Monday, November 25, 2013

Weekly Round-Up 11/25

Weekly Round-Up is my wrap-up of last week's activities and includes what I'm reading this week, reviews I've posted, books in the mail and anything else of interest plus From the Library, my weekly listing of what I've checked out from the library.

This week I'm reading Beautiful Days by Anna Godbersen  and Reached  by Allie Condie and listening to Rotters by Daniel Kraus, read by Kirby Heyborne. With my son I'm reading Nick and Tesla's Robot Army Ramage by Bob Pflugfelder and Steve Hockensmith.


Monday, November 18, 2013

Weeky Round-Up 11/18

Weekly Round-Up is my wrap-up of last week's activities and includes what I'm reading this week, reviews I've posted, books in the mail and anything else of interest plus From the Library, my weekly listing of what I've checked out from the library.

This week I'm reading Beautiful Days by Anna Godbersen  and Untold by Sarah Rees Brennan and listening to Rotters by Daniel Kraus, read by Kirby Heyborne. With my son I'm reading Nick and Tesla's Robot Army Ramage by Bob Pflugfelder and Steve Hockensmith.

I finished Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard and Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers last week.


Untold by Sarah Rees Brennan (The Lynburn Legacy #2)
 It’s time to choose sides… On the surface, Sorry-in-the-Vale is a sleepy English town. But Kami Glass knows the truth. Sorry-in-the-Vale is full of magic. In the old days, the Lynburn family ruled with fear, terrifying the people into submission in order to kill for blood and power. Now the Lynburns are back, and Rob Lynburn is gathering sorcerers so that the town can return to the old ways.

But Rob and his followers aren’t the only sorcerers in town. A decision must be made: pay the blood sacrifice, or fight. For Kami, this means more than just choosing between good and evil. With her link to Jared Lynburn severed, she’s now free to love anyone she chooses. But who should that be?

Friday, November 15, 2013

Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers (His Fair Assassin #2) (audio)

When Sybella is sent back to the most hellish place on earth, her father's home, by the convent of St. Mortain in order to protect the Duchess and the country of Brittany, she must endure the torment of her family for her country and her god. But a mission to rescue one of the country's heroes brings her closer to the truth of her own feelings about her family and herself.  

Sybella is one of the supporting characters in Grave Mercy and not one that was really explored so it was interesting to hear more of her story. I was surprised at the direction her story took but then it made sense in the context of the first book too. Sybella has a lot of dark secrets and the book manages to draw them out without making it unbearable. She manages to grow as a character too without losing any of her vigor or righteousness. I liked her relationship with Beast and thought the Beauty and the Beast connection was kind of cute though this isn't fairy tale related at all. It's just a glance in that direction. They really compliment each other and Beast is a terrific character that I wish got a little more page time. But really, at the heart of this book, it is about Sybella and her family and the ties that bind even when they should break.

His Fair Assassin
Grave Mercy #1

Angela Goethals is the narrator and I liked her voice and her reading. She does a good job of bringing Sybella to life. My only problem with the audiobook is one I had with Grave Mercy and that is the odd lag during the track changes. It's not very smooth and disjoints the scenes sometimes with odd pauses. 

13 hours, 30 minutes.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard (Something Strange and Deadly #1)

Eleanor Fitt is one of the Philadelphia Fitts though they've fallen on hard times since her father lost his business and then died. Her mother is determined to marry her off to a rich husband in order to reclaim their wealth and standing. But the Dead are rising in Philadelphia controlled by a necromancer and Eleanor's brother is still missing. When one of the Dead gives Eleanor a letter from him, she knows that something has gone terribly wrong. So she turns to the Spirit-Hunters for help and finds herself dealing with unnatural forces.

First, let me say that I read this is in 2 separate reading times. I was reading it and then it was due back so I had to wait to check it out again. One of the hazardous of this is having a disjointed reading experience. I'll try not to reflect that in the review but just so you know. The other thing is that I expected this to be a zombie novel and it's kind of not really. There are dead rising, yes, but not of their own power (not all of them anyway) but under the power of a necromancer. It's a concept I don't mind but I wish it had been spelled out a bit more.

Eleanor is a pretty cool girl. She doesn't act like a girl from the 1800's, seeming much more modern than a girl of that era. And the language wasn't quite right either. But it was a fun book and I enjoyed it. I do like a main character with some gumption and sass and Eleanor had both to spare. She certainly didn't shy away from much. The romantic aspect was a bit meh for me. I did like how everything tied together though. But really it was pretty obvious who the necromancer was from early on since it really could be only one of two characters so I wasn't surprised. I did wonder how this was going to be a series but the ending was good enough to provide a unexpected way into a trilogy.

Monday, November 11, 2013

Weekly Round-Up 11/11

Weekly Round-Up is my wrap-up of last week's activities and includes what I'm reading this week, reviews I've posted, books in the mail and anything else of interest plus From the Library, my weekly listing of what I've checked out from the library.

This week I'm reading Beautiful Days by Anna Godbersen and listening to Rotters by Daniel Kraus, read by Kirby Heyborne. With my son I'm reading Nick and Tesla's Robot Army Ramage by Bob Pflugfelder and Steve Hockensmith.

I finished Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard and Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers so I will be reviewing those soon.

Monday, November 4, 2013

Weekly Round-Up 11/4

Weekly Round-Up is my wrap-up of last week's activities and includes what I'm reading this week, reviews I've posted, books in the mail and anything else of interest plus From the Library, my weekly listing of what I've checked out from the library.

This week I'm reading Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard and the finishing Beautiful Days by Anna Godbersen and listening to Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers, read by Angela Goethals. With my son I'm reading Nick and Tesla's Robot Army Ramage by Bob Pflugfelder and Steve Hockensmith.

I reviewed Allegiant by Veronica Roth.