March Group Read: Sunshine Wins!

[Theresa]

Time to start nominating titles for March...

The rules for submitting a book title:
1) One submission per UF member
2) Please submit the title and author
3) UF titles are preferred, but supernatural, sci-fi, and fantasy are okay too.
4) It must be the first book in a series or a stand-alone title
NOTE = If the title is in a series, but can be read without previous knowledge of the earlier books, feel free to submit it.
5) If we have already read and discussed the first book in the series as a group, the second title can be submitted.

Let's go to a total of 10 nominations or an end date of Thursday, February 19th - whichever comes first.

For voting, we're going to use the Polls option again instead of submitting votes in the topic.

Please start nominating titles... and newcomers, please don't be shy - we would love to hear from you!

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1. Sunshine by Robin McKinley
2. Nightlife by Rob Thurman
3. Vamped A Novel by David Sosnowski
4. Magic Lost, Trouble Found by Lisa Shearin
5. Nightwalker The First Dark Days Novel by Jocelynn Drake
6. Children of the Night by Mercedes Lackey
7. Blood Memories by Barb Hendee
8. The Scent of Shadows The First Sign of the Zodiac by Vicki Pettersson
9. Dog Days by by John Levitt
10. The Secret History of Moscow by Ekaterina Sedia

[Kasia]

How about Uglies by Scott Westerfeld?

[Jakub]

Sunshine by Robin McKinley. Very interesting, very well written. This book is a bit hard to categorize: is it urban fantasy? Well, the town is rather small, but I'd say yes. It is sometimes categorized as 'vampire story'.

The story is set in an alternate universe, taking place after the “Voodoo Wars”, a conflict between humans and the “Others”. The Others mainly consist of vampires, werewolves, and demons, though the main conflict occurs between humans and vampires.

The main character, Rae "Sunshine" Seddon, works as the baker at a coffee shop. She’s happy getting up at 4 am to make cinnamon rolls for the breakfast rush, and dealing with people and food all day. Until one day...

[Jakub]

Kasia wrote: "How about Uglies by Scott Westerfeld?"

It is more of science-fiction, young adult book than urban/contemporary fantasy (or paranormal romance).

[Theresa]

Kasia, I browsed that book awhile back... I don't think it is UF? Would you like to suggest another title?

[Nichole (DirrtyH)]

I nominated Nightlife Cal Leandros Book 1
by Rob Thurman.

[Kasia]

Ok, forget Uglies.

I've been meaning to read Vamped by David Sosnowski... It's supposed to be light and, as the title suggests, has vampires in it. So from me, let's make it Vamped.

[Kasia]

ohh.. and btw, Sunshine is my favorite UF read (yes I classify it as UF). And when it comes to Nightlife, it's decent, I just didn't care much for it.

[Kevin]

I'd Like to recommend reading "Magic Lost, Trouble Found (Raine Benares Book 1)" It looks like fantasy but reads like Urban Fantasy, the book has a strong female protagonist, a little romance and humor. It's a great time to start the series, the first two books in the trilogy are already out and the third volume is due out in April. I going to re-read the first 2 books before then.

[Theresa]

I'm going to nominate Nightwalker The First Dark Days Novel by Jocelynn Drake.

From Amazon.com:

For centuries Mira has been a nightwalker—an unstoppable enforcer for a mysterious organization that manipulates earth-shaking events from the darkest shadows. But elemental mastery over fire sets her apart from others of her night-prowling breed . . . and may be all that prevents her doom.
The foe she now faces is human: the vampire hunter called Danaus, who has already destroyed so many undead. For Mira, the time has come to hunt . . . or be hunted.

[Kieraanne]

I'd like to nominate "Children of the Night" by Mercedes Lackey. "A beautiful witch teams up with a sexy vampire to battle an evil soul-sucker Rock band. Wanderlust has attracted the attention of Master Jeffries, a psychic vampire, who preys on the musicians and their fans. Fortunately, the band has a protector, Diana Tregarde, practicing witch, who prepares to battle the 'master' with the help of a sexy bloodsucking vampire."

Good Reads has this listed as the 2nd in the series, but they could all be stand alone books and I read this one first...if that still doesn't count then I'd recommend: "Burning Water" by Mercedes Lackey.

[Donna]

I read Blood Memories by Barb Hendee a few months back, and I think that would make a good pick. It's an interesting character-driven story about a woman who has spent her many years as a vampire living an isolated, routine existence until a disturbing event draws attention to her. We get a lot of backstory through flashbacks, which is a technique that I often dislike but I thought they were surprisingly well done in this case.

[Laura]

I'm new to the group but would like to nominate The Secret History of Moscow . I've been wanting to read it for a while now and that would give me an excuse to go and buy it.

[Sherry]

I would like to nominate Vicki Pettersson's The Scent of Shadows, The First Sign of the Zodiac.

[Melissa]

Dog Day's by John Levitt

from Amazon:
Mason used to be an enforcer, ensuring that suspect magic practitioners stayed in line. But now he scrapes out a living playing guitar. Good thing he has Louie, his magical...well, let's call him a dog. But there are some kinds of evil thateven Louie can't sniff out. And when Mason is attacked by a supernatural assailant, he'll have to fall back on the one skill he's mastered in music and magic-improvisation.

[Jessica]

Something From the Nightside by Simon Green

Strong noir feel, but I read a short story from the Nightside universe and did really enjoy it. I picked up this first in the series this weekend.

[Danielle The Book Huntress]

I love the Nightside books. I second Dog Days.

[Stephanie]

I am new to this, but I thought I'd post anyway.

I think that "The Scent of Shadows The First Sign of the Zodiac" by Vicki Pettersson is a good choice. I have a friend who has read the first two of the series, and she said they're really good.