Free Comic Book Day is Saturday!

Hi Everyone,

Just a reminder that Free Comic Book Day is this Saturday, May 5th!  Stop by the Free Comic Book Day site to find participating locations and get a preview of the comics that will be offered.

My whole family is looking forward to attending.  We will be at The Source standing in line waiting with everyone else, interacting with strange men dressed up as comic heroes (which my son LOVES!), and eating junk food etc.  We are planning on following this up with a trip to the movie theater to see The Avengers!

Should be a lot of fun and I am excited to see what they are giving away.  

Hope you guys all have great comic store near you participating so that you can join in on the fun!

Fairy Tale Blog Hop Winner

The winner of the Fairy Tale Blog Hop was 

Kris of Pearls of Great Worth 

Thanks to everyone who participated!  There were 132 entries and winners were chosen using random.org.

Audiobook Review - Hard Bitten (Chicagoland Vampires, Book 4) by Chloe Neill (4/5 stars)

Reading level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Size: 368 pages
Publisher: New American Library
Release Date: May 3, 2011
ISBN: 978-0451233325
Stand Alone or Series: 4th book in the Chicagoland Vampires series
Source: Audiobook from Audible.com
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is a hard book to rate. Those who’ve read it know why and it is going to be a whopper to review without giving away spoilers but I will try. Definitely not my favorite book in the series, in fact after some things that happen in the end I almost decided to completely give up the series. That being said, I guess the fact that it still elicited strong emotions says something.

I listened to this as an audio book and the audiobook was exceedingly well done. This is a series I highly recommend listening to; the narrator does an absolutely stellar job reading it.

Merit is still serving as Sentinel of Cadogan House. Vampires are being picketed against and are in a very precarious political position within in the city. Mayor Tate has reports of rising vampire violence against humans. Tate issues an ultimatum; Merit and Ethan will get to the bottom of the violence and stop it or else. Merit is left to unravel the mystery while Ethan deals with unwelcome visitors from the European Vampire Council. As more violent vampire situations arise and Merit learns of an illegal drug on the streets, things start to spin out of control.

This was a very well done book. It was also a very emotionally wrenching book. As with all of these books all the little things that have happened in previous books are starting to come together. Secrets from Merit father’s past, from Ethan’s past, and from Mayor Tate’s past all come to light and they are not pleasant.

We get to spend a lot more time with the Red Guard Jonas; he is an interesting character and was entertaining to read about. We also spend a lot of quality time with Ethan and Merit and their banter continues to be highly entertaining.

This is one of the darker books in this series, that being said there is still a lot of humor here. Merit is as snarky as ever. Mallory is finally back in the story some, if not a ton, and it was nice to have her back. We also meet some interesting new characters.

This book is definitely more of an investigative urban fantasy. Merit spends large amounts of time running investigations and dealing with politics. There are plenty of twists and turns that are unexpected but tie in well with the overall storyline. Lots of great action scenes like the previous books and I continue to enjoy those a lot.

The bad thing thing that happens late in the book bothered me not only because it was bad, but because it was so sudden and seemed so out of the blue. I know there must be more behind it and it is killing me to not know why that happened and how it will be dealt with.

Overall a great book in this series. Highly entertaining with lots of twists and turns to keep the reader guessing. Lots of fun banter between the characters like usual. The ending will rip your heart out and stomp on it though so beware. The fact that this series gets me so emotionally involved really says good things about the writing. I highly recommend this series to all the vampire urban fantasy fans out there. This series reminds of the Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost; so if you like that series I think you will enjoy this one as well.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- Horror and Urban Fantasy Challenge
- 150+ Books Reading Challenge

Waiting on Wednesday - 5/2

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

This week my Waiting on Wednesday book is In the House of the Wicked by Thomas E. Sniegoski.  Click on the image to go to Amazon and read more about this book.

In the House of the Wicked by Thomas E. Sniegoski

Release Date: August 7, 2012
Publisher:  Roc Trade
Length: 320 pages
ISBN: 978-0451464569

Synopsis from Goodreads.com:

"Remy Chandler is about to go where he’s not
wanted...
PI Remy Chandler has always been able to rely on his angelic powers when the situation called for it. But now his human and angelic natures are sharing the same space, and Remy can feel himself becoming more and more volatile. Then Ashlie Berg, a young woman who is like a daughter to him, vanishes without a trace. A once-formidable sorcerer has taken her. The man wants vengeance against those he believes wronged him—and Remy will be the instrument of his wrath—or Ashlie will most certainly die…"

Review - Fire (Graceling Realm, Book 2) by Kristen Cashore (4/5 stars)

Reading level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Size: 480 pages
Publisher: Dial
Release Date: October 5, 2009
ISBN: 978-0803734616
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Graceling Realm series
Source: Borrowed from Friend
Rating: 4/5 stars

I loved  Graceling  and was excited to read Fire. This was a good book, but it less action packed and has a less fiery heroine than  Graceling . I enjoyed it but didn’t like it as much as Graceling. I missed the fighting and found some of the fantastical creatures hard to picture.

Fire lives in a world that is on the opposite side of the mountains from the world in   Graceling  . It is a world full of brightly colored monsters and plagued by unrest. Fire is half-monster and struggles against her monster nature and the way her blood draws monsters to her. Without meaning to she is drawn deep into the politics of the realm when two royal brothers want Fire to use her mind reading capabilities to aide the kingdom.

This book is a prequel to the events in   Graceling  . The book is set in a sister land to  Graceling  and does describe some of the events of Leck’s childhood.

Fire is a much much different heroine than Katsa. That's not a bad thing, but to be honest I didn’t like her as much. Fire spends a good portion of the book hiding. She hides from other people, from her monster nature, and from her own beliefs. This leaves her a lot of room to grow as the book continues, and she does grow. As you can imagine this leads to a much less action packed story. This book is a lot more about politics, court intrigue, and spying.

Fire’s struggle is about believing that she can be a good person despite her monster nature. She also has to learn where to draw the line in using her mind control powers; at first she won’t use them at all but then she begins to realize maybe they can be used for good. She also learns to start standing up for herself, where before she has let strong male figures mold her life.

This book is less romance driven than  Graceling g. Fire ends up longing for a certain someone, but he is out of the story a lot traveling. So while there is a bit of romance in here it is subtle, sweet, and in the background. Just like Fire comes across as much more tame than Katsa, when she falls in love she does it in a quiet way...not in the fiery way Katsa does. As such while the romance was sweet, it wasn’t as engaging or as emotionally involving as it was between Katsa and Po.

There are a lot of great characters in this book; even the side characters are well filled out and interesting. I still enjoyed the characters in  Graceling  better, they just seems a bit more engaging.

The world is an interesting one, full of brightly colored monsters. The magic system is based more on monsters than anything else. That being said I had some trouble really picturing and imagining this world of brightly colored creatures. It seemed a bit less realized to me than the complex world we were presented with in  Graceling .

The story is a complete one and fills in some of the background behind how Leck got where he was in Graceling.

Overall I enjoyed this book. I didn’t like Fire as much as Katsa, she just wasn’t....well fiery enough. The romance was much more understated and less engaging than in  Graceling . I also had some trouble picturing this world and its brightly colored monsters. This is a book that focuses more on politics and less on the adventure/quest. All that being said this was an entertaining read with some wonderful characters and an interesting world. I recommend this to fantasy fans who enjoy intrigue and politics with a touch of romance.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 150+ Books Reading Challenge
- TBR Pile Reading Challenge

April 2012 - In Review

This month I read 24 books.  It was a rare month in which I actually finished almost as many series as I started!  Lots of great books this month.  I actually finally read Graceling and loved it!

You can see all the books I read this month listed below.  Hope you all had a great month of reading.

I started the following series:
- Royal Street (Sentinels of New Orleans, Book 1) by Suzanne Johnson
- Discount Armageddon (InCryptid, Book 1) by Seanan McGuire (5/5 stars)
- The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden, Book 1) by Julie Kagawa (4/5 stars)

I finished the following series:
- The Prophet (The Graveyard Queen, Book 3) by Amanda Stevens (4/5 stars)
- Destined (Wings, Book 4) by Aprilynne Pike

My Favorite Books of the Month Were:
- Hallowed (Unearthly, Book 2) by Cynthia Hand (5/5 stars)
- March of the Wooden Soldiers (Fables, Book 4) by Bill Willingham (5/5 stars)
-  A Jester's Tale (The Stuff of Legend, Book 3) by Brian Smith, Mike Raicht and Charles Paul Wilson III (5/5 stars)
- Discount Armageddon (InCryptid, Book 1) by Seanan McGuire (5/5 stars)
- Graceling by Kristin Cashore (5/5 stars)
- Twice Bitten (Chicagoland Vampires, Book 3) by Chloe Neill (5/5 stars)

Here are the stats on the reading challenges I am participating in:
- Graphic Novel Challenge (15/12 read)
- Dystopia Reading Challenge (8/10 read)
- Zombie Reading Challenge (4/12 read)
- Horror and Urban Fantasy Challenge (36/48 read)
- 150+ Books Reading Challenge (85/150+ read)
- Debut Author Reading Challenge (10/12 read)
- TBR Pile Reading Challenge (25/50 read)
- Steampunk Reading Challenge (5/12 read)

The full list of books that I read this month are shown below.
1.  Hallowed (Unearthly, Book 2) by Cynthia Hand (5/5 stars)
2.  Alison Hewitt is Trapped by Madeleine Roux (4/5 stars)
3.  The Prophet (The Graveyard Queen, Book 3) by Amanda Stevens (4/5 stars)
4.  Torn (Trylle, Book 2) by Amanda Hocking (3/5 stars)
5.  Clockworks (Locke and Key, Book 5, First Chapter) by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez
6.  March of the Wooden Soldiers (Fables, Book 4) by Bill Willingham (5/5 stars)
7.  Friday Night Bites (Chicagoland Vampires, Book 2) by Chloe Neill (4/5 stars)
8.  Royal Street (Sentinels of New Orleans, Book 1) by Suzanne Johnson (3/5 stars)
9.  Fever (The Chemical Garden Trilogy, Book 2) by Lauren DeStefano (4/5 stars)
10. Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin (4/5 stars)
11. A Jester's Tale (The Stuff of Legend, Book 3) by Brian Smith, Mike Raicht and Charles Paul Wilson III (5/5 stars)
12. Siren by Tricia Rayburn (3/5 stars)
13. The Mean Seasons (Fables, Book 5) by Bill Willingham (4.5/5 stars)
14. Discount Armageddon (InCryptid, Book 1) by Seanan McGuire (5/5 stars)
15. The Moon Moth by Jack Vance and Humayoung Ibrahim (4/5 stars)
16. Destined (Wings, Book 4) by Aprilynne Pike (4/5 stars)
17. Graceling by Kristin Cashore (5/5 stars)
18. Twice Bitten (Chicagoland Vampires, Book 3) by Chloe Neill (5/5 stars)
19. The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden, Book 1) by Julie Kagawa (4/5 stars)
20. The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy (3/5 stars)
21. Erak's Ransom (Ranger's Apprentice, Book 7) by John Flanagan (4/5 stars)
22. Ex-Patriots (Ex-Heroes, Book 2) by Peter Clines (4/5 stars)
23. Struck by Jennifer Bosworth (2.5/5 stars)
24. By A Thread (Elemental Assassin, Book 6) by Jennifer Estep (4.5/5 stars)

Early Review - The Cape (Volume 1, Book 1) by Joe Hill, Jason Ciaramella, and Zach Howard (3/5 stars)

Reading level: Adult
Genre: Graphic Novel/Horror
Size: 132 pages
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Release Date: May 29, 2012
ISBN: 978-1613771969
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in The Cape series
Source: eARC from NetGalley.com
Rating: 3/5 stars

I got the first chapter of The Cape volume 1 to review through netgalley(dot)com. This looks to be a rather dark and disturbing comic, not surprising given that Joe Hill also writes Locke and Key (which I love). The first chapter was interesting and well done but didn't completely sell me on the comic yet.

Eric suffered a horrible accident as a child and as a result he uses the Blue Cape that gives him superpowers for evil. This initial chapter shows the reader Eric's past and then shows a quick story about how he used the Cape for evil. Definitely an adults only comic. In the first chapter there is nudity, gore, and language.

The flashback to Eric's past was a little confusing. The only reason I knew what was going on is because I read the synopsis for The Cape. It took me a bit to realize that the kid in the hospital bed was Eric as a kid. The illustration is very detailed and well done, muted colors match the dark theme of the story.

Although the concept of a Cape used by a superhero gone evil is interesting I wasn't totally drawn into the story. The first chapter greats us with a gory description of a woman who has thrown herself off of a building, a somewhat gratuitous scene of a naked woman having sex with Eric's brother, and a scene in which police are mauled to death by a bear. The Locke and Key series drew me in and was really interesting and mysterious from the get-go. I think The Cape has potential but in this chapter all I see is a lot of violence and gore and I can't see what larger plot the story is hinting at.

This is one of those things where I think I am going to need to hold my judgement until I get to read more of the book. Everything is decently done, but I am not sure if the story will be intriguing enough to stick with given how incredibly dark it is. I am not really a horror fan; and if I am going to do horror I need a heavy fantasy element to hold my attention.

Overall I am not sure about this one. It seems well done, but the first chapter didn't provide enough story to draw me in. I would personally recommend waiting to see what initial reviews of the whole book end up saying. Unless you are a bit fan of horror graphic novels, this might appeal more to horror fans.