Spring Reading Thing 2009 Wrap Up

Well Spring in the Northern Hemispehere has offically come to and and end and with it the Spring Reading Thing 2009 Challenge. The challenge is run from 20 March-20 June 2009 and is hosted by Callapidder Days. It is a fun no pressure challenge where you set the goals and boundaries. Thanks to Callapidder Days for hosting this event. I still cant believe how quickly those three months went.

My goal was to read 12 books, completed books are in red:

Demon's Are Ghouls Best Friend by Victoria Laurie
Brisingr By Chirstoper Paolini
The City of Ember by Jeane DePrau
The Murderers' Club by PD Martin
Princep's Fury by Jim Butcher
Valiant by Holly Black
Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts
Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost
Dog on It by Spencer Quinn
Undead and Unwed by Mary Janice Davidson
Triskellion by Will Peterson
Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult

Out of those 12 I managed to read 10 so I am pretty happy with that. Only made one change to the list and that was Fan Mail to The Murderers' Club by PD Martin. That was only because the one I had originally listed was in fact the third book in the series not the second like I thought.

Challenges I managed to make slight (seriously slight) inroads into was the Support your Local Library Challenge (1), Young Adult Book Challenge (1), and Cozy Mystery Challenge (1). I think I need to sign up for supernatural type challenge as currently I would blitz it with all the supernatural type books I have on Mt TBR.

All up from March – June I read 19 books which is not to shabby. I did not want to alter my list in anyway if possible so there really was no reason why I should not have finished reading all twelve books. In my defence in that period I had some library books took priority and a couple of books in my list were part of a series and I got caught up reading those. Also I kept forgetting what was on my list when selecting the next book to read.

My favorite read for the Challnge is a toss up between Princeps' Fury by Jim Butcher and Triskellion by Will Peterson. Jim Butcher is one of my favorite authors and I love the Codex Alera series. Princeps' Fury did not dissapoint and was an amazing addition to the series. Triskellion is a YA novel and a new author for me. I love the x-files vibe the book had going. I will certainly be looking out for the second book coming out.

I had fun doing this challenge and will definitely be participating next year. However next time I need to put a copy of the list that is somewhere easy for me to remember what is on it in the first place.

The Murderer's Club (Sophie Anderson Book 2) by PD Martin

Rating 5 out of 5

FBI Profiler Sophie Anderson is still recovering from the traumatic events in Body Count. The only good thing is that for six months she has had no visions. In need of a break Sophie heads to Arizona to visit her friend Darren. However soon after her arrival bodies with a mysterious love heart on their chests start appearing on the University grounds. Sophie offers her assistance to help catch a new serial killer and hopefully stop a killing spree. But Sophie soon learns that they are not hunting one killer but a group, The Murderers' Club.

About three months ago I read the first book in this series called Body Count. For a debut novel it was really good. It had a good mix of supernatural, crime mystery and good old fashioned thrills and action. I was really keen to get started on The Murderer’s Club as soon as possible.

The book is told in first person. But the reader gets both Sophies perspective and the killers. This happens in both books but in this book the killers perspective is told via a chat room. It is creepy reading the killers conversations about their victims, they discuss them like they would characters in a tv show.

The Murderers’ Club is a little slower paced then Body Count. There is not as much action, but the action that is there really packs a punch. Also there is less focus on Sophie’s visions, however this fits in with the story where she is grappling with her visions and their implications (I do not want to reveal to much so I will leave it there).

There is however a bigger focus (then in the previous book) on the actual process of profiling a serial killer which was just fascinating. While Body Count touched on this, I felt in Murderers’ Club we got to learn more about the profiling aspect of the job. I think it would be both a fascinating and terrifying field to work in.

"Finally I cast my eyes to the body. The vic lies on his back, his arms tucked underneath him. On his hair-less chest and extending down to the first two bulges of his six-pack is a bright red love heart, about four inches square."

If you are thinking this series is a supernatural crime novel you are essentially correct but it is so much more. Murderers’ Club can easily hold its self up against the more hard boiled crime novels. While Sophie does have visions and it is an element to the story it is just that an element. Sophie needs actual evidence to convict the serial killers so she goes through the process just like any other criminal profiler. I guess that is what I like most about this series so far is that balance which PD Martin has done well.

Sophie is mixed up in this book which is hardly surprising all things considered. However her issues and the way she deals with them felt believable, not forced to make the narrative flow a particular way. Sophie is dealing with the trauma inflicted on her in Body Count as well as her personal relationships with Darren and Josh. On top of that she is dealing with her visions, or more accurately not dealing with them.

I liked the additions of Gerard and Detective Stone who were good characters. I certainly hope they make more appearances in the series.

As for the ending of the book, well lets just say it was good.

This series has really grown on me and I am not a huge crime writing fan. Cosy's are more my speed. However this series is quirky, fascinating and a little terrifying. Definitely a recommended read.

Other Reviews
Books and Musings from Downunder

Halfway to the Grave (Book 1) by Jeaniene Frost

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Halfway to the Grave is about Cat Crawfield a vampire/human half breed who hunts vampires. One night she stumbles across Master Vampire Bones’ path, who is also a vampire bounty hunter. She strikes a deal to work with him and hunt vampires and solve the mystery about local girls who are disappearing.

I did not have a lot of expectations when I picked this book up to read. Irish at A Ticket to Anywhere read the series early this year and she loved it. So all I really knew is that it is a paranormal crime fighter romance novel that Irish loved. To be honest that was enough for me. We both have very similar tastes so I was pretty sure if she liked it so would I. In no way was I was disappointed.

The book was a little slow for me to begin with but that was more to do with my frame of mind going into the book which was not great. That was the reason I picked the book up though in the first place, I need something fun and light that had lots of whoop ass happening (it was not hard to picture various work colleagues faces on the vamps getting punished). Once the action really got going it didn’t really stop. There was a lot of humour infused into the narrative which had me chortling happily to myself and a good dollop of romance.

Ibeeg from Mom-Musing made the observation that the plot did not exist just to get the main couple into bed and I would have to agree. There is substance to the plot and the emotional conflict Cat has about who she and where her loyalties lay felt real.

Also the mythology created in this book I really enjoyed as well. Frost seemed to nicely blend what I will call "old world" vampire beliefs with "new world" beliefs. For instance a wooden stake would just annoy a vampire and perhaps slow it down, but a silver stake will stop a vampire in its tracks. Vampire society is also explained and is described as an elaborate pyrimd scheme. There is an interesting "creation" story of how vampires came to be, though I would have liked to have heard the evolution one too (Bones gives Cat the choice of which story to hear). To me this showed Jeannie really did her homework and put thought into her supernatural creatures rather then just going on what has been written before.

What set Cat apart from the clichéd “bad ass chick fighting supernatural being” thing was she was what you would expect that person to be at her age, with her abilities, and her life. She was the right mix of anger, confusion, and supernatural skills (considering she had no training) for her age and life experience. There was no point where I thought the narrative did not jive with what we knew of Cat. In fact all the characters were believable and mostly likable. I cant say I particularly cared for Cat’s mother but I suspect she was deliberately written that way. However Timmy was sweet. Bones is not a character I could decide if I liked or disliked. At times he really irked me and at others he made me laugh.

But I think what really bugged me about Bones was the English cockney accent. I just thought after 200 odd years the guy could have left the accent behind and been more James Bond in his accent. Probably I am being way to harsh here, all I could hear in my head though was Baldrick from Blackadder instead of well James Bond, and Bones should have been like James Bond! I really had to work at tuning the accent out.

Even though I wrote a paragraph on the accent it really was not that bad. I think Jeannie Frost did a wonderful job with this book and it really sucked me in. If you like this sort of thing (Undead series, The Hollows series, Mercy Thompson series) then you will enjoy this series.

Other Reviews
Ibeeg's Review
Irish's Review

Triskellion by Will Peterson

Rating 4 out of 5

Fourteen year old twins Rachel and Adam are sent to live with their Grandmother in England for the summer holidays during their parents messy divorce. When they arrive in the sleepy village of Triskellion they soon discover they are not welcome. The village is deserted, they are greeted with hostility from locals and their own Grandmother is distant. As the danger mounts and people start to get hurt, the twins unravel the secrets of Triskellion. What is the mysterious Triskellion carved into the hill? What is the cloaked group of men in the woods doing? And who is the strange boy who hangs around the village?

Will Peterson is the pseudonym of Author Mark Billingham and television script writer Peter Cocks.

I have to say this book rocked. I could not put it down. I borrowed this from my mother after she highly recommended it. This is the first novel in this series and to my knowledge the first book the authors have collaborated on. There is a sequel due out this year called Triskellion the Burning which I will eagerly snap up (once mum has finished with it of course).

The plot was great. Straight away it pulled the reader in with the creepiness of the village upon the twins arrival. There was an easy flow to the story line and the experience of these two writers shone through. There was a lot of elements in this book, sci-fi, mystery, archaeology, history, thriller and as previously mentioned action. These elements were combined in a way that made sense and were not out of place. I loved the archaeology bits though and must confess to “googling” Triskellion after and reading up on the historical information around it.

“In the split second, screaming and rolling , tumbling headlong away from impact, she could have sworn that the Land Rover was being driven by a huge gray dog.”

I really liked is it was just a little different to the young adult fantasy adventure which seems to be everywhere at the moment (don’t get me wrong I love that stuff). It was a fresh change having more of an X-files kind of feel to it.

Adam and Rachel were very believable as fourteen year olds. I could believe the decisions they made and the actions they took and at no point thought “there is no way a fourteen year old would do that”. The Aussie character Laura was a great treat as she was not portrayed as a “typical” Aussie. I wont reveal who the baddie is but the baddie is well written and scary.

I would definitely recommend this to people who like Young Adult fiction. Probably not suitable to anyone under the age group of fourteen.

Extra Stuff
Sally906 also reviewed this book. Check out her review.

Undead and Uneasy by Mary Janice Davidson

Rating 4 out of 5

Another great brain candy read. The undead series are a guilty pleasure. They are light and fluffy romantic fantasy that are quick to get through. Which I really needed , after struggling through Plain Truth. This is another book however where I do not want to reveal to much so will keep the review simple.

In book number six, Betsy is finally getting married after having a year that went from bad to worse starting with her death and subsequent rising from said death as a Vampire Queen. She thinks that she deserves the wedding of her dreams. Even if white does make her look awful. Things start getting weird however when her friends all start to vanish leaving her alone to decide on the wedding dress.

Mary Janice Davidson has a really good sense of humour which had me chortling right through the book.

Even though Betsy is a tiny bit shallow and vain she is always good for a laugh and still manages to inspire empathy from the reader. This book is pretty much Betsy on her own as her friends have disappeared. This was a good development character wise for Betsy as I think from memory, this was the first time she really solved the problem/mystery on her own. Also she now seems a little more resigned to her fate and role as the Vampire Queen.

“There are three things wrong with that card” the king if the vampires told me. “One, my love for you is not anything like ‘shimmering amber waves of summer wheat.’ Two , my love for you has nothing to do with adorable, fluffy cartoon rabbits. Three....”And he sighed here. “Rabbits do not sparkle.”

There was a cameo appearance from the Wyndham werewolves which star in their own book series (which I must confess I have not read). The first scene that dealt with these guys absolutely cracked me up.

It will be interesting how the series progresses from here. There were two major developments, one was Betsy’s power and the other was well not saying it’s a secret.

Plain Truth by Jodi Piccoult

Rating 1 out of 5

I don’t know what it was about this book but I just could not get into it. I pretty much struggled to half way through and then threw in the towel.

The story its self was interesting. An Amish girl accused of neonaticide and protests her innocence, plus the lawyer her defends her who is struggling with a mid life crises of her own.
This story was really slow going. By the middle of the book the trial had not yet even started. I didn’t care much for the characters either and Elli the lawyer I found downright annoying.

The most interesting thing going for the book and the reason I kept reading even after I began the dreaded thoughts “I should stop”, was the detail that did go into the Amish life. It is clear Jodi Piccoult did very thorough homework. It was great having that insight into the Amish community.

I will try another Jodi Piccoult book. Even her fans have hinted that perhaps this is not her best.

Princeps' Fury (Codex Alera Series Book 5) by Jim Butcher

Rating 5 out of 5

This is another book hard to review without giving the whole series away. I do not have reviews for the previous four books as I read them pre-blog. Needless to say I loved the series from the minute I started with Furies of Calderon. I was really excited when this book came out but had to wait for the Aust. Dollar to go back up so I could order it from Amazon, then once ordered it took the slow boat via China to get here. The day it got here was a happy day for me (literally I giggled like a tickle me elmo, except I wasn't cute and furry).

Princeps' Fury is the fifth book in the Aleara series and continues the story of Tavi. In Princeps' Fury we follow Tavi across the ocean back to the Canim homeland to help them fight the Vord. Meanwhile Gaius Sextus is rallying the lords of Aleara to fight a growing menace from the lands they call the Waste.

" The icemen fought with savage ferocity, each of them possessed of far more strength than a man - but not more then enraged High Lord, drawing power from the stones of the land itself."

I am probably a smidgen biased when it comes to this book, well anything really by Jim Butcher. I love Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden and Alera series it would take a lot for me to dislike anything Butcher writes. This book is just as action packed and humorous as the other books Butcher writes. I didn’t for a minute feel like Butcher dropped the ball with this book and I just kept turning the pages and managed to devour this book in a night. This series is not a serious epic fantasy novel.

Tavi, Kitai and Max were as always my favorite. I do not think there was much character development as in previous books for these three. But Tavi got to really flex his muscles as a leader and his innate ability for strategic thinking and forward planning. We also got to learn more about the Icemen and Vord which was really interesting. I hope in the next book the Icemen get explored a little further as their story sounds fascinating.

Isana and Amara did not annoy me as much as in previous books. Isana in particular stopped doing the “oh woe is me, Gaius Sextus is an evil bastard and the cause of all my problems” routine, well almost nearly, it did slip in a smidgen.

I would definitely recommend this book but only after reading the first four books. This is not a series you can pick up and read in any order. Each book flows into the other and you would not be able to keep up if you don’t read it in order (plus it would spoil it for you).

In short this book is freaking awesome!!!!

Extra Stuff
Irisih at Ticket to Anywhere also has a review here

If you would like to read a preview click here

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs

Rating 4 out of 5

Mercy Thompson is a mechanic that runs a small auto shop specialising in VWs. She lives nearby in a small caravan on a plot of land with her cat Medea. Mercy seems like an ordinary person just trying to make a living however she is a walker, someone who can shape shift, and turns into a coyote at will. Her neighbour just happens to be a werewolf (and very spunky). Her former boss is a goblin and she is currently working on a VW that belongs to a vampire. Mercy’s life is far from simple and is only going to get more complicated when she takes in a stray werewolf called Mac.

This is the first book in the Mercy Thompson series (I couldn’t find anywhere a snazzier title to the series so I went with the obvious). This is a good light hearted chick lit, mystery, supernatural fare. I never know what genre these sorts of books technically fall into; maybe I can make one up something like Cosy Supernatural Chick? No? Ok wont give up my day job anytime soon then.

What really captured my interest the most was the folk lore that Patrica Briggs introduces into this series, I think it is very clever. She divides the “magical” entities into European Faye (eg vampires, werewolves, goblins etc) and the indigenous magical beings to North America (a walker being one of those). I really like the way she introduced the idea of colonization for the magical community and how it affected the indigenous magical community. I thought the concept really clever and hopefully Briggs will expand on that over the course of the series.

“I don’t know why I expected everything to be the same. After all , I’d changed a good deal in the years since I’d last been there. I should have expected Aspen creek would have changed, too. I didn’t have to like it”

A fun read with lots of action and romantic comedy with two werewolf fella’s fighting for Mercy’s affection. If you like this kind of genre you wont be disappointed with this book.

I have not read Patrica Briggs other series but I will keep an eye out for them now.

Demons Are A Ghoul's Best Friend (Book 2) by Victoria Laurie

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This is the second book in the series and we see M.J and co heading to Lake Placid to solve the case of Hatchet Jack, an axe wielding ghost who terrifies students and locals during the summer months.

To be honest I love this genre of chick lit/cosy/supernatural/romance that seems to be the in thing now. This book manages to tick off most of these genres cliché list;

• Struggling 30 something woman
• Hot rich boyfriend (preferably exotic in some way),
• Tension/misunderstanding between said hot boyfriend
• Funny side kick,
• Gorgeous but troubled best friend and
• Some sort of ability

Which is fine I didn’t care, I was having lots of fun reading the story. Victoria Laurie has a great sense of humor. I can easily imagine M.J being Stephanie Plumb's long lost sister, the one the family doesn't talk about because she is "weird". The side kick Gilley always cracks me up. Not to mention Steve’s successful attempts to mangle western sayings.

The ghost in this book is way nastier then her previous adventure and there was a lot more action scenes with M.J mostly getting her butt kicked. However they are geared up with brand new techie stuff that easily finds those pesky ghosties, that is of course when the school desk flying across the room towards your head does not give it away.

If you like these sorts of books then definitely get your hand on this series.

Spring Reading Thing 2009

I stumbled across this event on J-Kay's blog and I thought it sounded like a wonderful idea so I will participate for the first time this year (and if truth be told the little logo pic was so cute I couldn't resist). This challenge seemed like a good opportunity to set some mini goals for reading and combine my other reading challenges into one.

The challenge is run from 20 March-20 June 2009 and is hosted by Callapidder Days. It is a fun no pressure challenge which is my kind of challenge!

I am currently roughly averaging 4 books a month so based on that excellent mathematics I am aiming for 12 books. Of course I plan to read more but I am enough of realist to know it probably wont happen (despite all my protests I am still being kidnapped to have a social life, dont people know my books need me!).

Demon's Are Ghouls Best Friend by Victoria Laurie
Brisingr By Chirstoper Paolini
The City of Ember by Jeane DePrau
Fan Mail by PD Martin
Princep's Fury by Jim Butcher
Valiant by Holly Black
Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts
Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost
Dog on It by Spencer Quinn
Undead and Unwed by Mary Janice Davidson
Triskellion by Will Peterson
Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult

Some of these are first books in a series and I do have the following books so no doubt I will read them as well probably straight after the first. A big whack are YA books and should make a good dent in my YA Reading Challenge.

I am excited to be participating in this challenge and if you would like to particpate simply click on over to Spring Reading Thing 2009 and sign up. There is no time limit to when you can join.