Monday's Beginnings (48)

So, 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 am hoping to get some reading in today.  I would like to finish A Wild Light by Marjorie M. Liu here today and start of the review for you all.  Since tomorrow is the release date! :)  I am really enjoying the book.  I have about 100 pages left as I spent a good bit of time over the weekend reading it.  I am also working on another book, Land of the Burning Sands by Rachel Neumeier, book 2 in the Griffin Mage series.  I think I have about 200 pages left here.  And I have 2 other books I plan on starting this week... Mind Games for the Urban Fantasy Blog Book Discussion I am doing with http://www.robsad79.blogspot.com/.  And... Antiphon by Ken Scholes, this one is an Early Read from Barnes n Nobles book forums.  I have read the first two books in this series and LOVED them.  I am really looking for this one as well.  I am doing both these last two books in sections by week for the discussions, so I have others to read in between as well.

What did I get done last week?  Well, I didn't really finish any books yet.  But I did get one review up for you all to read, Darker Angels by M.L.N Hanover.  If you would like to read the review, CLICK HERE.

As for my Wishlist... I am trying to keep this to a minimal anymore as the TBR pile is about to bite me.  But I have added a few books to the list.  There are two I added last week.  But all the authors should be proud of you all introducing me to all their amazing books.

Books Received Last Week:

Books Purchased:

The Trouble With Heroes
I read a review of this book on another blog, and loved the way this sounded like such a fun Anthology.  Added with the fact I love Anthologies, and an author I have really enjoyed ~ Ken Scholes ~ is one of the authors in this anthology... I just had to get it.

GoodReads Synopsis:
These 22 all-new tales pay tribute to the true heroes—the people who enable and put up with heroes. From what it’s like to be Hercules’ wife (complete with an appearance by Hercules in drag) to the trials of H.P. Lovecraft’s housekeeper, from the perils of being King Kong’s girlfriend to the downside of dating a shapeshifter, this anthology turns heroism on its head, revealing the behind-the-scenes drama, as opposed to glorious rescues. From the Pied Piper’s power trip to David acting like a giant you-know-what after slaying Goliath, these stories show heroes in all their ignominy and shine a light on the unsung faithful standing in their shadows.

Stormlord Rising
I read the first book, The Last Stormlord ~ review HERE ~ and enjoyed the world and characters so much, I had to pick up the second one.  Now this one is to be released July 27th, but I received it early from Borders (where I preordered it).

GoodReads Synopsis:
The last Stormlord is dead. War has come to the cities of the Quartern. The violent, nomadic Redunners have put every rainlord they could find to the sword and the cities are left without hope.

Shale has been betrayed, drugged, and left at the feet of his greatest enemy. Now, he must decide to work with those who have plotted against him or let thousands of the waterless die. He has great power but is no Stormlord. At least, not yet...

Terelle has escaped the Scarpen in search of her homeland and her people, the mysterious Watergivers. But a desperate message will send her back to find Shale and face her worst fears.

The people of the Scarpen are in danger. Shale and Terelle must find a way to save their people and punish those who have destroyed all they ever loved.

Black and White
This one I have been wanting for a while now.  I have enjoyed reading books from both of these authors, separately, so to read them together is going to be a treat.  And the premises of the story sounds fun too.

GoodReads Synopsis:
It's the ultimate battle of good versus good. 

They were best friends at an elite academy for superheroes in training, but now Callie Bradford, code name Iridium, and Joannie Greene, code name Jet, are mortal enemies. Jet is a by-the-book hero, using her Shadow power to protect the citizens of New Chicago. Iridium, with her mastery of light, runs the city’s underworld. For the past five years the two have played an elaborate, and frustrating, game of cat and mouse. 

But now playtime’s over. Separately Jet and Iridium uncover clues that point to a looming evil, one that is entwined within the Academy. As Jet works with Bruce Hunter—a normal man with an extraordinary ability to make her weak in the knees—she becomes convinced that Iridium is involved in a scheme that will level the power structure of America itself. And Iridium, teaming with the mysterious vigilante called Taser, uncovers an insidious plot that’s been a decade in the making…a plot in which Jet is key. 

They’re both right. And they’re both wrong. Because nothing is as simple as Black and White.

Books Received For Review:

A Wild Light
I have enjoyed this series very much, so it was a great pleasure for me to be offered this book to review for her release.  Back into the world with Maxine Kiss and her boys, I love reading about both.  I am hoping to have this book review done soon for you.  The first two books are Iron Hunt (review HERE) and Darkness Calls (review HERE) and a short story in the anthology Inked (review HERE)

Synopsis:

Obsidian shadows of the flesh…tattoos with hearts, minds, and dreams. By day, they are my armor. By night, they unwind from my body to take on forms of their own—demons of the flesh, turned into flesh.

For too long Maxine Kiss has felt an inexplicable darkness around her—a force she channels into hunting the demons bent on destroying the human race. But when she finds herself covered in blood and crouched beside her grandfather’s dead body with no memory of what happened or of the man she loves, Maxine begins to fear that the darkness has finally consumed her.

With blood on her hands and her sanity in question, Maxine must face the truth about who she really is and embrace the love of the only man who can help her—before she loses what she cares about most: her family.

Antiphon

This is another book I have been waiting for.  I have read the first two books, Lamentation & Canticle ~ reviews HERE (Lamentation) and HERE (Canticle).  I was excited when Barnes and Nobles bookclub forum was doing an Early Reader for this book and jumped at the chance.

GoodReads Synopsis:

Nothing is as it seems to be.

The ancient past is not dead. The hand of the Wizard Kings still reaches out to challenge the Androfrancine Order, to control the magick and technology that they sought to understand and claim for their own.

Nebios, the boy who watched the destruction of the city of Windwir, now runs the vast deserts of the world, far from his beloved Marsh Queen. He is being hunted by strange women warriors, while his dreams are invaded by warnings from his dead father.

Jin Li Tam, queen of the Ninefold Forest, guards her son as best she can against both murderous threats, and the usurper queen and her evangelists. They bring a message: Jakob is the child of promise of their Gospel, and the Crimson Empress is on her way.

And in hidden places, the remnants of the Androfrancine order formulate their response to the song pouring out of a silver crescent that was found in the wastes.

So, how are you faring this week?  Does it look like a good reading week?

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