Reading roundup – New Kitty!
Uncategorized / July 29, 2016

Good morning fellow bookworms.  The big news in my family this week is that we adopted a cat!  Meet Pavlushka, a seven year old female adopted from the Montreal SPCA.  I have tried for many months to fill the cat shaped hole in my soul without success, and I am so, so grateful to Thad for accepting a new feline into our home.  Lushka is a curious, affectionate cat according to her profile and she was certainly happy to be petted at the SPCA.   Lushka really enjoyed being out of the shelter and being fussed over last night.  She spent most of the evening on the sofa next to me demanding pets.  She has already worked out how to open our kitchen cupboards.  I think she’ll be a wonderful fit for our household.  In more reading-related news, I did something I don’t often do this week – consigned a book to the did not finish pile.  This was Ice Like Fire by Sara Raasch.  As I mentioned in my review of the first book Snow Like Ashes, I found the plot rather predictable, and unfortunately for book two, the interesting worldbuilding was not enough to carry me through this…

BEA 2016 Book Haul – part three of three
Uncategorized / May 25, 2016

Here we go for the third and final post in my BEA 2016 book haul series.  Thank you for sticking with me. The first book I’d like to talk about, and the obtaining of which was one of my highlights of BEA is Maggie Stiefvater’s The Raven King.  This is the fourth and final volume in the The Raven Cycle of which I have read 1.95 books.  (I’m just finishing off The Dream Thieves.)  I loved having the opportunity to meet Maggie and discuss book hangovers with her, and she has said her aim with The Raven King is to leave her readers with the book hangover to end all book hangovers, so I can’t wait!  The Raven King has already been published. Next up is First Blood by Elly Blake.  This was another of the ARCs available in a roll the dice game.  This is a YA fantasy about a young woman who has fire magic which is a challenge when living in a kingdom controlled by frostbloods, with ice magic.  It sounds intriguing and I look forward to reading it.  First Blood will be released in January 2017. The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett is a YA mystery,…

Upcoming releases in October 2015
Uncategorized / September 27, 2015

Like September, October is another big month for book releases.  Here are a few of the ones about which I am most excited. Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard – The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan.  This, along with Robin Hobb’s Fool’s Quest and Marissa Meyer’s Winter are among my most anticipated books of the later half of 2015.  For those of you who don’t know, Sword of Summer is the start of a new series by the author of the Percy Jackson series which, this time, focusses on Norse mythology.  Riordan’s books are always funny, engaging and exciting and I have no reason to suspect this one will be any different.  Knowing what I know of the Norse pantheon, the opportunities for high jinx seem limitless.   Sword of Summer will be released on October 6th and I have it preordered in both Kindle and Audible versions. Also on October 6th Brandon Sanderson is releasing another book.  Dang, that guy is prolific.  Does he actually sleep?  This month it’s the turn of Shadows of Self, the sequel to his Alloy of Law, a steampunkesque novel set in his Mistborn world.  I love the world Sanderson created in…

Series I really need to complete
Uncategorized / July 18, 2015

The next few weeks are relatively quiet in terms of upcoming book releases about which I’m excited.  I’m thinking therefore that this could be a good opportunity to catch up on my TBR pile, specifically in terms of catching up with series with which I have fallen behind.  Generally, I like variety in my reading so it’s unusual for me to marathon a whole series, even if I enjoy it immensely.  So, without further ado, here are some of the series I really should catch up on.  (NB, these are series which are not necessarily complete, but for which I’ve not read up to the latest published book.)  It goes without saying that I’m up to date on Game of Thrones and am eagerly awaiting Winds of Winter. The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne. This series is about an ancient Druid, Atticus O’Sullivan and his Irish Wolfhound, Oberon, who live in modern times.  Each of the novels – currently seven, with an eighth due out next year – is relatively self contained, and tells of a new adventure, but builds up the world of the Druid and its inhabitants.  I have listened to books one to three, and this…

Reading roundup – April 21st 2015
Uncategorized / April 21, 2015

As I mentioned in my last reading roundup, I’ve been catching up with John  Stephens’ Books of Beginning in preparation for the release of The Black Reckoning.  As I’ve been on nightshift, I’ve listened to these books in audiobook format, narrated by Jim Dale.  I’m generally not a big fan of Dale’s narration – a personal opinion; I know many listeners value his work highly – but I did enjoy his narration for this series.  For those of you unfamiliar with this series, it’s about three sibling orphans who find that they are fated to be the Keepers of the mystical Books of Beginning.  This concluding book brings all the threads of the series together.  I did enjoy that the series didn’t end immediately after they defeated the Big Bad; it’s always interesting to see heroes try to adapt to the normal world and family life.  While no Harry Potter or even Percy Jackson, this is an enjoyable series and is work picking up.   I gave The Black Reckoning four stars out of five. Every month in the leadup to the release of Cassandra Clare’s Lady Midnight, the first in a new Shadowhunter series, she along with co-writers is…

Reading Roundup – January 30th 2015
Uncategorized / January 30, 2015

The big news this week is that I have finally managed to track down a Kindle Voyage to purchase – yay!  It’s not available in Canada, and it’s been out of stock on Amazon.com for weeks.  I managed to order one from Best Buy so this weekend I will be making my yearly pilgrimage across the border to pick it up.  It does really annoy me that Amazon always delays selling it to Canada when the UK and German markets get it at the same time as the US.  Anyway, that’s my rant this week.   I have chosen to pay extra this time and include 3G connectivity.  The main reason I’m doing this is because I read on my Kindle a lot away from home – busses, cafes, the break room at lunch – and I’m missing the fact that it doesn’t then update my reading progress.  This means that Whispersync for Voice doesn’t always update and work the way it should.  I’m hoping that the 3g always on connectivity will help with that.  Yes, I know, I could always connect to a WiFi network but I don’t always bother if I”m just having a quick 10 minute read….

Reading roundup – September 26th 2014
Uncategorized / September 26, 2014

This week has been a quiet week in terms of reading.  It’s been the start of the new TV season which might have had in impact…  (on that topic, I’m watching Forever and Gotham as new shows.)  I finished Robert Galbraith (AKA J.K. Rowling’s) second mystery novel, The Silkworm and you can expect my full review next week.  Sneak preview: I liked it. I’m also continuing with the audiobook of Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel.  It’s not grabbing me in the way that The Silkworm did, but it is very intriguing and I am enjoying it.  Also being listened to is Outlander by Diana Gabaldon.  I’m just at the wedding night scene.  Yum.  Especially when you add Mr. Sam Heughan into the equation… For once, I didn’t add any books to my library this week!  Incredible, I know.  I will make up for it next month, trust me…  I have been waiting for the next book in Anne Robillard’s A.N.G.E. series, Tribulare, to hit Kobo.  The hard copies have been out for a while, but this series is only now being released in electronic format.  I see it’s available on prologuenumerique.ca and archambault.ca, and even amazon.ca but I have…

Codex Born by Jim C Hines – Review
Uncategorized / August 23, 2013

Codex Born by Jim C Hines is the sequel to Libriomancer which tells of Isaac Vainio, a libriomancer with the power to access magic from within books.  If you have not read Libriomancer, I would strongly suggest you start there.  While it is not impossible to enjoy the story without having read the first book, it builds upon concepts, characters and events detailed in Libriomancer.  Codex Born continues Isaac’s story and develops what we know of libriomancy.  Feel free to check out my thoughts on Libriomancer. What I liked Lena’s backstory.  We learn much, much more about Lena Greenwood through brief snippets before each chapter.  For me, this was one of the most beautifully written and touching parts of the books as she learns to come to terms with her nature and the accommodations she has to make to achieve a little freedom. The visual imagery.  Hines has a real talent for describing scenes that had me flat out giggling like a schoolgirl with the picture it evoked in my mind.  An example was “She appeared to be holding off a small swarm of bugs with a drinking straw and a yo-yo.”  I’m snickering even now at that mental image….

Audible and Kindle – A Match Made in Heaven
Uncategorized / August 13, 2013

As many of my regular readers will know, I am a big fan of both ebooks and audiobooks.  For those of you unsure about e-reading or looking to take the first step, take a look at my Newbie’s Guide to eReading.  If you have any questions, please let me know in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer them. For my audiobook needs I go to Audible.  Here’s how it works.  You can either buy audiobooks at full price, with no membership or monthly commitment.  An average audiobook, say for example The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith aka JK Rowling, costs around $25 USD for non members.  A larger book, like say Fires of Heaven from the Wheel of Time may be as much as $60 USD, but most are in the $25 USD range. Alternatively, you can choose to take a membership with Audible.  The basic plan $14.95 USD per month which gives you one credit per month to use on any audiobook.  An ideal introduction to Audible.  The Platinum plan, which I have, is two credits to spend on books a month.  That costs $22.95 USD per month.  They also have an Annual plan for which you pay…

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare – Great Start, Weak Middle, Good End
Uncategorized / August 13, 2013

Some months ago a friend recommended Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series to me.  I picked up City of Bones, the first book, from Audible, and found it hard to get past the first few chapters.  In all fairness, that might have been due to the fact that it was the book I selected to listen to at the gym, and for various reasons (my lack of willpower mainly) I didn’t go as often as I should have.  It’s also true that City of Bones didn’t grab my attention immediately.  I will probably try again before the movie comes out.  Clockwork Angel is the first in Clare’s Infernal Devices series, which is a prequel to the Mortal Instruments set many years earlier in Victorian London. Unlike Mortal Instruments, Clockwork Angel hooked me immediately from the Audible preview, so much so that I immediately invested in the entire trilogy in Kindle and Audible formats – Whispersync for Voice is available on these titles.  This is partly due to Jennifer Ehle’s excellent narration, and also that I found it easier to connect with Tessa than Mortal Instruments’ Clary. What I liked The setting/worldbuilding.  Clare evokes Victorian London with a twist beautifully.  I also really…