SOS: Serious Overload of Series discussion

Lol, you're a bit quick :D Favorite series was last week's shelf ;)

Ugh! My brain is so not working today! Too much medication!! Sorry team. thanks, Gea!!

Don't worry it happens :) I just thought to warn you before you get into work for the shelf that is not for this week :)

Lol Leslie, that is something I'd do!

The new shelf is dark fantasy which is really good for us!

I'm going to try for dark fantasy.

I tried the first one, Covet, and just couldn't finish it for some reason but I've heard Crave is quite good :)

I'll probably go for or or .

I'm much happier with dark fantasy!! I'm not sure what I'm going to read, but I'll post soon. Anything to keep me from thinking about the LSU-Alabama game!! Geaux Tigers!

My Aggies won today - WHOOP!

Not sure yet what to read - so many choices!

I think I will read - it's been sitting on my Nook for ages.

Mandy wrote: "My Aggies won today - WHOOP!

Not sure yet what to read - so many choices!"

I watched that game - well done. One of my daughter's best friend attends Texas A&M. So sad, LSU lost. I distracted myself by trying to pick a book. I basically have 3 choices -

or
None of the books I planned to read this week worked, so I have to scramble. Oh well.

I think I'll be going with

Cool Leslie, I'll just fill your book in when you decide :)

Leslie wrote: "Mandy wrote: "My Aggies won today - WHOOP!

Not sure yet what to read - so many choices!"

I watched that game - well done. One of my daughter's best friend attends Texas A&M. So sad, LSU lost. I d..."

I liked Succubus Blues, but the other two you are looking at were both great! Two of my fave series - hard choice!

I've read a book by Richelle Mead from another series and it was OK. The problem I have with her is the sex with multiple people. It's just not my thing to read about. But it certainly has good reviews.
I think I've decided on
I will let you know if I change my mind.

I couldn't find any book from my TBR shelf on first 10 pages or so, when I almost gave up I found so that's my book for this week

Oh I need to read that one too, Gea :)

Shelf: dark fantasy
Finished: 11/4/12
Rating: ***

Ok, this book DEFINITELY qualified for the "dark" part of the dark fantasy genre! (view spoiler)[Stark spends 11 years as a live person in Hell due to magical back-stabbing by his "Circle" of magician friends. After surviving fighting in the Arena (think Roman Coliseum) for a while he ends up assassinating many Hellions and eventually getting back to LA for revenge against the Circle members who betrayed him and killed his girlfriend. It was quite a unique story and Stark is an anti-hero for sure, but still saved the world. (hide spoiler)] This is one of those books I would probably never have read if it hadn't been free at some point and fit this category, but I liked it enough that I wouldn't mind reading the next one eventually.

Dark Fantasy: Crave
Finished 6 November
3 Stars

It shouldn't take 200 pages for a book to start to get interesting. I kept pressing myself to continue to read because I like the author's BDB series and invested effort into that one even though I didn't like some of the books. I wish Ward would quit it with the slang. It's distracting. What does "Cary Granted it out of there," mean anyway?
Since the Matthias storyline seems to be wrapped up, I don't know if I'll read anything else from this series. Looking back, I think the best Fallen Angel book has been Lover Reborn.
Yep, Lover Reborn. If you read that book, you know what I mean.

Favorite Series

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Date Finished: November 7
Rating: ★★★★
Given that Every Single One of my Goodreads friends that have read this book has given it 4- or 5-stars really gave me high hopes and for the most part I'm happy to say it lived up to them. I was a little disappointed in how slow the story was at the beginning and I did get stuck around some of the middle when the action and behavior of the characters didn't seem to jive with what I was being told, like for a lowly musical apprentice, Seraphina was allowed a lot of leeway in regard to sensitive matters of State. Yet toward the last third of the book things started to come together and characters begin to change from my original estimations in a way that was totally riveting so that by the time I read the last page I was totally hooked and enamored with the potential for this story's sequel. I will definitely be reading the next in the series and definitely suggest that even if the beginning gets off to a rocky start to stick with it because it's worth it.

Stamp time!

Week ⑦ (28th October)
Favourite Series → 6/6 completed
✔ Gea: Angels' Blood by Nalini Singh » 30th Oct ǁ ★★★★★
✔ Kimberly: Accidentally Catty by Dakota Cassidy » 30th Oct ǁ ★★
✔ Josie: Destiny Binds by Tammy Blackwell » 29th Oct ǁ ★★★
✔ Mandy: The Darkest Secret by Gena Showalter » 27th Oct ǁ ★★★★
✔ Samantha: Seraphina by Rachel Hartman » 7th Nov ǁ ★★★★
✔ Leslie: The Highlander's Touch by Karen Marie Moning » 29th Oct ǁ ★★★★

And here's my review for dark fantasy:



Title/Author: Dance with the Devil by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Date finished: 7th November
Rating: ★★★1/2
Review:
I like this series, particularly all the mythology stuff. I loved Ash in this one and Simi was a great new character.
The trouble is I always forget stuff (events/people/rules) between books so when I first start reading, I'm always a bit confused. Plus, I find it easy to put these books down but I will probably keep going with the series (even though it's a bit daunting what with so many books).

Yea for Stamp!! Doing the happy dance this morning. And some great reviews, teammates!!

*Stamp dancing!*

Shelf: Dark Fantasy 11/7/12 **** stars
I was so confused as to what to rate this book. It felt like the longest UF book I'd ever read. So complicated and difficult to get into. This is the second in the series and while slightly better than the first, it still wore me out trying to figure out what was going on and where the author was going with it all. Part of the problem for me is that the main character Rachel Morgan is just difficult to like. She is definitely TSTL on many occasions. But on the other hand you have to appreciate the honesty of a character who is not perfect. She has red frizzy hair, wears a charm to hide her freckles, is a terrible detective, makes so many stupid decisions and yet at the end is a loyal friend, a fierce fighter and someone rather endearing. This book continues to teach us about the world she lives in, especially the vampires and the different types of witches. She is on a mission to discover who is killing Ley line witches and is convinced at the beginning that it is Trent, who is a mysterious character. Her relationship with Ivy continues to be slightly creepy and weird, but you see the love and concern she has for her friend. The last third of the book really picks up in intensity and here is where it earns it's 4 stars. I will definitely be reading the others in this series, but mostly because I really like the side characters - and I want to see where she is going with this crazy world she has created. And I want to see if Rachel grows up in the coming books.

I have yet to read the second in that series, Leslie. Good to know you liked it and hopefully I'll get to it someday.

Well, I'm not sure if liked is the right word! It's certainly very intense and well written. But definitely worth reading! My library has the whole series as ebooks, so I'll be continuing it.

CONGRATULATIONS, License to Read!
You now have an updated BINGO card with a stamp on 'favorite-series'. 

[Your updated BINGO card can be viewed on page 1]

Good Job!! :D

Congrats on the stamp Licensees!

Leslie wrote: "Well, I'm not sure if liked is the right word! It's certainly very intense and well written. But definitely worth reading! My library has the whole series as ebooks, so I'll be continuing it."

I would recommend continuing on - the series gets better as it goes (but man, so intense!)

More stamp dancing!!

I know! We're really doing well if I may say so myself! Everyone reads so quickly :)

I stopped at #5 in the Rachel Morgan series although I might one day come back to it. I had a huge issue with Ivy and Rachel annoyed me at times. And there was never enough Trent! :P

I'm sorry for being inactive lately, but I started a new job and combined with my studies it doesn't leave me a lot of spare time. I read as much as I can, but there's just not as much time for it like before. I plan to finish my book by tomorrow morning and I'll post my review sometime before new shelf is announced.

Maybe we'll be lucky and next shelf announced will be Goodreads author :)

Same here, Gea. I'm hoping to finish by tomorrow, too. If it's Goodreads author that would be great!

Dark Fantasy

Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan

Date Finished: November 10
Rating: ★★★★★
First let me just say this book was practically perfect and I basically loved it, so hence the five-stars. However even though there's the five-star rating I do have one itsy-bitsy thing I'd like to discuss/examine/pontificate upon that keeps me from loving the story even more. I like there to be funny banter in books I read and I do enjoy it when characters have a good sense of humor and can bounce witty repartee off one another. That's all fine and dandy, but….sometimes it was funny-witty overload like a Rory and Lorelei Gilmore conversation on steroids. It works most of the time, but in certain situations it took me out of the story with just how unlikely it would be that someone would say a certain remark. It's a tiny pet-peeve of my own and I could see that potentially it would go totally unnoticed by other readers. Maybe I'm just lacking in my own witty banter abilities, who knows? I was able to get over eventually, but I couldn't write a review and not mention it. Now with that little irksome issue out of the way I'll get back to saying I loved the characters, the setting, the whodunit, the Gothic-ness of just about everything (really great touches throughout the story that reminded me of some of my favorite Gothic tales). I also even loved the ending, which after reading some other reviews/blogs caused a fair bit of drama and the accusation of a cliffhanger. I had the opposite reaction and loved it to smithereens, because the road less travelled makes the journey more interesting and now I know I have so much to look forward to in the next books because the author upped the ante. More please!!

Dark Fantasy
Book: Lover Mine by J.R. Ward

Rating: ★★★★★
Finished: 10-Nov-12
Review: I just got a new favorite book from this series. John and Xhex's story was great, I really liked how John changed from the man he became in previous book, when Xhex needed him.
I didn't really like what happened between Qhuinn&Layla and Blay&Saxton, but it will be interesting to see how things progress between them.
Separation between Scribe Virgin and Payne was sad, but I guess she has to find her own way in the world and get to know her twin brother. I can't wait to read her book next!

Great reviews, Gea and Samantha! And congratulations on the new job, Gea.

Can't wait to see what is called. Sitting here waiting for it watching "Confessions of a Shopaholic" with my sick daughter. I love Hugh Dancy!!

Shelf is called!! And it's 2012. At least it's pretty easy to find a book on it. Not sure what it does for us game wise.

Yay guys! Congrats, Gea! Hope you're liking it :)

2012 is a good shelf for us, another 4 in a row :D

Here's our dark fantasy shelf!

Week ❽ (4th November)
Dark Fantasy → 6/6 completed
✔ Gea: Lover Mine by J.R. Ward » 10th Nov ǁ ★★★★★
✔ Kimberly: Crave by J.R. Ward » 6th Nov ǁ ★★★
✔ Josie: Dance with the Devil by Sherrilyn Kenyon » 7th Nov ǁ ★★★1/2
✔ Mandy: Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey » 4th Nov ǁ ★★★
✔ Samantha: Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan » 10th Nov ǁ ★★★★★
✔ Leslie: The Good, the Bad, and the Undead by Kim Harrison » 7th Nov ǁ ★★★★

I'll be reading for my book this week.

Mine will be

YAY NEW STAMP!!!
Congratulations Team!!!

For 2012, I'm going to read

Happy reading this week!

I'll be reading

I think I'll make my choice after I've finished what I'm reading at the moment. It might be .

Our winning shelves next week are Goodreads author, which we would read on our own, and Male Lead which I think would be against another team.

I've been looking at the male-lead shelf and it's not a good one for me. The majority of them are graphic novels but I will pick a book ready for next week just in case! It might be if I read the first one sometime this week ;)

male lead is also a bad shelf for me too. I should start looking for a book as well.

I'll start looking for a book in Male lead as well.

Josie, when I put in Male leads I got a list with a ton of graphic novels but when I changed it to the correct male lead, the list had much more reasonable books. Make sure you left off the S.

Yeah I put male-lead, when you go further through the pages there are a lot of graphic novels.
I bet we'll put all this effort in to get hold of a male-lead book and something else will be called!

I sincerely hope something else is called. You are right, the more I looked the more graphic novels! Very few on there. I did find a couple I could read, though I don't really want to read them.