R9: Team #10 ~ Divas of Organized Destruction

[Desperado]

Awwww, that sucks, Julianne. =( The only solution I know short of a reformat involves you having a recovery disk that was utilized before you changed the password. There's a few articles online that show you what to do if you have one. Good luck. Being locked out my computer (which is also password protected despite me living alone) is one of my top 5 nightmares.

[Desperado]

Steph wrote: "
Series: Freakn' Shifters #1
Shelf: Green/Teal Cover
Read: 15 Jun
Rating: 4★
Review:
I've been wanting to start Eve's Freakn' Shifters series for awhile ..."

Great review, Steph! My biggest issue with DFF was Naomi's prejudice against athletes as well. And her bitchiness. And her stubborness. And her....lets just say that I didn't understand what deliciously sexy Javier and Ethan saw in her trifling ass.

[Rosina]

Julianne wrote: "One down, two to go. It's 3am for me and I just finished my Supified book...review to come tomorrow. Review which will be completely written on my phone. When I was pissed at my son I changed the p..."

My hubby recently did the same thing. Forget/screwed up his password to the laptop. He ended up taking it to my brother to fix. Took him a couple hours but he got it back up with no loss of info. He was operating with Windows Vista. Hope you can get it resolved. Id be lost without my main computer and I hate posting reviews off my phone app cause I cant do proper links.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

LOL Lethal! She was a challenge. But, damn, those boys made up for it. :D

[Julianne]

Thanks ladies. LL, I did find out about the backup disc...after I forgot my password. I'll be doing that first thing as soon as I get back on.
I think I may have found a solution, but won't be able to try it til Friday at least.

I've been wanting to try the Freakin series but I keep hoping DFF will come up free on amazon.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Good luck!

I got it free @ Amazon in 2013. I can loan it to you if you have a Kindle or Kindle app. Just lemme know. :)

[Valerie ~ Val Hall ~]

Hi team, I'll be visiting family starting tomorrow until Monday. I'll only have my phone to check in so I might not be posting much. I'll update the shelves when I get back.

If someone else does not see the new shelf announcement before me....I won't be posting handy links from my phone, sorry.

On another note, I have been shoveling dirt whenever I had spare time so I'm behind on my green book. I'm only halfway and don't expect to do much reading in the few days...kind of gauche reading while visiting the in-laws.....

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Hope those muscles are appreciating the dirt sessions Val :)

[Valerie ~ Val Hall ~]

Yeah, got my 10 ton of gravel moved from my neighbor's driveway into my backyard...only 1/3 of it needs to be spread at the right place. Until there is grass and paving....it does not look like much but there is progress.

[Rosina]

Valerie ~ Val Hall ~ wrote: "Yeah, got my 10 ton of gravel moved from my neighbor's driveway into my backyard...only 1/3 of it needs to be spread at the right place. Until there is grass and paving....it does not look like muc..."


What a great workout! Enjoy your weekend with the family.

[Rosina]

Shelf: Green/Teal Cover

Finished June 20/14
Rating: 3.5★

Review: Atlantis paired with Dragons. A city under the sea with fire breathing creatures. Ok so I had to read this for a couple of reasons:
1. As a kid I was obessed with the lost city of Atlantis, remember Patrick Duffy in Man from Atlantis? That whole summer I practiced the Dolphin swim until I had it nailed.
2. Dragons is Sandra's fave creature and at some point I have to read a dragon book/series
3. Throw in some vamps which are my fave creature right now.

Ok so I enjoyed the book. Here's the basic plot. After Darius's family gets wiped out, he becomes one of the Guardians of the Mist, those who guard Portals from the Surface to Atlantis. Basically they're there to kill any travelers through the portal, be it man, woman, or child. Many centuries later, Grace is looking for her brother and stumbles accidentally through the Portal. But she is wearing one of the Guardians of the Mist's amulets. So instead of decapitating her right away he brings her to Atlantis to interrogate her about where she got the necklace. From there the plot thickens with Vampires who hate the Dragons and Humans who want to rape and pillage Atlantis to sell on Ebay.
What I thought was quite amusing was the whole concept of Fantasy creatures like Dragons wearing Kevlar vests. WTF these are dragon dudes WTH!

Yup gonna keep reading the series cause I have them all and it looks like it gets better.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Hope you have a good time, Val! :)

[Desperado]

Have a great vaction, Valerie!

@Rosina: Awesome review,gurl! I didn't much like HotD. I didn't particular care for that entire series by Showalter, TBH. And now I don't read her at all since she "found religion" and her books and intimacy scenes started suffering because of it. I miss the days when GS wrote sex scenes that could set a girl on fire. *LL sighs*

I'm finally starting my "Green" book. I had a few ILL (Interlibrary Loans) books that were due today so I had to focus on them first unless I wanted to pay $1 EACH for every day that EVERY book was overdue.

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Wow, that could get expensive LL

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Thanks for the Dragons & the mention Rosina :DDDDDD

[Rosina]

@ Sandra have you read Dark Kings series


I just picked up the first two.

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

They look good Rosina, I've got the first prequel but haven't read it yet. Will have a closer look once I've had a chat with Mr R.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Hi, Divas! New shelf! Shelf #6 ~ 22/6/14: 'Reader's Choice' - Any book you like as long as it is at least 200 pages and isn't a graphic novel.

I think I'll read . Hope everyone's having a great weekend! Happy reading!

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

I haven't tried any Kali Sweet, though Misty keeps emailing me. LOL. Somehow I musta ended up on her nl list.

[Valerie ~ Val Hall ~]

I'll read since I can for Reader's Choice.

I'm done with my Green book, review to come tomorrow.

[Desperado]

I'm going to read for Reader's Choice. I should be finished with Untouched by tomorrow.

[Valerie ~ Val Hall ~]

Shelves currently in play

Judithe's SOS BookShelf : Bingo R9 Stats

Week #6: Reader's Choice'
Any book you like as long as it is at least 200 pages and isn't a graphic novel. (June 22-28)
Completed:3/5

Julianne: Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
LethalLovely: Make Me Burn by R.G. Alexander, 25/06/2014, 3★,review
Rosina: Special Offers by M.L. Ryan
StephB: Sweet Soldier by Misty Evans, 24/06/2014, 5★,review
Valerie: All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, 24/06/2014, 5★,review




Week #5: 'Green/Teal Cover Colour'
The majority of the cover must be green or teal. (June 15-21)
Completed:4/5

Julianne: Rogue Descendant by Jenna Black
LethalLovely: Untouched by Anna Campbell, 24/06/2014, 3★,review
Rosina: Heart of the Dragon by Gena Showalter, 20/06/2014, 3.5★,review
StephB: Delicate Freakn' Flower by Eve Langlais, 15/06/2014, 4★,review
Valerie: Shield of Winter by Nalini Singh, 21/06/2014, 5★,review




Week #4:SUPEFIED (any type of supernatural on the cover - fangs, werewolf, werecat, angel/demon wings, zombie, etc). (June 08-14)
Completed:5/5 Stamped

Julianne: City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare, 17/06/2014, 5★,review
LethalLovely: Sparrow Hill Road by Seanan McGuire, 11/06/2014, 4★,review
Rosina: Sleeping with the Entity by Cat Devon, 14/06/2014, 2★,review
StephB: Awakening the Fire by Ally Shields, 12/06/2014, 3★,review
Valerie: Descending by Holly Kelly, 09/06/2014, 3★,review



Week #3: Yellow/Orange Cover Colour (June 1- 7)
Completed:4/5

Julianne: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
LethalLovely:The Martian by Andy Weir, 07/06/2014, 4★,review
Rosina:Changeling by Yasmine Galenorn, 09/06/2014, 4★,review
StephB:Forbidden Bond by Jessica Lee, 06/06/2014, 3.5★,review
Valerie:Stars & Stripes by Abigail Roux, 07/06/2014, 4★,review

[Valerie ~ Val Hall ~]

@ Julianne: how are you with your pass word problem? Have you had the time to write your review for the Stupefied shelf? I think you mentionned that you had finished this one. Just checking.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Sandra wrote: "I haven't tried any Kali Sweet, though Misty keeps emailing me. LOL. Somehow I musta ended up on her nl list."

I've been enjoying it. Not sure why I picked up the first one. I think it was b/c of the mixture of supernaturals. I think you'd like it also. The MC is a vengeance demon who does what she can to save/not harm humans b/c of things that happened in her past.

LL, I've been meaning to start that series. Glad to see you're liking it enough to continue on.

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

I'll have to give Kali a go then :D

[Desperado]

Green/Teal Cover:
Date Read: June 24th
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review:

*LL sighs* "Untouched" just didn't work for me and I can't say that I'm surprised. I read Campbell's Claiming the Courtesan back in 2010 and didn't like it (totally obsessive, psychotic hero that made me question the sanity of the heroine for wanting him) but I decided to give AC another chance-one that took 2+ years to come to fruition. I get the feeling that AC is going for that "old school bodice ripper" vibe from her HRs. Maybe she doesn't it do it well or more likely, I'm just not into bodice rippers anymore but it didn't-and still doesn't-work for me. I never connected with Matthew, our seemingly crazy-ass hero. I never connected with Grace, our naive and stupid heroine. I thought the villain John was freaking ridiculous. I did like "Untouched" more than "Claiming the Courtesan" (I didn't feel like committing homicide this time around, which is always a plus) which is why I wanna say that I'll give AC another chance since so many of my friends adore her books but....well, I'm a "one strike and you're out" kinda gal, so it's not bloody likely I'll give AC a third chance to waste my time.

[Valerie ~ Val Hall ~]

I'll be sure to never start a book from Anna Campbell then.
I still have 2 reviews to write for Bingo, should be done tomorrow. Sorry for the delay, it's a holiday and the laptop is safely tucked away until tomorrow.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Yay! I just finished #3 this AM and ended up giving it 5★. I wish there was word on a 4th, but can't find anything. She's got some CRs also, but I haven't read those.

LOL! Good review, LL. Not my cuppa.

Off to write up my review for my RC book. Will be back to post it soon.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Series: Kali Sweet #3
Shelf: Reader's Choice
Read: 24 June
Rating: 5★
Review:
In Sweet Solider, vengeance demon Kali has a lot on her plate: Pestilence, the first of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, has been spreading disease around Chicago; Noctifector (human trained to slay demons) and her beau's ex-bitch Parker is back; Maria, succubus, nemesis and seventh sin, has been resurrected again. Somehow Kali has to stop the coming apocalypse, but word is that will require Archangel Michael's sword or a deal with Lucifer.

I stumbled onto Misty Evan's Kali Sweet series earlier in this year and it just keeps getting better. In the first book, Revenge is Sweet, Kali considers herself an island. But with each book, we see her personal code (Don't take things personally. Don't get emotional.) begin to crumble. This is not a bad thing, however, as it allows her to become stronger through the strength of others.

If character growth throughout a series is important to you, you'll love this series. Secondly, Misty has the ability to refresh series readers without the dreaded info dumps. She seamlessly weaves the previous books' happenings into the current story in a way that never makes you feel like you're missing or forgetting something. So, if you like your UF with mix of supernaturals who work together to battle evil, threads of mystery and character growth throughout, and a splash of romance - you are sure to enjoy this series.

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

I'll definitely have to look into Kali :)

LL, thanks for the tip, I'm not into bodice rippers much any more, and AC sounds like just the type to avoid.

[Valerie ~ Val Hall ~]

Week 5

Green/Teal Cover Colour: Shield of Winter by Nalini Singh
Date Read: 21/06/2014
Rating: ★★★★★
Review:
I've always liked Nalini's Psy-Changeling series and this latest installment is no exception.

This story is about the mysterious Arrow group that police the Psy. Vasic has existed in Silence for too long and believes to be so broken that he does not bat an eyelash at mutilating himself for the sake of fusion between Psy and machine.

One of the main principle of Silence is that every emotion is purged from the Psy so that only cold logic remains otherwise they would take advantage of their superior psy powers over the other races. Like any utopia it is flawed and doomed to fail at some point. Now after more than a century of oppression and systematic excision from the Psy gene pool....they need to resurrect the E designation to save the race.

Ivy Jane has hidden her fractured Silence for years and now every E is paired with an Arrow to save the day. I loved the wild E and emotionless Arrow pairing while the world went to hell around them and thousands died. You can't expect to master an ability that you repressed your whole life in a few days and I'm glad that NS chose to show the Walking Dead apocalypse while Vasic remained innocent with respect to his emotions but still being the perfect assassin.

For a romance series it has rich world-building and a cast of unique characters. I can't wait for the next book to come out.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Her world building is out of this world great!

Val & teammies, my hubby will be off from work all of next week, so I'll be away from the computer. But, I'll keep in touch from my phone and check on the new shelf on the weekend.

[Desperado]

I noticed a disturbing trend when I looked at the "Shelves Currently in Play" post. Mmmmhmm. But I'm gonna leave that one alone, since that's one of the perks of NOT being team captain. ^_^




Reader's Choice:
Date Read: June 54th
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review:

I don't know what happened. My reaction after reading Burn with Me was "Oh yeah. I smell sex & candy up in here!" But MMB? Total sequelfail. It was boring. It was confusing. It was convoluted as hells. The sex wasn't even sexy anymore, mostly because Aziza turned out to be a big fat(view spoiler)[CHEATER (hide spoiler)]. I can't get down with that, I don't GAF how you try to justify it. Aziza was all over the freaking place with her hormones and googly-eyed affection for EVERY man since EVERY man wants her shallow ass. I didn't connect with any of the characters in this book and now that I think about it, the same was true for BwM. When it comes to books, I NEED to be having FEELS all over the place. So many feels that they're practically dripping from my pores. And I feel nothing. Don't care if anybody lives or dies or gets tupped behind the QuikTrip. Nada. I'm gonna keep the 3rd book Burn Me Down on my TBR (because I did like some parts and I still like some characters and I do like RG Alexander) but it's going on my "This About to be Some Shit" shelf (AKA the shelf where I put books that I just know are gonna suck but I can't stop myself from reading anyway). Make a liar out of me, BMD!

[Rosina]

just realized I hadn't checked in.....

need to find a book for readers choice....

I may not be around much after Friday to next Wednesday as I am moving....

will have phone access but not too sure about internet...

[Rosina]

LL I love reading your reviews... u make me lol

[Valerie ~ Val Hall ~]

Mmmm. As far as I know Julianne has read her stupefied book so it's just a matter of writing the review. It still means 3 books to read and review, with her password issue.
Wonder if it's resolved?

[Julianne]

Hi guys, I'm so sorry. My brothers been in the hospital. He has multiple health issues and it's fairly serious. I'm pretty much beside myself. I have my review written (still on my phone) for Supified and will post it tomorrow. I've finished yellow/orange and will get on a review for that.
I'm going with Rogue Descendant for the green shelf and I'm gonna read Moon Called for readers choice.

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Sorry to hear about your brother Julianne, hope he improves, quickly!

[Valerie ~ Val Hall ~]

LethalLovely~Are You Strong Enough to Stand? wrote: "Reader's Choice: Make Me Burn (Fireborne, #2) by R.G. Alexander
Date Read: June 54th
Rating: ★★★☆☆"

I'm going to go on a limb and say that you finished your book on the 24th.

[Desperado]

Actually it was on the 25th. Thanks for the catch because dang, was I way off base. I'm replying from my phone, so I'll edit my post when I get home.

@Julianne: I'm real sorry to hear about your brother. I hope everything works out.

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Darn, I could use a few (or many) more days in June :(

[Rosina]

Sandra wrote: "Darn, I could use a few (or many) more days in June :("

Me too Sandra....this move is seeming to take so long...I really needed to take days off before the actual possession date to organize stuff...

Actually would like an extra week so I could just sit and read and nap.....

[Rosina]

Julianne wrote: "Hi guys, I'm so sorry. My brothers been in the hospital. He has multiple health issues and it's fairly serious. I'm pretty much beside myself. I have my review written (still on my phone) for Supif..."

Hope your bro gets better....being in or near a hospital always gets me anxious....hang in there and make sure you get some rest....

[Valerie ~ Val Hall ~]

Week 6

Reader's Choice: All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka
Date Read: 24/06/2014
Rating: ★★★★★
Review:
I feel like I've given away too many 5 stars rating this year but this one deserves it too.

I decided to read the book after seeing the film last week. Both have the same premise but they are different in treatment and ending, in a way I prefer the Japanese version. It could easily have been presented in a graphic novel format (which exists) than the prose it was written in.

I have a little issue about time travel and the mechanism of it because, in all the novels I've read, it was never explained to my satisfaction. It can't be with a 230 pages book so I decided to suspend disbelief and concentrate on the character's struggle and interactions.

So this story is a take on the old Groundhog Day movie where you wake up and re-lives the same 24hrs over and over again. Keiji Kiriya does a rince and repeat of his first day as a soldier on the muddy battlefields of Japan and learns something each time he goes through the loop.

Mimic are alien invaders trying to exterminate mankind for a good 20 years. The army always needs fresh meat so Keiji goes on a little island near the coast of Japan on his first battle with the enemy. He is scared shitless and gets killed right as the battle starts...to wake-up in army base 30 hours before the strike. He quickly realizes that he's trapped in a time loop but no matter what he does...he still ends up on the battlefield and dies. Again and again.

One of the interesting part of the story is all the little things, how he decides to shave off time on his unending routine to train his body and brain. The only thing he can take forward is his memory so the body stays the same, he does not build muscle. There is an old samurai principle mentioned in the book: ‘Kiri-oboeru’ which roughly means strike down your enemy and learn. This completely disappear in the movie but it's the focal point of even the name of the book. How he learn to appreciate his comrades in arm and his commanding officer that he originally hated...even if everybody else experience his day for the first time and don't share the deeper connections he makes. How excellent food becomes awful after 100 repetition...

In all Keiji's struggle there is one constant: an American female soldier named Rita Vrataski. She has more Mimic confirmed kills than anyone on the world and is known as the Full Metal Bitch. Funnily enough, none of the main characters are even remotely close to the movie actors....well maybe the action figures described in the story are a very close match (yes, they made a movie about Rita in the story and action figures, it's a Japanese novel after all).

Another point in it's favor (and because I've read too many american novels lately) is that ending is bittersweet. If you like video games and first person shooter....you might appreciate the irony of this book.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Julianne, I'm sorry to hear about your brother. My thoughts are with you and your family.

LOL Sandra & LL! More days would've been nice. ;)

[Julianne]

City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare
Shelf: Supified
Read: June 17
Rating: ★★★★★
Review:

This was the sixth and final instalment of The Mortal Instruments series. For me the last couple books were pretty weak and took the story in a direction that I didn't like. This book had parts that I struggled with as it had to follow that direction a bit. But overall, as a series ender, it finished everything off nice and tidy. I like things to be tied into a big, shiny bow at the end and that's exactly what Clare has done here. Questions from throughout the series that I forgot I had were answered and things were tied together with the spin-off series (The Infernal Devices) as well. Clare has three more trilogies (really? Are three more necessary?) in the works and the main characters of the next one were introduced here, setting up the background for the new book. It reminded me of a backdoor TV pilot, entertaining enough but spent a little too much time taking me away from the characters that I love. I waffled a lot while reading this and my rating is based on how I felt it closed the series so beautifully. Had it just been another book on the series it probably would have been more of a 4 star.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

CONGRATULATIONS, Divas of Organized Destruction!
We now have an updated BINGO card with a stamp on 'supefied'. 

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

Yay!! :D

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Congrats on the stamp Divas!

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Thanks :D

[Rosina]

for readers choice