Month: December 2013

End of Year Wrap-Up

2013 Wrap Up: The Series’

Tara

Book series. If you are a faithful follower you know I am obsessed. It’s like being with friends over and over again. I love it. I live for it.

And I am painfully behind in 98% of the series that I enjoy.

I’m just going to do a quick run-down of the series that I worked on this year. (No reviews are linked, just the cover images.)

Bloody Mary Iceberg The Black Ice Transfer of Power So Close the Hand of Death Untold Damage The Boleyn King Motion to Suppress Deadly Harvest The Third Option The Concrete Blonde Stranded Blindsighted Where All The Dead Lie Hour Game Dead Until Dark Last to Die Shadow Prey 11th Hour Hawke The Scarpetta Factor Living Dead in Dallas The Last Coyote

Just so you know … thats 23 books.

Oh, you know … there’s only 18 different series in that collage.

So, yeah…. I started 8 new series.

Just. What. I. Needed.

But that’s okay … maybe next year I will make even more progress 🙂

Mailbox Monday, Meme

Mailbox Monday, December 30, 2013

Tara

This month Mailbox Monday is being hosted at Rose City Reader

I have SOOOO many great books waiting for me in 2014!!

This week I received one physical book … a win from Blogger’s Recommend giveaway!! Woo! This has me so excited!!

The Outcasts

 

And then I bought four new books for my Nook:

Every Dead Thing Tampa

Benjamin Franklin's Bastard A Study in Silks

 

 

End of Year Wrap-Up

2013 Wrap Up: The Challenges

Tara

Reading challenges. I love them yet I hate them. I find it extremely difficult to resist signing up for challenges even though I know I will never complete them.

So for 2013 I tried to keep the number of challenges I joined down. (Easier said than done) I only signed up for 5 challenges.

2013eclecticreader I always like the sound of this challenge. I participated in 2012 as well. And I still have yet to complete the darned thing! Oh well I still enjoy it!

I completed 5 out of 12 books for 42% done.

GENRES:
Translated Fiction
Historical Mystery –  A Murder at Rosamund’s Gate by Susanna Calkins 
Romantic Suspense – The Seventh Victim by Mary Burton
Made Into a Movie
New Adult
Urban Fantasy
Dystopian
Memoir – We Were There by Allen Childs, MD 
LGBT
Action Adventure – Iceberg by Clive Cussler
Humor
Published in 2013 – The One I Left Behind by Jennifer McMahon

Off the Shelf This one is the bane of my existence. I always have such good intentions when I join any type of TBR challenge. I mean, seriously … have you seen my shelves? Anyways, I didn’t do as well as I wanted, but I didn’t do too shabby either.

I completed 17 out of 30 books for 56% done.

  1. Bloody Mary by J.A. Konrath
  2. Iceberg by Clive Cussler
  3. The Black Ice by Michael Connelly
  4. Transfer of Power by Vince Flynn
  5. So Close the Hand of Death by J.T. Ellison
  6. Motion to Suppress by Perri O’Shaughnessy
  7. The Third Option by Vince Flynn
  8. The Concrete Blonde by Michael Connelly 
  9. Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter
  10. Hour Game by David Baldacci
  11. Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris 
  12. Shadow Prey by John Sandford
  13. 11th Hour by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro
  14. Hawke by Ted Bell
  15. The Scarpetta Factor by Patricia Cornwell
  16. Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris
  17. The Last Coyote by Michael Connelly

RIP8main200 Okay so I’ve always seen this challenge every fall and for whatever reason I had never joined it. Stupid me. I had a lot of fun with this one and I look forward to it next year!!

I read 6 books, but was only required to finish 4 so I completed this challenge!

  1. Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
  2. Last to Die by Tess Gerritsen
  3. Darkness First by James Hayman
  4. The Edge of Normal by Carla Norton
  5. Shadow Prey by John Sandford
  6. 11th Hour by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro

Sequel Challenge What a fun challenge. The idea is to read any book after the first book in a series. I used it mainly to read the second book (darn you “First in a Series” challenge that I did two years in a row!) but also read a couple of books that were later in the individual series.

I read 7 out of 7 books, thus completing this challenge.

  1. Bloody Mary by J.A. Konrath
  2. The Black Ice by Michael Connelly
  3. The Third Option by Vince Flynn
  4. Hour Game by David Baldacci
  5. Last To Die by Tess Gerritsen
  6. Shadow Prey by John Sandford
  7. 11th Hour by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro

What's in a Name6 Why, why, why can I never seem to finish this challenge? I almost always have books that will fit the categories, but for whatever reason I never seem to complete it. *Sigh*

I read 3 of the required 6 books for 50% done.

  1. Up or Down (Or equivalent)
  2. Something found in a kitchen – Bloody Mary by J.A. Konrath
  3. Party or celebration
  4. Fire (or equivalent) – Arctic Fire by Paul Byers
  5. An emotion
  6. Lost or Found (or equivalent) – Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight
End of Year Wrap-Up

2013 Wrap Up: By the Numbers

Tara

Well here it is another year gone by! Where are they going anyway? It’s like I blink and New Year’s is upon me again. And it’s gotten a million times worse ever since having Garrett. Very sad indeed.

Anyways, this year I’m going to break things down in regards to my yearly statistics into multiple posts to keep things easier.

In this first installment I’m going to be breaking down some of the statistics. (I’m a geek and love stats!)

So … in total I read 51 books this year. Of those books 48 were fiction and 2 were non-fiction. Every year I’m so disappointed in myself for not reading more non-fiction. But then I never seem to make more of an effort to read more non-fiction either.

Those books were:

From my shelves: 19
From the Library: 2
Review Copies: 30

E-Book: 12
Print: 39

I read a total of 18,442 pages.

Ratings ratings ratings. I was quite stingy with 5 star ratings this year. Not entirely surprising, but I was a little pickier this year.

  • DNF: 5
  • 1: 0
  • 2: 0
  • 3: 4
  • 3.5: 16
  • 4: 22
  • 4.5: 6
  • 5: 3

Page breakdowns. I always enjoy seeing the breakdown of the pages. Not surprising, I only read very few books that were over 500 pages (I don’t have time for that anymore … short and sweet is what I need! Ha!)

  • 0-200: 1
  • 201-300: 11
  • 301-400: 25
  • 401-500: 10
  • 500+: 4

So the longest book I read this year was: Hawke by Ted Bell (596p)
And the shortest book I read this year was: We Were There by Allen Childs, MD (192p)

Publication years. I am amazed at just how many books I read that were published in 2013! Usually the number of new releases I read is relatively low for me. I didn’t realize just how many new releases I did read. This excites me in one way and yet it also saddens me. I will never get through all the backlists I want to at this rate!

  • 2013: 26
  • 2000-2012: 17
  • 1990s: 7
  • 1970s: 1

Authors are important too! I always like to see how the author breakdown shakes out. And you know what surprised me this year? The amount of new-to-me authors I read this year. It wasn’t something I was necessarily aiming for, but I am quite pleased because I found a few new favorites!

  • Male Authors: 23
  • Female Authors: 23
  • New to Me Authors: 33 <– I’m still in shock by that number!
  • Authors Read Multiple Times:
    • Michael Connelly
    • J.T. Ellison
    • Vince Flynn
    • Charlaine Harris
4/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, C, Fiction, Harry Bosch, RATING, Read in 2013, READING CHALLENGES 2013, SERIES

2013.51 REVIEW – The Last Coyote by Michael Connelly

Tara

The Last Coyote
by Michael Connelly

Copyright: 1995
Pages: 408
Rating: 4/5
Read: Dec 15 – Dec. 29, 2013
Challenge: Off the Shelf 2013
Yearly count: 51
Format: Print
Source: Personal Copy

The Last CoyoteBlurb: Harry Bosch’s life is on the edge. His earthquake-damaged home has been condemned. His girlfriend has left him. He’s drinking too much. And after attacking his commanding officer, he’s even had to turn in his LAPD detective’s badge.

Now, suspended indefinitely pending a psychiatric evaluation, he’s spending his time investigating an unsolved crime from 1961: the brutal slaying of a prostitute who happened to be his own mother.

Even after three decades, Harry’s questions generate heat among LA’s top politicos. And as the truth begins to emerge, it becomes more and more apparent that someone wants to keep it buried. Someone very powerful … very cunning … and very deadly.

Review: This is the third in the Harry Bosch series. And another really good installment in my opinion. I only wish I had started this series before I did, they’re such good books!

This particular installment started out a little bit slow to me, but once it picked up it was a really exciting read. I think in this book the reader really gets to see just who Harry Bosch is. He’s not perfect by any means, but I think that’s what really adds to the intrigue of Harry. It really makes for an interesting protagonist. Personally I like Harry. He’s tough and not afraid to get his hands dirty. But at the same time he’s got a soft side, even if he does everything in his power to hide it. I just like him, that’s all I can say about it really.

This particular storyline was interesting. Harry taking on the unsolved murder of his mother. He knows going into it that he might not like what he uncovers. And when the end is revealed, it’s not at all like I was anticipating. But I think it will be good in the end for Harry to have the closure that he seemed to need so badly.

As always with Mr. Connelly’s works, the writing was good, the character development was good and the storyline was fresh and interesting. Definitely a series that is quickly becoming one of my favorites. And I’m really looking forward to getting to the next installment in the very near future.

Highly recommended, though I do strongly suggest you read this series in order so that you can fully appreciate Harry’s character.

Book Blitz, Buy the Book Tours

Book Blitz: Tomorrow’s Anecdote by Pamela Kelt

Tara

Tour Banner - Tomorrow's Anecdote

About Tomorrow’s Anecdote :

Tomorrow's AnecdoteJust another day in the the newsroom? Hardly.

October 1987. Clare Forester is an overworked and under-appreciated features subeditor on a provincial paper in Somerset. She spends her time cheerfully ranting about her teenage daughter, the reclusive lodger, her spiteful mother, the Thatcher government, new technology, grubby journalists, petty union officials, her charming ex – and just about anything else that crosses her path.

If things aren’t turbulent enough, on the night of Thursday, October 15th, the Great Storm sweeps across Britain, cutting a swathe of destruction across the country.

Things turn chaotic. Pushed to breaking point, Clare finally snaps and loses her temper with gale-force fury – with disastrous results.

As she contemplates the chaos that her life has become, Clare soon comes to a bitter conclusion.

Never trust the past. It lies.

Excerpt:

No-one could have seen the line of trees falling like dominoes as they toppled towards the A36 under cover of darkness that Thursday evening. One minute, I was driving back in a rental car from Brighton to the West Country, my shoulders aching with keeping it on the road as a crosswind buffeted. The next, I was slowing down to tackle a tricky bend when a giant tree trunk landed on the bonnet with an almighty thump.
As the car juddered to a standstill, I rammed on the brakes out of instinct. The seatbelt cut into my neck as I lurched forwards, then back, just like a test mannequin. For a moment, I sat there, pulse palpitating, still gripping the wheel. Then I counted to ten, opened my eyes and found myself staring out at a confused mass of branches and yellowing leaves. They glowed oddly in the light of my remaining headlamp. It was like being upside-down in a tree house, but much less fun.
If I’d arrived at that spot a split second later, the tree would have landed plum on the roof. And me. My chest hurt. I realised the steering wheel was crushing my sternum.
The crash had shunted my seat forward. Hands shaking, I fumbled for the belt release, and pinged it loose. Wincing, I bent down and yanked at the floor-level bar, shoving backwards with the balls of my feet.
Nothing. Grunting with the effort, I tried again to no avail. The sliding mechanism must have jammed in the crash.
At that point, the electrics gave up and everything went pitch black. My forehead ached. I must have hit my head against the steering wheel. Darkness seeped into my mind and I slumped in my seat, semi-conscious.
My brain seemed to float away from my body and I began to relive the past three days I had spent in a ghastly Portakabin where I had endured the vilest form of professional torture … that most feared phenomenon of all, The Management Course.

About Pamela Kelt

Author Picture - Pamela KeltPamela Kelt first managed to avoid any semblance of a day job by taking Spanish at the University of Manchester. On completion of the degree and after a subsequent six brain-fogging months on a local paper, she fled to Oxford and completed her M. Litt. thesis on ‘Comic aspects of satirical 17th-century comic interludes’, which was not only much more fun, but strangely relevant to coping with the vagaries of the 21st century. After becoming a technical translator, she discovered that English was easier, and did copywriting for anyone who would pay.

On a stint in Australia, she landed a job as a subeditor and returned to journalism, relishing the chance to come up with funny headlines in a variety of provincial papers. Ah. Once a pun a time.

As her academic husband became a chemistry professor in something even she can’t spell, Pam moved into the more sensible world of educational magazines and online publishing – for a while, at least. A daughter arrived and reintroduced her to the delights of fiction, which she’d sort of forgotten about. So, one fine day, while walking the dogs at a local beauty spot, thinking ‘to hell with a career’, Pam took the plunge into writing for herself, and is now the author of six books to date (including one co-written with aforementioned prof) ranging from historical drama by way of teen fantasy to retro mystery.

This is a book blitz tour with Buy the Book Tours. This tour is also making other stops today, I hope you’ll stop by the other blogs and visit the other participants!

Authors’ Cafe
Christine’s Words
Tales of a Book Addict
3 Partners in Shopping Nana, Mommy, & Sissy, Too!
Nancy Jardine features
Night Owl Reviews
 For Whom the Books Toll
Cindy’s Love of Books
Loralee Lillibridge – Blogging Across the Back Fence
Margo Hoornstra – Writing Inside & Out
What Readers Want
Romance Me
Finding Fantastical Books

 

Meme, Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday – December 17, 2013

Tara

This meme is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This week’s question asks:

Top Ten New-To-Me Authors I Read In 2013

So in looking over my list of books I’ve read in 2013, I was amazed at the number of new-to-me authors I had! 34 of my 50 books read (so far) were by new-to-me authors, so this list was not the easiest to put together. But these are definitely the ones that stuck out the most.

In alphabetical order:

  1. The Aviator's Wife What an awesome read this was! It will definitely make my Top 10 list for this year too!
  2. If You Were Here I don’t know why I’ve never read anything by Ms. Burke before, but this one was really good!! Definitely recommend this one!
  3. Darkness First E-books are not my favorite in general, but this book was so awesome I could barely tell that I had an e-copy of it. Definitely a great read!
  4. Untold Damage What an amazing protagonist! I’m definitely looking forward to reading Mr. Lewis’ future works!
  5. The Widows of Braxton County What a creepy book. Apparently this author has written a lot of other books under a different name, but I really liked this book. Recommended!
  6. Reconstructing Amelia Everyone should read this book. Everyone. That’s all I have to say about it.
  7. The One I Left Behind What a crazy thrill ride of a book! How on earth have I never read a book my Jennifer McMahon before? Well I’m for sure not missing out anymore, I already have an e-copy of her next book due out in January!! Woo!
  8. A Case of Redemption Oh my goodness. This book was so much fun to read! I’m a big fan of legal thrillers and this one fit the bill perfectly.
  9. The Edge of Normal What a crazy psychological thriller. Definitely a great and exciting read. It wasn’t perfect, but it sure had my attention from the first page.
  10. 20130331-102247.jpg I remember getting a little more than irritated at the protagonist in this book, but I still highly enjoyed reading it. It was definitely an interesting storyline and a great read. Definitely a highly recommended book in my opinion.
Mailbox Monday, Meme

Mailbox Monday, December 16, 2013

Tara

This month Mailbox Monday is being hosted at Rose City Reader

Only one book this week. From LibraryThing’s Early Reviewer program:

The Innocent Sleep Tangier. Harry is preparing his wife’s birthday dinner while she is still at work and their son, Dillon, is upstairs asleep in bed. Harry suddenly remembers that he’s left Robin’s gift at the cafe in town. It’s only a five-minute walk away, and Dillon is hard to put down for the night, so Harry decides to run out and fetch the present.

Disaster strikes. An earthquake hits, buildings crumble, people scream and run. Harry fights his way through the crowds to his house, only to find it a crumbled wreck. Dillon is presumed dead, though his body is never found.

Five years later, Harry and Robin have settled into a new life after relocating to their native Dublin. Their grief will always be with them, but lately it feels as if they’re ready for a new beginning, Harry’s career as an artist is taking off and Robin has just realized that she’s pregnant.

But when Harry gets a glimpse of Dillon on the crowded streets of Dublin, the past comes rushing back at them both. Has Dillon been alive all these years? Or was what Harry saw just a figment of his guilt-ridden imagination? With razor-sharp writing, Karen Perry’s The Innocent Sleep delivers a fast-paced, ingeniously plotted thriller brimming with deception, doubt, and betrayal.

4/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, H, RATING, Read in 2013, READING CHALLENGES 2013, SERIES, Sookie Stackhouse

2013.50 REVIEW – Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

Tara

Living Dead in Dallas
by Charlaine Harris

Copyright: 2002
Pages: 291
Rating: 4/5
Read: Nov 29 – Dec. 9, 2013
Challenge: Off the Shelf 2013
Yearly count: 50
Format: Print
Source: Personal Copy

Blurb: Cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse is on a streak of bad luck. First, her coworker is murdered and no one seems to care. Then she’s face-to-face with a beastly creature that gives her a painful and poisonous lashing. Enter the vampires, who graciously suck the poison from her veins (like they didn’t enjoy it).

Point is, they saved her life. So when one of the blood-suckers asks for a favor, she complies. And soon, Sookie’s in Dallas using her telepathic skills to search for a missing vampire. She’s supposed to interview certain humans involved. There’s just one condition: The vampires must promise to behave – and let the humans go unharmed. Easier said than done. All it takes is one delicious blonde and one small mistake for things to turn deadly…

Review: This is the second book in the Sookie Stackhouse series. I’m kind of unsure why I waited so long to start it because I’m quite enjoying it.

Overall this is a good book. It actually felt a little darker and grittier than the first installment did. It was definitely a lot more violent (if that’s not your cup of tea). But I wouldn’t consider it over the top on violence at all where it was not enjoyable … and trust me I don’t have the stomach for that stuff that I used to so I’m a pretty good judge of it now.

I’m really intrigued by the Bill/Sookie, Sookie/Eric, Eric/Bill thing that is going on. It’s obvious that Eric wants what he can’t have, but I can’t help but wonder if Sookie isn’t just a little curious about Eric either. I think it will be quite interesting to see where Ms. Harris takes all these characters.

As I said, it’s really a good book. The storyline was interesting. The writing was excellent. And it’s just a fun book in general.

Highly recommended.

Book Blitz, Pump Up Your Book

Book Spotlight: White Rogue by David Fett MD, Stephen Langford, and Connie Malcolm

Tara

White Rogue banner 7

ABOUT THE BOOK – White Rogue by David Fett MD, Stephen Langford and Connie Malcolm

White Rogue 7

Title: White Rogue
Genre: Spy Thriller
Author: Dr. David R. Fett, Stephen Langford and Connie Malcolm
Publisher: CreateSpace
Pages: 254
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1481995510
ISBN-13: 978-1481995511
Purchase at Amazon

Cold War era biological experiments are resurrected and after Boston experiences a seemingly inexplicable bio-terrorist attack, the Center for Disease Control’s Dr. Davie Richards and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Paula Mushari once again join forces to uncover who is behind it. An obscure reference to a Dresden project found amid crash site evidence marks them both for execution. Paula and Dave are forced to leave Boston in the middle of the night and head to Washington, D.C.,where they soon find that anyone they contact also becomes the target of assassins. When the daughter of the CDC’s director is taken hostage, Dave and Paula come face to face with an evil that forces them to question the very nature of duty and service to country. With the help of one man, they learn the true meaning of dark operatives while they desperately try to stop another bio-attack from happening.

About the Authors

David Fett 7DR. DAVID FETT, a board certified ophthalmologist, received his BS and Masters from MIT before earning his MD from Dartmouth Medical School. He now runs a private practice in Los Angeles and serves as an assistant clinical professor at UCLA School of Medicine. He lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife, Randi, and their four children.

 

 

Stephen Langford 7STEPHEN LANGFORD is a veteran writer/producer of over 150 hours of primetime television. He has also ventured into screenwriting and fiction. He lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife, Sandy, and their two daughters.

 

 

Connie Malcolm 7CONNIE MALCOLM is a recovering journalist who worked on The Globe and Mail in Toronto. She has worked previously on ten books of nonfiction authored by her husband, Andrew. She lives in the Los Angeles area with her husband and the youngest of their three sons.