Hi there! I’m Kay: an opinionated book blogger enamoured with the world of novels. Reader of Speculative Fiction (the posh word for Sci-Fi/Fantasy) and Young Adult novels. Believer in the many uses of the towel, the science of deduction and other fandom in-jokes.
This blog has been closed since early 2016. To the publishers and writers: thanks for all the support over the years. To my readers and fellow bloggers: keep in touch!
Recent Reviews
Waiting on Wednesday – Master of None by Sonya Bateman
“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that are being eagerly anticipated.
Master of None by Sonya Bateman
Urban Fantasy – March 30th 2010
The first book in an exciting new urban fantasy series about a thief who must work with a genie in order to save his son’s life.Gavyn Donatti is the world’s unluckiest thief. Just ask all the partners he’s lost over the years. And when he loses an irreplaceable item that he was hired to steal for his ruthless employer, Trevor—well, his latest bungle just might be his last. But then his luck finally turns: right when Trevor’s thugs have Donatti cornered good, a djinn, otherwise known as a genie, appears to save him.
Unfortunately, this genie—who goes by the very non-magical name of “Ian”—is more Hellboy than dream girl. An overgrown and extremely surly man who seems to hate Donatti on the spot, he may call Donatti master, but he isn’t interested in granting three wishes. He informs Donatti that he is bound to help the thief fulfill his life’s purpose, and then he will be free. The problem
is that neither Donatti nor Ian has any idea what exactly that purpose is.At first Donatti’s too concerned with his own survival to look a gift genie in the mouth, but when his ex-girlfriend Jazz and her young son get drawn into the crossfire, the stakes skyrocket. And when Ian reveals that he has an agenda of his own—with both Donatti and the
murderous Trevor at the center of it—Donatti will have to become the man he never knew he could be—or the entire world could pay the price…
Although I think this sounds like the awesome start to a new UF series – it is that dog on the cover that makes me long for it!
Review – Lord of Misrule (Morganville Vampires, Book 5) by Rachel Caine
Lord of Misrule (Morganville Vampires, Book 5) by Rachel Caine
Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bookdepository / LibraryThing / Goodreads
Rating: 4/5 stars
Pages: 256
SPOILERS for previous books!
Summary: In the college town of Morganville, vampires and humans coexist in (relatively) bloodless harmony. Then comes Bishop, the master vampire who threatens to abolish all order, revive the forces of the evil dead, and let chaos rule. But Bishop isn’t the only threat.
Violent black cyclone clouds hover, promising a storm of devastating proportions as student Claire Danvers and her friends prepare to defend Morganville against elements both natural and unnatural.
Thoughts: Lord of Misrule turns the entire Morganville series on its head – if you ever have to skip a book, make sure it isn’t this one! The relative comfort our characters used to live in has gone, and has been replaced with a war in the trenches. Any action that I might have felt was missing in Feast of Fools is made up for in Lord of Misrule – I gave up counting the life-or-death situations by page 30.
The action turns the entire town around, and the change brings out the hardness in all the characters – including Claire. I’d call some of her actions fierce, but I’d just be paraphrasing Eve (honestly, they are that fierce). I’d say Shane gets the biggest shake-up, character-wise. He had a lot of explaining to do in this book and, unsurprisingly, talking it out really helped with his new enlightenment.
Make sure you have a copy of Carpe Corpus on hand, because Lord of Misrule has the most jaw-dropping cliffhanger yet. And given Caine’s usual modus operandi, that is saying something!
Bottom Line? You NEED to read this series!
What are you reading on Monday? (Jan. 25th, 2010)
It’s Monday! What are you reading this week? is a weekly event to celebrate what we are reading.
Books I am currently reading:
- The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler – Absolutely adorable book, and quite serious despite the chick-lit cover.
- A Study In Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle – Have set myself a challenge to get through the Sherlock Holmes series this year. Really good fun so far!
- The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien – Yep, still at this. Haven’t actually picked it up in a week… but that is no reflection on the book itself!
Books finished this week:
- Firespell by Chloe Neill – LOVED this book. This one will probably make the Top Ten of 2010 list!
Reviews posted this week:
Completed! The League of Reluctant Adults – A New Author Mini-Challenge
I’ve just signed up for the League Mini-Challenge for Febraury going on in coordination with the New Author Challenge (which I am not part of, but sounds brilliant) Basically, we read/review 3 to 5 League of Reluctant Adult authors in February and get entered for some great prizes. Kinda awesome, right?
Since I have a few of these awesome authors on my TBR pile, this gives me a great incentive to actually read them!
The challenge runs Feb.1 to Feb. 28, and you can sign up for it here!
My planned reading list (these are the ones on my TBR Shelf!)
- Red-Headed Stepchild by Jaye Wells ♥
- Mark of the Demon by Diana Rowland
- Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead ♥
ETA: My first completed challenge of 2010! This one was so much fun, and I have added two new authors to my favourites list! Literary Escapism is planning a similar challenge for April 2010, check out the details on her site.
In My Mailbox (Jan. 24th, 2010)
In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren ( inspired by Alea of Pop Culture Junkie) and explores the content of your mailbox. Or bookbox as they should now be called!
Only three books this week – but all ones I have been lusting over for a while!
- 1000 Places to see before you die by Patricia Schultz
- Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr
- Fallen by Lauren Kate
