Clean out your E-reader Challenge!!!

I'm so excited to commit the entire month of November to reading books I eagerly one-clicked and then neglected. All of them deserve attention, so here it goes. They range from paranormal to contemporary and from YA to whoa baby. I might not make it to all the books here, but I'll do my best. Thank you to Fantasy is More Fun and Because Reading is better than real life. This is an awesome reading challenge!


Prince of Wolves by Quinn Loftis first came to my attention from a barista at one of my favorite coffee shops and then this awesome shifter book just sat there neglected.







Obsession by Jennifer Armentrout was all over the blogsphere months ago and I quickly one-clicked then moved on. The cover is so hot.








Sterling by Dannika Dark is a series I might have missed out on if it weren't Lexxie's Sidekick Showcase posts. I can't wait to dive in!








Clutch (I am just Junco) by JA Huss is a total favorite of Bookworm Brandee. I'm telling you the girl is nuts for J.A. Huss (for good reason).








Persephone's Orchard by Molly Ringle has such a pretty cover, but it was Jaclyn's review that sold me on this book.








Winter's Thaw by Jayne Rylon and Mari Carr is total grown up fun and I'm looking forward to it! These two ladies know how to write steamy stories.








Tempting the Best Man by L.Lynn is another dose of hot goodness. What a cover!









Holding On and Letting Go by K.A. Coleman is another book I would have missed if it weren't for the wonderful blogging world. Donnie Darko Girl just loved this story.

Think Out Loud [30] My Ghost Story

At the beginning of my senior year of high school my mom flew off to Hawaii to get my sister settled into college. I was happy to be home alone with the occasional check-in by her boyfriend. The forecasters announced a tropical depression before I went to bed. That morning they changed their tune completely. Super typhoon. Direct hit. I had four dogs at home and me. Then the power was out. The winds slammed the house so fast I only managed shutters on half of the house. Then the rain came. I heard a huge crash, so I ran into the living room. My feet sloshed through two inches of water. I looked outside. A small boat had flown into the back of my car. I turned around and finally noticed that the living room had flooded. I slid my feet over the wet marble, kicked water at the dogs in a playful gesture, and then froze. Their eyes were glued to the corner. I'd never seen them spooked until that moment. I stupidly tiptoed over to get a closer look and jumped back. The corner was dry as a bone. At the sound of whining I looked back at the dogs. In unison they were tracking something I couldn't see. First with their eyes, then their heads moved like some crazy choreographed dog dance. More whining, some whimpering by me, then actual ripples rolled down their backs in spastic body shudders. I wasn't kicking water around anymore that's for sure. I inched away from the freaky corner, but then the dogs yelped and raced into my room and jumped into my bed. 

The End of a Beloved Series. Crap!

I just read Rachel Caine's newsletter stating Daylighters would be the last installment in the Morganville series. What!? No. Wait. I thought I had more time. I'm not prepared. I love this series.

I'm the first person to say a TV or book series went on too long, but rationalizing a series' end when it's the right time feels like a well thought out break up. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Friends, Angel, Monk, Stargate SG-1, Battlestar Galactica, all shows that ended on the right note at the right time, but that I still miss. Firefly and Wonderfalls are two shows that ended before their time and I still growl about it, mostly Firefly because that was pure awesomeness.

When Richelle Mead's Succubus series ended I paced around my apartment, book in hand, plotting the spinoff. I've never written fanfiction before, but that would have been my first if I knew what it was back then.

As a reader, what are we to do at the end of our favorite stories? Savor the experience? Spin the rest of the tale in our heads? Shrug it off and move on? Get on Goodreads and open a discussion? Whine in a blogpost? Sadness.

To Prologue or Not to Prologue

New writers are notorious for massive info dumps in the early pages of their precious novels (I'm talking about me here). It's a struggle for every writer to ride the fine line between enticing a reader into the world you created for them and holding hands from start to finish.

So what about prologues as a device to alleviate those massive paragraphs of backstory? As a reader, I love books with short prologues because they give me a glimpse the first chapter can't. Not really a preview, but a domain of questions I must have answered, must as in, I must keep reading. As a writer, prologues are plain fun to write.

Two books immediately come to mind when I think of fantastic prologues, Poison Princess by Kresley Cole and Bound by Night by Larissa Ione. Oh my goodness, talk about being left breathless on the edge of a cliff. So I'm wondering about prologues, when and how to use them. When they should have been left out of the book. When they're just another form of hand holding the reader.

How do you all feel about prologues?

(By Mike DelGaudio (Flickr) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)

Sidekick Showcase [34] Creatures of the Night- Defanged Vamps

Creatures of the night month is on its last weekend! My boys have their costumes. Two Face for Will and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle for John. Not very scary. And it turns out that a lot of the characters in the books I love that start out scary turn into fluffy bunnies at some point. So I'm choosing one character that has fluffy potential in future books, but right now with his titanium fangs, huge size, and hatred for humans, he freaks me out. I'm choosing Myne from Larissa Ione's Bound by Night. I just finished reading it today and Myne is still on my mind. The guy can rip a person's head off with his fangs. Why are they shiny and metal you may ask? Because evil humans defanged him. Oh, boy. So when he bites, it hurts. I'm thinking when it's time for his story, the girl is going to be a bit of a masochist. Yikes! Or maybe they'll figure out a way to give him back his awesome vamp sex elixir that all the best paranormal romance books have including this one. If you're wondering what this hunka biting scariness looks like, he's 6'5, black hair, Native American heritage. His hobbies include hunting humans, drinking alcohol as a means of therapy, hunting some more.

"He relishes this. What a bastard. And what the hell was up with his fangs?
"My fangs?...What, do I have something in them? Yo, Rike. Do I have a piece of that...dude in my teeth?" (pg. 35)

"Adrenaline adds a pleasantly piquant note to the blood." (pg 37)

"Can Riker come out to play?" Myne asked.
"Depends." Riker narrowed his eyes at his friend. Myne often had a skewed view on what was fun. "What are we playing?"
"Poach the Poachers." (pg. 167)

Sidekick Showcase, previously known as Sidekick Saturday, is a weekly bookish meme, hosted here by Jaclyn at JC's Book Haven. There are many secondary characters that are as great as the primaries. In some cases, the sidekicks actually steal the show and you like them better than the heroine or hero. Maybe they didn't have enough page time for how great they were. Anyone can play along! I will post my Sidekicks on Saturday, then whichever day during the week that you would like to post yours, you can put your link in on my page. Just do the following:

• Choose a sidekick *or someone other than the hero or heroine* that you would like to put in the spotlight that fit's in the week's topic

• Share a picture (if you can) and information about the character

• Give the title and author of a book the character can be found in
• Please don't include too many spoilers when describing why the character is such a great sidekick
• The day of your post, put your link in below and grab the code for your post so you can see the others that post their's throughout the week as well

Think Out Loud [29] Bullying Starts Real Young

I planned to gush about the writer's conference I attended over the weekend because I had been thinking nonstop about the wonderful people, workshops, and awesome Butt In Chair Challenge meant to inspire writers to finish that damn book. I have a fun paranormal story idea and everything. Then bam. Life.

This morning I fired my younger son's school because they failed to protect him from bullying. Yep. I yanked him out and I'm homeschooling him until he's placed in a new school. My four year old has a bruise on his cheek. He's been punched in the eye, the stomach. He's been teased, had his things yanked from his hands and thrown on the floor. He's been spit on. All in one month. The school failed him. I failed him. My voice wasn't loud enough. My conversations and eye witness statements to the teacher were not enough. How come? I know the world of hitting. I was hit in school, not by students. My teachers had a fondness for paddles, wide and skinny, with and without holes. They liked metal rods and rulers. I developed my "fuck them" attitude before I was ten years old. I learned if you cry you could get away with five paddles instead of fifteen, but it's not worth how much you hate yourself for crying in front of the whole class. I learned to take it with my chin high and my mind wandering. I don't want John to learn that shit. So I fired them. Hard, with a hard voice. The girl who tried her best not to burn bridges because motherhood and divorce taught me to play nice burned a few in a matter of hours and more are lined up. I see a lot of tantrumming hugs in my future. A lot of conflict resolution. I see deadlines being pushed back and blog posts being neglected, but John will heal from this. We all will.

Think Out Loud is a mind freeing meme. Post whatever you want because we're paying attention. Promise.

(By Venera N. Lekaj - Lela (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)

Poetry time! robgirlbooks' Review of Transitions by Greg Schroeder

Transitions
by Greg Schroeder
Published by CreateSpace (10/4/13)
Poetry
4 STARS
(author provided me with an e-copy for an honest review)

Pictures of nature flowed in and out of my mind frequently as I read Transitions. Many of the poems take you through the changing seasons, some pull you right into Hurricane Sandy and the harsh aftermath. I felt the wind crashing on shore with the unforgiving tide. I felt the darkness of no power and little hope.

My favorite poems revolved around parenthood. A father watched his son play a sport in Dichotomy. The words built until I was thrown back in time to the days when my dad cheered me on from the stands. The poem Slowing was so fun I could see it as a children's book. And Depths drew me into a love story I wasn't ready to leave.

The word choice went from down to earth to whimsical to scholarly. I loved the calm that came over me as I read the poems, but I had to take my time or my mind skipped over the meaning. Greg Schroeder writes daily life poems. There are static moments like working in a cubicle with no window. There are times when you come home from a busy day and find nature putting on a show and doing her best to be just as noisy. I enjoyed the humor, the hope, and Greg's ability to make his words ring true.

I Want to hug this adorable bear! robgirlbooks' Children's Book Review of Faux Paw by Julia Dweck

Faux Paw
Written by Julia Dweck
Illustrated by Walter Carzon
Published by Xist Publishing (10/22/13)
Children's digital
5 STARS
(author sent me an e-copy for an honest review)

Sometimes a children's book serves the parent as much as the child. Faux Paw is that book. Little Waldon Bear is in the wonderful animal stage. Where my four year old boy pretends to be a cat day and night, Waldon wants to be a bear. He tells this to his set-in-her-ways teacher. She shuts him down, but when he gets home his observant mother asks him what's wrong. Because she's so awesome, she makes him a bear costume and gives him a permission slip to be a bear at school. Oh, does this irk his teacher. When another child in the class decides to act like an animal too, the teacher blames our cute little bear and calls his mother. Guess who gets put in her place? Yep, the teacher, and in the best way!

Faux Paw was a delight to read and read and read because my son insisted, "Again, again!" We also had great fun with the bear facts page and the match the animal print page. The takeaway lessons are to celebrate creativity, allow children to explore who they want to be, pay attention and ask your kids what's wrong when their behavior is off, stand up for what you believe in, and finally support who you believe in. I just loved this book!

I'm Crazy About Kate Daniels! Mega-Review Marathon Time!

I love Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels Series so much I fell into a reading marathon. Did I take notes as I hurried from one book to the next? No. It was a blast! So here's a hardcore review marathon. You can catch my review of Magic Bites (book 1) HERE.

5 STARS!! In Magic Burns (book 2) Kate is somehow even more badass than ever before. She gets a phone call for a job which leads to nonstop action. There is so much magic in this installment I waited for my usual reaction of zoning out. That did not happen. I also waited for more Curran and that did happen. Kate runs into a couple kids who managed to get themselves smack dab in the middle of the melee and we get to see our favorite herione's maternal side, uh, more like favorite violent auntie side. We also get to watch Kate fight her instincts to hold everyone at arm's reach. She's an emotional, caring, homicidal girl. I like that.

5 STARS!! Magic Strikes (book 3) pulls us into the world where Kate has connections and people she worries about. Part of her always wants to flee because she was raised to stay safe, aloof, hidden, and lethal. In this installment we're neck deep in mysterious deaths, magic, and gore because where there's magic there's weird shit. I'm telling you Ilona Andrews has an M.C. Escher sort of mind, but not black and white, blood red. The best part of this story is watching Kate and Curran interact with each other. The other best part is the action as always. I can't believe it, but I get giddy when the swords come out to play!

5 STARS!! Magic Bleeds (book 4) has some of the creepiest, uckiest (not a word) scenes ever! There were scenes where I shook my head, "No more, Kate! Look away. Stop looking. Stop thinking about what you're looking at. Please!" If you ever watched the movie Legion with Paul Bettany and the guy we thought was dead started bloating while restrained somehow (can't remember that part on account of shaking my head and closing my eyes). Well, Kate never backs down or closes her eyes. She's amazing! And scared all the time. My heart raced through the whole story. There's romantic drama along the lines of teen romance shows, but I needed the relief from the death. There is also the most awesome foe, scene stealing, I'm telling you!

5 STARS!! Magic Slays starts off kind of slow for all of four or five pages, then bam. Vampire on the loose. This series has the best vamps because they're just mindless fiends controlled by a navigator. They crawl up walls and open their mouths only to have the voice of the person controlling them come out. Freaking scary. A loose vamp is very bad. But it doesn't happen often, especially with a Master of the Dead. Enter Kate and her sword. This installment wrenched my heart this way and that. Every time the world hurt Kate my breath hitched because that's how deep you fall into her story. One of the neatest aspects was the strange mix of Middle Ages meets 24 (the TV series).

4 STARS! Magic Rises (book 6) was what I call an "on location" book. Most of our favorite series set in a main location has an installment where the heroine packs up and travels for the majority of the story. Thing is I always end up getting homesick. I want the setting I've grown to know. I want the familiar faces. The other new thing was all the humor. Kate is a funny girl with all her why me's and her lack of social skills, but I laughed out loud many times the first few chapters. It worried me that everyone was going to die. I'm not sure if that was a device to build up the worry or a device to make it up to us or just the mood the author was in. I also got lost in the back story because there was so much of it, pages of it. Names and lore and I felt like I was in class with the air conditioning on high. There was also a great deal of relationship and insecurity drama that I was frustrated for a good portion of the book. I loved the battles...so much! I loved one of the bad guys...so much again. Curran made me growl. Kate made me shriek. Andrews made me cry.