Autumn Reads

Okay, I read most of these over the summer, but I was too tired/lazy/busy to blog about them. But on with the books.

First of all, I'd like to rave about Faith Hunter's Rogue Mage trilogy, which I finished over the summer. Very cool. Rather dark, but incredibly detailed, imaginative and meticulously researched. Kudos. Too bad the series seems to end there. I would have loved to read more about Thorn's antics and what happens next in the post-ap world...

Another writer who gets more praise from me is Kresley Cole. I devoured Demon from the Dark in a single day. Wow... The men she writes are so hot they pretty much singe your fingers from the page. Another good one for the Immortals After Dark series. I wouldn't recommend starting the series from this (the latest) installment. Hunger Like No Other starts the series and is one damn fine book. I'd suggest starting with that one.

I'm officially hooked on both Ilona Andrews and Patricia Briggs. I can pretty much recommend anything by them if you like urban fantasy. Yup, I'm still on that trip.

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

A Spot of Urban Fantasy (Surprised? Not.)

Being at loose ends at this awkward stage between studying and a hypothetical summer job, I've made it my mission to start reading through my towering TBR pile.

I hadn't read Ilona Andrews before, but for a long time I'd heard nice things about her work. Since I felt a hankering for urban fantasy, I picked up On the Edge and started reading. Excellent fun, nice world-building, a good bit of romance, a few great beasties. A thoroughly enjoyable read and a quick one for me since I just breezed through it in one day. Then I wished I hadn't because it ended. It was one of those books :) On to Andrews' other series now, I think...

Nicole Peeler's Tempest Rising was another recommendation. I simply have to bring this up: I was kind of confused by the cover artwork. I don't usually much pay attention to covers since some of my all-time favourites have terrible or tacky covers. Romance and Fantasy as genres are kind of known for the occasional lousy covers, after all. It's not bad, it's actually very pretty in that manga-inspired way, I just think it doesn't fit with the tone of the book. The cover led me to expect something more 'young adult' than the novel was; it was a mature book in my humble opinion. I did like the book very much, the leading character Jane True has to have one of the most distinctive voices I've read and her inner dialogue is incredibly well-written and often laugh-out-loud funny. This story also gets a few bonus points because the leading character isn't a vampire or a werewolf. Thumbs up for the variety :) Loved the story and will read the next installment. Still, I just don't get the cover... But that's details. It's a fun book and absolutely worth checking out.

The Manly Men of Adventure

I've seen some very entertaining films recently. Mostly featuring men being all heroic and manly. Well, what woman wouldn't enjoy that, I ask you?

Ridley Scott's version of Robin Hood with Russell Crowe as the hero sounded great, but I did worry a bit. I didn't like A Good Year and it has been a few years since The Gladiator. I made the mistake of reading a few critiques beforehand and felt mighty nervous as I walked into the theatre. I really needn't have. The film worked. It wasn't Scott's best, nor Crowe's, but it worked. I didn't get bored, Crowe still made a superb hero and Cate Blanchett, one of my favourite actresses, was no whiny damsel in distress. My chief concern had been that Crowe would be wrong for the role. He makes a great hero for a historical flick as proven in The Gladiator, but I kept thinking that he was more the type to punch a guy in the face or slice them to bits with a sword rather than shoot arrows at them. I couldn't shake that purely physical vibe of him and Robin Hood has been a more agile, boyish kind of character in the past. Well, for one, seemed to me that Crowe had slimmed down quite a bit. He moved well and was every bit the soldier he needed to portray. The bow didn't look out of place in his hands. Should've trusted the guy, he is a good actor. I also enjoyed the supporting cast, Blanchett, Robin's sidekicks and the old Loxley, in particular. Prince John looked suitably like a weasel.

All in all, Scott's version of Robin Hood could in some ways be compared to Batman Begins by Christopher Nolan. It takes a new view on a subject that has already been done several times. Batman Begins was a phenomenal take on the superhero genre. Scott's Robin Hood isn't quite that great, but it is different from other Robin Hoods and thus to me, it was was refreshing and certainly entertaining enough for the admission fee.

The other swords and soldiers flick I saw last night. Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. I was vaguely familiar with the game franchise, but the trailers of the film itself had seemed rather silly. My friend and I went in to watch Jake Gyllenhaal do what Orlando Bloom did in the Pirates of the Caribbean except maybe act a bit better. In that regard, we got what we expected. There was the usual Disney-package of relatively bloodless violence, cheekily delivered one-liners and a comic relief character so outlandish that you wanted to bury your head into the sand. There were some parkourish runs through the city and dropping on people from above that reminded me of the game, but I'm not big enough a gamer to spot much else from the game. Bearded and long-haired, Gyllenhaal managed to look a little more tough-guy than usually, but he does have that Nice Guy label all but tattooed on his forehead. He did alright as Prince Dastan, not as if the role offered much to work on. Gemma Arterton's role could have been played by anyone in a skirt, but I don't think that was her fault. I haven't seen her in anything that required real acting chops yet, so I'm reserving judgement. She was pretty and looked good in white. The prince's family put in a nice performance, too. I liked the way the three brothers played together.

To put it in a nutshell, Prince of Persia is nothing new. It's a mix of the Pirates of the Caribbean and the first two Mummy movies. Fun, not-too serious, some cool special effects, a bit of very innocent romance thrown in and that's it. A nice summer blockbuster for the Disney-Bruckheimer coffers, too, I imagine...

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.

Feel-Good Films

Okay, since I've been feeling anything but good lately (academic crap is smothering me, check my other blog for more information), I decided to take in a few films that might actually just entertain me and preferably not challenge my poor, overworked brain.

The first of these was The Leap Year with Amy Adams and Matthew Goode. In a nutshell, the plot is about an uptight American girl who decides to fly to Ireland and make use of an Irish tradition that lets women propose to men on the 29th of February; her boyfriend who hasn't had the brain to ask her yet is in Dublin on business. Because of various disasters she needs someone to drive her to Dublin from Dingle and this someone is a rough-around-the-edges Irishman whom she takes an immediate dislike to. An entertaining roadtrip ensues.

The lovely thing about this film was that it did exactly what it said on the tin. It was sweet, well-acted and the sceneray was great. It wasn't unpredictable, original or even believable in any way, but it was still somehow so charming that I'm contemplating getting the DVD when it comes out. When your brain hurts, you need a movie like this. It bore a striking resemblance to another old rom-com favourite of mine, French Kiss with Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline as the duelling couple, and while it wasn't quite as good as FK, it did exactly what it was supposed to do and the leading couple had great chemistry, too. Although, I imagine Irish people are tearing their hair out because of the dated stereotypes in the film...

The second film on my list was The Jane Austen Book Club from 2007. I'd borrowed the DVD from a friend ages ago and only got around to watching it yesterday. I was feeling a bit uneasy about this film since I had tried to read to book and got bogged down in the middle, but I popped it in the player and I wasn't sorry. The film follows six people, five women and one man who is very used to being surrounded by women, one for each of Austen's books. They have different personalities, they are of different ages and they are all in different stages in their lives, but they all see life imitating art in one way or another.

Being a fan of Austen certainly helped, but it wasn't strictly necessary. The cast was good and while Emily Blunt and Kathy Baker are great in virtually everything they do, I was surprised to like even Maria Bello and Amy Brenneman whom I normally don't like much. The ensemble was wonderful. This one had more substance to it than The Leap Year, but it wasn't too heavy. I'm rather thinking I should watch this with my mum on Mother's Day. It's that kind of film.

The third film was Secondhand Lions from 2003. I saw this on TV some years ago and thought it was a lovely family film and not a boring one, for once. I found the DVD in a bargain basket and immediately grabbed it. The story is about a geeky boy named Walter (half-grown Haley Joel Osment) who gets sent to live with his rather eccentric great-uncles (Robert Duvall and Michael Caine). He gets to know the cranky old men and hears wild stories about their youth, some of them so outlandish he doesn't know whether to believe them or not.

The acting is great all around. The trio of men play beautifully together, which is what really makes the whole film, and Kyra Sedgwick has an interesting little part as Walter's flighty mother. For some reason this film struck a chord with me and it always puts me on a good mood.

So, that's what got me feeling better :)

Sookie's Back: Dead and Gone

Let's get this out of the way, I'm a big fan of Charlaine Harris. I love her earlier work on the Aurora Teagarden and particularly the Lily Bard and the Harper Connelly series. I have enjoyed her Southern Vampire series as well, and even though the current vamp trend is starting to wear kind of thin (Twilight-hysteria, anyone?) there are many new vampire/UF series that I have found because of it, so it's not all bad.

Now, Harris is an excellent writer and the latest Sookie Stackhouse (for me since where I live I'd better wait for the paperback prints) is a solid, entertaining book. I read it in one sitting which is not unusual with Harris' books and Sookie's adventures continue to be interesting. Some of the novelty and charm of the earlier books has faded, but that happens when a series gets to be as long as this. I hope Harris (and her publishers, really) knows when to draw a series to a close, she certainly has done it right with Aurora Teagarden and Lily Bard. I personally feel it's better to quit while you're ahead and leave the readers sighing for maybe just one more book than write too many and leave that bad taste in their mouths. Sort of like a TV-series that is forcibly stretched too far and becomes boring or silly because it should have ended years ago (you know which ones I mean...).

This installment was still okay, though, absolutely worth reading. Not the best one in the series by a long shot, but okay :) Do read Charlaine Harris, if you haven't tried her books yet, she does tell a very good story. For those against the current vampire/UF trend, try Aurora Teagarden and Lily Bard for wonderful, more traditional mystery-writing.