Nicole’s giving away a paranormal romance on October 3 and another on October 10 – stop by and leave a comment for your chance to win.
Don’t forget about Chaos’s birthday contest!
Hey, if you live within an hour of Portland, Maine, and are looking for a job (PHP hacker/JavaScript genius with library-data experience, graphic designer/user interface guru, or brainy & overworked assistant), use me as your referral and I’ll split the $1000 with you! I think working for LibraryThing would be awesome.
Did you know that it’s Banned Books Week? Like the ALA says, “Free people read books freely” and “Closing books shuts out ideas.” Some of the challenged books of 2007 include The Golden Compass, The Color Purple, To Kill a Mockingbird, the Harry Potter books, Of Mice and Men, and Slaughterhouse-Five.
Reading Update
Solstice Wood by Patricia McKillip. A contemporary fantasy about the power of handcrafters…
Summer Pleasures: Second Nature / One Summer by Nora Roberts. Although there are still an apparently infinite number of Nora Roberts books to read (you should see the stack I took back to the library unread!), I think I have this one under control now. Whew!
Any Given Doomsday (The Phoenix Chronicles, Book 1) by Lori Handeland. I received this book as an advance copy via Library Thing Early Reviewers, so you get more of a review than I usually provide. 🙂 The pros: A strong female protagonist and an intriguing premise suggest that The Phoenix Chronicles might be a worthwhile series to follow. The cons: This reminded me way too much of Anita Blake, post ardeur. Since I think the onset of the arrdeur is what turned that series from a great paranormal fantasy/romance series to a soft porn series, this wasn’t a positive association. To further the Anita Blake similarities, the protagonist, Liz Phoenix, is torn between two men – one with vampiristic characteristics, the other with wereish characteristics.
Hotter than Hell, edited by Kim Harrison. Although there were several decent stories in this collection, it wasn’t anywhere near as strong as the Dates from Hell or Holidays Are Hell collections.
Hell Hole (A John Ceepak Mystery) by Chris Grabenstein. Another intense Jersey Shore mystery – I suspect that fans of Robert B. Parker will particularly like Grabenstein’s style.
One Bite Stand (MacKenzie Vampires, Book 4) by Nina Bangs. Yes, lured by another cheesy title, I found this a surprisingly enjoyable read and will have to read the first three books now.
A Dose of Murder, The Stiff and the Dead, One Dead Under the Cuckoo’s Nest, and Deep Sea Dead (Pauline Sokol Mysteries, Books 1-4) by Lori Avocato. This humorous mystery series is strongly modeled after Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum mysteries – simply substitute Pauline for Stephanie, Jagger for Ranger, Nick for Joe, Uncle Walt for Gramma Mazur, Goldie for Lulu, Fabio for Vinny, Adele for Connie, Spanky for Rex, Connecticut for New Jersey, family dinners at the Sokols instead of at the Plums, and being a bumbling medical insurance fraud investigator for being a bumbling bounty hunter. Fortunately, the fourth book was a lot better than the third, which needed at least 100 pages hacked out of it.
“Aw, shucks, you guys. You are too kind! Thank you all.” -Chaos
I actually read a book this month and hope to read one in October as well. 🙂
You’re welcome Chaos! *beep beep beep* your cute little nose
I still shake my head when I hear how books such as The Color Purple and Of Mice and Men are challenged, or even outright banned…
I don’t do bannings! My 12 yo has read most of the “banned” books already. We are such rebels!
Huh. It’s been a while since I’ve read any Patricia McKillip…I think I’ll look for that one.
ahh banned books week, i just finished three beat poet books this weekend, i’m sure all three are on the lists
I believe I have read 3-4 of the challenged books. I lost interest in the Anita Blake books post ardeur, one of these days I will have to finish the series as I did like Jean Claude.
Either I, or my children, have read every book on that list – hurrah! Fight the Man!
Nora Roberts tends to trigger my gag reflex, but I think I need to check out some Anita Blake (pre-ardeur – whatever that means…)
So you liked Jagger did you?
I’ve scoured the shelves at the library and am about 1/2 way into “Murder on Ice” ~ A Figure Skating Mystery by Alina Adams; so far so good….I hear there are more. There are block-voting judges, spoiled athletes, egotistical coaches, and bizarrely devoted fans.
doesn’t it make you wonder HOW books get put on a challenged list? I mean really. Whoever added those needs to get a life.
I’m nearing the end of the Phoenix book now. I’m finding it pretty interesting, but I haven’t read Anita Blake. I had tried a couple times but couldn’t get into that first one. I’m thinking I’ll give it another go here at some point.
You mentioned Robert B. Parker fans might like Grabenstein. So you think that goes both ways? I’ve really enjoyed the first two Grabenstein as has my mom (thanks to Audible) but neither of us have read any Parker. Should I look into those?
I feel like reading some banned books now.
I can’t believe book banning is still an issue. *sigh*
Chris- Have you ever read “Lady Chatterley’s Lover”? It’s downright pornographic.
Certainly not for the likes of innocent kitties!
Now THAT’S a book mark!!
Still working on the favorite books post I promised… but it will be up shortly. And Thursday will be a post on banned/challenged books, I think.
Did Chaos get yummies for his birthday?
Hey my books and some unexpected sheepy/yarny fun-ness was included!! thank you so much! 🙂
Thank goodness Chaos doesn’t look so scary today!
I didn’t enjoy the other Philip Pullman’s as much as I did the Golden Compass but I loved all the Harry Potters.
Hate it when a book has 600 pages of material crammed onto 700 pages. Reminds me of all of those hour long meetings which provided us with 5 minutes of information but no munchies.
You’re welcome, Chaos. 🙂
I don’t think I’ll ever understand the purpose of banning books. More knowledge seems like the better choice.
They’re STILL banning To Kill a Mockingbird?
Read all Harry Potter books to celebrate the Banned Books Week. 🙂 Oh, I loved the Golden Compass.