SOS: Serious Overload of Series discussion
Archive: Past Team Challenges
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R23: Team #4 ~ 4Ever LitWits
R23 Bingo ~ Shelf #4 ~ 18 May: Fae ~ Shelf Announcement DIRECT LINK(s):
Fae : https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/fae
SOS' Fae: https://www.goodreads.com/group/books...
Shelf #4 - Fae - Selection Post 
Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones
Shelved as Fae 92 times times - (first page of tags)
Happy reading!! I apologize for being somewhat quiet the past couple of weeks. I’ve had my cozy mystery read since Monday but have not been able to post my review. I’m still buried in RL for a couple of more days then I’ll catch up on our shelf status. Kid 2 in school finishing up for the year, end of sports season, sports banquet, fundraisers and kid 1 back from college with an entire dorm room dumped in our main living space!!! Add pets behaving badly into the mix, this is why I read…
This weeks shelf has us positioned us one away from bingo, only need to catch up on our reads, stamps and the vampire shelf called. I have not been nosing around to see where the other teams are on shelf calls. This could be a fast round. I apologize in advance, this is where my competitive side kicks in… 😝
No problem - that is a LOT going on! You're right - escaping into reading can be very necessary for mental health!Oooh - awesome that we are getting close to a Bingo! I'll be sure to prioritize the bingo books :)
Completion Post - Shelf #4 - Fae
Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones
Pages: 436
Date Read: 5/23/23
Rating: 3 stars
Review: First off, I wanted to be sure to mention how much I like the cover of this book. It's lovely.
This was an interesting story of a girl and the goblin king. I liked the beginning a lot, when the characters were introduced and the two sisters both became involved with the Goblin King and his court. I did not enjoy the middle - it was too chaotic and I really didn't see any believable romantic connection between the main character and the Goblin King - it was like Beauty and the Beast without any of the sweetness. I liked the end (although things weren't resolved, it ended at an ok point) and I thought the message of being true to yourself was a good one. I think the writing captured the chaos, decay, and illusion of the goblin court and it'll be very enjoyable to some readers.
Yay Suzanne. I had to change my Fae book to A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas.
How it fits?
1st book on the first page of the fae link page.
419 pages
and tagged "fae" 2,419 times
I was going to make updates this weekend but as luck would have it, our dogs pulled the fiber cable out of our box, so noooo Wi-Fi. I Can Not win!! And the phone app suuuccckkksss. 😝
oh the phone app is awful! better to wait.
R23: Shelf #3 ~ Cozy Mystery ~ Completion Post 
Title/Author: Hungry Like the Wolf by Paige Tyler
Series: SWAT: Special Wolf Alpha Team #1
Date Read: 5/15/2023
Shelf: #3 Cozy Mystery
Pages: 316
Rating: ★★★1/2☆
Review: Mackenzie is a journalist on a story, along with her friend and sidekick who basically stalks the Dallas SWAT team. Unfortunately here drive gets her a little too close to the story and she places herself and her friend in danger. The SWAT commander, Gage experiences the insta-attraction and decides it would be a good idea to have Mac follow his team around so she can write her story.
The Good: I actually enjoyed this story despite the stereotypical male alpha wolf hero and damsel in distress. The world building was developed slowly and I like where its headed. Mac was a fighter and feisty, I liked that she wasn't completely helpless.
The Not So Good: Mac actual puts herself in harms way and Gage puts himself and his team on the line to save her. At times I felt that Mac was very selfish and I just cannot relate to the journalist concept that the story must go on above all else mentality. I'm more of a cause no harm kind of a gal.
Listened to this in audio and plan to continue with the story.
I have updated the tracker posts for Cozy Mystery and Fae.@Elle, are you still with us? Just checking to see how you are doing.
R23 Bingo ~ Shelf #5 ~ 25 May: Beware of Bears ~ Shelf Announcement DIRECT LINK(s): character who is a bear shifter; “Beware” or "Bear" in title; author's first or last name beginning with B
SOS R23 Bingo ~ Team #4 ~ 4Ever LitWits Shelf #5: Beware of Bears ~ 2/2 Complete ~ Stamp Requested
Suzanne - The Strange by Nathan Ballingrud 5/31/2023 ★★★★☆ Review
Lis - Rescued by Bears by Skye MacKinnon 5/28/2023 ★★☆☆☆ Review
Lots of bear options - Beware of Bears lines us up for another possible Bingo - We can bingo with two shelf calls: Vampire or Sci-Fi Romance is bingo for us!! I'm about an hour away from finishing up my Fae read. Really enjoying A Court of Thorns... It seems so popular, so I must have had my head in the sand over this one. Or I thought it was a YA series. It has been optioned by Hulu, so it could be a tv series some day.
I actually found 7 B or Bear possibilities, so I need to narrow the options. A lot of the book options are less than 200 pages, have covers that are just... no words, and several reverse harems. This is a shelf that is all over the place but has some fun options.
Here is another link that Sandra posted that might help find a good bear book: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Did a quick browse and several teams are close with 3 in a row - not all are stamped... so there will be definitely be some speed reading going on. We need to get caught up and "Vampire" or "Sci-Fi Romance" then we have a race with a few teams.This could be a very quick round. Here are the shelf calls that could give teams 4 next week:
Sci-Fi Romance: 4, 1, 6
Vampire: 4, 8
April: 13
Bloom: 11
Earth Day: 2
Equinox: 3, 11
Magical Realism: 2, 7, 15
Urban Fantasy: 9, 14
Werewolf: 1, 12
Witch: 5, 6
R23: Shelf #4 ~ Fae ~ Completion Post
Title/Author: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses #1
Date Read: 5/25/2023
Shelf: #4 Fae
Pages: 419
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review: I really enjoyed this initiation into the Court of Thorns and Roses. Not sure how I missed this one, but it was a great start into a very intriguing fae universe. Fantasy books can be very elaborate in development and that sometimes is confusing for a new series and I think SM did a great job at dripping the information as the story developed.
The Good: I enjoyed Feyre, the main heroine. She may have been dealt some hard blows in her young life, but she was a fighter and a caretaker. She does not give up on those that she cares for regardless if it was reciprocated. I liked several of the characters in both sides of the wall and look forward to see how they develop in the next books of the series. The nod to the beauty and the beast as a nice twist.
The Not So Good: I thought Tamlin was a bit of a wuss. I know there seemed to be a lot of justifying why he couldn't act or do certain things due to the curse, but geez he irritated me a bit. I kind of like the "bad guy" over Tamlin and might have been rooting for him at some point. I felt that the challenges Feyre had to face took way too much time, so it could have been sped up a bit and made the book a little less chunky.
Overall a great start to a series. Definitely plan to continue with this series. I listened in audio and the narrator was also very good.
Nice review! I need to get back to that series.Thanks for the list of possible shelves! Have you PM'd Elle? I wonder if she's just lost the link or decided not to do this?
Lis wrote: "Lots of bear options - Beware of Bears lines us up for another possible Bingo - We can bingo with two shelf calls: Vampire or Sci-Fi Romance is bingo for us!! I'm about an hour away from finishin..."
Haha you are right - some of those bear shifter books would make me glad to be reading on a kindle where others can't see the cover!
I LOVE The Others series, but I've read it twice - but even seeing it in passing on that list <3
For the Bears Shelf I'm going to read:
by Moniquill Blackgoose. I would love to go for
but the first fits another challenge too :)How it fits: Author's last name starts with B
Suzanne wrote: "Nice review! Have you PM'd Elle? I wonder if she's just lost the link or decided not to do this?"
Thanks! Not how that got under my radar, this is why I like Bingo…. And I added more to the TBR pile. I also steer away from high fantasy series sometimes because my attention span is challenged by huge story building. I read for enjoyment and if it feels like work, not as interested.
I did message Elle, it doesn’t appear that she’s been on GRs for 3 weeks. At least there is no activity posted. I must have scared her away. Sorry.
Oh I don't think you scared her away at all! She just hasn't yet developed the same challenge obsession we have :) I mostly asked if you'd messaged her, because I COULD, but didn't want to pester her with multiples :)
Shoot y'all, sorry to hear Elle's gone MIA. I sent her a PM today and will let you know if she replies. Hopefully she's okay.
Thanks Steph!I'm switching my book to
by Nathan Ballingrud. I realized I don't have access to the other book - oops!
Steph wrote: "Shoot y'all, sorry to hear Elle's gone MIA. I sent her a PM today and will let you know if she replies. Hopefully she's okay."Thanks Steph!
R23: Shelf #5 - Beware of Bears ~ Completion Post
Title/Author: Rescued by Bears by Skye MacKinnon
Series: Claiming Her Bears #1
Date Read: 5/28/2023
Shelf: Shelf #5 ~ Beware of Bears
Pages: 212
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Review: This book had a lot of elements I like: dystopian setting, bear shifters, and a strong heroine (at first). Isla lives on an island led by her Uncle who plans to marry her off to the highest bidder. Women are rare and have value. Most of Scotland has become a series of islands since the world's land masses disappeared as the water rose. The water had frozen and Isla was able to drunkenly escape on the night she was given to an evil man. She landed on another island inhabited by several bear shifters.
The good: The beginning, there was potential with the storyline and could have been a good read. A dystopian landscape that was affected by rising water levels and disconnecting larger land masses into smaller islands that have limited communication. The shortage of women and the conflict created among men with the added RH twist could have really been developed. Isla was a fighter, standing up for her friend and then herself in fleeing her environment to find a better life on her own.
The Not So Good: Isla seemed to become very helpless and dumb after discovering her shifters. She was drunk during her big escape, then seemed to wander aimlessly until she bumped into a group of big strong bears that could care for her. Her inner dialog was very self absorbed and only what I can describe as basic. Felt like the writer ran out of steam and had a deadline to meet and just started dropping disjointed thoughts together. I'm not even going to touch on the spoilery part, but her later inner dialog is even more dumb, dumb, dumb... A strong heroine turned into a whiny self-absorbed drama princess. And the RH part, never really developed either, felt like an afterthought. I was surprised because the reviews had it at a 3.73. I'd give it a 1 1/2... Not a fit for me.
This has to be hands down one of the worst bingo reads in my SOS bingo career. Not going to lie. I really did try to give it the benefit of the doubt since I listened in audio and the narration was bad in my opinion, but once I got past the audio distraction, the story was lacking too. Not planning to continue with this series. But hey, it cost me nothing since it was on Scribd.
Lol I'm glad the price was right anyway. I should be done with my book tomorrow (perhaps today but tomorrow is more likely).
SOS R23 Bingo ~ Team #4 ~ 4Ever LitWits Shelf #4: Fae ~ 2/2 Complete ~ Stamp Requested
Suzanne - Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones 5/23/2023 ★★★☆☆ Review
Lis - A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas 5/25/2023 ★★★★☆ Review
Suzanne our stamps have been requested for all shelves up to Bears! Happy Reading!!
Wonderful! I'll do my completion post for bears late morning :)
Lis, next time you request a stamp please link to the actual review & not the mini master list. Verified the 4 requests.
Shelf #5 - Beware of Bears - Completion Post
The Strange by Nathan Ballingrud
Date Read: 5/31/2023
Pages: 304
How it fits: Author's Last name begins with B
Rating: 4 stars
Review
The author totally nailed a western feel in this story of a teen girl living on Mars in 1931. When her family diner is robbed and something important is stolen, Anabelle goes to get it back and get revenge.
Anabelle is impulsive, and often hard to like. But she fit in with the strange landscape. And horrific things are happening on Mars. The people she enlists for her quest - a scared drunk pilot, a tough-as-nails woman fit perfectly with the Western feel.
There is very little detail about how people got to Mars, what has happened to isolate the colony from earth, and how people are surviving. But for people who enjoy stories like True Grit, or who like some horror mixed in with their science fiction, this book should be a winner.
Sandra wrote: "Lis, next time you request a stamp please link to the actual review & not the mini master list. Verified the 4 requests."Oops ~ Fixed!
Requested bear stamp too. Think we are all caught up.
Awesome! I chose books for the two shelves that would give us bingo so I'll be ready to read just in case :)
CONGRATULATIONS, 4Ever Litwits!You now have an updated BINGO card with a stamp on 'free space', 'May Day', 'cozy mystery', 'fae' and 'Beware of Bears'.
[Your updated BINGO card can be viewed on page 1]
Good Job!! :D
Shelf Announcement: Shelf #6 ~ 1 Jun: Magical RealismDIRECT LINK(s):
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
Think this is possible bingo for teams 2, 7, 15
Congratulations on the stamps Wits!
Well darn - too bad it's not one of ours, but our shelf looks beautiful.
Suzanne wrote: "Well darn - too bad it's not one of ours, but our shelf looks beautiful."It does!! Great reading and teamwork!! I am still picking out a Magical Realism book. I was leaning towards Jaye Wells Dirty Magic but Sandra posted a Jayne Ann Krentz book and luckily the first in the serious has been shelved 3x for magical-realism. So I am going with The Vanishing but Dirty Magic is my back up!
Selection:
Backup:
So I am going to be a little unplugged for the rest of the week. We are taking a large family vacation so I am loaded with books, back-up books, and extra just for fun reading books. Beach + adult beverages + sun + books = perfect vacation for me! :)
Happy Reading!! Silently wishing that the teams are not going to bingo, but... This was a fast round. But, if they do its been a fun round, nice to meet your virtually. Thanks for sticking in there with me. I did find a good series to continue with and a few not so good ones to avoid. :) AND... I didn't buy any new books, which is huge!!
That is such a big accomplishment - not buying new books! A win right there!I'd guess someone will get bingo but we shall see! I hope your vacation is absolutely wonderful!
I'll read
which is shelved as magical realism 7 times.
Remember Wits, you finish Magical Realism you'll get a badge :)
Oh thanks - that is good incentive Sandra :)
Finished my book I will post my review as soon as I can get back to my computer.
R23: Shelf #6 ~ Magical Realism ~ Completion PostTitle/Author: The Vanishing by Jayne Ann Krentz
Series: Fogg Lake #1
Date Read: 6/8/2023
Shelf: Shelf 6 - Magical Realism
Pages: 294
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review: This is the first book in the series and follows members of the Fogg Lake community effected by 'the incident' an explosion mishap that has gifted (or cursed depending on your perspective) folks with magical capabilities. Catalina and Olivia have gifts and created a detective agency to help others. Cat can read auras and partners with Slate Trevelyan when Olivia is kidnapped. The good: I liked the attraction between Cat and Slate and their teamwork. The not so good: the kidnapping seemed a little lame and the baddies even lamer. Still the series was interesting enough in its slightly PNR version of an Agatha Christie mystery. Listened in audio and plan to continue with the series.
SOS R23 Bingo ~ Team #4 ~ 4Ever LitWits Shelf #6: Magical Realism ~ 1/2 Complete ~ Not Stamped
Suzanne - The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro
Lis - The Vanishing by Jayne Ann Krentz 5/15/2023 ★★★☆☆ Review
good job Lis! sorry I'm so slow! I'll try to get mine finished tomorrow
Completion Post - Shelf #6: Magical Realism
The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro
Date Read: 6/12/23
How it fits: Shelved as magical realism 7 times
Rating: 4 stars
Review:
This book combines a horrible curse, realistic issues with motherhood, marriage and identity, folktales and more to created the story of Alejandra. For so many women, the feelings Alejandra has about her identity, and the depression she faces will be extremely relatable. Her wonderful therapist helps her discover more information about the women in her family, and they uncover a curse that has plagued many generations.
I enjoyed this story, and I liked learning more about La Llorona. And isn't the cover beautiful?
Yay, well done Wits!
SOS: Serious Overload of Series
Books mentioned in this topic
The Haunting of Alejandra (other topics)The Vanishing (other topics)
The Haunting of Alejandra (other topics)
The Vanishing (other topics)
The Haunting of Alejandra (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
V. Castro (other topics)Jayne Ann Krentz (other topics)
V. Castro (other topics)
V. Castro (other topics)
Jayne Ann Krentz (other topics)
More...
Shelf #3: Cozy Mystery ~ 2/2 Complete ~ Stamp Requested
Suzanne - Ashes to Ashes, Crust to Crust by Mindy Quigley 5/18/2023 ★★★★☆ Review
Lis - Hungry Like the Wolf by Paige Tyler 5/15/2023 ★★★1/2☆ Review