SOS: Serious Overload of Series discussion

Blueyes -- Leah -- wrote: "Hey ladies, I will be reading for the ghost shelf.

I loved the Unholy Ghosts series, but I think it's kind of a love-or-hate series. I k..."

Oh, I really liked this book! :D

Week 2: 11-12 Feb 12


B4: Ghosts - 2/5 - TBD

Amanda - My Soul to Save -
Christina - The Restorer -
✔ Heather - Full Moon Rising - 13 Feb 12 - ★★★★ - Review
Kate - Unholy Ghosts -
✔ Leah - First Grave on the Right - 14 Feb 12 - ★★★★ - Review

I will be reading for the Ghosts shelf.

Heather wrote: "I will be reading for the Ghosts shelf."

Happy reading! :D

I'm more than half way done with The Iron Duke. I hope to finish no later than Monday.

I will read for the ghost shelf.

AmandaG wrote: "I will read for the ghost shelf."

Message #102 updated!

I almost picked . Fortunately, it's one of those series that pop up on many of the shelves.

Enjoy your books, ladies!

Well, yay! Finished earlier than I expected. Review pending.

Heather wrote: "I will be reading for the Ghosts shelf."

I plan to read that some time this year :)
I'm always a fan of books by Aussie authors.

And Leah, I can see what you mean about some people not liking the speech in Unholy Ghosts. I'm finding it hard to get used to. But I'm hoping that soon I'll be so involved with the story that I'll stop noticing it so much.

Kate wrote: "And Leah, I can see what you mean about some people not liking the speech in Unholy Ghosts. I'm finding it hard to get used to. But I'm hoping that soon I'll be so involved with the story that I'll stop noticing it so much. "

That's what happened with me. There were certain characters (Bump, for example) that I found REALLY difficult to understand, but eventually I was so invested in the storyline that it didn't bother me much.
Plus, I'm a total sucker for unconventional heroes and heroines (Dead on the Delta is another example) so I just fell in love with Chess, Terrible and Lex. I suppose that reading about flawed characters makes the story more real to me or something.

Even if the book doesn't work out for you, at least you tried something new!! :)

Babbling AKA Christina wrote: "Well, yay! Finished earlier than I expected. Review pending."

I'm interested in hearing your review because I went back and forth with this book -- I loved it, then I got kind of bored, then I loved it again.

I find this happens to me with steampunky books though, I just have trouble getting into the genre!

I had trouble getting in to Unholy Ghosts and did not finish. Just wasn't in to thr story, but I will probably try it again sometime in the future. The same thing happened to me with Kate Daniels series the first time I read it and it is one of my favorite series now!

I really liked the Iron Duke. Haven't read the next one yet, but am looking forward to it. Moving along with my current read, but I hope it gets interesting soon. I think I am over first person YA reads.

Finished my free space read

Book: Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison
Read: Feb 14, 2012
Rating: ★★★★★

I'm so glad I read this book. I'm always nervous reading a book that has been recommended so highly - I often feel as if my expectations are going to be to high for the book to compete with but I LOVED this book.

I loved Dragos from the start. I found him an interesting mix of his ancient past and his ability to use everything he can to his advantage and completely assimilate in the present world. I found Pia to be a worthy match for him.

I loved the pace of their story - yes it's a bit of a whirlwind but I found myself not noticing/not caring that all the events in the novel occur within a two week period.

One thing that confused me was the inclusion of Quentin. It felt like his role was going to be bigger than it ended up being. I can't help but guess that was just laying groundwork for future story revolving around him.

I've already ordered the next book in the series - despite it being about Tricks who spoke a bit too much like a Valley Girl at times for me to warm to her. I'm excited.

Kate wrote: "I'm so glad I read this book. I'm always nervous re..."

I had the same fear Kate, and I gave it 5 *'s too. Now I am nervous to read book two since it seems that no one liked that one as much as the first one. I have it on hand, but just can't get myself to read about those two characters.

Heather wrote: "Kate wrote: "I'm so glad I read this book. I'm always nervous re..."

I had the same fear Kate, and I gave it 5 *'s too. Now I am nervous to read book two since it seems that no one liked that o..."

Actually...I liked the second book better. I thought Tricks and Tiago have a better chance of a true partnership. Drago is so much more "we do things my way" and has to learn to comprise and be flexible. Tiago's already there -- he became Drago's warlord instead of challenging him to be the dominant Wyr. And as a warlord he's had to be able to assess situations and be ready to make changes.

Initially, Tiago is insistent that Tricks returns to New York after she's attacked -- the Sentinels consider her part of the "family" and she should be back there where they can protect her. She eventually gets Tiago to understand why she can't do that (even when, at times, she wishes she could). And once they are mated, they are a team -- they talk things over and decide together on how to proceed.

Tricks is a girlie-girl and in over her head. But she wants to do the right thing for her people and bring those who betrayed her family to justice.

I think you should give T-bird and the faery a chance. ;-)

As for the 3rd book...I wasn't sold on that one. :-/

======
Kate -- I'm glad you liked the book. I thought Pia was good for him. She's just got to knock the wind out of his sails, so to speak, from time to time. :D

Leah -- I'm working on my review. But I did like it a lot. I gave it a four, but that might change (to a five).

Amanda -- I'm waiting for the mass market version of book 2. I'm going to get the mass market version of 1 as well. :D

Here's an update of our FREE SPACE standing.


Free Space - 3/5 - TBD

Amanda - Lothaire -
✔ Christina - The Iron Duke - 12 Feb 12 - pending
Heather - Touched by an Alien
✔ Kate - Dragon Bound - 14 Feb 12 - ★★★★★ - Review
✔ Leah - Blood Rights - 8 Feb 12 - ★★★ - Review

I think I liked Dragon Bound better than the second book in the series, but Tiago and Tricks' story was still definitely worth the read. I loved Tiago, but Tricks wasn't really my thing. I liked Pia much better :)

I'm loving so far. Waaaaaaay funnier than I expected!!

I finished for the Ghosts shelf on 2/13/12 and give it 4*'s. Unfortunately, I am not feeling very inspired about writing this review, it was a long day, so here it is, short and sweet.

I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more in this series. Do they all end with a bit of a cliff hanger? I liked Riley, that she didn't necessarily see herself as becoming a Guardian, didn't know if she could. I wish we would have had more of her brother in the storyline, I liked the play between the two of them. I loved Quinn, and can't wait to read the next books to see what happens between Riley and Quinn, if anything.

@Christina, thanks for the info for the Elder Races, very good to know, I will move it up the list! :D

Heather wrote: "Christina, thanks for the info for the Elder Races, very good to know, I will move it up the list! :D ..."

You're welcome. I'm looking forward to the 4th book. I hope I like it better than book 3.

Leah -- (regarding First Grave). I thought the same thing.

Stayed up late last night and got up early this morning to finish my Ghosts book!! Review is below:


Book: First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones
Read: 14-Feb-12
Rating: ★★★★

This book was way funnier than I expected. I won't go too much into the plot, but Charley, a modern day grim reaper, is attempting to solve a murder case while address some weird dreams she has been having. Even though this book suffered a little bit from first-book-in-series-itis (background info thrown in a little randomly), but I found that I liked the characters (Charley especially) enough that it didn't really matter.

My biggest negative comment is that the resolution of the main plotline (the murder mystery) was resolved really quickly and was kind of a letdown after the whole book was centered around figuring out whodunit.

There were definitely some other plotlines that were left to be resolved in the next book. I don't think I will grab it right away, but maybe later when I'm in the mood for some humour :)

Excited because Lothaire is on its way to my library for me to pick up! Yay! I love Kresley Coles' books. I'm sure I'll breeze through it (knock on wood as I you never know what will happen.)

Still plodding through . More than halfway through.

AmandaG wrote: "Excited because Lothaire is on its way to my library for me to pick up! Yay! I love Kresley Coles' books. I'm sure I'll breeze through it (knock on wood as I you never know what will happen.)

S..."

No rush...well, unless you've got to get it back to library soon. Then I can understand the need to read it quickly! :D

Blueyes -- Leah -- wrote: "Stayed up late last night and got up early this morning to finish my Ghosts book!! Review is below:


Book: First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones
..."

Glad you enjoyed it! :D

AmandaG wrote: "Excited because Lothaire is on its way to my library for me to pick up! Yay! I love Kresley Coles' books. I'm sure I'll breeze through it (knock on wood as I you never know what will happen.)

Good for you Amanda --- I have no self control with my favourite series, I never end up getting from the library because I am too impatient to wait, and just end up buying them the day they are released!!

Good for reading, but not so good for my finances. I suspect the next book that will cause my bank account some pain will be .

Typed my review in the wrong place grrrr. Too long to re-type and cant copy/paste on nook for some reason. Will add review to here tmrw. Just wanted to save link for now. http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

AmandaG wrote: "Typed my review in the wrong place grrrr. Too long to re-type and cant copy/paste on nook for some reason. Will add review to here tmrw. Just wanted to save link for now. http://www.goodreads.com/..."

No problem. :)

Week 2: 11-12 Feb 12

B4: Ghosts - 3/5 - TBD

✔ Amanda - My Soul to Save - 14 Feb 12 - ★★ - Review
Christina - Footsteps in the Dark -
✔ Heather - Full Moon Rising - 13 Feb 12 - ★★★★ - Review
Kate - Unholy Ghosts -
✔ Leah - First Grave on the Right - 14 Feb 12 - ★★★★ - Review

Ok review:

My Soul to Save by Rachel Vincent

I give it two stars. Read on 2/14/12 for the ghost shelf read.

It is the second book in the series that has Kaylee as the female protagonist. She is a bean sidhe (banshee) and screams her throat hoarse when someone dies. She has the ability to 'sing' the souls of those that die back in to their bodies, however the repercussions are that someone else will die.

In this book she is trying to prevent the eternal torture of a teen idol who has sold her soul to a hellion.

I am not really feeling these characters or this series. I cant really put my finger on it, but for some reason I am just not interested. I may pick up the next book, just because I've started the series, but not anytime soon.

Amanda - Thanks for posting the review here. :D

===========

Well....I've got a problem. My copy of is missing pages 193 to 224.

The mass market comes out next week -- and I've got in on order, but I don't want to get behind either.

So, I'm changing books. I'm going to be off Friday and Monday, so I'll have plenty of free time to catch up.

For Ghosts, I'll be reading . 2 people shelved in ghosts.

I was really enjoying The Restorer, so I do plan to finish it when I get my new copy.

Christina, that's terrible. Do yo own the bad copy? I heard/saw an author only last week saying if you get one like that to take it back and you should get a refund.

Sandra wrote: "Christina, that's terrible. Do yo own the bad copy? I heard/saw an author only last week saying if you get one like that to take it back and you should get a refund."

Yes, I do, but I also can't do that. ;-). I ordered it directly from Harlequin when it first came out last April. The replacement will come from Amazon, so no shipping and I'll earn award points to boot. No hardship. :)

Yep, but Harlequin would probably replace it with something else you want. After all they are the publisher and they stuffed up. They would of had a ton go back and won't be surprised.

I agree with Sandra, I can't imagine other people haven't been sending their copies back.

I hope it didn't cut out at a really good part!!!

I look into it. I'll see if it's worth it (cost of shipping it back, etc). I don't want them to send me a replacement trade paperback, which is what I'm afraid they'll do. They can send me book 2 in mass market. :D

Leah -- not really sure. I only realized it because I was on page 175 and I thought "I'll read until page 200 and then take a break". I was looking for page 200, to see if it was a good stopping point (end of chapter, scene break).

Christina, just tell them that you had to source the book elsewhere and that you prefer they either refund the money or give you XYZ.

Finished my Ghost book!


Book: Unholy Ghosts by Stacia Kane
Read: Feb 17, 2012
Rating: ★★★

This book took me too long to get into. I wanted to put it down and pick a new book until I was half way though. It was only then that I wanted to know what happened to Chess and how the whole thing would play out.

I didn't like her as a character at all but I thought she was written incredibly well and I think that maybe that was why I didn't like her. Her addiction is the source of all the problems and as an addict I found her believable. But I just got annoyed and frustrated at her and her behaviour.

I loved the description of the world and thought it was crafted well. I thought the Church and it's domination was a great concept.

And if we could put a gag on Bump and stop him from talking, I'd be a happy lady indeed :P

For the first half of the book I'd give it a 1. For the second half I'd give it a 4. So overall I give it a 3.
As if now I'm undecided if I'll consider reading more in this series.

Kate wrote: "And if we could put a gag on Bump and stop him from talking, I'd be a happy lady indeed :P"

I 100% agree here. I always had to re-read his sections so I could tell what was going on!! At some points I would even give up and just assume that I would figure it out later as I went along. Silly Bump.

Kate wrote: "Finished my Ghost book! ..."

Yay! And that just leaves me.
=================

Week 2: 11-12 Feb 12

B4: Ghosts - 5/5 - TBD

✔ Amanda - My Soul to Save - 14 Feb 12 - ★★ - Review
✔ Christina - Footsteps in the Dark - 17 Feb 12 - ★★★★ - Review
✔ Heather - Full Moon Rising - 13 Feb 12 - ★★★★ - Review
✔ Kate - Unholy Ghosts - 17 Feb 12 - ★★★ - Review
✔ Leah - First Grave on the Right - 14 Feb 12 - ★★★★ - Review

GHOST



Footsteps in the Dark by Georgette Heyer - 17 Feb 12 - ★★★★
Siblings Celia, Peter and Margaret inherited the Priory from their late uncle. It's old, a bit rundown and said to be haunted, but the trio decide to keep it. They along with Celia's husband Charles, their Aunt Lilian, and a pair of servants, move into it for a summer holiday. No sooner do they get settled, then the strange, eerie noises begin. Celia's all for going back to London, but Charles and Peter aren't convinced. Sure enough, they soon discover the source of the noise and are certain that whatever is going on, it's being done by a living, breathing person.

What puzzles the family is, why now? The property stood vacant for years. Why is someone trying to gain access to the house -- and trying to frighten them off -- unless there was something buried or hidden inside or among the ruins? And who is the Monk? There is no end of possible suspects. There's the door-to-door vacuum salesman, the handsome gentleman down on a fishing holiday, and the entomologist who's supposedly chasing after a rare moth at all hours of the night. Or could it someone else, someone who's activities don't seem suspicious at first.

This is my second Heyer mystery. I really enjoyed the story. I didn't guess the identity of the culprit, though I had my suspicions well before the end. As to "what" was the big deal about the property, I figured it was one of two things. I won't mention what those were, because it's a spoiler. The book had it's creepy moments, and its fun moments. And just like the first one I read, I could picture this as an old black and white movie.

What didn't work for me was the romance. Or I should say, how it was handled. The characters don't get to spend a lot of page-time together, so it was hard to see how they could be in love. Attracted to each other, yes, but I feel the story didn't allow for the relationship to be developed to the point where they're engaged by the end.

Looking forward to reading more of her mysteries.

YAY! I just requested our Ghosts stamp! :D

Yay, us!

Yeah Christina! Go Clovers!

I am having so much trouble getting through Touched By Alien for the free space read. I was really going on it and then hit a slow spot, and took a break to read my ghost book and now I am really struggling to finish. Don't worry though, I will have it done before week four when it will start to matter, if not before then. Also, worst case scenario, the new audio book that I am listening to on my drive to and from work also qualifies as a free space read so if I finish that first I will change to that. I didn't want you girls to think I had forgotten it, I will not let you all down :D

Woo woo!! Good work ladies!!!

Heather --- That's too bad about Touch by an Alien, hopefully you can get back into it so it's at least an interesting read. No pressure though, I'm not worried about any timelines. I find I always have to finish a book before I start reading another, otherwise I will never come back to the first book. I think I'm odd this way, because it seems like a lot of people on goodreads are always reading 3,4 books at a time, and I could never do that!! Maybe two books, but I would itch to finish one while I was reading the other. Maybe I'm just weird ;)

Yay us!

@Heather: I had the same trouble with that book. I started it back in the summer, but I never finished. I will try again later though as people seem to love the series. And like you said, there is still plenty of time.

@Leah, I am one of those people who read several books at one time. Currently reading three, although precedence is kind of going to Lothaire right now as I just got it yesterday and am having a hard time putting it down!

Heather wrote: "Yeah Christina! Go Clovers!

I am having so much trouble getting through Touched By Alien for the free space read. I was really going on it and then hit a slow spot, and took a break to read my..."

No problem! :D We've got time -- it doesn't line up with what's been called so far. For us, anyway. I noticed a couple of teams have good alignment with free space, supernatural, and ghosts. If the next shelf called sets up a potential four-in-a-row, things could get interesting fast. ;-) Assuming everyone reads and reviews their books promptly, of course.

I still have to finish writing my review for The Iron Duke. I guess I work on that while waiting for the shelf to be announced.

I read around 7 or so books at a time.

There's a few next to my bed depending on my mood, one in my bag, one in my car incase I finish the one in my bag, one next to the couch and one next to the computer for me to read whilst it turns on... It's getting old and takes 10 minutes to start up.

I like variety... But sometimes it means it takes me months to finish a book because I get caught up in the other ones I'm reading an ignore others.

Go us! I'm proud of us for getting our second stamp :)

Kate wrote: "Go us! I'm proud of us for getting our second stamp :) ..."

So am I! And...I think we're the first to request "Ghosts"!

Shelf #3 ~ 2/19/12: 'Favorite Series'
DIRECT LINK: This is a personal shelf, not a Goodreads' shelf.

ETA: It doesn't have to be on your shelf. Add it when you mark it "currently reading". Must be from a series you've already started (and hopefully) like. No new to you or #1 (unless it's a re-read???). Re-Reads are allowed.

ETA: Sandra says re-reads of first in series are okay as long as it's an obvious re-read (book already logged/shelved by you).

I will be reading....

CONGRATULATIONS, Clovers!
You now have an updated BINGO card with a stamp on 'ghosts'.

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

Good Job!! :D

Steph wrote: "CONGRATULATIONS, Clovers!
You now have an updated BINGO card with a stamp on 'ghosts'.

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

Good Job!! :D"

Yay! Thanks Steph!

So hard to choose...

I'll pick Lover Avenged

I love this series and somehow managed to skip this book. I've read the 6 before it and the 2 after but somehow just forgot about this one.

Congrats on the stamp Clovers!