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I Heart Indie Books Reading Challenge 2011
My List:January 2011
1) The Second Half of Life by Sionna Cailey - Paranormal Fiction/ChickLit. Three women use witchcraft to grant their deepest desires and change their lives with unexpected results. Beginning was a little slow but it picked up. Enjoyed it overall but huge amount of typos distracted me from story. 3 stars
2) Balefire and Moonstone by Cynthia Gael (Small Press) YA Paranormal - The son of a Witchfinder and a Chosen One (a true witch) battle a centuries old family curse that is destined to bind them together and then tear them apart. 3 stars
3) Rebellion: The Outer Territory by Stacey Wallace Benefiel (Novelette) Paranormal Romance - The rebellion against the Gods continues in this series of novelettes. 4 stars
February 2011
4) Thinks and Things by Crystal Johnson - YA/Childrens Fantasy - Free read from Smashwords/B&N. A darkly quirky fairy tale type story, but it didn't hold my attention. Needs more proofreading/editing to address significant number of typos and other errors. 2 stars
5) Gabriel's Mate by Tina Folsom - Paranormal Erotic Romance. 3.5 stars
6)Venice Vampyr by Tina Folsom (Novella) Historical Paranormal Erotic Romance. Vampire saved from drowning in 1800s Italy falls in love (and lust) with his rescuer. Well rounded story for a novella with smokin' hot sex scenes and no skimping on the romance. Includes some voyeurism, light bondage, and anal play. 5 stars
March 2011
7) Spiderwork by L.K. Rigel (Novella) Paranormal Romance. 3 stars
8) Venice Vampyr: Final Affair (Venice Vampyr, #2) by Tina Folsom (Novella) Historical Paranormal Erotic Romance. 4 stars
9) Wild by Tina Folsom - Paranormal Romance. 3.5 stars
10) Glimmer by Stacey Wallace Benefiel - YA Paranormal. I heart Avery and Zellie, nuff said. 4 stars
March Short Stories:
- technically DEAD by Naomi Kramer 9,800 word count - 3 stars
- The Tingles by Melissa L. Webb 1,000 word count - 4 stars
April 2011
11) Tommy Nightmare by J.L. Bryan - Follow up to Jenny Pox introduces Tommy whose power is to create fear with his touch. He is the opposite power to Ashleigh...and she's baa-aaack! 4 stars
12) Lovers and Beloveds by MeiLin Miranda - Erotic Fantasy (4 stars)
13) Venice Vampyr: Sinful Treasure by Tina Folsom (Novella) Historical Paranormal Erotic Romance. 4 stars
April Short Stories:
- In the Flames and In the Tempest: A Carnal Desires Short Story Bundle by Crystal Jordan 4,171 & 3,770 words, respectively - 4 stars
May 2011
14)Dead People by Edie Ramer - Paranormal Romance/Mystery - 3 stars
June 2011
15) Toil and Trouble by H.P. Mallory - Paranormal Romance - 4 stars
16) Paved With Good Intentions by Keith B. Darrell - Comic Paranormal Fantasy - 3 stars
17) Galaxy Girls by Edie Ramer - Sci-Fi Romance - 4.5 stars
July 2011
18) Bob Moore: No Hero by Tom Andry - Superhero Mystery/Detective. A non-powered P.I. investigates a case of disappearing superheroes in a world that caters to the super powered. 3.5 stars
August 2011
19) Not Everything Brainless is Dead by Joshua Price - Humorous Fantasy/Superheroes - Silly slapstick style superhero parody riddled with typos - 2 stars
20) Taken Hostage by Ranae Rose (Novella) Erotic Contemporary Romance/Romantic Suspense. A bank worker is taken hostage by a gorgeous bank robber and is given a choice of going free or joining him in his life on the run. 4 stars
21) Kismet's Kiss by Cate Rowan - Fantasy Romance - a magical and romantic Arabian Nights style romance - 4 stars
August Short Stories:
- The Amazing Transformation of Wicca Dog by Krista D. Ball - Short Story (3,300 words) - Paranormal Fantasy/Humor - 4 stars (a fun & furry short!)
- Inked by Everly Drummond - Short Story (5,150 words) Comtemporary Erotica - 3 stars
September Short Stories:
- Melvin the Dry Cleaning Zombie and Vampire Shoe Warehouse by P.J. Jones - Short Stories (4,000 words each) a pair of paranormal parodies - 4 stars
October 2011
22)These Hellish Happenings by Jennifer Rainey - Humor/Paranormal - Beta male Jack the vampire made a deal with the devil 300 years ago and now it's time to pay the piper. He now has one helluva job! 4.5 stars
November 2011
November Short Stories:
Taken by the Dragon by Lilah Claret - Short Story (7,200 words) - Paranormal Romance. The dragon wants a wife. 3 stars
December 2011
Painting the Roses Red by Trish Lamoree - Paranormal Suspense - DNF-I just can't get into this one. Not counting this one since I didn't finish it.
23) Demonsoul by Amy Lunderman - YA Urban Fantasy with Romantic elements - Great story premise but horrible execution. Unbelievable amount of typos and other errors (at least 150 in first half of book), awkward sentence structure, odd word choices, grammar and punctuation issues, oh vey! It reads like a unedited draft. 1 star
24) Immortalis Carpe Noctem by Katie Salidas - Urban Fantasy with Romantic Elements. 3.5 stars
25) Falling by Cecilia Gray - Novella - Fantasy Romance. 4 stars
26) All short stories added up to count as one book toward challenge
I think I might go for bronze if I try this. I've never read an Indie author before but since their books are cheap and I'm getting an eReader it shouldn't be a problem. Know of any really good romance indie books?
What kind of romance do you read? I like paranormal so I can recommend some of those.
Well then **rubs hands together** in that case....Some Paranormal suggestions (these are all from my challenge last year (though technically still this year, lol!):
- Tina Folsom - paranormal erotic romance especially her Scanguards Vampires and Out of Olympus series
- HP Mallory - lighter paranormal romance
- Zoe Winters - paranormal romance
- Susan Bischoff - YA superhero romance
- Stacey Wallace Benefiel - YA and adult paranormal romance
Check my list from the previous challenge and see if anything there interest you.
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/3...
Maybe someone else will have some contemporary recs. I'll look for some online too.
Sashana, do you read erotic romance? Here is a freebie from All Romance and an indie author - contemporary erotic romance. Only available today (though it may be available for a short time tomorrow). They are having a book a day giveaway until Dec 24. http://www.allromanceebooks.com/produ...
Thanks, Michelle I just downloaded it. You can post this under the freebie section if you want to (http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/4...)
I didn't know there was a freebie section! I'll go check that out.
Hey Erika, thanks for joining in! Zellie is around 15 or 16 I think so more of that age bracket. I would recommend giving it a try. I really enjoyed it. Stacey's books have a wonderful voice. I fell in love with Avery and Zellie and can't wait to get to the next book, Glimmer. It's in my stack of books to review.
Stacey also writes a more adult series you might want to try. The first one is Day of Sacrifice: The Prophecy and is only $1.00 (it is a long short story/short novella size--about 15K words).
I'm in for 2011....I'm shooting for Gold Elite. =)January 2011
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I'm up for this challenge.3 complete so far!
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This is a great idea! I have to admit though half the time I never realize whether or not I'm reading an indie author or not. Usually I'd have to check the price to figure it out.
Good luck to all participants. :)
yeah! **doing happy dance!** I'm so glad you guys are giving it a try. I updated the original post with each participants message number -- unfortunately I don't see any way to link it so you can go straight to your post.
Erika wrote: "So last night after I read your reply, I got myself a sample (why do I so often forget that is an option?). I'm not sure if I like the voice of that character. I do like the sounds of Day of Sacrifice though, so I put it on my list. Thanks for mentioning that one!"I think Day of Sacrifice may be more to your liking. It's more in the 20's age bracket and it has a great opening scene, well, I liked it at least! :) I have to admit the very beginning of Glimpse didn't grab me as much but it didn't take long at all before I fell into the story.
I always recommend to others to read the samples but I have a tendency not to practice what I preach -- I usually go with my gut feeling on a book after looking at several criteria. In some cases I've based it almost solely on the cover art and for the most part it has worked for me. Occasionally, I'll read the sample though if I'm on the fence.
Rachel wrote: "This is a great idea! ..."Hi Rachel, thanks! Why not join in? It's a low-key challenge, you can read as many or as few as you want. It can easily overlap other challenges too.
Thanks for the rec...and The Synthesis ebook is only $0.99! I didn't know about his PNR title. Romance? Really? Not many men write romance. I'll be interested to see how it turns out.
Actually, a lot of indie books are on sale right now for the holiday season. I have some listed on my blog.
Michelle wrote:Thanks for the rec...and The Synthesis ebook is only $0.99! I didn't know about his PNR title. Romance? Really? Not many men write romance. I'll be interested to see how it turns out. ..."
Just to make it clear, that series is YA Fantasy, and the book he says he's coming out with is PNR. I'd say The Synthesis is more like Harry Potter where there's subtle flirting in the first book that grows in the later books.
Yeah, it's surprising more guys don't try to write romance considering the success of like Nicholas Sparks. So his new book is something I'm anxiously awaiting.
Did you know?...Sometimes, and seemingly more frequently lately, traditionally published authors are self-publishing their backlist titles that they have regained the rights to. So technically, they are self-published, but they are also traditionally published :) On a more rare occasion they will write an original work for self-publishing. I'd love to see that happen more often.
I just found these authors on Smashwords:
Megan Hart on Smashwords:
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/vie...
Gemma Halliday:
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/vie...
Lori Handeland
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/vie...
Lori Devoti
http://www.smashwords.com/books/searc...
Jessica Barksdale Inclan
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/vie...
Michelle Hauf
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/vie...
Jon F. Merz
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/vie...
I've seen others and will post them here when I run into them again.
Here is another site for self-pubbed backlist ebooks:
http://backlistebooks.com/
I've got some indie books on my kindle so I'll give this a try.January 2011
Hard Day's Knight by John G Hartness 1/7
(small press)The Forest of Adventures by Katie M John 1/11
Good Tidings by Terri Reid 1/17
Night Camp by L.C. Evans 1/20
February 2011
The Other Side of Life by Jess C Scott 2/2
Death Has a Name by Jerry Hanel 2/11
The Ghosts Of New Orleans (A Paranormal Research and Containment Division by Terri Reid 2/25
March 2011
Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble by H.P. Mallory 3/6
(Short story) Diary of a Narcissistic Bloodsucker by Lynda Hilburn 3/7
(Short story) Sissy the Vampire Hummingbird Slayer by HL Montgomery 3/11
Little Sister: A Vampire Novella by VJ Chambers 3/21
Beautiful Demons by Sarra Cannon 3/25
Inner Demons by Sarra Cannon 3/27
Bitter Demons by Sarra Cannon 3/29
(small press) Orange as Marmalade by Fran Stewart 4/1
April 2011
Carnival of Fear by JG Faherty 4/14
Intern With The Vampire by Kit Iwasaki 4/20
May 2011
Demon High by Lori Devoti 5/19
Never Forgotten - A Mary O'Reilly Paranormal Mystery by Terri Reid 5/19
Back In Black by John G Hartness 5/20
Lure by Stephanie Jenkins 5/25
June 2011
Bone Yard by Donna Ball 6/15
Burden Kansas by Alan Ryker 6/16
July 2011
Final Call by Terri Reid 7/21
Jimmy Stone's Ghost Town by Scott Neumeyer 7/25
Trouble in Mudbug by Jana Deleon 7/27
Rock 'n' Roll is Undead by Rose Pressey 7/28
Under Witch Moon by Maria E. Schneider 7/28
August 2011
Mischief in Mudbug by Jana DeLeon 8/2
Showdown in Mudbug by Jana Deleon 8/5
Shadow Demons by Sarra Cannon 8/9
(Short story) Coffin Humor by John Brinling 8/12
(Short story)The Strange Case of Finley Jayne by Kady Cross 8/15
Rumble on the Bayou by Jana Deleon 8/18
Moon Dance by J.R. Rain 8/24
September 2011
A Ghost Meets an Angel by Elizabeth Eagan-Cox 9/14
Murder by the Old Maine Stream by Bernardine Fagan 9/15
October 2011
Darkness Exposed by Terri Reid 10/18
November 2011
(Short Story) The Wizard Takes a Holiday by Red Tash 11/8
December 2011
Christmas on Ladybug Farm: A Novella by Donna Ball 12/2
Terri Reid writes two paranormal mystery series. The first two in each series are Loose Ends and The Ghosts Of New Orleans (A Paranormal Research and Containment Division
I'm in....January 2011
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Yay Sandy and Lacy!! :)Thanks for the recs Sandy. I'll look into those. I'm more likely to read a mystery if it is paranormal.
(I need to go back and see if any of the other books I've read this month are Indies, too.)January 2011
This is turning out to be a big group!(Don't forget that I'm in too, so you can add me to the OP) :)
yes, I'm so excited! **insert happy dancing smilie** I'll add you to the list (I wasn't sure if you wanted to or not), and I think I just realized how to link to each list...gonna go try it now.
The links to each list opens in a new window, but at least they work! :) I updated the challenge goals to be little friendlier to indie reading newbies, but if there are some fast readers here that want higher levels I can update it.
Also updating the OP with any recommendations that participants contribute to help others find some possible reading choices. No author self-promotion - please use the self-promotion folder already in the group for that. However, authors are welcome to participate in the challenge!
Thanks for the recs, I added them to the list. I realized the date and time of each message had its own link so I copied it and it worked except that it opens in a new window instead of just jumping down the post. We have a lot of paranormal recs, does anyone have any good recs for some other genres...mystery, suspense/thriller, contemp/historical romance, general fiction, chick lit, etc?
Good luck, Kristen! I'm sure that you will do awesome.
Welcome Kristen!...and thanks for joining in :)
Here are various authors in various genres mentioned on JA Konrath's blog to check out.http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2010/12...
Thanks Stacey, I added it to the list at the top. I might have to try Haunting Miss Trentwood. I'm not a big historical reader but sounds like it has a touch of paranormal and some humor too.
Erika wrote: "I have lots of genres on my tbr list and on my kindle. Hopefully I'll be able to recommend more as the year progresses..."Perfect! Look forward to seeing what pops up :)
Michelle wrote: "Thanks Stacey, I added it to the list at the top. I might have to try Haunting Miss Trentwood. I'm not a big historical reader but sounds like it has a touch of paranormal and some humor too."It does have a paranormal aspect, but is definitely more historical. I really enjoyed it.
Sandy wrote: "I think Melanie Jackson is an indie author. She writes mysteries and romance."Melanie Jackson is both traditionally published (I think I have one her books in my TBR somewhere) and self-published. She has self-pubbed some of her backlist titles and I think some original stuff too. Her husband, Brian Jackson, is also an indie author but I'm iffy on his stuff. Read a sample of one book and I wasn't crazy about it. I think they have a new series that they are writing together.
I added another level to the challenge goals for those speedy readers (who I'm terribly jealous of!) who need more of a challenge or bloggers who will naturally have a higher book count. You can choose whichever level and goal you'd like to suit your reading style and speed.
Wow, Michelle is super organized. Thank you for your hard work! I'm excited to start! :)
lol! Thanks Rachel :) Michelle is also super excited to have some company this year. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's lists as they grow throughout the year. (Now if I could only be this organized with my housekeeping!)
I'm in!Jan '11
Feb '11
March '11
April '11
"Qi" by Elizabeth Svigar
May '11
June '11
Hi! I found out about this challenge from Grace Krispy. Since I read an indie every other book anyway, I figured I'd join up. :) Sounds like a fun group. I didn't know it existed before, but now I'm going to check out the other challenges. I'm also an author. Here's my promo thread.Jan '11: Endurance by Jack Kilborn, The Crown Conspiracy by Michael Sullivan
Hey Grace! I was wondering if you were on Goodreads, yay!Hi there K.C.! Welcome to the challenge.
I will be adding a couple of sentences to sum up each book that I finish like I did last year and I may add my rating too this time. This is not required for the challenge; you can make your list however you'd like, but if anyone else wants to do something similar, feel free to go for it! :)
This sounds like so much fun! I'm going for Silver, but it will depend on college. I got a Kindle for Christmas, which makes it easier to get books.January '11
February '11
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Count: 5
Hey Michelle :) this is my first participation in anything on Goodreads... up until now I just re-posted reviews. K.C. -yaaay! Happy to see you ;)
Kayleigh wrote: "This sounds like so much fun! I'm going for Silver, but it will depend on college. I got a Kindle for Christmas, which makes it easier to get books.Got a Kindle for Christmas? Lucky you! I love mine. And it makes it really easy to nab so many of these books. I'm reading Amanda Hocking's books too. Let me know if you/anybody needs a clue on what to read next! :)
Rachel: I'm really enjoying it. It's already saved me so much money on books. I'm flying through the Amanda Hocking books, especially since I'm out of school. I'm already 90% done with the first My Blood Approves book, so I would love some suggestions. :)
Nothing But Reading Challenges
Books mentioned in this topic
Merciful Law (other topics)The Calling (other topics)
Falling (other topics)
Equilibrium (other topics)
Camille (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Cecilia Gray (other topics)Katie Salidas (other topics)
Trish Lamoree (other topics)
Amy Lunderman (other topics)
Lilah Claret (other topics)
More...
» All genres welcome
» Runs the entire year
» Jump in at any time
» Must be self-published titles or small indie press
» Authors are welcome and encouraged to participate in the challenge, but please no self-promotion in this thread - you can use the self-promotion folder already established in the group for that and link to it.
The challenge goals for the year are:
Level 1
» 1-6 books - Bronze
» 7-12 books - Silver
» 13-18 books - Gold
» 19-24 books - Platinum
» 25-30 books - Diamond
Level 2
» 31-36 books - Bronze Elite
» 37-42 books - Silver Elite
» 43-48 books - Gold Elite
» 49-54 books - Platinum Elite
» 55+ books - Diamond Elite
There are two levels so you can choose the one that fits your reading style and speed. This challenge can easily overlap other challenges you are doing.
Need more of a challenge? Try these OPTIONAL add-ons that can be applied at any level:
- Only count unique authors (in other words an author can only be counted once even if you read more than one of their books)
- Do not overlap with any other challenges
- Do a modified A-Z on author names - each last name must begin with a different letter of the alphabet
Don't know where to find Indie authors? Smashwords is a great place to start and provides many different file formats to download. Amazon and B&N stores also has self-pubbed authors now. These ebooks are often priced quite low. You can even find quite a few that are free. Many of these books are also available in paperback. Not sure if you want to take a chance on an unknown author? No problem! Just download a free sample first to see if you like their writing style.
I hope some people will join me this year. I found some great reads and some new favorite authors last year. Give it a shot and maybe you will find some new favorites too!
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Here is a quick look up for challenge participants. (Link will open in a new tab.)
Michelle's List - message 2
Erika's List - message 11
Tai's List - message 14
Galla's List - message 15
Rachel's List - message 17
Sandy's List - message 23
Lacy's List - message 25
Amanda's List - message 27
Kristen's List - message 34
Grace's List - message 49
K.C.'s List - message 50
Kayleigh's List - message 53
Thea's List - message 63
Claire's List - message 73
Stacey's List - message 78
John's List - message 85
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Blog participants:
- BrandiLeigh's List - Blkosiner Blog
- Mikaela - Book Recommendations Blog
- Sibel Hodge - Sibel Hodge Blog (Sibel has been very proactive in promoting this challenge - thanks Sibel!)
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Recommendations from participants:
- Tina Folsom - paranormal erotic romance especially her Scanguards Vampires and Out of Olympus series
- H.P. Mallory - light paranormal romance
- Zoe Winters - paranormal romance
- Susan Bischoff - YA superhero romance
- Stacey Wallace Benefiel - YA and adult paranormal romance
- Amanda Hocking - YA Paranormal
- Kate Kaynak - YA Paranormal
- Elizabeth Isaacs - YA Paranormal
- Jason Letts - YA Fantasy
- Terri Reid - Paranormal Mystery
- J.L. Bryan - Paranormal/Sci-fi/horror
- Ellen C. Maze - Christian paranormal (vampires!) (also pretty sure there was a Q&A with her somewhere in this group!)
- L.K. Rigel - Sci-fi paranormal
- L.B. Gschwandtner - contemporary fiction
- Belinda Kroll - historical romance
- Various authors mentioned on JA Konrath's blog
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Indie Book Sources:
Smashwords
Amazon Kindle
Barnes & Noble
Backlist Ebooks