Hello and welcome to another reading roundup. Since my last roundup I have read two pretty good books which I’d like to share with you. [book-info]I received an Advance Reader Copy of The Poisoned Blade by Kate Elliott at BEA. It’s been on my TBR for a while, but it’s only recently I read it. The Poisoned Blade is the second book in a planned trilogy (I believe) and continues the story of Jessamy, a young woman caught between two cultures whose passion in life is playing the game of Fives. In this second book, Jes is drawn into court politics and has to deal with the fallout of her decisions in book one. I listened to The Poisoned Blade in audiobook format and very much enjoyed Georgia Dolenz’s narration. What I liked The characters. I really liked our protagonist, Jessamy. Her conflicts between her love for the Fives, her need to protect her family, the limitations placed on her by her heritage and her affection for Kal were expertly written. The pacing. The Poisoned Blade didn’t suffer from middle book syndrome at all. There were enough conficts and resolutions to keep me well satisfied. I will certainly be…
Hello, once again, welcome to my belated reading roundup. My new role at work has kept me extremely busy, we had guests and I’ve been dealing with a sick, unhappy kitty. I swear cats can smell one grain of crushed up medication in a spoonful of delicious, tasty food. I’m really sorry for the forced pill popping Lushka, but I did try it the easy way first. Fortunately, she seems to be on the mend. Anyway, enough of the excuses. Since my last roundup I’ve read three books and I’m part way through three others. What I read The first book I read was The Young Elites by Marie Lu. This is the first book in a YA fantasy trilogy telling the story of Adelina, who, like some other young people, has been left with special powers after an illness. Marie Lu has said her inspiration for Adelina was Darth Vader, and being aware of this helped me a lot – Adelina is a rather dark character. While I enjoyed the book – I loved the Renaissance style setting – a lot, it didn’t leave me with any desire at all to pick up the sequels. Strangely, I had the…
So, as I’ve mentioned in my blog before, this year I attended BEA (Book Expo America) in Chicago. As my books are being shipped, this is not my official BEA book haul – expect that one in a week to ten days! This was the first time I have attended, and I was both a little nervous and excited. Although I’ve heard it described as San Diego Comic Con for booklovers, it is a trade show for those in the publishing industry as well as those involved in promoting books through blogs. Now, I’m passionate about books, but this blog is pretty small fish compared to some and at first, I admit I felt somewhat overwhelmed and, to be honest, a bit of a fraud. I found myself thinking, I don’t work in publishing should I really be here getting all these free books? That lasted for about two hours! It was a great experience meeting some fantastic authors, checking out all the awesome upcoming releases and chatting with like minded bookworms. Note to self: when waiting in line to meet famous authors, take the time to Wiki their last book if it’s been more than a few months since I…
My last entry talked about my favourite books of 2015, so now it’s time to talk about my most anticipated books of 2016. Passenger is the latest book by Alexandra Bracken. it is the start of a new YA series and is billed as a YA treasure hunt through time. I really loved Bracken’s Darkest Minds series, so this sounds like a real winner to me. The publisher has released a sampler, which I encourage you to check out. Passenger is officially released in just a few days on January 5th 2016. This is the first book in a new series by Mortal Instruments writer Cassandra Clare. It is set in the same world of the Shadowhunters but the action takes place in Los Angeles. At first, I’d been a little sceptical of the setting; the older cities of London and New York seemed a more natural fit for vampires and demons than sunny Los Angeles. However, the last book in the Mortal Instruments series, City of Heavenly Fire, functioned as much as a setup for this new series, introducing characters, locations and possible plotlines in the new series, and I am 100% convinced now. I will certainly be devouring Lady…