Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Waiting on Wednesday - 1/6

Okay "Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This week my WoW book is "Calamity Jack" by Shannon, Dean, and Nathan Hale. This is the sequel to "Rapunzle's Revenge" which was a hilarious graphic novel; I am hoping this one is as good.  Granted the book actually came out yesterday, but since I write my posts Sunday night...it isn't out yet and I am still waiting for it!

Calamity Jack


"Calamity Jack" by Shannon, Dean, and Nathan Hale
Pages: 144 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books
Release Date: January 5th, 2010

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Teaser Tuesday - 1/5

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!


My Teaser this week is from "Captain's Fury" (Codex of Alera, Book 4) by Jim Butcher.

Captain's Fury (Codex Alera, Book 4)


Here it is: "Tavi turned his head and clutched a hand at his chest, fingers sliding over the plates of armor. The pain wasn't physical, of course - but that made it no less real, and no less terrible." pg. 88

Monday, January 4, 2010

Captain's Fury (Codex Alera, Book 4) by Jim Butcher (5/5 stars)

This is the fourth book in the Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher. There are six total books in the series with the 6th book "First Lord's Fury" being released in Dec. 2009. This was a great book and really pulled the series to a good point.

Tavi is still acting as Captain of the First Aleran and has spent the last two years holding the line of war against the Canim. Tavi is recommending seeking alliance with the Canim because he believes the Canim were fleeing a larger enemy, the Vord. Unfortunately the Senate decides to take an interest in the conflict and sends out incompetent and conniving, Senator Arnos to command over Tavi. From there things get worse and worse and many lives are lost. Tavi, Isana, and the First Lord himself are forced to take actions that they never could have foreseen in an effort to save Alera from destruction.

This was an excellent next book in this series. The storyline switches between multiple viewpoints, but does so in such a way that it is never confusing. The number of characters is vast, but kept manageable. A glossary labeling who was related to whom would have been a nice addition; still with wikipedia you can review that online if you are confused. Much of the story deals with great battles, but there is some adventuring that balances that out. Readers who are fans of one or the other types of fantasy, should find a little of both in here.

Tavi, Kitai, and many of the other characters really step it up in this book, taking risky actions that make them forces to be reckoned with. The book is hard to put down and has you on the edge of your seat the whole time. Butcher has an excellent writing style that easily conveys the surroundings of the scenes without pushing aside the great action scenes, it is very easy to read. The characters are very engaging and you are desperately pulling for them through the whole book. There is also some light touches of humor throughout that lighten the story so that it doesn't take itself too seriously.

Things get worse in this book than an any other book in this series, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. This is a wonderful book and I am going to start reading book 5 immediately. You definitely need to read the previous books in the series to understand what is going on in this book.

If I have any complaints it is that Tavi comes up with one successful hair-brained scheme after another. It seems a little far-fetched...you would think with all the risk-taking Tavi does one of his schemes would be a complete failure. He does have some partial failures, but everything works out in the end.

Overall a great book and a great series. I found the first couple books in the series to be a bit slow and the characters not as engaging as I had hoped, but this book made the whole series worthwhile.



This book will be the first one to go towards my 100+ Book Reading Challenge.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

2010 Reading Challenges

This will be the first year I am participating in a number of reading challenges. I was going to stick to 4 challenges, but ended up with more because they caught my eye. The ones I am signed up for are shown below along with links to my reading lists. I am planning on updating most of the reading lists as I read them. Links to both the challenges and my reading lists are also on my sidebar on the left of the page.

- Thriller and Suspense Challenge - being hosted by Book Chick City.
Here is my reading list.

- Debut Author Reading Challenge - hosted by the Story Siren.
Here is my reading list.

- Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge - hosted by J. Kaye's Book Blog.
Here is my reading list.

- Young Adult Reading Challenge - hosted by J. Kaye's Book Blog.
Here is my reading list.

- GLBT Reading Challenge - hosted by GLBT Reading
Here is my reading list.

- First in a Series Challenge - hosted by Royal Reviews
Here is my reading list.

- 100+ Book Reading Challenge - hosted by J. Kaye's Book Blog.
Here is my reading list.

Mailbox Monday - 1/4

Mailbox Monday can be found at: The Printed Page

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

This week I got three books. The first I got from BookMooch.com and it is "Lord Darcy". It is an old book but supposidly a good one; it's been recommended to me by a number of people...so I am excited to read it.

The second book was "Wicked Gentlemen" by Ginn Hale. I finally broke down and bought this book. It's been on my "To Be Read" list forever and now that I am doing the GLBT challenge for 2010, it will be one book to go towards that challenge.

The last book was "Inklings: A Memoir" by Jeffrey Koterba. This was another book from the Amazon Vine program. Not something I would normally read, but it looked really interesting...so I wanted to give it a try.

Hope you are all having a great New Year so far! Happy Reading :-)

Lord Darcy by Randall Garrett

First Sentence: "Sir Pierre Morlaix, Chevalier fo the Angevin Empire, Knight of the Golden Leopard, and secretary-in-private to my lord, the Count D'Evereux, pushed back the lace at his cuff for a glance at his wrist watch- three minutes of seven."
From Amazon.com:
"Welcome to an alternate world where Richard the Lion-Heart did not die in the year 1199...where magic is a science and science is an art...where the great detective Lord Darcy and the sorcerer Sean O'Lochlainn combine occult skills and brilliant deductions to bring criminals to the King's Justice and thwart those who plot against the Realm. Welcome to a world where murder may be committed by magic most foul, but crime still does not pay - as long as Lord Darcy is on the case."

Wicked Gentlemen by Ginn Hale

First Sentence: "The night hung in tatters."
From Amazon.com:
"Belimai Sykes is many things: a Prodigal, the descendant of ancient demons, a creature of dark temptations and rare powers. He is also a man with a brutal past and a dangerous addiction. And Belimai Sykes is the only man Captain William Harper can turn to when faced with a series of grisly murders. But Mr. Sykes does not work for free and the price of Belimai's company will cost Captain Harper far more than his reputation. From the ornate mansions of noblemen, where vivisection and sorcery are hidden beneath a veneer of gold, to the steaming slums of Hells Below, Captain Harper must fight for justice and for his life. His enemies are many and his only ally is a devil he knows too well."

Inklings: A Memoir by Jeffrey Koterba

First Sentence: "The Plymouth rattles up the driveway, its headlights beaming through the blinds of our living room window, illuminating the dark canyons of broken TVs and boxes."
From Amazon.com:
"When Jeffrey Koterba was six, he started drawing his first cartoons, painstakingly copying from the Sunday Omaha World Herald'sfunny papers and making up his own characters. With a pen and a sheet of white paper, he was able to escape into a world that was clean, expansive, and comfortable--a refuge from the pandemonium surrounding him. The tiny house Koterba grew up in was full-to-bursting with garage-sale treasures and televisions his father Art repaired and sold for extra money. A hard-drinking one-time jazz drummer whose big dreams never seemed to come true, Art was subject to violent facial and vocal tics--symptoms of Tourette's Syndrome, a condition Jeffrey inherited--as well as explosions of temper and eccentricity that kept the Koterba family teetering on the brink of disaster. From the canyons of broken electronics, the lightning strikes, screaming matches, and discouragements great and small emerged a young man determined to follow his creative spirit to grand heights. And much to his surprise, he found himself on a journey back to his family and the father he once longed to escape. An exuberant, heart-felt memoir that calls to mind The Tender Bar and Fun Home, Inklings is infused with an irresistible optimism all its own."

Saturday, January 2, 2010

2009 - Statistics Summary

Okay so for all of 2009 I read 237 books. There were two picture books in there and the following -

By Genre
Urban Fantasy/Paranormal: 92 book
Fantasy Genre: 72 books
Science Fiction: 25 books
General Fiction: 23 books
Horror: 11 books
Graphic Novel: 10 books
Anthologies: 6 books
Non-fiction: 4 books

By Age Group:
Adult: 86 books
Young Adult: 80 books
Middle Grade: 48 books
Children's: 8 books (this doesn't include all the books I read my son, just the ones I reviewed)

So that's it for 2009. It will be interesting to see what 2010 will bring. I am part of a few reading challenges and it will be the first year I participate in reading challenges, so hopefully that will be fun.

Happy New Year to you all!

In My Mailbox and Mailbox Monday - 1/3

IMM is a meme started at The Story Siren with some inspiration from Alea of Pop Culture Junkie.

Anyone can participate in IMM and you are not limited to only sharing books that arrive via your mailbox. You can also share books that you've bought or books that you've gotten at the library.

Mailbox Monday can be found at: The Printed Page

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists. 


I did another Vlog this week which you can watch below. I got a little confused when I was describing Double Cross, so you get to watch me sit and think for a few seconds there :-) Anyway hope you all enjoy!






Huntress by Malinda Lo
Huntress

Double Cross by Carolyn Crane
Double Cross (The Disillusionists Trilogy: Book 2)

The Cloud Searchers (Amulet)

Cloaked by Alex Flinn
Cloaked