Recent Reads

Right, school and other inconveniences have kept me from my blogging again, but here are some of the books I've worked on lately.

Jim Butcher: Storm Front and Fool Moon, books one and two of the Dresden Files

Now, I must admit to being something of a sexist reader. I prefer books written by women, hard to say why, I just do. Something about the tone, I suppose. I'd heard good things about Butcher's work, so I decided to give the Dresden series a whirl. Storm Front seemed to start a bit slowly and I needed to really work to keep reading, but then suddenly I couldn't put it down. The same happened with Fool Moon. Slow build, that's the word. Mr. Butcher does it well. Harry Dresden is an old-fashioned, flawed hero and really quite a great guy. The mystery part of the plots was well-written and the action was nonstop once you got to it. Another admirable thing about Butcher's writing is that he's not afraid to have bad things happen to good people or to back his hero into corners. It makes for good suspense writing and great action scenes. Not my favourite series in the urban fantasy genre, but a solid good read. Will probably look further into the series in the future.

M.C. Beaton: Snobbery With Violence

The murder mystery/comedy of manners featuring Lady Rose Summers and Harry Cathcart was a subtle, but very amusing and interesting read. Set in Edwardian time, the intricacies of the social world and a juicy murder mix in a manner most entertaining. I'd read a few mysteries from Ms. Beaton's Hamish MacBeth series before and found them nice enough. This series is probably more my cup of tea. I already have the second book in the series ordered from my favourite bookshop.

J.R. Ward: Crave and An Unforgettable Lady

Crave is the second book in the Fallen Angels series and I'm still sitting on the fence about the series. I like the leading man Jim Heron and his sidekicks, I'm not sure about the others. Still a good read, to be sure. I'd just go with the Black Dagger Brotherhood books if I had to recommend something by Ward.

An Unforgettable Lady is an old book which found its way to reprint when the BDB made a splash. It's a contemporary romantic suspense novel, and a good one, really, but like the Fallen Angels, it plays second fiddle to the BDB. Still, if urban fantasy isn't your bag, you can get a look at Ward's cool style of writing from this one. Her distinctive voice isn't quite at its current level yet in this earlier novel, but it's getting there.

Series and Trilogies and Such

As a hardcore reader, I follow several series by different writers. I thought I'd list some just to make a list (there is something nice about making a list, isn't there? I wonder why that is...).

It's kind of difficult to list things by genre, because fantasy/science fiction/mystery/romance and so on and so forth mix so freely in the hands of many writers, so here are just the series I try to follow and some that have already been finished that I've enjoyed.

Kresley Cole: Immortals After Dark (romance, (urban) fantasy)
-a great variety characters and supernatural beings, refreshing and often very sexy

J.R. Ward: Black Dagger Brotherhood, Fallen Angels (slightly darker romance/fantasy)
-dramatic and well-written, sometimes pretty harsh and the language can be rough, but I think it all works beautifully

Jayne Ann Krentz: The Arcane Society (paranormal romantic suspense, varying from Victorian times to the future), Harmony (futuristic romantic suspense)
-an ongoing series which dips into all the three times Krentz places her stories in, always a solid, good read

Carrie Vaughn: Kitty (how could I resist a werewolf called Kitty? :D urban fantasy)
-quirky, very suspenseful, a leading character I adore

Gail Carriger: Parasol Protectorate (Victorian, steampunk, mystery, bit of romance there, too, and lots of humour)
-weird, absurd and just brilliant

Lynsay Sands: Argeneau/Rogue Hunter (romantic, funny, with a fresh take on vampires)
-lighter than many other vampire series though not without excitement, unapologetically romantic and often absurd and hilarious

Charlaine Harris: Sookie Stackhouse, Harper Connelly, both urban fantasy/mystery, with some romance thrown in (and finished series Lily Bard and Aurora Teagarden, both more traditional mysteries with great leading ladies)
-they're all great, what can I say...

Laurell K. Hamilton: Merry Gentry (sexy urban fantasy) and well, I still read Anita Blake every now and then...
-the Merry Gentry series is about the Sidhe, it's highly imaginative and very sexy, and Anita, slew of lovers aside, can still kick butt and some of the more mystery-oriented books in the series are very good

Jeaniene Frost: Night Huntress (aka Cat and Bones, romantic urban fantasy)
-there's just something addictive about this series and the leading couple is a fun one, to be sure

Mary Balogh: the Slightly series, the Simply quartet and the ongoing series about the Huxtables (Regency romance)
-one of the few Regency writers I just can't stop reading, the characters are simply stellar and the period detail is excellent

Janet Evanovich: Stephanie Plum (humorous mysteries)
-Stephanie Plum is one of those heroines who make me feel like a success; absurd mysteries with hilarious characters, family-drama and PB&J thrown in

Maria V. Snyder: Study trilogy, ongoing Glass series (fantasy)
-a wonderfully created world (the same in both series), engaging characters, plenty of twists and turns and back-stabbing, love it :)

Faith Hunter: Rogue Mage and Jane Yellowrock
-kick-ass heroines, interesting plots, the first series takes place in a post-apocalyptic world and the second is a contemporary urban fantasy

And these are just off the top of my head. I'm constantly running out of bookshelves. I guess it's my bad luck that I prefer to read in English which means that the local library can only help me so far (my country is bilingual and let me tell you, English isn't one of the two). If I want to read something, odds are that I have to buy it. Hence the hoarding. Not that I'd let anyone have most of my books. I like being my own library :D

Two New Discoveries and One Great Lover ;)

Since getting some pesky studying-related nuisances (exams, thesis etc.) out of the way, I've been doing some serious reading and movie-watching. Books first.

Having heard recommendations here and there all winter and spring, I'd amassed a large TBR pile (To Be Read, for those of you unfamiliar with the term) so I dug in with a vengeance.

Sarah Addison Allen was a writer whom I had been recommended, particularly because of my love of fantasy and the paranormal. Her novel Garden Spells was available at my local bookshop and since I love gardening, it seemed like a good one to grab. I knew immediately that this was a story that mixed the everyday things and the fantastical side of the story very naturally and matter-of-factly and so it did. I read it in one sitting. It was quite simply well-written and engaging. It had a gentle touch even though there was a definite suspense element. A lovely read. Not quite my usual fare, but perhaps that was why I found it so wonderful.

Another new acquaintance to me was Nancy Martin. I picked the first in her Blackbird Sisters mysteries, How to Murder a Millionaire and couldn't put it down. I chortled my way through the snappy dialogue, eccentric characters and things just going more and more wrong and I just had a great time. Will definitely check out the rest of the series.

One of the most awaited new releases this spring, for me, was the next installment in J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Lover Mine, John Matthew's story, promised to be thrilling and Ward didn't disappoint. I got hooked on the BDB from the first (Dark Lover is the first of the series and an excellent book) and I felt that Lover Mine was a return to absolute top form. The series has been tight since beginning, books one through five are solid reads. I wasn't a huge fan of Lover Enshrined for some reason (book six in the series), but warmed up to Lover Avenged (book seven) again. As much as I loved John Matthew, it was Xhex, the heroine of Lover Mine, who really sealed the deal. Maybe because I found her easy to relate to. Amazing series in the dark end of the romance/fantasy genre. There is violence, some of it hitting against innocent targets, making these books tough reads sometimes and the enemies of the brotherhood, the Lessening Society, are scary as hell. Also, I feel I have to mention that the sex parts may be a bit rough for some romance fans, but I adore this series. A very original take on vampires and an incredible feat world and culture building. Kudos.