Book Lurve

There's a new blog in town from a long time blogger! I've been following Sarah's various blog incarnations for several years and I'm excited she's back! To get her blog started off with a bang, she's  giving away a $20 gift card in a Twitter contest. Here are the rules:

Follow @thebooklurve on twitter and tweet this message out to your followers:

Check out www.booklurve.com and enter in the Twitter contest for a $20 gift card to your choice of Amazon or Barnes & Noble. #Booklurve

Be sure to use the hashtag #Booklurve — Then, visit her blog, comment on this post along with a link to your tweet about the contest and you’ll be entered. If you do a blog post about this contest then leave that link as well and you’ll be entered twice. This contest is going to go through 12/23/2010. All gift cards will be sent via email to the email address that is given upon contact with the winner.

Be sure to stop by Bool Lurve and give her a warm welcome back!

Holiday Book Fairy

Angie of Angieville recently posted about her Holiday Reading & Giving and asked what books we're giving to others this holiday season. I love this idea and thought instead of just posting in her comments I would share what books I've bought for people. This year I've bought less books than I have in the past. I ALWAYS try to give at least one book to anyone I buy gifts for. Luckily, I have lots of friends and family who are voracious readers and are ecstatic to receive books as gifts.

I usually buy books for my mom that I haven't read yet but have been getting a lot of buzz in the blog-o-sphere. That way I can borrow them when she's finished! Thank you all for your fabulous book pimping skill because of all the books I've bought her, that I haven't read, she's loved! So thank you! I haven't read either of these but they sound excellent and I'm sure my mom will enjoy them:

For my dad I thought he would enjoy this book, which I also have not read but intend to borrow when he's finished!

I told one of friends about the Downside series because I thought it was something she would enjoy but she hadn't bought the first book yet so I did it for her. Also thought she would enjoy the Beautiful Creatures series as well!

My other friend loves J.R. Ward but hadn't picked up the second book in her Fallen Angels series so I got that for her.

So, as Angie asked, what books are you giving this year?

Review: Mind Game by Carolyn Crane

JUSTINE KNOWS SHE’S GOING TO DIE. ANY SECOND NOW.

Justine Jones has a secret. A hardcore hypochondriac, she’s convinced a blood vessel is about to burst in her brain. Then, out of the blue, a startlingly handsome man named Packard peers into Justine’s soul and invites her to join his private crime-fighting team. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime deal. With a little of Packard’s hands-on training, Justine can weaponize her neurosis, turning it outward on Midcity’s worst criminals, and finally get the freedom from fear she’s always craved. End of problem.

Or is it? In Midcity, a dashing police chief is fighting a unique breed of outlaw with more than human powers. And while Justine’s first missions, including one against a nymphomaniac husband-killer, are thrilling successes, there is more to Packard than meets the eye. Soon, while battling her attraction to two very different men, Justine is plunging deeper into a world of wizardry, eroticism, and cosmic secrets. With Packard’s help, Justine has freed herself from her madness—only to discover a reality more frightening than anyone’s worst fears.

I picked this up for my Mom at the Romantic Times Booklover's Convention earlier this year.(I even got it signed by Ms. Crane!) I've been waiting for my Mom to finish it so I could borrow it and I'm so glad I finally got to read it!

I love that Carolyn Crane has created a world with various shades of gray. Her characters' hidden agendas mixed with their special talents make for very unreliable characters. As a reader, I love stories that don't necessarily have clear cut heroes or villains. The world we live in is not black and white and, while I often read to escape the "real world", I love finding authors whose unique, complicated characters challenge me as a reader.

Even Justine questions the morality of the work she does for Packard. Are they providing a service the public by disillusioning criminals or playing god with their special brand of vigilantism? She's torn between believing in Packard and her own instincts about her most recent target Otto Sanchez, Midcity's golden boy Police Chief.

I love this this type of ambiguity and conflict in a storyline. It gives us readers a lot of fodder for coming to our own conclusions. Crane puts her characters in compromising situations, making questionable decisions and, in the end when the mystery is unraveled, we're still left with the sense that there are no easy answers, just shades of gray.

I loved Justine for the same reason I loved Chess in Stacia Kane's Downside series. Even though these characters are deeply flawed, they're unique, engaging, and their otherness challenges me as a reader. It's a talented author that can make a neurotic hypochondriac and a druggie ghost hunter unlikely heroines! Bravo, ladies.

As for Packard,I felt he had a bit of a Barrons-esque quality to him. Is he a good guy? Is he bad? For those of you reading Karen Marie Moning's Fever series,the mystery that is Jericho Barrons remains, however Packard's secrets are revealed only to remind us readers that he is neither a hero nor a villain but falls on the spectrum somewhere in between.

Possible Spoiler alert (highlight to read):

I'm gonna go ahead and officially say I'm team Packard. Even though Otto turns out NOT to be a psychotic killer, I don't care for him as Justine's love interest. In this world of gray, Otto is firm in the belief of right and wrong, black and white. With the kind of work Justine does I don't see this thing working out between them. I'm totally a Packard girl. The end.

I'm anxious to get a hold of Double Cross and read about the (mis)adventures of Justine and her fellow Disillusionists. I'm sure there aren't many of you out there, but if you haven't read Mind Games, what are you waiting for? It totally lives up to the hype!

Rating:

Library Loot: December 8 - 14

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted alternatively by Marg and Claire that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky (at Claire's this week) any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

It's been awhile since I posted my library finds! I haven't been reading or reviewing much and haven't gone to the library much at all. But I did get some good books this week:

Nevermore by Kelly Creagh

Jenny really enjoyed this one and it's a paranormal....without vamps!

Yes! So burned out on the whole YA vamp scene.

 Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

I've heard great things about this book and can't wait to read it!

Winter Longing by Tricia Mills

I'd forgotten about this book until recently. I'd meant to pick it up when it came out but totally forgot! Oops.

I'm trying to return a lot of my library books because I know I won't get to them all. However, I'm having a hard time parting with some of them... I MIGHT get to them soon...yea...

Lightening Reviews

I had some things I wanted to say about the following books but not enough to come up with two whole posts, so I figured they were good candidates for another round of Lightening Reviews!

Lover Eternal by J.R. Ward

As most of you know I'm "re-reading" the Black Dagger Brotherhood via audio books. I've always enjoyed Rhage in other books he's sexy and a smartass, I love it! But listening to his book I realized how little we saw of his funny personality. Since we get his POV we see that there's more to the brother than just snarky one liners and a never ending supply of movie quotes. But what I didn't like about Lover Eternal was the complete lack of his personality at all. I don't remember noticing that before but he nary made a wisecrack or joke the whole book. I know he didn't have a lot to joke about what with the curse and his ill human mate and all but I'd liked to have seen a bit more of his humor. I also loved how Mary deals with both Rhage and his beast. Taming the thing when no one else dared, even the other brothers. Mary's kind of a bad ass! ;)

As usual, I love Ward's books because of the multiple story lines. We're introduced to John Matthew in Lover Eternal, we also get more of Z and Bella as we're set up for their story in Lover Awakened. While Lover Eternal isn't my favorite BDB book, (that's a tie between Lover Awakened and Lover Mine) I did enjoy it this second time around!

Rating:

Abandon the Night by Joss Ware

This third installment of Ware's post-apocalyptic series is, I'm sad to say, my least favorite so far. Which is a shame because I really loved the interactions between Quent and Zoe in the previous books. Quent's frustration with Zoe's actions mirrored my own. I like that she's such a strong kick ass heroine but her constant abandonment of Quent grated on my nerves.

I felt really bad for Quent in this book. Zoe bolted every chance she could get, even when she was doing what she thought was right, she really showed a lack of trust and faith in Quent and I felt it got pretty old. However, I continue to enjoy the series for Ware's world building. This series reminds me a lot of The Walking Dead, which I'm also loving! All in all a good addition to the series, even if it wasn't my favorite.

Rating:

Reading Recap: November 2010

Well this certainly won't be a very long post since I haven't been reading or reviewing much this month! Here is my sad list for November:

Dark Lover by J.R. Ward (audio book) - 4 Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Lover Eternal by J.R Ward (audio book) - 4 Chocolate Covered Strawberries
All I Ever Wanted by Kristan Higgins - 3 Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Abandon the Night by Joss Ware - 3 Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Currently reading:

Mind Games by Carolyn Crane
Night Betrayed by Joss Ware

With winter finally settling in here in Ohio, I'm hoping I'll feel more like curling up with a book and will get more read next month! Although with the holidays, reading time may be scarce yet again!

Review: All I Ever Wanted by Kristan Higgins

One Happily-Ever-After Rocking Chair…

and no sign of any forthcoming babies to rock in ol' Georgebury, Vermont. For Callie Grey, turning thirty means coming to grips with the fact that her boss (and five-week fling) is way overdue in his marriage proposal. And way off track because Mark has suddenly announced his engagement to the company's new Miss Perfect. If that isn't bad enough, her mom decides to throw her a three-oh birthday bash in the family funeral home.
 
Bad goes to worse when she stirs up a crazy relationship with the town's not so warm and fuzzy veterinarian, Ian McFarland, in order to flag Mark's attention. So Ian is more comfortable with animals…. So he's formal, orderly and just a bit tense. The ever-friendly, fun-loving and spontaneous Callie decides it's time for Ian to get a personality makeover. But dang, if he doesn't shock the heck out of her, she might actually fall for Vermont's unlikeliest eligible bachelor….

Callie who, convinced she was in love with her boss, Mark, after a brief fling, is crushed to learn he’s involved with another woman, Muriel.  Callie now has to face the lovebirds daily as Muriel has been hired on only because the client is her Daddy and he demands her presence, despite her complete lack of experience.

Throw in a 30^th birthday bash at a funeral home, a handsome yet aloof veterinarian, and an elderly roommate with a missing lower limb and you’ve got all the ingredients for Callie’s  absurd existence and the makings for a humorous, romantic story! I can always count on Kristen Higgins for an enjoyable, light-hearted read and All I Ever Wanted does not disappoint! I loved Callie and Ian’s ill-fated meetings at the most inopportune times; they made for hilarious interactions. This story is truly an “opposites attract” situation!

After having read several of Higgins’ books I have to say that although I enjoy their humor and all the great secondary characters, I’m always left slightly unsatisfied due to the limited point of view (POV). Higgins’ books are all written in first person and I really find that, when I read romance, I always enjoy getting both the hero and heroine’s points of view.

I don’t mind first person POV in other genres such as teen or urban fantasy but I really enjoy romance more when I have both POV’s. It’s for this reason only that I don’t rate her books higher. But if you’re in the mood for a humorous read with quirky characters you should definitely give this one a try!

Rating:

Disclosure: I received this as a digital ARC through NetGalley. I did not receive any compensation for this review.

Slacking

Hello! I'm alive, I swear. I haven't been around much because I a) haven't been reading much b) have been super busy at work and in my personal life. I've been keeping up with everyone via my Goolge Reader, but I haven't been commenting as much either. But rest assured I'm still keeping tabs on you all! Even if I am slacking in the blogging department!

When I say I haven't read much, I'm not kidding. After struggling through The Replacement I lost my reading mojo. I hadn't read anything since then, until this weekend on my journey to and from Chicago, I started Joss Ware's Abandon the Night. I also finished All I Ever Wanted by Kristan Higgins in the last couple of days. I did finish Lover Eternal on audio and have moved on to Lover Awakened (my fav!). So I guess it's not too terrible, it's not like I haven't read anything at all but it's definitely not my usual pace!

I was in Chicago for my 28th birthday. My mom and aunt are identical twins and they've been taking their "retail therapy" trips to Chicago for over 20 years. They said one day my cousin and I (who also happens to be my roommate) would be allowed to join them. With my cousin turning 30 this year they decided we were ready to accompany them! It was a lot of fun hanging out with The Moms, as we refer to them. We did A LOT, and I mean A LOT, of shopping. I also have a bunch of college friends that live in Chicago so we met up with them on Saturday night for dinner then went to a martini bar...my new favorite martini is a Sinickerdoodle martini, yes it is as scrumptious as it sounds! I was bummed I didn't have anytime to schedule a quick meet up with Stacy, but maybe next time!

So that's what I've been up to. Hopefully, over the Thanksgiving break I'll get some stuff read! I won't be blogging much over the break either because I'll be at my parents and they're living in the friggin' stone age...no internet! Gah!

Audiobites: Dark Lover by J.R.Ward

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Yet none of them relishes killing more than Wrath, the leader of The Black Dagger Brotherhood.

The only purebred vampire left on earth, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But, when one of his most trusted fighters is killed-leaving his half-breed daughter unaware of his existence or her fate-Wrath must usher her into the world of the undead-a world of sensuality beyond her wildest dreams.

After I finished Lover Mine, I wanted more of the brothers so I picked up The Insider's Guide. That just whet my appetite for even more and made me want to re-read the series. However, I always feel so guilty re-reading books when I have such a monstrous TBR pile. After some discussion on Twitter with @mamakitty729 and @andrea_desherb about the audio versions of the books. I decided to "re-read" the series by listening to the audio books.

I checked Dark Lover out from the library and popped the first disc into my car stereo. After the first two sentences of the narrator, I immediately said, "Nope" and ejected the cd. It was a knee jerk reaction to not liking the narrator's voice. It wasn't what I had in mind for any of the brother's and I wasn't sure I wanted to listen any more.

I'm pretty picky when it comes to the audio books I choose. So I hopped back on Twitter and told @mamakitty729 that I wasn't sure I liked the narrator. Both Mamakitty and Andrea assured me that while he's not the best narrator ever, that I should stick with it and I would likely enjoy it. So, I gave it another go. I listened a little longer and before I knew it, I was so engrossed in Ward's world that I didn't even realize I'd gone through several discs!

It's been years since I first read Dark Lover and I've never re-read any of the books. There was soo much I'd forgotten! In my review of Lover Mine I mentioned how I was so sad that JM's story was over because we'd been waiting for it since we met him in Dark Lover. Well, we didn't actually meet him in Dark Lover, it wasn't until Lover Eternal that we were introduced to JM.

Also, something that bothered me this time around, that I don't recall bothering me during my first reading of Dark Lover, was Beth's willingness to hope into bed with Wrath after having been sexually assaulted the day before. Something about that just grated on me. But it didn't hamper my overall enjoyment of the novel. It was just one of those things that annoyed me and I don't recall having been annoyed by it before.

Since I'd read the series before I actually skipped any of the sections that were from the lesser's points of view. I really didn't care for them the first time around and since I've read it before, I decided to completely skip these sections!

Even though my initial reaction to Jim Frangione's voice was not positive, after I gave him a chance, I really did get sucked into the story and barely even noticed his voice. However, he does a good growly voice that totally fits the Brothers! I wasn't even bothered by hearing the naughty bits read aloud. I've generally steered clear of romance audio books because I always felt a little pervy hearing the naughty bits but, yea, not so much when it comes to the Brothers! Rawr!

I'm already over halfway done with Rhage's book, Lover Eternal. Then I get to start, what is still one of my favorite books in the series, Lover Awakened! I'm finding more and more reasons to drive around, as I'm only listening to the audio books in the car. Lots of little trips I probably don't really need to take... :)

Rating:

Library Loot: November 3 - 9

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted alternatively by Marg and Claire that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky (at Marg's this week) any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

I have to share some amazing library news! My library, the Columbus Metropolitan Library, had a levy on the ballot on Tuesday and it PASSED! The final results were  588 of 619 precincts reporting 65% in favor of the levy! That's awesome and I'm so excited! In January they'll be returning to their old hours which they had to cut in 2009 due to state budget cuts.

I'm so excited, although I kind of want to punch in the face the 35% that voted "no"! But the levy passed and I'm pumped for my public librarian friends and for the people of Columbus! I'm so proud of CML, they were named Library Journal's 2010 Library of the Year and are consistently ranked as one of the top libraries in the nation!

On with the loot-
DVD's:

With no cable I've been going to the library a lot for movies!

Better Off Dead

This was a fun, goofy 80's movie. I'd never seen it before and enjoyed it!

Deliverance

I'd never seen Deliverance but had been wanting to. Aside from Burt's impractial leather, zip up vest on a hunting trip, I thougth this movie stood the test of time pretty well. It was thrilling and suspenseful. Glad I finally got to see this classic!

Gigantic

This was a weird, quirky movie. I enjoyed it for the most part. There was a weird, dark side plot with Zach Galifianakis as a homeless man who is basically harassing our main character played by Paul Dano from Little Miss Sunshine. Really it was kind of a strange movie but I loved the budding relationship between Paul and Zooey. I also loved the family dynamics in the movie. 

The Running Man

I picked this one up because my Mom mentioned it when we were discussing The Hunger Games. The movie is set an a futuristic society where the number one television show in the world is The Running Man. Contestants are usually "criminals" (basically people that have somehow pissed off those in authority) who are thrown into a rigged set up where they are stalked and killed. I thought it was pretty good, definitely dated and some of the one liners were cheese-tastic. But overall a pretty good flick!

 Cool Hand Luke

It's been several years since I've seen this movie and I saw it on the shelf. I love me some Paul Newman!

Dorian Gray

I can't wait to watch this one! Colin Firth, need I say more?!

Predators

I love the Predators and Alien franchise. And it has Adrian Brody!

Note: I don't have all those movies currently checked out. My library allows 5 DVDs to be checked out at a time. I've already watched and returned: Better Off Dead, Gigantic, and The Running Man. Just finished Deliverance last night !

Books:

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

I loved, loved, loved Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist. I started this one last night and was hooked from the first paragraph!

Point of Impact by Stephen Hunter

Both my parents read this series and have been hounding me to start it so I better get on it!

It by Stephen King

I tried to read this in high school but had to stop because it gave me nightmares!

But I want to give it another go!

Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Robin Robertson

It's getting chilly and I wanted some good, slow cooker recipes!

Lover Eternal (audiobook) by J.R. Ward

BDB, 'nuff said. "Re-reading" the series via audio books!

The Monstrumologist by Richard Yancey

Have heard great things and am still in the mood for scary stuff!

Music:

Backspacer - Pearl Jam

Ten (reissue)- Pearl Jam