Books for April
May. 2nd, 2009 12:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
indiana_j1. Dragon Lovers by Jo Beverly, Mary Jo Putney, Karen Harbaugh, and Barbara Samuel - A book with a few shorter stories and I have to say, I wasn't blown away by most of them. I really did love 'Anna and the King of Dragons' by Harbaugh the most; out of the other stories, it seemed to be the one that was written the best, I actually cared and enjoyed the characters and the plot was really nice. I'd go so far as to say I want to check out some of her other work. The rest of the book was decent but not enough for me to really wave my arms about.
2. The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner - This is a more realistic look at taking a girl in a period setting where women don't wear pants, were they don't learn to swordfight and were marriage is one of The top priorities and making her learn the sword, wear men's clothing and generally turn her world upside down. It was a refreshing change of pace from the "I'm a girl and I can sword fight and it's AWESOME" in that the main character struggles to come to grips with her new life and the life of an eccentric uncle that she's never met. It's wonderfully written and even though it's apparently a follow up to another novel, it's not so telling that you can't read it. The characters are incredibly fun to read and they're all so well-fleshed out that even the minor characters come to life on the page.
3. The Bone Garden by Tess Gerritsen - After reading The Glass Harmonica I was a little leery about getting into another book that skipped between two different time periods. I should have read this first because this is how you do it. The mystery, and horror, of what happened in the past resonates in the future when a woman finds a skeleton on her new property - this simply fleshes out the growing horror story when you read the story from those that lived that tale. It was very well done but it was also pretty graphic, especially the first few scenes of the birthing wards.
4. Emperor Norton's Ghost by Dianne Day - My fluff read, pretty much. Still as well done as the first set, I stil love that she brings back characters from previous books and it's still fun.
5. Ravenous by Ray Garton - Holy crap. This book scared me to death - incredibly graphic, incredibly brutal it's really not for everyone. Especially considering the end. Very well written horror novel with a new twist on the werewolf scene and I couldn't put it down even when I really, really wanted to.
6. Turn Coat by Jim Butcher - Everything I want to say is spoileriffic. ;) Needless to say, this was just as good as the rest of the series, if not better. It seemed like 90% of the cast had turned out in this at one point or another and even as Butcher finally gave us some answers, he left us with a few more questions, the bastard. As wonderfully entertaining as always.
7. Curse the Dawn (Cassandra Palmer, Book 4) by Karen Chance - What can I say besides the fact that I somehow didn't know that the next book in one of my favorite series had been out? I did a dance. Chance continues the Cassandra Palmer books in style and I ate up any section with Pritkin, as is my wont. :D (Seriously, for the most part I've grown tired of the triangle's and whatnot in these urban fantasy books but I'm cheerfully screaming at this book "No, no, pick him! Don't pick him!") The only stumbling block for me was when I found out that only a month has lapsed since the first book and this one - it threw me as I really wasn't expecting it. It's pretty minor and I got over it.
8. Deathwish (Cal Leandros, Book 4) by Rob Thurman - Remember when I said I did a dance with Chance's book? Well, I had her book in hand and turned around and saw Deathwish and did another dance. :D Two of my favorite series in one go, mwahaha. *cough* I think out of the last four books in this series this one is my favorite and it's not just because of the writing or the story. I loved that we suddenly got chapters from the perspective of Niko, Cal's brother. It was wonderful to see behind his eye's and see the brotherly bond from his end and not just Cal's. I laughed outloud, I screamed outloud at one point - the great thing about this series is that former characters are never forgotten. We still have references to the doctor from the first book and considering my EXTREME LOVE for secondary/side characters, this makes me happy. *flails with the book* *flails with it* (And my love for Robin grows and grows and grows. ...that's what she said. :D)
9. Kissing in Manhattan by David Schickler - Er, man, this was a weird book. Very well written but I really didn't care for it. I can't deny that it was well written or that a lot of other people might get into it but I just really couldn't and I don't know why.
Wrapup and recommendations! I recommend pretty much everything but Dragon Lovers and Kissing in Manhattan - if you're looking for good urban fantasy to get into, go and read the Cassandra Palmer series and the Cal Leandros series. Jim Butcher rocks my world as always.
2. The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner - This is a more realistic look at taking a girl in a period setting where women don't wear pants, were they don't learn to swordfight and were marriage is one of The top priorities and making her learn the sword, wear men's clothing and generally turn her world upside down. It was a refreshing change of pace from the "I'm a girl and I can sword fight and it's AWESOME" in that the main character struggles to come to grips with her new life and the life of an eccentric uncle that she's never met. It's wonderfully written and even though it's apparently a follow up to another novel, it's not so telling that you can't read it. The characters are incredibly fun to read and they're all so well-fleshed out that even the minor characters come to life on the page.
3. The Bone Garden by Tess Gerritsen - After reading The Glass Harmonica I was a little leery about getting into another book that skipped between two different time periods. I should have read this first because this is how you do it. The mystery, and horror, of what happened in the past resonates in the future when a woman finds a skeleton on her new property - this simply fleshes out the growing horror story when you read the story from those that lived that tale. It was very well done but it was also pretty graphic, especially the first few scenes of the birthing wards.
4. Emperor Norton's Ghost by Dianne Day - My fluff read, pretty much. Still as well done as the first set, I stil love that she brings back characters from previous books and it's still fun.
5. Ravenous by Ray Garton - Holy crap. This book scared me to death - incredibly graphic, incredibly brutal it's really not for everyone. Especially considering the end. Very well written horror novel with a new twist on the werewolf scene and I couldn't put it down even when I really, really wanted to.
6. Turn Coat by Jim Butcher - Everything I want to say is spoileriffic. ;) Needless to say, this was just as good as the rest of the series, if not better. It seemed like 90% of the cast had turned out in this at one point or another and even as Butcher finally gave us some answers, he left us with a few more questions, the bastard. As wonderfully entertaining as always.
7. Curse the Dawn (Cassandra Palmer, Book 4) by Karen Chance - What can I say besides the fact that I somehow didn't know that the next book in one of my favorite series had been out? I did a dance. Chance continues the Cassandra Palmer books in style and I ate up any section with Pritkin, as is my wont. :D (Seriously, for the most part I've grown tired of the triangle's and whatnot in these urban fantasy books but I'm cheerfully screaming at this book "No, no, pick him! Don't pick him!") The only stumbling block for me was when I found out that only a month has lapsed since the first book and this one - it threw me as I really wasn't expecting it. It's pretty minor and I got over it.
8. Deathwish (Cal Leandros, Book 4) by Rob Thurman - Remember when I said I did a dance with Chance's book? Well, I had her book in hand and turned around and saw Deathwish and did another dance. :D Two of my favorite series in one go, mwahaha. *cough* I think out of the last four books in this series this one is my favorite and it's not just because of the writing or the story. I loved that we suddenly got chapters from the perspective of Niko, Cal's brother. It was wonderful to see behind his eye's and see the brotherly bond from his end and not just Cal's. I laughed outloud, I screamed outloud at one point - the great thing about this series is that former characters are never forgotten. We still have references to the doctor from the first book and considering my EXTREME LOVE for secondary/side characters, this makes me happy. *flails with the book* *flails with it* (And my love for Robin grows and grows and grows. ...that's what she said. :D)
9. Kissing in Manhattan by David Schickler - Er, man, this was a weird book. Very well written but I really didn't care for it. I can't deny that it was well written or that a lot of other people might get into it but I just really couldn't and I don't know why.
Wrapup and recommendations! I recommend pretty much everything but Dragon Lovers and Kissing in Manhattan - if you're looking for good urban fantasy to get into, go and read the Cassandra Palmer series and the Cal Leandros series. Jim Butcher rocks my world as always.
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Date: 2009-05-02 07:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-03 01:19 pm (UTC)