Books read in April 2011 - Total 13

It was a slower month for me. I'm tired. But I did read some good books....

5 STARS

Magic on the Hunt by Devon Monk
Strange Angels ^ Betrayals ^ Jealousy ^ Defiance by Lilith Saintcrow (or Lili St. Crow)

4 STARS

Boys that Bite ^ Stake That ^ Girls that Growl ^ Bad Blood ^ Night School by Mari Mancusi
Master and Apprentice by Sonya Bateman
Dark Descendant by Jenna Black

3 STARS

The Poison Eaters by Holly Black

Once again, Lilith Saintcrow and Devon Monk don't disappoint. They are two of my favorite writers. Their worlds are carefully laid out, their characters have depth, the relationships between those characters are solid and their stories are well paced, action packed and smart.

In the 4 star realm, Master and Apprentice is the second in Sonya Bateman's series. I think it's better than the first book. Dark Descendant is a good first book in a new series. There's a lot of time taken up getting to know Nikki, the main character and building the world. I'm not a fan of Nikki (her attitude kind of sucks as far as I'm concerned). But the story is interesting and I'm looking forward to seeing where it will go.

As for Mari Mancusi, I put this in the 4 stars section, but the books are a little uneven. Some I thought deserved higher marks (namely the 3rd & 4th) and others deserved lower marks (the 5th). Why? Well, book one and two created the world and introduced the main characters. They were good solid interesting books. The third and fourth books introduced conflict between the characters and this made the HEA they're aiming for questionable. I love not knowing whether a book is going to end happy. The last book pissed me off a little. I HATED the fairy world that she created. It felt like a cop out. I mean, seriously? It felt like a Shrek theme park to me. I just didn't care for it, though the story itself was good. So, overall, it gets 4 stars, but it ranges from 3-5 stars.

Finally, Holly Black's The Poison Eaters...I rarely give more than 3 stars for anthologies. For me, its hard to rate stories with minimal depth and length better than that. Anthologies are a way to get a feel for a writer. They're not meant to be powerful the way a book is. I could go thru and rate each short story, but I just don't feel like it. Most of the stories are 3 stars, so that's what it gets.

Overall, it was a good month of reads.

And just an FYI -- I feel like I need to state this. I don't get my books from anywhere but my local bookstores. I purchase each and every one of them with my own money. (I know a lot of bloggers win their books or get them from publishers, but I choose to read books that interest me instead of having to read what I'm given.)