This was my final week of nightshifts, and a public holiday as well, which meant I was primarily listening to audiobooks.  Expect full reviews of Clockwork Princess and The Golem and the Jinni in the near future.

[book-info]This has been another week in which I gave up on a book.  This time it was First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones.  It started off excellently; the concept of a private investigator who is also a portal to Heaven and who must help the dead pass over sounded really intriguing and fun.  I immediately clicked with the main character Charley.  You’ve got a love a girl who, on waking up at 4am to the phone ringing and a strange dead guy standing by her bed asks said dead guy to answer the phone!   The narrator, Lorelei King, did a great job bringing the story to life.  My biggest issue with the book was that it very quickly veered HEAVILY into paranormal romance territory which was a real turnoff for me.  I was more interested in hearing about Charley’s life as a Grim Reaper and far less in hearing about how her mysterious dream lover fires up her loins.

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Macleod Andrews
Length: 1 hr and 33 mins
Amazon • Audible •

As I mentioned in my previous reading roundup, Audible was giving away for free the first five chapters of Brandon Sanderson’s latest, Steelheart.  Amazon also has them free in Kindle format.  I listened to it on Audible and really loved it.  Sanderson’s strengths as a writer are in worldbuilding and pacing and both of those are top notch in this book from what I heard.  I would definitely recommend it and I have put in my preorder for the full version due later this month.

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Nathaniel Parker
Length: 5 hrs and 58 mins
Audible •

The final book I listened to during my nightshift was the first in Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl series.  I actually have read it in Kindle format but I just love Nathaniel Parker’s narration so much that I took advantage of the cheap Whispersync for Voice offer and picked it up from Audible.  I just adore this series, especially in audio format.  It is just such a joy to listen to.  Colfer’s worldbuilding and humour are brilliant and I can’t recommend this series enough.  I would strongly suggest you listen to it rather than read it – Nathaniel Parker’s narration is just pitch perfect and adds so much to the enjoyment.

Here’s a sample to get you started:

Added to my library this week

Now, I absolutely adore Jane Austen and I’d been very interested in Jo Baker’s Longbourn, Pride and Prejudice from the servants’ point of view, since it was announced several months ago.  I am ecstatic to have received an Advance Reader Copy – thanks Netgalley and Random House!  I’m very much looking forward to reading this.

The second free Advanced Reader Copy I received through Netgalley was A Cat Called Dog.  This is about a cat who thinks he’s a dog!  Being an animal lover I look forward to reading this.

As you may have noticed, I’m on a bit of Cassandra Clare kick right now, so I invested in the rest of the Mortal Instruments series on Kindle.  I wasn’t impressed with the narration of City of Bones, so I will probably not bother with them in Audible format.

I’ve been hearing a lot of good things about Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bone and the Audible sample seemed well done, so I picked it up.  I will of course let you know what I think.

Another series that has been getting a lot of positive buzz from BookTubers is Maggie Stiefvater’s The Raven Boys.  When I saw it was only a couple of dollars on Amazon I had to pick up.  Of course with the Whispersync for Voice deal I could pick up the Audible version for just a few dollars more.  Score!

Another free book I picked up was Frey by Melissa Wright.  I don’t know much about it, but the book was free, so I thought I would pick it up.

Some while ago I came across writer C.J. Adrien on Facebook.  Now, historical fiction is not a genre I tend to read a lot of, and this author writes about Viking era Europe.  However, from his Facebook page, he is clearly very passionate about his subject, and his passion is infectious.  I picked up his The Line of His People to check it out

What did you add to your library this week?  Let me know in the comments!