Sunday Book Share #18

I'm participating in Feed My Reader Friday hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer,  The Sunday Post, hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer, and Stacking the Shelves, hosted by Tynga's Reviews. The  memes allow book bloggers the chance to share print and digital books they've received and different posts and events at their blog.

 Happy New Year!!!

A friend of mine had a gathering at her house for  New Year's Eve. It was a good way to end 2012 and start 2013. I hope you had a good night also.  I'm starting the new year with a full slate of editing projects for the month so I may be scarce here and on twitter. I'm trying a new routine to get everything done and so far it's working well. 

The Week in Review:

Reviews:  What Kings Ate and Wizards Drank by Krista D Ball

A Trace of Moonlight by Allison Pang

Cover Reveal: Flirting with Disaster by Ruthie Knox

Giveaways:  A Brush of Darkness and A Sliver of Shadow by Allison Pang (ends Jan. 12th, US only)

News/Info:  Happy New Year!

  Happy Birthday J.R.R. Tolkien

100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge

Just for Fun Reading Challenge 2012 Wrap Up & 2013 Sign Up

Memes:  Sunday Book Share #17   Dusty Reads Link Up

BOOKS

Click on the images to go to the goodreads data page.

Bought - Kindle

Kindle Freebies

Library - Print

Jayne Krentz and Kay Hooper are favorite authors; all the rest I found via other blogs. I hope I'll find some new favorite authors. :)

Flirting with Disaster Cover Reveal

Ruthie Knox is a romance author who is on a hot streak. Her second book, "About Last Night", was a Reviewers’ Choice Best Book Award nominee, in the “Contemporary Love and Laughter” category, Romantic Times magazine and also a Library Journal Best Ebook Romance of 2012.

Ruthie figured out how to walk and read at the same time in the second grade, and she hasn’t looked up since. She spent her formative years hiding romance novels in her bedroom closet to avoid the merciless teasing of her brothers and imagining scenarios in which someone who looked remarkably like Daniel Day Lewis recognized her well-hidden sex appeal and rescued her from middle-class Midwestern obscurity.

After graduating from Grinnell College with an English and history double major, she earned a Ph.D. in modern British history that she’s put to remarkably little use. These days, she writes contemporary romance in which witty, down-to-earth characters find each other irresistible in their pajamas, though she freely admits this has yet to happen to her. Perhaps she needs more exciting pajamas. She’d love to hear from you, so drop her a line.

Find her online:

Website and Blog
Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads


Ruthie has a new series, her first, starting in January. The Camelot series consists of a hundred-page novella,"How to Misbehave", and two full-length novels, "Along Came Trouble" and "Flirting with Disaster", set in the Midwestern college town of Camelot, Ohio. It revolves around the three Clark siblings — Amber, Caleb, and Katie — and contains a number of hot security guys, extended-family shenanigans, banter, angst, and of course the occasional steamy scene, just to keep things interesting.

The books are available as eBooks and can be found at all major ebook vendors.

Happy Birthday J.R.R. Tolkien!

It's J.R.R. Tolkien's birthday today. If he were still alive, he'd be 121 years old, practically a teenager in the elven world.

1892 Christmas card of the Tolkien family

I used to read both "The Hobbit" and The Lord of the Rings" every summer right up until college. My re-readings since then have been sporadic but I've read some of his other works. I was hesitant when it was first announced that The LotR was being made into a movie, certain they would not do justice to the books. I was pleasantly surprised and while I don't love adaptation of "The Hobbit", I'm glad it was done. Tolkien had an incredible imagination, combined with tremendous scholarship and his works have given me many hours of pleasure.

Review of A Trace of Moonlight by Allison Pang & A Giveaway

Publisher: Pocket Books
Series: Abby Sinclair #3
Format Read: paperback
Release Date: October 30, 2012
Buying Links:  Amazon   Barnes & Noble   The Book Depository


Book Blurb (from goodreads):

*Contains spoilers for the previous books*

Drinking from the waters of lethe and offering herself up as Faerie’s sacrificial Tithe . . . these just might be the least of Abby Sinclair’s problems.
Abby’s pact with a daemon—whether or not she remembers making it—is binding, so she’d better count herself lucky that (in the words of a daemon who knows better) there’s nearly always a loophole. But her friends’ reckless attempts to free her, well intentioned though they may be, set off a disastrous chain of events. In no time at all, Abby turns her incubus lover mortal, then gets herself killed, cursed, and married to an elven prince whose mother wants her dead. On top of everything else, she’s lost the Key to the CrossRoads to her mortal enemy, who promptly uses his restored power to wreak havoc on the OtherWorld and put its very existence in jeopardy. Only one person can make things right again, but to find her, Abby must place her trust in allies of mixed loyalties, and conquer her nightmares once and for all.

Reviewed By: Bea

Quote:

He stood up abruptly, the overcoat snapping to attention as he bowed formally, the motion almost masking the hurt in his gaze. "Of course, I will see to making the arrangements immediately." Before I could say anything else, he turned on his heel and disappeared, the door shutting quietly behind him.

 "That's not what I meant," I whispered into the nearly empty room, but I knew the words were hollow even as I said them. I did want to go home. The fairy tale was getting old and if I wasn't going to have a happily ever after, that was fine by me, but I wasn't going to sit here for the rest of my life either. What was left of it. 

*May contain spoilers for the previous books*

 

Bea's Thoughts:

I love Pang's world building, her updates to the fairy tale mythos, and her snarkiness. Her books are a mix of humor, action, romance and politics. The characters are vivid and in this book Melanie and Nobu are developed further. Unfortunately, Abby is not; from the first book to the second, she developed maturity and confidence but in this book, there's less growth. She is also very reactive; she frequently complains about wanting to go back home but does little to actually make that happen and she still has a tendency to act first and think later. She is still intensely loyal and honorable, and those characteristics, along with her impulsiveness, lead to a variety of events in the story. What growth we do has to do with her developing her abilities as a Dream Walker, with help from both Sonja and Bristion and, related, getting better control of her fears. Abby's relationships, familial and personal, are still complicated and there's still a love triangle. The love story takes twists and turns but at the end, there's only a partial resolution.

I'd have liked Phineas to have a bigger role but events early on slow him down for much of the book. Robert and Charlie make brief appearances as does Benjamin. The angelic host makes an appearance at one point and there's a wonderful violin dueling scene between Melanie and one of Satan's minions, complete with the oh so appropriate song, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia".

Politics take center stage in this story and I often felt as if I needed a score card to keep straight what was happening and why. I found myself wishing I'd reread the second book before picking up this one. There are twists and turns and layer upon layer of machinations. I don't recommend reading in fits and starts but trying to do it in just a couple sittings so you're better able to keep up. I didn't love this book but I did enjoy it and it's a solid, well written story.

This is the last contracted book in the series so Pang ties up some story lines but also leaves a few loose threads in case she has to the opportunity to come back to this world. Personally, I prefer a more definitive ending but with the knowledge that she may come back to the series some day, it doesn't bother me as much as it might otherwise.

I received this paperback from the publisher for review.

Dusty Reads Link Up

Dusty Reads is a meme started by Giselle at Xpresso Reads featuring a book that has been sitting unread on your shelf for some time. Books don't have to be 'x' years old. If you've had the book for a few months without reading it, it's dusty! :D You can post on any day but Giselle and I usually post or put up a linky on Tuesdays. If you don't use the button, try to link back to this post or Giselle's so others will know how/where to link up. You can use the above button, the one below or create your own if you prefer. 

Happy New Year!

BOOK CHICK CITY'S 100 Books in 2013 Reading Challenge!

I decided to join this one since I'm doing the goodreads 2013 reading challenge and there's a lot of overlap for the two. The details below are copied from BCC's post. 

SIGN-UP DETAILS:

To sign up you MUST make a post on your blog about participating in the challenge. Please feel free to use the banner above, however, a link via the image back to this post, so others can join the challenge if they wish, would be much appreciated.

  

CHALLENGE DETAILS:

• Timeline: 01 Jan 2013 – 31 Dec 2013
• Rules: Read 100 books in 2013 (any genre)
• You don’t have to select your books ahead of time, you can just add them as you go. Also if you do list them upfront you can change them, nothing is set in stone! The books you choose can crossover into other challenges you have on the go.
• You can join at anytime. All books read in 2013 count towards the challenge regardless of when you sign up.
• At the beginning of Jan 2013, you will find a link to specific month to add your reviews.
• Audiobooks are accepted.
• Only fiction, no non-fiction.
• This challenge can crossover to other challenges.
• You DO NOT have to write reviews of the books you read, but if you decide to then a place will be available each month  for you to link up your reviews.
• You don’t have to have a blog to join in – for those without a blog but who use Goodreads, Amazon, LibraryThing etc, you can add the URL to where you track your books. If you don’t have a URL at all then choose a name you would like to use and then copy and paste the following link: http://wp.me/p2wdqf-6ZI

 ADD YOUR LINK:

Please use the DIRECT URL of your participation post to sign up to the challenge by adding it to Mr Linky at BCC's sign up post. DO NOT just add your BLOG URL as people won’t be able to see how you’re doing and offer support!

That's it! Go forth, read and have fun!

Review of What Kings Ate and Wizards Drank by Krista D. Ball

Publisher: Tyche Books
Format Read: epub and PDF
Release Date: November 1, 2012
Buying Links:  Amazon   Tyche Press   Barnes & Noble

Book Blurb (from goodreads):

A Fantasy Lover's Food Guide

Equal parts writer’s guide, comedy, and historical cookbook, fantasy author Krista D. Ball takes readers on a journey into the depths of epic fantasy’s obsession with rabbit stew and teaches them how to catch the blasted creatures, how to move armies across enemy territories without anyone starving to death, and what a medieval pantry should look like when your heroine is seducing the hero.

Learn how long to cook a salted cow tongue, how best to serve salt fish, what a “brewis” is (hint: it isn’t beer), how an airship captain would make breakfast, how to preserve just about anything, and why those dairy maids all have ample hips.

What Kings Ate will give writers of historical and fantastical genres the tools to create new conflicts in their stories, as well as add authenticity to their worlds, all the while giving food history lovers a taste of the past with original recipes and historical notes.
 
Quote:

If time is of the essence, your hero will not have time to field dress a dear, locate water (unless he's following an uncontaminated stream or river), fish, or club a baby seal and make a fur coat. Yet, how many of us have read fantasy books where the heroes have done all this and still had enough time to seduce the assassin traveling with them?

My eighty-three-year old father has been hunting most of his life and he offers this advice to the hero wanting to hunt rabbits while being chased by orcs: go hungry.

Reviewed By: Bea

Bea's Thoughts:

Ball has a wicked sense of humor and it shines through in this book. This is not a formal textbook or treatise but a conversational look at common myths and mistakes in historical and fantasy books concerning food and eating. She points out common errors but doesn’t cite books or authors, letting them stay anonymous. She limits her scope to Northern Europe in the early Middle Ages, and freely admits that her bachelor’s degree in history doesn’t make her an expert. She did a lot of research for the book and it shows. I enjoyed it tremendously and will be looking with a closer eye now when I’m reading historical books or fantasies.

 

In societies where wood stoves were used, apples could be sliced and hung on strings over the stove, the warmest and dries part of the house. Mushrooms, likewise, can be threaded with a needle and twine, and hung over the hearth or stove. (You won’t want to do this in a Steampunk story or  any urban-based story with coal. Coal stoves eventually coat everything in black soot that tastes really foul. Follow the advice of Mrs. Beeton (a Victorian cookery guru) and put the drying goodies in the wooden cupboards near the stove, where spices and salt were stored. Still warm, but less soot.) These small details can be twisted and massaged into making a lovely setting.

My one gripe about the book and the reason it’s four stars instead of five is the copy editing. There are numerous errors, all of them sloppy. It hasn’t been a problem with her other books so I assume the publisher is responsible for not catching and fixing them.

 

…the hot desert sun was prefect for laying fish out on the roofs of houses to dry.

Smoking and salting is the most common methods…

If potatoes were not in the diet, than bread and beer would…

I quickly became aware that it was so more complex than dealing with…

Never in my life have I felt more in line with the Romans, the original Borg from Star Trek,…

Apart from the numerous proofreading and copy editing errors, I found the book to be fun, enjoyable, useful and easy to use. I recommend it for anyone who writes historical books or fantasies or to readers who are curious. Just be sure to have your red pen ready.

 

I received the Epub and PDF from the author. I’ve also ordered the print copy.

This review first appeared at BookTrib.