Let's Talk Books!

I just want to apologize for not posting. I've been working my way through some of the most difficult days of my life and I'm finally (hopefully) seeing an end to the endless tunnel of stress, anxiety and depression.

Sooooooo....LETS TALK BOOKS!!!

Here's my plan. This first post is to give you a list of everything I've read since I last posted about books. And I've read a lot! But even better, I'm making October a review month. Every day I am going to review at least one of these books until I'm completely caught up. Or at least hopefully I'll be caught up, (I'm laughing right now, because it's going to be iffy) because I haven't posted the books I've read since June!!

So, here we go:

Books Read in July, August & September:

Shadow Bound by Rachel Vincent *****

After the Crux by Dani Worth ****

Between by Cyndi Teft ***

Glimmer by Vivi Anna ****

Knight’s Curse by Karen Duvall ***

Darkest Knight by Karen Duvall***

Tin Swift by Devon Monk ******

This Dark Earth by John Horner Jacobs *****

Tainted Night, Tainted Blood by E.S. Moore ****

Dawning by Vivi Anna ****

Dark Beauty by Taryn Browning *

Unbound by Adriane Ceallaigh **

Bloodlines by Richelle Mead ****

The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead ****

Third Grave Dead Ahead by Darynda Jones *****

Gunmetal Magic by Ilona Andrews *****

Bait Dog by Chuck Wendig *****

All Seeing Eye by Rob Thurman *****

A Wolf at the Door by K.A. Stewart *****

Anna Dressed In Blood by Kendare Blake ****

Technomancer by B.V. Larson ****

Under the Moon by Natalie J. Damschroder  ****

No Peace for the Damned by Megan Powell ****

Blood and Feathers by Lou Morgan ***

Precinct 13 by Tate Hallaway ****

Biting Cold by Chloe Neill *****

Haunted by Jeanne C. Stein *****

Mockingbird by Chuck Wendig ******

Taken by Benedict Jacka *****

Ashes of Honor by Seanan McGuire *****

In A Fix by Linda Grimes ****

The Killing Jar by Justin Zimmerman ***

Awakenings by Edward Lazellari **

Always the Baker, Never the Bride by Sandra D. Bricker *

Necromancing the Stone by Lish McBride *****

Vampire Assassin by Samantha Warren **

Like I said, its a LONG list - 36 books. My scale 0-6 Stars.

0 stars means I didn't even attempt to finish and is my own private list. I don't mention them because I don't want to crush any author. If you write, you put your heart and soul into it and you don't need anyone telling you that's worth shit. (Mom always said, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all - its good, solid advice.) BTW, its a very short list since I find redeeming qualities in pretty much every book.

1 star means I skipped large portions of the book because it didn't appeal to me personally, and I'm happy to share why with these books because someone else might actually enjoy them for the very reason I disliked them.

2 stars means I skipped small portions of the book because I had issues with some aspect of it. 

3 stars is a good book. It probably has minor flaws in my opinion with plot or character or world building, but I would still recommend it. 

4 stars is a good book, leaning toward great.

5 stars is a great book with well developed plot, characters and world. 

6 stars is a book that knocked me on my ass with its brilliance.

So, welcome to October - my favorite month of the year! Why? Because it ends with Halloween (my favorite holiday) and contains my birthday. Yay! This year I turn 50! Scary, hunh? Well, not so much. You see, my older sister turned 50 last year, so in the true spirit of sisterhood, I spent the last year telling people I was almost 50 in solidarity. So, it's not such a big deal. What that has to do with books, I don't know. And you know what? 50 really isn't all that old mentally. I can't do cartwheels anymore, but I still love microbrew beer and angsty indie rock music, and I'm still a hardcore video game junkie. 

I will be posting my first review later today.

Karen

Remember how I was going to talk books??...

I was totally serious. The problem is, my life for the last month has been what I like to call The Month Of Surgeries & Scary Moments.

The good news is, after a second surgery - this time at Dana Farber (well, Brigham & Women's to be technical) - kiddo is healing up nicely. We've been running around for the last week shopping for everything he needs for college. Yes, he IS going. That was in doubt for a good week & believe me, I was freaking out about it. But I'm smart and resourceful. I sat him down and told him if he didn't go, he would have to get a job (gasp) and pay rent (eek) and do his own laundry (gulp) and learn to drive (agh). It took about 24 hours for that to absorb and then he announced he was going. Woot!

I'm going to miss him horribly. I've been packing him up all day today. We drop him off tomorrow. But as much as I'm going to be having The Empty Nester Blues, I want this to work for him desperately. Cross your fingers everyone.

While all the medical crisis with my son was going on, a separate and equally scary medical crisis was unfolding with my father. Two weeks ago, he had his gall bladder removed after it was determined the fucker was doing more harm than good. What has ensued is a series of disasters - and yes, he's still in the hospital (and probably will be for another week at least), but he's on the mend. Finally. 

I have a stack of books to blog about. Cross my heart and hope to ... ummm ... well, not die. Geez. If I say that, it might just happen considering everything that's gone down since the beginning of July. So, don't give up on me. I'm going to have lots of time on my hands to blog. Lots. Of. Time. *sob*

What the hell am I going to do with myself? I've been in full-time mom mode for 17 very long years...This is so weird.

When Life Hands You Lemons, Chew Them Up & Spit Them In It's Face

I swear, I am trying to separate my personal life from this blog. I have a boatload of books I read in July - and I can't wait to blog about them.

Right now, I'm sitting in my armchair watching my kid sleep. We got back from Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston about an hour ago and we're all pretty exhausted. If you didn't catch my last (somewhat ranty) post, I hinted at what we've been dealing with. I'm just going to briefly share a reader's digest version of the last month.

7/4 - kid notices weird bulge on hip
7/5 - bulge is bigger and weirder; we go to local ER; ultrasound shows a mass the size of an egg; follow up xray shows no other growths; meet with surgeon who says no biggie, let's give it a week; believes its a pocket of bloody tissue from a bad bruise; schedule appt in his office to re-examine & maybe remove
7/7 - back in ER; mass bigger & darker; CAT scan shows no significant change but they encourage us to try to see surgeon sooner
7/11 - surgery to remove growth in office; things go horribly wrong; removal almost causes kid to bleed out; thankfully dr is prepared tho he had a moment of panic; dr says should have been done in hospital, but feels nothing to worry about - thinks its a blood clot from ruptured blood vessel
7/18 - follow up with surgeon; they take me to private room & tell me kiddo has hemangioendothelioma, a rare malignant vascular tumor - so rare dr knows nothing about it; refers us to Dana Farber; says he doesn't think he got it all out; he's traumatized, so are we
(A week of chaos & emotional upheaval ensues.)
7/25 - meet with dr at Dana Farber; says it IS an extremely rare vascular tumor but its benign; it is so rare that there are only 30 cases worldwide that have been recorded since 1990; there is no name for it & only anectdotal information available; schedules us to meet with surgeon
8/2 (today) - we met with surgeon who repeats what first doc said; adds that it can come back locally if not completely removed; schedules MRI for tomorrow; next week kiddo has Freshman Summer Institute for college; the following Mon will meet with anesthesiologist; surgery to go back in and make sure its all out scheduled that week so he has time to heal before college starts 9/2.

As you can guess from that, its been a traumatic month. We went from the high of kiddo going off to live at college, to preparing ourselves for the reality of him dying within the next few years, to discovering he's going to live but preparing for more surgery and regular follow ups for the rest of his life and back to him going away to college.

Books have been my refuge through this, they've been my buffer from the real world which has been at times too much to bear. But we're here, we're functioning and kiddo is going to live! We're taking that and running with it.

My next post will be about nothing but books. Promise.
Karen

What the hell is going on? My thoughts on Goodreads

I have to admit, I haven't followed the whole Goodreads fiasco. To be honest, I don't even know what started it other than what little references to it I've seen in authors' and other bloggers' posts. It all seems kind of ridiculous to me.

I'm one of four sisters, all raised in the same house, all within 4 years of age of each other. We are all avid readers. We all had access to the same books growing up. But ... Oh my God ... We all like different books, different genres and different authors! How can this be?

Shhhh. Lean in close and I'll tell you.... We are all different. Thats it. Thats the secret. No two people are going to like exactly the same things, no matter how much alike they are.

So here is my advice...

For reviewers:

If you didn't like the book you read, that's okay. Taste is subjective. You have every right to say so. But explain why, for God's sake. Was it the characters, the world building, the pacing, the dialogue, the genre? Or did it strike a negative cord based on your life experiences? These are all fair and acceptable reasons to not like a book.

However, it is not okay to attack an author personally. If you don't like them for whatever reason, use the good sense your mother gave you and keep it to yourself. That has nothing to do with their book. And giving a negative review to a book because you don't like an author's lifestyle or opinions, is just mean-spirited.  Cut it out.

If you're giving a negative review just because you're a miserable person. and you can leave a negative review...well, that makes you an asshat. Grow up and find something useful to do with your life.

For authors:

Not everyone will like your book. Taste is subjective. Most readers pick the books they read based on their tastes, and they don't really give a shit about the reviews. A large number of them don't even read reviews. I have actually bought books based on negative reviews. Relax. Give readers some credit. We can tell when someone is just being a douchecanoe. Its pretty obvious when someone is just out to attack a book because they can.

Don't do stupid things like post personal info about a blogger who has pissed you off. Use the good sense your mother gave you. Thats not only mean spirited, its dangerous. You don't know what kind of whack-a-doodles might be out there reading your post. Is your offense over some dickhead insulting your book/you so huge that you would want them to be maimed or killed by some unbalanced fan? Seriously?!? That makes you ten times the asshat of the person who posted the review, even if they are a complete asshat to the tenth degree.

Look, life is short people. I'm sitting here tonight trying to wrap my head around the fact that my 17 yr old son has an extremely rare vascular cancer that has no known effective treatment and you're getting all pissy because someone doesn't like you. Kind of puts your temper tantrums into perspective, doesn't it?

Grow the fuck up. Grow a thicker skin. And quit being a douchebag because you can.

The world would be a much nicer place if we all made an effort to take care of each other, rather than trying to undo each other. We are all unique with unique tastes and unique views. That, in itself, is a fucking miracle. Appreciate it.

Karen

A Link to a Vent...

I'm attempting to separate my life from my blog a little bit. I created a second blog for myself to talk about Aspergers and the challenges it presents in our daily lives. For those who have no desire to read about it, just ignore the link. For those who are interested in what life is like for someone with social deficits and for their family, feel free to follow the link. What you will read might make you rethink the way you treat people. My posts are honest and frank. They are often painfilled. Life is never simple, that's for sure.
Karen

Link: http://adailydoseofaspergers.blogspot.com/

Books Read in June (I think)

First, I have to say if you're going to read as many books as I do, you have to remember to log them in. In that, I was epic fail (taking a term my son loves). I have my list - but, unfortunately, I'm pretty sure I'm missing a book or two.

That being said, lets talk books:

Fated by Benedict Jacka *****

Cursed by Benedict Jacka *****

The first two books I read in June were Fated and Cursed by Benedict Jacka. I don't know why I didn't expect to like these books...I think maybe is was the less than spectacular cover. In fact, I overlooked them several times until I read a review of them and decided to try them. Am I ever glad that I did because they were fantastic. The books revolve around Alex Verus, a diviner mage. Basically, he can see all the potential paths in a situation - a very useful trait. I loved the world that Benedict Jacka created. The characters were strong and understandable. The stories were fast paced and exciting, with a lot of action. I can't wait for the next one! 

Jenny Pox by J.L. Bryan ***

This was an e-reader book about a girl who is born with the ability to cause lesions and kill just by touching someone. She's spent her entire life being "the freak" because she has to cover herself up to keep from touching accidentally. Her father is an alcoholic, her mother died giving birth to her. She's tragic. Enter a scrawny, abused dog and a boy who has his own unique power, and the story becomes something more. It's about love, loss, hope, doing the right thing and being strong when you want to give up. I've already invested in the sequels. 

Caleb by Sarah McCartney *

Remember my post about things that annoy me in a book? Okay, this book was not for me. Don't get me wrong, it's well written in many ways but I (a) had a problem with the whole concept of her vampires - because I'd totally kill them all and (b) didn't really like the heroine and (c) got very very tired of the sex, which (sorry) was kind of repulsive to me. Seriously, the girl needed to start wearing skirts if every time she and her vampire man were together he used his claws to slice open the crotch of her jeans so he could fuck her. Ick.

Sterling by Dannika Dark **

Another e-book. I liked this book for the most part. The main character, Zoe, is attacked on her way home from work and the attacker does something to her. A man rescues her and when she comes to, she discovers she's no longer herself - by that I mean she's completely physically transformed and she's developed some unusual powers. I thought the characters were interesting, but I got a little frustrated that Zoe went from one guy to another guy to another guy just because they came along and said they could helps  her. It would have been better if it was more in-depth, both in the world and the development of the characters. Still, I didn't hate the book and I liked the end enough that I bought the sequel. I actually want to find out what happens. It was a good first novel.

Reaper by Mina Carter ***

This e-book was an interesting take on the end of the world as we know it. Andy is a reaper. She sees ghosts and sets them free from their attachment to this world. But she also takes care of bad things. Mason is living in a settlement which is being harrassed by werewolves. The people of the settlement don't like strangers. Mason and Andy find themselves in a situation where they have to fight to protect the life he's created. It's worth reading.

Finding Magic by Stacia Kane *****

Chasing Magic by Stacia Kane ******

I think I'm pretty clear in that I would bow down and worship at Stacia Kane's feet. I connect with her books and her main characters on a visceral level. Her writing is amazing. The world she's created is amazing. And I own this series in both paperback and e-reader. If it was published in hardcover, I'd pounce on it. A must own!

Silver by Rhiannon Held *****

This book was another one that caught me by surprise. It's main characters are werewolves, but it's not truly a werewolf story. It's more of a story of loss and redemption, of pushing on when there's no reason to, of doing the right thing even if it means walking away from everything you've built for yourself. I loved this story. I was close to tears at points. I stayed up until I couldn't keep my eyes open to read it. I highly recommend it.

Dark Frost by Jennifer Estep ****

I love Jennifer Estep's Mythos series - about a gypsy girl who attends a school with the sons and daughters of gods. Dark Frost picks up where the last book left off. It's action packed with humor and plenty of angst. Another one you should read.

Blood Kin by M.J. Scott ****

This book isn't my normal reading. It's set in an alternate world and I sometimes get frustrated with that, but I loved it because of the world. The main character is a thief for hire. There are Templars, vampires and werewolves. There's political intrigue. What I liked best was the world itself (not that I didn't love the characters - I did), but the world had this feel of a victorian era and yet it felt completely modern as well. I can't explain it better than that. I definitely recommend it tho. 

So...that's the list for June that I can remember. I'm 100% sure there should be two more books on that list, but I'm damned if I can remember what they are. It's...well...frustrating. Damned ADD.

Happy Reading!

Karen

Oh CRAP!

I was going to do a rundown of the list of books I read in June only I didn't log my books for the month!!! *Runs screaming thru the house in horror*

Where is my brain?? Who stole my brain?? Aghhh! *Grabs iPad and runs for the bookshelves*

....I'll be back.