Nitescribe's 100 books

[A.J.]

51: Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher

Ok, 8 books in and I may be burned out on Harry Dresden. He's got gorgeous teen girls throwing themselves at him, unlimited power, magic healing abilities, and now, may be on a mission from Gawd. This is starting to feel like a real Marty Stu situation. Jim, um, I know realism is not big in urban fantasy, but having your main character be nigh on invincible is a little boring after a while. Just an observation.

[A.J.]

52: Gale Force by Rachel Caine

[A.J.]

53: Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

Ok, I think I'm going to write an article about how the vampire books written nowadays all seem like guidebooks for abusive relationships. "How to date the worse guy in the world and be grateful for it," by Meyer/Harris/et al. These books are training our young girls and women to not only put up with emotionally shut down, condesending, violent, and mostly unrepentant killers, but putting them forward as the ideal man. Ugh. Give me the good ol' days, when popular vampire fic was nothing more than thinly veiled homosexual erotica. I didn't find that particularly entertaining, but at least it wasn't offensive. I mean, since when is brutal date rape in a graveyard by a vicious murderer considered romantic? Maybe it's just me...

[A.J.]

54: Odd Hours by Dean Koontz

Yet another series that started so strong and now seems like nothing more than a dragging zombie corpse. I love Odd Thomas, but he really bored me this time around, with all the skulking and hiding and talking to people who don't give him any real info. And since when was Odd a cold-hearted killer? His shooting all the bad guys made him a little unsympathetic in my view. I also miss Stormy...now pretty much all we hear about her is how Odd wishes he could die sooner rather than later, to be with her again in heaven. Depressing.

[A.J.]

55: Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs

I read this so long ago that I had to reread it again to move on in the series. It's good stuff. Better written and less cliche than Cornwell, but just as engaging, with better pacing as well (Cornwell can't write an ending to save her life-seriously). Nothing like the tv series, though, if that's what your looking for.

[A.J.]

56: You Suck: A love story by Christopher Moore

This man is hilarious. Rarely do I laugh out loud when reading, but I actually made the cat jump with my insane giggles while reading this book. As a recovering Goth myself, the vampires and their minions in this book were painfully funny, especially the pseudo-journal entries of Abby Normal. So not right, and yet so right on.

[A.J.]

57: The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

Very very cool. I'm a Jane Eyre person (as opposed to a Wuthering Heights person-I've found that well read people tend to love one or the other but usually not both), so I love this book. I'm sure I didn't even get half of the literary in jokes, but what I did get made me laugh out loud.

I'd write more but I have to go read Great Expectations so I get the jokes in the next book.

[A.J.]

58: Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen

Interesting read, although the charaters had NO depth. Kind of a Dan Brown version of Carnivale (that's tv not a book, I know, but worth checking out anyway) but minus the supernatural element. Great details and a fun interview in the back with the author. Eh.

[A.J.]

59: Cold Fire By Dean Koontz

I accidently reread this. No,I didn't mean to. I read it so long ago that I didn't realize I had until about a third in. It's not a great book, but it's a solid Koontz mystery/suspense/horror novel. Eh again.

[A.J.]

60: The Diary of Mattie Spenser by Sandra Dallas

I like this author, even though this book is not her best. I pegged the twist from page one, which I guess really wasn't really supposed to be a surprise to anyone but the main character. The problem with that is that it's hard to root for a main character when she seems a little silly and naive. I still liked Mattie, and enjoyed the book, but maybe she should have caught on a little sooner, being the 'smart not pretty' girl.

But the historical desciptions and stirring story make up for it, I think. It's a quick and entertaining read.

[A.J.]

61: The Devil's Feather by Minette Walters

An interesting book. Not fast paced, but still manages to be tense. Great characters.

[A.J.]

62: Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton

I owned and read this back when it first came out in 1993 (?) but I'd forgotten it entirely, so it was a great reread. I see (remember) now why she's the top of the vamp fic field. Anita Blake is a very tough and interesting character, and with the exception of a few minor Anne Rice ripoffs, Hamilton does a wonderful job of creating supernatural noir. Much better than some authors trying it today, I must say (see above). She really captures the dark gritty feel of Chandler-esque storylines while still maintaining a believable magic-filled world.

Unfortunately, I've heard that the books get more into vamp/S&M erotica and less into the noir aspect as the series progresses, but I think I'll stick with it for now. Hamilton is good enough for the benifit of the doubt, at least until the love bites outnumber the bullet wounds.

[A.J.]

63: The Good Fairies of New York by Martin Miller

Great book, but after a few chapters, this kind of glib writing sets my teeth on edge. It's why I can only read one Christopher Moore book every couple of months. It's a little too much sugar for a nickel. Highly imaginative though.

[A.J.]

64: Carpe Demon by Julie Kenner

Not the best supernatural chick lit I've read, but entertaining. Basically it's Buffy gone domestic.

[A.J.]

65: Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts

[A.J.]

66: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riodan

I had a hard time getting into this one, but by the end, I was vastly entertained by the way the author modernized the ancient myths. Although, as a West Coast girl, I do have a problem with LA being the entrance to the Underworld and New York being Mount Olympus. Excuse me? No. Vice versa, if you ask me. Hurumph.

[A.J.]

67: Dime Store Magic by Kelley Armstrong

Among pararom/urban fantasy authors, Armstrong is one of the few who actually tells a great story, creates great characters, and manages to make me laugh in the process. No cheesiness, no suddenly-we're-having-sex scenes (she does wonderful sex scenes, but they're totally justified in the plot), and no descriptions of shopping at the mall for designer clothes. Just a story, a heroine, and a lot of action. Good stuff.

[A.J.]

68: Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

See above. Also, wow. I'm really not that into werewolves but she makes them sexy and believable and fun to read. Supernatural fiction gets smart. Can't wait to read the next one.

[A.J.]

69: Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris

This series is so much better than the Sookie Stackhouse series. I wish Harris had stuck with it. There's only three books, so far at least, and while they're not as slick as the Sookie ones (which I say is a good thing) this one is much more intriguing. Although it's obvious her copy editor was on a vacation when she turned this in. Behold: 3/4 of the way into the novel, she calls a character named 'Dell' 'Dale', she references a teen girl's room in detail in the scene BEFORE the heroine actually sees it, and, worst of all, you occasionally get sentences like this:

"The waitress had filled my coffee cup and taken my first swallow before the sheriff spoke." Page 10

Well, that certainly is a full service diner right there. Not only do they pour your coffee, but they drink it for you too. :>

Aside from amusing editing mistakes like that, I really enjoyed reading about dead-whisperer Harper and her "brother" Tolliver. I look forward to the next two in the series.

[A.J.]

70: Something from the Nightside by Simon R. Green

I forgot to put this one in a few weeks ago, which is surprising because it's by far the best supernatural noir I've ever read. I'm talking true noir, not pararom. It has everything: the P.I., the dame, the dark and dangerous underworld (literally) characters, the missing innocent, the double-double-double cross. Mix all that with magic and weirdness and you have a great story, well written to boot. In short, it's Chandler meets King by way of Lovecraft. Very good.

[A.J.]

71: Stolen by Kelley Armstrong

Inventive, down to earth, and magical, all at the same time. On to the next one. Did I mention I'm snowed in? Yay! A book a day, here I come...

[A.J.]

72: Industrial Magic by Kelley Armstrong

More good stuff. This woman has written 10 of this series so far, and so far in the ones I've read, while her heroines are blurring together for me ever so slightly personality wise, she has come up with highly original plots for each installment. I hope she can keep it up for another six books.

[A.J.]

73: Shakespeare's Landlord by Charlaine Harris

I finished this on Tuesday, actually, despite the date. :>

[A.J.]

74: Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin

This one was done yesterday, I swear. :>