October 9, 2014

Top 5 Wednesday - Female Characters


Hi to all you booklovers out there.  Yes, it's that time again. Sorry this is a day late, but life - and a smart phone that looses all off your first draft - happens ;-D

Today I'm going to be discussing my Top 5 Female Character.  The Top 5 Wednesday series was created by the lovely Lainey at GINGERREADSLAINEY and I'll include a link to the Goodreads group if you would also like to participate {here}

Okay, on to my top 5 female characters.  This was a bit of a conundrum.  There are just so many fabulous heroines these days.  You have the funny girls, the kick-ass fighters, the smart and sexy ones, girls next door, women who overcome all the odds, magical odd-bods, loners or down righ evil villains.  Just how do you narrow your list down to just 5?  Well I did, and here they are;


 
Meg Corbyn

Meg is on a journey of self discovery.  She is sweet and smart, innocent and worldly.  I love the growth that I have seen this character, as well as her influence on those around her.  Can't wait to see what Meg is like when she is complete ;-D



Kate Daniels

Ever bookshelf needs a kick-ass character, and Kate Daniels is one of mine.  Tough and smart, she is a hiding a powerful legacy.  Surrounded by magic, shapeshifters and awakening Gods, Kate is more at home swinging a sword than shooting a gun {and she couldn't hit the side of a barn if she tried!}.  A fast and fantastic read, I revisit Kate and Co. when I need a pick me up.


 
Elena Devereaux

All of our characters have undergone some sort of change, but Elena's is the most obvious.  Once mortal, now a part of the angelic throng, Elena is a smart, strong and tenaciously loyal woman.  I love the Guild Hunter series, and often go back and visit the world of Elena and her Archangel mate.



Merry Gentry/Anita Blake

With all the women in fiction to choose from to fill my next spot I know some people will be surprised at my inclusion of Anita Blake.  I have ranted in the past about the direction the series is headed in - as well as Anita's moral compass - but I have included her here, with Merry Gentry, because not all the most memorable characters are perfect.  It is often those with flaws or fault that capture our hearts the most.  Merry and Anita are those characters for me.  Loyal, smart, powerful and complicated, they are each oh so memorable.



Lt. Eve Dallas

Life for Eve started out bad.  Abused from a young age - and with amnesia to boot - she was left to flounder, alone, in the foster system.  Years later she has turned her life around and is a dedicated servant of the law.  But the case on which we first encounter Eve is the one that will open the memories of her past, just as it puts the man of her dreams in her future.

Lt. Dallas is one of the best female characters you could ever hope to read.  Loyal and dedicated, intelligent and intuitive.  I have laughed and cried, railed at injustice with her and applauded her courage.  J.D. Robb (aka Nora Roberts) has developed a female protaganist who embodies everything you want in your heroine - and it doesn't hurt that she's married to a gorgeous, sexy Irish multi-billionaire either ;-D


I would also like to include some honourable mentions, these are female characters I love but they just didn't make it into my top 5;

Aurora Teagarden, Mercy Thompson, Kaylin Neya, Diana Bishop, Stephanie Plum {a real shock there}, Lula, Elizabeth Bennett, Jaenelle Angeline, Alexia Tarabotti, Emma Donohoe, to name a few.




So I hope you enjoyed my Top 5 Female Characters.  Have questions or comments?  Leave me a message down below, you know what to do ;-D

Until next time,
 

October 8, 2014

My Big Fat (EPIC) September Book Haul


OMG!  I have spent soooo much money over the last month on books.  Really, I need help... mmm, perhaps some free ARC's would help {hint, hint ;-D}.  Anyway, my postie has been a regular visitor to my place and today she dropped off the last of my September orders.

New to the party is Booktopia, where I've had two recent orders thanks to no P&H specials {always a plus}.  They have a great range of books and some truly amazing bargains (The Demon King was only $3.35!).


Literary Lusts - Stella Hyde
Oscar Wilde Biography - Jeff Nunokawa/Amy Sickels
The Demon King - Cinda Williams Chima
Love Letters of Great Women - edited by Ursula Doyle
The Spellman Files - Lisa Lutz




  Another Book Depository order fulfilled

The Miniaturist - Jessie Burton {this has the most gorgeous cover}
Wickedly Dangerous - Deborah Blake
Copper Beach - Jayne Ann Krentz
Demon Child - Kylie Chan ---- still not published yet!!!!!!
Slightly Shady / Don't Look Back / Late for the Wedding - Amanda Quick
The Hot Zone - Jayne Castle
A Matter of Magic - Patricia C. Wrede
When Day Breaks - Maya Banks {for mum}


and today's mail brought me the items I'd been waiting for from Basement Books;

Unbreakable - Kami Garcia
Replica - Jenna Black
Wayfarer - C.E. Murphy
A Cook in Time - Joanne Pence
Vanished in the Night - Eileen Carr
The City's Son - Tom Pollock

 Then on the home front I went and raided all the shops that had even a hint of a book section...

Local discount chain store

different local discount chain store (4 for $10)

Big W (box set $30, others $12 ea)

local grocery store

local bookshop (3 for $14.95)

Big W bargain books $3.47 ea
And sadly this is still not all the books as I was given Dorothy Must Die by my mother.  

So much reading to do with the 20 plus other books I've bought locally (above pics) - I'm not even going to go into all the books I've bought from the local charity shops in September - and then there was the big Bookarama Booksale at the Town Hall where I bought about 45 books.  Then yesterday what did I do?... I went and ordered some books from Book Outlet.  Thankfully they were so cheap (for hardcovers) that I didn't mind paying the outrageous postage.  Luckily I managed to snag the last copy of Queen of Kings, as well as hardcovers of

First Grave on the Right / Second Grave on the Left / Third Grave Dead Ahead - Darynda Jones
River of No Return - Bee Ridgway
Quiver - Holly Luhning {paperback only I'm sorry to say}

I'm so happy with the books that I've got heading my way, but as with all book addictions, as soon as my shopping cart was empty I was in there refilling it with books I'll get next time.  Why aren't books cheaper so I can afford to get the all? ;-D
In the meantime, I hope you've found something fabulous to put on your bookshelves and until next time,