R3 TEAM THREAD: Team #2 ~ Double Trouble [FIRST PLACE]

[Rachel-RN]

I'll probably read

[Heather ~ Marceline]

I'm going with for the dragons shelf, I am hoping it works on both my monthly challenges in addition to this.

[Ming]

Spider's Revenge
****
finished 10/3
The Spider finally confronts Mab and her past. A kick Ass thrill fest of a book.

[Ming]

well the new shelf worked out well

What A dragon Should Know -- GA Aiken

[Judithe, Soap Operas never end....]

is my choice.

[Christina (AKA Babbling)]

Urban Fantsy



Shadow Kinby M.J. Scott - ★★★★ - 8 Oct 11

Enjoyed the book. Told from the point of view of both main characters. Like "Viper Moon", this was a fantasy romance: the next book will feature a different couple.

I wasn't sure where or when this story was supposed to be set -- alternate reality Earth? Totally made up world? That didn't detract from my enjoyment, but I would have liked to know one way or the other. I liked the world-building.

I do plan to read the next book.

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

I've got this one to read this month, cause she's an aussie writer (that was the category). Glad you liked it Christina :D

[Rachel-RN]

Finished 10/10 4*
This one was fun. I enjoyed much better then the third book. Look forward to the next.

[Heather ~ Marceline]

I finished on 10/12/11 and give it 4*'s. I know most people either love or hate these books, and I am definitely on the love them side . I really enjoy the humor in all of these, but I hate the cliff-hanger endings!!!! I had all kinds of plans of what I was going to read next, but now, all I can think is going and finding my copy of Up in Smoke, ARRGGGHHH! This book is about Gabriel, the wyvern of the silver dragons that showed up in Aisling and Drake's books. The whole gang is back, including Jim. I have to say I really like May, but cannot stand her sister/twin. I could not get into her character at all. In this book, May, bound to the demon lord Magoth, is tasked with recovering the one item that Gabriel wants to find to save the silver dragons. I love the humor and characters in these books and enjoy the action that consistently moves the story along. Now I have to decide to finish the Sookie book I have been reading since June, or go get Up in Smoke from the bookshelf downstairs. I think May and Gabriel will win the battle, oh well....

[Judithe, Soap Operas never end....]

I'm enjoying Aisling's series...have to check that out soon!

[Ming]

What A dragon Should Know -- GA Aiken
*** finished October 11
Gwenvael the Handsome meets the Beast. Not the best of the books, but a nice undemanding read.

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Our Next Shelf is: 'angels'
DIRECT LINK: 'angels'

Unbelievable! Still no winner yet! Happy Reading!

[Rachel-RN]

Just downloaded from library

[Judithe, Soap Operas never end....]

I finished my book for Dragons...will get my review up today! It's been a crazy week...again!


Will probably read for this week's shelf!

[Heather ~ Marceline]

I think I will read for the Angels shelf.

[Judithe, Soap Operas never end....]

'dragons' shelf:

The Sleeping Beauty ★★★★✩
10/10/11
by Mercedes Lackey

This is the fifth in Lackey's "Five Hundred Kingdoms." Throughout the kingdoms, the "Tradition" influences people with magic it into a traditional fairy tale. Many of those were pretty gruesome, and not exactly what you want determining the rest of your life.

In The Sleeping Beauty, Rosamund is in danger of being pushed into a variety of stories, but works to manipulate them, with a very helpful & wise godmother, to actually find a truly happy ending.

It's a fun story, and has great characters...I particularly like the magic mirror. I loved fairy tales when I was a kid, and still do, so it's no surprise that I love Lackey's deft and unique handling of the whole fairy tale idea/world.

[Judithe, Soap Operas never end....]

Do you ever have the feeling the days are just whirling past? It's one of those autumns... Anyway, belated updates for DT~Happy reading everyone! Close to several shelves completed...and knuckle-bitingly close to BINGO.

Updates~ (updated to post #571)
First-in-Series - 5/6 completed
***announced September 24***
✔Heather Eternal Rider finished October 1 ★★★★
✔JuditheWraith finished September 26 ★★★★
Laura Lulu Legend
✔RachelSea Witch finished September 26★★★★
✔ChristinaViper Moon finished September 29★★★
✔Ming Geist finished September 26 ★★★


Urban-Fantasy - 5/6 completed
***announced October 1***
✔Heather Archangel's Blade finished October 2 ★★★★
✔Judithe The Darkest Kissfinished October 3 ★★★★
Laura Lulu The Lies of Locke Lamora
✔Rachel Dead Girls Are Easyfinished October 2 ★★★★
✔Christina Shadow Kin finished October 8 ★★★★
✔MingSpider’s Revenge finished October 3 ★★★★


Dragons - 4/6 completed
***announced October 8***
✔Heather Playing With Fire finished October 12 ★★★★
✔Judithe The Sleeping Beauty
Laura Lulu
✔Rachel Last Dragon Standing finished October 10 ★★★★
Christina Flying Blind
✔Ming What A Dragon Should Know finished October 11 ★★★

Angels - 2/6 completed
***announced October 15***
Heather Supernatural
✔Judithe The Mage in Black finished October 16 ★★★★
Laura Lulu
✔Rachel Once Dead, Twice Shy finished October 16★★1/2~ ★★★
Christina Black Night
Ming

[Rachel-RN]

Overall a quick read. I was a bit lost because I didn't read the prequel. I liked it, but not sure if I liked it enough to continue with series. If we could give 1/2 stars, this one would be 2 1/2 to 3 stars for me.
Done 10/16/11

[Christina (AKA Babbling)]

For the angel shelf:

[Ming]

I have a few possibles for this one. Will see what I feel like when I finish the book I am currently reading.

[Judithe, Soap Operas never end....]

Angels

The Mage in Black 10/16/11★★★★
by Jaye Wells

Sabina Kane is becoming one of my favorite UF heroines. I love the pace of the books, and have the next ready & waiting, and so many things happen, they are never dull. Occasionally, I have the "why-is-she-being-obtuse" moments...recognized the probable baddy for this one fairly early on...but it's not so strong it actually detracts from the story.

(If you haven't read book 1, skip this.)(view spoiler)[At the end of Red-Headed Stepchild, Sabina is off to New York to spend some time with the mages, and get to know her sister. Not surprisingly, not everyone is excited about this twin reunion, rather it will throw a wrench into their nasty plans, so the best "solution" is to permanently get rid of it. There are plots within plots and a lot more to come. (hide spoiler)]

[Judithe, Soap Operas never end....]

I copied and updated Laura's spreadsheet
here, but if you can't access the link, let me know. I'm not sure whether the privacy settings got fixed when I was tinkering around with it!

ETA: I think it's fixed now...figured out I hadn't actually made it public...hate it when they "update" google/fb/gr when it was working just fine...grr...

[Cindy (eclecticfirefly)]

It wouldn't let me access it.....bummer!

[Vi]

Me too. I don't have access even after signing in :(

[Judithe, Soap Operas never end....]

OK. Think it should work now, and I updated the link in the post above...again, let me know if that still doesn't work.

[Vi]

Yep, working fine now.

[Judithe, Soap Operas never end....]

Hooray!

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Yep, its working for me too :)

Interesting to note that this round of Bingo, no team has read all shelves announced (current shelf excepted of course). We are obviously slowing down, or RL is kicking our butts.

[Judithe, Soap Operas never end....]

I'd go with the later....RL needs a serious chill-pill........

[Heather ~ Marceline]

I finished on 10/19/11 and overall I give the book 3 1/2 stars. I always enjoy anthologies, I like how they so often fill in gaps of the other stories. However, they always feel like everything wraps up too quick. The Demonica story involved Vladlena, a nurse at the demon hospital, and Nate, a vampire trying to take down the demon Fade from within his operations. This story was a nice addition to the Demonica world, but very short. The second story was from a series I have never read before by Alexdra Ivy, the Guardians of Eternity, it was good, but I was a bit clueless at times about who people were, but that was by my own doing. The third story was Kane, another installment in Jacquelyn Frank's Nightwalker series. This was good. At first it felt like I had read it before, there was a tiny bit of overlap from Jacob's story, but right away it moved on. I have never felt very strongly about Kane and Corrine, so it was a bonus to read more about them. The final story was book 4.5 in the Dragon Kin books by G.A. Aiken. I have read the first few of that series, so it enjoyable to read about Ghleanna and Bram. This was the longest story and in turn had the most depth. The book as a whole was good, I had been wanting to read this for the Demonica and Nightwalker stories primarily, but all the stories were worth the read if you are into these series.

[Laura Lulu]

Yes, I'm horrible. I have turned into that person. I have no excuses, except real life, my complete lack of reading enthusiasm lately, and my Scarlet O'Hara tendencies--I just keep telling myself I'll take care of this stuff tomorrow. And then something else comes up and I procrastinate some more. Bad girl.

I have my 1st in series and UF books done, just need to write reviews. And I've really procrastinated, because I only thought I missed one shelf announcement, but it's been two. Yikes. Well, football is over, cold weather is setting in, perfect time to kick myself in the ass and get back to reading.

I'll post my 2 reviews so we can get those stamps, then I'll pick books for the two other shelves and read them in the order of whichever one looks like it will help us the most on the board. But I promise I'll read fast. Promise.

Truly, I hate being the person holding everyone else up. I complain about those people. And that's probably half the reason I keep procrastinating. *Hey stupid, it's not going to get any better the longer you put it off...*

I haven't read any posts yet, and I kinda think I might not, just skim for book reviews to update the main post. I deserve all the posts wondering where I'm at, but I don't really want to read them. I'm a wussie like that. ;)

[Steph, Serious series addict]

LOL! Aw, don't kick your self in the ass too hard. ;) Glad to see ya - been thinkin' RL must be keepin' ya busy. Hope all is well w/you & fam! Welcome back! :D

[Laura Lulu]

Urban Fantasy

*finished October 17* ★★

I read the first book in this series and didn't love it, but I have a bunch of GR friends who really like these, so I figured I'd give the 2nd one a go. Plus, I already own it--I had bought the first two books at the same time.

And still, I'm not a fan. There's just something missing for me. It's not the action--there's bunches, and it's fast-paced and well written. I's the characters. I'm a character-driven reader--for me to love a book/series, I need to love the characters. And I really don't care much about Gin or Donovan at all. In fact, I hate Donovan. And I hate Gin's attraction to him and pining for him--it makes me like her even less than I already do.

There's a new man in town, and there's hope that maybe he might be a love interest in the future, but really, I can't read on in the series with that minuscule hope. To waste 2 books on an a-hole of a love interest makes me lose respect for the main character pining away for him, and it makes you lose me as a reader.

*Says the woman who loves Pritkin.*

[Laura Lulu]

First in Series

*completed October 7* ★★★★

I'm a sucker for dystopian. Just ask anyone. There's just something about a broken world--and the characters who occupy it--that intrigues me.

This one takes place in the far future in the United States. We don't know how far in the future, but far enough for no one to have ever seen a quarter before. The country is split in two--the Colonies east of the Rockies (give or take), and the Republic to the west. The Republic is where our story takes place, and it's a crazy place. Basically a military dictatorship, with a major class divide, and plagues killing off the poor folk, who are the only ones not given vaccines.

The story is told in alternating voices: June is the girl from the right side of the tracks, being groomed to be one of the Republic's shining military stars. Day is the boy from the wrong side, and the Republic's most wanted criminal.

They are both great characters, both smart, resourceful and loyal. And the supporting cast was wonderful, too. There is also lots of action, and the story is fast-paced, if a bit predictable.

My only complaint is the lack of explanation of the world and how the US got this way, but hey, it's the first book in a series--what should I expect?

[Judithe, Soap Operas never end....]

Welcome back, and there were/have been no complaining posts! LOL! I think EVERYONE is dealing with RL craziness around now, too!

Heading back into mine right now....

[Laura Lulu]

I started listening to yesterday, so I'll use that behemoth for the Dragons shelf. And I'll start reading for the Angels shelf. Then when I finish Unearthly, I'll double-team Dragons--read it at home and listen in the car. I just finished rereading the 4th book--well, I listened to the audio, so I didn't really reread it, but you get the picture. And I am dying to finally read Dragons. Even though it is a major fatty.

[Laura Lulu]

All BINGO Cards


First-in-Series - 6/6 completed - stamp pending!
***announced September 24 - completed October 7***
✔Heather Eternal Rider finished October 1 ★★★★
✔Judithe Wraith finished September 26 ★★★★
✔Laura Lulu Legend finished October 7 ★★★★
✔Rachel Sea Witch finished September 26 ★★★★
✔Christina Viper Moon finished September 29 ★★★
✔Ming Geist finished September 26 ★★★

Urban-Fantasy - 6/6 completed - stamp pending!
***announced October 1 - completed October 17***
✔Heather Archangel's Blade finished October 2 ★★★★
✔Judithe The Darkest Kiss finished October 3 ★★★★
✔Laura Lulu Web of Lies finished October 17 ★★
✔Rachel Dead Girls Are Easy finished October 4 ★★★★
✔Christina Shadow Kin finished October 8 ★★★★
✔Ming Spider’s Revenge finished October 3 ★★★★

Dragons - 4/6 completed
***announced October 8***
✔Heather Playing With Fire finished October 12 ★★★★
✔Judithe The Sleeping Beauty finished October 10 ★★★★
Laura Lulu A Dance With Dragons
✔Rachel Last Dragon Standing finished October 10 ★★★★
Christina Flying Blind
✔Ming What A Dragon Should Know finished October 11 ★★★

Angels - 3/6 completed
***announced October 15***
✔Heather Supernatural finished October 19 ★★★1/2
✔Judithe The Mage in Black finished October 16 ★★★★
Laura Lulu Unearthly
✔Rachel Once Dead, Twice Shy finished October 16 ★★★
Christina Black Night
Ming

[Laura Lulu]

I just updated the bingo spreadsheet and here's the teams that can win with each of the following shelves:

Paranormal Romance - 1, 2, 3

Male Author - 1, 4, 5, 6

GR Author - 2, 3

Trilogy - 3, 4, 6

Ghosts - 5, 6

Vampires - 5, 7

Futuristic - 2

Speculative Fiction - 4

Series to Read - 4

Post Apocalyptic - 7

There's only one shelf left that won't give anyone a win - Magic.


So let's hope for Futuristic. :)

[Laura Lulu]

And I'm scrapping my plan to listen to my Dragon book while reading my Angel book. The Dragon square gives us 4-in-a-row, while the Angel ones only gives us 3-in-a-row, so the Dragon is more important. So I'll be double-teaming A Dance With Dragons. Yay! :)

[Steph, Serious series addict]

CONGRATULATIONS, Double Trouble!
You now have an updated BINGO card with a stamp on 'urban fantasy' and 'first in series'.

[Your new BINGO card can be viewed on page 1]

Good Job!! :D

[Judithe, Soap Operas never end....]

Hooray!

[Ming]

Finished
Angels' Blood (Guild Hunter #1)
by Nalini Singh October 19th
**

I think everyone else has read this series. It was ok I guess. Blah blah blah and then Blah blah blah. I think I've read it before 4 or 500 times.

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Congrats 2XT!

And yay! LLLs back from RL ;D

[Christina (AKA Babbling)]

Yay! Welcome back, Laura!

My dragon review is forthcoming. :D

[Judithe, Soap Operas never end....]

Looking forward to your review!

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Our Next Shelf is: 'Goodreads Author'
DIRECT LINK: Goodreads author

This shelf gives TWO teams BINGO ~ Double Trouble (#2) and Serious Series Sluts (#3). But, Double Trouble first needs to get their 'dragons' stamp, whereas SSS only needs to read, rate & review their books for this shelf to win.

Good luck to both teams! Happy Reading!

[Heather ~ Marceline]

I will be reading for the Goodreads Author shelf. Let's go Double Trouble!!!

[Christina (AKA Babbling)]

Dragons




Flying Blind by Deborah Cooke - ★★★★ - 11 Oct 11

The Dragon Diaries is a YA spin-off of the author's Dragonfire series. It is set in the future (2024), and is about Zoe coming into her powers as the Wyvern. Can it stand on it's own? Probably, but knowing some thing about the world might help the reader. Those who've followed the adult series will know, from the first page, that there never could be a relationship between Nick Shea and Zoe; they'll know the significance of the book written by Sigmund Guthrie (and his significance to the Pyr); and they'll know that reincarnation is part of the Pyr world. Zoe is in the dark about many things, despite being raised by both her parents, but even Erik and the rest of the male Pyr can't tell her all the things she needs to know as the Wyvern. The title of the book is very apt.

As for the transition to YA, I thought the author did a very good job with Zoe. Zoe isn't perfect and she's insecure about her destiny. I really liked the book and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy.

For those who follow the adult series, but haven't read DARKFIRE KISS, there are SPOILERS for that book.

[Christina (AKA Babbling)]

Good choice, Heather!

I'll be reading:

[Rachel-RN]

Reading