Books 62 -67

#62
The Phoenix Transformed
The Enduring Flame Book 3
Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory

This Enduring Flame trilogy is set a few hundred years down the timeline from the Obsidian trilogy, which was also a collaboration between Lackey & Mallory, and so I was waiting for this conclusion for quite a long time, and it was well worth it. I would classify this not just as high fantasy, but epic fantasy, because the quest they're on will, basically, determine the fate of the entire world.

There were a few times in this book where I kind of doubted if the heroes actually would manage to pull it off, and the authors managed to surprise me right up until the end when everything got neatly tied up. I mean, there were a few loose ends, relationships that I wanted to see resolution to, & wanting to know what would happen when the survivors actually finally made it home, but overall I was satisfied.

#63
Cold Moon Rising
Tales of the Sazi Book 7
C.T. Adams & Cathy Clamp

It's been a long time, I want to say over a year, since this author duo has had a book set in this world. The Sazi are shapeshifters - not just wolves, but lions, bears, snakes - pretty much any animal. And while the series has had books from the viewpoint of various characters, this book takes us back to Tony - one of my favorites - that was a hit man for the mob before one of his targets took offense to being shot with a non-silver bullet, mauled him, and he ended up becoming a wolf. But there's plenty of room in the Sazi's organization for someone who knows how to help clean up messes.

#64
Night's Edge
Anthology (Charlaine Harris, Maggie Shayne, Barbara Hambly)

Kind of a quick fill-in book, that I mainly picked up for the Charlaine Harris short. I actually enjoyed it more than I quite expected, because while it's set in her Sookie world, none of the characters from those books showed up, we got to be introduced to a whole new group in another city.

#65
A Touch of Dead: The complete Stories
Charlaine Harris

One of my problems with Charlaine's short stories is that sometimes they fit awkwardly into the overall timeline (which is why I liked the other one above better). But I still wanted to pick this up & read the few short stories that I had been unable to locate in their original anthologies.

#66
The Lightning Thief
Percy Jackson & The Olympians Book 1
Rick Riordan

This book is being turned into a movie that is set to release in February 2010. I found out about it from my friend Sam at work, and if you are a fan of the Harry Potter books I would recommend checking out this series. It's the same kind of story, even though they don't have much in common, if that makes sense. It was a quick, fun read, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

#67
The Sea of Monsters
Percy Jackson & The Olympians Book 2
Rick Riordan

Hmmm, hard to say much about this one without giving away spoilers for the first book like about who Percy's dad turns out to be ... but I guess I can say that he does return to his old stomping grounds, but not for long before he has to go on yet another quest to save his best friend.

As usual, even after all of these, I've got a considerable pile of books out from the library, and I think 3 right now just waiting to be picked up. I'm doubting at this point I'll even hit 100 by year end, but I'm hoping that I'll make it to 80. Time will tell.

I also didn't get around to answering comments last night. I started, then my mom had to use the computer to order some tickets for my dad. I lay down to wait for her, and, well ... never quite got back up again LOL. So I'll try to finish up tonight or tomorrow. And hope you'll forgive me if I fail =) Thanks for reading.

~Colette