Ani's Book Abyss

Saturday, June 4, 2016

My TBR List -- June 2016 Voting

My TBR List is a monthly meme hosted by Michelle @ Because Reading.

The basic gist of this activity is to have others help decide on which book out of three I'm selecting from my TBR pile I should read for the month via votes. The posts will be published on the first two Saturdays (voting and winning book announcement, respectively), and the winning book review will be posted on the last Saturday of the month.

Click on the above links for more information.

Join This Month's My TBR List -- June 2016
(link coming soon)

This month's My TBR List will be the June 2016 Reading Assignment edition--the three books selected to be voted on below are all from my 2016 Reading Assignment book list. I'm going to let go of my own reading schedule for the Reading Assignment this month and let everyone else choose one of my Reading Assignment books.

I had already decided on two of them, the winning My TBRL book will be the third, and then the fourth may or may not be one of these three books as well... or I could decide otherwise and choose yet another book.

We'll see where my reading mood takes me.

There is no rhyme or reason to why these three books were chosen... except maybe that two of them have the word "Hanover" in it.

Thanks to everyone for stopping by and voting!

Also, I will be out of town next weekend and might not be able to post the winning book announcement next Saturday. The post will more than likely go up on Monday, unless I am able to pre-schedule it somehow. Thanks!

The Books

The Hanover Square Affair by Ashley Gardner
-- Book 1 of Captain Lacey Mystery series

London, 1816
Cavalry captain Gabriel Lacey returns to Regency London from the Napoleonic wars, burned out, fighting melancholia, his career ended. His interest is perked when he learns of a missing girl, possibly kidnapped by a prominent member of Parliament. Lacey's search for the girl leads to the discovery of murder, corruption, and dealings with a leader of the underworld. He faces his own disorientation transitioning from a soldier's life to the civilian world at the same time, redefining his role with his former commanding officer and making new friends--from the top of society to the street girls of Covent Garden.

Icebound by Dean Koontz

The arctic night is endless. The fear is numbing. Screams freeze in the throat. Death arrives in shades of white. Cold-blooded murder seems right at home...

A secret Arctic experiment becomes a frozen nightmare, when a team of scientists are set adrift on an iceberg--with a murderer in their midst, and a massive explosive charge only hours away from detonation.

Hanover House by Brenda Novak
-- Prequel (Book # 0.5) of The Evelyn Talbot Chronicles

Welcome to Hanover House...

Psychiatrist Evelyn Talbot has dedicated her life to solving the mysteries of the antisocial mind. Why do psychopaths act as they do? How do they come to be? Why don’t they feel any remorse for the suffering they cause? And are there better ways of spotting and stopping them?

After having been kidnapped, tortured and left for dead when she was just a teenager—by her high school boyfriend—she’s determined to understand how someone she trusted so much could turn on her. So she’s established a revolutionary new medical health center in the remote town of Hilltop, Alaska, where she studies the worst of the worst.

But not everyone in Hilltop is excited to have Hanover House and its many serial killers in the area. Alaskan State Trooper, Sergeant Amarok, is one of them. And yet he can’t help feeling bad about what Evelyn has been through. He’s even attracted to her. Which is partly why he worries.

He knows what could happen if only one little thing goes wrong...

Let's Vote!

**For BookLikes members reading this in the BookLikes dashboard view: Click here to generate the voting box on another page if you would like to vote. I don't know why the voting box doesn't show, though it appears in blog view just fine.

**For everyone else voting via BookLikes blog view or at the Book Abyss's Blogspot home: You may ignore the above tangent. The voting box shows just fine.

Again, thank you for stopping by and voting!

Previous My TBR List months at Ani's Book Abyss can be found at the Bookish Memes page.

Thursday, June 2, 2016

Cover Crush: By Book Or By Crook by Eva Gates

Cover Crush is a feature originally thought up by Erin at Flashlight Commentary. Every Thursday, she publishes a post featuring a book jacket/book cover that she really likes with a short commentary about it. I discovered this weekly feature via It's a Mad Mad World and decided to join in the fun!

Judge a book by it's cover? Absolutely!

***

The impression I've always gotten from cozy mystery book cover illustrations are either a) tacky, or b) cutesy. By Book Or By Crook just happens to have one that is actually quite cute. And also, I like lighthouses, so it works out. It's not the best book cover illustration in the world, but the setting is one I like, and so I chose it as a Cover Crush for this week.

I honestly really think it's just really to do with the lighthouse. Now if the background were nighttime then this cover would be even more fantastic. At least that's what I feel, personally.

Here are the rest of the Lighthouse Library Mystery covers. I don't really like them quite as much, but they're cute too.

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Monthly Reading Wrap Up -- May 2016

May was a great month! The best month so far this year for my reading life! And also a great month for discovering new series, and a great month for reading some already beloved authors. It was very much an overall great month, even despite some of the few more disappointing reads. Because even with some disappointing reads, there were many more very enjoyable books.

May was a great reading month! :D

May Reads

Books Dropped/Put On Hold

None this month! Yay!

Currently Reading

Their Fractured Light by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner
Second Sight by Amanda Quick

May Reading Stats

Total works read: 18

14 full length novels
3 novellas
1 short story

Average rating: 3.39 Stars

Highest Rated: Written In Red by Anne Bishope // 4.5 Stars
Lowest Rated: Prince Joe by Suzanne Brockmann // 1.5 Stars

Series I started reading:

The Others by Anne Bishop
Tall, Dark & Dangerous by Suzanne Brockmann
Colorado High Country by Pamela Clare
A Witchcraft Mystery by Juliet Blackwell
Starbound by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

Series I completed:

Heather Wells by Meg Cabot

Series I have made progress on:

Harmony/Ghost Hunter series by Jayne Castle
Lucky Harbor by Jill Shalvis

Favorite reads: Written in Red was immensely enjoyable and I look forward to reading the rest of the series. Barely Breathing is Pamela Clare's newest book and I just adore Pamela Clare, so this one was definitely a favorite this month--again, I look forward to seeing new installments. And while Jayne Castle and Amanda Quick's books weren't all that perfect, they were immensely enjoyable!

Disappointing reads: Really, the biggest disappointment was the one book that got a very, very low rating: Prince Joe. It really just was NOT what I'd been expecting.

Reviews & Notable Posts

Reviews Written

Memes

Coming Up In June

Tentative TBR

Other Stuff

With June comes a nice vacation time that I am immensely looking forward to. And while half of that vacation time will be spent running around with the family, the rest of it is ALL MINE to do as I wish! And what I wish is to read. And read. And READ! I've got a pretty big list of books I'm hoping to finish in June. But, just as well, I've also got some non-bookish activities I need to take care of.

So... while I've got a big reading list going, I'm not entirely sure I'll get to all the books on that list. Or maybe I will. It's hard to say. It's so hard to keep myself in control when I go to the library. And for my birthday, I am also going to be taking my happy ass to the bookstore for a gift to myself. And it will be hard not to want to buy ALL THE BOOKS! Much like it'll be hard for me to try not to check out ALL THE BOOKS when I go to the library...

2016 Wrap-Ups

See Also: 2015 Reading Wrap-Up posts (scroll to bottom of page)

Monthly Reading Wrap Up -- January 2016
Monthly Reading Wrap Up -- February 2016
Monthly Reading Wrap Up -- March 2016
Monthly Reading Wrap Up -- April 2016

Packaged Thoughts June 2016: All the Books I Probably Won't Review

There will always be those books that I absolutely would love to express an opinion on, but for one reason or another, it never actually happens. In which case, I introduce my new feature, the "Packaged Thoughts" bundle reviews, wherein I will talk about a few random books I wanted to talk about, but just didn't really know what to say about in an actual review.

My first Packaged Thoughts was published on Christmas of 2015 and included a good number of books I never got around to reviewing, but not all of them. So this year, I wanted to give a mid-year Packaged Thoughts a try and see how I like it. I figure that I'd be able to catch most of the books I didn't review, read during the first half of the year, before I forget what my opinions of them had been.

It just so happens that my birthday lands in the middle of the year--and what better way to celebrate than with a loaded post of aimless rambling about a bunch of books!

If I like this, I might just do this every year!

Once again, if you've read my reviews and posts before, you know I'm prone to rambling on and on--opinion material for these books could potentially be enough for a review of their own. But I'm not going to dwell on that.

The Immortal Heights by Sherry Thomas

Book 3 (final) of The Elemental Trilogy

4.5 Stars (but who am I kidding, the stars don't matter!)

It took me about three weeks into 2016, after finishing reading this book that I realized I didn't know how to review it. Because THE FEELS and THE FEELS.

Yes, there were still a lot of things missing from this book--from all three books, actually, such as solid world-building. Even a deeper insight to our main enemy would have been nice (not that I need to see into his inner workings or anything), but even right up to the end, the Bane was still just a dark presence in the background as an evil man on an evil mission who needed to be defeated.

But I love Titus and I love Iolanthe and I've grown a love for Kashkari... and even Amara was lovely despite only really being significant to this last Elemental Trilogy book.

Nonetheless, I know that these aren't the best books in the world, and as far as high fantasies go, it could have been better. But Sherry Thomas creates extremely charming characters and has a delightfully witty and enjoyable writing style.

Did I mention the banter and THE FEELS?

And so I leave you all with this:

And now the rest of the books in this post:

SWAT books by Paige Tyler

#1) Hungry Like the Wolf | Rating: 4.0 Stars

#2) Wolf Trouble | Rating: 4.0 Stars

I've never really been that big a fan of paranormal romance books--paranormal mysteries I can still manage just fine. But the fact that Paige Tyler crosses paranormal romance with romantic suspense DID catch my eye. In 2015, I found myself enjoying her first two X-Ops books a lot.

And then I decided to pick up Hungry Like the Wolf and also found that it was very, very likable. It's fast-paced with well-developed characters and an intriguing story line with a world that has much to offer. A pack of werewolf shifters who work in law enforcement as a very specialized SWAT team--big, muscled men who are heroes. The best part, they are very good men who also know how NOT to be jackasses (unlike a lot of other alpha males in lots of other romance novels I've read before).

Not long after that, I picked up Wolf Trouble and found it to be equally entertaining and enjoyable. In this book, however, we are introduced to a female werewolf who joins the SWAT team. I was extra ecstatic about that because you rarely get to see a female play hero in a lot of books, specifically when there are a large band of alpha males hanging around.

And really, I absolutely loved Khaki!

I enjoyed the first two SWAT books a lot, even if the main romances were a little stilted. But the romantic tension and sexy times in both books were steamy and fun, and the rest of the characters are awesome together as friends and teammates, and I'm just so looking forward to where else we can go with the rest of these werewolf shifters!

The Apprentice (Rizzoli & Isles, #2)
by Tess Gerritsen
Rating: 3.0 Stars

Like the first book in this series, The Surgeon, The Apprentice is well written with a great crime thriller to keep a reader intrigued. But also like the first book in this series, The Apprentice tended on the overly detailed, overly wordy, and overly deliberate in use of words and infusion of insight and hidden meaning and not so hidden meaning. I wouldn't call it flowery or purple prose, but it's close and it was a bit distracting--awkward, almost.

Nonetheless, the book was still an enjoyable one for anybody interested in the nitty-gritty of darker crime thrillers. Romance-wise, this book was a bit lackluster, though there's a pretty good development in the back-seated love story between Jane Rizzoli and Gabriel Dean--it could use some more development, which I suspect we'll see in the next book.

Character-wise, like The Surgeon, there was a lot going on with the characters... except that, at the same time, it felt fairly lackluster, only really skimming the edge of what the characters' potential attractiveness to the story could entail. There is also a very latent sense of sexism still being dragged out in the book despite having (now) two strong female characters--a lot of disclaimers for these two women being in the field they work in, a lot of caveats of their qualifications versus personality versus whatnot that make it so that it's kind of a an unnatural super skill among women that Jane is a police detective or Maura Isles is a medical examiner.

I'm not explaining it well, but there's just that feeling that doesn't set well with me.

Snow Baby

by Brenda Novak

Rating: 3.0 Stars

I've only read Brenda Novak's romantic suspense books so far. While I'm not a hundred percent enamored with her work, I've always attributed her story progression and writing style as akin to an action movie that you just cannot take your eyes off of. The logic doesn't always make sense and the characters sometimes really piss me off, but the books are definitely page turners.

So picking up one of her category contemporary romance books was a given at some point in time.

Snow Baby is enjoyable as a sweet romance with all the typical romance novel devices. It is enjoyable and a good way to pass the time, but that's if what you're craving is a quick and easy romance read with a tried and true Happily Ever After™. Of course, being a quick and easy read didn't quite make this book any less complicated--I'm feeling that any type of soapy drama that could have happened DID happen with an accidental pregnancy, some family drama all around, interfering exes... the works.

Hot Pursuit (Hostile Operations Team #1)
by Lynn Raye Harris
Rating: 3.5 Stars

A very exciting, fast-paced read with a lot more material than I'd been expecting. Great characters and a lovely main couple with an awesome relationship and steamy chemistry and a great background history to propel their romantic development. I certainly enjoyed those rare moments of banter between Evie and Matt. Lots of suspense and very vivid descriptions of the bayous and small Louisiana town.

The brief mystery included was predictable and the entire suspense part of the story was really just an adrenaline-rush of forward movement, but not a bad experience, in general.

Overall an enjoyable and entertaining read, even if not entirely memorable. But an excellent start to a military romance series with a lot of potential in the few character introductions we've seen so far. So I am interested in following the rest of the series.

Secondhand Spirits (A Witchcraft Mystery #1)

by Juliet Blackwell

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Juliet Blackwell books and I don't have that great of an impression on each other--or maybe it's just me. Between Secondhand Spirits and If Walls Could Talk, I've found that both books are interesting enough to hold my attention for the duration of reading the book. But that's about it.

Secondhand Spirits is an interesting cozy mystery that delivers what it sets out to deliver: mystery, magic, some fun tangential knowledge, and a very, very slight tinge of romance. The characters are great--Lily Ivory makes for an ideal, strong heroine who saves the day without need for a knight to whisk her into the sunset. The mystery is intriguing, even if kind of predictable. The story itself was fun.

But, really, that's about it. Oh, and also the beginning of the book is slow to start. I don't know if maybe we spend too much time setting up the main conflict. I might just be picky.

***

So there we have it! I've actually been doing a pretty good job of keeping up with reviews, whether long or short. To be totally honest, this is really just a collection of books that took me a long time to get around to reviewing after finishing them. And then some of the books were just ones that I didn't want to bother with an individual review.

It all works out.

As the year progresses, I kind of expect I'll be less inclined to review every book I read. Thus, the end of year Packaged Thoughts I've got planned for December will probably have a ton more books. Probably.

A Brief Bullet List of Thoughts: The Perilous Sea

The Perilous Sea

by Sherry Thomas
Book 2 of The Elemental Trilogy

~ Goodreads ~

Rating: 4.0 Stars

This review may have information that gives away pertinent plot from the first book. Please proceed with caution.

-- SPOILER ALERT --

In fact, there might be spoilers in this review that give away pertinent information in this book alone, no matter how short the post is. Again, proceed with caution.

This second book was much more fabulous than the first! And yet I felt like the first book had more story. I'm hard to please, apparently. HOWEVER, what's important are the 'FEELS' and The Perilous Sea was up to the brim with FEELS .

I wish I had read this book much earlier!

This review will be short and sweet. I can't think of anything to say about it if only because, even after a bit of time to think, I'm still reeling in FEELS for the story, for the romance, for Titus, for Iolanthe, and for Titus and Iolanthe together.

My review of The Burning Sky was a list of thoughts, so maybe I'll do so this time as well. I like lists after all.

So... randomly, with no formal format in mind:

There are FEELS. If I loved Titus and Iolanthe before, I love them even more now. Having developed a more romantic, intimate relationship with each other, the two definitely represent a very powerful couple (as seen throughout the future scenes of our couple in the desert where they've lost their memories). And having developed a romantic relationship, the FEELS were abundant when certain factors lead to a whole slew of frustrating yet feel good bitter sweet angst to play off of.

Oh, it all felt good.
I would say that Iolanthe has grown immensely as both an individual and as a mage. She's stronger now and even more idealistic and opinionated than she was in the first book. In contrast, Titus needs to follow up on that development angle because it irks me that he continues to live his life following a series of predictions written by his mother in a mysterious, magical journal.
The world building of The Elemental Trilogy was fairly hard to grasp in The Burning Sky. While I overlooked it in favor of the story progression and the character developments, it would still be nice to see more world building to help grasp what kind of a setting we're in. And unfortunately, The Perilous Sea doesn't pick up that slack.

No matter, considering there was quite a bit of progression going on to keep me busy... while at the same time there seemed to be very little story going on to merit such progression.
The conflict between Titus's choice of either working with Wintervale or Iolanthe was moot, honestly. He could use a lesson or two from Kashkari about the workings of prophecy, fate, and those actions we take to maneuver fate into being. I've never really liked the idea that fate is written to the last word for everyone's life and for Titus to cling to his mother's visions so zealously makes you wonder if he's even really interpreting them properly... and if he really needs to do so.

The minor conflict of believing that Wintervale is the great elemental mage that he's supposed to work with the save the world instead of Iolanthe was a frustrating one. Titus's conviction coupled with Iolanthe's heartbreak turned out a nice bittersweet angst of story, though, so I don't condemn it. It was actually a nice little twist.
The alternating back and forth of future scenes in the deserts of Africa and the present day happpenings at the school in London were interestingly set up. From the moment our couple appears as two individuals without their memories, I had a feeling this tangential adventure would be an amazing one. Watching a memory-less Titus and Iolanthe start off wary of one another, then begin to partner for survival, then ultimately falling in love with each other all over again despite knowing nothing of themselves or the other person... it speaks volumes of their characters and personalities.

I think my bullet list of thoughts stops there. So much for short and sweet, but I honestly did kind of grasp for things to write about. Once I got going, I guess I just kept going.

Final Thoughts: I really can't wait for the conclusion of The Elemental Trilogy to come around. The more you follow Titus and Iolanthe, the more you find you've fallen for them, both as individuals and as a love story. If I wasn't invested in them before, I certainly am now: I'm invested in their struggles, their plight to save the world, their growth as children to adults, and of course, their ultimate outcome as a romantic couple.

While the story depicted in The Perilous Sea seemed a bit lacking, there was still a lot of forward movement. There was a lot of action that didn't even point me into wondering about the world building, and there were enough revelations and secrets unveiled to keep me on my feet.

This is definitely one of my more favorite books read and published in 2014.

Also, if there are more thoughts that come to mind soon, I may or may not add it to my bullet list of thoughts.

This review was originally posted at Ani's Book Abyss / BookLikes in January 2015.

A Bullet List of Brief Thoughts: The Burning Sky

The Burning Sky

by Sherry Thomas
Book 1 of The Elemental Trilogy

~ Goodreads ~

Rating: 3.5 Stars

It all began with a ruined elixir and a bolt of lightning.

Iolanthe Seabourne is the greatest elemental mage of her generation—or so she's been told. The one prophesied for years to be the savior of The Realm. It is her duty and destiny to face and defeat the Bane, the most powerful tyrant and mage the world has ever known. This would be a suicide task for anyone, let alone a reluctant sixteen-year-old girl with no training.

Guided by his mother's visions and committed to avenging his family, Prince Titus has sworn to protect Iolanthe even as he prepares her for their battle with the Bane. But he makes the terrifying mistake of falling in love with the girl who should have been only a means to an end. Now, with the servants of the tyrant closing in, Titus must choose between his mission—and her life.

I mulled over how to write my opinions of The Burning Sky for a long time, not quite knowing how to start or what to cover. All I have are random thoughts here and there about what I liked, what I didn't like, and what gravitated towards "I'm not sure how to take this".

I love reading fantasies. I love adventures. To be sucked into a wonderfully created world and live an interesting adventure is always so satisfying, so magical... so wonderful.

But I won't say I'm an expert at fantasy or high fantasy novels/books. I'm not the best at picking out logic flaws and world building flaws, but I DO know when I love a specific fantasy world built so well that you wish you could live there (like in Harry Potter, for example).

In the end, I just couldn't figure out how to structure my thoughts.

So here is a list of random things I came up with, thinking about The Burning Sky:

While I've heard that others have felt the book starts off slow, I actually enjoyed a good chunk of the beginning -- it felt progressive to me even if a lot of things failed to make the best of sense.
The world felt like it was confusing to understand (though I eventually had an idea what was going on). At first I figured it to be too complicated for me to get all at once, but as I read through, it just felt like there were too many holes in certain places that I can't quite place.
The progression of the story was enjoyable and actually kind of exciting.
The characters were created brilliantly. I especially loved the friendship/romantic intimacy, tension, and witty banter between Iolanthe and Titus. When (and if) they finally act on their feelings, I think they'd make an awesome, powerful couple.
The characters were created brilliantly, but also too perfect to be true. Sure, Titus had his dark and broody side and his "tragic" back history. Sure, Iolanthe was too stubborn for her own good. But the too of them seemed to be so good at everything they did that I started to forget that they are only sixteen years old. With the amount of wisdom that Titus possessed and the maturity that Iolanthe exudes, as well as both person's ability to handle all situations, dangerous or not, they struck me as being more adult than teenager.
Side characters were also quite intriguing, but they didn't really stand out. I couldn't tell you anything significant about Wintervale or that other kid that Iolanthe hung out with all the time while pretending to be Archer Fairfax.
On that note, might I mention that I LOVE cross-dressing plot devices? Nothing makes me more excited than a cross-dressing plot. Except that this one didn't exactly go the way I was hoping it would go. Nonetheless, the whole all-boys school, cross-dressing ordeal was still lovely to watch unfold.
I appreciate that Iolanthe managed to impersonate a boy to perfection, but then that ended up eliminating a lot of those "OMG, I'm a girl disguised as a boy in an all-boys school and one wrong move could give me away" possibilities. There were no embarrassing moments, no "don't get caught by the boys while I shower" moments, no "oh my god, he's touching inappropriate places" moments... I don't know how I feel about that, because I both love and hate that Iolanthe was smart enough to perfect her role as a boy that no one ever questioned her.
The magic system was confusing. I still don't really know how it works.
The politics are also a bit flawed. But then again, I don't like following politics all too well.
I liked Titus's mother's little diary, detailing all of her visions. I like that it remains a blank book until it's ready to tell the reader what to expect next. I'm interested in how that kind of magic works, though I'm not sure if we'll just get a case of: it just DOES.
I don't like the idea of fate being written for each person's lives as an absolute. If all the visions come to pass unfailingly, then there is no need for human action or choice, though that may contradict the whole intent of fate. I'd like to believe that our heroes will be able to counter some of these visions that are being predicted and not be tied to their given fates.

My final comment for this book though, is that I enjoyed Iolanthe and Titus so much that I suddenly realized that I'm anticipating the next book a lot more than I had expected. I just need to either give in and imagine these two the way I want to imagine them, or continue to try reminding myself that they are indeed still teenagers in an adult world of epic struggles.

Also... I kind of like just listing out thoughts like this. I should do it more often.

This review was originally posted at Ani's Book Abyss / BookLikes in April 2014.