Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Teaser Tuesday (4)

 
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
Currently reading:
The Crown Conspiracy (The Riyria Revelations) 
"The smallest of the children fascinated Myron, and he watched them in amazement. They were like short drunk people, loud and usually dirty, but all were surprisingly cute and looked at him in much the same way that he looked at them."
Location 3067 from Crown Conspiracy by Michael Sullivan

Monday, January 17, 2011

Review: Boneshaker

Second Steampunk novel for my challenge. Hosted over at BA Reading Challenges!

Review:
 Boneshaker (Sci Fi Essential Books)
Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

Goodreads blurb:
Cherie Priest's much-anticipated steampunk debut has finally arrived in the form of a paperback original. Its plot features the sort of calibrated suspense that readers of her Four and Twenty Blackbirds would expect. Boneshaker derives its title from the Bone-Shaking Drill Engine, a device designed to give Russian prospectors a leg up in the race for Klondike gold. Unfortunately, there was one hitch: On its trial run, the Boneshaker went haywire and, long story short, turned much of Seattle into a city of the dead. Now, 16 years later, a teenage boy decides to find out what is behind that mysterious wall. Can his mother save him in time? Zombie lit of the first order.

Crazy inventions, Civil War era, a mad scientist, zombies, airships, and a devastated city in ruin what more could you ask for? If you are looking for action/adventure Steampunk-style I'd say this is a book you will want to read. If you are looking for beautiful scenery and in depth characters and story this will probably not be for you.

I will say I scratched my head a few times with the thought of, 'Huh?' running through it while reading this book. Overall it was a good read and I don't feel I wasted my time in the least. The long and short of it is teenage boy goes searching for more info about long lost and/or dead father in a less than friendly environment. Mom has to go and fish him out whilst berating herself for not sharing more information with him while she had the chance.  Madness ensues.

So, story-wise it was a tad shallow. Or perhaps it would be better to say there seems to be too much world and surroundings for Ms Priest to go into too much detail. Action happens too fast to expand on some things as a reader I would have liked to learn about. Something's occur just to move the story along in the right direction even though they seem too convenient or even unnecessary at times. I get the sense this would be well adapted to a tv miniseries or full length movie the way it is written.

Put this book on your to-read list for sure, but don't shell out full price. Buy it used or borrow it for a quick and fun read.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

WWW Wednesday (2)

WWW Wednesdays is hosted at Should Be Reading
 
To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…
  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?
My answers:
What are you currently reading?
Boneshaker (Sci Fi Essential Books)
I'm currently reading Boneshaker by Cherie Priest. 2nd book for my Steampunk Challenge
 
   What did you recently finish reading?
 Mistral's Kiss (Meredith Gentry, Book 5)
I just finished up Mistral's Kiss by Laurell K. Hamilton
 
   What do you think you’ll read next?
The Crown Conspiracy (The Riyria Revelations) 
Up next is the Crown Conspiracy by Michael Sullivan for my 2nd book in my e-book challenge

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Teaser Tuesday (3)

 
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
Currently reading:
Boneshaker (Sci Fi Essential Books)
Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

"The world was spinning beneath her, bleak, blind, and bottom-less. And somewhere, hidden within it, her fifteen-year-old son was lost and trapped, and there was no one to go down there and get him except for his  mother."

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Review : The Greyfriar

This is my first book completed for Steampunk Challenge 2011! Hosted over at BA Reading Challenges.

Review:
The Greyfriar (Vampire Empire, Book 1) 
Vampire Empire Book One: The Greyfriar by Clay Griffith & Susan Griffith

Goodreads Blurb:
Vampire predators run wild in this exciting steampunk adventure, the first in an alternate history trilogy that is already attracting attention. In 1870, monsters rise up and conquer the northern lands. As great cities are swallowed up by carnage and disease, landowners and other elite flee south to escape their blood-thirsty wrath. One hundred fifty years later, the great divide still exists; fangs on one side of the border, worried defenders on the other. This fragile equilibrium is threatened, and then crumbles after a single young princess becomes almost hopelessly lost in the hostile territory. At first, she has only one defender: a mysterious Greyfriar who roams freely in dangerous vampire regions.

I have to truthfully say I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I knew nothing about the authors or what to expect from it. The beginning few chapters of the book were a bit sluggish to me at first. It just didn’t grab me that quickly. But, damn when it did I couldn’t put it down. That was around Chapter 8 or so. The Greyfriar took off like a rocket after that. 

The Greyfriar and Adele are just intriguing characters. You witness her growing in knowledge throughout the book and you worry about her future to come as those who are plotting start to be revealed around her. He will bring a few tears to your eyes toward the end as well.  The downside to becoming so attached is this is a trilogy and now we must wait for the next book. That is heartbreaking all by itself.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that loves steampunk and/or vampires. The idea of an organized vampire empire at odds with their human counterparts is quite riveting. The empire dynamics themselves and living conditions are quite fascinating as well. I would love to learn more about this world and how it is arranged.

On a side note: it turns out I did know the authors through another of their works. Mr Griffith did a few of adventures of The Tick!
  • The Tick: Six Action-Packed Adventures, by Clay Griffith, 1994, published by Skylark Books.
  • The Tick: Seven More Exciting Adventures!, by Clay Griffith, 1995, published by Skylark Books.
So I must say... "Spoooon!" just because I can.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Review: Side Jobs by Jim Butcher

This is going to be my very first review! I'm excited as I type this as I have been reading books since I could read. Reading is probably my most beloved hobby. In any case this is the first of 20 eBooks I will be reviewing for the 2011 eBook Challenge I signed up for at The Ladybug Reads.

A note about my reviews before I even write my first one is I am not quite aware of spoilers nor have spoilers ever 'spoiled' my enjoyment of reading a story or watching a movie. So, I may mistakenly give something away unintentionally. My apologies in advance. Though truthfully I probably will not be sharing a lot of content from the books I read as to me that is more of a book report as opposed to a review.

Review:
Side Jobs: Stories From the Dresden Files
Side Jobs: Stories from the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher

I really enjoyed this compilation of short stories taking place in the world Mr. Butcher has created. If you have NOT read up to Changes and you do not enjoy spoilers do not read this book. I have only read up to Grave Peril which is Book #3 in the series and you will learn things further along in the series by reading Side Jobs.

I read the Dresden books because I enjoy the world and the main character, Harry Dresden, is just awesomeness in a duster. Another reason I enjoy the series is Harry and the characters surrounding him are not invincible super hero types that grow and grow in power until you wonder what the hell has happened. They have emotions and limitations and yes even set-backs from time to time. Things can and do go wrong at times and that makes the stories more real to me as a reader.

Side Jobs did not disappoint me. I loved reading the stories from other characters perspectives or simply where some of the other characters were more involved. Harry wasn't necessarily the main focus in some of the shorts and that was refreshing. If nothing else read Side Jobs just for the last short story in the book. The perspective is from Karrin Murphy and it is amazing simply because she is not a magic wielding bad ass like Harry, yet she is a power unto herself.

I will say reading this has made me want to find the anthologies the various stories were published in and pick those up as well. Overall, I'd recommend reading this if you are already a Dresden fan. If you are not then what's stopping you? Pick up Storm Front (Book #1) and get cracking!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

WWW Wednesdays

I thought I would do another day!

WWW Wednesdays is hosted at Should Be Reading
 
To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…
  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?
My answers:
What are you currently reading?
Side Jobs: Stories From the Dresden Files
I'm currently reading Side Jobs by Jim Butcher. 1st book for my eBook Challenge
 
   What did you recently finish reading?
 by Laurell K. Hamilton A Stroke of Midnight (Meredith Gentry, Book 4) First Thus edition
I just finished up A Stroke of Midnight by Laurell K. Hamilton
 
   What do you think you’ll read next?
The Greyfriar (Vampire Empire, Book 1)
Planning on reading Vampire Empire Book One: The Greyfriar next as part of my Steampunk Challenge. I'll probably be reading Mistral's Kiss by Hamilton as well to continue the Gentry series.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Teaser Tuesday (2)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I couldn't resist this one from Side Jobs by Jim Butcher (Location 656-67) -

          We started from the apartment together. "I'll pay you in doughnuts." 
          "Dresden, you pig. That cop-doughnut thing is a vicious stereotype."
          "Doughnuts with little pink sprinkles," I said. 
          "Professional profiling is just as bad as racial profiling." 
          I nodded. "Yeah. But I know you want the little pink sprinkles." 
         "That isn't the point," she said loftily, and we got into her car.
Side Jobs: Stories From the Dresden Files

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Happy New Year!

Happy 2011! I hope everyone has a wonderful year full of good changes and surprises. On to the reading challenges! I don't have terribly many plans for 2011. My daughter will be starting Pre-K as my son moves on to Kindergarten. My mother will be retiring this year as well. We are all looking forward to that.