Tag Archives: tbr

Books, so many books! Recent buys and books to be reviewed

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Inspired by this post by need-tea with all its pretty pictures of books, I thought I’d show you pictures of books I have bought in the past month.. Some of these I have posted on twitter, but not here.

Crown Duel and Court Duel by Sherwood Smith: I have read (and own) this duology (I also have the eBook!), but I don’t ever see the hard cover versions of the books where they are actually separate. Plus they were $1 each at a library sale in Kennebunkport, ME. Soo… I have rescued them.  Consider this post as evidence of my book addiction!

Speaking of library sales and books I’ve already read.. there was a 5 paperbacks for a dollar sale at my local library, and I couldn’t resist getting copies of old-school versions of books I already own: Beauty by Robin McKinley (with $1 B&N sticker still on it!), War For the Oaks by Emma Bull, and Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones. Linnets and Valerians by Elizabeth Goudge was an impulse buy based on its cover. I actually can’t remember what I got as book #5..

.. but I think it was this Kristan Higgins book, Fools Rush In. In another used bookstore I got me some Jennifer Crusie since I haven’t read anything but Bet Me. I bought Charlie All Night and Manhunting there.

Speaking of used bookstores, I got the above in AZ used bookstores. Gentleman Takes a Chance by Sarah Hoyt, The Goblin Wood by Hilari Bell, Amazon Ink by Lori Devoti, and Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale.

And then I just bought stuff online, like these two British Chick Lit books, From Notting Hill With Love.. Actually by Ali McNamara and Chasing Daisy by Paige Toon (unfortunately I am not loving them now that I started them, but that’s another post).

And more stuff bought online. Oh Bookcloseouts and your sales! Feeling Sorry For Celia by Jaclyn Moriarty, Hero by Perry Moore,  The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting, Need by Carrie Jones, Mistwood by Leah Cypress, Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer by Laini Taylor (not included because I’m reading it and forgot to put it on the pile is Coronets and Steel by Sherwood Smith).

And even more stuff bought online. Kitty Goes to War by Carrie Vaughn, Stealing Heaven by Elizabeth Scott, Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty, As You Wish by Jackson Pearce, Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride, Dull Boy by Sarah Cross, and Pink by Lili Wilkinson.  Hmm, I’ve been buying lot more YA than I used to!

These pictures do not include the few ebooks I have also downloaded.. *shifty eyes*.

Oh so my to-be-reviewed list is long now. It’s killing meeee. Yes, I don’t have to review everything I read. But! I want to.

I am also considering reviewing these but they didn’t leave much of an impression, so I might not:

Book Sale Haul (2)

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Yup, I have the book buying sickness. I went to the Greenwich Library book sale this weekend. Greenwich, CT  is about 15 minutes away yet I managed to get lost, ha ha. But it was all worth it – I got 6 books for $5. It was $2 per hardcover, $1 for trade paperback, but 50 cents for “kids”, and apparently YA counts as kids. I wasn’t going to question it.

  1. The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen
  2. Crazy for You by Jennifer Crusie
  3. The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
  4. Eon by Alison Goodman
  5. Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta
  6. Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King

Quite a few are discarded library books. I have saved them!

Book Sale Haul

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I don’t usually do posts about books received in a week, but since I scored very nicely this weekend at a library book sale, I thought I’d show my spoils. Greenburgh Library hosted an annual book sale with paperbacks for 50 cents, trade paperbacks for $1, and hardcovers for $2.

Although I already read Song of Scarabaeus, I bought another copy. I felt like I needed to “save” it.. I held myself back from also saving a copy of Tithe by Holly Black and War for the Oaks by Emma Bull. Also bought: Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer, Rampant by Diana Peterfreund, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart, Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey (I may already own this book.. TBR is getting to that point), A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn, Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork, and Midwinter by Matthew Sturges. Total for this pile = $9, all bought on Saturday.


I may have gone to the White Plains Library on Sunday and checked out their book sale area and bought these three for a dollar. Warlord’s Daughter by Susan Grant is SFR. I will check it out. Kiss of Death and Fade Out by Rachel Caine are from the Morganville Vampire series that I need to catch up on. Usually quick reads, although I’m beginning to wonder when this series is ever (?) going to end.

Then I MAY have gone BACK to the Greenburgh library sale. And they had a buy 4 paperbacks, get 5th free deal on Sunday, so I just HAD to get 5.. for $2. And one TPB for $1. Mercy Blade by Faith Hunter (I’m wary because I got tired of her Rogue Mage series after book 2, but I hear her UF is very different and good), Irreversible by Liz Maverick (mostly because I just want to get to all the Shomi books one day, this is the sequel to Wired which I’ve already read), Crocodile on the Sandbank and The Curse of the Pharaohs, by Elizabeth Peters (recommended by the Book Smugglers. Wish the books indicated what the book order was), To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis (recommended by calico_reaction), and A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb (recommended by everybody).

So in total, 17 books for $13. Not bad!

By the way, do people know about BookSaleFinder.com? It’s this website (US & Canada only I’m afraid) where you can look up whether there are any book sales in your area. I am signed up with their Sale Mail which emails me once a week about sales near my zip code. Usually I do not go, but it’s nice to know I could. You know.. in case the TBR mountain range needs more friends.

Mini-break pictures and additions to the TBR

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I was in Arizona last week. I saw a double rainbow in Sedona:

And a dust storm in Phoenix:

I also saw my little brother graduate with honors. Imagine. This kid now has a masters and everything:

It was a nice week, but vacation wise, very short (2 days) because I have deadlines with work as usual. But what vacation I had was awesome, and much food was consumed.

During the trip I made my annual/semi-annual pilgrimage to my Book Mecca – Bookmans. We went to the Phoenix Bookmans, which is a branch I’ve never been to before. I have to say, they have the best selection of any of the branches I’ve been to so far. I love how there was an urban fantasy/paranormal romance section separate from the Speculative Fiction section.

Also, I may have spied on what other people were picking up and may have gushed when I found someone holding onto N.K. Jemisin’s The Broken Kingdoms. I may have told them that the book was really good and that I can’t wait for book 3. Then I may have slunk off.

I  got:

  • The City of Pearl and Crossing the Line by Karen Traviss – These buys are a result of positive reviews by fellow book blogger, calico reaction. The first three books(it may be 6 books?) in this science fiction series with a female protagonist has received 8s and 9s (out of 10) from her along with comments about “devouring this puppy in two days”.  Sold, I tell you.
  • Tangled Up in Blue by Joan D. Vinge – This continues the story after The Snow Queen and The Summer Queen, and I think I’m going to use it as an excuse to reread those books.
  • A Madness of Angels by Kate Griffin – I bought this because I have book 2 The Midnight Mayor and book 3, The Neon Court thanks to Orbit, and I’ve been interested in the premise (a protagonist who is a sorcerer in London, and who is resurrected? Want!)
  • Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison – I’ve been off paranormal romance for a little while now, but I heard SUCH good things about this one (by people who were also off paranormal romance), I thought I’d make an exception. I’ve read it now, and may review it sometime soon, but I ended up not really loving it as much as I’d hoped to.

When I got home to NY, there were more books (and a DVD) waiting for me:

Beast is a graphic novel I bought because.. well I love Beauty and the Beast. This promises to have really great art and a story that’s not so much a retelling as it is based on the fairytale, and I hear that the ending is ambiguous.

My husband sneakily bought me a copy of Jane Eyre on Blu-Ray. I think I shall keep him.

I bought A Weekend with Mr. Darcy by Victoria Connelly, and Personally, I Blame My Fairy Godmother by Claudia Carroll, through Bookcloseouts. Both are due to my weaknesses: for deals at Bookcloseouts, and for anything to do with modern day Jane Austen related stories or fairytale retellings. A Weekend with Mr. Darcy has a male regency romance writer who has fallen for a Janeite, and Personally, I Blame My Fairy Godmother is a modern Cinderella homage.

All These Things I’ve Done by Gabrielle Zevin was sent to me by the publisher for review. This is a young adult story with a teen who is the daughter of a mobster and who may be falling in love with the son of the District Attorney. And it’s set in 2083!

AND…


Somebody very awesome nominated this blog for the Best Speculative Fiction Book Blog! Whoever you are that nominated me,  thank you. It is very happy-making that someone out there thought of my blog as being a contender as best (!!) in that category. I am very grateful and I’m BASKING in being nominated. I did send the BBAW administration 5 links, but my thought is “maybe more people will find my blog”, rather than having high hopes of winning. I have a lot of respect for other book bloggers and whoever wins, I don’t doubt that they deserved it, but whether you were nominated or not, and win or not, there there are a lot of very hard working people that spend their personal time and energy reading and reviewing. That is pretty cool, and I’m happy that these people exist. Here’s to you.

Series

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OK I posted about series I was in the middle of here in July 2007. This is the updated list with edits in blue. Some things have changed, many have not:

 

1) Wen Spencer - need to start book 4 of 4 in the Ukiah Oregon series

2) Wen Spencer – need to start book 2 of 2? maybe in the Tinker series – done!

3) Patricia Briggs – read 2 3 out of 7(!!), in the Mercy Thompson series

4) Kim Harrison – need to start book 3 of ??? in the Hollows series

5) Rachel Caine – need to start book 3 of ?? in the Weather Warden series

6) Rachel Caine - read 2 3 of ?? in the Morganville Vampires series

7) Dawn Cook – need to start book 2 of 4 in the Truth series

8) Kat Richardson – need to start book 2  3 of ?? (3 so far) in the Greywalker series

9) Faith Hunter - need to start book 2  3 of ?? (3 so far) in the Rogue Mage series

10) Michelle Sagara – read 2 3 of ?? (5 so far) in the Cast in series (book 4 will be out October 2008)

11) Garth Nix – started reading his Keys of the Kingdom series (book 1). Waiting for book 7 of 7 to go through it since its fast reading. YA.

12) Anne Bishop – I read book 1 of her Ephemera series (prob a trilogy), not really interested in continuing. Maybe.

13) Mindy Klasky - Need to read book 4 of 5 in her Glasswright series.

14) Moira J. Moore – Need to read book 2 3 of ?? (around 4 so far) in her Hero series

15) Anne Bishop – Read her Jewels trilogy, need to read her 2 other books from this world (continuations?) - Dreams made Flesh, Tangled Webs..

16) Sharon Shinn – Read book 1 of her Twelve Houses series.. not sure if I want to read 2 and 3 out of ??.

17) Karen Chance – Read book 2 of ?? in her Shadows series.

18) S. L. Viehl - need to start book 1 4 of 8 so far in her Stardoc series

19) Marie Brennan – Reading book 2 of 2 in her Doppleganger duology (I think)  done!

20) Louise Rennison – Read book 2 of ?? (7 so far) in her Georgia Nicolson series

21) Casey Daniels – Read book 2 of ?? (at least 3 so far).. in her Pepper Martin series. Probably will not continue. gave up!

22) Ilona Andrews – Read book 1 2 of  2  ??? so far of her Magic series

23) Lilith Saintcrow – Read book 2 3 of 5 in her Dante Valentine series

24) Karin Lowachee – Read book 1 of 3 in her series, will continue eventually.

25) Katie MacAlister – Read up to book 3 of her Aisling Grey, Guardian series, not really interested in continuing. gave up!

26) Janet Evanovich - Read book 1 of … ??? 13 so far in her Stephanie Plum series. Not interested in continuing. gave up!

27) MaryJanice Davidson – Read book 1 of ?? in her Undead series

28) Holly Black – Read book  3 of 3 in her Modern Faery Tale series.  done!

29) Kristen Britain – Read book 2 of 3 (I think) in her Green Rider series.. Not really into it.. may finish though.

30) Ellen Schreiner – Read book 2 of ??  of her Vampire Kisses series  gave up!

31) Sophie Kinsella – Read book 2 of ?? (5 so far) of her Shopaholic series

32) Kelley Armstrong – Read book 1 of ?? (8 so far) of her Otherwold series

33) Stephenie Meyer – Read book 1 of ?? (3 so far) of her series

34) Clare B. Dunkle – Read book 1 of 3 in her Hollow Kingdom series

 

New:

35) Patricia Briggs – Read book 1 of ??? in her Anna and Charles series

36) Nalini Singh - need to start 4 of ?? (5 so far) in her Psy Changling series

37) Shanna Swendson - need to start book 3 of 4 in her Katie Chandler series

38) Jasper Fforde – Read book 1 of ?? in his Thursday Next series

39) Jeri Smith Ready – need to finish book 2 of 3 (I think) in her Aspect of Crow series

40) Jeri Smith Ready – Read book 1 of ?? in her vampire DJs series

41) Patricia Briggs – Read book 2 of 2 in her Hurog series – done!

42) Maria V. Snyder – Read book 3 of 3 in her Study series – done!

43) Liz Berry – Read 2 of 2 in Connections duology – done!

44) Ann Agguire – Read 2 of 4 (so far) of her Jax series

45) Jocelyn Drake – Read 1 of ?? in her Nightwalker series

46) Jennifer Estep – Read 3 of ?? in her Bigtime series

47) Ally Carter – Read 2 of ?? (3 so far) in her Gallager Girl series

48) C. E. Murphy – Read 1 of ?? (3?) in her Negotiator series

49) C. E. Murphy – Read 1 of ?? (3?) in her Walker Papers series

50) Kelley Armstrong – Read 1 of ?? in her Nadia Staffor series

51) Tate Hallaway – Read 2 of ?? (3 so far) in her Garnet Lacey series

Looking at this list: Wow, I feel so tired!!  I really need to finish off some series before I can start another. I have the rest of certain series just lying in my TBR mountain. Ahhhhhhhhh. I wish more series weren't just "open-ended" without a set number of books expected…

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!

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Goodreads

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Ok, I had a goodreads account for a while but there was nothing in it. I just put all the books I had in my paperbackswap lists in there so now it has the books read in the past 2 and a half years and the up to date TBR. Vox lets me put a goodreads widget on my sidebar but LJ does not. Oh well.

 

 

http://a7.vox-data.com/6a00cd96f8411f4cd500fa9681f92f0003-html

 

Cut down my TBR by ten in the past couple of days – I just took out some books I didn't think I was ever going to read.

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Off the TBR

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The TBR needs to go down, so I'm being stern with myself. I know I'm never going to pick these books up and finish them, so may as well take them off. TBR will be at 130 without them. I also took off a travel book (it's a reference book, why is it there? and a book the fiance asked me to get which I'll never read).

Note about amazon thing from before – I know that the book pictures I have link to Amazon. That's the way vox works. Contemplating what I want to do about that.

Howling Moon (A Tale of the Sazi, Book 4)
Howling Moon (A Tale of the Sazi, Book 4)
C. T. Adams

I read about 100 pages in, skimmed the rest. Lets call this a did not finish – was not my bag, baby. I got this book with a bunch of other urban fantasy. It's book 4 of a series, but you don't have to have read the other books to understand this. It's a story of a Sazi (shapeshifters) couple – Raphael, a wolf and Cat – who just got bitten and is a jaguar.  Raphael is supposed to be teaching Cat about being a shapeshifter. They have to deal with a bunch of people in the Pack who aren't happy (just sounds like poor leadership), and there is a psycho Sazi who turned Cat. For some reason dealing with the psycho is complicated even though everyone knows who he is. The writing is ok, but I didn't really care about the characters and the world, and the story dragged.

 

 

 

 

Prep: A Novel
Prep: A Novel
Curtis Sittenfeld

This was just a downer. Loner kid joins prep school. Learns about life. Life is hard. I couldn't take it. I can smell when a book is just out there for angst's sake. I was pretty sure the ending will be something like: and nothing happened; the end. The writing was good, but I had zero interest after 5 pages. I skimmed – yup, angst, nothing happens, the end. My life is angst enough, so I avoid it in books if I can. I may have read this when I was younger and had a higher tolerance.

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Happy New Year

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I love my family but this visit to see them made me sick as a dog. Stupid germs. Snot everywhere. At this moment I'm hopped up on Dayquil, cuddling a box of Kleenex, wearing a winter jacket and in bed. The laptop helps with warmth. This vacation was all fun and games till now. I've been relaxing in AZ and soon I will be in Vegas. Hopefully the cold will be gone by then. 

Anyway. Last year my New Years resolution was to read 100 books. I think I read 103 or 104 in 2006, but in 2007 I only read 99. Sigh – so close! But number 99 was down to the wire – my dad was banging on my door to get my butt to the dining room and drink some apple cider at 11:58 but I was on the last page of Vicki Pettersson's The Taste of Night, book 2 of her Zodiac series and last book of 2007 for me. So I was waving frantically with one hand for him to leave and saying "OK!!!" and holding the book in the other. Hmm, only 99 books – I think I didn't make it because 1) I seem to be watching more TV this year. TV seems to be getting better. 2) I had more weeks towards the end of the year where I just wasn't in the mood to read. Just a week ago I was @ 95 books so I read 4 books in a week just for this deadline. Let's see if I can make 100 in 2008.

The TBR is at about 110 right now but I bought a couple of books on the vacation – one of the Jasper Fforde Thursday Next books and one Kelley Armstrong Women of the Otherworld book. But I probably won't read those for a while since they are further down the series than I'm at.

One shining point of light today – I won an ARC of Mark Henry's Happy Hour of the Damned. Someone reviewed it and called him "the Jasper Fforde of Paranormal." and the main character of the book "'Queen Betsy' zombie style " so it sounds like a lot of fun and I want to read it as soon as I can get my hands on it. It comes out in March so hopefully I will have read and reviewed it by then!

OK I go to drink more liquids. Later I can write about some of the books I read the past week.

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Me and Mr. Darcy by Alexandra Potter

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Me and Mr. Darcy: A Novel
Me and Mr. Darcy: A Novel
Alexandra Potter

Emily is the manager of a New York City bookstore who after a string of bad dates is fed up with unchivalrous men. She decides no one can hold a candle to Pride and Prejudice's Mr Darcy and is in no mood to join her best friend in a trip Cancun where the plan is to meet men and party. To avoid this unappetizing trip, Emily hurriedly books a tour of Jane Austen country instead. Arriving in London and joining the tour, Emily finds herself surrounded by elderly ladies and one surly male journalist who is writing an article about Mr. Darcy, and through hallucination or magical circumstance (it's never quite explained), Emily also meets the actual Mr. Darcy. In truth she meets him in more ways than one.

I think that this is a contemporary romance/chick lit novel which would probably appeal to people who are fans of Pride and Prejudice (who aren't sick of re-tellings/ sequels/ spin-offs) and who are not expecting to find something like a re-write of a classic, but rather a fun homage. If you love that book (/movies/miniseries) you might get a kick out of the way Me and Mr Darcy parallels the story told there and also with the crossovers where Emily actually meets Mr. Darcy. I liked it. I felt like a P&P nerd for reading it and being amused. There are a few pop cultural references and references linked to the recent Pride and Prejudice movie and the Colin Firth version of the mini series, so more reason to be a P&P nut and then read this. Not that this was not a fun lighthearted novel without liking P&P – but it helps. This book also made me want to go on a nice bus tour of the English countryside and to go stop at museums and old mansions. The scenery and tourist destinations described here felt very realistically portrayed. Also the timeline of this book happening for a week around Christmas and New Years makes this a book to read now to start gearing up for a nice holiday, particularly if you happen to be going somewhere outside the country.

An aside: I'm looking forward to vacation… Probably 3-4 more days of work! I'm still trying to decide what to do with the one extra vacation day I got because management sent a note last week giving my department the 2nd of January off. Yaaaaay!

Stats for today: My TBR is @ 110. I've read 93 books this year. The goal was 100, so I have 2 weeks to read 7 books. I don't know if I will do it.

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