Frostbite (Vampire Academy #2) by Richelle Mead
Book Reviews , eBook reviews / January 22, 2014

Frostbite by Richelle Mead is the second in the Vampire Academy series of books and continues the story of Rose and Lissa.  We learn more about their bond and about the spirit magic that Lissa wields.  We also get to meet Rose’s mother, legendary dhampir guardian Janine Hathaway and we see the less than warm relationship the two share.  The attitude of Moroi towards their dhampir protectors and their lack of responsibility for their own safety is started to be explored through the character of Tasha Ozera. What I liked Character and relationship development.  I liked how the bond between Rose and Lissa continued to be explored. it was interesting that Mead presented the developments in such a way that Rose’s absorbing Lissa’s spirit darkness was obvious to the reader long before the characters themselves worked it out.  That is a technique used rather a lot by Mead.  Another example would be Adrian’s use of alcohol and drugs to counter spirit magic’s unwelcome side effects.  For me that worked well, although some readers may be rather irritated by the characters’ blindness to these developments. I also liked Rose’s realisation that killing Strigoi is not as glorious as it sounds in…

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
Book Reviews , eBook reviews / January 20, 2014

In Mead’s world there are two kinds of vampires – the “good” mortal vampires known as Moroi and the evil undead bloodsucking amoral Strigoi.  Vampire Academy tells the story of Vasilisa Dragomir, a Moroi princess, and her half vampire half human guardian Rose Hathaway and the bond they share.  This is actually the second time I have read Vampire Academy.  The first time I read it was a few years ago, I remember thinking it was a fun read and that I would perhaps get round to reading the rest of the series some day.  The second time I read it though, maybe in contrast to some of the books I’ve read recently, the characters just leapt off the page at me.  I became so hooked on the series that I have been marathoning it.  I’m currently on book four of six, with spinoff series Bloodlines in prospect.  Expect more Vampire Academy reviews to follow. What I liked Three dimensional characters.  I loved how Mead wrote both Lissa and Rose.  I felt it was a very realistic depiction of young women on the cusp of adulthood, learning to deal with issues of love and life.  Setting aside all the vampire…

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
Book Reviews , eBook reviews / January 20, 2014

In Mead’s world there are two kinds of vampires – the “good” mortal vampires known as Moroi and the evil undead bloodsucking amoral Strigoi.  Vampire Academy tells the story of Vasilisa Dragomir, a Moroi princess, and her half vampire half human guardian Rose Hathaway and the bond they share.  This is actually the second time I have read Vampire Academy.  The first time I read it was a few years ago, I remember thinking it was a fun read and that I would perhaps get round to reading the rest of the series some day.  The second time I read it though, maybe in contrast to some of the books I’ve read recently, the characters just leapt off the page at me.  I became so hooked on the series that I have been marathoning it.  I’m currently on book four of six, with spinoff series Bloodlines in prospect.  Expect more Vampire Academy reviews to follow. What I liked Three dimensional characters.  I loved how Mead wrote both Lissa and Rose.  I felt it was a very realistic depiction of young women on the cusp of adulthood, learning to deal with issues of love and life.  Setting aside all the vampire…

Reading Roundup – 17th January 2015
Reading Roundup / January 17, 2014

This week I have been reading not for fun.  My husband and I were recently given the date for our Canadian citizenship exam, so I have been working my way through  Discover Canada – The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship.  This is required reading for the exam, and the Government of Canada very helpfully offers it in hard copy, electronic format and as an audiobook. My husband, being a traditionalist, is working from our hard copy while I am following along on my Kindle Fire. I’ll be perfectly honest.  It’s been a while since I’ve had to study for an exam – probably at least 20 years or so now – and it’s hard.  While it’s interesting reading about my adopted homeland, it’s tough wondering what we will be asked and what I’ll need to remember.  It’s also been a while since I’ve had to actually retain information.  In the jobs I’ve had we’ve not been expected to know everything, but to be able to access resources to do our jobs. Any tips from those who’ve been through the process would be most welcome.  I took at look at the UK citizenship test – I would have failed that one!…

Reading Roundup – 17th January 2015
Reading Roundup / January 17, 2014

This week I have been reading not for fun.  My husband and I were recently given the date for our Canadian citizenship exam, so I have been working my way through  Discover Canada – The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship.  This is required reading for the exam, and the Government of Canada very helpfully offers it in hard copy, electronic format and as an audiobook. My husband, being a traditionalist, is working from our hard copy while I am following along on my Kindle Fire. I’ll be perfectly honest.  It’s been a while since I’ve had to study for an exam – probably at least 20 years or so now – and it’s hard.  While it’s interesting reading about my adopted homeland, it’s tough wondering what we will be asked and what I’ll need to remember.  It’s also been a while since I’ve had to actually retain information.  In the jobs I’ve had we’ve not been expected to know everything, but to be able to access resources to do our jobs. Any tips from those who’ve been through the process would be most welcome.  I took at look at the UK citizenship test – I would have failed that one!…

Pivot Point by Kasie West
Book Reviews , eBook reviews / January 15, 2014

Pivot Point by Kasie West is a young adult novel about Addie, a young woman who has the ability to preview the consequences of any decision she makes and see both sides of the coin so to speak.  She makes use of this ability when her parents separate in order to help her decide which parent she will live with.  Think Sliding Doors with super powered teens. What I liked Excellent execution of concept.  While the concept itself isn’t new, I thought West put together a slick, tight execution.  The internal logic held up exceptionally well.  I liked that she explained not only the concept but gave it clear limitations:  Addie can only view her own timelines, they must diverge from a decision she makes and she cannot view subsequent forks from within a viewing.  I’m not explaining that very well.  Why not go check the book out for yourself and it will make sense?  I liked also that her skill was connected to that of her best friend, who can erase memories, preventing Addie’s being overloaded with false memories. No decision was without consequences.  I liked that there was no “good” decisions.  True to life, sometimes no matter what…

Pivot Point by Kasie West
Book Reviews , eBook reviews / January 15, 2014

Pivot Point by Kasie West is a young adult novel about Addie, a young woman who has the ability to preview the consequences of any decision she makes and see both sides of the coin so to speak.  She makes use of this ability when her parents separate in order to help her decide which parent she will live with.  Think Sliding Doors with super powered teens. What I liked Excellent execution of concept.  While the concept itself isn’t new, I thought West put together a slick, tight execution.  The internal logic held up exceptionally well.  I liked that she explained not only the concept but gave it clear limitations:  Addie can only view her own timelines, they must diverge from a decision she makes and she cannot view subsequent forks from within a viewing.  I’m not explaining that very well.  Why not go check the book out for yourself and it will make sense?  I liked also that her skill was connected to that of her best friend, who can erase memories, preventing Addie’s being overloaded with false memories. No decision was without consequences.  I liked that there was no “good” decisions.  True to life, sometimes no matter what…

Independent Study by Joelle Charbonneau
Book Reviews , eBook reviews / January 13, 2014

Independent Study is the followup to Charbonneau’s The Testing in which young protagonist Cia Vale survived the gruelling life or death competition to secure a place at her society’s university.  The society in which Cia lives is struggling to emerge after many years of devastation, both natural and man made and the graduates of the university are expected to provide leadership to their communities.  When we left Cia at the end of The Testing she was just beginning to understand what had happened during The Testing and the depth of her society’s betrayal of its young people.  She must decide what to do with that information and whom to trust. I will start by saying that while Independence Day is a good book, I did not enjoy it as much as The Testing.  Perhaps that’s not too surprising – the second book in a trilogy (Graduation Day, the third and final book in the series is due out later this summer) is often the most challenging for a writer in terms of keeping narrative tension and the plot moving. What I liked The characters.  I continued to be engaged by Cia and her story.  I find her a smart, level…

Independent Study by Joelle Charbonneau
Book Reviews , eBook reviews / January 13, 2014

Independent Study is the followup to Charbonneau’s The Testing in which young protagonist Cia Vale survived the gruelling life or death competition to secure a place at her society’s university.  The society in which Cia lives is struggling to emerge after many years of devastation, both natural and man made and the graduates of the university are expected to provide leadership to their communities.  When we left Cia at the end of The Testing she was just beginning to understand what had happened during The Testing and the depth of her society’s betrayal of its young people.  She must decide what to do with that information and whom to trust. I will start by saying that while Independence Day is a good book, I did not enjoy it as much as The Testing.  Perhaps that’s not too surprising – the second book in a trilogy (Graduation Day, the third and final book in the series is due out later this summer) is often the most challenging for a writer in terms of keeping narrative tension and the plot moving. What I liked The characters.  I continued to be engaged by Cia and her story.  I find her a smart, level…

Adobe Digital Editions and E_ACT_TOO_MANY_ACTIVATIONS error
e-Reader Reviews , Tech Reviews / January 12, 2014

Good morning readers.  I have just spent a very frustrating morning and am hoping my experiences will help some of you save some time and irritation. A few days ago, I borrowed an ebook from the library, via Overdrive.  Overdrive uses Adobe DRM (digital rights management) as its system to prevent your copying/sharing the books you’ve borrowed.  What it means, essentially, is that you must go through the Adobe Digital Editions software to transfer your books to your ereader. The process goes something like this: Download Adobe Digital Editions to your PC or Mac Authorise ADE with an Adobe account (on the Mac it’s under the Help menu) – you may need to set one up if you don’t have one In ADE authorize each device you wish to use (it’s one of the right click menu items) When you borrow (or in some cases buy) a book it will download an ACSM file which when clicked will open the book in ADE. Transfer the book via ADE to your device via USB. Once it’s set up, in future steps 4 and 5 are all that are needed to read the book on your device. Anyway, when I borrowed the book…