Monday's Beginnings (43)

Here we are again... another Monday.

How are you faring in reading at the beginning of this week?  Are you starting a new book or finishing one up?

I didn't get much reading done today.  I went out for lunch, and shopped the shelves at the bookstore.  I did stop myself from purchasing on this trip, which was very difficult to do.  And a very good friend on mine had her baby today, so that is a great excuse to be short on reading.  And it looks as I'm going to be short on blogging time tonight as well since I just had to hold that newborn. :)  I will try my best to get caught up tomorrow.
I finished Shadow's Son by Jon Sprunk over the weekend and then dived right into Tracking the Tempest by Nicole Peeler.  I will the review for Shadow's Son up soon, planning for tomorrow.  And I am doing rather well with Tracking the Tempest.  I am hoping to have it done before the end of the week.

Talking about Nicole Peeler, did you see I will be posting an interview of Nicole on July 1st!  Yeah!!!  The official release date for Tracking the Tempest, although there is spottings that it is available in some locations already.  So, keep your eyes open.  And with the interview I believe there was mention of a giveaway...

I am going to have to get into the book I am reading for #tuesbooktalk, Wolf Hall.  I seem to be dragging my feet on this one because it doesn't seem to be my normal kind of book, but I have only just begun it too.

As for my Wishlist... it is starting to grow quickly again. THIRTEEN books!  This is crazy!  And GREAT!  The authors should be glad to hear this.  And I am one who has a buying addiction.  I read one book and it seems I buy three.  I'll get to them all here eventually.

Books Received This Week:

Purchased:

I loved Jane True so much in Tempest Rising, I just had to preorder this one.  And guess what!  It came early.  I am so excited about this book, and so far... I DON'T want to put it down.

Synopsis from Goodreads:
Valentine's Day is fast approaching, and Ryu - Jane's bloodsucking boyfriend - can't let a major holiday go by without getting all gratuitous. An overwhelming dose of boyfriend interference and a last-minute ticket to Boston later, and Jane's life is thrown off course.


Ryu's well-intentioned plans create mayhem, and Jane winds up embroiled in an investigation involving a spree of gruesome killings. All the evidence points towards another Halfling, much to Jane's surprise...

I have been very curious about The Left Hand of God.  From what I have seen everyone is all over the board on this book.  So, I just had to give it a try.  Also, this book is on the board for the discussion forums over at Barnes n Nobles for June.  Yes, I am running a little late in getting it and getting to it.  But I will.

Goodreads Synopsis:
"Listen. The Sanctuary of the Redeemers on Shotover Scarp is named after a damned lie for there is no redemption that goes on there and less sanctuary."



The Sanctuary of the Redeemers is a vast and desolate place - a place without joy or hope. Most of its occupants were taken there as boys and for years have endured the brutal regime of the Lord Redeemers whose cruelty and violence have one singular purpose - to serve in the name of the One True Faith.

In one of the Sanctuary's vast and twisting maze of corridors stands a boy. He is perhaps fourteen or fifteen years old - he is not sure and neither is anyone else. He has long-forgotten his real name, but now they call him Thomas Cale. He is strange and secretive, witty and charming, violent and profoundly bloody-minded. He is so used to the cruelty that he seems immune, but soon he will open the wrong door at the wrong time and witness an act so terrible that he will have to leave this place, or die.

His only hope of survival is to escape across the arid Scablands to Memphis, a city the opposite of the Sanctuary in every way: breathtakingly beautiful, infinitely Godless, and deeply corrupt.

But the Redeemers want Cale back at any price… not because of the secret he now knows but because of a much more terrifying secret he does not.

Now, The Desert Spear.  I read and loved The Warded Man and when ordering Tracking the Tempest, I wanted to spend the $25 to get free Shipping and this was first in line.

Goodreads Synopsis:
The sun is setting on humanity. The night now belongs to voracious demons that arise as the sun sets, preying upon a dwindling population forced to cower behind ancient and half-forgotten symbols of power. These wards alone can keep the demons at bay, but legends tell of a Deliverer: a general—some would say prophet—who once bound all mankind into a single force that defeated the demons. Those times, if they ever existed, are long past. The demons are back, and the return of the Deliverer is just another myth . . . or is it?


Out of the desert rides Ahmann Jardir, who has forged the warlike desert tribes of Krasia into a demon-killing army. He has proclaimed himself Shar’Dama Ka, the Deliverer, and he carries ancient weapons—a spear and a crown—that give credence to his claim. Sworn to follow the path of the first Deliverer, he has come north to bring the scattered city-states of the green lands together in a war against demonkind—whether they like it or not.

But the northerners claim their own Deliverer. His name was Arlen, but all know him now as the Warded Man: a dark, forbidding figure whose skin is tattooed with wards so powerful they make him a match for any demon. The Warded Man denies that he is the Deliverer, but his actions speak louder than words, for he teaches men and women to face their fears and stand fast against the creatures that have tormented them for centuries.

Once the Shar’Dama Ka and the Warded Man were friends, brothers in arms. Now they are fierce adversaries. Caught between them are Renna, a young woman pushed to the edge of human endurance; Leesha, a proud and beautiful healer whose skill in warding surpasses that of the Warded Man himself; and Rojer, a traveling fiddler whose uncanny music can soothe the demons—or stir them into such frenzy that they attack one another.

Yet as old allegiances are tested and fresh alliances forged, all are blissfully unaware of the appearance of a new breed of demon, more intelligent—and deadly—than any that have come before.

I have to say I love my bookmarks too.  I had found one of these bookmarks about a year ago and haven't been able to find another one since.

Well the one bookstore just got a few in, so I had to snag one.  These are magnets on a stretchy string.  In this one the metal music note comes out of the metal holder which is held there by a magnet.  The string goes in the book and the magnet is on the outside on the spine.

I love these because of carring books in my purse or bag and don't have to worry about losing my bookmark and place.


Won:

I won this lovely book from Melissa at Books and Things.  (Stop by and check out her amazing blog.) I am so excited to get into this series.  This is book #2.

Goodreads synopsis:

Curiosity is definitely going to get me dead one of these days. Probably real soon.

I'm Gin Blanco.

You might know me as the Spider, the most feared assassin in the South. I’m retired now, but trouble still has a way of finding me. Like the other day when two punks tried to rob my popular barbecue joint, the Pork Pit. Then there was the barrage of gunfire on the restaurant. Only, for once, those kill shots weren’t aimed at me. They were meant for Violet Fox. Ever since I agreed to help Violet and her grandfather protect their property from an evil coalmining tycoon, I’m beginning to wonder if I’m really retired. So is Detective Donovan Caine. The only honest cop in Ashland is having a real hard time reconciling his attraction to me with his Boy Scout mentality. And I can barely keep my hands off his sexy body. What can I say? I’m a Stone elemental with a little Ice magic thrown in, but my heart isn’t made of solid rock. Luckily, Gin Blanco always gets her man . . . dead or alive.

I have to share this as well.  Not only was I really excited to win the book, but when I got it from Jennifer Estep, she had signed it!  And signed a few bookmark swags!  I think this is so cool!!

So it was a big week last week for purchases and mail for me.  Well, sometimes I go overboard, but I love it so much.  How did you do?

So, how are you faring this week so far?  Does it look like a great reading week this week?

Here's to hoping you have a great week in words and pages.