The Strange Case of Finley Jayne (Steampunk Chronicles #0.5) by Kady Cross

From Goodreads: Finley Jayne knows she's not 'normal'. Normal girls don't lose time, or have something inside them that makes them capable of remarkably violent things. Her behavior has already cost her one job, so when she's offered the lofty position of companion to Phoebe, a debutante recently engaged to Lord Vincent, she accepts, despite having no experience. Lord Vincent is a man of science with his automatons and inventions, but Finley is suspicious of his motives where Phoebe is concerned. She will do anything to protect her new friend, but what she discovers is even more monstrous than anything she could have imagined... An ebook exclusive prequel to The Steampunk Chronicles.

I picked up The Strange Case of Finley Jayne as a Kindle freebie on 4/27/11, it is currently $2.51.  The steampunk theme is what attracted me and I was not disappointed!  There are corsets, a mad scientist, automatons and mechanical horses, fabulous!

Right away Finley was a character that you could root for, she stands up for a child, reacting from the gut rather than propriety.  It costs her her job, but then we get to see that she doesn't come from a damaged family, but a loving one, even a loving step father!  It is this forthright aspect of her character that quickly lands her another position as a companion and this is where we get to begin exploring Finley's dark, other side.  It was pretty vague where her abilities come from, I kept thinking I had just missed it but read other reviews with the same question, so I hope that is revealed in the first actual novel The Girl in the Steel Corset which I luckily already own.

I recommend this for a read-a-thon, for anyone enjoying the Steampunk genre, some mystery and some adventure!  It was a perfect read for the Clean Out Your E-Reader Challenge this month!

Kady Cross's Website (you might also know her as Kathryn Smith!)




See what others are reading here:

A Grosvenor Square Christmas by Shana Galen, Vanessa Kelly, Anna Campbell, Kate Noble

From Goodreads: Four breathtakingly romantic tales of a Regency Christmas from four bestselling romance authors. Down through the years, enchantment touches a tall gray house in Grosvenor Square. The legend of Lady Winterson’s Christmas ball promises true love and happiness to one lucky couple. Who will feel the magic this winter? 1803 - The Seduction of a Duchess by Shana Galen Rowena Harcourt, the Duchess of Valère, never forgot the handsome footman who helped her escape the French Revolution. For fourteen years, Gabriel Lamarque has loved Rowena—now at Lady Winterson’s Christmas ball, has fate finally delivered a chance to win her hand? 1818 - One Kiss for Christmas by Vanessa Kelly Nigel Dash is London’s most reliable gentleman, a reputation he never minded until he fell in love with beautiful Amelia Easton. Unfortunately, Amelia sees Nigel as a dependable friend, not a dashing suitor. At Lady Winterson’s famous Christmas ball, Nigel vows to change Amelia’s mind—by sweeping her off her feet. 1825 - His Christmas Cinderella by Anna Campbell At the season’s most glittering ball, a girl who has never dared to dream of forever after discovers a Christmas miracle. 1830 - The Last First Kiss by Kate Noble Susannah Westforth has always loved Sebastian Beckett – but he’s only ever seen her as a friend. When Sebastian takes his Grand Tour, Susannah transforms herself into a woman he’ll notice. Now Sebastian is back, just in time for Lady Winterson's Christmas ball – but the last thing he expects to see is his little Susie, all grown up... You’re invited to join the whirling dance at Lady Winterson’s sparkling Christmas ball, where miracles happen and true love shines forever. How can you resist?

I picked up A Grosvenor Square Christmas as a Kindle Freebie on 11/1/13, at last check it is still free.  This was a fantastic, light hearted and heart warming collection of short stories all centered around the same location, across a span of years.

Each story brings together a couple at Lady Winterson's Christmas ball.  I like that the circumstances of the couples are varied, from their ages, to their stations in society to have been childhood friends who finally realize what they really mean to each other.  I was also very pleased at the ending, though I can't say I was surprised, I mean Christmas stories generally end happily ever after, that's part of why we read them!

I highly recommend this one if you're into holiday reading, especially if you are taking part in the many different holiday read-a-thon's.  It's light, fast and sweet.  I gave it a 4/5.

Reviewed for the Clean Out Your E-Reader Challenge.



See what others are reading here:

The Abandoned by Amanda Stevens

From Goodreads: Every cemetery has a story. Every grave, its secrets. Enter the world of Amanda Stevens's Graveyard Queen series--where forbidden passion and secrets from the past are as restless as the ghosts--in the series prequel novella, The Abandoned. There are rules for dealing with ghosts. Too bad Ree Hutchins doesn't know them. When her favorite patient at a private mental hospital passes away, psychology student Ree Hutchins mourns the elderly woman's death. But more unsettling is her growing suspicion that something unnatural is shadowing her. Amateur ghost hunter Hayden Priest believes Ree is being haunted. Even Amelia Gray, known in Charleston as the Graveyard Queen, senses a gathering darkness. Driven by a force she doesn't understand, Ree is compelled to uncover an old secret and put abandoned souls to rest--before she is locked away forever....

I picked up The Abandoned as a Kindle freebie on 4/10/11, it is currently at $2.51.  I had heard of the Graveyard Queen series and thought this would be a good way to see if I was at all interested in it.  I enjoyed this short story/novella even though it suffers from the same thing that turns me off of most of them, not enough time to develop the story which leaves the events feeling rushed and unrealistic.  However, ghosts and a secret society do have me intrigued so I may go ahead and give the series a try.  There was a lot packed into this story, Amelia Gray really features very little here, but I'd like to know more about her.  I gave it a 3/5.

Reviewed for the Clean Out Your E-Reader Challenge.




Check out other reviews for this challenge here:

Monster Read-a-thon November 9th - 15th

I'm probably asking for it since I'm already doing the Ho-Ho-Ho Read-a-thon and the Clean Out Your E-Reader Challenge (links to the right on the sidebar) but like I've said before, I can't turn one down, so Monster Read-a-thon, here I come!

I'm currently working on A Grosvenor Square Christmas (a Kindle Freebie) and Aftermath by Ann Aguirre (who I was lucky enough to meet this past week) so I will continue on those and see what comes up next!

Winners of Blog Events and Blogger's Mindset by Amanda Shofner

And the winners are... Everyone that entered! Congrats! I will be contacting you shortly to find out where to send your Kindle copies.

For anyone finding this after the fact that would like to check these out, they are available on Amazon:

Blog Events - see my review here

Blogger's Mindset

Also check out Amanda's website, The Path of Least Revision, for great tips and helpful services to make your written life easier!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Ho-Ho-Ho Read-a-thon November 7-11

I am an unbelievable sucker. I really tried to resist signing up, for about a minute. Even after I've spent the whole day feeling stressed out by my hobbies because this week has been so busy at work, and then also busy in the evenings (I met Ann Aguirre *fangirl squeal*), I've still decided to join up. But I can make this work. I can fit it in with my other challenge, I can, I know it, and I can not be stressed about it, really!

So here we go, the first of the Holiday themed read-a-thon's that I'm planning to probably take part in.  (What is this probably I speak of, we know I will, don't we? Yes, we do.)  The Ho-Ho-Ho Holiday Read-a-thon is hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, so clicky on the picture above to go learn more and join us!  I'm off to figure out what my goal will be!

Goal:  TBD - stay tuned!  Probably some Christmas Freebies that I've picked up so that I can count them for the Clean Out Your E-Reader Challenge as well!

Update/Finish: I only made it about 75% of the way through A Grosvenor Square Christmas, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, and this RAT prompted me to pick it up sooner rather than later. I'll review it soon for Clean Out Your E-Reader as I'm hoping to finish it today 11/12/13!

Don't Die, Dragonfly by Linda Joy Singleton

From Goodreads: After getting kicked out of school and sent to live with her grandmother, Sabine Rose is determined to become a "normal" teenage girl. She hides her psychic powers from everyone, even from her grandmother Nona, who also has "the gift." Having a job at the school newspaper and friends like Penny-Love, a popular cheerleader, have helped Sabine fit in at her new school. She has even managed to catch the eye of the adorable Josh DeMarco. Yet, Sabine can't seem to get the bossy voice of Opal, her spirit guide, out of her head . . . or the disturbing images of a girl with a dragonfly tattoo. Suspected of a crime she didn't commit, Sabine must find the strength to defend herself and, later, save a friend from certain danger.

I picked this up as a Kindle freebie, currently the Kindle version can be purchased for $2.99.

My first impression on reading this was to think how frustrating it would be to have a gift in which you receive visions that are symbolic messages, but that you still have to interpret.  You can never be sure that your interpretation is the right one.

Not for the first time I was more intrigued by the side characters than I felt for the main character.  I really enjoyed Manny and Thorn, so I hope they are recurring characters in the rest of the series.  I'd like to know more about Dominic as well, but was honestly bored by Josh, he's so perfect it makes me suspect that something is up with him and I just didn't feel much spark between him and Sabine.

My favorite quirky part of this was the cow painting, it was just cute and I'll leave it at that so I don't ruin the fun for anyone else!  I do really like the cover art, very pretty.  I'm a sucker for a pretty cover for sure!

Having read the synopsis for the second book, I may go ahead with the series.  Don't Die, Dragonfly was an enjoyable, quick read and I wouldn't mind knowing what happens next.  I would recommend this as a read-a-thon selection for it's length, ease of reading and quick pace.

Here is another review by Kelly at Reading the Paranormal, posted on Goodreads that I think expresses my thoughts very well.

For more information on Linda Joy Singleton and her work, visit her website.

This was reviewed for the Clean Out Your E-Reader Challenge.  See book reviews by other participants here:

Clean Out Your E-Reader Challenge - November 1-30, 2013

I'm as guilty as everyone else about grabbing all those freebies and then not getting around to reading them. Hence why this challenge is perfect! I've gone through and picked out some of my older selections that have been languishing about for a couple-three years now, and here they are!

Don't Die Dragonfly by Joy Singleton Currently $2.99, freebie on 1/1/11	Bite Me by Parker Blue Currently $9.39, freebie on 3/23/11	Retro Demonology by Jana Oliver Currently $0.00, purchased 3/29/11
The Strange Case of Finley Jayne by Kady Cross Currently $2.51, freebie on 5/1/11	The Abandoned by Amanda Stevens Currently $2.51, freebie on 4/10/11	Millie's Fling by Jill Mansell Currently $9.39, freebie on 3/18/11

Going back and checking to make sure I got them as freebies, and seeing what some of them are now has unfortunately just inspired me to keep checking the freebie list because I've gotten some good deals!  Just this group should have cost me $26.79 but guess what?  FREE!  *cheers* *gets self back under control* *Ahem* 3 of these are novellas, bet you can guess which three from their current prices!  I'm going to declare the Lightly Clean level of 1-5 and we'll see how far I get, there are many more where these came from!

This is also a blog hop, see what everyone else is doing here:

Indexing by Seanan McGuire

From Goodreads: “Never underestimate the power of a good story.” Good advice...especially when a story can kill you. For most people, the story of their lives is just that: the accumulation of time, encounters, and actions into a cohesive whole. But for an unfortunate few, that day-to-day existence is affected—perhaps infected is a better word—by memetic incursion: where fairy tale narratives become reality, often with disastrous results. That's where the ATI Management Bureau steps in, an organization tasked with protecting the world from fairy tales, even while most of their agents are struggling to keep their own fantastic archetypes from taking over their lives. When you're dealing with storybook narratives in the real world, it doesn't matter if you're Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, or the Wicked Queen: no one gets a happily ever after. Indexing is New York Times bestselling author Seanan McGuire’s new urban fantasy where everything you thought you knew about fairy tales gets turned on its head.

I really liked this, it was a fresh treatment of fairy tales. It was my first novel by this author and also my first try of a Kindle serial.  It was delivered over the course of 24 weeks, an episode every two weeks. What I really would have liked after reading this is that each tale type had been a full length novel, where McGuire could have developed the characters more, and delved deeper into each tale and it's variations. I would still like that, I think it would be fantastic! I feel like Henry and Sloane were pretty well fleshed out, but the other members of the team, especially Jeff and Andy, just aren't as full and alive as I think they could be in a longer telling. So I highly recommend this, even though I almost feel like the idea was a bit wasted in such a quick telling, I'm not at all disappointed in it, I just think it has a lot of potential and it seems more like an outline of what could be, rather than a finished product on it's own. More please! 

Check out Seanan McGuire's Website for more on the author and her work, I know I will be!

I also just learned that Seanan McGuire is Mira Grant!  I did not know that!

Here is a blogpost from Seanan's live journal discussing Indexing, wherein the possibility of second "season" is mentioned though not confirmed.

Giveaway: Blog Events and Blogger's Mindset by Amanda Shofner

Have you participated in any online read-a-thons, giveaway hops, seen author tours or book carnivals  and had dreams of one day hosting one of these yourself?  These blog events are harder and easier than you might think.  You must remain organized or the event could quickly grow beyond your control, or not receive the attention you hoped for.

In her book Blog Events Amanda gives some important tips on how to run a successful event, pointing out things you need to consider, and directing you to ask yourself some very important questions on the purpose behind the event, who it is serving, and how is it helping you the event owner?  For more of my thoughts, see my previous review here.

The best thing about Blog Events is that it is general enough to fit any event, so while I mention read-a-thons because those are my passion, the principles in the book can be applied to anything you might want to do whether it's a hobby or business blogging event.

I was able to pick this up as a kindle freebie soon after it was published, but having had the pleasure of participating in many of the read-a-thon's co-hosted by Amanda and getting to know her through Twitter and Facebook, I want to give something back by offering up some copies of Blog Events to you aspiring bloggers out there who I know want to hold more read-a-thons for me!

But wait, there's more!  Hot off the presses, and I mean so hot it's not even out of the oven as I'm writing this, is Amanda's second book, Blogger's Mindset.

From her website The Path of Least Revision, she describes it this way: 

"What makes bloggers give up and step away from their blogs?

Burnout. Feeling overwhelmed or defeated. Over-committing. Jealousy. Life.

Sound familiar? Your blogging experience is shaped by how you approach blogging and how you think about it. The Blogger’s Mindset is about finding your way to the right mindset.

Learn how to build your blogging foundation and keep blogging when the blogging gets tough. Determine your why, who, and focus. Get real about your commitment and the nuts and bolts of blogging. Address your brand and evaluate your approach. Check your attitude. Find out what it takes to stick with it."

I am especially excited about this one because I can't tell you how many times I think to myself, why am I doing this?  Who even cares?  Does anyone even read it?  I can't keep up!  I should just quit.  So I step away for awhile, and find myself missing it.  But then I look at other blogs and think, wow, they're so much better than me, why do I bother? It's just a vicious cycle.  Well, the short answer is, because I like it, and I'm very interested in reading Amanda's take on the topic.

Just in case you're wondering who is this Amanda Shofner anyway, and what makes her qualified to tell us these things? Check out her cred here!

Now for the giveaway!  Two random winners will receive a US Kindle copy of both Blog Events and Blogger's Mindset, to get you excited and on the path to blogging happiness!  This giveaway will run from Oct. 23rd through Nov. 6th.  Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Pretty When She Dies by Rhiannon Frater

From Goodreads: Amaliya wakes under the forest floor, disoriented, famished and confused. She digs out of the shallow grave and realizes she is hungry... ... in a new, horrific, unimaginable way... Sating her great hunger, she discovers that she is now a vampire, the bloodthirsty creature of legend. She has no choice but to flee from her old life and travels across Texas. Her new hunger spurs her to leave a wake of death and blood behind her as she struggles with her new nature. All the while, her creator is watching. He is ancient, he is powerful, and what's worse is that he's a necromancer. He has the power to force the dead to do his bidding. Amaliya realizes she is but a pawn in a twisted game, and her only hope for survival is to seek out one of her own kind. But if Amaliya finds another vampire, will it mean her salvation... or her death?

So I'm a read-a-thon addict, which isn't news to anyone. We just finished a read-a-thon called Fraterfest, hosted by Kimbacaffeinate at The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, the whole point of which, aside from reading in general, is to read books by Rhiannon Frater, Kimba's a fan.  So being in the spirit of things but unfamiliar with the author, I picked out one to try, and managed to not start it at all last year during Fraterfest.  Go me.  This year I was determined, it was Fraterfest, I was going to read a Frater book, darn it!  So I did, and even though I didn't finish it during the read-a-thon, finish it I have, and I enjoyed it!

I like Amaliya, poor thing gets beat up in about every imaginable way yet comes out fighting every time!  She has a feisty little Grandmama too, do not mess with little Mexican Grandmamas, no sir!  The vampires in this world have the traditional weaknesses of legend, so in a way it's a good old-fashioned, but in a modern setting vampire story, with some necromancy thrown in for good measure.  I do like Cian, and even though she's kind of annoying, Samantha is pretty spunky too, but it's definitely Amaliya for me.  She just doesn't quit!

Rhiannon Frater's Website

Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard

From Goodreads: The year is 1876, and there’s something strange and deadly loose in Philadelphia… Eleanor Fitt has a lot to worry about. Her brother has gone missing, her family has fallen on hard times, and her mother is determined to marry her off to any rich young man who walks by. But this is nothing compared to what she’s just read in the newspaper— The Dead are rising in Philadelphia. And then, in a frightening attack, a zombie delivers a letter to Eleanor…from her brother. Whoever is controlling the Dead army has taken her brother as well. If Eleanor is going to find him, she’ll have to venture into the lab of the notorious Spirit-Hunters, who protect the city from supernatural forces. But as Eleanor spends more time with the Spirit-Hunters, including their maddeningly stubborn yet handsome inventor, Daniel, the situation becomes dire. And now, not only is her reputation on the line, but her very life may hang in the balance.

I checked this out as an e-book from our local library because I saw it on many lists of various meme's I was participating in. I thought the cover was pretty, and was told it was a good zombie book for those who aren't real excited about zombies, and I have to agree with that. It's American historical, some steampunk, fighting the undead.  I liked Eleanor and Daniel and how she forced the Spirit Hunters to take her seriously.  It was an entertaining story and I'm looking forward to more! 

Susan Dennard's Website

Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon

Dewey's is here again!  For 24 hours we're going to read and read and read!  I've got my book pile below with many more than I could get through but I like to have options!  My main goal is to finish Ironside, and if possible Something Deadly This Way Comes, but I may have to take breaks from those and so I have a few shorter easier books to choose from.  Like Mrs. Piggle Wiggle!  Who doesn't love Mrs. Piggle Wiggle?!  Oops, am I showing my age?  Probably, but we'll see if I love it just as much now as I did in grade school, lo these *mumble mumble* years ago...

Updates: 

Hours 1-2

8:30 AM for me, and an hour and a half into the Read-a-thon.  My cat alarm made sure I didn't oversleep, and not really being ready to be up and around after hitting snooze on him (read: Fed the kitty!) I decided to start in on a kindle book, so I could read in bed without the light on.  I chose The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner and I'm about 29% done.

Hour 1 Mini Challenge:

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?  Kansas, US

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?  I think Something Deadly This Way Comes, and Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, because it's been so long since I read it when I was a kid, I'm interested to see how it measures up to my memories.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?  I have two tubs of cookie dough in the fridge, so there will be cookies, oh yes, there will be!

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!  I like Geocaching, playing Guild Wars 2, and am addicted to read-a-thons! 

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?  I'm not sure how many times I've participated now, it's been a few years, I think I do it differently every time.  I'm considering an energy drink for those afternoon hours when I get so sleepy, I've never done that before, so we'll see.

And now, back to the reading!  See you later!

Hours 3-5

I can't believe we're almost done with hour 5!  I've finished my first book, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer so I now have an official page count! Woohoo! 178 pages!  I'm munching on some chocolate peanut butter Pop Tarts with milk and they are tasty!  Next up is Something Deadly This Way Comes by Kim Harrison.







Hours 6-11

So errands and lunch had to happen, but I managed to get 100 pages into Something Deadly even so!  I'll keep going on that one and see what happens for dinner.  Also, cookies have not yet happened, but a raspberry white mocha has, so yay!  Hope everyone is doing great!

Hours 12-15

 Well it took me what seems like all day, but I finished my second book! 245 more pages, so I'm up to 423 pages total.  Now it's time for the traditional read-a-thon BBQ feast for dinner, and a computer game break.  It's time to switch to some shorter reads now. I need to visit some other folks too.  Also, thank you to the Cheerleaders!  I have done it myself before so I know it's a fun but also hard job.






Hours 16-19

I just loved Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle when I was a kid, so when I saw them at Half Price Books I had to snatch them up!  Just finished the 1st one as my 3rd read-a-thon and I have to admit, they are still fun!  She can just cure any childish bad habit!  Well, I think this does it for me for this year's Read-a-thon.  My total page count is  542 and 3 books!  Thanks again to the organizers and the cheerleaders, you all rock!






Other Read-a-thoners Visited:
Noumena12
Frodo's Blog of Randomness
Azuki's Book Cafe
Sarah Says Read
Branching Out

Wonderfully Wicked Read-a-thon Oct. 11-20

It's time for the third read-a-thon I'm participating in during October, the Wonderfully Wicked Read-a-thon hosted by My Shelf Confessions!  That's 10 days of read-a-thon people!

I have some serious work to complete my goals for the Seriously Series challenge, so I will be working on those for this read-a-thon.

Goals:

• Aftermath - Ann Aguirre (307 pages)
• Ironside - Holly Black (323 pages) - Dewey's goal
• Endymion Spring - Matthew Skelton - Audiobook (10+ hours)
• Nice Girls Don't Bite Their Neighbors - Molly Harper (337 pages) 
• Something Deadly This Way Comes - Kim Harrison (245 pages) done!
  
• Finish Pretty When She Dies - Rhiannon Frater (Starting at 48%) done!

Updates:

Day 1:  Listened to about an hour and a half of Endymion Spring, liking it so far!  Good, animated narrator.  Got through about 9% in Pretty When She Dies, which may only be about 18 pages, but I don't want to burn out before Dewey's tomorrow!

Day 3: So Dewey's was yesterday and I finished 3 books!  Not at all what I planned, but that's okay!  I finished Something Deadly, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner. Today has been pretty slow on the reading, though I am almost 2 hours into Endymion Spring, and to 70% of Pretty When She Dies.

Day 5: I finished something! I finished Pretty When She Dies and really liked it, so I'll definitely be reading the rest of those.  I'm on track with listening to Endymion Spring, about 5 hours in and it's around 10 hours long, so that should be no problem.  Now what to start on next?  It's between Ironside and Aftermath.

Day 10 Final Wrap-Up: I have ended with about 1.5 hours left in Endymion Spring, and about 100 pages left in Ironside.  Not as far as I'd like to have gotten, but just taking part is fun, even if I don't make my goals!  See you next #WWReadathon!

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Heaven by Corey Taylor

From Goodreads: In this book, Corey Taylor undertakes something never before attempted in the history of rock superstardom: he takes you with him as he journeys undercover through various ghostbusting groups who do their best to gather information and evidence about the existence of spirits. Some are more credible than others, and, frankly, some are completely insane, but all are observed with appropriate seriousness as Taylor attempts to better understand some of the spooky things that have happened to him in his life, especially that night at the Cold House. But that’s not all, folks. Taylor once again gives you a behind-the-scenes tour of his crazy life and the many beyond-the-grave events he’s encountered. (You’ll be shocked how often Slipknot has been invaded by the supernatural.) Taylor also touches on his religious background and how it led him to believe in much more than the Man in the Sky.

I was excited to find this in the library catalog, being a fan of Corey Taylor and interested in the paranormal this seemed like it had to be a winner.  Overall I enjoyed the book and Taylor's conversational though rambling, tangented and almost stream of consciousness style.  That and his self-deprecating humor become part of his charm once you get used to them.  He knows he does it and often has to bring himself back on track, which is also hilarious. The stories he tells of his confrontations are great although I'm sure they were terrifying when they happened.  You really get the feel of a late night hang out, pass around the drinks, the walls have come down and we're sharing freely and speculating on life, death and everything session.  We've all had those convo's with our besties, where sometimes we tread ground we wouldn't otherwise dare to go.

The first couple of chapters are a trial by fire in which he rants against religion.  Even agreeing with a lot of what he had to say it was difficult to get through.  I just wanted to get to the ghosts!  But it's his book and he can say what he wants how he wants and if we don't like it, we don't have to keep reading, right?  Right!  So I gave it one more shot and went on to chapter 3, which finally got us to the ghosts, bingo!  The rest of the book was much easier  and quite entertaining, also giving me the chills and thrills I'd hoped for, enough so that I had to quit reading it before going to sleep especially since my husband loves to make cryptic remarks to me and then roll over and pass out, leaving me afraid to turn the light out and wide awake.

In the end I had a greater appreciation for Taylor as a person and his ability to deal with his many and varied experiences.  I absolutely love the pictures on the cover and the chapter headers in his old time outfit.  His expression on the cover just kills me, it's awesome. 

Check out Corey's website for more info on his music and other books.

Fraterfest 2013 Oct 3-8

#Fraterfest is the second read-a-thon I'm participating in this October, since it overlaps with #Frightfall I have pretty much the same goals for both. I am actually going to read a Rhiannon Frater title this time, Pretty When She Dies. Click on the picture above to join us!


Goals:

The Vision by Heather Graham

Pretty When She Dies by Rhiannon Frater

Dracula by Bram Stoker Audiobook

Wrap Up: I had started all of these except Pretty When She Dies before Fraterfest. I was able to finish The Vision and Dracula, and made it to 26% of Pretty, which I really like, so I'm counting it a win!

Thanks to Kimbacaffeinate for hosting!  Now, on to the next Read-a-thon!

Seriously Series Challenge - 3rd Quarter Check-in

We're heading into Fall and 3/4 done with the Challenge!  Well, it's 3/4 over, I can't say I'm 3/4 done!

Since my last update I haven't added to or subtracted from any series, but it's time to take a good hard look at what I can reasonably finish by the end of the year.

I did finish two more series this past quarter, I'm caught up on the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon and The Vampire Empire trilogy by Clay and Susan Griffith, so that makes 4 total, all in the Series Started Before 2013 category.  That means I've already achieved the Semi-Serious level.  I haven't finished anything in Series Started In 2013, I'm a slacker!

Books read in 3rd Quarter towards the challenge:

An Echo in the Bone - finished 8/9/13 - series done!
The Kingmakers - finished 8/6/13 - series done!
Valiant -Finished 9/9/13
Dragon Bound - finished 8/24/13
Once Bitten, Twice Shy - finished 8/1/13
Faefever - finished 9/28/13

I've finished 19 of the 34 books/audios/short story/novellas on my list, and I should be around 24, so I guess that catching up didn't happen!
I seem to be averaging 5-6 reads per quarter from the list but I have 16 left.  I'm pretty sure I'll stray from the list, so the question is, do I shoot for Seriously Serious in Before 2013 by finishing 3 more series, or do I try to finish something In 2013 so that I can make it on the board?  Maybe I can do both, let's see!  I only have to finish one to achieve Semi-Serious.

Started Before 2013:

Kushiel's Avatar - This will finish up Phaedre's Trilogy for me
Nice Girls Don't Bite Their Neighbors - This will catch me up on Jane Jameson
Aftermath
Endgame - These two will finish up the Sirantha Jax series for me, and get me to that Seriously Serious level with 7 finished.

Started In 2013:

Ironside - This will get me on the board for Semi-Serious!  I've made it my Dewey's goal this year.

So I'll make those 5 my goal for 4th quarter and see if I can't do better than that!

Frightfall Read-a-thon - 9/30/13-10/6/13

I took September off from 'A-thon-ing' to give myself a little break, but now it's time to get revved back up! There are 4 read-a-thons I'd like to do in October and the first is Frightfall hosted by Michelle over on Seasons of Reading.

Goals:

The Vision by Heather Graham

Pretty When She Dies by Rhiannon Frater

Dracula by Bram Stoker Audiobook

I'm pretty sure I have scary covered!  This is a pretty lofty goal for me, it will require about 100 pages a day of reading and a little over 2 hours a day of listening, but when you're listening to Tim Curry and Alan Cumming I bet 2 hours is a breeze! ;)

Updates:

Monday - Day 1 : I decided to go ahead and finish up listening to The Fellowship of the Ring by J R R Tolkien today since I only had about 3 hours left.  Then I started in on Dracula and got about an hour in.  I think 4 hours of listening is a pretty respectable start!

Thursday - Day 4 : Work has not been cooperating with my reading, but I finally got to read at lunch today!  So far: 7:13 hours into Dracula, not quite halfway, 158 pages into The Vision, about a third done, and tonight I will start Pretty When She Dies since Fraterfest started today!

Wrap Up : I ended with about 2 hours left of Dracula, 100 pages of The Vision and at about 6% on Pretty When She Dies.  So I didn't finish anything, but I touched and almost finished all 3, plus finished up The Fellowship of the Ring. I'm going to count it a success, just because it kept me reading!

Thanks again to Michelle at Seasons of Reading for hosting!

Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison

From Goodreads: Half-human and half-Wyr, Pia Giovanni spent her life keeping a low profile among the Wyrkind and avoiding the continuing conflict between them and their Dark Fae enemies. But after being blackmailed into stealing a coin from the hoard of a dragon, Pia finds herself targeted by one of the most powerful—and passionate—of the Elder Races. As the most feared and respected of the Wyrkind, Dragos Cuelebre cannot believe someone had the audacity to steal from him, much less succeed. And when he catches the thief, Dragos spares her life, claiming her as his own to further explore the desire they've ignited in each other. Pia knows she must repay Dragos for her trespass, but refuses to become his slave—although she cannot deny wanting him, body and soul.

This was a fun read that I've been wanting to try for awhile having heard a lot of good things about it. I listed it for my seriously series challenge, and I was not disappointed!

Dragos is everything you would expect a wyr dragon to be, snarly, used to having his own way no questions ask, he says jump, everyone asks how high, after all he is the top of the food chain. Funny how it just took one little slip of a girl to lay him low after centuries. You would have thought he'd seen everything by then, but Pia came as a complete surprise to him and suddenly he was no longer bored. In fact life got very interesting and complicated really fast.

I'm a sucker for the big, bad, take-no-prisoners male brought down by the typically small, shy, quiet, unassuming, continue with a list of diminutive adjectives here female that's finally had enough and this fit that bill to a T.  Bigger than her Dragos might be but Pia was not going to take attitude from him without giving it back.  There is a variety of great characters in here that I immediately found myself hoping for future books on, and so I had to go read the blurbs on the rest of the series to see who had been included so far.  The world is interesting with our own reality and the parallel dimension.  There is humor, and great banter, and big hulking sexy wyr-critters that of course ALL fall for Pia and take complete leave of their senses, which makes them endearing, since it's fiction, thank goodness or they would be completely insufferable!

The big mystery is what is Pia?  I had a good laugh over that one and that's all I'm going to say! ;)

Dragon Bound was a great time and I'm looking forward to the rest of the series!

Thea Harrison's Website

Mr. Real by Carolyn Crane

From Goodreads: He finds the girl of his dreams…with the secret agent of his nightmares. Alix Gordon is a woman who doesn’t take life too seriously. What’s the fun in that? So when she stumbles across occult software that can bring any computer image to life, she conjures up lots of awesome outfits and accessories. And then, on one drunken, horny night, she conjures up Sir Kendall, the sexy TV ad spy . . . who looks exactly like Paul Reinhardt, the super-sexy martial arts teacher who kicked her out of class three years ago. Fighter Paul Reinhardt has good reason to hate Sir Kendall, the character he brought to life to land a part in a TV ad; he’d do anything to forget him. A cross country road trip seems just the thing . . . until Paul finds himself inexplicably drawn to Minnesota and is shocked to discover Sir Kendall - in the flesh - with the girl he’d once loved from afar. He barges into Alix and Sir Kendall’s love nest, determined to stop the madness - somehow. But is superspy Sir Kendall transforming into something more dangerous anyone can imagine? And what will Sir Kendall do when Paul and Alix finally give into their mad lust for each other?

Many of us created imaginary friends or fictional characters when we were younger who exhibit the things we cannot.  They might be smarter, stronger, prettier, more out-going, risk-takers, super heroes or evil villains, able to express themselves in ways that wouldn't be acceptable even if we could.  The facets of their personalities are probably exaggerated in that we're assuaging our own insecurities that we created them to combat.  I have such a character, his name is Jenner and he came into being during math class in junior high.  He's one odd duck, that's for sure.  In him is all of my helpless teen rage and sorrow, and I love him even now at 40 years old.  I always will.  He's the "me" I couldn't be, that could handle everything thrown at him with a casual disdain, no matter how much it might have hurt him inside, that "Do what you want, who cares?" expression in place all the while.  He's also a crazy risk-taker that as a shy introvert I was fascinated by but could never be.  Besides, most of those things were truly crazy and not something that I should have done anyway!  But he's fictional, so in addition to having a dozen different backstories, he could afford to do insane stuff because he wouldn't get hurt, much. ;)

So why did I feel the need to confess to you about my "imaginary friend" in what is supposed to be a review for Mr. Real?  Because I get this book, and it gets me.  I added it to my wishlist as soon as I knew about it for the author alone.  I had read part of Carolyn's Disillusionist series that gets me in a whole different way.  I identify with Justine from that series just a little too much during some of her introspective moments.  Mr. Real sounded completely different and like it would be a lot of fun, and it definitely lived up to that!  There's a little bit of everything, supernatural, secret agents, thwarted love that gets back on track,  a super villain, it's just action all around!

While I didn't click with Alix the same way I feel bonded to Justine, what I did feel for was Paul's coming to terms with his alter ego Sir Kendall.  It was a brilliant emotional piece of this story that really hit home to me.  While I've never been at odds with Jenner the way Paul despised Sir Kendall, I can still imagine how that might come to pass when all you want to do is cut that part of your life away but you can't escape after letting him into the real world through a commercial.  Paul is coming to terms with accepting himself and a painful part of his life, and the scene where that finally happens was powerful to me.

This is a super fun book and it has the interesting convolutions of plot that I have come to love and associate with Carolyn's writing.  It is by turns silly, thrilling and touching.  I highly recommend it the next time you're looking for an entertaining, humorous read with substance.  I'm definitely interested in more!

Carolyn Crane's Website