A Winter's Respite Read-a-thon January 21-27, 2013

It's time for the Winter's Respite Read-a-thon, taking place over at Seasons of Reading! Come on and join us! Work on the TBR pile and get ahead!

Goals:

I would like to try and finish the two books I've started:






If I manage that, then I'll probably start another book for my Seriously Series Challenge:






That should be plenty to keep me busy for the week, as I'm also working on:





But I'm taking my time with those and will come nowhere close to finishing them!


Updates:

Title	Start	21-Jan	22-Jan	23-Jan	24-Jan	25-Jan	26-Jan	27-Jan	Total
Ench.	75	98	132	146	192	-	-	308 Finished!	233
AKATD	28	48	-	63	71	84	-	135	107
KC	58	73	-	-	-	-	-	-	15
ABoSaA	5:34	6:47	8:49	1:35  pt 2	3:20	3:51	-	4:09	7:24
Tithe	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Final: 355 pages = about 50 pages per day, and 7:24 hours = 1:03 listening per day.

Giveaway (International): Graveminder by Melissa Marr

From Goodreads: Rebekkah Barrow never forgot the tender attention her grandmother, Maylene, bestowed upon the dead of Claysville. While growing up, Rebekkah watched as Maylene performed the same unusual ritual at every funeral: three sips from a small silver flask followed by the words, "Sleep well, and stay where I put you." Now Maylene is gone and Bek must return to the hometown—and the man—she abandoned a decade ago, only to discover that Maylene's death was not natural . . . and there was good reason for her odd traditions. In Claysville, the worlds of the living and the dead are dangerously connected—and beneath the town lies a shadowy, lawless land ruled by the enigmatic Charles, aka Mr. D. From this dark place the deceased will return if their graves are not properly minded. And only the Graveminder, a Barrow woman, and the current Undertaker, Byron, can set things to right once the dead begin to walk.

I am already a fan of Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely series, so I was excited to try Graveminder, something completely different. I was drawn in from the beginning, listening on audio, and found myself doing a few extra chores so I didn't have to stop! The story is dark, and enthralling, set in a small town with some very big secrets. Being the Graveminder is a huge responsibility, keeping the dead at rest. I really liked Mr. D and his underworld, and the whole idea of the Graveminder and Undertaker partnership was interesting and eerie.

I listed this as one of my favorite reads/listens in 2012, and I would love to share it with you, so I'm offering up one copy, either the US Kindle version or a physical copy from the Book Depository as long as they will ship to where you live. I'm also interested to know what your favorite reads of 2012 were. Good Luck!

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Bout of Books 6.0 January 7-13

It's time for Bout of Books 6.0!  Get a jump start on your reading this year! You can sign up HERE.

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 7th and runs through Sunday, January 13th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 6.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. -From the Bout of Books 6.0 team


Goals

• Devote one additional uninterrupted hour per day to reading/listening (that's harder than it sounds, and usually I'm my own interruption!)
• Finish up the books I'm in the middle of.
• Start another Seriously Series Challenge book. 
• Added later - 700 pages total.

Books to finish up

 

Paperback Starting page: 126 Status: Finished!

Kindle Starting position: 84 Status: In Progress

Audio Starting time: 5:06 Status: Finished!

Books/Short Stories Started

Trade PB Starting page: 1/252 Status: Finished!

Nice Girls Don’t Sign a Lease Without a Wedding Ring blog post/short story Pages: 9 Status: Finished!

Short story Pages: 17 Status: Finished!

Short Story Pages: 10 Status: Finished!

Updates

1/7 - Day 1
Time Listened: 1:23 (6:29)
Pages Read: DM(18), TTB(146) = 164

1/8 - Day 2
Time Listened: :49 (7:18)
Pages Read: DM(40), TTB(106) = 146
Finished Tempting the Beast by Lora Leigh

1/9 - Day 3
Time Listened: 2:20 (part 2 1:49)
Pages Read: 136
Finished Dead Matter by Anton Strout

Page 48 Challenge

"What can I do?" I asked. "It's not like the Order has put me through any kind of psychology boot camp." -- pg. 48 - Dead Matter by Anton Strout

My Continuation:

     My partner stared out at the scene before us in bemusement.  "Freud would have a hey day with this. I  really hope the Order has a good mental health clause in their insurance plan, you're going to need it after you clean this up!"  He contemplated the tableau awhile longer then said, "Well, good luck mate, ring me if you need a drink, you know... after..."

1/10 - Day 4
Time Listened: 1:41 (part 2 3:30)
Pages Read: NG (9), KU (17), Reb (41) = 67
Finished 2 short stories

1/11 - Day 5
Time Listened: 2:06 (part 2 5:36)
Pages Read: ATM (10), Reb (29) = 39
Finished A Test of Mettle short story

1/12 - Day 6
Time Listened: 2:13 (part 2 7:49)
Pages Read: Reb(24) = 24
Finished the Orchid Affair on audio

1/13 - Day 7
Pages Read: Reb(98) = 98

Total Time Listened: 10:32
Total Pages Read: 674
Books Finished: 3
Short Stories Finished: 3

Closing Remarks:  I didn't quite hit my amended goal of 700 pages, but I'm still really happy with what I managed, especially the 10 hours of listening time!  As usual this was a great time and I can't wait until the next one!

2012 Wrap Up

Favorite Reads in 2012

Out of the 100 books I read this year, these are the ones that really stand out in my mind when I look back over the list. To me it is interesting that 6 of them were audiobooks, so apparently I just REALLY like being read to! Two of these were read by the same narrator, Wil Wheaton, so I must really like his style!

All of these are either stand alones, or beginnings of a series. I did continue reading in some favorite series this year but decided to focus on beginnings or singles, instead of the middle of something I've been working on for awhile.

If I've reviewed it, I've provided a link to that, otherwise, it will be to the Goodreads page.

Review	Review	Review	Review
Goodreads	Goodreads	Goodreads	Review

Challenges Basically I didn't succeed at any of the challenges I did except for Speculative Romance, which I then tried to go on to the next level and didn't make it.  So we're not going to spend a lot of time on that, except to say that this year, I've picked one challenge, and that in itself was a challenge! They all sound so fun it's hard to resist, but I'm doing the lowest level of the Seriously Series Challenge, and that is all! Check out the links below to join up! To see what I've chosen for it, I've set up a page here for tracking. Sign up at  Reading the Paranormal or On a Book Bender it's all part of the same challenge.

Happy New Year everyone! May 2013 be filled with peace and good books!

In The Pleasure Groove: Love, Death, and Duran Duran: A Memoir by John Taylor

From Goodreads: John Taylor, Duran Duran’s co-founder, takes the reader on a wild ride through his life. From the eighties through today, from Rio to All You Need is Now, John writes about the music, the parties, and the MTV videos that made millions swoon. With Duran Duran, John Taylor has created some of the greatest music of our time. From the disco dazzle of debut single ‘Planet Earth’ right up to their latest number one album, All You Need is Now, Duran Duran has always had the power to sweep the world onto its feet. It’s been a ride – and for John in particular, the ride has been wild, thrilling... and dangerous. Now, for the first time, he tells his incredible story. A tale of dreams fulfilled, lessons learned and demons conquered. A shy only child, Nigel John Taylor wasn’t an obvious candidate for pop stardom and frenzied girl panic. But when he ditched his first name and picked up a bass guitar, everything changed. John Formed Duran Duran with his friend Nick Rhodes in the summer of 1978, and they were soon joined by Roger Taylor, then Andy Taylor and finally Simon Le Bon. Together they were an immediate, massive global success story, their pictures on millions of walls, every single a worldwide hit. In his frank, compelling autobiography, John recounts the highs –hanging out with icons like Bowie, Warhol and even James Bond; dating Vogue models and driving fast cars – all the while playing hard with the band he loved. But there were tough battles ahead – troubles that brought him to the brink of self-destruction – before turning his life around. Told with humor, honesty and hard-won wisdom, and packed with exclusive pictures, In the Pleasure Groove is a fascinating, irresistible portrait of a man who danced into the fire... and came through the other side.

I loved it!  Towards the end I was looking for excuses to run errands so I could finish listening to it, then when I did finish, I was very sad that it was over!  Duran Duran, especially John, were a huge part of my teenage experience, and this memoir by him, read by him, is very special to me.  It made him a much more real person, very different from the perfect rockstar god that nothing could touch.  While he was inspiring us to want to be just like him, he was living the nightmare of having gotten exactly what he set out to do, and all the things that came with it.  This is a very honest look at his life, yet very classy, he calls a spade a spade, but doesn't point fingers or dish secrets that weren't his to tell.  This made me feel so connected to him as a person, and I have even benefitted from one of his favorite lines received through rehab/therapy that was very pertinent in my life right now.  There were many things familiar, and also a lot I never knew but was very interested by, and he reads it very well.  I could go on much longer, but sometimes less is more, so I'll stop at I loved it, and I think any Duranie, especially those favoring John, should definitely give this a listen/read.

Holiday Read-a-thon Dec. 7-9, 2012

It's time once again for the Holiday Read-a-thon, hosted by Liza over at WhoRuBlog. It's another opportunity to work on those challenge TBR's!

For my charity component, I will donate $5 per book I finish (added in to another donation I'm already making) to Worldbuilders which partners with Heifer International.

I'm in the midst of three books right now, so I'm going to keep working on those:

Random Reads: Fire Dance by Delle Jacobs

I've decided to start a new feature for myself, it won't have a regular schedule, but like all of us with the ability to read Kindle books, I have a TON of freebies and reduced price daily deals that I may not otherwise get to.  I hope to motivate myself to read some of them this way.  Please be aware that they may no longer be free or reduced price should you be interested in purchasing them.

Old Cover New Cover From Amazon: A mysterious castle. A deadly gift. A missing, unwilling bride. And a Norman knight determined to conquer all. Ordered by his King to carry out a cryptic command—kill a wicked sorcerer lord, seize his castle, and take his daughter as a wife—Alain de Crency expects a fierce battle. Instead he discovers a defenseless castle, the daughter missing, and the sorcerer dead, shrouded in a magnificent purple cloak. With no knowledge of the evil lurking within it, Alain takes the cloak as his own before investigating the whereabouts of his supposed betrothed. Upon Alain’s arrival, Melisande, the sorcerer’s daughter who begrudgingly learned her father’s sinister trade, hides in plain sight as a servant. But Alain suspects this beautiful blonde knows more than she claims, and he resolves to uncover the truth—if he can resist his burning desire for her. Soon Melisande realizes her father’s infernal magic reaches beyond the grave—and that only Alain can save her people from the menacing evil. But with Alain’s new cloak dyed in poison, can Melisande save her people’s savior without revealing her dark secrets to the man who’s captured her heart?

Fire Dance was a freebie on Amazon when I picked it up with the old cover above, it's since gotten a facelift and is currently priced at $2.99.

Overall this was an enjoyable historical romance taking place in the England of 1092, when Norman and Saxon hostilities were high.  The author has created characters that I genuinely liked from Alain and his men to Melisande and the knights who were loyal and protective of her, to Rufus, who reminded me of a jovial Henry VIII, without all the wife trouble.  The only part I really didn't care for, or would have liked to see a little tighter and more filled out was that of Melisande's father. We get very little of that in the beginning, only Melisande's fears that if anyone knew the truth they would kill her, and that her father was the Spawn of Satan, in his own words.  I think more of that storyline earlier on would have helped make that aspect of the story more believable.  I really never got the evil sorcerer bit until later on, and the spawn of Satan part was a little silly to me.  However, I'm willing to concede that in 1092, when there was no huge paranormal romance genre, this was probably the scariest thing those people could have heard.

My rating for this would be 3/5, I did like it, there was action and romance, likeable characters, and an interesting storyline.  I found myself wanting to read it, rather than feeling like I had to get through it, and that's always a good sign! ;)

Delle Jacobs Website

Giveaway: US Kindle Copy of SEAL of My Dreams Romance Anthology

From Amazon: Honor, duty, courage, passion . . . the men of the Navy SEALs are a special breed of hero, and in these novellas by eighteen top romance authors the SEALs are celebrated not only as symbols of devoted service to their country but as the kind of men every woman wants to love. They’ll rescue a damsel in distress and her lap dog, too. They’ll battle hometown dramas and international bad guys. When it comes to giving away their hearts, they’ll risk everything. All proceeds from sales of SEAL of My Dreams go to the Veterans Research Corporation, a non-profit fundraiser for veterans’ medical research. Between them, the authors of SEAL of My Dreams have won dozens of writing awards including multiple RITAs from Romance Writers of America. Their nearly 600 published novels have sold at least 35 million copies worldwide. The SEAL of My Dreams roster includes many of the best-known authors in modern romance fiction. In addition, many have strong family connections to the servicemen and women of our nation’s military, and many specialize in novels featuring heroes and heroines from all branches of service.

I am usually a Fantasy and Sci-fi, Paranormal, Urban, etc. girl in my reading habits, but every once in awhile I'm just in the mood for something that features our heroic military men. I picked this up when it was a Kindle Daily Deal, I admit, partially because of the cover, and because I knew that military mood would hit me again sometime and a bunch of short stories seemed perfect! I also liked the fact that the proceeds go towards veterans medical research. My husband is an Air Force veteran, so I feel strongly about it.

These were wonderful! There are a ton of stories in there, and you just want to hug every single one of the SEALS inside! I admit I got teary eyed a few times. On the whole, these were exactly what I was in the mood for.

I would love to give a copy away in honor of Veteran's Day, coming up in the next week. I will leave this open through Midnight EST on 11/22, please comment and let me know what you are thankful for. Big or small, doesn't matter, just something you're thankful for. Please remember to leave me an e-mail to contact you!

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Random Read-a-thon Oct. 19 - 23, 2012

Random Read-a-thon hosted by My Shelf Confessions

 
YES! A spur of the moment random read-a-thon! Of course I'm in, because one, it's a read-a-thon, and two, I didn't get to spend as much time as I would have liked for Dewey's last weekend because things came up, and three, well, it's a read-a-thon! If you'd like to join us in doing this random bout of reading goodness, head on over to My Shelf Confessions and sign up! It's super informal, so come along!

Goal:

400 pages

Books I'm working on:

Starting Page: 60 Pages Read: 333 Finished: 10/21/12

Starting Page: 226 Finished: no

Start: 29% Ended: 67%  Finished: no

Score: 

 

I made it to about 385 pages I think, because I was a loser tonight and got sucked into the Halloween events on my favorite computer game Guild Wars 2. :D But I basically did it, I could have! I was THIS close!

Dewey's 24 hour Read-a-thon October 2012 Edition

Good morning, afternoon, evening or dead of night to you, wherever you are! It's time again for Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon!

This will be my 6th Dewey's Read-a-thon, it's hard to believe, and while my excitement is tempered now by familiarity, I'm still looking forward to it and ready to go!  I've tried a bunch of different methods of tracking, this time I think I'll keep updating one post with my progress and add comments to the end throughout the day.

I'm sitting out on cheering this time around because I've had several things pop up during the day that I must do, so instead I've donated a prize for the first time, a trilogy of books that I think are perfect for a read-a-thon, and I can't wait to see who chooses them!

I do have a giveaway going on for The City's Son by Tom Pollock, teen urban fantasy, 1 US Kindle copy so please have a look!

I'm going to work on reading some short stories in series that I like, also some kids books that I want to move along through wild release at Bookcrossing.  I don't have a particular goal, I'm just going to read as much as I can amongst my errands and projects for the day!  Good luck to everyone taking part, and if you aren't, why not?!  Join us!  You know you want to!

Here is my TBR Pool for the day:

Pages:18 Finished: 12:15 AM	Pages: Finished:	Pages:28 Finished: 2:30 PM	Pages: Finished:
Pages: Finished:	Pages:105 Finished: 8:30 AM	Pages: Finished:	Pages:152 Finished: 11:19 PM
Pages: Finished:	Pages:155 Finished:  Nope!	Pages: Finished:	Pages: Finished:

8:30 AM: 1 book down and the Introductory Meme

I just finished my first book, Aquamarine by Alice Hoffman, a super fast little fantasy about two girls who discover a mermaid on their last summer together before one of them moves away.  It's a dreary day here, so perfect for reading!


1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Kansas
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? Midnight Alley by Rachel Caine
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? Not sure yet, I haven't planned them out, but I'm hoping for some decadent dessert, we'll see!
4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I like waterlilies, so I've started keeping them in giant pottery pots on my patio in the summers, with shubunkin's (koi-looking goldfish) in their to keep the buggies at bay.  Makes for nice patio scenery while reading!  I know, kind of strange, but I was looking for something more interesting than "I like cats, and I like to read!" LOL!
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 think this is my 6th actually, and I'm trying putting all updates in one post, we'll see how that goes.  There's no way I can actually stay up for 24 hours anymore and still be functional, so the last couple read-a-thons I've started going to bed when I get tired, and making sure I get up a few hours before the end, it's worked pretty well, I love being there as the finish line arrives!

And now I'm staring in on Midnight Alley, but since it's the longest of the books I've set aside today, I'll probably work on it throughout, and read other things as breaks in the middle!  See you later!

10:30 AM: Read-a-thon on the run

Time for the running around, not much read in Midnight Alley yet, but it's going with me of course!


3:30 PM: Still Read-a-thon-ing on the run

I finished up Curran POV #1 while walking through CostCo! I'm about 60 pages into Midnight Alley, and also started on Wild & Steamy on my phone since it will be too dark to read in the car soon (as we are still running around).  I hope to be able to catch up on reading and do some visits later tonight.  I'm not getting as much reading done as I'd like, but I'm trying!  Hope everyone is having a good day so far!

9:30 PM: Ready to get busy and the Mid-Event Survey!

I've a got a fresh Salted Caramel Mocha in front of me and I'm settled in and ready to read!  Think I'll pick up a quick looking one to get back in the groove, Haunted Waters by Mary Pope Osborne looks like a good choice. 

1) How are you doing? Sleepy? Are your eyes tired? With a fresh coffee I hope to be awake for awhile, haven't had a chance to read as much as I'd like today!
2) What have you finished reading? So far only Aquamarine by Alice Hoffman and the first Curran POV by Gordan Andrews
3) What is your favorite read so far? Curran POV #1, and Midnight Alley that I'm working on now.
4) What about your favorite snacks?  Apparently coffee, since this is my second one today!
5) Have you found any new blogs through the readathon? If so, give them some love!  Sadly I haven't had much time to visit anyone this time around, I hope to do that soon!  But if you read this, my friend Noumena is willing to pay some money to charity for the books WE read as well if you sign up on her registration form!  Check it out!

11:30 PM: Finished my second book and the Challenge Your Brain While Reading Challenge

I just finished Haunted Waters which was an eerie little story based on a German fairy tale.  Perfect for an October read-a-thon!

My Seryniti has a challenge for us with two parts:

1. Choose a challenging book outside your normal tastes (I'm paraphrasing here): Biographies/memoirs are pretty far out of my normal taste range, but there is one that I'd like to get a hold of, it is In the Pleasure Groove by John Taylor, the bass player for Duran Duran, one of my favorite bands of all time from when I really started discovering popular music.

2. Share any words that are unfamiliar to you that you come across in the read-a-thon, and share any of your favorite words.  Well, I haven't really come across any unfamiliar words so far, but I'll share some that I like from today:

Piscine: Of, relating to, or characteristic of a fish or fishes. (Haunted Waters)
Prestidigitation: Performance of or skill in performing magic or conjuring tricks with the hands; sleight of hand. (I thought I saw this in Midnight Alley, but can't find it again!)

which led me to this one that I didn't know what it meant until now:
Legerdemain: Sleight of hand.

2:00 AM: Book Sentence Challenge

I've never done one of these before because nothing ever struck me, but I'm kind of proud of this one!

A Book Dragon Ain't Myth-Behaving Playing with Fire!

3:00 AM: I'm out!  See you next time!

I've decided that sleep is the better part of valor, and that there's no way I'm going to get my current book finished soon.  Good Luck to anyone who is still awake and reading!  I managed about 458 pages, not bad considering how much time I was out and about today.  Thank you to the hostesses and the cheerleaders and all the other read-a-thoners for make this such a fun and connected event!

Giveaway: The City's Son by Tom Pollock

From Amazon: Running from her traitorous best friend and her estranged father, graffiti artist Beth Bradley is looking for sanctuary. What she finds is Filius, the ragged and cocky crown prince of London’s mystical underworld. Filius opens Beth’s eyes to the city she’s never truly seen—where vast spiders crawl telephone wires seeking voices to steal, railwraiths escape their tethers, and statues conceal an ancient priesthood robed in bronze. But it all teeters on the brink of destruction. Amid rumors that Filius’s goddess mother will soon return from her 15-year exile, Reach, a malign god of urban decay, wants the young prince dead. Helping Filius raise an alleyway army to reclaim his skyscraper throne, Beth soon forgets her old life. But when her best friend is captured, Beth must choose between this wondrous existence and the life she left behind.

I received my copy of The City's Son from Ann Aguirre, another author whom I greatly admire who was so impressed with this book that she wanted to share it. Any time an author that I'm a fan of is excited about another book, I want to check it out. I figure if I enjoy their writing, I'm definitely interested in what they enjoy. I was not disappointed!

I've read quite a few books in the Urban Fantasy genre now, but this one actually puts the urban in the fantasy!  I loved how Pollock creates living creatures out of every day inanimate objects and machines, the streetlamps, spiders that run the telephone wires, the living statues, and the railwraiths, even Reach's minions, who are frightening in their mindless devotion to bring him to life.  The dialogue is fun and sarcastic, but underlying that is a dark and desperate story with a bittersweet ending.

Filius is an anomaly to this world, with his concrete grey skin but otherwise human features, he is unlike any of the creatures who belong to his goddess mother, Mater Viae.  Beth is artistic, brave and daring, though often rash, she takes to Filius and his fantastical London right away, jumping in to ally herself to his cause.  There are many other wonderfully done characters throughout, and I am totally on board for the next book, The Glass Republic which features Beth's best friend Pen, who is far from traitorous here, and who sacrifices so much for her friend.

This story is so imaginative and interesting, I don't think I'll ever look at a streetlight or a construction crane without thinking about it!  Check out Tom Pollock's Website.

Giveaway:

Since I received my copy as a giveaway from Ann Aguirre on Twitter, I'd like to pay it forward and offer it up for someone else to enjoy as well!  This is for 1 US Kindle Copy of The City's Son, so please make sure you are able to accept that format before entering, and make sure to leave me a way to contact you!  This giveaway will stay open through Midnight Oct. 31st Eastern time, and it's my first time using Rafflecopter so I'm keeping fingers crossed!

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