This week I suffered every bookworm’s worst nightmare; I have a TBR list of over 100 books (some of which I have been offered free to review) and I could not interest myself in any of them.  This is because the book I really, REALLY wanted to read – AKA Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige – has not been released yet.  I’m sure you avid readers can empathise with my dilemma.  I flicked through several different books and just couldn’t get into any of them.  In the end I managed to break out of my reading slump by picking up a book that is completely out of my normal genre – I’m currently reading The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak, a historical fiction set in Russia in the time of Catherine the Great.  So far I’m really enjoying it.  A full review will come soon.

[book-info title=”Attack the Geek” author=”Michael R. Underwood”]

One book I did manage to read this week was Attack the Geek by Michael R Underwood, which I received free to review from Netgalley.  This is a novella in the Geekomancy series which had been on my radar for some time.  I was intrigued by the magic system which, like Jim C. Hines’ Magic ex Libris books, is based on popular culture.  However, whereas Hines’ magic is book based, Geekomancy is more gamer/comic book based.  I’m glad I read it.  It made me realise that the series is not quite for me.  I have been known to play the odd game of Dungeons and Dragons and I enjoy a Marvel movie as much as the next girl, but the overload of geek references was just too much for me.  Personally I was also put off by the amount of needless profanity.  The characters were possibly interesting, but in a novella length book character development is very limited.  With less geek references and less swearing I might have been interested in reading more about them but as it stands, this series is  not for me.

I gave Attack the Geek two stars out of five.  Having said that, if D&D gaming is your thing you might love this series.  Other than that I would steer you in the direction of Magic ex Libris.

Added to my library this week

As I may have mentioned before, I am a big fan of the Quebecoise author Anne Robillard and her Chevaliers d’Emeraude and A.N.G.E. series.  These have slowly been converted into ebooks and book five in A.N.G.E. – Codex Angelicus – was released this week!  Excellent!  I’ve been waiting months to find out the next chapter in the saga of the Agence Nationale pour la Gestion de l’Etrange.  (National Agency for the Management of the Strange.)  I picked this one up in Kobo format as I have the rest of them there.   

To get through my reading slump I also picked up The Winter Palace by Eva Strachniak, also in Kobo format.  In case you’re wondering, no I’m not abandoning my Kindle.  I happened to have my Kobo with me as that’s what I use to read my Netgalley books.

From Amazon I did pick up The Wife of John the Baptist, a historical fiction novel set in Biblical times.  I was asked to review this by the author, so expect a review soon.

This morning I received a lovely package from Tor-Forge which contained two gorgeous hardbacks:

The Pilgrims is described as “ordinary alternate-world fantasy; with this first volume in The Pendulum Trilogy, Will Elliott’s brilliantly subversive imagination twists the conventions of the alternate-world fantasy genre, providing an unforgettable visionary experience.”  I look forward to reading this.

Lockstep: “When seventeen-year-old Toby McGonigal finds himself lost in space, separated from his family, he expects his next drift into cold sleep to be his last. After all, the planet he’s orbiting is frozen and sunless, and the cities are dead. But when Toby wakes again, he’s surprised to discover a thriving planet, a strange and prosperous galaxy, and something stranger still—that he’s been asleep for 14,000 years.”  Space opera is not my usual genre, but this sounds intriguing.

Thank you Tor!

Upcoming releases this month

On 1st April 2014 we have my most anticipated book of the month – Dorothy Must Die.  This is the book that sent me into a reading slump because it wasn’t released yet and I didn’t want to read anything else because I wanted to read it so much.  Check out my review of There’s No Place Like Oz to see why I’m so excited about this book.  In short, it’s what happens in Oz when Dorothy goes bad.  I’ve preordered this in both Kindle and Audible formats.

The following week, on the 8th of April, Dreams of Gods and Monsters is released.   This is the third in Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bone series.  It’s difficult to summarise this series, so I’ll direct you to my review.  I loved the first book, and haven’t been able to get into the second.  However, I still have Dreams of Gods and Monsters on Kindle preorder.  It’s not yet available to preorder on Audible, which would be my preferred format – Khristine Hvam’s narration is excellent.

The next book in the Austen Project, Val McDermid’s reimagining of Northanger Abbey is available in Kindle format on the 15th of April.  Interestingly the Audible pre-order is available this week.  I’m actually not familiar with Austen’s original work, so perhaps my expectations aren’t as high (and ready for disappointment as I was with the Sense and Sensibility updating)  I see this version is set in Edinburgh and the Scottish Borders which is my old home, so I’m interested to see how it pans out.

What are you looking forward to reading in April?