Making up for Lost Time

Apparently June was my reread Nora Roberts month!  Yep, once I hauled myself out of my reading funk with Shelter in Place, it opened the floodgates for rereading all my favourite NR novels from the last few years.

Birthright, Black Hills, The Search, The Witness, The Obsession. . . and Come Sundown?  I don't know how that snuck in there, but I didn't hate rereading it so. . . ?

However, this was only the first stop in my rereading binge.  Next I moved onto Ilona Andrews and had so much fun reacquainting myself with her Hidden Legacy books as well as the delightful characters in the Innkeeper Chronicles  *sigh*  Then it was onto Anne Bishop's A Novel of the Others series as I devoured all 5 books in two days - as well as ordering book 6,  Lake Silence - so I will have the complete set. 

I think I've gotten the rereading urge out of my system (for the moment), and have moved on to some new reads.  Last night I read Sorcery & Cecelia by Patricia C. Wrede & Caroline Stevermer and found it to be a fun fantasy of manners book.  It's been sitting on my tbr shelves for at least 18 months, but I just haven't had the inclination to read it until yesterday.  So I struck while the iron was hot and read it while indulging by eating dinner in bed (yum!) and found it charming and sweet, in the nicest way possible.  Will definitely be looking for books 2 and 3 to add to my collection.

The weather here has been cooperating marvelously.  It's been very cold and foggy, with a couple of rainy days, which has lent itself to staying indoors and snuggling up on the couch with a couple of blankets - or making a nest in bed and whiling away the hours with a guaranteed comfort read, a couple of cats and a hot cup of tea.  Heavenly.

Anyway, that is all I have at the moment.  I need to get lunch in to oven so I'll say cheerio for now, and until I see you guys next time, 

 

Hey, I actually finished a book!

It's been a boring couple of weeks where I just have not had the inclination to pick up a book.  This does not happen often, but when it does, it's a real problem. Thankfully, my mum lent me her copy of Nora Roberts new book, Shelter in Place, and that did the trick.  Roberts is an almost guaranteed good read so... 'Thank You, Mum!'.

However, I only picked this up after finishing The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie.  I don't know what it was about this book, but it took me three reading sessions to get through this teeny, tiny, little book of 192 pages.  I know, right.  I've read three books in a day (1000+ pages worth) and done it again the next day!  Yet, trying to get through this Poirot was like pulling teeth.  Which is silly considering I actually liked it, and I can't wait to see the new BBC adapation.

Yes, April to mid June has just been the pits.

Thankfully it looks like that slumpy, grumpy, not-reading time is over and I've been enjoying rereading some old favourites which I will be talking about in my next video.

So until I see you next time,

 

November wrap up

Hello my lovelies!  I hope you are having a better day than I am.  It is quite chilly and pouring rain - in November! - when it usually is hot enough to fry an egg under the blistering Australian sun.  Don't get me wrong, I love this kind of weather... however, it is becoming clear that the weather has no idea what it is supposed to be doing ;-D

November has been quite a good reading month for me.  I've had a very very late order arrive, ticked a few more books off my TBR list, and bought a few more books in current series.  Favourite reads of the month so far have been White Hot and Wildfire by Ilona Andrews, as well as Hardcore 24 by Janet Evanovich (even though it didn't get a high rating from me).

Biggest dud was Come Sundown by Nora Roberts.  Can't believe how much this didn't enthuse me.  Perhaps it's because I loved Obsession (ignore the first 80 pages) and have reread that so many times since it was published.  Oh well, will keep my fingers crossed that Year One will redeem her in December.

I've managed to make my way through two more Agatha Christies.  Murder on the Orient Express and After the Funeral were quick and compelling reads.  Not my favourites, but not too shabby either.

Still have a lot of books sitting on my ever expanding TBR pile.  Still have to get around to Artemis and Vigil before the end of the year and am saving the Decameron for next years Big Book project.

I think that's about it.  I need to get off the computer as the storm has picked up and the rain in bucketing down.  Don't need to be online if the power craps out ;-D

So until I see you next time,

 

April Book Haul

April was a trying month.  In the middle of the month I ended up having surgery on my wrist, and about two and a half weeks later, without much improvement, I found myself sitting in the hospital's emergency room last Monday (waited 2 hours and froze in the air conditioning!), only to get some antibiotics and a referral to get an ultrasound done later in the week.  Results for that aren't in yet, but the guy doing the scan said there was no infection - awesome! - but I do have some keloid scarring happening... bummer.  Unfortunately this is almost as bad as the original symptoms and I'm hoping that massage and future physio might do the trick.  However, I digress as you probably don't want to hear about all that stuff, instead on to the book haul...

So with that in mind, it's perfectly understandable that I would turn to alternate forms of therapy to take my mind off the pain - and inconvenience of not even being able to do up my own bra! - with some retail therapy - and so I bought more books.  Bad, I know, but I was just so sore (and yes, bored), that I needed a pick-me-up.  However, I didn't expect it to be this problematic ;-D

Thankfully they didn't all arrive at once or else my mother, who stayed with me for nearly two weeks, would have had a conniption over all the parcels that the courier was bringing to my door.  As of the beinning of May I have read 9 out of the 15 - woo-hoo! - and I'm putting some aside for future reading as I'm just not in the mood for them now, but I do want to read them at some stage (i.e., The Black Tulip).

First book I read was The Casquette Girls, and I really enjoyed this paranormal YA book.  Was moody, atmospheric and had an interesting twist.  Could really see it being made into a movie, or TVM, as the New Orleans backdrop was amazing.

Next I went on to The Obsession by Nora Roberts.  It was pretty good, but not amazing.  Could have done with a 5 page prologue and not the nearly 80 pages we got, but the rest was pretty good.  She does write a good mystery/romance that you can read over and over again.

Then I thought I'd better start on my April #ayearofmarple challenge with A Murder is Announced.  Took me till the end of the month to finish it, but I got there.  Yeah, still isn't my favourite story, but won't be as bad as this month's offering, They Do It With Mirrors (which I really don't like).

After that, I sprinkled the week with my newly delivered Stephanie Laurens books - all three of them!  Yes, I totally caved and bought the first books in the Cynters Next Generation series.  I don't know why I did this.  Why did the author have to continue on with a new generation that will guarantee at least another 20 books!  I'll be needing a bookcase to devote just to her interconnected series by the time she's finished with them.  I enjoyed The Tempting of Thomas Carrick more than A Match for Marcus Cynster, and I was not all that fussed with By Winter's Light as the main romance between Daniel and Claire was overshadowed by the meeting of Lucilla and Thomas.

The Liar was an impulse buy as I'd enjoyed The Obsession.  But once again, I was feeling let down by the author as it was reminicent of other novels in her bibliography.  It felt like I was reading scenarios from her other books that had just been transfered into this novel after changing characters names and other descriptive info, etc.  Needed to revisit some older favourites to get the bad taste out of my mouth, so to speak.  Indeed, I spent some quality time with The Search, The Witness, Black Hills, and a couple of bowls of ice-cream over the next few days ;-P

Then Garden of Lies arrived and I was a happy little camper.  I have found these paranormal Victorian romance/mysteries quite entertaining.  This one was okay, but I think I'll have to give it a re-read to see if it was just my mood, or it really was just an pretty good story.  

And finally, the last book I read in April was the much anticipated Firebound, the second last book in the Sea Haven series.  I was hoping for a great book, but I didn't get that. Don't get me wrong, Firebound was pretty good, and it furthered the storyline along, but there were just too many inconsistancies and far fetched scenarios for me to be able to buy into the fantasy of it.  Will post a review in the near future discussing my thoughts on this series.

And so we come to the end of this mini wrap-up.  I can't believe I bought this many books in April, and actually finished so many of them as well.  Still awaiting a few more books, but thankfully I ordered those in the beginning of May, so they don't count ;-D

Hope you all had a fabulous reading month, and until next time,

Top 5 Wednesday - Re-reads

Where has the week gone?  It seems like it was just yesterday that I was posting last weeks Top 5.  Anyway, this week we are doing one of my favourite tags - the re-read.  I love re-reading books!  It's always fun to go back to a book you loved and fall in love with it all over again... which is why I am so surprised when I watch YouTube and see a majority of people don't re-read!  Yes, I know.  How can you not re-read a truly awesome book?  Anyhow, lets get on with this list...

   

 NORA ROBERTS STAND-ALONES

Yes, I do read Nora Roberts.  I particularly enjoy these two books, also I re-read The Search at least once or twice a year, but I just didn't have enough room to add the picture ;-D  I like most Nora Roberts books because there is a little bit of romance, some mystery, occasionally paranormal aspects, and they aren't overly violent (which is a nice change from time to time).  I find I read these books more in winter when I can snuggle up under a blanket on the couch with a hot cup of tea.

covers are made of that suede-y material that just doesn't seem to show damage!

 

 NAKED IN DEATH - J.D. ROBB

This is the first book in J.D. Robb's (aka Nora Roberts) massive In Death series - that will see the release of the 40th book in February next year!  These books are great to just chill out with when you're in a bit of a detective, slash mystery, mood.

 

 GUILD HUNTERS - NALINI SINGH

This is an amazing Urban Fantasy series!  See what the world could be like if Archangels were the apex predator.  I tend to read the first three books together, almost as if they were one bind up.  Can't recommend this series highly enough if you want something great to read that's not going to take 2 weeks, or you love those of the angelic persuasion ;-D

 

 STEPHANIE PLUM - JANET EVANOVICH

I love this series, and although the last 5 or so books have been less than stellar, I can't help but go back to Two for the Dough and Hot Six when I want something that's guaranteed to make me laugh ;-D

 

 WRITTEN IN RED - ANNE BISHOP

 I adore this book - and series - and as you can see from the photo I took of the spine this is a well read, and re-read, book ;-D

Just leaving a pic of the spine of some of my more well re-read books ;-D

Okay, so I promise that's me done for this weeks Top 5.  I hope you found something new to read, and if you want to find out more about this series, it was created by the lovely Lainey at GINGERREADSLAINEY and I'll include a link to the Goodreads group {here} if you would also like to participate.

 

If you have any questions, or comments, I'd love to hear from you... and you know what to do down below ;-D

So until next time,

 

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,