Saturday Snippet: Xtinemay

xx

*video not mine

Sunday Snippet: Silent Queen

Hello everyone!

So today's blog post SHOULD have gone up yesterday ... but it didn't happen. Oops.

Unfortunately I was a little busy shuttling family members around and just making sure that everyone had everything, not to mention it was friends night last night! Blogging was sort of put on a backburner, but I figured I could throw a short note up today before I leave yet again.

Silent Queen was officially released on March 4th! Make sure you grab a copy so that you'll be prepped for when Theta makes its appearance.

You won't regret it.

xx
*image not mine

Tome Thursday: Poison Study

Hello everyone!

I've had some extra free time this week so I've been doing a lot of reading on the sidelines even though I still do try and do everything else that needs doing, and as a matter of fact I'm MUCH better this week at being caught up with everything!

Reading gives me power!

But there's also been A LOT of it going on. For real.

For some inexplicable reason I've been on a romance binge, even though about half of the books I read pissed me off to no end. Whether that was because the storyline was just convulted, or because the characters were absolutely extra stupid, who knows? But the books I did end up reading and liking were definitely enough to get me going on an additional romance binge, so I think I'll have to cut it short at some point with something else.

Maybe Agatha Christie.

Until then though, let's talk about Maria V. Snyder's Poison Study.

Tome Thursday: Soundless

Hello everyone!

It's time to blog about another book, and I just realized this week that I'm running low on movies to review, as in, I'm running low on the movies I've already seen and stocked up on. I think I need to revise my strategy a bit so that I can cram some more in, although to be honest I'm not entirely sure how that's going to happen.

There's just so much going on! Not only online, but away from the computer, as well, and reading has always been my escape, more so than watching something.

But I'll make it happen, somehow.

In the meantime, I'm no slacker when it comes to blogging, or at least I try not to be, although this Tuesday was a bit of a cheat as far as things go ...

Still, you enjoyed Bernard the Flamingo, right? Right?

Back to books.

And the author that I usually adore, Richelle Mead.

Tome Thursday: Blood Kiss

Hello everyone!

So I'm back to reading about vampires, which, really, shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. Every once in a while, I'll stumble over some book or book series that will give me my needed bloodsucker dose, although admittedly not everyone does it with as much fanfare as JR Ward, I think.

If anyone has been keeping track of my blog (which I hope you have, but oh well, fingers crossed!), I've been a Ward fan since a very good friend of mine introduced me to the series.

Or, well, the story goes like this: she kept on talking about it, and I sort of kept it in the back of my mind, that I have to read these books, but at the time I didn't have my ereader yet, so it was a bit of a problem until I figured out I could convert the files to PDF, which could then be read on my poor phone (the thing might have died a thousand deaths over one book ... I am still chagrined over that) to my heart's content.

And I was hooked.

Not only are these vampires badass, six-foot-sixers, the lot of them, with black belts in martial arts and zero clue in social behaviour, but they're also sexy as hell.

No surprise to anyone, then, that when the spin-off series was announced, I squealed.

Tome Thursday: The Duke of Shadows

Hello everyone!

So I've realized it's been a while since the last book that I read out of the so-called 'beach reads', or as I like to call them 'doctor novels' after a saying in my language. Basically, the point of these books is not to make much of a point in the long run, the premise is the love story and it doesn't force you to think deep thoughts while the hero and heroine are acting like Bollywood lovers ("I love you! I want to marry you!" "No, I can't!" "Come back, now I want you!" "I can't now!").

I wish I could remember precisely how or why I got to this book, because I know I realized later that there's a physical copy of it in the house, but how I got to it is a mystery. I might have seen it advertised or it popped up on Goodreads ... I'm pretty sure it wasn't recommended.

In any event, what happened was that I needed a bit of a break from my usual reading material, and this means that whenever I do this, I pick up a cheesy romance novel.

This time I went for a sort of my thing, as it was a historical romance, Meredith Duran's Duke of Shadows.

Tome Thursday: Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love.

It did not end well.

Hello everyone!

Today was spent on a lot of computer de-tox as I spend a whole lot of time behind the small screen and typing and stuff, and my arms sometimes don't agree with me about it at all. Sigh, sad panda over here.

But it turns out I can actually bake apple pie! Which, for a person who hasn't done any cooking at all in her life up until moving to the capital and starting university, is a big deal. I am at war with our oven here at home though because it almost charred it with being way too strong for the settings that were in the recipe, BUT. You win some, you lose some.

Anyway.

Back to blogging, I tweeted yesterday that I had SO MANY book reviews lined up, I actually had to double check I still have enough movies left! I've been reading books left, right and centre, although this particular one happened at the seaside while I was still on vacation, and I can cheerfully say that I read the major part of it sitting at the cafe right next to the sea, listening to the sea gulls, drinking latte and enjoying the salty breeze.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone, here we go!

Tome Thursday: The Bourbon Kings

Hello everyone!

Whew, today has been a long day. My arms are beginning to ache a little so this blog post may be a little shorter, or maybe I'll start typing and not want to stop, who knows? But I'm powering through, because I want to be on top of these posts now that I'm back, after all.

So I did have a different book lined up for this week's review, because I happened to finish a couple while I was on vacation, and since then at home, BUT.

And there's a big BUT here.

I finished one yesterday which pretty much made me do a couple of spinning circles around my room, rocking back and forth trying to figure out what the hell just happened, and on top of it all, I now have to wait a FULL YEAR before the next one's published. 

Seriously.

I am, of course, talking about JR Ward's newest book, The Bourbon Kings.

Tome Thursday: The Assassin's Blade

Hello everyone!

This week I'm going to be talking about an author and a book that I discovered completely randomly, or depending on how you look at it, but I did really, because I watched this youtube channel right here in need of some new fantasy books inspiration. Christine kindly enough provided a full list of book series that could help me with my problem, and among them were books written by someone named Sarah J. Maas.

Okay, so I will admit, I seem to be late on the Maas train, or better still the Celaena train, but in my defence I will say that a lot of my over-the-seas online friends say I live in a medieval village, so sometimes things take a bit longer to arrive here (maybe these are actually in the process of being translated? I know I saw some from a different author at one point ...).

But I digress.

I found that there's a full series of books about a strong, female lead character, and I'm always fond of those, so. Not to mention ANOTHER series of ANOTHER strong, female lead character! Gotta love this type of thing.

Tome Thursday: The Longest Ride

Hello everyone!

So I've sort of had to pace myself with this book as I was reading it, because one thing is certain, I would have probably devoured it in one whole night if I gave myself the chance.

Now, normally, when it comes to Nicholas Sparks books, I'm sort of apprehensive; mostly, because for all the salt this man has as a writer, he usually ends up killing someone off and making my tear ducts work out double time. So even though I picked this book up at the bookstore (regardless of the fact that I already have an electronic version OR that there's a nice image of Scott Eastwood on the cover, ahem) I wasn't entirely sure I wouldn't need a whole box of Kleenex the way I would usually do when it boils down to it.

The Longest Ride, being the latest of the writer's books, intrigued me, I have to say, mostly because of the trailer I saw for the movie. I have yet to see the finished product but I have every faith that it might be just as magical as the book was. Because, at the end of the day, the amount of enjoyment I got out of this was probably the most I got in a long, long time.

Tome Thursday: The Heroes of Olympus

Hello everyone!

I'm back with a book series blog post this week again! To be honest, I'm reading so many books it's getting difficult to pick one that I want to talk about ... which is definitely a sign that I should probably focus on one book at a time, huh? Maybe I'll even listen to my own advice this time haha.

Anyway, this week, I'm going to talk about the other Rick Riordan series which follows his first as a direct sequel, (the first being Percy Jackson and the Olympians, of course), picking up pretty much right after we left our characters the first time around, plus a couple of months in.: The Heroes of Olympus.

First off, let me say that while I might not have enjoyed these particular books as much as the first five, I still liked the general idea for the whole plot, and the fact that we got to revisit with some old favourites from Olympians. Some of the new characters were also very nice additions to the cast (whereas some, I could have done without). But enough dawdling!

Tome Thursday: A Night To Remember

Hello everyone!

I'm still reading too many books at a time, and revisiting some old books that I really, really love but have been around for a while, although granted I've found one that I'm definitely going to be devouring as soon as I get my hands on a copy. I'll tell you all about it later, however, as today's blog post is dedicated to a book which I had ran across by complete accident when I was a teenager, and didn't quite understand at the time of the first read. Now, however, things have changed and I'm definitely more grown up than I was ten years or so ago, and I've been in the mood currently, so I revisited it.

I'm talking about Walter Lord's 'A Night To Remember'.

For some inexplicable reason, I've been in a Titanic phase for a while now, and so I went back to our personal 'library' (no other word for the amoung of books at the house) and dug through it to find the old book which is falling apart at the seams,and the crispness of the paper makes you think it might have actually been written way back when the ship first sank. In my language, it's titled 'Titanic', and not a direct translation of the novel's actual calling. But despite the age of the translation, the message it gives out is still crystal clear.

Tome Thursday: Ross Poldark

Hello everyone!

I'm back with a book review again since it's Thursday, and honestly, I've been so into a couple of series at the moment that it's difficult to pinpoint one single book out of them to talk about! But I figure you don't want to read about series anymore at the moment, seeing as I'm cheating on my other blog entries with them, haha! Ergo, I figured I'd go to a book that's the beginning of a series, but I haven't actually read any of the others yet, so it's a safe bet that I'll only talk about this one.

Now, I didn't even know these books existed, first and foremost. And then I saw a promo video on Facebook about a new BBC series titled 'Poldark', a revival of an old one from the seventies and eighties. 

My thoughts? Well, generally I didn't have any until Aidan Turner popped up on the screen, and I swear my eyes just went somewhere between O.O and *.* (For those of you who don't know, Aidan played Kili in The Hobbit trilogy, among other roles).

Tome Thursday: Under the Eagle

Hello everyone!

Since this week is all about going back to basics, it's back to the usual 'Tome Thursday' blog posts as well, now that all the finales have been accounted for and pretty much nicely shelved under the roof. I've been reading a lot of different books at this time as well, bouncing back and forth between authors and, with the added luxury of an electronic book reader, being able to honestly read more than one book at a time without the need to pick it up in physical form. At the moment, I'm sort of going through a throwback phase, however, reading Rick Riordan and his Greek and Roman gods series, though I definitely am rediscovering just why I don't like the second one as much as the first. This phase is probably subconscious preparation for his new series, coming this summer, Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, and I mean, you KNOW it will be good if you have Thor and Odin running around. 

That being said, while I'm surfing through Greek mythology again, I've also gone back and done some other reading, too. Currently in the works is Conn Iggulden's 'Trinity', a continuation to 'Stormbird', but another series I started is from author Simon Scarrow. And if you've been following any kind of historical book updates, you'll know he writes a series about Romans.

Tome Thursday: Tiger's Curse

Hello everyone!

So every once in a while, I like to move away from what my usually-prefered books are (those would be history, mystery, vampires, and potentially thrillers, but it depends on the author really), and go for something I'm going to cry my eyes out over (I'm looking at you, Sparks), or something I don't have to hammer my brain into submission for (As in, Julie Garwood and her unusually modern heroines sometime in the 17th century, probably in Scotland, too). 

And then sometimes, I end up with something that bizzarely reminds me of Twilight.

Okay, maybe not so bad, but I think you'll get the idea.

I think I saw Colleen Houck's books in a bookstore while shopping once, but I can't be sure, although I DO know I definitely got an email about a translation that was recently published here. The tiger on the cover was what did it for me (I have a thing for tigers, or at least recently I do), and so I ended up looking up her Tiger Saga, which consists of five novels (of which the last has yet to be written) and a prequel novella: Tiger's Promise, Tiger's Curse, Tiger's Quest, Tiger's Voyage, Tiger's Destiny, Tiger's Dream. It was said to have tigers, Indian culture, romance, and the books aren't too long.

Tome Thursday: The Queen of the Tearling

Hello everyone!

It's back to the books (not the drawing board this time) and I was honestly surprised in the past week when I noticed a lot of youtube reviews popping up for the one I'm going to talk about today. It's one of those coincidences I suppose, given that I honestly hadn't thought much about it to begin with (the review I man) and obviously I seem to have missed some of the reviews in the first place when I was looking through the internet to see whether or not anyone had ever said anything about this particular book before. And how did I find it? Well, to be honest, I didn't; I had seen it in the bookstore, but after checking the back of it and reading the summary, I wasn't initially drawn to it. My mother, on the other hand, thought it might be one of those easy romance books she enjoys on her downtime, but hey presto, there's no romance in this book! So it ended up with me.

I'm talking about 'The Queen of the Tearling' by Erika Johansen, which is an interesting title all in itself without knowing the details, AND there is supposedly a movie production in the works, with Emma Watson already attached to it. Hmm, this certainly did call for a read and review!

Tome Thursday: Home to Blessing series

Hello everyone!

So this blog post will be about three books instead of just one, as it's a short book series in a much grander scheme of things, but I figured I might as well talk about the lot of them since, if you read them one by one and not as a whole, they would make zero sense at all, specifically this series because it was literally cut in such places that makes it almost impossible to comprehend if you don't immediately pick up the next one and carry on from where you left off.

I'm talking about the 'Home to Blessing' series by author Lauraine Snelling. I had a blog post way back where I talked about the first book in this world she has woven into her stories, about a family of Norwegian immigrants who cross the Atlantic to move to America and then proceed to farm the land in one of the Dakota regions. I think these three books are the ... fifth series in the whole? The Red River valley is basically home to many families by this time, an established and prosperous community, and I did enjoy the return to it. Not to mention, there are some other books to follow as well, which is fine by me!

Tome Thursday: The Rescue

Hello everyone!

So as you know, my books of choice are usually connected with either mystery, something historical, or at the moment the Black Dagger Brotherhood series (is anyone else excited for Black Dagger Legacy? Raise your hands!). I'm actually reading a number of books at the moment, namely one by Diana Gabaldon (from her Lord John series, I might do a review on it next week), the book written by Derek Hough, a book about Boudicca ... yes, I have issues. This is what happens when you have an e-reader which allows you to book jump a whole lot! But generally speaking I usually go through one or two books before starting anything new and such.

And from time to time, I also need a break from all the harrowing stuff I read, and then I decide to pick up Danielle Steel, Susan E. Phillips, or Nicholas Sparks.

Yes, Sparks.

Of course I don't pick this last choice often - mainly because his books (and movies) ALWAYS make me cry! But when I do, I just suck it up. My latest choice was 'The Rescue'.

Tome Thursday: After the Funeral, p.2

Hello everyone!

So last week, I started the review on 'After the Funeral', but since I hadn't managed to finish the book by then, I left at the point where there have been two murders (Richard Abernethie and his sister Cora), and Hercule Poirot has made his appearance, while the lawyer Entwhistle has done some poking about, and I had the feeling that there would be more murders hanging about.

I was close.

But not quite.

Tome Thursday: Last to Die

Hello everyone!

I'm normally not into this whole thriller novel kind of thing, mostly because of my fearsome, vivid imagination that gives me nightmares more often than not (and another reason why I don't watch horror movies, like, ever). But during my stay at the seaside this summer, my father brought along a couple of his books, and he's basically ALL over thrillers. The more on shock value they have, the better. Name any kind of thriller author and a book of his or hers will probably be found somewhere in our home library (no other way to call the mass of books we have in this house, I mean, come on). One of the books caught my attention because my aunt also read it, and she tends to not like those kind of reads herself: it was titled Body Double, by author Tess Gerritsen. I couldn't help myself; reading the back of the book and what it offered, I just had to dig in myself ... and couldn't stop reading or put the book down until the very last page. After getting home, I discovered it was the fourth book in a series, and decided I might as well start at the beginning.

I finished the tenth book, Last to Tie, a little while ago.

(image not mine)