Michelle wrote: "Kasia - I eventually received my copy of The Hunger Games and I really enjoyed it. I found it a bit slow to start but when it got going it really did. I will read the next book to see what happened..."

Yes, it picks up like that ;) I'm glad you've ended up having a good time with it. **grins**

Karyn wrote: "Annvelwis, I loved Dead Until Dark. I found it really easy to get into. I'm now looking for the rest of the series. Thanks for a great recommendation."

I'm glad you liked it.

Annvelwis, I loved Dead Until Dark. I found it really easy to get into. I'm now looking for the rest of the series. Thanks for a great recommendation.

Maggie,

I finished Lord of the Fading Lands a few days ago, and I have to say I love it.

I like the dynamics between Rain and Elly's courtship, and there is enough intrigue and machinations going on to keep me in suspense. Despite my slight annoyance with the many "invented" words, I thorougly enjoyed reading the book and will definitely continue reading the series.

Thanks for the recommendation, Maggie. This one was a winner in my books.

Kasia - I eventually received my copy of The Hunger Games and I really enjoyed it. I found it a bit slow to start but when it got going it really did. I will read the next book to see what happened. It was a nice change of pace from what I've been reading lately!

Laura - I just finished The Truth About Forever and it was fantastic! But you already knew that. I loved Macy and Wes. And how I hated Jason and the girls at the library info desk! I was a bit mad at Macy's mom, but of course, I understood. I think my favorite parts were the Gotcha! moments. I will definitely be reading her other books soon! Thanks for the recommendation!

I'm not going to be able to finish my selection of Sullivan's Island by the end of the month. I've had trouble getting into it because I don't like the lead character very much, and I keep putting it down to pick up other books. I've put it on my TBR try again shelf. Maybe I can get farther if I pick it up again later, because it is well written. Thanks for the new author suggestion, Sallie. She's an author I'd never tried before, and it's always good to try to branch out!

AGH!!! I haven't been able to get a hold of the book picked for me due to my move. I moved to a place that has a so so library and no bookstores within an hour drive. I am getting frustrated with the lack of books that I have to read. I have been rereading and rereading old books. I am going to have to take the plunge and drive into San Antonio. Ack!

Mary, I've started Necroscope and I'm really into it. Love the gore!!! I just wish the protagonist was female. I also have the Meredith Gentry book lined up, I hope to get to that soon!

The other recommendation you've made - The Marketplace. I'm intrigued by that one. I want to read it badly. Unfortunately I had no luck getting hold of it, someday maybe.

Yz,

That's awesome! I hope you like the book!

Maggie,

Just letting you know I finally received from the library a copy of The Lord of Fading Lands. Will probably start it tonight.

I'll keep you posted.

Sallie wrote: "Lara, thank you for recommending the book Still Lake-Anne Stuart...I really enjoyed it...I plan to read more by this author in the near future. Thanks for picking a really good book."

You are welcome! I am glad you liked it!

Annie wrote: "Hi Melissa. I did enjoy The storyteller's daughter by Cameron Dokey - one of the few of that series I hadn't caught up with (but haven't added to my goodreads shelves).
It always amazes me how aut..."

Glad you liked it! I, too, am amazed at the detail she adds to a well known story. She adds so much more romance too, and that's always fun to read.

Hi Melissa. I did enjoy The storyteller's daughter by Cameron Dokey - one of the few of that series I hadn't caught up with (but haven't added to my goodreads shelves).
It always amazes me how authors can take a well-known tale and make it new, as Dokey does here. The fact she focuses on the background story of Shahrazad, rather than the tales themselves, makes it more powerful. Oh, and the fact she is the first of the king's 'wives' means that he has the power to be redeemed quite early on, as he hasn't had the 'chance' to be sullied by the murder of all those women.

Lara, thank you for recommending the book Still Lake-Anne Stuart...I really enjoyed it...I plan to read more by this author in the near future. Thanks for picking a really good book.

Gracie,
Thank you for the pick. It was quite intresting to read a romance novel with characters I disliked from the start, heh. I'm not complaining, mind you. The plot was good, although I had impression that Judith Ivory didn't make use of it's full potential. :)

Thanks Mary, so much to choose from.... and it all sounds interesting!! I'll have a hard time narrowing it down to one book for a challenge, and knowing me I'll end up reading a few.

When it comes to Anita Blake, it's not the sex that put me off in the end (I'm a sucker for racy bits) but a lack of sensible plot. I need a strong plot and unique characters, without that the sex parts get boring fast.

Thanks again for all the recommendations!!!

Kasia

WOW you're hard to pick for LOL! Your tastes are so eclectic, so I've come up with a few. I'm not one for contemporary vanilla romance, so I had to go with what I know. Some of my faves:

historical romance, no paranormal: any title by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss. Good place to start would be either The Wolf and the Dove or A Rose in Winter.
not your grandmother's erotica: The Marketplace by Laura Antoniou
paranormal/horror (no romance): Necroscope by Brian Lumley

And I see you've put a good dent in Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series (but with mixed feelings from book to book), but you haven't sampled her Meredith Gentry series. If you haven't been turned off by her increasing amount of excessive group sex scenes like alot of people have, you might check it out starting with A Kiss of Shadows (Meredith Gentry, #1).

Hope you find something here that twirls your beanie. Happy reading!

~Peace

Mary wrote: "I'm really sorry for being late to the game. I've been in the hospital since June 28 and was just discharged yesterday. I'm going to hunt for a recommendation and come back, just wanted to pop in a..."

That's ok, it's only the beginning of the month. I hope you're getting better.

Welcome back. Hope you are feeling better, Mary.

I'm really sorry for being late to the game. I've been in the hospital since June 28 and was just discharged yesterday. I'm going to hunt for a recommendation and come back, just wanted to pop in and explain my absence.

Kainda wrote: "I hope that the juniper game will be available in the library soon, so I can borrow it :)..."

Hi Kainda - I understand! I had that problem last month... I'm now 64th on the waiting list of that book. Hence the choices.

If you're having no luck - let me know, and I'll try again!

Kainda - thanks for the choices. I'm going to pick up Dreaming the Eagle from the library tomorrow (if it's open). :)

Annvelwis wrote: "Gracie ;) wrote: "Hi Annvelwis!!! Okay, like the dum-dum I am, I thought that you were supposed to recommend books to your partner in the order of JULY, just as you were supposed to do for yourself..."

That sounds good! I hope that you enjoy it! Untie My Heart was in several "top 100 romance" lists... in about the middle, like the 66th place... so i thought that it looked like something good... hopefully it will be! Let me know how it goes!!! :)

Annie wrote: "Hi Kainda,
Fun shelves! Lots of fantasy and young adults (like mine, really!)...

Nice to know John Marsden has made it to Europe.

I'm going New Zealand authors for you, so hopefully you'll b..."

Nice picks :). Thank you! I think I'll really enjoy reading these books. But it seems difficult indeed to get my hands on them. I hope that the juniper game will be available in the library soon, so I can borrow it :).

Gracie ;) wrote: "Hi Annvelwis!!! Okay, like the dum-dum I am, I thought that you were supposed to recommend books to your partner in the order of JULY, just as you were supposed to do for yourself. Luckily, I only ..."

:D Thank you for picks. I do love Jude Deveraux, heh, so I'm tempted by your 3rd pick, and I guess I'll read it sometime soon (as soon as I can get my hands on the Lavender Morning, which might take a little while...) :D
I can get Untie My heart by Judith Ivory for this challenge, though. I've never read anything by her, but the blurb is promising :) Thank you :)

The challenge requires you only to read one, but you are more than welcome to read both.

Hope you enjoy them!

Ooooooooooooo Nice picks!!!! Is it okay if I read both of them? They both sound great- especially "The Frog Princess"! I have a feeling that "The Book of Three" is going to be an exciting read!!! Thanks for your recommendations!!!

Gracie,

Thanks for adding me as a friend. It was interesting going through your shelves. You definitely have plenty of YA books, most of them I'm not very very familiar with.

So, my recommendations might be hit-and-miss. I have two for you to choose from. They are all first books of a series.

My first choice is the first book in the Chronicles of Prydain series by Lloyd Alexander, one of my favorite YA adventure/fantasy series, called The Book of Three.

My second choice is a light-hearted adventure fairy-tale inspired story titled The Frog Princess by E. D. Baker.

Let me know if these will work for you.

Oh, and BTW, your profile IS public now. LOL

Oh, okay, I'm glad! Thank you so much!!!!

Thanks for the suggestion! You're so sweet! :)

You've added Yz as your friend, so you're cool. You've made it work already. Now Yz can access your shelves and make a recommendation.

And as far as I know it's an official GR policy that all the under-18 profiles need to be private. Sorry :(

Well if the profile thing wont work for you , you can get with the person who picked you and friend them? Not sure if that will work for them to see your shelves.

If that wont work I would suggest just telling them what type of books you like. So they can pick you something hehe

Kasia wrote: "Laura!!! Gracie!!!

Please make sure that Sarah and Yz can view your shelves (friending them works). Otherwise the challenge won't work and I would have to take you out of the loop and I don't wan..."

I tried everything to make my profile public but it doesn't seem to work!!! :( I went to my setup and selected "profile viewed by anyone" but then it said that i couldn't do that because i was under 18, so then i put my age to like 20 and it said that it fixed it on my profile but whenever i come on here it hasn't updated yet!!! :( I am so so so sorry!! What can i do to make it work?

Hi Annvelwis!!! Okay, like the dum-dum I am, I thought that you were supposed to recommend books to your partner in the order of JULY, just as you were supposed to do for yourself. Luckily, I only got to the "L" before I realized the true assignment. ;) Anyway, here's what I've come up with for you:

1) Journey by Danielle Steele

-This is kind of a different kind of a romance novel, because it has a different, kind of a darker aspect to it. It's about a woman who has an abusive husband... but then falls in love with another man named Bill and learns how to get away from her horrible life. :)

2) Untie My Heart by Judith Ivory
-When I was browsing your shelves, you seemed like the kind of person who would enjoy a good European Historical Romance... I hope that you enjoy this book...! :)

3) Lavender Morning by Jude Deveraux
- I LOVE JUDE DEVERAUX! SHE IS AMAZING! "A Knight In Shining Armor" is my absolute FAVORITE romance novel of all time!!!!! That was my original recommendation for you, but then I looked through your shelf and saw that you had already read it, and enjoyed it as much as I did!!! Yay!!! And you have also read a lot of other books by Jude Deveraux! Except this one is a little different.... instead of just a plain romance... it has more of mystery added into it!!! :)

You don't have to read all three books, but I can tell by your bookshelves that you are an avid reader!!! I hope that I didn't completely mess up with my recommendations! I would feel horrible! Let me know if i did though! I'll fix it! :) :) :)

47p?!!! That is a really good price indeed.

Kasia wrote: "Michelle wrote: "Thanks Kasia, I can't seem to make my mind up! I have Wages of Sin on my bookshelf and the other two I can get on Amazon at a REALLY good price, I'm just going to go ahead and read..."

It's hard to say no when you can get a book for 47p!

Laura,
I've heard great things about Dessen. I'm sure I'll like this one. I just put it on hold at my library. It's not due back until mid July so I will be sure to read it as soon as I get it. Thanks!

Michelle wrote: "Thanks Kasia, I can't seem to make my mind up! I have Wages of Sin on my bookshelf and the other two I can get on Amazon at a REALLY good price, I'm just going to go ahead and read all 3!"

One is more than enough, I was merely making a suggestion here. But by all means, knock yourself out.

Don't stress too much Laura, no harm done, believe me.

Sarah, I am going to read both this month, they look great. I'm going to start with If Angels Burn and pick it up in the next few days. Thanks for the picks!

Thank you Sarah. I'm looking forward to checking those out. Sorry to Sarah and Melissa. I have been out of town and wasn't able to get on earlier so delayed you and I forgot I was private too. Geez, can you tell this is my first time doing this challenge?

Melissa, I saw you had quite a few YA books and thought you would enjoy Sarah Dessen's The Truth About Forever. It's gotten great ratings and my daughter (who's in college and friended you by the way as she loved your selection of books) loves Dessen. If you'd like more of a choice I can pick in some other genre too.

Valerie wrote: "Maggie,

You and I seem to have similar tastes in YA books. I have two recommendations that you can choose from:

1) Uglies - this is a YA book that has a similar feel to Hunger Games..."

Valerie,

thanks for the book recommendation! I think I will try Key of Light, by Nora Roberts. Thank you!

Laura, thanks for the friend add. We have read lots of the same books, so it was fun trying to find something you HADN'T read!

For you, I choose either Poison Study or If Angels Burn

Kasia wrote: "On a second thought Michelle, if you crave some vampire action, I have 2 more books for you.
and or
So whichever you ca..."

Thanks Kasia, I can't seem to make my mind up! I have Wages of Sin on my bookshelf and the other two I can get on Amazon at a REALLY good price, I'm just going to go ahead and read all 3! Lol... I will put hunger Games on my list. Hoppefully I can squeeze the other two in as well. Thanks again!

Maggie,

You and I seem to have similar tastes in YA books. I have two recommendations that you can choose from:

1) Uglies - this is a YA book that has a similar feel to Hunger Games (which I loved)

2) Key of Light - this is the first in the Key Trilogy by Nora Roberts

Another book you might want to check out sometime is Life As We Knew It. It is one of those that will keep you thinking long after you have finished reading it. However, there is no romance element to speak of so I am not recommending it for this challenge. ;)

Karyn wrote: "Lara, There are three books I'd recommend:
The Host by stephanie Meyer
Wicked By G..."

Karyn, Thanks for the great suggestions. I have decided to go with Wicked . I am excited about this read and can't wait to start.

Melissa wrote: "Annie,

I saw a lot of young adult books and retold fairy tales on your shelf (me too!) so I'm going to recommend something by Cameron Dokey. She writes fairy tales for a series c..."

Hi Melissa
Thanks for that! I've been pondering making a 'fairy tales retold' shelf on my shelves... all the more reason!
The perils of being a young adults librarian is that's nearly all I read...

Hi Kainda,
Fun shelves! Lots of fantasy and young adults (like mine, really!)...

Nice to know John Marsden has made it to Europe.

I'm going New Zealand authors for you, so hopefully you'll be able to track down my recommendations.
Margaret Mahy Changeover A Supernatural Romance OR Catalogue of the Universe
OR
Sherryl Jordan Secret Sacrament OR
The Juniper Game