Archive for October, 2010
Friday, October 29th, 2010
Pros: Very original world; neat story
Cons: Overly chatty; too many annoying characters
Rating: 3 out of 5
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group
Willow Tate is a graphic novelist who just came up with a new idea for her next book. Vampires and shape-shifters have been done to death, so she’s going to tackle… trolls! She sketches out a few ideas, including a fire engine-red stone-skinned good guy named Fafhrd. Only things take a turn for the weird when she looks out her window and sees chaos, mayhem, and in the middle of it all: a big red troll that grins at her and vanishes. Of course her neighbors only remember seeing a trolley… or was it a train? Maybe a truck? But definitely red. Unfortunately that’s hardly Fafhrd’s last appearance, and soon Willy finds herself taking a trip back home to the Hamptons to look for a missing boy, save the world from an Evil Genius, and find out the truth behind all the weird people that populate her hometown… and her family.
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Tags: Celia Jerome, Chick-lit, Fantasy, Humor, trolls, urban fantasy, Willow Tate
Posted in Chick-lit, Fantasy, Humor | Permalink | 1 Comment »
Thursday, October 28th, 2010
Pros: Steampunk is such a fun genre, and there’s a wide variety of takes on it in here
Cons: This book definitely highlights that it’s a relatively young genre that could use some maturing
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group
As the back of the book tells us, “Science fiction is the literature of what if, and steampunk takes the what if along a particular time stream. What if steam power was combined with future tech in the Victorian era? How would that era change, and how would it change our present and future?”
In some ways, steampunk is still in the toddler phase as a genre. It’s like old SF back from the early days of the genre as a whole, when the idea was everything. Certain things were normal then that we wouldn’t be fond of as readers now: characters and plots tended to be sacrificed in the name of exploring technologies and notions. Exposition was considered acceptable because ideas were primary to pacing and action. To some extent steampunk has bypassed much of this infancy because writers learned many lessons from other genre beginnings, but this book does reflect some of these deficiencies. Mind you, if you’re in the mood to explore steampunk as an idea and aren’t simply looking for some fun short stories in the genre, this might not be a negative for you.
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Tags: adventure, anthology, Fantasy, Jean Rabe, Martin Greenberg, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, SF, short stories, steampunk, Victorian era
Posted in Fantasy, Historical, Science Fiction, Thriller, Adventure & Mystery | Permalink | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, October 26th, 2010
Pros: Although this is the third book in the series, you can pick it up and read it without feeling like background information is missing.
Cons: Waiting for the next book to see how some of the long term effects of this book’s events play out.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group
Simon Canderous is drowning in a pile of paperwork. His partner and mentor Connor Christos is taking five years worth of saved vacation time, leaving Simon to handle both their caseloads at the Department of Extraordinary Affairs in New York City. It’s no secret what Connor’s probably up to; trying to figure out what has happened to his long-lost brother. When Connor’s obsessive digging stirs up old ghosts (literally) Simon steps in to try and help. Connor seems to have gone crazy, but Simon can’t help but wonder if he hasn’t…
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Tags: Anton Strout, paranormal, Simon Canderous, urban fantasy
Posted in Fantasy, Horror & Paranormal, Thriller, Adventure & Mystery | Permalink | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, October 20th, 2010
Pros: Wonderful combination of flavors, techniques, and creativity
Cons: Might be a bit fancier than some will be expecting from the title
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Review book (published 2010) provided courtesy of Chronicle Books.
Also posted on Epinions.com.
Susie Middleton’s Fast, Fresh & Green
is all about quick, delicious ways to prepare vegetables you will want to eat! (Note that this doesn’t necessarily mean vegetarian, although many of these recipes would qualify.) My only reservation is that the title of the book might be mildly misleading; I doubt people will quite be expecting dishes that start with “silky braised fennel” and the like in a cookbook with a title that starts with “fast.” As long as you’re expecting it, though, it’s wonderful—so now you’ve been forewarned.
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Posted in Food Type-Focused, Healthy, How-To | Permalink | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 19th, 2010
Pros: Fascinating thriller; interesting characters
Cons: As good as these books are, they’re too formulaic after four of them
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group
Macy Reid, forensic linguist, is an expert on kidnappings and ransom notes. She works as a consultant with Adam Raiker, and this time they’ve been called in not by the local law enforcement, but by the family of a girl who’s been kidnapped. After all, this is the second time she’s been kidnapped, and the first time around Adam was the one who found her. Her parents are hoping for a miracle again. Unfortunately, the kidnappers the first time had reason to keep her alive, as horrible as those reasons were. This time, they’re after money—and people held for ransom don’t always make it out alive.
Macy is teamed with Kellan Burke, an investigator of Raiker’s who just loves getting on her nerves—and who’s very good at it. The two of them couldn’t be more stylistically different; Macy is obsessively neat and orderly, and Kell is a rule-breaker. They also shared a rather intimate night some months ago that both of them have tried, and failed, to forget. All of this just makes the investigation that much more challenging.
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Tags: erotica, kidnapping, Kylie Brant, Mindhunters, mystery, psychological thriller, romance, thriller, trauma
Posted in Romance & Erotica, Thriller, Adventure & Mystery | Permalink | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, October 13th, 2010
Pros: Dialogue and narrative are in snarky rare form! Great characters & fun plot
Cons: Could use a little less of the now-repetitive introspection
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group
Also posted at Epinions.com.
Top New York murder cop Eve Dallas is taking a vacation. That’s right, an actual vacation. It’s the anniversary of her marriage to beyond-wealthy businessman Roarke, and they’re off to spend some time with the family he’s recently rediscovered in Ireland. Of course while she’s there she stumbles across a dead body—murdered, naturally—with her usual knack for trouble. The only strange part is that this becomes a mere footnote to her vacation as she helps the locals wrap up the case and heads back home—-where, naturally, a particularly bizarre case almost immediately comes to her attention. In the era of 2060, who the Hell would shoot a limo driver through the back of the neck with a crossbow? And why?
Unfortunately, the limo driver is hardly the last body to crop up. Each kill is odder than the last, each victim extremely successful and remarkably free of known enemies. Each one emerged from humble beginnings to reach the top of his or her field. Each one is killed with consummate skill and a highly unusual weapon. It almost seems worse when Eve figures out who must be doing it—because they clearly believe they can get away with it, they’re doing it almost entirely for the thrills, and they’ve neatly pulled her into their game before she’s even realized it. Now she has to race to figure out how to pin things down before another body is found—possibly her own.
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Tags: detective, erotica, Humor, J.D. Robb, mystery, Nora Roberts, romance, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, scifi, serial killer, SF, thriller
Posted in Romance & Erotica, Science Fiction, Thriller, Adventure & Mystery | Permalink | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 13th, 2010
Pros: Both the hero and heroine do a wonderful job of maintaining their cover without mistrust becoming a major issue.
Cons: I wish that both of the mysteries presented had been solved, but I suspect that that will happen at the end of the series.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group
The Sutherland sisters made a promise to Princess Victoria when they were all girls; they would be there if the future queen ever had need of them. Shortly before her coronation, Victoria asks Laurel, the oldest, to ferret out the truth of a delicate situation. Victoria suspects that her cousin George may be involved in a treasonous plot and thinks that Laurel stands the best chance of getting close to him. But neither Laurel nor Victoria counted on the Earl of Barensforth, George’s friend. An employee of the Home Office, Barensforth is investigating a financial scam that George may be up to his ears in. When he encounters Laurel posing as a young widow, he senses that there is more going on than either of them knows. Both Laurel and Barensforth are determined to find out the truth, and with a but of luck they’ll find something even better…
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Tags: Allison Chase, Her Majesty's secret servants, historical, Queen Victoria, romance
Posted in Historical, Romance & Erotica | Permalink | No Comments »
Friday, October 8th, 2010
Pros: Beautiful handmade soaps with extraordinary scents; a company with character and personality
Cons: Leave some extra time when you order
Rating: 5 out of 5
Visit Soapier online
Soapier.com is a small family-run operation that makes handmade soaps—beautiful, lovely handmade soaps. I found them when a member of the family posted about it on Reddit, and they went on to be “adopted” by the Reddit community. Although that might seem odd, a handmade soap company getting adopted by a geeky, largely-male online community, it was a surprisingly good match. The family in question is sweet, friendly, and has a good sense of humor. They’re happy to listen to their customers and take suggestions. (Case in point: thanks to Reddit Soapier ended up creating bacon-scented soap, which was a huge hit!)
This summer, they announced they were planning to close down. The woman who did most of the work was ailing, and although business had been wonderful, it was just too much for her. As much as I didn’t want to lose access to their unique and wonderful products, I certainly empathized and understood. But then an awesome thing happened. Another member of the family, after much soul-searching, decided to move to Florida and take over the family business. Yay!
Now, let’s get this straight: I never thought of myself as a scented soaps type of person. In fact, distinctly the opposite: perfumy scents tend to aggravate my allergies and asthma, so I always avoided scented things. Their products intrigued me, however, so I decided it was worth a try—and I was surprised. While the scents are definitely strong enough to enjoy, many of them aren’t what I think of as “perfumy.” They just smell… good. Soapier’s people seem to have a knack for choosing scents that are pleasant without being overwhelming. And as time has gone on and they’ve come up with more products aimed at the new crowd they’re attracting, I’ve been finding more and more to enjoy.
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Tags: handmade, soap, Soapier, Soapier.com, yummy
Posted in Everything Else | Permalink | No Comments »
Thursday, October 7th, 2010
Pros: Gorgeous world, characters, and relationships
Cons: A few technology tidbits that seemed contradictory
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group
In the sequel to Through the Veil, a rebel army works to wrest back control of their land from the demons that run rampant through it. The last inhabitants of the area are either evacuating or joining up. Among those joining up is a warrior named Xan, a mystery man who quickly falls for Captain Laisyn Caar. The attraction is mutual, but neither of them can easily afford the distraction. Life for them is deadly. They have enemies who’d like to use their relationship against them. And Syn has been cut off from her magic—a loss that’s slowly killing her and the other witches among the rebels. If something doesn’t change soon, the rebellion, Syn, and her new relationship may all be doomed.
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Tags: erotic romance, erotica, Fantasy, paranormal, romance, Science Fiction, scifi, SF, Shiloh Walker
Posted in Fantasy, Horror & Paranormal, Romance & Erotica, Science Fiction | Permalink | 2 Comments »
