Jazz Age Chronicles

Title: Jazz Age Chronicles, Vol. 1: "The Case of the Beguiling Baroness" Plus "Vote Early & Often"

Author: Ted Slampyak [Website][Facebook]

Publisher: Caliber Comics

Series: Jazz Age Chronicles, Volume 1, Issues #1-5

Length: 137 pages

Title: Jazz Age Chronicles, Vol. 2: "The Flowers of San Pedro" Plus "A Stranger in Bryn Mawr"

Author: Ted Slampyak [Website][Facebook]

Publisher: Caliber Comics

Series: Jazz Age Chronicles, Volume 2, Issues #6-9

Length: 109 pages





 Why These Books?:

I'd been eyeing them for awhile now, but I needed a comic/graphic novel for the Summer Reading Bingo, and then the second volume (luckily) worked for Historical Fiction...

Note:

My apologies in advance for the lack of complete sentences.

Comments:

Interesting.  Dramatic.  Fun to read the Jazz Age language.  Also secret societies, a down-and-out detective, a fantastical and popular adventurer/professor. 

It took some time for me to follow since it switched between the characters before I knew who they were and seemed at first like different story lines.  I adjusted once I realized how they connected.  Quite a bit of mysticism and such involved - something I hadn't expected at first but actually turned out to be a major part of the plot.

I wouldn't mind reading more of Slampyak's work.  In fact, I've already begun reading Savage (a vampire hunter in the Wild West).  I'm especially interested in more of the Jazz Age Chronicles.  Unfortunately, it seems I've missed them, and I can't find them in a published version.

Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them AND Quidditch Through the Ages

Title: Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them

Author: Newt Scamander ; J. K. Rowling [Website] aka Joanne Rowling aka Robert Galbraith [Website]

Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books ; Obscurus Books

ISBN: 0439321603

Length: 42 pages

Part of a box set released through the U.K. Comic Relief

Title: Quidditch Through the Ages

Author: Kennilworthy Whisp ; J. K. Rowling [Website] aka Joanne Rowling aka Robert Galbraith [Website]

Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books ; WhizzHard Books

ISBN: 0439321611

Length: 56 pages

Part of a box set released through the U.K. Comic Relief

Why these books?:

I - ahem - read both of these for the Summer Reading program (Red Cover and Sports Book).  They are certainly for all ages, correct?

Plus I wanted to read Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them before the movie and screenplay.

Comments: 

I had held off reading these all these years because I was uncertain of what I'd find.  They were both quick and interesting reads.  

Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them is a copy of Harry Potter's textbook, so every time there was a notation, I was mentally trying to place when on the timeline it might be referring to.

Quidditch Through the Ages is more of a history (a copy of the Hogwarts Library copy).  I found myself most interested in the part about the various teams from around the world.  It was especially timely reading after the watching some of the Olympics.

The Earl's Untouched Bride and How the Marquess Was Won

I don't know why I so often find Historical Romances so hard to comment on.  I do enjoy them... the stories, the characters, the HEA.  It's worse when it has been awhile since I've read it.  Both of these were read about a month or so ago.

I've also given up on paying much attention to series, as I often end up reading a book in the middle of the series when it comes to this sub-genre.  ::sigh::

In any case, I enjoyed both of these. 

Title: The Earl's Untouched Bride

Author: Annie Burrows

Publisher: Harlequin Historical Regency

ISBN: 9780373295333

Length: 276 pages

Obtained: Personal copy

Why this book?:

I'm clearing out some books so my new personal library won't be cluttered and overfull.  The blurb sounded interesting.

Title: How the Marquess Was Won

Author: Julie Anne Long

Publisher: AVON Historical Romance

Series: Pennyroyal Green, Bk 6

ISBN: 9780061885693

Length: 373 pages

Obtained: Personal (ex-library) copy

Why this book?: 

I'm clearing out some books so my new personal library won't be cluttered and overfull.  The blurb sounded interesting.

Library Wars: Love & War

Title: Library Wars: Love & War

Author: Kiiro Yumi (Original Concept by Hiro Arikawa [IMDb])

Publisher: Shojo Beat Manga

Series: Volumes 1, 2, and 3

ISBN: 9781421534886, 9781421534893, 9781421534909

Obtained: Library copies

Why these books?: 

Uh, library manga.  I had to try it.

Comments:

Iku Kasahara is joining the Library Defense Force, a group designed to save books from censorship under a special law so they can remain accessible by all.  The federal government is on a continual mission to destroy all books not considered "appropriate" and the Library Act (and Library Defense Force upholding it) is the only legal recourse.  It a fascinating scenario - definite parallels with Fahrenheit 451.  It has the usual angsty is he like my hero that I can't remember the face of (crush-material) or is he the opposite?

Uncerain Allies (Connor Grey, Bk 5) AND New Tricks ; Unleashed ; Play Dead (Dog Days, Bks 2-4)

Uncertain Allies (Connor Grey, Bk 5)

Author:  Mark Del Franco [Website][Facebook]

Publisher: ACE Fantasy

Series: Connor Grey, Bk 5

ISBN: 9781101514078

Length: 308 pages

Obtained: Library ebook copy

Why this book?:  I've been reading the series.

New Tricks (Dog Days, Bk 2)

Author: John Levitt [Website] aka J. R. Levitt

Publisher: Ace Books

Series: Dog Days, Bk 2

ISBN: 9781440642814

Length: 320 pages

Obtained: Library ebook copy

Why this book?:

I've been reading the series.

Unleashed (Dog Days, Bk 3)

Author: John Levitt [Website] aka J. R. Levitt

Publisher: Ace Books

Series: Dog Days, Bk 3

ISBN: 9781101151532

Length: 304 pages

Obtained: Library ebook copy

Why this book?:

I've been reading the series.

Play Dead (Dog Days, Bk 4)

Author: John Levitt [Website] aka J. R. Levitt

Publisher: Ace Books

Series: Dog Days, Bk 4

ISBN: 9781101477786

Length: 304 pages

Obtained: Library ebook copy

Why this book?:

I've been reading the series.


Comments:

I was on something of a Urban Fantasy kick, finishing up some series I had started.  I read all of these in December 2014.

Uncertain Allies - More of the world tearing apart and Connor being blamed for at least some of it.  By this point I was ready for Connor to get a break.

New Tricks - Mason doesn't clue in about something pretty big, and his poor judgment of character was very annoying.  But otherwise I guess the book was okay.

Unleashed - The title says it all.  Bad stuff has been unleashed on the world.  Mason must fix this (not only to save the world, but because he is at least partially to blame).

Play Dead - The cliffhanger ending, combined with the fact that this is likely the last book (no more are planned), has overwhelmed the rest of the story for me.  What on Earth?

Anyway, this meant the end to the Dog Days series, and I finished the final Connor Grey book, Undone Deeds, in the new year (post to come).  You know what I was thinking as I read these?  I want another Twenty Palaces book by Harry Connolly (another series that is gone).  ::sigh::  Maybe I'll finally read some of the Dresden series soon (as almost EVERYONE refers to it when speaking of male-author urban fantasy series).

Unquiet Drams, Unfallen Dead, Unperfect Souls

Title: Unquiet Dreams

Author:  Mark Del Franco [Website][Facebook]

Publisher: ACE Fantasy

Series: Connor Grey, Bk 2

ISBN: 9780441015696

Length: 292 pages

Obtained: Personal copy - www.paperbackswap.com

Why this book?:  I'm reading the series.

Title: Unfallen Dead

Author:  Mark Del Franco [Website][Facebook]

Publisher: ACE Fantasy

Series: Connor Grey, Bk 3

ISBN: 9780441016891

Length: 309 pages

Obtained: Personal copy - www.paperbackswap.com

Why this book?:  I'm reading the series.

Title: Unperfect Souls

Author:  Mark Del Franco [Website][Facebook]

Publisher: ACE Fantasy

Series: Connor Grey, Bk 4

ISBN: 9780441018383

Length: 338 pages

Obtained: Personal copy - www.paperbackswap.com

Why this book?:  I'm reading the series.




Comments:  I've been enjoying this series as a whole.  Connor (who does not look like the cover for the simple fact of his hair, btw), is trying to make his way in a life nothing like he had originally planned for himself.  But he is finding that he actually likes himself better this way.  He's looking for justice instead of power.  Of course, that means he is becoming more deeply involved in the building chaos and trouble that is becoming more and more obvious in the area.   I always have trouble giving my thoughts when I read books from a series with the same primary character in row, and this is no different.

So here are some brief and choppy thoughts.  And even though these are supposed to be about the individual books, some of the points actually apply to more than one.

Unquiet Dreams - We meet Connor's brother.  We have some evil, "I'm taking over the world bwah-ha-ha!" action (not in so many words, but still).  And of course that means lots of politics.

Unfallen Dead - Everything is falling to pieces, and many are blaming Connor.  (But is he really to blame?) Connor's memory seems to be missing on all the bigs events.  (Kind of weird because the reader still sees them and knows how it all went down.)

Unperfect Souls - Now violence, anger, tension, and turmoil is everywhere.  Connor has some internal problems threatening to take over.  Bad timing, that, because he has become something of a nexus for everything going on.  Some big secrets uncovered in this one, too.

Anyway, I've requested the library get the ebooks for the next two books in the series (as I maybe don't have them?).  Hopefully I'll be getting t them soon.

Hexed, Hammered, Tricked, Two Ravens and One Crow, Trapped

Title: Hexed

Author: Kevin Hearne

Publisher: Ballantine Books Del Rey

Series: Iron Druid Chronicles, Bk 2

ISBN: 9780345522498

Obtained: Library copy

Title: Hammered

Author: Kevin Hearne

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group

Series: Iron Druid Chronicles, Bk 3

ISBN: 9780345522542

Obtained: Library ebook copy

Title: Tricked

Author: Kevin Hearne

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group

Series: Iron Druid Chronicles, Bk 4

ISBN: 9780345534637

Obtained: Library ebook copy

Title: Two Ravens and One Crow

Author: Kevin Hearne

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group

Series: Iron Druid Chronicles, Bk 4.5

ISBN: 9780345535436

Obtained: Library ebook novella copy

Title: Trapped

Author: Kevin Hearne

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group

Series: Iron Druid Chronicles, Bk 5

ISBN: 9780345535627

Obtained: Library ebook copy




Comments:

I was reading this series one after the other in a whirl so to some extent they have become blurred together in my mind.  I have to admit I was a bit startled and even somewhat offended by the portrayal of Christianity and Jesus in Hexed.  The portrayal may fit some, but not myself or my beliefs.  The lumping together bothered me.  But moving beyond that I continued to enjoy the series.  Atticus makes some stupid decisions in Hammered.  He seems to become further and further embroiled in a mess as his story makes its way through Tricked.  So I was startled when, in Trapped, time had jumped 12 years.  I realized I had missed something very important and backtracked to the novella Two Ravens and One Crow.  There are short stories that I missed that belong within this timeline, but apparently they aren't as vital to the story.  The novella in question is important though, and you don't want to miss it.  Once I had read it I moved back into Trapped where the consequences of Atticus's decisions and choices become more glaringly obvious.  But there is no choice now but to keep moving.

I have not moved on with the series yet because Hunted was not readily available, but I look forward to reading both it and Shattered.

Sinister and Fatal

Title: Sinister and Fatal (Contains: The Sinister Touch and The Fatal Fortune)

Author: Jayne Castle aka Jayne Ann Krentz aka Amanda Quick

Publisher: Berkley Books

 Series: Guinevere Jones, Vol 2 (Bks 3 & 4)

ISBN: 9780425271841

Length: 338 pages (170 and 168)

Obtained: Library copy

Why this book?:

It's the continuation of the series.

Comments:

In The Sinister Touch, Gwen finally meets the artist from across the way when someone starts vandalizing his art.  In the process she once again drags Zac into a messy investigation.  But in The Fatal Fortune Gwen has decided she's going to take the investigation of a fortune telling extortion scam herself - until people go missing and things get serious.

While I could still tell these were Jayne's older work (and not just because phone calls were made on pay phones and word processors a big deal), I still enjoyed them as I did the first two.  I am so glad these were reprinted and I had a chance to read them.  And they were a nice delay on the wait I have until the next new JAK/JC/AQ book comes out.

Desperate and Deceptive

Title: Desperate and Deceptive (Contains: The Desperate Game and The Chilling Deception)

Author: Jayne Castle aka Jayne Ann Krentz aka Amanda Quick

Publisher: Berkley Books

Series: Guinevere Jones, Vol 1 (Bks 1 & 2)

ISBN: 9780425271834

Length: 350 pages (186 and 164)

Obtained: Library copy

Why this book?:

I've wanted to read the Guinevere Jones series for years and the books were out of print.  Finally I could read them!

Comments:

These titles were originally published in 1986.  Generally I'm not a fan of JAK (then JC)'s older works.  I didn't like the attitudes of the men.  Or that the heroine's accepted it.  But I wanted to read these any because they fell under a slightly different genre (romantic suspense rather than straight 80s romance).  Maybe being on the later side of the 80s helped too.  Whatever the case, Zac Justis was okay.  Even though he did repeatedly call her a little idiot.  That was a bit grating.  And even when he did something annoying, Guinevere didn't just accept it.  That really helped.

Anyway, I am enjoying the books.  They have a similar feel to other classic JAK works, with the hero and heroine partnering up to investigate.  I am so relieved that I could enjoy these.  And I look forward to reading Sinister and Fatal (The Sinister Touch and The Fatal Fortune).

Harper Connelly and Lily Bard Series by Charlaine Harris

I'm going to be frank.  I read a blur of Charlaine Harris eBooks, moving immediately from one to the next, and most of them on my stay in Europe.  I don't have many impressions of individual books.  But I'll give overall impressions and comments of the series (so far as I've read them).

Author: Charlaine Harris [Website][Facebook][IMDb]

Obtained: All the eBooks were library copies.  But I do own the hard copies for the Harper Connelly series.

Series: Harper Connelly, Bks 1-4

Grave Sight
Grave Surprise
An Ice Cold Grave
Grave Secret

I have mixed feelings about the characters.

Harper tends to hold herself back with the reader as much as the other characters in the book.  And when she wasn't distant, as the narrator, she was graphic (more so than I appreciated, though I'm sure others wouldn't mind).

Tolliver was okay, I guess.  He had jealousy issues, but then with Harper's combination of obliviousness mixed with her wishy-washy commitment (there were all these comments about how she found Manfred so tempting), I guess I can't entirely blame him.

I did like Manfred, which is good because he has his own new series (trilogy) - Midnight, Texas - starting with Midnight Crossroad.

Series: Lily Bard, Bks 1-2

Shakespeare's Landlord
Shakespeare's Champion

I've heard GREAT THINGS about this series.  So I was kinda surprised about Lily.  She's possibly even more withdrawn than Harper.  This is perhaps more understandable considering her background - brutal rape, etc.  But it does make it harder to connect with the character.  I was also thrown by the weight-lifter thing, although I get it, again considering her background.  But because of this background she makes choices I don't understand.

Like in the very beginning of Shakespeare's Landlord, Lily witnesses a body being disposed, and she tampers with evidence (!!!) because it could point to her.  Maybe that sounds common sense to you, but it caught me off guard.  I guess maybe because I'm used to amateur sleuth types immediately reporting the bodies they find.  (Because while I wouldn't call these books cozy, Lily does play the amateur sleuth role.)

Anyway, I will continue to see how the series progresses with Shakespeare's Christmas.

Some recent reads and re-reads of Robin D. Owens books...

I recently read Heart Search (Celta Heartmates, Bk 10) by Robin D. Owens.  Then I re-read chunks and pieces of the nine preceding novels in the series (some more than others).  But that wasn't quite all.  So I re-read Heart Search for the second time in a matter of a couple weeks.  Then I signed up for the Amazon Prime trial so I could get Heart Secret (Celta Heartmates, Bk 11) and the newly released Heart Fortune (Celta Heartmates, Bk 12) with free two-day shipping.  I read both, and then re-read parts of both immediately after.

Anyway, about the stories. 

I had forgotten how things left off with Laev and it was interesting to see in Heart Search that time was the necessary ingredient to make things work out.  I think that's part of why I got behind with the series.  The not knowing.

For Heart Secret, man, Primross was STUBORN.  But I still enjoyed the story.  Even though I could have knocked him over the head a time or two.  And TQ (the house) is really coming into its own!

Heart Fortune's story was a little disappointing for me.  I still enjoyed it, but... Anyway, it was hard to focus on that because this is a future where librarianship is a magical power! I mean really, is that not awesome or what?  But good thing I'm not part of the Licorice family because I don't know if I could have stood the pressure!

Anyway, I really love the Celta HeartMate series.  Can't you tell?  But now I have to wait until next August or so for the next full length novel.  I will read the short stories in Heart and Swords soon.  And I might start her Mystic Circle (3 books never read) sometime soon.  I own the first and requested the library purchase the second and third.

Classic Titles - Board Books

A Christmas Carol: A Colors Primer by Jennifer Adams; Illustrated by Alison Oliver
BabyLit (Gibbs Smith)
Little Master Dickens
9781423625759
Library copy

Dracula: A Counting Primer by Jennifer Adams; Illustrated by Alison Oliver
BabyLit (Gibbs Smith)
Little Master Stoker
9781423624806
Library copy

Moby Dick: An Ocean Primer by Jennifer Adams; Illustrated by Alison Oliver
BabyLit (Gibbs Smith)
Little Master Melville
9780423632047
Library copy
Unlike most of the other BabyLit books, this one had some little quotes with the words that I believe added to the book.

I requested the library purchase some BabyLit books after I saw them reviewed on The Chronicles of a Children's Book Writer Blog. The idea of board book classics for young children fascinated me.  I have to say, after having checked them out, that I can see how making adult stories palatable for young children would be difficult.  But the illustrations were all cute.  I liked the Moby Dick Ocean Primer best as it included some small quotes along with the ocean vocab.  Not to mention ocean vocab is more interesting to me than colors or numbers. =)

Herman Melville's Moby Dick by Jack and Holman Wang
Simply Read Books
Cozy Classics
9781927018118
Library copy

I saw this on Wowbrary right around the time I requested the BabyLit books and decided to do a comparison.  The art is very cute - the figures made of felt which provides a sense of texture (to clarify - the art is pictures of the felt figures, so no actual texture).  Maybe I just prefer Moby Dick over the others in general.

Llama Llama Books

Llama Llama Wakey-Wake and Llama Llama Nighty-Night and Llama Llama Hoppity-Hop and Llama Llama Zippity-Zoom by Anna Dewdney (Library board books)

These are quick and cute but definitely for a younger age group than the rest of the llama llama books. I found the action books (Hoppity-Hop and Zippity-Zoom) more interesting to actually read aloud than the other two books (Wakey-Wake and Nighty-Night), though all still have a nice rhythm about them.

Title: Llama Llama Time to Share
Author: Anna Dewdney
Publisher:  Viking
Series: Llama Llama, Bk 6 (of the regular length picture books)
ISBN:  9780670012336
Obtained: Library copy

Comments:

Llama Llama has new neighbors and they've come to visit.  Will he share with his new playmate?  This is another cute addition to the llama llama series.  As usual, there's a lesson told in the rhythmic and rhyming phrases that make these books so great for reading aloud.  My favorites, however, remain (in order from most) Llama Llama Mad At Mama, Llama Lama Red Pajama, and Llama Llama Misses Mama (previously mentioned - very briefly - here).

Intrigues and Changes

Title: Intrigues

Author: Mercedes Lackey

Publisher: DAW Books

Series: Collegium Chronicles, Bk 2 ; Valdemar book

ISBN: 9780756406394

Pages: 328

Obtained: Library copy

Title: Changes

Author: Mercedes Lackey

Publisher: DAW Books

Series: Collegium Chronicles, Bk 3 ; Valdemar book

ISBN: 9780756406929

Pages: 326

Obtained: Library copy

Comments: 

I am really enjoying this series and look forward to more.  I had notes about these books and managed to displace them.  So this is going to be briefer than intended.

I think when I was reading Intrigues I started wondering if the job Mags is training for might be the job that, by Alberich's time is traditionally done by the weapons-master.  But that's the type of detail you probably don't care about if you haven't read much of Lackey's Valdemar series.

I know I had at least one other thing I thought worth mentioning, but it has escaped me.  So I guess that's it.  I eagerly await my opportunity to read the 4th book, Redoubt.  In the meantime I'm reading some of Lackey's Elemental Masters series.

Combo - Review: Leslie Meier

Title: Wedding Day Murder
Author: Leslie Meier
Publisher: Kensington Mystery
Copyright Date: 2001
ISBN: 1575667347
Pages: 228 + untitled 5-page Short Story (Lucy remembers and tells daughter Zoe about her wedding day)
Series: 8th book in the Lucy Stone Mystery series
Where I got this book: Checked out from Library
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Title: Birthday Party Murder
Author: Leslie Meier
Publisher: Kensington
Copyright Date: 2002
ISBN: 1575668327
Pages: 256
Series: 9th book in the Lucy Stone Mystery series
Where I got this book: Checked out from Library
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Title: Father's Day Murder
Author: Leslie Meier
Publisher: Kensington
Copyright Date: 2003
ISBN: 1575668343
Pages: 234
Series: 10th book in the Lucy Stone Mystery series
Where I got this book: Checked out from Library
----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Comments:

Sometimes, while I read these, I'd find myself irritated with Lucy. Other times, I was more annoyed with various members of Lucy's family. And then there were times when I was irritated with other characters. I guess the best way to look at this is Who isn't sometimes irritated with the people around them? — whether they be family, friends, neighbors... I think as Leslie Meier has continued to write, she found a way to capture the good parts of people as well as those irritating parts.

So while I don't love this series, I'll keep reading it. Because I like seeing how Tinker's Cove and Lucy Stone's family are coming along. And because I'm interested in following along with an amateur sleuth who has the unlikely tendency of stumbling across (and getting mixed up in) murder and mayhem... while reminding myself about the reality of human foibles.

Combo - Review: Kim Harrison

Title: Every Which Way but Dead
Author: Kim Harrison
Publisher: HarperTorch Fiction
Copyright Date: 2005
ISBN: 006057299X
Pages: 501
Series: 3rd full-length book in the Hollows series
Where I got this book: Checked out from Library
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Title: A Fistful of Charms
Author: Kim Harrison
Publisher: HarperTorch
Copyright Date: 2006
ISBN: 9780060788193
Pages: 510
Series: 4th full-length book in the Hollows series
Where I got this book: Checked out from Library
-----------------------------------------------

Title: For a Few Demons More
Author: Kim Harrison
Publisher: eos
Copyright Date: 2007
ISBN: 9780060788384
Pages: 456
Series: 5th full-length book in the Hollows series
Where I got this book: Puchased the HC (no DJ) from the local library booksale room
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Title: The Outlaw Demon Wails
Author: Kim Harrison
Publisher: eos
Copyright Date: 2008
ISBN: 9780060788704
Pages: 455
Series: 6th full-length book in the Hollows series
Where I got this book: Puchased the HC from the local library booksale room
--------------------------------------------------------------------------










Comments:

I waited too long to blog these. Even though I read them all in the same week. So much happened between them that I cannot go back the earlier ones. It's difficult to discuss them individually.

Not that they don't all have parts I liked more than others. Things I could have done without (the whole Rachel/Ivy thing is played too much in some of them). Things that drew me in (Rachel's connections with so many various groups and species is pretty cool, for instance)...

But I'm more focused on what will happen next. Suffice it to say, this series has had me on an emotional roller-coaster. I wasn't expecting to be sucked in.

I have since read White Witch, Black Curse, but it was read during a separate week (not to mention being the most recent that I've read) and will get a separate review.