photo credit: Chris Sprague
Sunday, October 31, 2010
HP Mallory!
H.P. Mallory
File Size: 487 KB
E Book provided by author in exchange for a fair review
2.99
Description
A self-deprecating witch with the unique ability to reanimate the dead.
A dangerously handsome warlock torn between being her boss and her would-be lover.
A six hundred year old English vampire with his own agenda;
one that includes an appetite for witches.
The Underworld in a state of chaos.
Let the games begin.
Life isn’t bad for psychic Jolie Wilkins. True, she doesn’t have a love life to speak of, but she has a cute house in the suburbs of Los Angeles, a cat and a quirky best friend.
Enter Rand Balfour, a sinfully attractive warlock who insists she’s a witch and who just might turn her life upside down. Rand hires her to help him solve a mystery regarding the death of his client who also happens to be a ghost. Jolie not only uncovers the cause of the ghost’s demise but, in the process, she brings him back to life!
Word of Jolie’s incredible ability to bring back the dead spreads like wildfire, putting her at the top of the Underworld’s most wanted list. Consequently, she finds herself at the center of a custody battle between a villainous witch, a dangerous but oh-so-sexy vampire, and her warlock boss, Rand. http://www.urbanfantasynovels.com/Available%20Now/availablenow.html
My Take
An enjoyable and affordable romp through the world of supernatural beings. Amusing to read, with some scary bits that I thought our heroine, Jolie, might not escape. But she does. She even saves the day, and the world from one very wicked witch as she prepares for round three.
Complete Chick lit fantasy without an ounce of reality, but in this case I don't expect it. We start off with a woman offering psychic services, seeing a ghost and getting a warlock for a client, and we end up with a powerful good-witch. There are some really confused emotions as a complex relationship develops between the Warlock Rand and Jolie.
You can't go wrong here! A quick read, super for a three or four hour flight.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
A Character-Driven Book Impresses Through The Writer's Skill
 |
| Atria Books: Simon & Schuster |
Kate Morton
Atria Publications, A Simon & Shuster Imprint
Hardcover 576 pages
This copy 672 pages
Publication Date: Nov. 9, 2010
Read 10/26 to 10/30.
Advanced Uncorrected Proof provided but without an indication of from whom other than the publisher.
I am certain it was not sent un-solicited so I must have won or requested it.
To whomever sent it, thank you.
Like all books I write about, it will receive an honest review.
Book Description
A long lost letter arrives in the post and Edie Burchill finds herself on a journey to Milderhurst Castle, a great but moldering old house, where the Blythe spinsters live and where her mother was billeted 50 years before as a 13 year old child during WW II. The elder Blythe sisters are twins and have spent most of their lives looking after the third and youngest sister, Juniper, who hasn’t been the same since her fiance jilted her in 1941.
Inside the decaying castle, Edie begins to unravel her mother’s past. But there are other secrets hidden in the stones of Milderhurst, and Edie is about to learn more than she expected. The truth of what happened in ‘the distant hours’ of the past has been waiting a long time for someone to find it.
Morton once again enthralls readers with an atmospheric story featuring unforgettable characters beset by love and circumstance and haunted by memory, that reminds us of the rich power of storytelling. Atria Books: Simon & Schuster
The Distant Hours by Kate Morton from Pan Macmillan on Vimeo.
 Kate Morton, a native Australian, holds degrees in dramatic art and English literature and is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Queensland. She lives with her family in Brisbane, Australia. Atria Books: Simon & Schuster |
The synopsis I read of this book, where ever I read it, I recall hinted at secrets and mysteries. "Hmm," I thought, "Subtle magic." But, this was not a paranormal book in the sense of what I usually read or review, nor was it really a book where a subtle magic is utilized.
The magic here is the dark magic of secrets too long kept, mysteries too long unsolved, guilt and psychosis which fills this book. This magic isn't cold, rather, it sears with the heat of repressed guilt and anger, and unfulfilled dreams.
The story takes place in two time periods, the era surrounding World War II in Britain, and 1992. The WWII period is roughly from the very start when children were evacuated from London until a year or two after Dunkirk. It starts in London were Edith and Meredith Birchill are preparing to have their Sunday dinner when a letter is passed into their mail slot even though there should not have been a delivery. It is a letter from Meredith's childhood as an evacuee. She has never told her husband or daughter about this part of her youth and refuses to elaborate.
When Edie learns of it she is curious, and her curiosity is further aroused when she, very accidentally, happens on the very place to which her mother was evacuated. Like a cat to the windowsill outside of which a birdfeeder hangs, Edie is drawn into the mystery of why her mother's reticence. Then as she learns more, the mysteries of the house itself and the people who live there. which grow more complex and intertwined as she digs deeper. She gets more than she bargained for, there are ghostly visions a few times — imagined or real, one doesn't know.
Another part of the darkness of the book is about the control a parent can exert over a child and continue to exert even after they pass away. In this book that control is passed on to another family member, Percy, who controls the lives of her twin, Saffy, and half-sister with disastrous results.
While there is a strong plot the book is character-driven and one of the objectives was that Edie learn more about the mother who has hidden her joyous self away in a middle class, steak-and-chips British housewife.
As a character-driven work, Morton makes each character come to life in one's mind. Each character springs to life from the page. Juniper, the young half-sister, is a free spirit, and talented but undirected writer suffering from a psychosis or schizophrenia. Twins Percy and Saffy are completely the opposite of each other; Saffy is soft, yielding, considerate, yearns to get away and Percy is a bit butch, harsh, capable and would like to stay in their castle forever. But, within Saffy, there is also an unyielding strength of devotion to her sisters. Even incidental characters get somewhat developed, as if we can look into their homes a bit.
At 672 pages, this was a bit longer than many of the books I normally read, and filled more with the internal maunderings of the characters than the action to which I am accustomed. As I generally prefer plot-driven books this dragged a bit for me. Much internal work on the part of at least five characters was “holding up” the somethings that needed to happen in order to resolve the several mysteries that are being explored. And, just when I had a grasp on what I thought was the plot it would grow another layer.
But, having said that, the work is so complete, and Morton is such a talented and capable writer that it was an enjoyable and poignant read that helped me stretch a bit as a reader. I would most assuredly recommend it to anyone who enjoys this type of in-depth character development, and maybe even those who prefer more plot.
Maybe the development was the real work of the book. The mysteries are solved quickly and at the end, and while not rushed, feel incidental to the resulting relationship between Edie and her mother, Meredith.
Well worth the time and price, especially as it is being heavily discounted by Amazon.
Note: I have a question in to the writer on the source of a phrase, should she respond, I will add the question and answer in!
Friday, October 29, 2010
Blog Hopping is Something Rocking
 Image by cobalt123 via Flickr Image by Kevin Steele via Flickr |
| Creative Commons. |
Blog hops/follows are a fun way to find other blogs, and read about your favorite genres in Books and movies. It is a way for bloggers to meet each other as well.
Crazy For Books asks a question each week.
Today:"What is the one bookish thing you would love to have, no matter the cost?"
If you know me you know I lead a charmed life. So there really is nothing really truly crave other than the elusive good health, a 20 year old-body in which I could pour my 50 year old self — make that a HOT 20 year old body, and I do crave jewelry. Maybe attending BEA in NYC next year. Other than that I wish I realized more often more how fortunate I am.
They tend towards Fridays! Here are the two I do.
Hey - DON"T FORGET MY CONTEST! http://tinyurl.com/23b5ug2 18 or older
You don't have to follow but it would be grand. See the rest of the deets by clicking the link above or the button above left.
*These photos have nothing to do with anything
other than I happen to adore cats.
BLAMELESS. Forgiveness? Is Conall Deserving? Spoilers
BlamelessAn Alexia Tarabotti Novel
by Gail Carriger
Publisher: Orbit (September 1, 2010)
Orbit is an imprint of Hachette Book Group in the United States and Little, Brown Book Group in the United Kingdom.
I won this book from Just Another Book Blog
Blameless Blurb (SPOILER ALERT for Soulless & Changeless)
Quitting her husband's house and moving back in with her horrible family, Lady Maccon becomes the scandal of the London season. Queen Victoria dismisses her from the Shadow Council, and the only person who can explain anything, Lord Akeldama, unexpectedly leaves town. To top it all off, Alexia is attacked by homicidal mechanical ladybugs, indicating, as only ladybugs can, the fact that all of London's vampires are now very much interested in seeing Alexia quite thoroughly dead. While Lord Maccon elects to get progressively more inebriated and Professor Lyall desperately tries to hold the Woolsey werewolf pack together, Alexia flees England for Italy in search of the mysterious Templars. Only they know enough about the preternatural to explain her increasingly inconvenient condition, but they may be worse than the vampires -- and they're armed with pesto. (http://www.gailcarriger.com/)
Gail Carriger's writing has the quality of transporting one to an alternate Victorian universe where Aether rules the world of science and science is advancing the world in many somewhat ridiculous ways, most of which seem unnecessarily complex machines. In this universe Supernatural creatures are out of the closet. Some detest them all and want to destroy them, others live in harmony with them. England has been the most welcoming of nations and attributes most of her Empire's strength to the strategic and financial acumen of the Vampires and her military success to the Werewolves. I am not sure what the Ghosts are creditted with other than spying. Her work is something to look forward to, to possibly hoard and keep for a time you know you will be able to sit uninterrupted for a period, possibly with a cup of Darjeeling, to enjoy and be entertained.
The first book, Soulless, was novel, fun, and impressive in its originality, scope and depth. The dialogue and narration was witty. It reminded me a bit of Wodehouse. I was enchanted with the strength of the main female character, Alexia Tarabotti, in no way other than good manners a typical Victorian woman. She is what is known as a "preternatural:" a being without a soul. That is a concept I found difficult and still haven't quite cottoned onto. She shows her stupid mother and step family by marrying Lord Conall Maccon, a major player in the BUR, the chief government agency for Supes. The book stood alone nicely, making one hope for a series.
The second, Changeless, was also funny with the introduction of some interesting new characters not routinely found in Victorian society, and expands the role of others. If a little too much time was expended explaining the principles behind fantasy machinery who was I to say. It didn't have enough of the relationship between Alexia and Conall's chemistry doesn't seem as strong as it was in Soulless. It is that lack of connection, and an absence from each other, as much as the mysterious humanizing force un-supernaturalizing all paranormal creatures within a certain zone that leads to the book's climax and major cliffhanger. The absence does serve to strengthen Alexia's independence; she is no weak female to be rescued by a big strong werewolf. She saves him as much as her does her.
Blameless opens with Alexia well and truly up a creek having been turned out, she is forced back to return to the bosom of her self-centered, unintelligent, and unloving family. She quits them to move in with the one person England now sees as more outrageous than she has been painted, her friend Lord Akeldama, except he has mysteriously disappeared. As she is attacked by poisonous mechanical ladybugs she realizes she is no longer under the protection of the wolf pack, must leave England and seek information on her condition and how it is possible. She and her secretary, and her very loyal friend Madame Lefoux, fly through France to get to Italy. In the meantime Conall is soused, and is sobered up by fighting a challenger and by his Beta. He comes to his senses and realizes Alexia would never have betrayed him as he has accused her. He sets off after her.
I have never been in Alexia's condition, having to sell her belongings to travel, in danger and rejected, I am amazed she is not thoroughly self-pitying and depressed. I sure as heck know that any spouse of mine would have so much groveling to do that he would benefit from the purchase of knee pads. I was quite angry for the humiliation and danger his mis-trust and stupidity caused Alexia and her condition.
Fast paced, and yet with a lot of the adventure not truly advancing the plot but keeping us busy as the trio make their way through France and over the Alps, a ridiculous incarceration with the intention of dissection with the Templars who have been painted throughout fantasy literature as both good and evil, leads the book to its exciting culmination.
But, I did not feel this book strengthened the series. Still in a league of its own, I thought this book lacked the wit, direction and emotional connections that had made the first to so lively and engrossing. This felt a bit like marking time. And, so I will eagerly await the next book hoping it is a bit stronger than Blameless. It is likely Miss Carriger was under pressure to finish Blameless in a hurry, and that pressure somewhat dulled her normal super-shiny brilliance. Who knows why things like this happen. I would strike not quite two points off my non-existent five-point scale. That would leave us around three-and-a-half points over all, about two for romance, four-ad-a-half for characters, four for plot. Well worth your time but don't expect the same degree of intensity as with Soulless.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Halloween Libation
Image via Wikipediafrom
Dylan's Candy Bar
Unwrap Your Sweet Life
Written by Dylan Lauren
EXCERPT
Dylan’s Candy Bar Vampire Cosmo
1 serving
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
Red sugar (“Pucker Powder”) or a cherry Pixy Stix
1½ ounces (3 tablespoons) vodka
¾ ounce (1½ tablespoons) triple sec
¾ ounce (1½ tablespoons) cranberry juice
Ice cubes
Glassware: cosmopolitan glass
Garnish: wax fangs http://www.tootsie.com/products.php?pid=170
Dip the rim of a cosmo glass into the lime juice and then dip again into the cherry-flavored colored sugar.Pour the vodka, triple sec, cranberry juice, and lime juice into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well. Strain into the glass and attach the wax fang to the rim.
Okay, this looks pretty cool from a celebrate Halloween point of view. I love a cosmo and the cherry powder promises to make this a little sweeter, which is my taste. And. you could play with your wax fang garnish. If the rest of the recipes are this much fun the book would be a great holiday gift for a candy-lover.
Dylan is designer. Ralph Lauren's daughter.
Kristen Stewart Takes It All Off & Talks Breaking Dawn
Our little girl is all grown up? And. Stripping?
Where did we go wrong?
Telling Moviefone all about how she prepared for the role in Welcome to the Rileys with James Gandolfini. What she can't wait for...
What her favorite vampire movie is.
And here on Access Hollywood about finding Bella's inner vampire.
So, readers.
No Twilight Happenings, no True Blood goings on. No good gossip about our faves.
What have you got gossipy to share? I am dying for some good dish!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
The Ridiculous & The Somewhat Less Ridiculous
If "Add This" is interfering with link use http://tinyurl.com/23b5ug2
The contest ends on 11/8 if I get to 500 but will continue later than that if I have bot.
Eternal Pleasure
Nina Bangs
Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 442 KB
Print Length: 308 pages
Publisher: Leisure (January 21, 2009)
Free Download 9/4/2010
Read 9/16/2010-9/21/2010 (exact date unknown)
Publisher's Marketing Copy: The Eleven—an alliance of ultimate predators. Primal, lethal, irresistible. The Prophecy—an ancient Mayan prediction that the world will end on 12-21-12. The Prey—where can you hide from pure evil? Kelly Maloy opens her car door to much more than a great looking stranger at the Houston airport. Terror, desire, and a horrible truth climb in with him. She’s only supposed to drive Ty Endeka around the city for a few weeks. Too bad no one tells her that once day fades she’ll become part of a battle fought in the darkened streets with an enemy that isn’t human. And the sensual man who feeds her fantasies hides a soul that gives new meaning to animal magnetism. Eleven Gods of the Night… The only creatures more deadly are the ones they’ve been summoned to destroy. /span>
Well, what's this? Souls reincorporated into bodies; strong, fighting, intelligent souls in hot, human, male bodies. Raised after sixty-five million tears by some kind of telepathic, telekinetic, powerful, super-being to fight the forces of other sixty-five million year-old, raised, super-beings who are evil. Okay, get this the guys change into their prior form to fight. And their names have been shortened by the name of their prior beings scientific species name. Oh, and this is before the end of the next world cycle on 12/12/2012. A bit of cashing in on the whole 2012 end of the world scare. I haven't been this scared since 1999. Honestly, this kind of fear mongering annoys me even more when people are trying to make money off it. Even if it were real what could we do about it. We all face the end of our lives all the time and would be well-served to remember our mortality but to march out the ancients' stone tablets and scare the bejeepers out of people with it is sad. Maybe they are wrong, maybe the carver or scientists died and couldn't write/carve on, maybe here as a regime change, maybe they ran out of stone tablets... They didn't predict or stop the end o their own culture, did they?
So, the name of our romantic lead male character is Ty, guess what it has been shortened from. C'mon, on guess.... Tyronne, Tyree. Tye dye? How about TYRANNOSAURUS REX. Yep, the reincarnated re-embodied souls are those of dinosaurs. DINOSAURS. At one point the main female lead-character asks the human form dinos if they'd like to go to the museum of natural history to visit their friends.
So, ridiculous right? Yup, these guys, the Eleven, have to save the world from the bad resurrectees, the Nine. But, the guy who is the good kingpin is apparently hiding a deeper past from the other guys. A past Ty gets glimpses of. Okay, the chick is a musician, getting an MFA in performance or something. She mostly plays the flute and according to the kingpin, her special, improvised music is what destroys the bad guys and saves the world.
Okay, like I said, the ridiculous and the somewhat less so. Less ridiculous is the involvement of werewolves and vampires, and of course saying that werewolves and vampires ae lss fantastic than human-dinosaurs is a strange thing to posit. But, could I put this "ridiculous" book down? Nope, I read it up and down the west coast. The writing was very energetic, staccato, rapid-fire, machine gun like. The relationships were spontaneous and inexplicable but for some reason I couldn't put the book down.
Could the relationship between Ty and Kelly survive? Will they live happily ever after? I must say that Ty's character sees some good growth from prehistoric male to modern sensitive guy with a protective temper. You might be captivated by this most ridiculous and yes, original, story. In fact this was one of the most original premises for a story I have ever come upon. Yup, I finished it though. Sometimes the ridiculous is what we need. Like the coyote or clown in tribal cultures silly things can highlight what really counts: love, loyalty, courage.
I don't know if that was Bangs aim or goal, I don't think that is what I really got, but like I have said, I finished it and I remembered it. There aren't a lot of "stupid" stories about which I can say that.
Free or cheap it's a fun read.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
NEW CONTEST! 500 by 50 (followers/age)
Contest closed - winners as soon as my power retrns.
This week I went to some local clothing stores feeling more than usually plump due to having eaten the entire province of British Columbia and most of the US Pacific Northwest. But I feel, the need for something new to wear to my mega-fiftieth-birthday (all gluten free) party. In thinking about it I wish I had just had some close friends over. But, a few years ago I threw a super mega for my husband. I am waiting for whatever humiliation he will come up with to heap on me. I used his 5th grade autobiography so I know, payback is gonna be a bee-yotch.
But I have a goal of having five hundred followers of this blog by the time I turn fifty (Ouch that word hurts!). To help me get there, I am having a contest that will end on November 8, unless I don't have 500 by then. If I do not have the five hundred GFC followers by then I will continue until I do. If I have five hundred by my actual evil birthday (Nov. 3) I will add my pre-read copy of Eat, Prey, Love to the prizes. If by some miraculous intervention I were to get to five hundred fifty by the November 8 deadline I will add a second prize spot (US or Canada only) with a prize to be determined later. There will also be an international prize component regardless of contest ending quantity which will end at the same time as the domestic contest and which is open to any eligible person living in a country to which Book Depository ships for free to qualify. See if it does here: (http://www.bookdepository.com/help/topic/HelpId/26/Free-delivery-worldwide-as-standard#helpContent). The international prize will be books up to $20 from Book Depository. It can be any combo of books costing no more than $20.00 US qualifying for free shipping to your country. Whew
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE A FOLLOWER TO ENTER OR WIN. IT IS KIND OF THE IDEA BEHIND THE CONTEST THAT I GET FOLLOWERS AND WHILE I WOULD BE REALLY HAPPY IF YOU DID FOLLOW I AM NOT SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO COERCE YOU INTO IT!
Enter once for the good old, regular entry. THEN:
I will give one bonus entry up to three for tweets spaced at least a day apart. PLEASE FILL OUT A SEPARATE FORM FOR EACH EXTRA ENTRY WITH LINK (No link no bonus entry). TWEETS please use the following copy:
CONTEST Fangs, Wands & Fairy Dust 500 followers by 50 years Int. http://tinyurl.com/23b5ug2 18 or older
CONTEST NOW CLOSED. Thanks for your interest. New giveaway for Tyger Tyger later this week.
The Prizes, Domestic, at this time:
To one winner: US or Canada Only
1. Medium LL Bean Open Top Tote Bag, your choice of color and handle size - must be available (these bags were recently in Redbook and also Martha Stewart Living magazines. They are infinitely versatile and durable. More information on LL Bean Tote Bag, with color availability: TOTE BAG be sure to click Medium Bag Tab.
2. One copy each, True Blood Comics 1, 2 and 3 (cover B); read once, as pictured below;
3. One copy of the Rolling Stone Magazine featuring True Blood stars on the cover as pictured below.
This week I went to some local clothing stores feeling more than usually plump due to having eaten the entire province of British Columbia and most of the US Pacific Northwest. But I feel, the need for something new to wear to my mega-fiftieth-birthday (all gluten free) party. In thinking about it I wish I had just had some close friends over. But, a few years ago I threw a super mega for my husband. I am waiting for whatever humiliation he will come up with to heap on me. I used his 5th grade autobiography so I know, payback is gonna be a bee-yotch.
But I have a goal of having five hundred followers of this blog by the time I turn fifty (Ouch that word hurts!). To help me get there, I am having a contest that will end on November 8, unless I don't have 500 by then. If I do not have the five hundred GFC followers by then I will continue until I do. If I have five hundred by my actual evil birthday (Nov. 3) I will add my pre-read copy of Eat, Prey, Love to the prizes. If by some miraculous intervention I were to get to five hundred fifty by the November 8 deadline I will add a second prize spot (US or Canada only) with a prize to be determined later. There will also be an international prize component regardless of contest ending quantity which will end at the same time as the domestic contest and which is open to any eligible person living in a country to which Book Depository ships for free to qualify. See if it does here: (http://www.bookdepository.com/help/topic/HelpId/26/Free-delivery-worldwide-as-standard#helpContent). The international prize will be books up to $20 from Book Depository. It can be any combo of books costing no more than $20.00 US qualifying for free shipping to your country. Whew
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE A FOLLOWER TO ENTER OR WIN. IT IS KIND OF THE IDEA BEHIND THE CONTEST THAT I GET FOLLOWERS AND WHILE I WOULD BE REALLY HAPPY IF YOU DID FOLLOW I AM NOT SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO COERCE YOU INTO IT!
Enter once for the good old, regular entry. THEN:
I will give one bonus entry up to three for tweets spaced at least a day apart. PLEASE FILL OUT A SEPARATE FORM FOR EACH EXTRA ENTRY WITH LINK (No link no bonus entry). TWEETS please use the following copy:
CONTEST Fangs, Wands & Fairy Dust 500 followers by 50 years Int. http://tinyurl.com/23b5ug2 18 or older
CONTEST NOW CLOSED. Thanks for your interest. New giveaway for Tyger Tyger later this week.
The Prizes, Domestic, at this time:
To one winner: US or Canada Only
1. Medium LL Bean Open Top Tote Bag, your choice of color and handle size - must be available (these bags were recently in Redbook and also Martha Stewart Living magazines. They are infinitely versatile and durable. More information on LL Bean Tote Bag, with color availability: TOTE BAG be sure to click Medium Bag Tab.
2. One copy each, True Blood Comics 1, 2 and 3 (cover B); read once, as pictured below;
3. One copy of the Rolling Stone Magazine featuring True Blood stars on the cover as pictured below.
Cassandra Clare's CLOCKWORK ANGEL
The Infernal Devices Book One
Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 496 pages
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Simon & Schuster’s Children’s Division
Purchased 10/13/2010
Kindle Edition
Read 10/15/2010
How do you discuss, critically discuss, a book that is a legend before the uncorrected proof's ink has even dried? It would be so simple if I had disliked it and not found it an engrossing diversion between my home town and Vancouver. To be honest, I will enjoy any book that has the ability to make air travel these days less obnoxious, but, the book grabbed me right at the beginning with the shock of Tessa's brother delivering her, unwittingly, we believe, into the hands of women so heinous that damnation should, to them be considered a leniency. And the shocks continue on, with papier mache servants and flawed heroes.
I found the "clockwork angel" for which the story is named, a distraction as it performs just one time in the tale. I kept thinking, "But what about the clockwork angel?" But the idea of it, a trace from the world in which 16 year old Tessa finds herself to her family's past is the keyhole through which the plot flows.
With a cast of characters ranging from primitive robotic to eternal absurdity, from hero to villain and everywhere in between, we understand that the steam punk world is not so much about the magic of science as the science of magic. That is, if two magical beings mate the result is another being imbued with magic. When you bring science to alchemy in the industrial era you get steam punk. Evil awaits such unwarned innocence as the emigrating Tessa. Like a young foreigner being rolled by "helpful friends" she is forced to learn her ability in ignorance of what it is and what it could do. She is duped into knowing herself. When she is ultimately betrayed by the very person she should trust most, it is devastating to her and to us. She is the most sympathetic of characters. Innocent beyond the constructs of good or evil, she faces a lifetime of abuse, or one of usefulness to the gallant cause of the Nephilim Shadow Hunters some of whom treat her as a class of supernatural below their mixed angel/human genome.
Regular humans like, well I assume, like, you or I, are called mundanes and are of relatively little importance. So, what place do we take in the book? The best books involve their readers, right? If we become involved here we are of the lower class of beings. I am not so sure I like that. Maybe we are intended, because of our humanity to affect the noble nature of the Shadow Hunters. Otherwise who are we?
I have included the two video inserts above because, unless you have seen them, they do seem to give some insight into the story, and into the author's legitimacy as a writer. I hope you also find them of use.
I think the accouterments to the basic struggle between good and evil are less important to the story, with the exception of the two potential love interests, Will and Jem. Will is emotionally and psychologically a complete mess, the quintessential bad boy who women believe love will magically bring to heel. Jem is his counterpart, balanced and wise, but ill. They are best friends like brothers. If one could fuse them together they would make one incredibly awesome super nephilim. It is hard to say which guy the girl will choose, and it creates much tension throughout the second half of the story.
The next book in the series will give us some answers to the future of the characters in this well researched story, in which magic and machine face off in an archetypal battle twixt good and evil.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Loot!
These days you can-t swing an undead lycanthrope without hitting a Minion of Evil. They-re everywhere-TV, film, the basement-right behind you! It-s never been more important to know what you can do to keep them at bay. Garlic? silver bullets? holy water? torch-wielding mob?
From today-s foremost experts on nightmares-come-to-life, this indispensable guide identifies and describes mankind-s enemies-supernatural beasts, ghosts, vampires, serial killers, etc.-and unearths effective time-proven responses to each horrific threat.
* Separate fact from fiction, the deadly from the merely creepy.
* Learn when to stand your ground and when to run screaming for your life.
* Determine which monster-specific heroes to call and their likelihood of success.
* Consider your own potential as a Champion for Good, Conqueror of the Damned.
Whether we-re talking ancient vampire hunters or modern-day FBI profilers, it's good to know someone's got your back in the eternal struggle between Good and Evil. And this book, with over fifty illustrations, as well as commentary from luminaries like filmmaker John Carpenter, author Peter Straub, and the legendary Stan Lee, provides all the information and reassurance you need to sleep soundly at night. Just not too soundly. (Product description found on Amazon)
Here's a stupid question: How does Wes Craven get away with producing, directing and titling a film "My Soul to Take?" That is a recent book by Rachel Vincent. And, I hear the film is a train wreck of a horror story. Thank goodness I checked before I went to see it.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Reason to Travel & Enchanting the Lady (Review)
I am quite ambivalent about travel and, as much as I like to see the sites, shop new towns, go to museums and whatever non-adventure attractions a new locale offers, I am really a homebody who misses my cats and my own bed. Perhaps that is the reason I like really posh hotels, won’t fly coach over three hours and won’t go places without plumbing. Fortunately, my husband has so many air miles and hotel nights that, in comparison, the George Clooney character in Up in the Air looks like an amateur.
But, my point is that the only good thing about trips requiring long stints in planes, trains or other vehicles I am not driving, is the unfettered ability to read (well, unfettered except by battery capacity and the twenty minutes or so you have to turn off the electronic reading device). Book after book can be consumed and will hopefully taste better than airplane food.
So, here is what I was able to read while zipping out to and around the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia. By the way, it is really interesting to cross the Canada/US border by train, and the Vancouver airport and immigration services are the best I have ever found.
Read on vacation, 10/15 to 10/23
Clockwork Angel
Cassandra Clare
purchased
To Kill a Warlock
Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble
HP Mallory
Eternal Pleasure
Nina Bangs
Free Kindle download
Nightshade
Andrea Cremer
Blameless
Gail Carriger
Paperback (won from Just Another Book Blog)
Left in the car and finished on the way home from the airport
And, here is my first review. Others will be appearing over the next few days to weeks.
Enchanting The Lady
By Kathryne Kennedy
January 2008
Free Kindle Download 10/11
(still free 10/24)
(still free 10/24)
Read week of October 17
Brought up by her Aunt Gertrude and Uncle Oliver, Duchess of Honor Felicity May Seymour, Lady Stonehaven has lived a life believing she is so unremarkable that people sit on her thinking a seat is empty, servants fail to serve her, and in a society where nobility is conferred by how much magic you can conjure, she is believed not to have any. On the other side of the scale, lion shape-shifter, Baron Terence Blackwell knows he has no magic of his own but can sense a certain type of magic caused by stones called relics imbued with certain powers by Merlin. There were 13 or more relics. Some have been neutralized but several are still at large and they may endanger the Royal Family.
Terence smells a trace of relic magic on Felicity as she is brought to court for a test to prove she has enough magic to retain the family title and lands. The story unfolds as Terrence tries to get close to her to discern whether and why she is associated with relic-magic.
Kennedy builds a fascinating parallel London and Great Britain in a fairytale-not-quite-steam-punk (maybe fairy-punk?). Organic magic, more than alchemical machines is what turns the wheels. There is a huge amount of detail and depth imagined into this world; I think Kennedy could tell us the color of the second footman’s underwear.
Felicity’s character is well built with lots of detail. While she begins as an innocent maid, it turns out she is pretty eager and after a bit of plot becomes savvy. And, with a bit of coaxing she gets pretty sexy too. Terence has an agonizing sense of honor, a faithful sidekick and usually outwits the bad guys with flair. Can they get together, and can their relationship survive scandal and betrayal? You will really want them to be a couple and I feel a world this elaborately constructed deserves a series and probably, that is why there is one!
So, this should be a fluffy little book, right? But I feel it steps away from one genre to mix several and she does it well. The story is quite engaging, a bit hot, a bit dangerous, a bit prince-in-shining-armor.
Lots of fun, great magic, hot shape-shifting guys. Recommended!
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Where do you like to read? Blog Hop
I like to read anywhere, but bed, window seat comfy couch are favorites. That is this weeks question on the fab Book Bloggers Hop. Use this button to check it out and see where others like reading:
Yup I am back from our trip. Such a fast flight yesterday from Seattle to DC.
Saw a lot of Western Native American art. Learned about the spirits of the masks.
Learned a bit about Picasso. AND, read constantly. I got through five books. Now if I can just finish the reviews!
Seattle Museum of Art Features Quilleutes
 Image via Wikipedia |
| Hoh Valley, Olympic National Park, Oregon, USA |
A long time ago my husband and I went out to the Olympic peninsula. While we stayed in the sunniest town out there, Sequim, we did pass through Forks on our way to the Hoh Rain Forest. The Hoh Rain Forest is part of the amazingly diverse Olympic National park where you can go from glaciers to a beach in one day.
The Hoh Rain Forest looks much like the location of the "I know what you are" scene in Twilight. I actually believe in my heart that they start off in front of the visitor center. But, I doubt they allow vampires to rip trees out of the ground.
This comes up because I have spent the past week in Vancouver and Seattle. My oldest friend from college lives in Seattle and when we are on the west coast we always try to stop in. Mark took us to the Seattle Art Museum to see the Picasso exhibit but we did wander about the well-curated collection and came upon their great collection of Pacific North West tribes art. Well, I laughed and said, "Oh yeah I'm sure they have an exhibit including Twilight. " Well they do include it in the exhibit and discuss the "shape-shifting Werewolves" of the films and books. That is how far into culture our "silly little interest" in the world of paranormal literature has gone.
Sadly, I didn't run into any film shoots while up here.
So the exhibit at the museum did cause a stir in the press see http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012589090_quileute11m.html
and this from Art Daily: http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=39975
and Quileute Legends Exhibit Hosted at Seattle Art Museum Starting in August
It was definitely interesting and fun to see Twilight mentioned in this very serious art museum.
I really love the Pacific Northwest and I understand what drives people here. The cities are young, both in terms of US history and their populations. The cities seem willing to try new solutions. The Seattle Public Library opened in 2004 is a work of art and a marvel of technology all on its own. The weather is great! Vancouver is also great! I really love Canada.
If you can get to this area try to enjoy it for the many, many aspects it offers other than the "home" of the Twilight saga.
When this post appears, I will have just gotten home. I am currently waiting to board my first flight. Maybe Edward can just come by and give me a piggyback ride at full vampire speed!
Talk to you on the other side! I am doing the Crazy-for-books Book Bloggers Hop but will return follows and such Saturday.
For more about the filming of the first film in the saga, Twilight see the very informative Director's Notebook by director Catherine Hardwicke.
It was definitely interesting and fun to see Twilight mentioned in this very serious art museum.
 Image via Wikipedia |
| Seattle Museum of Art |
If you can get to this area try to enjoy it for the many, many aspects it offers other than the "home" of the Twilight saga.
When this post appears, I will have just gotten home. I am currently waiting to board my first flight. Maybe Edward can just come by and give me a piggyback ride at full vampire speed!
Talk to you on the other side! I am doing the Crazy-for-books Book Bloggers Hop but will return follows and such Saturday.
For more about the filming of the first film in the saga, Twilight see the very informative Director's Notebook by director Catherine Hardwicke.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Tyger, Tyger — GIVEAWAY SOON!
by Kersten Hamilton
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt /Clarion
Available November 15
320 pages
Reviewed originally in July
Received an advance review e-book
through NetGalley with the expectation that any review would be fair.
I first reviewed this book in July, and loved it. I think Kersten is a major talent. She is doing a giveaway the second week of November on this blog. So stay tuned for more details!
Teagan is a young woman with a plan that does not involve scary adventures and falling in love with any boy. Her plan is working at the zoo and studying hard to get into Cornell Veterinary Science program. The plan starts to go awry when her friend, Abby, has a dream about Teagan being attacked by goblins and then her “cousin” Finn moves in with their close and loving family. Despite the obvious attraction Teagan has a plan and it does not involve him. But, sometimes your plans go off the tracks and just getting back to normal, just getting back home, is all you can hope for.
Written with an edge I don’t normally see in Young Adult books, there is no surety of a happy ending in this tale. Adding to the edge is the mix of Teagan’s uncanny abilities to put animals and people back together and learning about her mother’s and cousin’s heritage as Irish Travelers, the hard way. Teagan has a very young brother with an eidetic memory, an amazing sense of direction and magic that he wields through song. The veterinary science and Irish Traveler angles are unique and creative.
There is some threat of violence, some actual violence, and a powerful relationship building between the two protagonists but no sexual innuendo other than asking for a kiss. The violence is mostly suggested and in self-defense.
I really liked how the author brought the book to its end; it got there properly. Too often I find endings occur because an author seems to lose interest or the thread of the story. This is not the case here. The book is well crafted and as a continuity freak I don’t recall anything that really glared at me. I felt the author constructed her fantasy world very carefully. Teagan and her brother accept the existence of the supernatural very quickly; but then they do get some empirical proof it would be hard to ignore.
The relationship between Teagan and Finn is one that is built on the need to trust and the deep feeling of rightness they feel together. They need each other to make it through the other world and there is no good witch to show them the way. Teagan and Finn are flawed; Teagan learns how flawed she is during their adventure. But they are good, mature and responsible teens without being goody-two-shoes.
Teagan’s brother, Aiden, plays a major role getting them through the magical wood they must survive to perform a rescue. Aiden and Teagan are close, but the real meat is the relationship between Teagan and Finn, and how they handle it.I really enjoyed reading this book – at 300 or so pages it is the perfect weekend read that will make you wish the rest of the series was already available.
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