Written in Red and the Murder of Crows

I recently finished one of my new favorite books. I got Written in Red by Anne Bishop at my local library. In February my library was doing an awesome display. They had wrapped books in brown paper with single lines on them. They were setting up "Blind Dates" with books. So I got this one. It took me a little bit to get into the book. I wasn't reading it fast enough, so I decided to return it and buy the book. I tried it again once I bought it and once I got about a quarter of the way through I was hooked. I sometimes have trouble getting into Fantasy books. I tend to have better luck with the Urban Fantasy, so I am always on the lookout for those.

I really liked how vivid and easy to remember her world building is. Bishop bases her world on an alternate version of ours, which for me made it easier to follow. I also really liked her characters. They are well developed and likable. Her main character, Meg, is spunky and intelligent. This makes her journey engrossing.

It is not very often that I finish a book and feel completely obsessed with it. Which is why once I was finished I downloaded the second one, which had just been released! I also put this book as my Secret Santa category in the 25 book challenge. 

The Murder of Crows is the second book in The Others series. Anne Bishop does a great job with this one too! It starts up shortly where we left off in the first book. We continue with her world building and get more character development. This book builds towards what was started in the first one. They almost felt the one book. How it progresses and carries on a lot of the issues and questions from the first book. You have to read these in order. Sometimes you can skip around in a series, and this is not one of them.

I fell even more in love with the characters and we got a lot more info on the secondary characters and they nicely fit into the ensemble she is creating. The third book, unfortunately , is not being released until next March. I don't know how I am going to wait a whole year for this! I am not sure how many books the author is planning on writing for this series, but I hope there are a few more books coming in the future. I put this book as my Fantasy book in my 25 book challenge. 

Reading challenge

So as we are early into the year I was looking at how much I have been reading so far. Now I have been reading a good amount each day. While I haven't read as much as would like I am doing pretty well. I finished Ghost Story by Jim Butcher last week. I'm a little over half way done with Cold Days. I am really loving that book so far. But it is over 600 pages, so I should be done with it this week. Then I will post a complete review. I originally had the book as my fantasy but I may put it in the chunker category since it is so long. It really doesn't matter because I have quite a few books this year on my list that are pretty long. 

I am trying to decide what to read next. I have so many good books waiting to be read and I am trying to decide what I want to read. So as is there tonight and continue to read Cold Days. I am hoping to finish tomorrow or Friday. I am comfy with my blanket and my cup of tea. 

Ghost Story

So I have finished my first book of 2014. Now I had started this book last year, but every year I have some books that follow me into the new year. Now I am not using this book for the 25 genres/categories challenge because the rules state that the book needs to be started in 2014 to count. But it does count towards my overall total. 

My first book for 2014 was Ghost Story by Jim Butcher. It is the thirteenth novel in the Dresden Files series. This book took me awhile to read. I had trouble in the middle and thought it got the really slow. Now once I got through that slow point for me the ending was amazing. If there is one thing Jim Butcher can do it is wrap up his books with a bang. I think it was interesting look at the different characters and what would happen if something happened to Harry. In this book we are dealing with Harry's Ghost. We see the development of different characters and how they cope. I thought it was a very interesting way to progress the story and the characters. 

My favorite characters in the series are Butters and Bob. Now in this book I also feel in love with Mort the ecnomancer. It is worth reading, especially if you have been reading the series. There are so e lovely scenes and Jews in this book, just like most of his books have. 

I am actually interested in reading his other series and see how much I like that one. I think it is worth looking into. 

I have now started Cold Days by Jim Butcher. I will write more about what I think about that book in a later last. 

Lisa Kleypas, Jim Butcher, and the Nook!!!!

Well I have not updated in far too long. So there is a lot to go over.

First off I finished Lisa Klepas' Hathaway series. The last 2 books Married by Morning and Love in the Afternoon were just released this summer. Lisa Kleypas is one of my favorite authors so I am a bit biased. This series is very fun. It is a spin off from her wallflower series. Now i waited and actually read the last 3 books in the series not that far apart.

First up is Poppy's book, Tempt me at Twilight, which i enjoyed more then I thought I would. This story was delightful and I especially like how the hero is shown. They definately are a different type of couple. It has a really fun plot and moves very quickly. It was a delightful read.

The next book is Married by Morning which is Leo's book. This is the book I was looking forward to because it is a story about him and the governess they hired a few years earlier. So you get moments with these two characters in the previous books, which is nice. We already have a feeling for these characters and it is fun to fianlly get there story. I love also how Kleypas connects her characters and uses them throughout all the books in the series. This one was worth the wait and a fun time.

Beatrix's story Love in the Afternoon was the best in the series. I expected the previous book to be my favorite, but this one was a pleasent suprise. This book has strong interesting characters. I think the two main characters are the strongest in the series and was a wonderful end to this series.

All three books were fantastic. I highly recommend this series which consists of five books. This was a wonderful series and is very well done. Strong characters and interesting plots.

I also am having a wonderful time with my Nook. It was a wonderful investment!! There are lots of free books and with the wish list feature makes it easier to buy the books i intend to buy. It is excellent to read on and very convientent. So i recommend getting an e-reader. You can also use library e-books but I have not figured out how to do that yet. But it is a lot of fun and worth the money.

I have also been listening to the Harry Dresden books by Jim Butcher. I have gone through the first 7: Storm Front, Fool Moon, Grave Peril, Summer Knight, Death Mask, Blood Rites, and Dead Beat. This is a very good series. I am really enjoying the books and recommend them. They are very dark and some have some pretty intense scenes. But they take an interesting look at supernatural creatures and situations. The characters are strong and enjoyable. I also like how much Butcher has going on in the books and that he has storylines that continue through the books. I would recommend reading them in order to get the most out of the series. If you like vampires, ghosts, demons, talking skulls, and werewolves you will really enjoy the books. And the main character Harry Dresden is fantastic.

Right now I am reading Proven Gulity by Jim Butcher and Something from the Darkside by Simon Green