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Sunday, November 28, 2010

2010 Books 49 - 61

I'm pretty much seriously doubting I'll make my goal of 100 books for the year - I'd have to read like a book a day for the rest of the year, and I don't think that's going to be happening, with holiday shopping & cooking & everything else!  But here's what I've been reading lately:
 
Courting Midnight (The Upyr Series, Book 5) (Berkley Sensation)#49
Emma Holly
Fitz Clare Chronicles Book 5
Historical Paranormal Romance
 
This book follows Lucius - the eldest living upyr, and the last who remembers the very beginning of their race.
 
Twice Bitten (Chicagoland Vampires, Book 3)#50
Chloe Neill
Chicagoland Vampires Book 3
Urban Fantasy/Paranormal
 
Not my favorite book of the series - too much setting up of things.  Which I suppose is a good thing, if I want this to be a long-running series, but I think there could have been some more actual action going on.
 
Kissing Midnight (Fitz Clare Chronicles)#51
Emma Holly
Fitz Clare Chronicles Book 6
Historical Paranormal Romance
 
Breaking Midnight (Berkley Sensation)#52
Emma Holly
Fitz Clare Chronicles Book 7
Historical Paranormal Romance
 
Saving Midnight (Berkley Sensation)#53
Emma Holly
Fitz Clare Chronicles Book 8
Historical Paranormal Romance
 
These were the first 3 books of the series that really almost stood alone as a trilogy - following the same characters throughout the books rather than just being set in the same world as the rest of the series.
 
Dark and Stormy Knights#54
Anthology
Urvan Fantasy/Paranormal
 
This anthology featured short stories by:  Ilona Andrews, Jim Butcher, Shannon K. Butcher, Rachel Caine, P.N. Elrod, Deidre Knight, Vicki Pettersson, Lilith Saintcrow, and Carrie Vaughn.
 
I liked this anthology because the stories were a little longer- if you get over 10 authors, sometimes the stories almost seem too short to even bother with.
 
Immortal Sea (Children of the Sea)#55
Virginia Kantra
Children of the Sea Book 4
Paranormal Romance
 
Until this book, the series has mostly been focusing on the selkie, but this book gets more into the finfolk - who are more powerful in that they can take on the form of any creature in the sea, rather than just seals.  They don't have any skins to be stolen either, making them less vulnerable than their kin.
 
Path of the Sun: A Novel of Dhulyn and Parno#56
Violette Malan
Dhulyn & Parno Book 4
Fantasy
 
Not exactly a cliffhanger ending, but I will say that there were more loose ends left hanging that I'd prefer LOL - at least considering there is no release date for the 5th book yet!
 
The Demon's Daughter (Tales of the Demon World, Book 1)#57
Emma Holly
Tales of the Demon World Book 1
Historical Paranormal Romance
 
Wasn't quite sure whether to classify this as Historical Paranormal or Steam-Punk ... somewhat of a fine line I suppose, and kind of open to interpretation.
 
The Truth of Valor (Valor Novel)#58
Tanya Huff
Confederation  Book 5
Sci-Fi
 
I used to read a lot more sci-fi than I do now, but there are still a few series that I can't pass up when a new book comes out & this is one of them.  I actually kind of thought that book 4 might be the last one, because things seemed to be neatly wrapped up - but of course things are never that simple for Torin.
 
First Blood#59
Anthology
Paranormal Romance
 
This anthology featured short stories by:  Susan Sizemore Erin McCarthy, Chris Marie Green, and Meljean Brook.
 
I originally picked up this anthology for the Guardians short story (Meljean Brook) & it took me just forever to get through the rest of the stories.  Of the other 3 authors, I think only one of them would I care to read again.
 
Side Jobs: Stories From the Dresden Files#60
Jim Butcher
Dresden Files - Anthology
Urban Fantasy/Paranormal
 
This anthology is a collection of all the Dresden Files short stories, plus a brand-new novella that takes place after the last book, Changes.  I had my hopes that it would take the edge off of the cliffhanger that book ended with, since Ghost Stories isn't due out until spring 2011 - but no such luck.  Although it starts mere hours after the end of Changes, the entire story is narrated by Murphy, and no further clues to Harry's fate were given.
 
Intrigues: Book Two of the Collegium Chronicles (A Valdemar Novel)#61
Mercedes Lackey
Valdemar - Collegium Chronicles Book 2
Fantasy
 
I have been reading the Valdemar series since I was about 12 LOL.  It's always a world that I enjoy, even if things are a little more black & white - simple - than in other series that I love for their complexity.

So, now I'm caught up for the moment posting books =)  A pile out from the library, as usual, but I've just been having trouble fitting reading time in - so many other things I am equally behind with that clamor for what little free time I have.  What do you have a bookmark in at the moment?

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

8 comments:

  1. YAY! Love your book reviews. Thanks to you I'm hooked on Jim Butcher's Dresden Files like crack. :)
    Reading 100 books in a year is quite a lofty goal...one I'm sure I wouldn't meet either.

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  2. I love it when you post these up. Gives me some ideas of what to look at next. Currently I am on the Dresden Files complete series. I'm reading Small Favor, but I have them all. Glad to hear he's still writing about Harry, I like the character very much.

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  3. LEONE & ELIZABETH - Yeah, Harry is like one of my favorite characters ever! Jim's other series, the Codex Alera, is one of my super-favoritest ever also. I recently learned it came about as the result of a bet - that a good idea could come from 2 bad ideas or something like that. The 2 bad ideas were the lost 9th Roman legion & Pokemon LOL

    LEONE - The reason I was aiming for 100 is because last year I only read 70 - which sounds great, but in 2008 I read 130! That was before I started blogging though =)

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  4. How can you even read that much while blogging? I feel sick at the amount of books I've read this year. Probably under twenty. I can remember when I used to read 6 a week easily. I will have to add some of these books to my list. I read the Emma Holly trilogy. Loved them and wish there were more. I read the new books by Jim Dresden. There are two in the series so far. I have to read the other series. I've read lots of good things about them. I didn't even check out your complete booklist yet. Like I need to add more books to my lists. If you saw how many lists of books I have you'd be hysterical. Since I've discovered the internet, blogs and Facebook games my reading has gone to hell!

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  5. i've become hooked on reading paranormal romances: vampires/ demons/ shifter

    that is all. haha,I haven't been able to shift to historical or futuristic novels yet because there are too many vamp/ shifter etc books to read.

    also....when i read.. i read like crazy to the point of no sleeping so that I can finish an entire series up to the most recent book. im addicted!

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  6. Hey Colette!

    I am an HUGE reader and thinking about starting my own blog with nail art, novels read, and cooking experiments. I love that you added these in here! I just recently found your blog and am enjoying catching up. :) Anyway, I noticed that you are a fan of paranormal romance (which is my favorite genre)...have you read all of Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series? Or any of Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark-Hunter series? Great novels IMO! Super interesting blog and I look forward to reading more from you in both nail adventures and novel completions! :)

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  7. LUCY - If nothing else, I always have at least an hour to read at lunch between a half hour lunch & 2 15 min breaks =)

    SHORTWIDENAILS - there are a lot of great paranormal authors out there, I agree!

    JENNA LYNNE - yes, I've read all of the Anita books, they are some of my favorite! Also Laurell's other series, Meredith gentry, I was dissapointed there was no fall release in that series like there normally is. I haven't read Sherrilyn Kenyon other than a few short stories but she's on my list =)

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  8. Karen Marie Moning is absolutely my favorite author ever. Her Fever series is AMAZING! I was stoked to see it on your 2010 list! Exactly 3 weeks from today the final installment, ShadowFever comes out!

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Thanks for commenting! I will read every comment, and try to respond to any questions =)