Waiting on Wednesday (11)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is: Even White Trash Zombies Get The Blues by Diana Rowland which was released on July 3rd, 2012.

Angel Crawford is finally starting to get used to life as a brain-eating zombie, but her problems are far from over. Her felony record is coming back to haunt her, more zombie hunters are popping up, and she's beginning to wonder if her hunky cop-boyfriend is involved with the zombie mafia. Yeah, that's right--the zombie mafia.

Throw in a secret lab and a lot of conspiracy, and Angel's going to need all of her brainpower--and maybe a brain smoothie as well--in order to get through it without falling apart.

I really enjoyed My Life as a White Trash Zombie.  It was a fun and unique perspective on zombies and I can't wait to find out what happens.  Plus, that cover is just freaking awesome. 

First Lines: June 2012

The first words you read can often set the tone for the entire story.  I thought it would be fun to keep track of the first lines of the books I read each month and share them with you.  Below are the first lines for all the books I read in June.

Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder:

“‘That’s pathetic, Yelena,’ Dax complained.”

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

“I still remember the day my father took me to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books for the first time.”

Velveteen by Daniel Marks

“When Velveteen Monroe pictured Bonesaw’s house – and she did, more often than could be considered healthy – blood striped the paint a muddy reddish-brown, internal organs floated in jars of formaldehyde, and great big taxidermy crows leered from branches that twisted from the wall like palsied arms.”

The Mosts by Melissa Senate

“For two weeks, I asked everyone I met if they thought long-distance relationships worked.”

A Beautiful Evil by Kelly Keaton

“‘Everyone knows what you are now.  Question is, Selkirk, will you live up to their expectations or be the complete failure I think you really are?’”

Suicide Notes by Michael Thomas Ford

“I read somewhere that when astronauts come back to Earth after floating around in space they get sick to their stomachs because the air here smells like rotting meat to them.”

Changeling by Philippa Gregory

“The hammering on the door shot him into wakefulness like a handgun going off in his face.”

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

“I remember being born.”

The River Witch by Kimberly Brock

“These were the first things I heard, the sounds of women and water on a cool November morning just south of the Cumberland River.”

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

“After a year of slavery in the salt mines of Endovier, Celaena Sardothien was accustomed to being escorted everywhere in shackles and at sword point.”

Lost in the River of Grass by Ginny Rorby

“Mr.Vickers takes the seat behind the bus driver.”

My favorite line this month was from Suicide Notes.  It is just so downright weird that I had to know more about the character who would fixate on such an obscure fact.

My least favorite line was from Lost in the River of Grass.  While the book redeems itself, that first line just didn't grab me. 

ARC Book Review: Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Title: Seraphina
Author: Rachel Hartman
Publisher: Random House
Release Date: July 10, 2012
Rating: 5/5

Cover Impressions: This cover is so beautifully intricate.  It is not the type of cover that jumps off the shelf but it is the type that encourages the reader to stop and study it.  I am already intrigued to see the artwork for the next in the series.

The Gist: The kingdom of Goredd holds a tenuous balance between it's human citizens and the dragons who can take their form.  As the 40th anniversary of their peace treaty approaches it seems that someone is determined to tip the scales and renew the old conflicts.  Seraphina straddles the line between humans and dragons.  When a member of the royal family is found beheaded, she becomes an integral part of the investigation - if only to try and keep her own secrets hidden. 

Review: Oh God.  These are always the hardest reviews for me to write.  I can rant all day about books that I hate, pointing out the slow plot, annoying characters and writing that would fit quite well in my stack of grading from grade 7.  Those reviews are my bread and butter, they flow through my fingertips like water, gracing the page with WTF's and FFS!'s.

Every now and then, however, I come across a book that was just so fan-fucking-tastic that I can barely put into words why.  Seraphina was one of those books.  The world building is complete and unique.  The characters are fully developed, sometimes flawed and remarkably human (even when they are not).  The writing is polished and elegant, begging you to savor every word.  The plot never lags or races but maintains a pace that keeps the reader enthralled (seriously - as soon as the baby went to bed I begged my husband to just leave me alone and go watch sports or something so that I could read).

Seraphina is easily one of my favorite characters thus far this year.  She is intelligent, talented, brave, vulnerable, and loyal.  She struggles with her own self worth and undergoes remarkable growth.  The secondary characters are also not to be missed.  Hartman has not allowed for one dimensional characters here.  Between the members of Seraphina's garden, the dignitaries at court and the dragons in human form, there was always someone intriguing to watch and someone else to wonder about.

Hartman creates a world that is wonderfully strange yet oddly familiar.  Though the people and dragons of Goredd negotiated a peace treaty nearly 40 years ago, there is still a great deal of animosity and racism on both sides.  The hatred and anger between these peoples was palpable and created some of the most tense scenes in the novel.

The writing in Seraphina flows beautifully.  The one thing that I did not enjoy (and this is a criticism of fantasy in general rather than this book in particular) is that choosing not to explain certain terminology in the text and to rely on a glossary is fine in a physical book, but I find it becomes rather tedious while reading an e-book.

This novel easily makes the list as one of my top books of 2012. Now, when is that sequel coming out???!!! 

Teaching/Parental Notes:

Age: 13 and up
Gender: Both
Sex: Implied at
Violence: Death by be-heading, Knifeplay, Swordplay, Death by Poisoning
Inappropriate Language: Bastard
Substance Use/Abuse: Drinking of Wine

Stacking The Shelves (4)

Stacking The Shelves hosted by Tynga's Reviews.  It is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Ebooks Bought This Week: 

  E-ARCS I Got This Week:

 

Feature & Follow Friday (6)

Feature & Follow is hosted by Parajunkee & Alison Can Read

This week's question is 

Birthday Wishes — Blow out the candles and imagine what character could pop out of your cake…who is it and what book are they from??

Here we go: 1.....2.....3..... TA DA! It's Zach from Jeri Smith-Ready's Shade series.  Hello Handsome, come lay that accent on me.

Book Review: Changeling by Philippa Gregory

Title: Changeling
Author:  Philippa Gregory
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: May 24, 2012
Rating: 1/5

Cover Impressions: The cover is pretty, but expected.  It makes it appear that Isolde is the main character when, in actuality, the plot follows Luca for a majority of the time.  I was glad to see the omission of the "heaving bosoms" that normally accompanies this type of cover

The Gist: Seventeen year old Luca is accused of heresy and thrown out of his religious order for using math to prove that it is impossible for all of the relics from the true cross to be real.  He is quickly recruited by a secret order and sent on a mission to hold an inquiry into strange occurrences.  Isolde has been cast out from her home upon the death of her father and forced to vows at a nunnery and serve as their lady superior.  When the sisters began acting strangely and complaining of strange dreams and stigmata, Luca is sent to investigate.

Review:  I was pretty disappointed by this one.  I have read a lot of Philippa Gregory's books (though I haven't really enjoyed the latest ones) and was hoping for the same sense of excitement that I got while reading The Other Boleyn Girl.  Instead, I got a watered down romance, predictable storyline and characters who were barely tolerable.

When we meet Luca, we are told that he has a remarkable head for numbers and that these skills led to him being called a Changeling (my definition: a child that is left behind by the faerie folk to be raised in a human household).  Take note of this BECAUSE IT NEVER COMES UP AGAIN! Seriously.  He never uses these mysterious mathematical skills and, despite the title of the book, we never find out anything about whether or not he is a changeling.  As a character, he is boring as heck.  He never does anything exciting or unexpected, his manner of speaking is flat and unaffected and he switches between allowing others to take charge and pompously reminding them that he is supposed to be leading this investigation.

Isolde has been promised by her father that, upon his death, all the lands and the kingdom would be hers.  She has been raised to be the lady of the house and taught how to maintain her lands and keep her people fed and safe.  Yet, on his deathbed he supposedly recounts all of this and gives her the choice between marrying a particularly disgusting man or joining the nunnery.  Isolde is told all of this by her brother (her father apparently refused to see her at the end) and never questions the authenticity of his claims.  When she asks to see the will, he gives her a COPY instead of the original and then sends her would-be husband to rape her.  That's right folks, her brother tells his buddy that he can exercise his matrimonial rights before she has even accepted and (I think) within 24 hours of her father's death.  And STILL Isolde doesn't think he is lying about her inheritance.  FFS! How dense can you get?  For the rest of the book, Isolde continues to be boring and is in constant need of rescuing.  The only characters that show any type of promise are the servants Ishraq and Freize and even they are not nearly as interesting as they could be.

This book holds an odd place in the genre spectrum.  It is not quite realistic enough to be true historical fiction nor is it strange enough to be paranormal fiction.  The blurb promises werewolves, alchemists, witches, and death-dancers but doesn't actually deliver on either werewolves or witches and I can only assume the alchemists and death-dancers will be featured in the next book.  The plot is sloooooowwwwww and concentrates far too much on traveling and interviewing people.  It really feels like two separate stories; one that features the nunnery and one a village with a werewolf.  The stories felt disconnected, almost like two novellas that were strung together in an attempt to make a full book, and no progress is made on any of the over-arching issues (Luca's mysterious new order and his heritage or Isolde's disinheritance).  


For most of this book I found myself waiting for it to be over and wishing that I had chosen to read something else instead.  I do not think I will be sticking around for the next in this series. 

Teaching/Parental Notes:

Age:  13 and up
Gender: Female
Sex: None
Violence: Death by Poison, Death by Fire
Inappropriate Language: None
Substance Use/Abuse: Drinking Wine/Ale

Waiting on Wednesday (10)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is: Dark Frost by Jennifer Estep which was released on May 29th, 2012.

I’ve seen so many freaky things since I started attending Mythos Academy last fall. I know I’m supposed to be a fearless warrior, but most of the time, I feel like I’m just waiting for the next Bad, Bad Thing to happen. Like someone trying to kill me—again.

Everyone at Mythos Academy knows me as Gwen Frost, the Gypsy girl who uses her psychometry magic to find lost objects—and who just may be dating Logan Quinn, the hottest guy in school. But I’m also the girl the Reapers of Chaos want dead in the worst way. The Reapers are the baddest of the bad, the people who murdered my mom. So why do they have it in for me?

It turns out my mom hid a powerful artifact called the Helheim Dagger before she died. Now, the Reapers will do anything to get it back. They think I know where the dagger is hidden, but this is one thing I can’t use my magic to find. All I do know is that the Reapers are coming for me—and I’m in for the fight of my life.

This is a bit of an odd WoW for me.  First, this book is the third in a series and I haven't actually read the first two and second, it has already been released.  BUUUUTTTT I am still waiting because I won this as part of Goodreads First Reads! WOOOOOOOOO!  I got the notice over a month ago and have been anxiously awaiting it's arrival.  I don't want to start the other two books because I am sure by the time I finish the second one I will be ravenous for book 3 and will get even more irritated at the slow delivery.

On a related note, in the past month I have won 3 books (two Goodreads, one from a blog giveaway) and been promised 2 books from an author for review and I haven't received ANY OF THEM! I am beginning to think that someone at Canada Post is stealing my books! URGH!!!!