Tag: book reviews

What’s on my (mostly virtual) nightstand? 12-4-11

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Virtual Nightstand

We’re back again for another edition of Marlene’s weekly reading diary. Or is that weekly reading planning session? I can never decide…

I just looked at my upcoming review schedule and discovered that my long-anticipated reviewing break is here. I think I hear a rousing Hallelujah Chorus somewhere off in the distance. I may finally get a chance to catch up with myself.

But maybe not. We will be moving house and home the weekend of December 15-18. So things will be slightly disrupted. Or, as they used to say, “at sixes and sevens”. I always liked that phrase.

Reading Reality will be hosting the Unacceptable Risks blog tour on December 18. So one of the books I will be reading in the next two weeks is Jeanette Grey’s Unacceptable Risk. I love science fiction romance, so I’m really looking forward to this one. Jeanette will be writing a guest post on December 18 for the blog tour and she has graciously agreed to give away a copy of her book as part of her stop here for the tour. This is a real wow for me, so I’m really looking forward to it.

I’m also hoping that my connectivity that weekend will not be in the Barnes and Noble in the mall down the street. And I’m trying to figure out whether having a B&N within easy walking distance of our new digs is a bug or a feature of the new place. Browsing in bookstores used to be a serious addiction. “See all the pretty covers…”

The next new book on my list is Rise of Empire, by Michael J. Sullivan. And, if anyone is keeping track, I still need to review Theft of Swords, since it comes first in the Riyria Revelations, and I skipped over that 500 page monster before Thanksgiving. Well, it’s back. Now I need to read it and Empire before December 14. The third book, Heir of Novron, so far has not shown up on NetGalley, unlike the first two. Since it’s not due out until January 31, there’s time yet, but it would be really annoying to have to buy it to find out what happens!

Even before Riyria, I have to go to Hell. (Got your attention, didn’t I?) Last week I picked up Hellsbane, by Paige Cuccaro, from NetGalley. Unfortunately, I picked it up on Tuesday, and it came out on Thursday, and I was already up to my eyeballs in reviews. So I’ll be reading it this week. Hellsbane is the main character’s name, Jane Hellsbane, and this looks like the start of an interesting paranormal series. We’ll see.

Since last week I was already a week behind, this re-cap may be more like a re-top-hat. It needs more capacity than normal.

I did send out my review to Library Journal for Holiday Kisses. I really liked the book–it’s a great collection of holiday love stories. One thing I found interesting, all the stories had an underlying theme of second chances. I don’t know if that was intentional or not. I wish I had more space for the reviews in LJ, I could easily have written a 250-word review for each novella, instead of trying to squish.

Out of the other stuff due for this week, A Clockwork Christmas is done, I just need to write it up. Deadly Pursuit is next.  I just did my ‘mea culpa’ about Theft of Swords, so I won’t go there again, except to read it.

I will probably read Honor Among Thieves first, if only because it finishes the Ancient Blades trilogy, and I get to find out how everything turns out. I like ticking things off the ‘to do’ list. Then it’s on to Laura Anne Gilman’s Paranormal Scene Investigations Series, Hard Magic and Pack of Lies, just so I can review Tricks of the Trade and click that off my NetGalley queue.

Six or seven books will get read this week. Six or seven books will drop out of my queues. The only question is, which six or seven? (Now you know why I like that phrase so much!)

Don’t forget–Samhain Publishing is the featured publisher in tomorrow’s edition of Ebook Review Central.

 

 

 

What’s on my (mostly virtual) nightstand? 11-27-11

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Virtual Nightstand

What’s on my iPad for this week? Pretty much everything that was on it for last week. Plus next week. We did go to my mom’s for Thanksgiving. And of the two options, read a lot or not very much, it turned out to be the not very much option.

But wait, the recap is supposed to come at the end of the post, isn’t it?

I left December as a deliberately “light” month, in the hopes of catching up with stuff I left behind back in September. Also, there’s a whole gaggle of reviews for December 27 and January 1, and I’d like to get a jump on those before they gang up on me. So I’ll be playing a lot of “catch up” this month.

Is anyone else out there having a problem with the idea that December starts this week? I am. For one thing, living in the South means that I miss all the seasonal markers that I’m used to. In Atlanta, at least the leaves do fall off the trees, but it’s still warm outside. In Chicago, we used to get the first serious snowfall most Thanksgiving weekends. There might not be a White Christmas, but there was usually a White Thanksgiving. I know it’s not traditional, but it was normal. Never mind about Anchorage. They usually have a White Halloween.

The last book in a trilogy I’ve been enjoying and reviewing (Den of Thieves, A Thief in the Night) is due Thurday, December 1. Honor Among Thieves by David Chandler finishes up The Ancient Blades trilogy. I’m looking forward to seeing how it all works out. I’m wondering about that title, since there usually is no honor among thieves. We’ll see…

I did get an email over Thanksgiving from Library Journal, asking me to review a Carina title for them, so Holiday Kisses, with stories by Jaci Burton, HelenKay Dimon, Shannon Stacy and Alison Kent is on my list for this week. I’d stared at this several times on NetGalley but resisted the impulse, because I’ve read books by all four authors and enjoyed them immensely. I’m glad LJ gave me the excuse to read the book anyway.

I have a second Christmas novella anthology for next week. A Clockwork Christmas, also a Carina Press title from NetGalley. The difference is that this one is all Steampunk Christmas stories, and this is one I just couldn’t resist. I love Steampunk!

The other book I couldn’t resist is Deadly Pursuit by Nina Croft. It’s the second in her Blood Hunter series. I reviewed the first book, Break Out, back in August. This is not just space opera, this is vampires in space. When I read the first book, I said I wanted to see more of the world, well, here’s my “more”. I have to see what comes next.

As far as the recap from last week goes, I didn’t do so well. Actually, I did pretty awful. Family visits are not conducive to maintaining any kind of routine, as probably every person recovering from their own Thanksgiving holiday is groaning about at this very moment!

I was caught up for one brief shining moment on Tuesday, and it felt so good! It just didn’t last very long. Dagnabbit!

I have one of this week’s books read. Her Christmas Pleasure is pleasurably completed. It helped a lot that it was the shortest! Every other book rolls over to this week. This does not help me get to the September backlog. Not at all.

On the other hand, when I couldn’t concentrate on anything else, I picked up Cast in Fury by Michelle Sagara, which does get me more forwarder on the September backlog. One of the books in that list of titles to be reviewed is Sagara’s Cast in Ruin. In order to review Cast in Ruin, I feel the need to read the rest of the series. Whenever I can’t make myself read something due for the week, I pick up the next Elantra book, and get myself back on track. What I’ll do when I run out of those, well, I’ll burn that bridge when I come to it.

It’s a 450 mile drive from Atlanta to Cincinnati, each way. Long trip. We listened to Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, read by Wil Wheaton. Wow. Just wow. The book was absolutely awesome, and I can’t think of a better choice for narrator than Wheaton. The book was so good that when we realized we weren’t quite going to be finished when we got home, we drove around a little, just so we’d finish. It was that good.

Of course I’m going to review it this week. But I just couldn’t resist giving a sneak preview.

Tomorrow is Ebook Review Central. This week will feature Dreamspinner Press for October.

Return next week for another edition of “The Readings of Marlene”. Sort of like “The Perils of Pauline” except all the cliffhangers are between the pages.

Ebook Review Central for Carina Press for October 2011

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Ebook Review Central

We’re back! It’s November, and it’s time to take a look at the Carina Press titles for October 2011.

And let’s not forget those September titles! As promised, the September list has been updated to add new reviews since the first issue was published.  For the books that came out late in the month, or had big blog tours in October, like Elyse Mady’s Something so Right, there were lots of reviews added.

But we’re here for the October titles. And October had some big hits among the 19 titles that Carina Press published during the month.

There were way more contenders for the featured title slots this month. There was significantly more reviewing activity to evaluate, for which I want to give a hearty thank you to my fellow book reviewers.  Now on to the featured titles!

Falke’s Captive, part of the Puma Nights series by Anna Leigh Keaton and Madison Layle, was one of three erotica titles from Carina that received 10 or more reviews this month. What sets this story of a female graduate student finding fulfillment with two mountain lion shapeshifter brothers apart from the others was the consistently positive tone to all of the reviews for this book. To quote the Library Journal review, “authors Layle and Keaton craft a balanced tale rife with the requisite romance, eroticism, and fantastical.” This one sounds like not just good erotica, but also a darn good story.

Val’s Rancher by Debra Kayn is the second featured book. This is part of her Sisters of MacDougal Ranch series, and if the first book, Chantilly’s Cowboy, is as good as this one, she’ll win some fans. Val’s Rancher is a story about learning to live with heartbreak, and about finding ways to trust again when your world is falling apart. This is a “coming back to your first love” story, and there are never enough good ones of those. The review at A Snarky Space, which in this case is not snarky at all, is enough to make anyone fall in love with this one.

My last featured book is a biggie. Because it’s four books in one. Carina and C.J. Barry have brought back her incredible science fiction romance series, Unforgettable, and made them available in ebooks. They were well-reviewed when they were originally published and are getting a whole new crop of great reviews now that they are back. If you like science fiction romance, these look like a must read. In order, the Unforgettable series is: 1)Unearthed, 2)Unraveled, 3)Unleashed and 4)Unmasked. Drea at Judging the Book by its Pages has written excellent reviews for the entire series.

Next week, after we’ve all slept off our post-Thanksgiving turkey comas, Ebook Review Central will return with a look at Dreamspinner Press’ October titles.

What’s on my (mostly virtual) nightstand 11-20-11

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Virtual Nightstand

Thanksgiving is this Thursday. We’re driving to my mom’s in Cincinnati on Wednesday. I’ll either get a lot read this weekend, or not much. Also, since it’s an 8-ish hour drive from Atlanta, we need to pick something to listen to while Audible is still having their sale.

But somehow this week I still need to get stuff read for reviews. Next Monday will come all too soon. But this Wednesday will come even sooner!

The first thing on my “to be read” list for this week is for this Wednesday. Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan is due out on Wednesday, November 23, and so is my review. Theft of Swords is the first book in Sullivan’s Riyria Revelations, and is a re-release of the first two books (The Crown Conspiracy, Avempartha) of his series in a single volume. I also have the second volume of the re-release, Rise of Empire, and I’ll be reviewing that in December. I’ve seen a lot of good reviews of the original release of the Riyria Revelations, so I’m looking forward to this. I really hope that the third volume, Heir of Novron, goes up on NetGalley soon, otherwise I’m going to end up buying it just to find out how everything turns out.

If Theft of Swords looks like a traditional epic fantasy, my second book is a different kind of fantasy entirely. Her Christmas Pleasure by Karen Erickson is a romantic fantasy of the historic, hot and steamy variety. This book is short, but probably more spicy than sweet. I have a soft spot in my heart for this author, as one of her other books, Lessons in Indiscretion, was the first title I reviewed for NetGalley.

Two other historic romances are part of my week’s reading; A Midsummer Night’s Sin by Kasey Michaels, and Desired by Nicola Cornick. Both books are part of series, and I have read and reviewed previous titles in each series. Nicola Cornick’s Desired is part of her Scandalous Women of the Ton series. I reviewed Notorious this summer. And I also reviewed The Taming of the Rake, the previous entry to Kasey Michaels Blackthorn Brothers‘ series, on the very same day.

The final book in the Royal House of Shadows series is due out next week. Nalini Singh’s Lord of the Abyss is on my list. I’m looking forward to seeing how this series finishes out. I’ve seen a few ARC reviews for this book, but I’ve tried to avert my eyes. I don’t want to judge the book before I read it.

And last, but not least, one of those things that makes me glad I go through this exercise a week in advance, even when it causes a major “eek” moment. I have Tricks of the Trade by Laura Anne Gilman on my list. I loved her Retrievers series, so I thought I would also like her Paranormal Scene Investigators series too. Tricks is the third book in the series, and I figured that by picking up book 3 from NetGalley, I would finally read books 1 and 2, Hard Magic and Pack of Lies, which I have in print. So now I have to read those first before I start Tricks of the Trade. They’ll be something to read in the car if the iPad runs out of juice (not that we don’t have two Apple device car chargers, but it’s always good to be prepared!) Hard Magic and Pack of Lies are also the only two books for next week that are not from NetGalley. Not only do I own those, they are print copies I moved from Florida to Georgia. It’s high time they got read!


 

 

 

 

Looking back at last week’s post, I didn’t do half bad. A had some help from a couple of sleepless nights, and my husband spent way too much time working, but hey, it all counts, right?

I got everything read for this week, almost. I still have about 2/3rds of Edge of Survival to go, but it’s really good so far. I still need to read Fallen Embers and Burning Embers for Lauri. And that library book, I just bought the thing from Amazon. Since the local library doesn’t even own Charles Todd’s Wings of Fire, I either needed to finish or spend another $2 to borrow it again from some other library. The Kindle version was only $7.99. I did the math, factored in the worry, and gave in.

I have a lot of writing to do to get all these books out of my head. At least the reviews for Frost Moon and Blood Rock are out of my head. Those books were absolutely awesome.

Just a reminder, Ebook Review Central tomorrow will be the Carina Press titles from October.

And tune in next week for another exciting edition of “As the iPad turns”!

 

 

Ebook Review Central for Amber Quill, Astraea Press and Liquid Silver for September 2011

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | book reviews> Ebook Review Central> ebooks

Whew! This is the fourth installment of Ebook Review Central. It covers the last September 2011 titles I’m going to highlight. It also covers three different publishing houses; Amber Quill, Astraea Press and Liquid Silver Books. Like I said: Whew!

I had asked for suggestions for which ebook publishers to cover in this fourth week. I would like to thank everyone for their suggestions. I was looking for publishers, or a mixed of publishers, that covered a lot of genres, where at least some of the titles would be available to libraries on OverDrive, and where I wouldn’t end up with more than 25 titles to hunt for during the week.

I chose Amber Quill, Astraea Press, and Liquid Silver Books. I know there’s been a lot of interest in Riptide Publishing, and I’m interested in featuring their books. But since their launch was October 31, I’ll be looking at including them when I look at November books.

Amber Quill, when all three of its imprints are publishing, does cover pretty much all the genres between Amber Quill, Amber Heat and Amber Allure. In September (and October), only Amber Allure, their GLBT imprint, actually published any titles. It will be interesting to see their future publishing pattern.

Astraea Press is totally different. They only publish what they consider “wholesome reads”. They’re not an inspirational romance publisher. They’re following a trend that has been noticed in romance publishing, for a need for sweet romances in addition to the spicy and spicier romances. Because Astraea Press only published 3 titles in September, it was difficult for me to pick a featured title. They have more to choose from in October.

Liquid Silver Books, on the other hand, publishes much hotter romances. In every type, setting and variation.

Both Astraea and Liquid Silver titles are available to libraries through OverDrive. Amber Quill isn’t, but I wanted a mix.

Having gone “once around the block” with a variety of publishers, I will say that this issue was the most difficult to do. Not because of the three different publishers, the number of titles isn’t larger than any other week, although I worry about this time next month.  It was the subtle variations that gave me the most trouble.

Astraea does not assign ISBNs to their books, so creating the database with book covers was an issue. Neither Astraea nor Liquid Silver easily provides categories for each title, do deriving that data was difficult and required more than a little guess-work on my part.

And now for the featured titles!

The featured title from Amber Quill is Ex Equals by L.A. Witt. This was clearly the standout title for the month, with three very positive reviews. Although the story is specifically a military story (Dear Author reviewed it in honor of the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”) the substance of the tale is universal. In a couple, if one person does something seemingly unforgivable, can the other person give them a second chance? Is it possible to earn forgiveness?

From Liquid Silver, the first featured title is Marking Time by Sandra Sookoo. This is a time travel story with a shape-shifter twist. A woman with a faulty GPS goes to a town named Strange Hollow, and travels back in time to 1900. The twist is that she is a wolf-shifter, and the man she falls in love with after she goes through the “way back machine” is a dying phoenix. Good reviews and a very interesting premise make this title worth checking out.

And, the one I couldn’t resist featuring, Ragnar and Juliet by Lucy Woodhull. There is the obvious play on Shakespeare, but this one is strictly science fiction romance on the comic-relief side. According to the reviews, if you’re looking for something short and funny, with a little science fictional bounty-hunting and romance on the side, this is your book.

See you next week for Carina Press’ October books.

Ebook Review Central for Samhain Publishing September 2011

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | book reviews> Ebook Review Central> ebooks

This is the third issue of Ebook Review Central. And it is your guide to the Samhain Publishing titles for September 2011.

If you are interested in how this feature came about, or earlier issues, please check out the posts on Carina Press and Dreamspinner for the gory and not-so-gory details. But this week, the focus is on Samhain.

Samhain published 19 ebook titles in September. One of the surprising things about this list is how many Western titles there are. Three Westerns! Maybe there still is a wild, wild West out there someplace.

I always like to make a special note of which books got the most “buzz”, which ones were talked about the most on the list. The Samhain titles were really fascinating in this regard, because there were some huge review numbers racked up by a couple of titles.

Some of that is because there’s a time lapse, these are the September books, and it’s now early November, some of it is undoubtedly good marketing (more on that in a minute) and some is because there were some really great books in this bunch.

Samhain Publishing has done something that I find intriguing, both as a book reviewer and as a librarian. Samhain is participating in Library Journal’s ebook only review program, along with Carina Press. What is unusual about Samhain’s participation is that Samhain ebooks, unlike Carina’s, are not available to libraries on OverDrive. So why does Samhain participate? I confess to being terribly curious. (Full disclosure, I am one of the reviewers for Library Journal)

They certainly get some great reviews from librarians, published in Library Journal Xpress Reviews, and they get name recognition for both their ebooks and the print books. Why Samhain does not participate in OverDrive, I don’t know but I sure do wonder about. It must be a marketing thing.

But speaking of marketing, the first book with a lot of positive buzz this month is Cipher, by Moira Rogers. Not only did Cipher get 10 reviews, all very positive, but there was a lot more. In September, a Cipher giveaway, release party and chat session was held at Fiction Vixen. This was part of a big Southern Arcana Readalong conducted all summer long and cross promoted at Fiction Vixen, Smexy Books and The Book Pushers. It created a lot of anticipation and positive buzz for what looks like a terrific paranormal romance series.

Shiloh Walker’s Locked in Silence is book 5 in her Grimm’s Circle series. I chose it as my second featured book because Ms. Walker is an author who chooses to publish some of her work through traditional print publishers, and some, like her Grimm’s Circle series, through ebook publishers. The author, and the quality of the work, is the same. The popularity, and Ms. Walker’s work is very, very popular, is exactly the same. If hot paranormal romances with demons and angels are what you’re looking for, this series by Shiloh Walker might be a good place to start.

Last, but absolutely not least according to the review, is The Last Detail by Melissa Schroeder. 12 reviews, and all positive. If you like science fiction romance, that’s probably a buy recommendation right there. I’m also overjoyed to see this much interest in SFR! There was also a movie titled The Last Detail with Jack Nicholson from 1973. It’s also about getting someone back to prison, but I think the resemblances probably end there.

Next week’s Ebook Review Central will be the last one to cover September books. Up until now, I’ve been saying that “week 4” would feature a “player-to-be-named-later”. It’s time to name that featured publisher–except it’s going to be publishers, plural. Next week, Ebook Review Central will feature the September books from Astraea Publishing, Liquid Silver Books, and Amber Quill/Amber Heat/Amber Allure.

Tune in next week for another exciting episode.

What’s on my (mostly virtual) nightstand 11-6-11

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | books> ebooks> Virtual Nightstand

“The hurrieder I go, the behindeder I get!”

I participated in the Library 2.011 WorldWide Conference on November 2, conducting a webinar on genre fiction. I’d never conducted a webinar before. Well, now I have. But the prep time threw my reading schedule off. A lot.

And I still have stuff to read for this week!

I review ebooks for Library Journal Xpress Reviews whenever they send me a book. The reviews are published at the Library Journal site, and sometimes they are printed in the Library Journal print magazine. Which is really cool, because it gives me something to show my mom. Last week, I got a book to review for LJ. So I’ll be reading White Hot Christmas by Serenity Woods. My review is due to the editor on November 11.

November 11 is Veterans’ Day. In honor of Veterans’ Day, Bell Bridge Books is publishing a collection of romance novellas featuring Navy SEALs as the heroes, titled SEAL of my Dreams. Proceeds from the sale of the book will go towards Veterans Research Corporation, a non-profit fundraiser for veterans’ medical research. I have a review copy of SEAL of my Dreams from NetGalley, and this is one review I want to make sure comes out for the release date.

I need to read both Fallen Embers and Blowing Embers by Lauri J. Owen. I received both books from the author, and promised to provide an honest review. I also promised to provide said review by this Friday. I had intended to read Fallen Embers last week, and didn’t quite make it. So I’ll be reading them both this week.

I mentioned last week that I glommed up half the Carina catalog for November from NetGalley. What was I thinking? I have three books with release dates next Monday, November 14; Dark Vow by Shona Husk, Knight of Runes by Ruth A. Casie and The Hollow House by Janis Patterson. Knight of Runes is definitely a time-travel romance, Dark Vow looks like a fantasy romance, and the description of Hollow House reads like a cross between a paranormal and good old-fashioned gothic! They all looked so good! They still do. Thank goodness none of them are the length of War and Peace, or even the average Charles Dickens’ novel.

Looking back at last week (groan, moan) I still have that archiving problem with Frost Moon and Blood Rock. I have to read them before 11/26 or they will timebomb off my iPad. Never got to Snuff, but at least that won’t go away. And doesn’t that look strange as I write it. Slip Point and The Lady’s Secret are done, I just need to write the reviews. I did finish Cast in Secret. It will be a couple of weeks before I even contemplate Cast in Fury.

The other problem is that I want, I really, really want, to read Scholar, the new book in L.E. Modesitt’s Imager Portfolio series, that will be released on Tuesday. I absolutely adored the first three books, and see no reason that I won’t love this one, whatever the early reviewers might say. But if I can make myself wait, the price will come down. What’s a girl to do, I ask you?

NetGalley Month Recap

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | blogging> book reviews> NetGalley

October was NetGalley month., hosted by WilowRaven at Red House Books.

As I look back, I’m not sure which is more astonishing, that I knocked 14 NetGalley books out of my review queue, or that there are 34 more in that queue? And is that more, or again? I can never tell.

Also, and I am probably insane to admit this, but if I say I’m going to review something, I review it. Even if it gets archived and I have to either buy it or get it out of the library.

The other truly amazing thing to me is that I wrote something about all 14 books. And that I read another 14 books from other sources and blogged about most of them, too. Book blogging is a full-time job. And this would be why I read in the middle of the night.

Of all the NetGalley books I read in October, my favorite is still Dearly, Departed, by Lia Habel. While I adored The Iron Knight, as the conclusion of the Iron Fey, Julie Kagawa’s book was expected to be excellent. It would have been a surprise, not to mention an extreme disappointment, if it weren’t.

On the other hand, Dearly, Departed was not only original and delightful, it was also a first novel. I love those kind of surprises!

But here’s the entire rogue’s gallery, my month according to NetGalley: