Teaser Tuesday (42)

Teaser Tuesday

is a weekly event

Sponsored by MizB of Should be Reading

Here's how it works:

Grab the book you are currently reading (anything at all)

Open the book to any random page.

Share 2 teaser sentences from anywhere on the page

Please Make Sure They Are Not Spoilers!

(Don't Give Too Much Away)

Just enough to pique our interests

List the book and author so other participants can get their hand on it if they choose to read it as well.

This Week:

(this is a teaser for me as well, I am getting ready to start into this book.)

 

"You blind yourself, Reyga," Chon returned, rising to his feet.  "One of our Circle Guard is attacked, one of ou most promising students dies as a result of that attack, and four of our villages are destroyed along with everyone who lived in them.  All apparently since the mysterious disappearance of this Far Planer.  I suppose you would have us believe this is nothing but coincidence."

 

From a Far Land

Jaben's Rift, Book 1

By G. David Walker

pg 139

Monday's Beginnings (53)

So, here we are again... another Monday.


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

Well, another crazy weekend.  We had to get some friend visiting in, as the kid mentioned it was the last weekend before school. :) So we did.  Time is starting to get crunched here with the many things we are trying to get done here at our home.  But, I still squeeze all the reading in I can get. :)  I might be a little quite with commenting on the blogs for a short time here, but I will keep posting here and try to stop in to say hi to you all from time to time.  I will really try to be around as much as I can.  We have a lot going on here at home.  All good, but a lot. So please bare with me.

I did get some reading in though... I went out on release day and bought my copy of Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins.  And just had to dig in this weekend to know what happens.  I just finished it today!  I am working on From a Far Land by G. David Walker, and enjoying this fantasy read.

I did get Antiphon by Ken Scholes done last week.  I am going to get the review done here this week.  And I am hoping to get Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins reviewed this week as well.  I did get the review for As Lies the Dead by Kelly Meding up, CLICK HERE to read the review.

Now to the Wishlist...Thanks to you all I have added 7 more books.  And these all sound like amazing reads.  This list is one in which I try to keep only to the books I REALLY want to and plan to read.  All these amazing authors should be so proud and happy of all these amazing books.

Robyn from The Bookoholic Zone and I have posted this past week the book we will be reading next for the Urban Fantasy Blog Book Club.  The book is Blue Diablo by Ann Aguirre.  If you would like to read more details on the schedule (discussion starts September 2, 2010) CLICK HERE.

Books Received Last Week:

For Review:

Synopsis from Goodreads:

PEOPLE OF THE SWORD combines myth, history, and conquest with music, sorcery and a touch of romance to impart the struggles of two vastly different cultures suddenly dependent on one another for survival. Confronted by a common enemy, the wizard Crarnock, the druids and knights of Tropal realize that only through cooperation can they defeat Crarnock's goblin army. The journey will test the resolve of both peoples as they realize that their collective bias and misunderstandings are as much a threat as Crarnock himself. For readers interested in history, mythology, culture change, and classic struggles between Good and Evil, PEOPLE OF THE SWORD is for you.

Bought:

Which I read this one over the weekend, so I am hoping to have a review up for it later this week.

GoodReads Synopsis:
Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she’s made it out of the bloody arena alive, she’s still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what’s worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss’s family, not her friends, not the people of District 12. Powerful and haunting, this thrilling final installment of Suzanne Collins’s groundbreaking The Hunger Games trilogy promises to be one of the most talked about books of the year.

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.

Looking Forward To... (17)

There are so many amazing books already on the shelves and new ones coming out.

For a list of books yet to be released I'm looking to get, you can also look on my right Sidebar at the list titled Desired Reads - just scroll down. Of course there are tones of other new books to come out that are amazing as well, but these ones are part of series I have already started or for one reason or another caught my eye (and haven't seen much on other blogs yet). But I will highlight one here each week.

(mentioned in order of Release Date then Alphabetical if there are more than one book coming out on the same date.)

The Next Book Is...

Cold Magic

#1 of The Spiritwalker Trilogy

By:  Kate Elliott

Due Out:  September 9, 2010

This is the first book in a new trilogy that just sounds amazing.  I read the description of this book and just loved the ideas that popped into my head.  There sounds like so much that could be in this fascinating new world of Cold Mages and technology (almost sounds fantasy mixed with steampunk, or maybe some steampunk mixed with fantasy).  It is classified with a YA on it, but I don't mind if you don't. :)  So check it out...

Synopsis from GoodReads:
From one of the genre's finest writers comes a bold new epic fantasy in which science and magic are locked in a deadly struggle.

It is the dawn of a new age... The Industrial Revolution has begun, factories are springing up across the country, and new technologies are transforming in the cities. But the old ways do not die easy.

Cat and Bee are part of this revolution. Young women at college, learning of the science that will shape their future and ignorant of the magics that rule their families. But all of that will change when the Cold Mages come for Cat. New dangers lurk around every corner and hidden threats menace her every move. If blood can't be trusted, who can you trust?

Here is a summary Orbit had published on their site in May to describe the book:
As they approach adulthood, Cat Barahal and her cousin Bee think they understand the society they live in and their place within it. At a select academy they study new airship technologies and the dawning Industrial Revolution, but magical forces still rule. Drawn into a labyrinth of politics involving blood and old feuds, Cat is betrayed by her family and forced to marry a powerful Cold Mage. As she is carried away to live a new life, fresh dangers threaten her every move and secrets form a language she cannot read. At least, not yet.

Book Review: As Lie the Dead

As Lie the Dead

By:  Kelly Meding

Publisher:  Bantam Dell Books

Publish Date:  July 2010

Genre:  Urban Fantasy

Format:  Paperback, 423pgs (pocket book size)

Series:  2nd book in Dreg City Series, Review for the 1st book; Three Days To Dead ~ HERE.

Recommendation:  YES!!! Don't wait any longer! Great non-stop action with fun characters and twists you won't see coming.

Book Synopsis:
Evangeline Stone, a rogue bounty hunter, never asked for a world divided between darkness and light...

...or the power to die and live again in someone else's borrowed body.  After a murder plot meant to take her out leaves an entire race of shapeshifters nearly extinct, Evy is gnawed by guilt.  So when one of the few survivors of the slaughter enlists her aid, she feels duty-bound to help - even though protecting a frail, pregnant shifter is the last thing Evy needs, especially with the world going to hell around her.  Amid weres, Halfies, gremlins, vamps - and increasingly outgunned humans - a war for supremacy is brewing.  With shifters demanding justice, her superiors desperate to control her, and an assassin on her trail, Evy discovers a horrifying conspiracy.  And she may be the only person in the world who can stop it - unless, of course, her own side gets her first.

First Sentence:
Deep red bled into the predawn sky above the defunct Olsmill Nature Preserve, and I didn't want to be around when the sun fully rose above the mountain treetops.

My Review and Summary:
We start exactly where Three Days to Dead ends.  Evy is leaving the field of the epic battle she just fought, along side Vampires and other Hunters and Handlers.  The battle appears to have taken its toll on all races involved, by the dead she sees around her.  This will affect the numbers of the Halfings, Goblins, and the Hunters as well.  The Halfings have now moved up on the enemy list to number 1 and Vampires are a temporary ally.  Evy just wants a weeks worth of sleep to make up her lack of sleep before the battle. 

Evy now takes on another mission to help save a Handler from the torture and eminent death at the hands of another race of creatures, to prove he is not the one guilty for the near extinction of a race of creatures in the city.  There's a debate of whether the Handler's are the murderers or not, since they take the order from the Brass and pass it on to the Hunters who do the chore.

But... Who is Evy to turn to when her boss's and her enemies both have tried to kill her... and succeeded the first time around?  Is there someone inbetween?

Evy now has to learn to handle Chalice's memories, good and bad, that are now ever present in her head and still popping up as she goes.  Then we also have those mysterious Owlkins.  Do you remember those?  They made a brief mention in Three Days to Dead.  Well, we learn a lot more of them in this book.  And they are really neat!

I have to admit right here at the beginning... I LOVED reading this book!  This is a second book in the Dreg Series, but it does NOT suffer the middle child syndrome at all.  This is a great book in its own.  This was one I could not and did not want to put down.  I was afraid I would miss out on action if I did, like I was watching a movie and couldn't leave the screen - not even for a commercial.

With the way Kelly picks up in this book she does NOT skip a beat.  In the first chapter, of 19 pages, I am right back to where I was at the end of the first book.  She brings up all the same thoughts and feelings for the characters easily here by the characters actions and the refresher I need.  Particularly for Evy and Wyatt, which surprised me to be right back to these feelings and thoughts so fast.  Then out of the blue... a brand new character that makes a big bang introduction!  I love this new character!  Amazing first chapter, very well done.  This chapter starts the frantic pace rolling from here, as it never stops with the story moving forward and the action.

The character relationships start to come to the surface more in this book.  I felt a better understanding of the Handlers here and even of the Hunters too.  I liked how the relationships between the characters grew.  Even that line between black and white for Evy starts to grow a little gray on the relationships with different Dregs and even her place in this world.

As the story progressed quickly, I accumulate my questions on the mystery of the story for a section of the book.  And they were the ones to keep me wanting more.  Then, I read through a section where I got answers that where accompanied with great action.  And more questions came in again, with an ending that answers these questions and pulls it all together.

The book is such a fast paced moving read!  Kelly never leaves us with a dull moment, with the action packed world Evy lives in.  Not only is there loads of action, but details of the different creatures in the Dreg world too.  And yes, you learn more on those all powerful Handlers.  And with learning of this world of Handlers and Hunters there is also room for growth toward possible future changes to the system.

Teaser Tuesday (41)

Teaser Tuesday

is a weekly event

Sponsored by MizB of Should be Reading

Here's how it works:

Grab the book you are currently reading (anything at all)

Open the book to any random page.

Share 2 teaser sentences from anywhere on the page

Please Make Sure They Are Not Spoilers!

(Don't Give Too Much Away)

Just enough to pique our interests

List the book and author so other participants can get their hand on it if they choose to read it as well.

This Week:

(this is a teaser for me as well, I am getting ready to start into this book.)

Suddenly, as if a cloud concealing her from view had dispersed, the girl appeared.  She stood almost as tall as Jason, and had a lithe, athletic build.  She wore a sleeveless tunic and breeches that cam down to the top of her bare feet, and had charcoal hair that dropped just past her shoulders.  Jason gaped at her, astonished.  He'd been looking at the exact spot where she had been, and he hadn't been able to detect her at all.  Suddenly he wasn't sure what to do.

From a Far Land

Jaben's Rift, Book 1

By G. David Walker

page 57

Next Read for Blog Book Club...

Thank you to all those who voted in the poll Robyn and I had up.  We tallied up the votes from Robyn's blog The Bookoholic Zone and here at My World...in words and pages.

Our first discussion thread will be posted on Sept. 2, 2010.  So you will have time to purchase the book and read to the first stopping point.  The schedule is listed below the book here.

The Next Read is...

Right now, I'm a redhead. I've been blonde and brunette as the situation requires, though an unscheduled color change usually means relocating in the middle of the night. So far, I'm doing well here. Nobody knows what I'm running from. And I'd like to keep it that way…


Eighteen months ago, Corine Solomon crossed the border to Mexico City, fleeing her past, her lover, and her "gift." Corine, a handler, can touch something and know its history—and sometimes, its future. Using her ability, she can find the missing—and that’s why people never stop trying to find her. People like her ex, Chance…

Chance, whose uncanny luck has led him to her doorstep, needs her help. Someone dear to them both has gone missing in Laredo, Texas, and the only hope of finding her is through Corine's gift. But their search may prove dangerous as the trail leads them into a strange dark world of demons and sorcerers, ghosts and witchcraft, zombies—and black magic…

Now the reading schedule...
The book is only 316 pages long, so we are going to divide it into 3 sections read over 3 weeks.

The stopping points are going to be:
    1st Stop:  Sept. 2, 2010 pg 104, after chapter; More Than One Way to Skin a Potato
    2nd Stop: Sept. 9, 2010 Pg 210, after chapter; Have Dog, Will Travel
    3rd Stop:  Sept. 16, 2010 End of the book

We look forward to chatting with you on this book!  Please join us.

Monday's Beginnings (52)

So, here we are again... another Monday.

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

Well, another crazy weekend.  So not as much reading as I had hoped.  We went to the amusement park Saturday, and spent all day there.  We didn't do anything for vacation so this trip to the park was our family time, before school starts.  I did get a little bit of reading done at lunch time today.  But I feel behind in my reading schedule.  I am hoping things will start to come into a normal pattern here again and I will feel better about reading with all the running we are doing.

I did spend the night Friday reading.  I wasn't going to bed until I finished As Lies the Dead by Kelly Meding, and that is exactly what I did.  And WELL worth it!  So As Lies the Dead is finished.  I will have the review up here in a day or two.  I am still reading Antiphon by Ken Scholes, but hoping to have this on finished tonight or tomorrow.

As for my Wishlist... I added 6 books.  And these all sound like great reads.  This list is one in which I try to keep only to the books I really want to and plan to read.  All these amazing authors should be proud and happy at all these amazing books I desperately want.

Robyn from The Bookoholic Zone and I had a poll up for the voting on the next read for Urban Fantasy Blog Book Club.  We are working on the post of the winner, so this should be up very soon.  I hope you check it out and join in with us.  It is always great to have many people chatting about different views on a book.

Books Received Last Week:

Bought:
So, I read the 11th book in the Otherworld series and really enjoyed it for the characters and the mystery in it.  So, what do you do?  Go buy more books in the series!

Synopsis from GoodReads:
An addictive, deeply enjoyable thrill ride on the frontier of the feral and feminine...a debut novel of astonishing imaginative power from the future queen of suspense. 

Elena Michaels slips out of bed, careful not to wake her boyfriend. He hates it when she disappears in the middle of the night, and can't understand why any normal woman would crave the small hours of the morning, the dark unsafe downtown streets. But Elena's skin is tingling, the pent-up energy feels like it's about to blow her muscles apart; she can't put it off any longer. She loves to run at the edge of the city, but she doesn't have time to get there. She has to slink into an alley, take off her clothes and hide them carefully, and make the Change. 

Elena's trying hard to be normal. She hates her strength, and her wildness, and her hunger for food, for sex, for running in the night, for the chase and the kill. She wants a husband, children…even a mother-in-law. Or at least that's what she tells herself. 

And then the inevitable happens. The Pack needs her. The Pack she loves and hates is under siege from a bunch of disreputable and ruthless mutts who are threatening to expose them all, breaking all the rules that have kept them safe. The loyalty of her nature calls her home, and into the fight, which tests just who Elena is: the wild woman or the wistful would-be human.

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.

Looking Forward To... (16)

There are so many amazing books already on the shelves and new ones coming out.

For a list of books yet to be released I'm looking to get, you can also look on my right Sidebar at the list titled Desired Reads - just scroll down. Of course there are tones of other new books to come out that are amazing as well, but these ones are part of series I have already started or for one reason or another caught my eye (and haven't seen much on other blogs yet). But I will highlight one here each week.

(mentioned in order of Release Date then Alphabetical if there are more than one book coming out on the same date.)

The Next Book Is...

Diving Mimes, Weeping Czars, and Other Unusual Suspects

By Ken Scholes

Due out August 28, 2010

I have been enjoying Ken's amazing twisting journey of The Psalms of Isaak.  I am currently working on the ARC of book three, Antiphon.  This is an amazing maze of fantasy with a splash of steampunk.  

This book is of Ken's short stories.  It is by Fairwood Press.  There are a few short stories in this book that tie in very nicely with The Psalms of Isaak.  They are extra stories that may help explain a few things in the series.  

There is "A Weeping Czar Beholds the Fallen Moon" and "Of Missing Kings and Backward Dreams and the Honoring of Lies".

A Weeping Czar Beholds the Fallen Moon is a great short story that touches on the wizard and the singing crescent.  Nice touch to it.

Of Missing Kings and Backward Dreams and the Honoring of Lies is a new story.  This is what Ken said of it when he visited at Barnes & Nobles forum site, "about a mysterious old man who arrives in the Ninefold Forest claiming to be a Pope who'd been thought dead for thirty years..."

If you have not read Ken Scholes yet, well you just don't know what you are missing.  His stories are unpredictable adventure and mystery where every word counts as ten.  Great characters to follow as well.  I am looking forward to enjoying these short stories.

Poll...

I currently have a poll up on my left side bar here for you to help pick a book to be read in the 

Urban Fantasy Blog Book Chat.

We had fun with the first book we did, Mind Games by Carolyn Crane.

We, Robyn from The Bookoholic Zone and I, were hoping you could help us pick which book you want to read us chatting about.  Or even join in on.  At this time I have only had 7 votes.  I know there are more of you out there!  At least my numbers look like there are more of you out there.  Please take a few moments to vote.  We would appreciate it. :)  If you want to or need to read the synopsis the titles are linked to Goodreads, just click to check out the book.

The poll is open until Sunday ~ August 22, 2010.  

Please vote! Here in the comments or on sidebar poll.

The Choices are:

Red-Headed Step Child  By Jaye Wells

Hunted By the Others  By Jess Haines

Blue Diablo  By Ann Aguirre

Black and White  By Jackie Kessler and Caitlin Kittridge

Book Review: Gift of the Unmage

WorldWeavers
Gift of the Unmage

By:  Alma Alexander

Publisher:  Eos Books

Publish Date:  March 2008

Genre:  YA, Fantasy

Format:  Paperback, 401pgs, pocket book size

Series:  1st Book in Worldweavers trilogy

Recommendation:  For younger adults and adults, who like to read of young characters learning about their own powers or lack of in a world full of magic, without violence and sexual tension.

Book Synopsis:
Who knew you'd be a true weaver?

Great things have been expected of Thea, the seventh child of two seventh children.  Now, with Cheveyo, a mage, Thea has begun to weave herself a new magical identity, infused with elements of the original worlds.  But back home, Thea keeps her abilities hidden and attends the Wandless Academy, the one school on Earth for those who have no apparent magical talent.  It is there that Thea realizes that her enemies are hungrier and more dangerous than she knew.  What's more, her greatest strength may be the powerlessness she has resisted for so long.

First Sentence:
"You smell angry," Aunt Zoe said as she walked in through the door, sniffing in Thea's direction like a hound dog scenting prey.

My Review and Summary:
Thea is 14 years old.  She's the seventh child of two seventh children, which means she is to be very powerful.  Thea wants to go to the best magical University when she gets older.  But, there is one thing holding her back...she doesn't have the magical touch, at all.  She's not able to perform any magical projects.  She feels she's letting her parents down.  They have tried everything they can to help Thea find her magical nitch.  Now, there is only one thing left to try and her father will call in a huge favor to try it.

In her eavesdropping Thea knows her parents have plans for her and if these plans with some private lessons don't work, she will be sent to that place next year.  That place is The Wandless Academy, where non-magical children go to school.  Non-magical children and schools are the minority and she feels she will become nothing in a magical world without magical powers.

This is a world where magic exists in a big way, and in many different specialities and levels.  If you don't have magic, you don't amount to much of anything here, or as Thea feels.  There is a big world starting to be created here with endless magical possibilities; from our traditional telepathy between family members to traditional magic with music or shepherd mages and different levels of mages.  We even have portals to travel to different places and through time.

This young adult read is not one for lots of violence or intimacy of boyfriend/girlfriend, but what I did enjoy from it was the American Indian mythology usage.  This was a great mythology to set with this world.  Alma relates the things Thea learns my using the beliefs to the current time and place Thea lives in.

Thea starts off as a typical teenage child who in a way feels sorry for herself and guilty for her lack of powers, in relation to her parents.  She has a wonderful and open relationship with her Aunt.  As she is close with her parents, it's just she feels she has let them down, being expected to be so powerful. Thea really grows greatly through this book with what she learns while with Chevery.  Then how she uses it when she returns home to willingly go to the Wardless Academy.  Thea makes some wonderful and unusual friends there at the school.  But it is a time she will never forget, for the things she accomplishes.  I enjoyed the journeys Thea takes to understand herself.  Through the beliefs and teachings Thea goes through she learns she has to be patient and the understanding will come ~ a great lesson to be learned by both children and adults alike.

I enjoyed this first book, and will be reading the next book as well.  I would suggest this book to a Young adult who likes to read of magic and Americal Indian mythology.  I feel this book was a nice break from lots of fighting and violence and even the drooling love scenes.  This is a nice read for a younger adult to sit back and enjoy, and the parents not worring what is in those pages.


I received this book from the author for review.


This book qualifies for my Speculated Fiction Challenge hosted by Book Chick City
and 2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge hosted by Home Girl's Book Blog.

Book Review: Mind Games

Mind Games

By:  Carolyn Crane

Publisher:  Del Rey Books

Publish Date:  March 2010

Genre:  Fantasy

Format:  Paperback, 371 pages - pocket size

Series:  1st book in Disillusionist Trilogy

Recommendation:  Yes! Quick moving Fantasy with mysterious thickening plot, and an amazing take on mental worries.

Book Synopsis:
Justine knows she's going to die.  Any second now.

Justine Jones has a secret.  A hardcore hypochondriac, she's convinced a blood vessel is about to burst in her brain.  Then, out of the blue, a startlingly handsome man named Packard peers into Justine's soul and invites her to join his private crime-fighting team.  It's a once-in-a-lifetime deal.  With a little of Packard's hands-on training, Justine can weaponize her neurosis, turning it outward on Midcity's worst criminals, and finally get the freedom from fear she's always craved.  End of problem.

Or is it?  In Midcity, a dashing police chief is fighting a unique breed of outlaw with more than human powers.  And while Justine's first missions, including one against a nymphomaniac husband-killer, are thrilling successes, there is more to Packard than meets the eye.  Soon, while battling her attraction to two very different men, Justine is plunging deeper into a world of wizardry, eroticism, and cosmic secrets.  With Packard's help, Justine has freed herself from her madness - only to discover a reality more frightening than anyone's worst fears.

First Sentence:
From where we sit I have the perfect view of Shady Ben Foley, dining on the other side if the lavishly decorated Mongolian restaurant.

My Review and Summary:
Justine our main character has vein star syndrome, or so she thinks.  She's a hypochondriac.  While Justine is having dinner with her boyfriend of two months, who seems to handle the hypochondria pretty well.  The restaurant they are in was a spur of the moment place because she saw a man go inside who hustled her father for all his money, causing her father to go broke when she was younger.  Justine being a strong, upstanding citizen walks up and confronts the young couple he is with, telling of his habits with stealing money.  The restaurant owner stops to the table and Justine returns to her table to prevent any problems.  Later when she is paying the bill, the restaurant owner saves her from this mans' torments.  At this time the restaurateur offers to help Justine with her other personal problem, of hypochondria.

Justine goes back to the restaurateur out of curiosity as she knows her friends all go through stages then leave because of her health obsession, and not wanting to loss her current boyfriend Cubby.  Once Justine makes this visit she finds herself with a whole new view of the world she lives in.  We get a better insite into the Highcaps , who have mental powers to do things such as telepathy, and many other things.  And there are energy barriers, and Disillusionists who try to help recondition evil people by breaking them down to rock bottom so they can build up in a better way.

I have to admit I was very curious about this story, and a little weary with the hypochondria angle.  I was afraid it would be over done.  To me it was NO where near being over done.  Yes, Justine had her moments where she was overboard on her worries, but this hit home the worries she really has and the condition she lives with.  These episodes helped give contrast to when she wasn't worried or living in fear.  Then her anxiety moments became a tall-tail for when she needed to zing someone.  I loved the idea of using mental worries to help or hurt us, to help break someone down to understand what they take advantage of and abuse in others and have them grow from this broken state to a better person in the end.  These are a great weapon, to manipulate with.

There were only two times I was concerned the section was going to turn technical and doctory on me.  When the characters started talking of Disillusioning people I was afraid I would get lost in a lot of technical terms, but didn't.  It never went over my head in speech or terms and was very easy to understand, or as we say in lame-mans terms.

I found the book to be a quick, easy read.  I had a hard time when I had to put the book down, as I didn't want to.  I felt I really connected with these characters from the word go.  It had me hooked to see what Justine, Packard, and the other characters where going to do.  And yes, there is that sexual tension between Justine and Packard.  I enjoyed the secondary characters just as much as the main characters.  There is loads of room for these characters to grow in future books.

The world here, is falling apart.  I started to see there were gray areas in what caused this world to be the way it is, and even in fixing it.  There really are two sides to every story.  And sometimes you need the bad to balance the good.

I am now looking forward to book 2, Double Cross, coming out September 28, 2010.  Can't wait!  If you haven't read this book yet, I say pick it up.  It is a fun fast paced fantasy with a new spin on our health worries, and then there are the love issues as well.


Would you like to visit Carolyn Crane's Site?  CLICK HERE.  Maybe her blog?  CLICK HERE.



This book was my own purchase for enjoyment.


This book qualifies for the Speculative Fiction Challenge hosted by Book Chick City.

Teaser Tuesday (40)

Teaser Tuesday

is a weekly event

Sponsored by MizB of Should be Reading

Here's how it works:

Grab the book you are currently reading (anything at all)

Open the book to any random page.

Share 2 teaser sentences from anywhere on the page

Please Make Sure They Are Not Spoilers!

(Don't Give Too Much Away)

Just enough to pique our interests

List the book and author so other participants can get their hand on it if they choose to read it as well.

I am going to do 2 this week!  One Urban Fantasy and one Fantasy as I have both books going at the moment.

This Week:
#1

For the second time in ten minutes, my jaw dropped.  I searched his face for signs of jest, any hint he was being sarcastic, and found none.

As Lie the Dead

By Kelly Meding

pg 164

This Week:

#2

She looked in the sitting area and was not surprised to see Tertius sitting there, his fingers moving over the strings and filling the room with music.  The last time she'd seen him in this place, the Book of Dreaming Kings was burning as it was consumed by the light.  This time, the dream was different.

Antiphon
By Ken Scholes
pg 153

Monday's Beginnings (51)

So, here we are again... another Monday.

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

I only got a little bit of reading done over the weekend.  I spent most of Saturday visiting with an old friend I grew up with but haven't seen in quite some time.  Then, I had thought Sunday would be my catch up day with reading and blogging.  HA! We ended up taking the kids school clothes shopping.  That took all day! And I was so wore out by the time it was all said and done.  I did get some reading in here and there while I was waiting for  the kids in the dressing rooms to change and show off their picks, and while my husband drove to the outlets.  But, no where near as much reading as I had hoped.  I am hoping to get a little bit of reading done at football practice... We shall see what happens, my husband is on vacation this week and he likes to do this thing called talking.  Have you ever heard of it? :D It is slow goings at football practice anyway, but I shall see how it goes today.

So what am I reading now?  Well, I did finish Mind Games by Carolyn Crane AND Gift of the Unmage by Alma Alexander last week.  Now, I am working on the reviews.  I should have both up this week.  I am working on As Lie the Dead by Kelly Meding.  This one was on my list to get the day of release as I really enjoyed the first book with Evy, and it is also a featured book at Barnes & Nobles book forums, so I just have to read and chat about it.  And I am still working on Antiphon by Ken Scholes for the Early Readers discussions at Barnes & Nobles.  We are reading this book in sections and chatting on what we read before moving on, so it is taking longer to get through.

As for my Wishlist... I have only added 3 books this past week.  There are many books out there I have already added to my ever growing list on those large number weeks.  I do try to keep the list to books I truly want to, and plan, to read.  So, all these amazing authors should be proud and happy with all the amazing books I want so badly.  Thank you all!

I did get my short 250 word blip done and added to the list for the ROD at Deadline Dames site.  If you would like to read it, you don't have too but if you would like to, here is the link to the blog entry.  In the comments is my posting.  My entry is comment #12.  If you do read it, let me know what you think (good, bad, and ugly.)  CLICK HERE.  Thank you!

Robyn from The Bookoholic Zone and I have a poll posted to see what book to discuss next in our Blog Book Chats.  Please take a look at the post on that and help us pick a book, there are four up to choose from.  Which one would you like to chat about with us, or read what we have to say on them?  CLICK HERE for the post.

Books Received last week:

Received for Review:

I have received this book from the author for review:

From a far land, Jaben shall come...

One impulsive step plus one ancient prophecy equals one messed up summer vacation. Jason Bennett never intended to change the world, his own or anyone else's. Then a family vacation becomes a journey to Teleria, a place where magic works and the teenager becomes the pivotal piece in a game between forces intent on reshaping Teleria.

Thought to be Jaben, a powerful figure foretold to hold the fate of Teleria in his hands, Jason gets caught in a dangerous tug of war between Teleria's ruling Circle of Nine and one of his own ancestors who opposes the Circle.  Adding to his dilemma, he finds himself at the center of a conflict between two of the Altered, a small group of godlike beings, one of whom is aiding Jason's ancestor against the Circle.

Unable to return home, Jason must learn to use power he isn't convinced he has, keep from triggering an all out war between the Altered that could devastate Teleria, and survive the plans of some in the Circle who believe his death is the only thing that will save Teleria.  Before he can do anything, he must decide who's telling him the truth, and who only wants to use him.  Not exactly the vacation he had planned.

Books Purchased:

Yes, I won a copy of this book from Voyager, it was the UK cover.  And it is gorgeous!  I love the UK covers!  But I had to go purchase the US cover as well, to complete my series of matching covers.  So I picked this one up again last week.

IT’S A THIN LINE BETWEEN ALIVE AND UNDEAD.
 
Chess Putnam has a lot on her plate. Mangled human corpses have started to show up on the streets of Downside, and Chess’s bosses at the Church of Real Truth have ordered her to team up with the ultra-powerful Black Squad agency to crack the grisly case.

Chess is under a binding spell that threatens death if she talks about the investigation, but the city’s most notorious crime boss—and Chess’s drug dealer—gets wind of her new assignment and insists on being kept informed. If that isn’t bad enough, a sinister street vendor appears to have information Chess needs. Only he’s not telling what he knows, or what it all has to do with the vast underground City of Eternity.

Now Chess will have to navigate killer wraiths, First Elders, and a lot of seriously nasty magic—all while coping with some not-so-small issues of her own. And the only man Chess can trust to help her through it all has every reason to want her dead.

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.

Help Us Pick...

Book Blog Chat

We can use your help picking...
What book would you like to join in discussions on?  Or read Robyn's and my thoughts on?

We're leaving it in your hands.  We're giving you this week to vote.  You have until Friday to pick from the four books listed.  This way Robyn and I can get the book and decide how to split the discussion.  We'll post the winning book on Monday of next week.  And hopefully the following Thursday we'll be ready to discuss!

Here are your choices.

Click each Title for a summary (at Goodreads).

1.  Red-Headed Step Child   By Jaye Wells

2.  Hunted By the Others   By Jess Haines

3.  Blue Diablo   By Ann Aguirre

4.  Black and White   By Jackie Kessler & Caitlin Kittridge

Comment below you choice (or on the poll on my left sidebar).  We'll be running this post between our two blogs until Sunday Aug. 22, 2010 and we'll combine all comments to choose the winner.

Looking Forward To... (15)

There are so many amazing books already on the shelves and new ones coming out.

For a list of books yet to be released I'm looking to get, you can also look on my right Sidebar at the list titled Desired Reads - just scroll down. Of course there are tones of other new books to come out that are amazing as well, but these ones are part of series I have already started or for one reason or another caught my eye (and haven't seen much on other blogs yet). But I will highlight one here each week.

(mentioned in order of Release Date then Alphabetical if there are more than one book coming out on the same date.)

The Next Book Is...

The Black Prism

By Brent Weeks

Due out August 25, 2010

I am ashamed to admit I have Brent Weeks first book of the Night Angel trilogy on my shelf to read.  I have heard great things of this trilogy along with it sounds like something I would enjoy.  Why have I not picked it up yet?  Truth be told... I don't know.  It is a shame.  I need to get to it.  But this new series he has sounds colorful. I LOVE the sound of this whole premises here.  I am looking forward to this amazing sounding book.

The Black Prism

Lightbringer #1

Gavin Guile is the Prism, the most powerful man in the world. He is high priest and emperor, a man whose power, wit, and charm are all that preserves a tenuous peace. But Prisms never last, and Guile knows exactly how long he has left to live: Five years to achieve five impossible goals. 

But when Guile discovers he has a son, born in a far kingdom after the war that put him in power, he must decide how much he's willing to pay to protect a secret that could tear his world apart.

Book Blog Chat...Mind Games, Stop 3

We are at our third and final stop of the book, Mind Games by Caroyln Crane.

It is time for the all out, no holds bar on the book.  So all of you who have been waiting to join in on the discussion for us to be done... Here we are.  I want to hear what all of you think: the good, the bad, the ugly.  If you just want to say you liked the book or loved the book, or anything else, please do.  You don't have to touch on our questions.  Join in any time you would like.

Remember, this post is here for good so if you have not read the book completely yet and want to come back later - please do.

If you have not read the book and planning on it.  Enter with fair warning, as there WILL BE SPOILERS found here.

So, now lets get started with our questions....

Discussion thoughts and questions from Carolyn Crane:

Which hero is the right one for Justine? (note: Actually, at the end of the book, I felt this was clear, but many smart readers out there differ with me on this!)

I actually thought a lot about the downsides of having a power like Packard's, to fully understand people's motivations and patterns. Sometimes when I was writing this I wondered what would be worse - telepathy, the way Sookie Stackhouse struggles with it, or Packard's total insight into people, even though he can't see their immediate thoughts or emotions. What do you think?

Do you like the gowns I made up in my head? LOL Just kidding. I spent WAY too much time on the gowns.

Robyn's Questions:

I kept waiting for Otto to be like, haha...I know who you are to Justine. Did you think that Otto was going to reveal who he really was to Justine? Or was he really that clueless?


Who do you think Justine deserves?

After reading the first book. What do you think will happen in the next one? What would you like to see?
 

Melissa's Questions:

Justine remembers Jordan the Therapist saying.  What do you think of the comment? When is good not good?  Is there a catch to this comment?
 
Will Justine accept what she does easier now or will she still second guess herself in the future?
 
Do you think there will be conflict between Packard and Otto in the future?  What about?

Teaser Tuesday (39)

Teaser Tuesday

is a weekly event

Sponsored by MizB of Should be Reading

Here's how it works:

Grab the book you are currently reading (anything at all)

Open the book to any random page.

Share 2 teaser sentences from anywhere on the page

Please Make Sure They Are Not Spoilers!

(Don't Give Too Much Away)

Just enough to pique our interests

List the book and author so other participants can get their hand on it if they choose to read it as well.

This Week:

It had been cold dark February when Thea and her father had boarded the airplane to New Mexico, bound for Cheveyo's country, but the air was scented with late summer as the Alphiri Portal deposited Thea near her home and winked out of existence behind her. Dark green leaves of the big-leaf maple trees and the fernlike fronds of cedars nodded in the slight breeze as she made her way from the woods.

Gift of the Unmage

By Alma Alexander

pg 209

Monday's Beginnings (50)

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 only got a little bit of reading done tonight.  With football underway now, my son likes to know I am watching.  And truth be told, I like to watch him play.  It's something he enjoys and is good at.  But, I do cheat and try to sneak some reading in when he is in line and not up doing what ever practice it is.  I am hoping this week will work out to be a great reading week, in the end.

So, What am I working on reading?  Lately I have a few books going, which is a little unusual for me.  But I am enjoying them all.  I just started Gift of the Unmage By Alma Alexander.  I plan on finishing this one up this week.  It is a YA read, which I have not read in a while so thought it was time to pick one up again.  Also working on Mind Games By Carolyn Crane.  This one is for our Book Blog Chat, and I will finish this one this week.  We have broken it into 3 sections and stop at each point to discuss ideas and questions we have and a few the author was kind enough to supply us with. I am going to be finishing the last section up this week.  You are always welcome to join in on the first two discussions at ANY time.  Then the third book I am working on is Antiphon By Ken Scholes.  This is another series I TOTALLY love!  Ken has really created a world here that you can get lost in.

I did get a review up this past week for Land of the Burning Sands, The Griffin Mage, book 2 By Rachel Neumeier.  If you would like to check out that review, CLICK HERE.  And I got my CSN Review up, of what I really love and think all book lovers should get.  If you would like to check it out, CLICK HERE.

As for my Wishlist... Of course I have added to it, even though I am trying to keep it to a minimum.  And with being a little on the absentee side last week, I still managed to find some books to add.  I have added 6 books to the list.  The authors really should be proud of you all for introducing me to all their amazing books.

I am also working on writing a little ROD for over at Deadline Dames.  The deadline to get the short writing of 250 words in is August 11th.  So, I am working on a short little ditty for there.  I will have to post a link next week after I get it all done.

Books Received Last Week:

Believe it or not... I didn't get ANY books last week.  I just can't believe it... I double checked the shelf and table.  Nope, no new books.  Hmm, that just doesn't feel right!  I will have to remedy that this week. :)  Although, I was buying like 4 books or more there for a few weeks. 

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.

Book Review: Land of the Burning Sands

Land of the Burning Sands
The Griffin Mage: Book Two

By:  Rachel Neumeier

Publisher:  Orbit Books

Publish Date:  June 2010

Genre:  Fantasy

Format:  Paperback, 441 pgs - pocket sized

Series:  2nds Book in The Griffin Mage Trilogy, Review of Book 1 Lord of the Changing Winds ~ HERE

Recommendation:  If you enjoy straight forward journey fantasy reads, with some strategy of fighting with out warring and a new element of Griffins.  This is definitely a book for you.

Book Synopsis:
Gereint Enseichen of Casmantium knows little and cares less about the recent war in which his king tried to use griffins and fire to wrest territory from the neighboring country of Feierabiand.  Now, his kingdom's unexpected defeat offers him a chance to escape from his own servitude.

But now that the griffins find themselves in a position of strength, they are not inclined to forgive and the entire kingdom finds itself in deadly peril.  Willing or not, Gereint is caught up in a desperate struggle between the griffins and the last remaining mage...

First Sentence:
Gereint Enseichen sat on a narrow pallet in the lowest cellar of the Anteirden townhouse, waiting.

My Review and Summary:
For a day, a night, and a day slave Gereint hide in the two story deep basement while the desert claimed the newly abandoned city of Melentser, hoping to lose the geas connection he felt to his master.  On the second night Gereint sat in the broken sandy city and watched the sun set.  As he did, he saw the bright griffins fly over him.  Feeling no pull on his geas, Gereint heads North East, opposite of the other refugees and his master.  Only to fall under geas to another man and see more griffins fly by.

We start off with a whole new story.  We follow Gereint through his journey after the destruction of Melentser.  We learn more of his life, how he fell into the trap of slavery of the geas.  But most of all, we learn of the person Gereint is.  I started to understand more of the country Calmantium.  If you read the first book, you will remember this is the country where the Griffins first resided, and now have come home.

Through the book you get the feel for how the people and Cold Mage are apposed to the griffins.  In more than just dislike.  Their is a deeper feeling that these two different magics don't mix very well, and this is shown to you through the acts and feelings of the characters.  I learned more of the Cold Mage and of the Makers that are from Calmantium.

This book struck me as it could be read on its own, not having to have read the first book in the trilogy since we are placed in Calmantium instead of Feierabiand and the story doesn't revolve majorly on the happenings of the first book.  I felt this book was a story of its own.  We do start to touch on the happenings in Lord of Changing Winds around page 72, but remember the people of Calmantium really don't know what happened in Feierabiand, and what you need to know for this story is given to you.

I didn't interact much with the griffins in this read.  They are a constant and are visual through the book.  But not much interaction between the characters and griffins until close to the end of the book.  In this way there is some suspense built to wonder what they are doing and what will happen.

Along with the griffins there is a few characters who come back in this one.  The one main character, which I enjoyed in Lord of the Changing Winds, was Lord Bertaud.  And we have many new characters.  I came to enjoy these new characters very much by the end of the book.

In all I enjoyed this read and will look for the third book of this trilogy.  A wonderful classic fantasy style with a new element...griffins.



I purchased this book for my reading enjoyment

This book qualifies for my Speculated Fiction Challenge hosted by Book Chick City.