Upcoming book releases Autumn 2017
Miscellaneous / August 20, 2017

Hello, now that summer is drawing to a close, we’re coming into prime book release time.  As usual, I have a metric tonne of books about whose release I am super excited.  Some of these are continuations of series in which I am already invested, some are new series from authors I love and some are reissues of old favourites.  So, let’s get into it, shall we? To kick off, I was really excited by the recent news that Raymond E.Feist has managed to resolve the ebook rights issue for North America.  While most of his newer works have been released in ebook, his earlier novels have so far been unavailable in my preferred format.  This will all change on August 22nd when his Riftwar saga as well as his Empire trilogy with Janny Wurts will be released as ebooks.  I understand audiobook format will follow later this year.  Although I have read all of these, I am very happy to add them to my collection.  I consider Feist a true master storyteller and if you are not familiar with his work, this is a great opportunity to get started.  Be aware, though,that the series does have a somewhat slow…

The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater – Review
Book Reviews , eBook reviews / June 14, 2016

The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater is a young adult supernatural novel entering around Blue Sargent, Gansy and their search for Welsh king Glendower.  It is a quartet made up of The Raven Boys, The Dream Thieves, Blue Lily Lily Blue and The Raven King.  it is told from multiple points of view. I will say that it took me some time to get into this series – at least two attempts of starting the book, and putting it down again.  This is despite a kickass opening in which the whole conflict of the series is laid out; it is foretold that Blue will kill her one true love when she kisses him, and Gansy is fated to die within the year. That is the hook to lure you into this series – you can’t help but want to know if these foretellings come true.  My initial struggle with this book is partly because, at first glance, the main protagonists are rather unappealing.  Gansy comes across as rich, arrogant and entitled.  Ronan is snarky and belligerent.  Adam is stubborn and independent to a fault and Noah is insipid.  It’s only when you get further into the books that the deeper…

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,…

Back home from Chicago and Book Expo America!
Miscellaneous / May 15, 2016

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…