entirely, even if what I was reading before was good. I’m attributing this recent weirdness to all the crap my brain and body has been through as of late, like say weeks of illness and drugs to combat said illness. January really was a fantastic month!

I’ve only reviewed four of the books I read this month. I finally – after a year of waiting - completed my first Greg Iles’ during my trip home from Oklahoma early in the month with Third Degree. It was fantastic! I also listened to my first audiobook, David Sedaris’ Holidays on Ice. This was also great. I gave Diana Palmer another go reading Lawman, but I think it’ll be a while before I revisit her. She needs to work on character variation, big time, so I think spreading out anything I do decide to read by her is probably a good idea. Also I did a short review of Working Stiff by Tori Carrington. This is the fourth book in the Sofie Metropolis series and I’m looking forward to going back and reading the first three – because I just so happen to be a backwards kinda gal.

I also finished two more books in the super duper Dark-Hunter series. I just love the background and mythology behind the story. It’s something else. Anywho, I’m hoping to get my double review of Night Play and Seize the Night up this week.

I’m also hoping to gather my thoughts on Daniel Defoe’s essay ‘Conjugal Lewdness’ to post this week. I originally heard about this essay when I read Sex at Dawn last year and once I looked into it I knew I just had to read it. Trust me, it is going to be super fun once I organize all of my thoughts just a bit better.

Other books I completed this month (I was going to include pictures, but my computer is not getting along with the upload tool):

The Bachelor by Carly Phillips: This is the first of the Chandler brothers books by Ms. Phillips. Roman is the youngest of three boys and he gets called home after his mother falls ill. During his time back in town Roman runs into Charlotte, the girl who got away in high school. Roman struggles with his feelings for Charlotte, his hopes for work, and figuring out what the right move to make is. I actually read the third book first because I had no clue it was the third (seeing a pattern here?) and really enjoyed it. The Bachelor is no exception.

The Playboy by Carly Phillips: The second of the Chandler brother books features Rick, the middle brother and hometown cop. Rick is pretty sure he can handle anything, thats until he meets Kendall and he has to face those big bad feelings she stirs, oh and deal with the fact that Kendall is a constant wanderer and has promised to leave. But when Kendall suddenly has her teenage sister to care for, things are bound to change and these two people who could never have worked out might just get their chance. Again, I liked this one. Really, I found all three books  quite catchy.

Crime Scene at Cardwell Ranch by B.J. Daniels: When a body is found in the bottom of an old well on a family ranch and investigation opens up. When the townspeople find out who the person was speculation arises. Meanwhile, our leading man who is in charge of the investigation also tries to get his girl back and attempts to find answers about what really happened to him five years ago. This is a really quick read, but still really good. I read through it quite quickly and found that I had trouble walking away from it because I wanted to know who was behind all of the events.

Slow Hands by Leslie Kelly: A paramedic volunteers to go up for sale at a charity auction and when he is lucky enough to end up with the woman he wants he knows that he needs to to whatever he can to keep her around. What he doesn’t account for is that the woman believes he is a male escort used to traveling the world. Slow Hands was an entertaining read, good for say a rainy, or snowy as it’s been, afternoon.

McKettricks of Texas: Garrett by Linda Lael Miller: I was introduced to Linda Lael Miller last year when I read her Montana Creeds series. I really liked that trilogy so when I came across one of her McKettricks books I knew I had to check it out. The McKettricks series is pretty big, but I really like Garrett’s story. There was a lot of coming home and finding oneself and also letting yourself feel what you deserve. Miller definitely has some catchy western romance and I look forward to reading more of her stories.

Slave (Cat Star Chronicles #1) by Cheryl Broooks: I actually received my copy of Slave for free from Barnes and Noble. The book was… interesting, to say the least. It was futuristic and sci-fi-ish. It was about family and sacrifice and figuring whats right. But first and foremost its a romance, because while all of those other elements are present, Jack a human woman begins a relationship with Cat the only known survivor of Zetith. The book is up there on the spicy scale, and honestly the author spends more time than she needs to focusing on this non-human males penis, but even with that the book was still quite catchy (if not somewhat offensive at first when they got to the planet where they were going – one where women are considered slaves, that does get cleared up though). There are seven out now, I may have to keep reading just to see how the adventures turn out and see how many more people from this supposedly extinct race show up.

Romeo, Romeo (Domestic Gods #1) by Robin Kaye: This is the other freebie I got from barnes and Noble that I read during the drive home from OK. Italian stereotypes, rich men who pretend to be commonplace employees instead of owners of well-to-do car dealerships, whats not to love? I actually quite liked Romeo, Romeo. I was entertained, I loved the dynamic between Rosalie and Nick, oh and I loved Rosalie’s dog (leave it to me to fall in love with a pet from a romance novel). Either way it was a good read and I will definitely be looking into the recent releases from this series, its a fun quick read.

Some of these counted toward challenges:
Amazingly Pretty: Holidays on Ice
E-book: Slave and Romeo, Romeo
Men in Uniform: The Playboy, Slow Hands, and Crime Scene at Cardwell Ranch
Off the Shelf: Third Degree, McKettricks of Texas: Garrett, The Bachelor, The Playboy, Night Play, Slow Hands, Crime Scene at Cardwell Ranch, Seize the Night, and Lawman

Reading and soon to read:

I’m working my way through New Dimensons 1, a short story collection edited by Robert Silverburg, Turning Angel by Greg Iles, I’ve still got some of Stealing Lincoln’s Body left to read, and I’ve got Posession by A.S. Byatt waiting for me.

I know there was more that I wanted to include, but I’m on about 10 hours of sleep out of the last 3 and a half days, so I’m at the pleading exhaustion stage. All I can say now is Happy Reading!