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R16: Team #12 ~ Of Bards and Books
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Lisa Kay
(new)
Apr 25, 2018 05:01PM
Looking through the rules and I have a question: Does this round have a specific winning pattern, or will horizontal, vertical or diagonal work?
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Lisa Kay it is the standard Bingo this round, so horizontal, vertical or diagonal. Its listed in the sign-up thread.Congrats on the stamp Singing Tale Bearers!
Team 12: Of Bards and BooksWeek Eight, Shelf: hunter
LaurLa: Destined for an Early Grave by Jeaniene Frost - ★★★★ - May 5 - Review
Leah: Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews - ★★★★★ - April 28 - Review
Lisa Kay: Blood Cross by Faith Hunter - ★★★★½ - May 6 - Review
Deanna: Hot Six by Janet Evanovich - ★★★★ - April 26 - Review
Week 8 -- SelectionShelf: Hunter
Book: Destined for an Early Grave - Jeaniene Frost
How it fits: tagged 2 times
Good picks, ladies! I'm waiting until I'm done my necromancers book to choose something for hunter - I'm waiting to see what I have on hold at the library :-)
Week 7 -- Completion PostShelf: Necromancers
Book: Gunmetal Magic - Ilona Andrews
How it fits: tagged 1 time
Read: 04.28
Rating: ★★★★
Review
I was surprised at the level of emotion in this book, especially at the beginning when Raphael and Andrea are seeing each other again for the first time. I like that in the end they both had to work at repairing their relationship but they didn't let their pride and previous pain override their desire to work it out. The magic storyline was a little convoluted to start out but I stuck with it and finally figured it out. I also liked seeing Kate from another person's perspective. That was kind of fun.
I haven't even started my "hunter" book. Distracted by other books. Story of my life... LOL!
Week 8 -- Completion PostShelf: Hunter
Book: Hot Six by Janet Evanovich
How it fits: tagged 5 times
Read: 4/26/2018
Rating: 4 stars
Review
This edition in the Stephanie Plum series was a refreshing change from the previous books. Instead of Stephanie clumsily trying to track down her skip, this book read more like a mystery since the bulk of the plot focused on proving Ranger was not guilty of murder. Having Grandma front and center living with Stephanie in her apartment combined with the addition of the gigantic dog meant I also spent a lot more time laughing as well. Still I can't help but feel a bit frustrated that after six books, Stephanie still hasn't learned any kind of fighting skills or even how to properly shoot a gun. I'm not looking for Ranger level skills, but basic competence would be a huge improvement.
It's Wednesday! New shelf up!Shelf #9 ~ 2/5/18: Urban Fantasy
DIRECT LINK - https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
Week 9 - SelectionShelf: Urban Fantasy
Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews
I've been meaning to try this series for awhile, so this gives me an excuse to move it to the top of my stack. Hope you are all enjoying your current books!
For "Urban Fantasy" I'm going to go with either
or
.
Team 12: Of Bards and BooksWeek Nine, Shelf: urban fantasy
LaurLa: Darkness Unleashed by Alexandra Ivy - ★★★★ - May 11 - Review
Leah: High Voltage by Karen Marie Moning - ★★★ - May 12 - Review
Lisa Kay: Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews - ★★★★★ - May 9 - Review
Deanna: Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews - ★★★★★ - May 4 - Review
Completion post: hunter
Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews
Rating: 5 stars
Date Read: April 28, 2018
This was a re-read for me. One of those "what book do I have laying nearby that I can read for a moment" that turns into hours of reading a book straight through.
I had forgotten so much about this first one in the series! I've re-read the rest in the Kate Daniels series several times, but this one I didn't usually go back to. It just seemed like a prequel to the series almost, since it was so pre-Kate/Curran.
But, I loved re-reading it. Seeing Kate meet Curran for the first time made me smile :-)
I'm still working on my necromancers book
. It's very interesting, different than anything I've read before. I'll explain in my review, but it really does mix a lot of genres.For urban fantasy, I will be reading
.
Week 9 -- Selection PostShelf: Urban Fantasy
Book: Darkness Unleashed - Alexandra Ivy
How it fits: tagged 23 times
I'll be finished with Hunter book in a day or two :-)
LaurLa wrote: "I'll be finished with Hunter book in a day or two :-) ..."Ditto...
Week 8 -- Completion PostShelf: Hunter
Book: Destined for an Early Grave - Jeaniene Frost
How it fits: tagged 2 times
Read: 05.05
Rating: ★★★★
Review
Quite the roller coaster was this book. Cat had to come to terms with her feelings on vamps and herself before she could take the next step with Bones. All while also being chased in her dreams by a power hungry enemy. So, a LOT going on! The good peeps prevail, of course, but I sense more trouble ahead as Cat continues to figure out her powers. I've been reading this series kind of slow and lost the thread of things, but this book grabbed be stronger than the others and I really am looking forward to the next.
Week 9 -- Completion PostShelf: Urban Fantasy
Book: Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews
How it fits: MPG Urban Fantasy
Read: 5/4/2018
Rating: 5 stars
Review
This is my first non-Kate Daniels book by this team. I'm not sure I completely understand the world she has created (maybe it would help if I read her The Edge series since there will apparently be some character overlap in the next book?), but I loved how different it was. Having werewolves and vampires come from other planets along with many other species as well as the ability to visit different worlds sets up an almost limitless set of possibilities. The back and forth between Dina and Sean was highly entertaining when she put him in his place and sweet when he settled enough to actual begin helping her. I definitely want to continue with this series.
(P. S. My fantastic sister just sent me an Amazon card for my birthday. Any suggestions about whether I should continue to book two of this series, or if it would be better to read The Edge series first?)
The world building doesn't really cross over, just a couple of people, they are kids in The Edge & grown ups in Sweep.You don't need to read the Edge to understand Sweep, but it is up to you :)
The Edge series is more fantasy than Kate or Dina.
Angie-baby...SOS: Serious Overload of Series BookShelf Bingo
> R16: Team #12 ~ Of Bards and Books
my goodread review
Date Read: May 6, 2018
Shelf: May be found here on the “Hunter” shelf.
Pages: 321
Blood Cross (Jane Yellowrock #2) by Faith Hunter
★★★★½ (This is a review of the audiobook.) Khristine Hvam does an amazing job with Jane/Beast, becoming one with them in this first person POV, making this series one of my favorite readings by her. Her performance, timing, characters’ accents and emotional inflections are wonderful. Ms. Hvam is always great, but this series is definitely her “sweet spot.”
What can I say about Jane and Beast to get you to read this series? The symbiosis between “Big Cat” and Jane is fabulous. Their tug-of-war for dominance is done to perfection, as is their counter-pointed dependent harmony. I really enjoy the scenes where Jane discovers more of their history.
The plot is a good one and has Jane hunting a rogue vamp making new ones that are “unsupervised” on first rising, which results in a vampire-witch conflict. (view spoiler) Love Angie-baby.
Jane’s love life has me vacillating back and forth on whose team I should be on. (Rare for me.) I felt one way in book one; but paradoxically, when she went my way by the end of book two, I was unsure about her selection. **smacks forehead** As the series progresses, I can only hope this smooths out, since I’m not a fan of love triangles.
Then there is Jane’s complicated relationship with Blood Master Leo Pellissier, head of the vamp council in New Orleans, who is still nuts-so-crazy pissed at Jane from her actions in book one. Whoa. Ms. Hunter really makes their interactions work, putting me on the edge of my seat more than once.
There is more than enough action and intriguing characters in this story-line. I highly recommend this series.
Leah, just FYI update, I've decided to go with
for "Urban Fantasy." I've already started it. It is here on the “Urban Fantasy” shelf.I just might finish tomorrow, as I have some traveling to do.
Completion post: necromancers
Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone
Rating: 3 stars
Date Read: May 8, 2018
Wow. I'm not sure how to describe this. One of the blurbs on the back of the book calls it multi-genre: adventure, steampunk, fantasy, legal thriller. It is all of these things, which is both amazing and overwhelming.
The world is a steampunk-esque city, powered by steam and heat, but that steam is powered by the city's strong religion--and their god is real. He dies, and our main character is called to investigate. There's also the "Craft", which is wielded by rare Magic-users. We have shapeshifting gargoyles, pirate vampires, a fantastical police force, and more.
I feel badly that I only gave this three stars, but the world that the author built was just a bit.. too much for me. It's well done--I wasn't plagued by too many questions--but it was very complicated and the religious prose took a while for me to get into. Also, I think all of this elaborate worldbuilding took away from my connections with the characters. There just wasn't enough pages to make me understand the world and get the know each character personally.
Again, this was a very well written novel and weaved together beautifully. I would recommend it if you were looking for something different to read, something that was unlike other fantasy novels.
Wolf Diamond (AKA topaz, the color of a wolf’s eye.)SOS: Serious Overload of Series BookShelf Bingo
> R16: Team #12 ~ Of Bards and Books
my goodread review
Date Read: May 9, 2018
Shelf: May be found here on the “Urban Fantasy” shelf.
Pages: 310
Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels #3) Ilona Andrews
★★★★★ (This is a review of the audiobook.) Renee Raudman is not a perfect narrator; she sometimes slips on consistency with regards to her voices; rare, but there. My friend thinks she has a bit of a lisp, which I have to forget about or I hear it too. Some could argue that she gets accents wrong...but then, in a futuristic post-magic-technology-competing-apocalyptic world who really knows how the accents would change? All that said, I still think she is amazing. Weird, right? I love her voices, inflections and trademark style.
The plots and character developments keep getting better and better in the alternate world of Andrews. Love being presented with all the mythology, mating rituals, stories of Curran’s past, and Kate’s secrets regarding her power origin. There is also a lot of intense fighting in this book -- as in “to-the-death” style. But it has a lot of humor, too. IA not only uses pathos, but fighting, and humor to let us get to know her characters better, and they are placed in all the right spots. Here is an example, that comes early in the book, where Kate and Andrea are out to lunch together.
“You really don’t like him?”I’m anticipating book #4 so much! I don’t know anything for sure, but here’s a little something for Kate.
A shadow crossed Andrea’s face. “I don’t want to be his TWT-IHFB.”
“What does that mean?”
“That Weird Thing I Haven’t Fucked Before.”
I choked on a bite of gyro.
Hell Rose by hivesotto.
I love Kate Daniels! I'm excited to be starting a series reread in one of my other groups.
Oh, I can definitely see myself re-reading this series. It is sooooo good, Deanna.
My first thought was: "Yeah! It's not one of the Bingo shelves! More bingo next week!" Followed immediately by: "Nooooo! I don't have anything to read for this shelf." Looking through the list I was surprised to find four books from my to-read shelf. (Though I'm honestly not sure why the Sookie Stackhouse series would be shelved this way.)
I'm going with
, which I had intended to read last month, but didn't quite manage to find time. At least I already have it on hand and don't need to add to my overflowing library crate. I'll probably wait until Saturday to start because I'm trying to clear the deck before Tower Teams starts.
Not my favorite shelf...I've been looking for over an hour. **sigh* But I do like a good Dean Koontz book every once in awhile.
So, I guess I'll go with
which has only been 'tagged' once, but that's enough. It may be found here on the Gothic Horror shelf.
CONGRATULATIONS, Of Bards and Books!You now have an updated BINGO card with a stamp on 'necromancers' and 'hunter'.
[Your updated BINGO card can be viewed on page 1]
Good Job!! :D
Congrats on the stamps Tale Bearing Singers!
Team 12: Of Bards and BooksWeek Ten, Shelf: gothic horror
LaurLa: Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton - ★★★★ - May 21 - Review
Leah: The Death House by Sarah Pinborough - ★★ - May 17 - Review
Lisa Kay: Uprooted by Naomi Novik - ★★★★½ - May 15 - Review
Deanna: The Madman’s Daughter by Megan Shepherd - ★★★ - May 16 - Review
Deanna - what's Tower Teams???This was a tough one, definitely expanding my literary boundaries here. I'm going with
.
Tower Teams is a group reading challenge that I created way back in December 2012 (but started in 2013) for the Nothing But Reading Challenges group. I wanted to design something that a lot of people could join, regardless of the number of books per week they read.I "equaled out" the teams, so that a team could have members who read 200 books per year and those who read 50 books a year (or whatever). Then the teams were put in groups that cumulatively read, say, 750 books per year.
There were other little challenges and games added each week with ways to earn "cupcakes," which Sonja and I both came up with.
It has changed a bit, but it is a popular challenge and a lot of fun.
I'm not longer a Moderator of that group, but I have to say I'm still pretty proud of it and glad to see it continuing.
Why couldn't they just with gothic or horror??? Why both!?! Ugh. I might have to re-read a sookie just to get through the shelf :-oOr Odd Thomas. I started that series, kind of liked it.
Yeah, this is a tough one. I was thinking of a re-read of Sookie, too. I could go with Rebecca, but I'm not even sure it is long enough; it might be a novella. It has been awhile since I've read Odd Thomas, but I think I can go with #2 without a re-read.
Yes, Rebecca is long enough. Strange, I remember it being smaller. Maybe that is just that the fonts were so small back when I was in high-school. LOL!
Maybe I'll go with
... I'll have to think about this. I'll let you know, Leah, after I see which one grabs me.
I think I'll try something new - a good excuse to see if I like the series.
Week 10 -- Selection Post
Shelf: Gothic Horror
Book: Guilty Pleasures - Laurell K. Hamilton
How it fits: tagged 3 times
Lisa Kay wrote: "Maybe I'll go with ... I'll have to think about this. I'll let you know, Leah, after I see which one grabs me."No worries Lisa Kay, just let me know. I understand the difficulty of book-reading decisions.
Tower Teams sounds really neat! I'm not part of that challenge group, maybe I should join though... (time to search it and get lost in a goodreads wormhole)
Leah wrote: "Lisa Kay wrote: "Maybe I'll go with ... I'll have to think about this. I'll let you know, Leah, after I see which one grabs me."No worries Lisa Kay, just let ..."
That challenge group is pretty cool - they have some very interesting challenges! And role playing challenges if you're into that.
They base it a lot around Harry Potter now.
Week 9 -- Completion PostShelf: Urban Fantasy
Book: Darkness Unleashed - Alexandra Ivy
How it fits: tagged 23 times
Read: 05.11
Rating: ★★★★
Review
It's always fun to watch these uber-alpha-i-don't-need-anyone guys fall, hard. The heroine frustrated me because she was stubborn almost to the point of stupidity. But even so, the banter/bickering between the MCs was fun and Levet is always good for entertainment. We're definitely left with a dangling story line with the search for the 3rd sister and the King of Weres disappearing.
Completion post: urban fantasy
High Voltage by Karen Marie Moning
Rating: 3 stars
Date Read: May 12, 2018
This maybe should be a three and a half star read, I'm not really sure. I flew through it, and yes--it was interesting--but I feel that's partially because I know the characters so well and am invested even in the side characters at this point (book 10 in the series).
Dani really grew up in this book (not a bad thing, in my opinion) but as readers we were kind of ripped off because it happened during a time jump! Suddenly it's "five years later" in a chapter and we suddenly have a much more rational Dani, less spontaneous and rash, less emotional. I wish we could have seen the maturity come over time that the readers got to enjoy, too.
My other negative point is the plot--this book was a vehicle to give Dani her love story and true power destiny, and the "plot" was a one-page battle with an Earth god that we were never really worried about in the first place. No tension here at all.
I was happy with how Dani's plotline was wrapped up, though. Some readers complained about Ryodan's less-macho behavior in this book, but it didn't bother me.
Just requested our urban fantasy stamp, now on to my gothic horror pick. I will say (and this is definitely positive commentary) that this round of bingo has been making me choose books I wouldn't normally select. And so far, I've been liking them.Hope this gothic horror is the same...
SOS: Serious Overload of Series
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