The Sunday Post AKA What’s On My (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 10-6-13

Sunday Post

A lovely Fall day in Seattle, although I expect the rainy season to return with a vengeance any day now. I think I’ll go read outside while that’s still a reasonable thing to do!

Something Wicked Returns BlueCurrent Giveaways:

Something Wicked Returns: my prize is a $10 gift card to either Amazon or Barnes & Noble; visit the other stops on the hop to see their fabulous prizes.
Heavy Metal Heart by Nico Rosso (ebook, international)
Treacherous Temptations by Victoria Vane (ebook, international)

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the $10 Amazon Gift card from the Sunset on Summer Sun Blog Hop was Laurie G.
Declan’s Cross by Carla Neggers (hardcover): Tallulah A.
Marry Me Cowboy by Lillian Darcy and Tempt Me, Cowboy by Megan Crane (ebooks) Shelley S. gets first choice, second winner still TBD

Spider Women's Daughter by Anne HillermanBlog Recap:

B Review: Heavy Metal Heart by Nico Rosso
Guest Post by Author Nico Rosso on Rock and Roll + Giveaway
Something Wicked Returns Blog Hop
B+ Review: The Sheik Retold by Victoria Vane
Guest Post by Victoria Vane on Reinventing a Classic Bodice-Ripper + Giveaway
A+ Review: Spider Woman’s Daughter by Anne Hillerman
B+ Review: Treecat Wars by David Weber and Jane Lindskold
Stacking the Shelves (61)

Libriomancer by Jim C. HinesComing Next Week:

The Case of the Displaced Detective by Stephanie Osborn (blog tour review + guest post)
Corroded by Karina Cooper (review)
Libriomancer by Jim C. Hines (review)
Hell’s Belle by Karen Greco (blog tour review + guest post + giveaway)
Cut & Run by Madeleine Urban and Abigail Roux (review)

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Stacking the Shelves

All those books I bought were from the current StoryBundle. If you haven’t heard of StoryBundle yet, you really should check them out, they are awesome! StoryBundle is like HumbleBundle, except it’s always for indie books. (HumbleBundle does indie games)

StoryBundle logoHere’s the deal; StoryBundle puts together a bundle (duh) of ebooks. You decide how much you want to pay and how much of what you pay goes to the authors and how much to StoryBundle for putting things together. You can also decide to give a percentage to designated charities. If you decide the books in the package are worth more than a set minimum, you get bonus books.

I’ve been interested in the two M.L. Buchman novellas for a while because I adore his Night Stalkers series. So this bundle was a win for me. So was the Doctor Who bundle I got a couple of months ago. I can’t wait to see what they come up with next!

Stacking the Shelves Reading Reality October 5 2013

For Review:
Bound by Wish and Mistletoe (Highland Legends #1.5) by Kat Bastion
The Descartes Legacy by Nina Croft
I’ll Be Home for Christmas (Coming Home #2.6) by Jessica Scott
The Love Game (Matchmaker #3) by Elise Sax
Poisoned Web (Deizian Empire #2) by Crista McHugh
Rodeo Sweethearts (Copper Mountain Rodeo) by Lillian Darcy
Werewolf Sings the Blues (Midnight Magic #2) by Jennifer Harlow
When It’s Right by Jeanette Grey
Who’s 50: The 50 Doctor Who Stories to Watch Before You Die by Graeme Burk

Purchased:
The Christmas Cuckoo by Mary Jo Putney
Daniel’s Christmas (Night Stalkers #2.5) by M.L. Buchman
Frank’s Independence Day (Night Stalkers #3.5) by M.L. Buchman
Galatea by Laura Leone
Melting Ice by Stephanie Laurens
The Trouble With Heroes by Jo Beverley
Up on the Rooftop by Kristine Grayson

Borrowed from the Library:
Divide & Conquer (Cut & Run #4) by Madeleine Urban and Abigail Roux
Fish & Chips (Cut & Run #3) by Madeleine Urban and Abigail Roux
The Scroll of Years (Gaunt and Bone #1) by Chris Willrich
Touch & Geaux (Cut & Run #7)  by Abigail Roux

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Stacking the Shelves

I borrowed The Cuckoo’s Calling from the library out of sheer curiosity. I wonder how the hell Rowling did at a mystery/suspense thriller. Now that we all know Robert Galbraith is Rowling, it all seems so obvious. Cormoran Strike is so a Hogwarts’ name.

Libriomancer by Jim C. HinesI finally got Libriomancer by Jim C. Hines, and started it immediately. This is my kind of book. Not just because the hero is a librarian (awesome) but the whole concept that there is magic in books that a person with the right kind of talent can release. We all know that there is magic in books, but the idea of bringing into the real world is made of win. (I also love Hines’ work on exposing, sometimes literally, the sexism in sci-fi and fantasy book covers, but there isn’t enough mental bleach in the universe to make me un-see the Flandry re-shoot with Patrick Rothfuss. I love Mary Robinette Kowal’s power-pose, but OMG, Rothfuss in the lower left. Enough said.) If you’ve never looked at the “Cover Posing” section of Hines’ site, take a look. Your eyes will be opened. And your back will spasm in sympathy.

So far, Libriomancer is excellent. But that was to be expected.

Stacking the shelves Reading Reality September 28 2013

For Review:
The Execution (Jeremy Fisk #2) by Dick Wolf
Fiddlehead (Clockwork Century #6) by Cherie Priest
Finding It (Losing It #3) by Cora Carmack
Foreplay (Ivy Chronicles #1) by Sophie Jordan
Forgiving Lies (Forgiving Lies #1) by Molly McAdams
Season of Seduction by Jeffe Kennedy, Christine d’Abo, Elise Logan, Emily Ryan-Davis and Jodie Griffin
Taste of Darkness (Healer #3) by Maria V. Snyder

Purchased:
Romancing Lady Stone (School of Gallantry #3.5) by Delilah Marvelle
Torrent (Rust & Relics #1) by Lindsay Buroker

Borrowed from the Library:
Armed & Dangerous (Cut & Run #5) by Abigail Roux
The Broken Kingdoms (The Inheritance Trilogy #2) by N.K. Jemisin
The Cuckoo’s Calling (Cormoran Strike #1) by Robert Galbraith AKA J.K. Rowling
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (The Inheritance Trilogy #1) by N.K. Jemisin
Libriomancer (Magic Ex Libris #1) by Jim C. Hines
The Shambling Guide to New York City (Shambling Guides #1) by Mur Lafferty

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Stacking the Shelves

A relatively short stack this week. After the Gay Romance Northwest Meetup last week, I decided to finally read the Cut & Run series by Roux and Urban, because everyone always said the series was awesome. I’ve got the whole series on hold at the library, but of course my holds are arriving in a very strange order. (I also was not the only person with this brilliant idea when we bought the series last month) Eventually the first book will come in.

Meanwhile…

Stacking the Shelves September 21 2013 Reading Reality

For Review:
Hell’s Belle (Hell’s Belle #1) by Karen Greco
Marry Me, Cowboy (Copper Mountain Rodeo #2) by Lillian Darcy
Promise Me, Cowboy (Copper Mountain Roder #3) by C.J. Carmichael
The Scandal in Kissing an Heir (At the Kingsborough Ball #2) by Sophie Barnes
The Tropic of Serpents (Memoir by Lady Trent #2) by Marie Brennan
Work In Progress by Christina Esdon

Purchased:
Armed and Desired (1Night Stand) by D.C. Stone

Borrowed from the Library:
Mage’s Blood (Moontide Quartet #1) by David Hair
Stars & Stripes (Cut & Run #6) by Madeleine Urban and Abigail Roux
Sticks & Stones (Cut & Run #2) by Abigail Roux

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Stacking the Shelves
The box arrived from WorldCon. We tried not to pick up stuff, but we still picked up stuff. It’s starting to look like there will be multiple “what we did at WorldCon” posts at Book Lovers Inc. this week. Even after a week plus, it feels like a hard re-entry back to real life.

Feels like time to escape into more fiction!

Stacking the Shelves 58

For Review
The Actuator: Fractured Earth by James Wymore and Aiden James
Buying In by Laura Hemphill
The Fire (Northwest Passage #4) by John A. Heldt
Fortune’s Pawn (Paradox #1) by Rachel Bach
Girl on the Golden Coin: A Novel of Frances Stuart by Marci Jefferson
Lord of the Hunt (Court of Annwyn #2) by Shona Husk
No Good Duke Goes Unpunished (The Rules of Scoundrels #3) by Sarah MacLean
Notes from the Internet Apocalypse by Wayne Gladstone
Palace of Spies by Sarah Zettel
Rogue’s Possession (Covenant of Thorns #2) by Jeffe Kennedy
The Sheik Retold by Victoria Vane and E.M. Hall
The Striker’s Chance by Rebecca Crowley
Tempt Me, Cowboy (Copper Mountain Rodeo) by Megan Crane (review)
Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives: Stories from the Trailblazers of Domestic Suspense edited by Sarah Weinman
Winning the Boss’s Heart by Hayson Manning
Year’s Best SF 18 edited by David G. Hartwell

Picked up at WorldCon:
Burdens of the Dead (Heirs of Alexandria #4) by Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint and Dave Freer
Emilie & the Hollow World by Martha Wells (signed by the author)
Greatshadow (Dragon Apocalypse #1) by James Maxey
Guardian of Night by Tony Daniel
Nexus by Ramez Naam

Purchased:
Red Shoes for Lab Blues by D.B. Sieders

The Sunday Post AKA What’s On My (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 9-8-13

Sunday Post

And we’re back!

I know, it didn’t really look like we left, but that’s the joy of scheduling posts. Except that last Sunday’s Sunday Post almost posted full of XXX, because that’s the way I left it when we left town. I meant to fill it in, and almost forgot. WorldCon was a blast.

Loncon3 logoYes, we’re going to London next August, no matter how scraped the pennies have to be. This was so much fun I’m still bouncing up and down with glee, in spite of having been back for almost a week.

The Way the Future Was by Fred PohlThe Con experience ended on a mournful note. When we got home Monday night, word was percolating through that the great SF Grand Master Frederik Pohl had passed away in Illinois just as the Con was ending in San Antonio. One of the marvelous things about SF is just how accessible most of the pros are. Pohl used to attend all the Chicago cons every year, so I heard him read and speak two or three times a year for several years. He’ll be missed.

Before I move on to the regular recap and schedule of upcoming events, one last, but probably not final, comment about WorldCon. Galen posted a Worldcon wrap-up on his blog, Meta Interchange. I pretty much second everything he said, but it would have taken me five times as long to say it. 😉

Current Giveaway:

Suzanne Johnson tourwide giveaway: First prize (1) iPad 2; Second prize (5) $20 Gift Cards to Winners’ online retailer of choice; both prizes open internationally ENDS September 10, 2013

Winner Announcement:

The winners of the ebook copies of The Love of My (Other) Life by Traci L. Slatton are Shelley S. and BookLady.

Elysian Fields by Suzanne JohnsonBlog Recap:

Promo: Surprise Brazen Release: Wicked Heat by Nicola Marsh
Labor Day 2013
B+ Review: The Mystery Woman by Amanda Quick
B+ Review: Cast in Sorrow by Michelle Sagara
B+ Review: Finding Camlann by Sean Pidgeon
A- Review: Elysian Fields by Suzanne Johnson
Guest Post by Author Suzanne Johnson on Supernatural New Orleans + Giveaway
Stacking the Shelves (57)

Bones of Paris by Laurie R KingComing Next Week:

The Bones of Paris by Laurie R. King (review)
Hellfire by Jean Johnson (review)
Tempt Me, Cowboy by Megan Crane (blog tour review)
Medium Rare by Meg Benjamin (blog tour review)
The Arrangement by Mary Balogh (blog tour review)

 

 

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Stacking the Shelves

This isn’t all there is. There’s a box of books shipping via turtle express from San Antonio and I have absolutely no recollection what’s in it. We sincerely tried not to pick up too much, but, there were a certain number of irresistible freebies going around (not exactly free when you factor in the cost of the trip) and it’s important to support the hucksters in the dealers’ room.

Hellfire by Jean JohnsonI couldn’t resist buying a print copy of Jean Johnson’s Hellfire just so I could get her to sign it. I say this and I already had an ebook copy. Author signed copies are the one place where print is absolutely better. Jean was terrific on all her panels (and I think I went to at least half of them, maybe more) and the book was awesome. My review will be posted Tuesday.

Final note, the last book in the list, A Slight Trick of the Mind, is a Sherlock Holmes novel by Mitch Cullin. It has just been announced that a movie is being made from this novel with Ian McKellen as the retired Holmes. That’s right, Gandalf (and Magneto) is also Sherlock. Simply fantastic news, even if it is possibly a sign of the oncoming nerdpocalypse.

Stacking the Shelves Reading Reality September 7 2013

For Review:
The Cat, The Devil, and Lee Fontana by Shirley Rousseau Murphy and Pat J. Murphy
Everlasting Enchantment (Relics of Merlin #4) by Kathryne Kennedy
The King’s Grave: The Discovery of Richard III’s Lost Burial Place and the Clues It Holds by Philippa Langley and Michael Jones
Legend of the Highland Dragon by Isabel Cooper
The Lotus Palace (Lotus Palace #1) by Jeannie Lin
The Perfect Match (Blue Heron #2) by Kristan Higgins
The Prince of Lies (Night’s Masque #3) by Anne Lyle
The Secret Life of Miss Anna Marsh (Marriage Game #2) by Ella Quinn
The Seduction of Lady Phoebe (Marriage Game #1) by Ella Quinn
A Study in Ashes (Baskerville Affair #3) by Emma Jane Holloway
Take Over at Midnight (Night Stalkers #4) by M.L. Buchman
Tempt Me (Underbelly Chronicles #3) by Tamara Hogan
What Not to Bare by Megan Frampton

Purchased:
Haste Ye Back (1 Night Stand) by Wendy Burke
Medium Well by Meg Benjamin
The One He Chose (1 Night Stand) by Wendy Burke
Still Fine at Forty by Dakota Madison
Wise Men Say (1 Night Stand) by Wendy Burke

Borrowed from the Library:
Perdition (Dred Chronicles #1) by Ann Aguirre
A Slight Trick of the Mind by Mitch Cullin

Review: Among Others by Jo Walton

Among Others by Jo WaltonFormat Read: ebook borrowed from the Library
Number of Pages: 302 pages
Release Date: January 18, 2011
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction
Formats Available: Hardcover, Paperback, ebook, audiobook
Purchasing Info: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Book Depository US | Book Depository (UK) | Author’s website | Publisher’s website | Goodreads

Book Blurb:

Startling, unusual, and yet irresistably readable, Among Others is at once the compelling story of a young woman struggling to escape a troubled childhood, a brilliant diary of first encounters with the great novels of modern fantasy and SF, and a spellbinding tale of escape from ancient enchantment.

Raised by a half-mad mother who dabbled in magic, Morwenna Phelps found refuge in two worlds. As a child growing up in Wales, she played among the spirits who made their homes in industrial ruins. But her mind found freedom and promise in the science fiction novels that were her closest companions. Then her mother tried to bend the spirits to dark ends, and Mori was forced to confront her in a magical battle that left her crippled–and her twin sister dead.

Fleeing to her father whom she barely knew, Mori was sent to boarding school in England–a place all but devoid of true magic. There, outcast and alone, she tempted fate by doing magic herself, in an attempt to find a circle of like-minded friends. But her magic also drew the attention of her mother, bringing about a reckoning that could no longer be put off…

Combining elements of autobiography with flights of imagination in the manner of novels like Jonathan Lethem’s The Fortress of Solitude, this is potentially a breakout book for an author whose genius has already been hailed by peers like Kelly Link, Sarah Weinman, and Ursula K. Le Guin.

My Thoughts:

“If you love books enough, books will love you back.”

Having read Jo Walton’s Among Others during WorldCon, I can’t help but wonder how many of the people around me at the Con have read the book, particularly since it won the Hugo in 2012 (and the Nebula in 2011).

I know that a significant number of that audience share the same feeling as the protagonist of the story, that books, and especially science fiction, saved her sanity if not actually her life. It’s part of what brought us all together, after all.

And yes, me too.

The story is that of a girl just falling over the boundary into young womanhood, who lives on the broken borders of too many worlds, and is trying to repair the breakage in all of them. At the beginning, her love of science fiction seems to be the only thing that helps her hold herself together.

Morwenna Phelps is a Welsh girl who is forced to go to an upper-crust English boarding school. She is a twin who is still suffering from the death of her literal other half in an automobile accident that has left her disabled, possibly permanently.

She has lost the only home she has ever known and been forced into the care of a father with whom she has never had any contact. Because her mother is a mad woman that her family refuses to deal with properly.

And/or depending upon one’s perspective, because her mother is a dark witch who is trying to capture her and use her to power an evil spell. It was in the thwarting of her mother’s earlier attempt that her twin lost her life.

Mori sees fairies and uses magic to counter her mother’s witchcraft. Or is it the last vestiges of her childish need to cope with her mother’s madness?

Whatever the case may be, Mori copes with everything the universe has thrown at her, including an entire school full of mean girls and a father who frequently forgets that she exists, by escaping into the far flung worlds of science fiction.

It is in the star empires of the grand masters that she finds kindred spirits, not just between the pages of books, but among the other science fiction lovers in the library and the town who meet each week to discuss great, and sometimes not-so-great, lit.

In pursuit of the fictional future, whether hopeful or dystopian, Mori discovers the way to meet her own.

Verdict: Among Others contains elements of autobiography, a mix-in of “contemporary” fantasy, and loads of love for books and libraries.

I put “contemporary” in quotes because the story is set in the late 1970’s, due to the autobiographical elements in the story. The author herself grew up in Aberdare, as the heroine did, and was both disabled and sent to an English boarding school, paralleling the character in the story. No twin. (Lovely interview in the Austin Chronicle with more details)

There was a part of me that kept wondering whether Mori’s “seeing fairies” and practicing magic was real, or if it was a coping mechanism for everything she was going through. I’m not sure that mattered to my enjoyment of the story, but it niggled at me a bit.

The heart of the story is how Mori keeps herself going through her love of reading science fiction and fantasy. It’s not just that she reads, but that we hear what she thinks about what she reads. So there’s Mori’s thoughts on which writers and books she loved, and disliked, and why, along with what is happening to Mori and what she’s doing to counteract the bad crap going on in her daily life.

Fair warning: reading this book is guaranteed to add to your TBR pile. Mori is passionate about the books she loves. Also the ones she hates. But she will convince you to read, or re-read something. Several somethings.

But Among Others is, above all, a passionate reminder that we can, and do, rescue ourselves, if we just keep on doing. With time and a little help from our friends. Not if we keep on trying, but if we keep on doing. Mori and Yoda would have gotten on like a house on fire.

4-one-half-stars

I give Among Others by Jo Walton 4 and ½ twinkling stars.

 

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: Cast in Sorrow by Michelle Sagara

Cast in Sorrow by Michele SagaraFormat read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Formats available: ebook, paperback
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Chronicles of Elantra, #9
Length: 480 pages
Publisher: Harlequin Luna
Date Released: August 27, 2013
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

THE END OF HER JOURNEY IS ONLY THE BEGINNING…

The Barrani would be happy to see her die. So Kaylin Neya is a bit surprised by her safe arrival in the West March. Especially when enemies new and old surround her and those she would call friends are equally dangerous…

And then the real trouble starts. Kaylin’s assignment is to be a “harmoniste”—one who helps tell the truth behind a Barrani Recitation. But in a land where words are more effective than weapons, Kaylin’s duties are deadly. With the wrong phrase she could tear a people further asunder. And with the right ones…well, then she might be able to heal a blight on a race.

If only she understood the story….

My Review:

You can take the girl out of the city, but you can’t take the city out of the girl.

Kaylin Neya is a Private in the Imperial Hawks of Elantra. She may be a lot of other things, and she may have had a lot of other identities thrust upon her, but at her core, that is the identity she has chosen for herself.

Which makes her very much a fish out of water in Cast in Sorrow, because the entire story takes place not just outside the city, but outside of any city. Kaylin has been maneuvered into being part of a Barrani ritual that might result in her death. Or it might heal a centuries-old rift in this immortal race.

cast in peril by michelle sagaraAll Kaylin wants to do is survive, and bring all of her friends out with her. It is a much taller order than Kaylin begins the journey with, back at the start of Cast in Peril (reviewed here) because centuries ago, when her friend and fellow Hawk Teela was young, Teela participated in this same ritual and was used as Kaylin is being used. But Teela was damaged, and her return is also part of a game that is being played.

But if this is a game, who is the player, and who, exactly, is being played? And why? What part do the events of Teela’s past play in the damage to the Barrani race being done in the present? Why did Lord Nightshade arrange for Kaylin to become part of this ritual? Why has he toyed with her life?

And is that little dragon Kaylin carries on her shoulder the most powerful creature of all?

cast in shadow by michelle sagaraEscape Rating B+: Cast in Sorrow picks up almost moments after Cast in Peril ends; they are practically one story. I would not recommend attempting to start the series here. Actually, if you are interested in a combination of urban fantasy and high fantasy, start with either Cast in Moonlight or Cast in Shadow.

And thereby hangs a bit of a problem. The strength of the storytelling is in the city, and Cast In Sorrow is set totally in the West March. Kaylin is out of her element and so are we. Even stranger, the West March is literally unmapped, and I felt lost at times. I still wanted to find out what was happening, but Kaylin’s fish-out-of-water perspective left me completely “at sea” without the familiar background of the city to keep the story grounded.

However, the strength of the story was in filling in a ton of background about Teela, the Barrani, and even about Nightshade. Finding out the whole, or maybe most, of how and why Teela, out of all the Barrani High Court, came to the Hawks was fascinating. We see what made her who and what she is. The unique circumstances that would make an immortal “adopt” a mortal like Kaylin as first a “mascot”, and then a friend.

Nightshade’s maneuverings both become clearer and murkier at the same time, which is marvelous.

Then there’s the small dragon, Kaylin’s “familiar”. How she handled that was awesome.

Kaylin will be back next year in Cast in Flame. And she’ll be home where she belongs in Elantra…YAY!

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

The Sunday Post AKA What’s On My (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 9-1-13

Sunday Post

This will be a very quick Sunday Post because we’re still in San Antonio at WorldCon. We’ve already decided that we’re going to scrape our pennies together to go to London next year. This whole vacation idea is awesome! And the extra-special bonus of getting to pal around with Cass from Book Lovers has been a real treat!

Spokane won the bid for the 2015 WorldCon. We’ll be able to drive instead of fly. Woohoo!

How the Light Gets In by Louise PennyBlog Recap:

B+ Review: The Hero by Robyn Carr
B+ Review: The Best of Daughters by Dilly Court
B Review: Calling the Shots by Christine d’Abo
A+ Review: How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny
B Review: Big Sky Wedding by Linda Lael Miller

Cast in Sorrow by Michele SagaraComing Next Week:

The Mystery Woman by Amanda Quick (review)
Cast In Sorrow by Michelle Sagara (review)
Finding Camlann by Sean Pidgeon (review)
Elysian Fields by Suzanne Johnson (blog tour review)