Pale Fallen Angel, Parts 1 and 2 (Vampire Hunter D, Volume 11) by Hideyuki Kikuchi (4/5 stars)

This is Volume 11 in the Vampire Hunter D series. This is also the first two parts of this four part epic story called "Pale Fallen Angel"; parts three and four are in Volume 12. This was a very good Vampire Hunter D book!

In this book D is hired by Baron Byron Balarge to serve as his guard. D doesn't usually work for Nobles but given that the Baron is on his way to kill his Noble father; D consents to join him. As with most of D's adventures; they are beset on by natural disasters and assassins at every turn.

This book was right up there as one of my favorite Vampire Hunter D stories. The action is non-stop; in fact the characters rarely get to catch their breath between things attacking them and "natural" disasters running into them. The assassins are all very interesting and have interesting powers. The characters that end up accompanying D and the Baron are also fascinating. D's interactions, especially with the acrobatic brother and sister, give additional incite into his character.

This book was exceptional in that you get to learn a lot more about how the Nobility were wiped out, more about D's history, and more about the history of the world in general. The Baron himself has a complicated history and character and harbors many secrets that I am eager to find out. Kikuchi really excels at coming up with creative dangers in his world and with creative characters.

This book could be read as a stand alone (assuming you read the next volume, parts 3 and 4 after this one) you don't need to read all of the books before this one to enjoy the story. This book does end with a lot of things unresolved; but it doesn't leave you totally hanging like his last 2-book story did. You could read this book and then read parts 3 and 4 later; but I would recommend getting both volumes 11 and 12 so that you can finish up the story.

Kikuchi's writing style comes across as a bit choppy at times. Occasionally I also have trouble telling who is saying what; and the constant descriptions of D's beauty get to be a little much sometimes. But, those who like this series are used to all those drawbacks.

Overall, this was one of the best Vampire Hunter D books yet and I look forward to finishing the story in Volume 12.

Waiting on Wednesday 9/2

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

This week my WoW book is "Changes" by Jim Butcher. This is book 12 in the Dresden Files and I love this series a lot; it is still going strong.


Changes (Dresden Files, Book 12)
Pages: 432 pages
Publisher: Roc
Release Date: April 6, 2010

No synopsis up for this one yet. Guess I am a little ahead of myself on waiting for this one :-)

News: New Book Titles and Book Series Chart Update

I finally got around to updating the series I am reading and when new books are coming out in them. You can look at the chart below. The series in blue are ones I have but haven't started reading yet, the ones in green are ones I stopped reading because I didn't like them, and the ones in purple are series that I have recently finished.

A couple of highlights:

House of Night:
Okay so most of us know that book 6 "Tempted" is due out in October. I just recently found out that book 7 is going to be called "Burned".

Kate Daniels:
Book 4 will be titled "Magic Bleeds" and will be out in June of 2010.

Sookie Stackhouse:
The anthology of all of the Sookie Stackhouse series comes out in a couple months. Looks like the next book in the series will be titled "Dead in the Family" and will be released in May 2010.

The Hollows:
The next book in Kim Harrison's Hollows series will be titled "Black Magic Sanction" and will be released in Feb. 2010.

Nightside:
The next book in the Nightside series by Simon Green will be titled "The Good, the Bad, and the Undead" and will be released on Jan. 5, 2010.

The chart is below so enjoy! I will continuously update as I get more information.

August in Review

For the month of August I read 19 books. In August I caught up on some old series and starting reading a couple of new series. I finally started reading the Alien Huntress series by Gena Showalter; this series started out good but I found the third book disappointing. I also started reading Fablehaven by Brandon Mull. This has been an excellent series; right up there with Harry Potter in my opinion.

The outstanding books I read this month were "Ash" by Malinda Lo, "Rise of the Evening Star" (Fablehaven, Book 2) by Brandon Mull, "Grip of the Shadow Plague" (Fablehaven, Book 3) by Brandon Mull, and "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins.

The most disappointing books of the month were "Dead and Gone" (Sookie Stackhouse, Book9) by Charlaine Harris and "Savor Me Slowly" (Alien Huntress, Book 3) by Gena Showalter.

There were a number of books I really liked for the whole list please see below.

1. "Skin Trade" (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 17) by Laurell Hamilton (4/5 stars)
2. "Meridian" by Amber Kizer (4/5 stars)
3. "Ash" by Malinda Lo (5/5 stars)
4. "The Devil's Rose" by Brom (4/5 stars)
5. "Beastly" by Alex Flinn (4.5/5 stars)
6. "Dead and Gone" (Sookie Stackhouse, Book 9) by Charlaine Harris (2/5 stars)
7. "City of Souls" (4th Sign of the Zodiac) by Vicki Pettersson (3/5 stars)
8. "Fablehaven" (Fablehaven, Book 1) by Brandon Mull (4/5 stars)
9. "Awaken Me Darkly" (Alien Huntress, Book 1)by Gena Showalter (4/5 stars)
10. "Enslave Me Sweetly" (Alien Huntress, Book 2) by Gena Showalter (4/5 stars)
11. "Savor Me Slowly" (Alien Huntress, Book 3) by Gena Showalter (2/5 stars)
12. "Rise of the Evening Star" (Fablehaven, Book 2) (5/5 stars)
13. "Dates from Hell" edited by Kim Harrison (4/5 stars)
14. "Mean Streets" by Jim Butcher, Simon Green, Kat Richardson, and Thomas Sniegoski (4/5 stars)
15. "Killer Pizza" by Greg Taylor (4/5 stars)
16. "Grip of the Shadow Plague" (Fablehaven, Book3) by Brandon Mull (5/5 stars)
17. "Phliberty-Jibbets" by William Moore (3/5 stars)
18. "Cast in Silence" (Chronicles of Elantra, Book 4) by Michelle Sagara (3/5 stars)
19. "Catching Fire" (Hunger Games, Book 2) by Suzanne Collins (5/5 stars)

So that's it for this month! Next month I am hoping to start on the Morganville Vampires series by Rachel Caine. I also need to catch up on my Vampire Hunter D books and of course read the next Vampire Academy book!

Teaser Tuesday - 9/1

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!

This week my teaser is from "Pale Fallen Angel" (Vampire Hunter D, Volume 12) by Hideyuki Kikuchi

"An hour had passed since they came down from the hill. Savaged by the monster cloud and the flood, nearly half of the landscape had been erased, and it was less than three hours before the group was swallowed by the blue mountain that lay ahead of them." Pg. 127

Mailbox Monday - 8/31

Mailbox Monday is a weekly Meme that can be found at:
The Printed Page

At first I thought this week was going to be a slow one for books. But that was before I went to Half Price Books and stumbled into a huge clearance bundle of books I have been wanting to read; 6 books for $4 how can you beat that? So this week there were some Amazon Vine books, a Paperbackswap.com book, and a lot of books I got from Half Price Books.

From Paperbackswap.com:

I have been wanting to read this series, so I am slowly collecting the books. This is the third book in the series. Here is the first sentence: "The wolfship was only a few hours from Cape Shelter when the massive storm hit them."

From Amazon Vine:

I was really excited to get this book. It is the second book in the Hunger Games and was a wonderful book. I've already read it and reviewed it here. Here is the first sentence: "I clasp the flask between my hands even though the warmth from the tea has long since leeched into the frozen air."


I always wanted to read "The Adventures of Fan Boy and Goth Girl". Well now that I have the sequel to the book from Amazon Vine, I have a reason to get that book and read it :-) Here the first couple sentences: "My mother and I both spent a lot of time in hospitals. Unlike her, I survived."

From Half Price Books:


I have been wanting to read these two books for a while. The premise just sounds interesting. When I found them for 50 cents each, it was just too good of a deal to pass up! Here's the first sentence from "Bar Code Tattoo": "Outside Rain drummed against the window." Here's the first sentence from "Bar Code Rebellion" : "Kayla stood just inside the side door of the deli by the Garrison train station."


This is another older series that I have been interested in reading. I got the first, second, third, and fifth book together in a clearance bundle for $3. Another deal I couldn't pass up. Here is the first sentence of the first book: "Part of the problem, Nita thought as she tore desperately down Rose Avenue, is that I can't keep my mouth shut."

So, once again, my weakness for good book deals leaves me with a lot to read. I think that's a good thing though :-)

Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, Book 2) by Suzanne Collins (5/5 stars)

I have been waiting for this book since I read the ARC of the first book last year. I was so excited to get an advanced reader's copy of this second book that I was literally bouncing in place; and this book didn't disappoint! It was a wonderful book, as wonderful as the first book if not more so. Between reading these books, I went back and read all of the Underland Chronicles by Colllins. It is interesting because you can see how her writing has matured, her characters have gained depth, and her plots become more intricate.

This book picks up shortly after where the last book left off. Katniss and Peetra are getting ready to go on their victory tour of all of the districts. Shortly before they depart President Snow pays Katniss a visit. He knows the romance between her and Peeta was a farce, at least for Katniss. Snow warns that Katniss better convince the Capital that the actions she took to save Peeta were out of love and not rebellion; if he remains unconvinced, then her family will be the ones to pay. As Peeta and Katniss embark on their tour, Katniss realizes she has unwittingly become the focus of rebellion. As she realizes how deep the ramifications of her and Peeta's actions during the last Hunger Games were, she wonders if there is anyway she can convince Snow that she wasn't trying to turn the Districts against him.

This was a wonderful book. The plot is more complicated and entangled than the first book in the series; and this made it an even better book. Katniss and Peeta remain wonderful characters that you can really feel for and relate too. There are a ton of new, interesting characters introduced. Collins does an excellent job of making the characters well-rounded. It is hard to hate any of them, even if you may not like them sometimes. The plot plows forward at such a fast and griping pace that it is very hard to put the book down. I really wanted to stay up all night reading this book. At the same time it was such a good story that I never wanted it to end!

I really don't have anything negative to say about this book. I loved it! It was fast-paced, engaging, intriguing, and all around wonderful. The hardest part was finishing it, because I wanted to read more. Now I am desperate to read the last book in the series! This is a great series and I think people of all ages and readers of all genres should give it a go; you won't be disappointed.