Monday's Beginnings (108)

Oh crap!  It's Monday.

Yeah, I know it's Monday.  But I don't know where my head is.  I forgot about doing my Monday post.  Yep, really.  I'm working, I think that's what I'm doing.  You know what you should do when you have a job...work.  Who would have thought about doing work when you are getting paid to do work?  Geez. ;)

But it's been a week.  I always feel like I don't get anywhere with books Monday through Friday with work, family, home stuff... blah blah blah.  But the weekends do help.  And this weekend wasn't as much with time for me to read because my Father-in-law came over for the weekend with his girlfriend.  I like her, but I can't read and be a bad host.  So reading was limited.

On to what's going on in book stuff....

Currently Reading:
Aftermath by Ann Aguirre - this one I'll finish today for the chat on Thursday. :)
Enclave by Ann Aguirre - yeah, this one is going to take a while since I'm reading it with my son trying to keep at his pacing. Slow, due to him being in school all day, football after school, then homework, and I do believe he should have down time to play with the neighbors.  So he only reads about an hour a day.

To Come This Week:
Reviews:
Armageddon Bound by Tim Marquitz

Last Week:
Books I Finished:
Armageddon Bound by Tim Marquitz

Reviews Posted Last Week:
Ada, Legend of a Healer by R.A. McDonald
Wild & Steamy by Meljean Brook, Jill Myles, Carolyn Crane

Podcast Review:
No, I didn't post one.  But I will have one this week. :)

Special Posts:
GIVEAWAY! Yep, there is a giveaway going on here until Sept 22 for Dreamland by Alyson Noel.  Go over and enter if you'd like. :) (US & Canada only)

I forgot to write my Flash Fiction Friday post last week.  Sorry.  I seem to be losing time lately.  It has to do with the change in the weather. ;)  That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

My WANT list... well, thanks to Goodreads and their new Recommended program I added several books.  Ones I had thought where already on my WANT list and I must have forgot to add along with new books.  Are you ready?  I added.... 27 books! WOW! lol. Unreal right.

Books Received:
Review:

Goodread Synopsis:
For Callista, joining the Elite Guard will give her the means to find the murderer who killed her family. With the sword of her ancestors, she enters the Academy and soon discovers latent powers only heard of in legends. Her uncanny skills do not go unnoticed, and when her first assignment goes terribly wrong, she is saved by a man whose destiny becomes entwined with her own. Soon, she is forced to re-consider who her enemies really are. As her power awakens, she is drawn into a web of deceit that will ultimately shake everything she believes in. With a new sense of her identity, she must confront a dark evil hidden behind an unspeakable secret. This evil threatens to destroy her and the man she has come to love. Will she be strong enough to withstand this power, or will she become the very thing she has sworn to destroy?

Goodread Synopsis:
When a brilliant point of light appears in the southern sky, Nathan Oakes is finishing his early-morning run in Central Park, Kathy Stratton is preparing to give a speech in San Francisco, Nikki Jamison is dreaming peacefully in her home near Phoenix, and Oscar Villalobos is grappling with the guilt that fuels his nightmares. None are yet aware of how much that strange light in the sky will change their lives.

By the time it begins sending a digital signal, though, Kathy Stratton, science advisor to the president, knows that a turning point in the human story has been reached. Aliens have made contact.

Soon after they land on a rural stretch of road west of Phoenix, Nikki Jamison and Oscar Villalobos slip unnoticed into the tiny red spaceship and learn the hard way that Zeke and Simon aren't the friendly back-slappers they pretend to be. Trapped in a weird, impossibly vast labyrinth inside the ship, knowing their chances for survival are slim, Nikki and Oscar discover the truth about the aliens. They also learn about the complex network of interaction between sentient species throughout the universe, and the elegantly simple system of law that holds it all together--and they learn that a partnership with Zeke and Simon will not bring riches to the human race. Instead, it will bring extinction.

Won:

I won this one from the author on a giveaway she was having.  I have to say the review I read on this book that made me want it so was from My Bookish Ways.  :) And I received a signed copy to boot!
Goodread Synopsis:
There isn’t much worth living for in Gypsum, Missouri—or Trashtown, as the rich kids call the run-down neighborhood where sixteen-year-old Hailey Tarbell lives. Hailey figures she’ll never belong—not with the popular kids at school, not with the rejects, not even with her cruel, sickly grandmother, who deals drugs out of their basement. Hailey never knew her dead mother, and she has no idea who her father was, but at least she has her four-year-old foster brother, Chub. Once she turns eighteen, Hailey plans to take Chub far from Gypsum and start a new life where no one can find them.

But when a classmate is injured in gym class, Hailey discovers a gift for healing that she never knew she possessed—and that she cannot ignore. Not only can she heal, she can bring the dying back to life. Confused by her powers, Hailey searches for answers but finds only more questions, until a mysterious visitor shows up at Gram’s house, claiming to be Hailey’s aunt Prairie.

There are people who will stop at nothing to keep Hailey in Trashtown, living out a legacy of despair and suffering. But when Prairie saves both Hailey and Chub from armed attackers who invade Gram’s house in the middle of the night, Hailey must decide where to place her trust. Will Prairie’s past, and the long-buried secret that caused her to leave Gypsum years earlier, ruin them all? Because as Hailey will soon find out, their power to heal is just the beginning.

This gripping novel from thriller writer Sophie Littlefield blazes a trail from small-town Missouri to the big city as Hailey battles an evil greater than she ever imagined, while discovering strengths she never knew she had.

This one was a win from DelReySpectra on twitter.  Wonderful giveaway with signed books! Yep, this one is signed as well! :)

Goodread Synopsis:

The New York Times bestselling author of the classic Shannara epic, Terry Brooks, has proven himself one of the modern masters of fantasy, brilliantly creating breathtaking worlds of magic, adventure, and intrigue. Now, for the first time in one marvelous collector’s edition hardcover, here’s the complete trilogy of the Voyage of the Jerle Shannara: Ilse Witch, Antrax, and Morgawr. In these enchanting novels, a colorful contingent of characters takes to the skies aboard a magnificent airship–the Jerle Shannara–on a quest fraught with wonder and danger.

Ilse Witch A half-drowned elf carries a map covered with cryptic symbols–and Walker Boh, the last of the Druids, has the skill to decipher them. But someone else understands the map’s significance: the ruthless Ilse Witch, who will stop at nothing to possess it–and the powerful magic it leads to.

Antrax While in search of the elusive magic, Walker Boh is lured into a trap–caught in a dark maze beneath a ruined city, stalked by a hungry, unseen enemy. It is Antrax: a spirit that feeds off enchantment and traps the souls of men. Now the fate of the Four Lands hangs in the balance.

Morgawr
The intrepid heroes aboard the Jerle Shannara have reached their breaking point. A centuries-old sorcerer, the Morgawr, vows to find and control the fabled ancient books of magic–and he is an adversary of awesome might with a fleet of airships and a crew of walking dead men at his command.

In The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara, Terry Brooks weaves together high adventure, vividly wrought characters, and a spellbinding world into an irresistible story of heroism and sacrifice, love and honor.

So, we are into a new week.  How are you faring at the beginning of this week?  Does it look like a good reading week?

I'm hoping to have a good one... well, I'm going to try really hard to have one. :)

And a song to leave you with today... I'm going to leave you with a classic.  I love this song and always go back to it. Hope you enjoy!