Group Reads -- April: Moon Called - May: Dead Witch Walking

[Theresa]

I will be busy during the middle of March so we're going to do the Group Read Nomination and Vote now for April and May. We'll take the first 14 book title nominations and I'll split them up in to two groups of seven in the Polls. The winner from each group will be our Group Read for April and then May.

The rules for submitting a book title:
1) One submission per UF member (regardless of whether we are nominating for more than one month at a time).
2) Please submit the title, author, and a brief description of the book.
3) UF titles are preferred, but Supernatural, Sci-Fi, PNR, and Fantasy are acceptable too.
4a) It must be the first book in a series or a stand-alone title. If the title is in a series, but can be read without previous knowledge of the earlier books, feel free to submit it.
4b) If we have already read and discussed the first book in the series as a group, the second title can be submitted, etc.

You can view our Group Read History here.

We'll go to a total of 14 nominations or an end date of Friday, March 5th - whichever comes first.

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

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APRIL:
1. Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
2. Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
3. Nightlife by Rob Thurman
4. Whitechapel Gods by S.M. Peters
5. Hotel Transylvania by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
6. The Devil You Know by Mike Carey
7. Deep Secret by Diana Wynne Jones

MAY:
8. Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison
9. The Sword-Edged Blonde by Alex Bledsoe
10. Night Shift by Lilith Saintcrow
11. Butcher Bird: A Novel Of The Dominion by Richard Kadrey
12. Summon the Keeper by Tanya Huff
13. Dead To Me by Anton Strout
14. Mystic and Rider by Sharon Shinn

[Bookworms]

Moon Called from Patricia Briggs (Mercy Thompson series)

Short description:
The automechanic Mercy is astonished when suddenly a young werewolf stands before her door in the evening. Mercy is a “walker”, i.e. she can change into a coyote. And also her neighborhood is seldom “human”, her direct neighbour is the leader of the local werewolf pack and to her customers of the repair shop a vampire also counts.
The young werewolf Mac would want to work.
She agrees, finally, nevertheless, soon notes that he has pulled her in big trouble …

[Arcadia]

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse, #1)

Sookie Stackhouse is a cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana, but she keeps to herself and doesn't date much because of her "disability" to read minds. When she meets Bill, Sookie can't hear a word he's thinking. He's the type of guy she's waited for all of her life, but he has a disability, too--he's a vampire with a bad reputation. When one of Sookie's coworkers is killed, she fears she's next.

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

Nightlife by Rob Thurman

'In New York, there's a troll under the Brooklyn Bridge, a boggle in Central Park, and a beautiful vampire in a penthouse on the Upper East Side. Of course, most humans are oblivious to this, but Cal Leandros is only half-human. His father's dark lineage is the stuff of nightmares-and he and his entire otherworldly race are after Cal.

He and his half-brother Niko have managed to stay a step ahead for three years, but now Cal's dad has found them again. And Cal is about to learn why they want him, why they've always wanted him: He is the key to unleashing their hell on earth. The fate of the human world will be decided in the fight of Cal's life... '

[Darcy]

Whitechapel Gods by S.M. Peters



A thrilling new Steampunk fantasy from a talented debut author

TWO GODS-ONE CHANCE FOR MANKIND

In Victorian London, the Whitechapel section is a mechanized, steam-driven hell, cut off and ruled by two mysterious, mechanical gods-Mama Engine and Grandfather Clock. Some years have passed since the Great Uprising, when humans rose up to fight against the machines, but a few brave veterans of the Uprising have formed their own Resistance-and are gathering for another attack. For now they have a secret weapon that may finally free them-or kill them all...

[Kasia]

Hotel Transylvania by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Oldie, but goodie. Classic vamp fiction.

France 1743 (Sun King era). Le Comte de Saint-Germain - cultured, well-traveled, articulate, elegant, learned, honorable, an alchemist, and a man of many secrets - he is a mystery to the court of Louis XV. For Madelaine de Montalia, making her debut in society, he is as fascinating as he is enigmatic, an admiration he returns. But others are interested in her as well. The dark folly of her father's youth exposes her to danger that only someone of Saint-Germain's vast experience can comprehend or repulse.
In this first book of the Saint-Germain cycle, Saint-Germain establishes himself as the compassionate hero whose adventures span continents and millennia.

[Mike]

The Devil You Know: A Felix Castor Novel

Urban fantasy noir at its best

Felix Castor has a particular talent, he can see the dead and exorcise them. It's not exactly a welcome talent, but it saves him from doing children's parties, mostly.

Think Harry Dresden written by Raymond Chandler and set in a darkly evocative London and you're about there. Superb.

[Diane ~Firefly~]

Summon the Keeper by Tanya Huff

Claire is a keeper (someone who repairs holes in the fabric of the universe that evil can escape from) and she and her cat, Austin, end up at the Elysian Fields Guesthouse babysitting a portal to Hell in the basement until she can figure out how to close it.

The book has a lot of humor in it (Hell talks to itself) and is a very enjoyable and satisfying read.

[Ana]

Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison

The underground population of witches, vampires, werewolves—creatures of dreams and nightmares—has lived beside humans for centuries, hiding their powers. But after a genetically engineered virus wipes out a large part of humanity, many of the "Inderlanders" reveal themselves, changing everything.

Rachel Morgan, witch and bounty hunter with the Inderland Runner Services, is one of the best at apprehending supernatural lawbreakers throughout Cincinnati, but when it comes to following the rules, she falls desperately short. Determined to buck the system, she quits and takes off on the run with an I.S. contract on her head and is reluctantly forced to team up with Ivy, Inderland's best runner . . . and a living vampire. But this witch is way out of her league, and to clear her name, Rachel must evade shape-changing assassins, outwit a powerful businessman/crime lord, and survive a vicious underground fight-to-the-death . . . not to mention her own roommate.

[Issam]

The Sword-Edged Blonde by Alex Bledsoe

It should have been a case like any other: a missing princess, a king willing to pay in gold for her return. But before he realizes it, sword jockey Eddie LaCrosse is swept up in a web of mystery and deceit involving a brutally murdered royal heir, a queen accused of an unspeakable crime, and the tragic past he thought he’d left behind.

In order to uncover the answers he seeks, Eddie must delve into the dark underbelly of society while digging deep into his own private history, drawing past and present together. Vast conspiracies, women both beautiful and deadly, and a centuries-old revenge scheme are only a few of the pieces in a lethal puzzle.

The Sword-Edged Blonde is a tour-de-force foray into a realm of action, intrigue, and murder.

[Jakub]

Night Shift by Lilith Saintcrow (first book in "Jill Kismeth" series).

Jill Kismet is a Hunter, which means her life largely consists of tracking and slaying hellbreeds. To make her job easier, she has struck an unholy bargain with hellbreed Perry: he lends her his supernatural powers; she sits for emotionally trying s&m encounters with him once a month. [...:]

P.S. Perhaps a change in nomination procedure is in order: some groups use "nomination + confirmation (seconded)", where each member can post one nomination, and can second one book nominated by other member.

[Jakub]

This is not a nomination: I wonder if Chase the Morning by Michael Scott Rohan can be considered urban fantasy. It almost certainly can be included in contemporary fantasy, but urban life doesn't play significant role in this series, even is Stephen Fisher, the main character of the series, is import/export agent stepping in alternate universe (but going back).

[Barbara ★]

How about: Spellbent by Lucy Snyder.

In the heart of Ohio, Jessie Shimmer is caught up in hot, magic-drenched passion with her roguish lover, Cooper Marron, who is teaching her how to tap her supernatural powers. When they try to break a drought by calling down a rainstorm, a hellish portal opens and Cooper is ripped from this world, leaving Jessie fighting for her life against a vicious demon that's been unleashed.

In the aftermath, Jessie, who knows so little about her own true nature, is branded an outlaw. She must survive by her wits and with the help of her familiar, a ferret named Palimpsest. Stalked by malevolent enemies, Jessie is determined to find out what happened to Cooper. But when she moves heaven and earth to find her man, she'll be shocked by what she discovers—and by what she must ultimately do to save them all

[Theresa]

Jakub wrote: "P.S. Perhaps a change in nomination procedure is in order: some groups use "nomination + confirmation (seconded)", where each member can post one nomination, and can second one book nominated by other member."

I don't see why we would need the nominations to be seconded. What purpose does this serve in the nomination process? Since we vote in the Polls after I receive all the nominations, I don't see a reason why "seconding" someone else's vote would help the process.

[Theresa]

Jakub wrote: "This is not a nomination: I wonder if Chase the Morning by Michael Scott Rohan can be considered urban fantasy. It almost certainly can be included in contemporary f..."

As the rules for the Group Nomination state:
3) UF titles are preferred, but Supernatural, Sci-Fi, PNR, and Fantasy are acceptable too.

So the book you mention, Chase the Morning, would qualify as a group read choice.

[Laura]

[Laura]

Spyder Lee is a happy man who lives in San Francisco and owns a tattoo shop. One night an angry demon tries to bite his head off before he's saved by a stranger. The demon infected Spyder with something awful - the truth. He can suddenly see the world as it really is: full of angels and demons and monsters and monster-hunters. A world full of black magic and mysteries. These are the Dominions, parallel worlds full of wonder, beauty and horror. The Black Clerks, infinitely old and infinitely powerful beings whose job it is to keep the Dominions in balance, seem to have new interests and a whole new agenda. Dropped into the middle of a conflict between the Black Clerks and other forces he doesn't fully understand, Spyder finds himself looking for a magic book with the blind swordswoman who saved him. Their journey will take them from deserts to lush palaces, to underground caverns, to the heart of Hell itself.
--c/o Amazon.com

[Paula]

Deep Secret by Diana Wynne Jones

[Theresa]

Dead To Me by Anton Strout

[Theresa]

Nominations are now closed.

The Polls for voting will be put up by tomorrow afternoon. Thanks!

[Theresa]

And the winners are:

APRIL:
Moon Called by Patricia Briggs

MAY:
Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison

[Megan]

Dead Witch Walking is a free Kindle download right now.

[Issam]

Megan wrote: "Dead Witch Walking is a free Kindle download right now."

Is it on Goodreads or elsewhere? Because I don't see it.

[Darcy]

Dead Witch Walking is also free on B&N in their E-books.

I'm looking forward to talking about both of these as they are some of my favorite series.

[Theresa]

Issam wrote: "Is it on Goodreads or elsewhere? Because I don't see it."

Here are the links to the free eBook copy of Dead Witch Walking:

Amazon for Kindle

Barnes & Noble free eBook

[Issam]

Theresa wrote: Here are the links to the free eBook copy of Dead Witch Walking:

Amazon for Kindle

Barnes & Noble free..."

Thanks for the links, but it looks like they're only free for U.S. residents. (B&N was nice enough to make me register first, and THEN point and yell "Canadian!" :P)

[Darcy]

What a bummer!!

[Theresa]

Issam wrote: "Thanks for the links, but it looks like they're only free ..."

Maybe Amazon's version is different? Does Amazon have a different site for Canada?

[Issam]

Theresa wrote: "Maybe Amazon's version is different? Does Amazon have a different site for Canada?"

Yes, Canada has Amazon.ca, but kindle books and prices are still done through .com. So after the conversion rate, most ebooks end up being as costly as the real books (paperbacks are $1 cheaper in digital, while hardcovers are $2-3), which doesn't really give me much of an incentive to buy digital when I can get the real thing at nearly the same price.

Anyways, off topic. Thanks for looking those up. :P

[Elena]

Two good books! Thank for the link to the free Kindle book, Theresa.

[CaliGirlRae]

I've been wanting to try Moon Called for a while now. I think I'll join in for the month of April! Looking forward to the discussion. And thanks for the freebie links!

[Carolyn F.]

I've read it already but I'm planning on re-reading it anyway, so I'm in.

[chucklesthescot]

I'll join in for the May read. I started reading Dead Witch Walking last year but got distracted by books I had to read for bookcrossing and never got round to restarting it. Good excuse now!