So, I’m back from my vacation at last! I didn’t read a whole lot – I spent time with family – but I did get through a few things. My review of Robin Hobb’s Fool’s Assassin was published yesterday – go check it out if you like slow burning character driven epic fantasy. I also finished the Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet. It had been on my TBR list for a while, but I found it slow going because I had been watching the YouTube video series in sync with the book. I gave up on that and breezed through the book. I thought it was an excellent companion to the web series, and enjoyed reading it very much. The trouble is, it’s spoiled me now for The Austen Project series of modernisations of Austen’s works. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries and Emma Approved are just so cleverly written and adapted, nothing else can come close. [book-info] One book I picked up this week and breezed though was Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods. This is written from Percy Jackson’s point of view and in it he tells the stories of the Greek gods in his own inimitable style. It was…
This week I have been continuing to work my way through Robin Hobb’s Realm of the Elderlings series. I am just over a third of the way through Assassin’s Quest, the third book in the Farseer Trilogy. I hope to follow that with Ship of Destiny, the final book in the Liveship Traders trilogy before starting on the three books of The Tawny Man trilogy. My aim is to have these all completed by August 12th when Fool’s Assassin is released – or at least by the following Friday when I leave for vacation. Fool’s Assassin is the latest book in Fitz’s story after a publication gap of 13 years. I really can’t wait to see what Hobb has in store next! To read all that in that period of time is a tiny bit of a challenge – they are huge tomes – but I’m aiming for it. I have the Farseer trilogy and Liveship Traders in audiobook format as well, and I see the Tawny Man trilogy is making its way to Audible this month too, so that will help. I find mixing listening with reading is an excellent way to enjoy books. I have read all…
I’m back from my few days away in Ottawa and ready to get back into blogging. We travelled by coach, so I was able to listen to an audiobook, which this time was Erika Johannsen’s Queen of the Tearling. One of the big pieces of news in the book world this week has been Amazon’s rumoured subscription service, Kindle Unlimited. According to “leaked” webpages, Amazon is preparing a service whereby for $10 a month, the subscriber will have unlimited access to 600,000 Kindle ebooks AND Audible audiobooks. If that were true, it could be a very interesting service. However, I had a couple of concerns. I understand that none of the Big Six publishing houses (Hachette, Macmillan, Penguin, HarperCollins, Random House, Simon & Schuster) are involved in the scheme, although I wouldn’t swear to it. My second concern was whether or not this would be available to those of us outside of the US. The Kindle Owners’ Lending Library isn’t available to us Canadians for example, so I doubted that Kindle Unlimited would be available here. However, today I was browsing my Amazon.com Manage Your Content and Devices and I saw a section for Kindle Unlimited, with sections…
First of all, I’d like to share my thoughts on the Emmy nominations which were announced earlier today – congratulations to all nominees. No Tatiana Maslany for Orphan Black? That is very disappointing. She has done incredible work portraying all these different clones and it would have been great to see her gain some recognition for that. Another name I would very much liked to have seen was Pedro Pascal’s for his work as Red Viper Oberyn Martell in Game of Thrones. His performance was wonderfully nuanced and consistently excellent. Representing Game of Thrones we have Lena Headey and Peter Dinklage and supporting actress/actor roles. Dinklage has been nominated several times and won once, this is Headey’s first I believe. My gut feeling is that Headey will have to wait a year for her win – knowing the books, Cersei has some wonderful material coming up next season, which I think will clinch it for her then. She faces competition from fellow Brits Dame Maggie Smith as Downton Abbey’s Dowager Countess of Grantham and Joanne Froggatt who plays Anna Bates – Anna had some very strong storylines this year, sensitively portrayed by Froggatt, but I’m not certain if that will be…
Here in Canada Tuesday was the national holiday, Canada Day, so I had a day off work. I was particularly pleased it fell on a Tuesday as that’s the day new books are released. I was therefore able to spend a pleasant afternoon listening/reading The Jedi Doth Return, the third and final part in Ian Doescher’s William Shakespeare’s Star Wars. [book-info] As with the other two in the series, Verily a New Hope and The Empire Striketh Back, Random House Audio has done a fantastic job with the audiobook – it is a full cast audio with a talented cast and enhanced with sound effects and John Williams’ iconic music. (Doetscher had the backing of George Lucas for this undertaking). Like the two earlier books, this is one I would recommend in audio format. The cast is superb. Audiobook listeners should remain right to the end for a cameo appearance by the Bard himself! While I really enjoyed The Jedi Doth Return, I wasn’t quite a head over heels in love with it as I was with the previous two books. Perhaps it’s because the novelty had worn off somewhat. I still wish these had been available when I was…
So, I missed last week’s reading roundup because I was on vacation – I had a couple of long coach rides and so I really appreciated my audiobooks – I listened to Ruin and Rising, the final book in Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha trilogy and the audiobook of Piper Kerman’s Orange is the New Black. Reviews have been posted/will be posted soon. Added to my library this week I’ve added a few books to my library over the last couple of weeks. Recently, I have been watching the addictive Orange is the New Black on Netflix and so I had placed a hold on the audiobook. It came in just in time for my trip, so I enjoyed listening to it. Two YA trilogies had their final books published last week – the aforementioned Ruin and Rising and Joelle Charbonneau’s Graduation Day, the final book in The Testing trilogy. I’ve enjoyed these series immensely, and I added both to my library in both Kindle and Audible formats. Given the current dispute between Amazon and Hachette, I wasn’t too certain if my preorder for Robert Galbraith’s (AKA J.K. Rowling’s) The Silkworm would be honoured. I had ordered this in Kindle format rather…
This week I have been switching between three books; Ruth’s Journey by Donald McCaig – this is the story of Scarlett O’Hara’s Mammy. This supporting character in Gone with the Wind gets her own story. So far I’m really enjoying it – a full review will be forthcoming. The second book I’m listening to is Half Bad by Sally Green. It tells the story of 16 year old Nathan Byrn who is the son of a white witch and a black witch, which is not a great legacy to have. So far it’s very good, and again a review will be forthcoming. With the publicity machine ramping up for STARZ’ Outlander, the TV adaptation of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander, I decided to relisten to the first book again to refresh my memory. I am really excited about this adaptation – it’s being helmed by Battlestar Galactica’s Ron D. Moore, and the casting I’ve seen is fantastic. I think Catriona Balfe and Sam Heughan will do excellently as our protagonists Claire and Jamie. Roll on August! I had hoped to attend the signing in Ottawa with Diana Gabaldon, but unfortunately it’s a little too tight with my vacation. Added to my library…
First of all, my apologies on the delay of the Throne of Glass review – it’s coming, I promise! Also my apologies for the confusion on the Ruin and Rising release date. This will be released on June 17th. This week Amazon announced a product launch for later this month. The introductory video is deceptively vague, but most analysts seem to agree a 3D smartphone is likely. For the first time Amazon is also inviting customers to attend this launch in Seattle. You can sign up for an invite. I have put my name down, so we’ll see if I’m lucky. [book-info] One of the books i did read this week was Attachments by Rainbow Rowell. I loved her Eleanor & Park and enjoyed Attachments very much, too. This novel is split between two interwoven strands. We have the traditional third person narrative of Lincoln’s story and the other strand follows Jennifer and Beth through email exchange. The two are connected in that Lincoln’s job is to monitor his company’s email and so he gets to know the two women through their email exchange. What I liked Fun, realistic characters. As in Eleanor & Park, Rowell has a talent for writing…
Those of you who follow my blog will notice a name change. As my husband and I became Canadian citizens this week, I have changed the name to Canadian eReader. It’s not that I’m turning my back on my Scottish roots, but as I live in Canada and my eReading is based on the Canadian market it made sense to update it. Of course, book lovers of whichever nationality are always welcome! Added to my library this week This week saw the release of City of Heavenly Fire, the last in Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments series. I’m in the middle of reading it – it’s irritating that work keeps getting in the way – so expect a review soon. So far I’m enjoying it and appreciating Sophie Turner’s narration. That’s all I’ve added to my library this week. I picked it up in both Kindle and Audible formats. Upcoming releases in June On 3rd of June we have the release of Prince of Fools, the first in Mark Lawrence’s new series, The Red Queen’s War. Lawrence’s previous series, The Broken Empire, sucked me in, almost against my will, and Emperor of Thorns is still one of my top…
Next week sees the release of City of Heavenly Fire – the last in Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments series and the marketing is in full swing. The book trailer was released recently – check it out. For me the most interesting thing about it was Sophie Turner’s voiceover – I had been intrigued to see how she handles the audiobook narration. From what I see she will do well. I’m really excited to listen to the audiobook, now. Simon and Schuster has released a snippet of the audiobook which you can listen to below. Again this has whetted my appetite for the book. I’m not familiar with Jason Dohring, so I can’t say what his narration will be like, but I’m looking forward to it anyway. Kat of Katytastic and Christine of PolandBananasBOOKS have come up with some theories. I’m not entirely sold on their Izzy theory, but their enthusiasm for the book is so infectious. Go check it out if you want some ideas. On Tor.com this week you can find an excerpt of upcoming YA fantasy Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen. It tells the story of Kelsea, a princess in hiding who must now take…