My TBR List -- August 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 -- August 2016

I decided that I like the idea of using the My TBR List meme each month to help me decide which books to read for my 2016 Reading Assignment.  It was about this time last year that I started having trouble deciding which book to pick from my quickly dwindling pre-chosen list of books for this reading challenge.  It also didn't help that a lot of books I thought I would read at the beginning of the year became books that I either dreaded reading or lost interest in as the year progressed.

Anyway, this time around, as stated, is the August Reading Assignment edition of My TBRL.  I've chosen three books from my 2016 Reading Assignment list (three different kinds of books from three different genres), and as an added bonus, these are also all books that will qualify for my Mount TBR Reading Challenge as well.  So I'm kind of killing two birds with one stone here since one of my biggest ongoing goals is to read books that I already own, whether digitally or physically.  This time around, all of these books are in my library as e-books.

It's a start.

Thank you to everyone in advance for voting!

The Books

My Lady, My Lord by Katharine Ashe
-- Book 1 of Twist series

The Bluestocking
Lady Corinna Mowbray has three passions: excellent books, intelligent conversation, and disdaining the libertine Earl of Chance.

The Rake
Lord Ian Chance has three pleasures: beautiful women, fast horses, and tormenting high-and-mighty Corinna Mowbray.

Neighbors for years, they've been at each other's throats since they can remember.  But when a twist of fate forces them to trade lives, how long will it be before they discover they cannot live without each other?

Crash and Burn by Allison Brennan & Laura Griffin
-- Book 1 of Moreno & Hart series

Trial by Fire...
Three years ago LAPD Detective Scarlet Moreno and rookie cop Krista Hart were nearly killed during a botched sting operation.  Now, they’re best friends and partners in the Orange County private investigation firm of Moreno & Hart.  But their routine assignments are anything but safe...

Crash...
Scarlet Moreno has her hands full with a cheating spouse case when the bartender at her favorite pub becomes a murder suspect.  Worse, the detective in charge of the investigation threatens to arrest Scarlet for obstruction—even when she tries to give him valuable information.  Scarlet risks her PI license and her life to find out the truth, absolve her friend, and track down a killer—with or without the help of the arrogant, mysterious Detective Alex Bishop.

And Burn...
Krista Hart is burned out on catching deadbeat dads and philandering husbands when a big-time criminal defense attorney hires her for a choice assignment: find the sole witness to murder the day before the trial.  The case could be a boon for Moreno & Hart, but the witness is in hiding, someone is following Krista, and her own client is withholding information.  The last person she wants help from is sexy investigator R.J. Flynn, but he claims he’s willing to share intel—for a price.  If she can solve this case, it’ll elevate Moreno & Hart above being divorce voyeurs, but first she has to survive, with her life and heart intact.

Endsinger by Jay Kristoff
-- Book 3 of Lotus War trilogy

A TREMBLING EARTH
The flames of civil war sweep across the Shima Imperium.  With their plans to renew the Kazumitsu dynasty foiled, the Lotus Guild unleash their deadliest creation—a mechanical goliath known as the Earthcrusher, intended to unite the shattered Empire under a yoke of fear.  With the Tiger Clan and their puppet Daimyo Hiro in tow, the Guild marches toward a battle for absolute dominion over the Isles.

A BROKEN REBELLION
Yukiko and Buruu are forced to take leadership of the Kagé rebellion, gathering new allies and old friends in an effort to unite the country against the chi-mongers.  But the ghosts of Buruu’s past stand between them and the army they need, and Kin’s betrayal has destroyed all trust among their allies.  When a new foe joins the war tearing the Imperium apart, it will be all the pair can do to muster the strength to fight, let alone win.

A FINAL BATTLE
The traitor Kin walks the halls of Guild power, his destiny only a bloody knife-stroke away.  Hana and Yoshi struggle to find their place in a world now looking to them as heroes.  Secret cabals within the Lotus Guild claw and struggle; one toward darkness, the other toward light.  And as the earth splits asunder, as armies destroy each other for rule over an empire of lifeless ash and the final secret about blood lotus is revealed, the people of Shima will learn one last, horrifying truth.

There is nothing a mother won't do to keep her children by her side.

Nothing.

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.

Very Brief Thoughts: Dream of Danger (novella)

Dream of Danger

by Maggie Shayne
Book 1.5 of Brown and de Luca

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  2.5 Stars

She didn't want to need him.

Murder brought self-help guru Rachel de Luca and Detective Mason Brown together.  Their shared secrets drove them apart.  But now they're together again in this riveting novella that begins where New York Times bestselling author Maggie Shayne's Sleep with the Lights On ended.

She may have been blind for twenty years, but Rachel's always had an uncanny gift for seeing through people—and she distrusts her assistant's new boyfriend at first sight.  Amy isn't interested in Rachel's misgivings, though.  She's too eager to celebrate Thanksgiving by introducing her family to the new man in her life.

Then Amy doesn't show up for the holiday...

Desperate to find her missing friend, Rachel has no choice but to turn to Mason.  Their investigation into Amy's disappearance takes them ever deeper into danger—and reignites the attraction that they've both sworn to resist.  Now it's a race against time as these reluctant partners fight to stave off passion and save a life.

This short novella was enjoyable, but felt kind of pointless and open-ended, like it would have been better off as a full-length novel with more material.  That being said, I DID still enjoy it if only because I'm kind of in love with Rachel's voice and narration, and I'm kind of in love with Myrtle, the adorable blind bulldog.  The mystery/suspense/thriller part was a little 'meh'.  And Mason really just did not even feel present.

There are hints that there might be more to Amy's kidnapping, which I suspect may be addressed in a later book.

Thoughts: Sleep with the Lights On

Sleep with the Lights On

by Maggie Shayne
Book 1 of Brown and de Luca

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  4.0 Stars

Rachel de Luca has found incredible success writing self-help books.  But her own blindness and the fact that her troubled brother has gone missing have convinced her that positive thinking is nothing but bull.

Her cynicism wavers when a cornea transplant restores her sight.  The new eyes seem to give her new life, until they prove too good to be true and she starts seeing terrifying visions of brutal murders - crimes she soon learns are all too real.

Detective Mason Brown's own brother recently died, leaving behind a horrific secret.  In atonement, Mason donated his brother's organs, though he's kept the fact quiet.  Now he wants to help Rachel find her brother, but when he discovers the shocking connection between her visions and his own brother, he suddenly has to do everything in his power to save her from a predator who is somehow still hunting from beyond the grave.

Sleep with the Lights On was a book I had been looking forward to, because it had a premise that reminded me of the 2002 Hong Kong movie, The Eye.  It's probably safe to say that while the premise is somewhat similar, the story itself is completely different.  In the movie, our main female character gets a cornea graft from a woman who had psychic powers and could see when tragedy was about to happen.  In this book, however, it seems that Rachel's visions and nightmares stem from the evil, psychotic mind of a serial killer after receiving his cornea tissue.

At first, my feelings about this book had been slightly wary throughout the first couple chapters.  I recall there being a very distinct 'WTF' moment roiling through my thoughts.  There was eye popping involved, there was blinking involved, there were even moments wherein I actually said out loud, "Da fuck is going on here?"  Some stuff was creepy, other stuff was just... strange.

But then the story just sort of jump-started, and everything was smooth sailing from there.

Sleep with the Lights On was highly enjoyable, lots of fun, immensely creepy, and I could not put it down because I was THAT hooked!  And while I had found the two main characters, Mason Brown and Rachel de Luca hard to like at first impression, it doesn't take long for them--probably about two chapters--to become the awesome characters I ended up loving.  Especially Rachel!

I'll admit, Rachel's snarky sarcasm was a little rough and difficult to take at first, but then you get more of an in-depth look at this woman, and you see all the layers and layers of Rachel de Luca, and you realize how much you really DO like her because of all those layers and because of all that snark.  Her sarcasm was fun and the directions in which her mind wanders brought me endless amusement.  But what I found extremely endearing about her had been her moments right after the surgery wherein she just seems to bask in her newly acquired sight and just seems to enjoy herself.  I absolutely loved her reaction to everything she sees for the first time, or her excitement about seeing certain things for the first time since she went blind at the age of twelve.

It was one of the things that really made Rachel such a complex, interesting character.  Because while she projects a false persona to the public, claiming to be hiding a cynical and bitchy reputation underneath, even further into the layers of Rachel de Luca is so much more to discover.  She falls in love with a blind bull dog despite not wanting a dog in the first place.  She shows how much she truly loves and cares for the people around even though she continuously acts bitchy around them.

A lot of her actions are quite sweet and cute, to be honest.  Then add that dry sarcasm and her straight-forward personality that doesn't take any bullshit and we've got a great main character with a lot of story potential to look forward to.

Detective Mason Brown took a little bit more time to like, if only because I'm so used to reading formulaic romantic suspense where our heroes are always so straight-laced, and righteous, and broody.  I had a bad feeling the moment Mason chooses to cover up his brother's heinous crimes.  I had difficulty connecting with something like that.  But then something that Rachel says towards the climax of the book changed my feelings about Mason Brown.  And I realized that I actually loved that our main detective hero isn't a hundred percent Mr. Justice-Seeking Captain America Built On Perfection.  I actually really, really appreciate his weakness being so front and center, and his person being flawed enough not to be the ideal perfect hero.

I love that he continues to let his one big mistake (and I honestly believe it was a big one), to eat at him.  I'm not sadistic or anything.  I'd love even more if he can resolve his problems.  But it just feels more realistic that he doesn't absolve his guilt even though it still feels like he made a reasonable choice.

And in this way, I ended up loving both of our main characters because they come off so real and so human.  In the same sense, the rest of the characters in the book give off that same vibe as well--realistic, human, and so much potential for storytelling with the rest of the series ongoing.


After that little revelation, it took me less than a second to decide that I really, really love this book.  And most importantly, I love Rachel's snark.  It adds character and personality to typically straight-laced romance novel heroines.  I love how much gray area there is in the events of this book.  I love all the side characters: Rachel's sister, Sandra and her family; Rachel's assistant, Amy; Mason's partner, Rosie...

I also liked that the romance was a little on the sidelines.  I mean, sure there was instant attraction and lust and the good stuff.  And sure, I sometimes like my instant gratification of our couple falling in love within the span of one book and having their Happily Ever After™.  But there are more books to go in the rest of this series following these same characters.  I think I'm going to be content with the slow development of this couple's romance, so I'm more or less satisfied with the fact that Rachel and Mason don't bond immediately, and no words of love are thrown around willy-nilly.

And finally...  I really, really loved Myrtle, the little blind bulldog.  Books with animals in them, when written well, always add points to my overall experience.  And Myrtle was wonderfully adorable and all sorts of hearts and stars and bunny rabbit, rainbows, and sunshine lovely!


There were things I DID NOT LIKE, of course.

Anyone who follows my reviews know I do not really care for first person POV narration.  In some cases, it's not so bad and I love it.  And to be honest, if Sleep with the Lights On had been written entirely in Rachel's first person narrative, I would have been quite happy--Rachel's voice is excellently amusing and strewn with very natural side comments and wandering tangents and, best of all, THE SNARK.  But the book itself is actually written in an alternating first person with Rachel, to a third person for everyone else, mainly following Mason.

I just don't think I'll ever understand the point of alternating first person to third person.  Why not just write the entire book in third person?  You'd still be able to incorporate Rachel's sarcastic streak, even if not as in-depth.  And I can kind of see that this alternating format gives you the best of both worlds when it comes to being able to see Mason's side of the story as well as Rachel's every conscious thought.

Still, it's a little jarring, because confusion happens.  In fact, there was a very, glaringly obvious part in the book where Rachel is narrating in her POV, then the narration switches to third person for about two or three sentences, then switches right back to Rachel's first person POV.  I had to reread that section to be sure it wasn't just me.

The other thing I didn't really like about this book was the whole concept of an evil serial killer's donated organs creating killers out of the recipients via cellular consciousness.  But I suppose this is a controversy that has been going on for a long time already, in which recipients of donated organs might end up with some of the traits from said organ donor.  It's an interesting subject to explore, but that just kind of comes back to the whole debate about nature versus nurture and if there truly is an evil gene embedded in certain people's DNA make-up... and that just opens up a whole can of worms for many people to argue about.

I look forward to seeing said controversy in the rest of series if we're going in that direction, because this subject has not been fully explored in this particular book by itself.  Would have been nice, but I think Sleep with the Lights On was more concerned about resolving the whole serial killer issue first and foremost, I suppose.

So in a way, the entire "cellular consciousness" thing wasn't really all that disagreeable to me, to be honest.  Probably just the way the serial killer angle of it all was handled seemed a little questionable.

But otherwise this book was darn near wonderfully perfect.  I suppose I'll just have to get used to the alternating POV if I want to continue reading the rest of the series... which I fully intend to do.


***

2016 Reading Challenges:
• Goodreads Reading Challenge
• BookLikes Reading Challenge
• Reading Assignment Challenge
• COYER Summer Vacation 2016 -- Bingo Board One | Square Y3 -- Thriller
• Can You Read a Series in a Month? Challenge

Top Ten Tuesday: Loaded Gift Card Shopping Spree!

Top Ten Tuesday is an original and weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

~~ Ten Books You'd Buy Right This Second ~~

~~ If Somebody Handed You a Fully Loaded Gift Card ~~

This week for Top Ten Tuesday, the topic is one that will probably become an overly extended list if I don't cut myself off somewhere.  Because, let's face it, as a book nerd, there are no books I do not want to own... okay, maybe there are.  So let's rephrase:  There is no end to the books I would love to own and buy if I had all the money in the world!

Because... ARE YOU KIDDING ME? A FULLY LOADED GIFT CARD AND I ONLY GET TO PICK TEN?

Because as this mythical fully loaded gift card does not mention a limit, there are way more than ten books that popped into my head almost immediately.  In fact, let's not really talk just books, because there are series of books that I would buy right this second.

So let's just...


First are books I've already read, but would like to own in hard copy, preferably paperback.

Blue Lily, Lily Blue | The Raven King

by Maggie Stiefvater

*

Winter | Stars Above

by Marissa Meyer

I've already read these books, I already own them as Kindle books.  But I want them as physical copies as well.  I already have the rest of the series' books.  These are the only ones left.  I do not own Stars Above at all and had checked it out from the library.  Charge it all to my imaginary fully loaded gift card please!  Now!

FBI/US Attorney series

Just the Sexiest Man Alive | Practice Makes Perfect | Suddenly One Summer

by Julie James

I've loved Julie James' books ever since I started reading the FBI/US Attorney series about three years ago.  They are witty and mature and sexy and lots of fun.  I currently own them as Kindle books, but I wouldn't say 'no' to spending that nifty loaded gift card on a full set of paperbacks for all of the above books.


Next are books I haven't read but would love to own.

Sevenwaters series

by Juliet Marillier

I already own the first book in this series.  I'd love to own the rest of the books if only because I love Juliet Marillier's fantasies.  I haven't read any of these books, but if I'm honest with myself, I've loved everything I've read of hers so far, so I have a feeling I'll love these just as much.  And also, that first book is based on a fairy tale, so I'm all for that.

That said, I kind of just want to go ahead and buy all of Juliet Marillier's books with that nifty gift card.

Steele Street series

by Tara Janzen

I've already read the first six books (of which I own all in paperback) in this series and would like to finish the rest--these last five books.  I already own three of the above books, so I'd love to get the last two to add to my collection.  This is an absurdly fun series with some of the most mindless plots.  But I love them!  Believe me, I would not hesitate to buy the remaining missing books from the series if money weren't an issue--as it is, I'm looking at used book sales and the like... or just free money is cool too!


Finally... THIS!
Come on, you all saw it coming, right?  Why DON'T I already own this set?  It's so pretty that I would buy the entire set just because I want to look at it and preen and tell people I own such a gorgeous set of books and make all my Harry Potter fan friends jealous.

***

I've listed more than ten books, obviously, so I'm stopping here.  Because these are the books that I always end up looking for whenever I go book browsing at used book stores or Barnes & Noble.  These are the books that came to mind first when I was taking that fully loaded gift card and going on an imaginary shopping spree.

Monthly Reading Wrap Up -- July 2016

Work life was crazy and busy this month with a higher hospital census than the past few months.  On top of that, we've been preparing for our laboratory inspection, so life has been hectic.  Because of this, my days have been filled with trying to snatch time to read just to wind down when possible, and trying to make time to write reviews and participate in readathons... etc.  A lot of times, I get home from work and just crash because I'm so tired.

So while I had planned on having a lot more reading accomplished this month, I feel like I've been pretty productive in light of all the work-related things that have been going on.

And also, YouTube has been a bit tempting.  I recently picked up an obsession with watching some Chinese based music programs.  Specifically, I just finished doing a marathon watch of the entire I Am a Singer season four, produced by Hunan TV.  Basically, well-known and well-established singers and artists are invited to compete with each other, and they are judged by 500 audience votes.

Lots of great music from some of my old favorites.

Anyway, back to bookish news...

COYER Summer Vacation 2016 is still ongoing and everyone is having fun.  As of the end of this month, all participants have contributed over 500+ reviews to the challenge, and there is still one more month to go!

I always hope that the next month will be better, but at this point in the year, we'll just hope for more free time to do some leisure reading.  At this point, I'll just be happy to make good progress on my reading challenges, since it's entirely possible my Bookish Resolution challenge will be a flop.

Happy Reading everyone!

July Reads

Books Dropped/Put On Hold

Currently Reading

 

July Reading Stats

Total works read: 12

• 12 full length novels

Average rating: 3.42 Stars

• Highest Rated:   3 books // 4.0 Stars
• (1) Kalahari by Jessica Khoury
• (2) Wife for Hire by Christine Bell
• (3) The River Knows by Amanda Quick
• Lowest Rated:  Icebound by Dean Koontz // 2.5 Stars

Series I started reading:

• Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries by Ashley Gardner
• For Hire by Christine Bell

Series I completed:

• Corpus by Jessica Khoury
• The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

Series I have made progress on:

• Arcane Society by Amanda Quick / Jayne Ann Krentz
• Harmony by Jayne Castle

Favorite reads: There were a lot of really good reads this month, including all of Jayne Ann Krentz's work (whether as Jayne Ann Krentz, Amanda Quick, or Jayne Castle).  Of all of these books, the one I enjoyed the most is also one of the books I remember little about, The River Knows.  Thus is a JAK book, I suppose.

Disappointing reads: My biggest disappointment really was the lowest rated book, Dean Koontz's Icebound.  I have always been a fan of Dean Koontz, but Icebound just wasn't one of his best.

Reviews & Notable Posts

Reviews Written

• Deep Dark by Laura Griffin
• The Paid Companion by Amanda Quick
• Kalahari by Jessica Khoury
• Veil of Night by Linda Howard
• When Day Breaks by Maya Banks -- DNF review
• The Last Star by Rick Yancey
• For Hire series by Christine Bell
• Icebound by Dean Koontz
• Sizzle and Burn by Jayne Ann Krentz
• The Third Circle by Amanda Quick
• Dark Light by Jayne Castle
• The Hanover Square Affair by Ashley Gardner
• The River Knows by Amanda Quick

Memes

• 7/2/2016 My TBR List: Voting
• 7/5/2016 Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Under 2000 Ratings on GR
• 7/7/2016 Cover Crush: The Architect of Song by A.G. Howard
• 7/9/2016 My TBR List: Winning Book Announce!
• 7/19/2016 Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books Set Outside of the U.S. of A.
• 7/27/2016 Top Ten Tuesday: Books Make Me Do Things!

Other Posts

• 2016 Bookish Resolutions -- May & June Progress Report
• 2016 Reading Assignment Challenge -- Second Quarterly Report Card
• Pre-Review Thoughts: Kalahari
• Starting: The Last Star
• First Impression: When Day Breaks
• Read-a-thon: 24 in 48 | Participation Post
• Can You Read a Series in a Month? Challenge | Participation Post
• Read-a-thon: 24 in 48 Starts Now
• 24 in 28 Readathon: Hour Thirteen... ish
• 24 in 48 Readathon: Hour Twenty-Four
• 24 in 48 Readathon: Hour Forty-One... and a half
• 24 in 48 Readathon: Wrap Up

Coming Up In August

Tentative TBR

Other Stuff

In the month of August, I'm dropping the need to read books just because I need to read them.  Of course, this being said, yes, I am still going to read my assigned reading for the Reading Assignment Challenge and I am going to read the series I chose to read for Can You Read a Series in a Month? Challenge.  But otherwise, I'm going to try to read more books where my mood dictates.

And so my reading list for August is only as tentative as the Brown and de Luca series, because I honestly don't know what I'm in the mood to read.  Even my Reading Assignment books for this month are still up in the air, but I'm hoping that the My TBR List poll will help with that.  In the meantime, I will busy myself with the above mentioned series, of which I am already very much enjoying the first book.

With that, there really isn't anything else to mention.

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
Monthly Reading Wrap Up -- May 2016
Monthly Reading Wrap Up -- June 2016