Light speed reviews

I totally stole this concept from Bella over at the (for now discontinued) blog Obsessed. Her 70 word reviews are a crack up so I am having a go at it myself.

This week I am revisiting old friends and doing 50 word reviews of 3 Gregory Maguire books which I found in a box the other day (not enough shelf space in my house.)

So here we go...

Wicked -
This book is apparently hated by the masses. Everyone loves the musical but I am the only one on the planet who fell in love with the book!
It’s been years since I read it, but I still feel overwhelming compassion towards Elphaba every time I think of this book.




 Confessions of an Ugly Step Sister -
While I didn’t feel as drawn to this story as I did Wicked (I do have a minor obsession with anything Oz) the characters were probably better developed throughout this book. Not a must read, but readable all the same if your inclined to the tale of Cinderella.

Mirror Mirror -
Snow White? Snow White? Where for art thou Snow White? This was particularly hard to read. Characters seemed to lack motivation in their actions and this retelling didn’t keep me interested the way the other two did.You wont find me snuggling with this one in bed any time soon.

Phhhew, that was harder than it looks. Until next time... Happy reading bloggers!

Chazz

Please stay tuned...

If your and old visitor you will notice I am playing with my blog a little. All the links at the top are currently void of content. I will be working on these sections in the next couple of weeks so please bare with me while I test and play with the blog settings.

Thanks

Chazz

Happy Blog Hop Friday!

Now for the blog hops!

My fave part of Fridays is the book blog hops. My TBR pile is huge because of them and my husband may well not fit in our bed anymore if I continue to hop around like I do. But alas I will continue to explore the realm of book blogs and pick up new books as I go.

Parajunkee is the host of 

 

Click here to find out more.

This week's question is:

If you have, or would have a daughter, what book would you want your daughter to read?

I have no idea! At the moment I just encourage her to read anything she likes. She is only 20 months old so she loves the Little Princess books. 

I think and easier question would be what wouldn't I want her to read... There are plenty of titles I could add to that list!

Crazy for Books hosts 

Click here for info on the hop.

This week's question is:

What is the one bookish thing you would love to have, no matter the cost?

I was just going to say an iPad. But really I would looove to have my bedroom walls covered in inbuilt shelves and filled with books.

Week 4 winner is....

Lisa from Badass Bookie!

Hope you enjoy these, they really are a great read!

Chazz

October Obsessions Give Away Week 4

Alrighty, the last 3 weeks have seen some of my favorite books sent out to fellow bloggers in the hopes that they love them as much as I do and this week wont be any different.

In the last week of my October Obsessions give away I want to share what was probably my first real look at the more adult style of paranormal books. I have always read classics and YA stuff but J R Ward had me a bit flustered after reading the first of her Black Dagger Brotherhood Series of books.

This week I am giving one lucky person the box set which holds the first 6 books of the Black Dagger Brotherhood Series by J R Ward.

The story of Wrath and Beth

The story of Rhage and Mary

The story of Zsadist and Bella

The story of Butch and Marissa

The story of Vishous and Jane

The story of Phury and Cormia

J R Ward does an fantastic job of introducing us to these amazingly strong, fearless, reckless brotherhood vampire males in each of her books. With each book one of the brothers are taken apart piece by piece and then built back up again as they find their bonded mates.

In my opinion these books tread a fine line between between romance, urban fantasy and even erotic fiction. 

Why you should read this series:

There is never a dull moment. The perspective frequently changes. which would normally do my head in, but Ward does it seamlessly and makes it work.

The brothers are totally hot! No, I haven't reverted to my teen self, they really are hot. Each and every one of them!

I have seen people say that J R Ward writes crack... well it's true. I was hooked from the first book and read right through the series up to book 7 in one go.

Reasons not to read:

The only one I can think of is the idea of these uber cool characters all listening to hip-hop and rap music. Maybe Ward was trying to appeal to a young (early 20's) audience, or who knows she could totally be into hard core rap music? Either way, this was the one thing that I didn't like about it.

How many stars would I give these books? 

Good question, I wont lie, I would not give all of them a 5 star rating. I have my favorite (Love Awakened) and I do have one that I was loving until the end of the book (Lover Unbound) but as an overall rating for the series of books I would give them 5/5. The series as a whole is great. I can't recommend it enough.

Give away details:

For commenting on this post you will receive 1 entry

If you put my grab button on your blog you will get 2 additional entries.

So you can get 3 entries in total.

This is open internationally.

I will be ordering the books for the winner, so can only deliver to countries that Bookdepository or Amazon ship to.

So now that is all out of the way please enter away!!

P.S. Remember that if you are seeing this post from my main page the link to comment is at the top under the title of the post.

Happy Blog Hop Friday!

For anyone who wants to find some cool new blogs to read, obsess over, stalk, or otherwise harass join in the Friday book blog hops!

Head on over to Parajunkee's View and join the hop!

Her question of the week is:

What are you currently reading? Basically, what book is that?

I am currently reading a few things. First and foremost is Oz by Eden Elgabri & Heather Peters.

And although it isn't posted yet, head on over to Crazy-for-Books to see yet another great book blog hop!

Week 3 winner is....

Christine from Reading on the Dark Side!

I will be back shortly with my usual Friday blog hop post as well as the fourth and final give away for October!

October Obsessions Give Away Week 3

This weeks give away has one upped last weeks by a book. This week I want to give one lucky reader all three books in Claudia Gray's Evernight Series!

Evernight, Stargazer and Hourglass

By: Claudia Gray

Pages: 336, 329 and 352

Published: 2009-2010

Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers Inc

As per my last give away I will not be posting the synopsis for every book right here. It will just make the post miles longer than necessary. If you click on the link in the titles it will take you to the right place to read them all. I am also refusing to give away ANY spoilers to these books. Which makes reviewing them all little tedious because the whole point of the story comes out about half way into the first book. So bare with my rushed generalized review and please just believe me when I say you NEED to read these books!

The Evernight Series is aimed at young adults. It has the usual teen outcast and angst with a twist, which I'm not going to tell you about, so ner.

Our main character Bianca is hauled off to boarding school. Not because she is a bad kid, but because her parents take teaching jobs there. Bianca is none too impressed with this but really it's for her own good (still not telling you why though :P)

She attempts to run away on her first day of school. It's a really lame attempt, but the point is she meets a certain young chap on her little travels... Lucas. Lucas warns her to stay away from him, you know, all of that "I'm bad for you" stuff that normally makes teenage girls just swoon even more. 

Though Bianca is an outcast (not cool enough for the well traveled rich kids but not uncool enough for the social rejects) she does manage to find a couple of stragglers to call friends. Upon hearing about Lucas they warn Bianca to stay away from him too (gee isn't that like shoving a horses head in water to make it drink?)

But little does everyone know, there are secrets that will actually bring them together anyway. Plus teen lust kinda over takes most opinions on people.

Reasons to read this book...Because I said so!

What? Not a vaild enough reason for you?

Fine, read it because although this is a young adult novel it doesn't center it's entire time line around the school structure. The high school setting feels more incedental that integral.

Gray has some fresh new takes on an old genre. She manages to entwine her ideas with old ideas nicely.

The teenagers in the novel don't seem to be horny little angst dwellers like most YA fiction. There is a bit of the expected lust and woe is me, but it doesn't make me wince or give me stabbing pains in my head due to me wanting to beat sense into the characters.

So there you have it, my review that doesn't seem like much of a review because I so don't want to give anything away before you have read the book.

Give away details:

For commenting on this post you will recieve 1 entry

If you put my grab button on your blog you will get 2 additional entries.

So you can get 3 entries in total.

This is open internationally. Although there are restrictions.

This week I will be ordering the books from Amazon for the overseas readers. Book Depository does not have Hourglass in stock so I won't be ordering with them.

For any Aussie readers I can order from Booktopia.

As per last week, I am more than happy to purchase a gift card on Amazon so that you can have the books on Kindle instead if you so choose.

So now that is all out of the way please enter away!!

P.S. Remember that if you are seeing this post from my main page the link to comment is at the top under the title of the post.

Happy Blog Hop Friday!

Once again it is time from the Friday book blog hops, my absolute favorite time of the week I must say.

I think I should manage a few hop arounds today because of the gale force winds surrounding Melbourne!! It's really awful, and worst thing is I have all my towels on the line and not one of them is dry in the cupboard.

So on to the blog hops....

Hosted by the Crazy for Books this hop goes all weekend. From Friday to Sunday. That's a whole lot of hop hop hopping!! If you want to join just check out the link and follow the instructions.

Question of the week is:

This hop is hosted my Parajunkee's View. You will notice that she has a little pumpkin sitting on the couch in her header... I am sure it wasn't there before and it in the spirit of Halloween. Totally cool!

Question from Parajunkee this week is: 

What is your reading suggestion this week? 

That's tough because I have soooo soooo many books on my reading pile and I want to recommend everything. But this week I will recommend Claudia Gray's Evernight series in a blatant attempt to publicize my give away which is the next post above this one! hehe

Week 2 winner is....

Anna from Books to Brighten Your Mood

I will be in touch so we can organise your prize!!!

Congrats Anna!

And the winner is...

I tried to save the random number generator thing but I seriously couldn't work it out. I managed to save a link a page thing but not the pic. If anyone can tell me how to work it out before next week that would be ace!

The winner of a copy of Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead is *insert drum roll here* 

Emily at What Book Is That? 

Congrats to Emily I'll be emailing you asap!

Happy Blog Hop Friday!

Once again I am happy to be participating in 2 book blog hops this Friday.

Hosted by Parajunkee's View
Question for this week is

How many reviews do you like to do a week?

 If I manage to do one then I am pretty happy with myself. I guess I set a low standard hahaha

Hosted by Crazy for Books

Both are worth checking out.

The question posed on Crazy for books this week

What's your favorite beverage while reading or blogging, if any? Is it tea, coffee, water, a glass of wine, or something else?

I either drink tea or iced coffee. Not that exciting really but it's what I do :)

Sorry to cut this short, but I have kids running a muck.


PS, remember to comment at the top of this post if you are just saying hello.

If you want to check out my give away post at the top of that one to enter (I really hate that about my blog, would much prefer the comments link to be at the bottom.)

October Obsessions Give Away Week 2

Disclaimer....
I totally goofed, I posted the link to this post rather than just my blog page in the linky things for the Friday hops (damn you Ctrl V) 
So if you are just saying hi, pretty please with cherries on top go to the post after this one and comment there.
If you want to enter my give away you are more than welcome to do so in the comments link for this post.
Sorry about that guys 

Chazz 

This is the third time I have tried to post this now, so here goes...

Starting today we are taking entries for the second week of my give away. I am a bit early as it is Thursday night here, but I was so excited I just couldn't wait! I will announce the winner of week one once I am home from work tomorrow (yes you still have about 18 hours to enter!)

So this week I will be giving away 

 Storm Born and Thorn Queen

  

By Richelle Mead

Published in Aug 2008 & 2009

Publisher: Zebra

 Paperback Pages: 374 & 384

ISBN 13: 9781420100969 

ISBN 10: 1420100963 

ISBN 13: 9781420100976

ISBN 10: 1420100971

 Because this is a series I won't post the synopsis for each because I feel like reading the synopsis for the second book if you haven't read the first actually spoils it a little. I will just give a brief review of my reaction to the books instead. If you want to read the synopsis you can click in the link above.

After finishing the 4th Vampire Academy book I was lost. No idea what to read or where to turn. I went to the House of Night series and it just wasn't the same. I needed more VA but where could I get it? Light bulb moment hit... Maybe I could see if Richelle Mead had written any other books... Yeah I know, pretty stupid revelation really. So I looked her up and found she indeed had 2 other series of books. I was a bit dubious about them. There were no vampires so I wasn't sure they would fulfill my reading needs. 

The Succubus series looked like a goer until for some reason I couldn't get a preview on my Kindle app. I really had no interest in the Dark Swan series at all but was desperate and Kindle was allowing me a preivew so I loaded it up and started to read.

BOY OH BOY was my face red! Not only did it fulfill my reading wants and desires, it exceeded them. I thought there were some steamy scenes in VA but Storm Born kicked those scenes arses. I read the preview in record time and purchased the book as soon as the app gave me that "Want to see more?" message. I think the total time to read this one was about 2 days. I just couldn't stop reading.

Eugenie Markham is like Buffy without the vampires and I imagine her to be tougher (after all Eugenie doesn't have side kicks.) She does have some allies who know who she is, I particularly love the "receptionist" who has never actually met Eugenie but knows what she needs when she needs it anyway. 

There is the typical Mead love triangle as per her other books. I did enjoy this one much more than the others I must say. I usually roll my eyes a bit when there is 2 guys to pick but with this one I found myself begging Eugenie to pick the other guy. 

I don't want to give anything away, but I will say my favorite thing in any book is when you have characters who you know should just be black and white bad, there shouldn't be any gray area. You know who is good and who isn't. But, and this is a big but, you find the gray area and fall in love (or lust) with them anyway. The character I am talking about is Dorian, if you haven't read the book, it will be worth reading just for him. I think if he were real I could very well be his groupie jumping up and down in front of him saying "Pick me! Pick me!" or maybe I would just slap Eugenie out of the way and jump him myself *sigh*, oh to dream.

All in all I give this book 5/5 I loved it, I still love it, and I would kick my husband out of our bed to make room for the book if the three of us wouldn't fit together (my poor husband is lucky books are so compact)

Anyway, on to the give away finer details...

You need to post a comment on this post to enter. 

I honestly can't be bothered with the whole adding up points thing (tried it last week and seemed to make this very uneven) so I will give each person who comments on this post one entry.

If you choose to do a post or grab my button I will give you two additional entries. But you must post the links in your comment here. My grab button is to the right ---->

So you can have 3 entries in total. Remember to comment on this post go to the top of this post for the comment link.

If you entered last week you have to re-enter on this post for this week.

If books depository delivers to you you are eligible to enter, this is an international give away.

If you want instant satisfaction, I will be happy to send it to you on Kindle as another option.

Entries for this one close next Friday on the 15th. I will post when it is closed as I am in Australia so time zones can get a little confusing.

If you want to know what is happening for next week click here.

Not wanting to make this post too many miles longer, don't forget it is nearly time for the Friday book blog hops!

I will make my official posts on them after work tomorrow, but here are the buttons to go check out the host blogs

A Massive Thank You to In the Outhouse for this award. I am very happy to accept this award and pass it on to the blogs of my choice, including many book bogs but some others thrown in just because.

Rules:

1. Accept the award. Post it on your blog with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.
2. Pay it forward to 15 other bloggers that you have newly discovered.
3. Contact those blog owners and let them know that they've been chosen.
The blogs I have chosen............

1. Avatar Briefs
2. 365 Days of Reading
3. A Spicy Boy, A Cat and My Fat ass
4. Bewitched Bookworms
5. Cafe of Answers
6. Down the Rabbit Hole
7. Get Your Feast On
8. I'd Rather Be Reading
9. Life with 5 Dogs
10. Paper Doll and Pony
11. Stacey's Cup of Tea
12. The Write Stuff
13. Touch the Night
14. Writing Every Day
15. Undusty New Books
    
    
    I am not normally one for the whole pay it forward thing but hell it's nice to be included for a pretty award like this one.
    Don't forget about my give away this Friday too :) 

One foot in something blah

That's it, I have had it!

I have been struggling to get through the second book in Jeaniene Frost's Night huntress series for the last week and I swear it is just getting worse.

I am now 79% in to it and I am going to do the unthinkable... Review the book without finishing it!

One Foot in the Grave - Book 2 in the Night Huntress Series

By: Jeaniene Frost

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc

Published: May 2008

Pages: Paperback 386 pages

ISBN 13: 9780061245091 

ISBN 10: 006124509

Format that I read it in: Kindle for iPhone 

You can run from the grave, but you can’t hide…

Half-vampire Cat Crawfield is now Special Agent Cat Crawfield, working for the government to rid the world of the rogue undead. She’s still using everything Bones, her sexy and dangerous ex, taught her, but when Cat is targeted for assassination, the only man who can help her is the vampire she left behind.

Being around Bones awakens all her emotions, from the adrenaline rush of slaying vamps side by side to the reckless passion that consumed them. But a price on her head – wanted: dead or half-alive – means her survival depends on teaming up with Bones. And no matter how hard Cat tries to keep things professional between them, she’ll find that desire lasts forever … and Bones won’t let her get away again.

Sounds cool huh? Read the first book and loved it did you? Haven't read the second one yet... Well, just my humble opinion here, don't bother.

If you are looking for the same snappy witty dialogue that Halfway to the Grave was riddled with you won't find it here. Okay so I lie a little, you will find it in stinted bits and pieces but it will be so suddenly turned on and off that you will think you just got a case of whip lash.  

I admit I was quite enjoying the book until around halfway through. Then Bones and Cat teamed up to find who is after her. This should be where things get exciting and cool, but it wasn't. The scene that happens (sorry not going to be more specific because I don't want to be one who has spoilers) just didn't make that much sense to me. It felt like it was just thrown in there to add some drama that doesn't really pan out to much. Maybe it will be something hugely significant to the ending, but I just don't have that much patience!

Then the story starts skimming like a rock on water - This happened then this happened and that happened and it was 3 weeks later blah blah blah. The story did jump in time-line a bit at the start but it had some substance to it. The stuff that happens later on literally jumps from thing to thing in a paragraph. 

I have just reached the first longer, detailed sex scene of the book. Well that staked it for me. Total fizz!!!! I really don't know what happened in this one but the book started out to be promising and turned out flat as a pancake. I can't stress it enough, flat   as   a   pan   cake!

I am just so disappointed by the dialogue aspect. The first book was laden with it and it was snappy, easily digestible. Here Frost seems to have tried to do more description and be a little less dialogue heavy. This ends in there being bursts where Cat comes out with total attitude only to have the fire fizzle out by the next page. It's like Frost has held back and then it come out in bursts because it couldn't be contained.

Maybe there is something I am missing, maybe I am a tired grumpy old fart. But right now, as it stands this book rates as a 1/5.

If I get to the end and something massive happens to change my mind, I will happily come back here and bite my tongue.

Chazz

Succubus Blues

I should have done this on Friday but didn't have the time, so here it is, my review of Succubus Blues and the reason why I think you should read this book.

Succubus Blues - Book one in the Georgina Kincaid series

By: Richelle Mead

Published: March 2007

ISBN: 9780758216410
ISBN-10: 0758216416
Number Of Pages: 358 (in paperback format)
Format I read it: Kindle for iPhone

Succubus (n) - An alluring, shape-shifting demon who seduces and pleasures mortal men.

Pathetic (adj.) - A succubus with great shoes and no social life. See: Georgina Kincaid.

When it comes to jobs in hell, being a succubus seems pretty glamorous. A girl can be anything she wants. The wardrobe is killer, and mortal men will do anything just for a touch. Granted, they often pay with their souls, but why get technical?

But Seattle succubus Georgina Kincaid’s life is far less exotic. Her boss is a middle-management demon with a thing for John Cusack movies. Her immortal best friends haven’t stopped teasing her about the time she shape-shifted into the Demon Goddess get-up complete with whip and wings. And she can’t have a decent date without sucking away part of the guy’s life. At least there’s her day job at a local bookstore—free books, all the white chocolate mochas she can drink, and easy access to bestselling, sexy writer, Seth Mortensen, aka He Whom She Would Give Anything to Touch but Can’t.

But dreaming about Seth will have to wait. Something wicked is at work in Seattle’s demon underground. And for once, all of her hot charms and drop-dead one-liners won’t help because Georgina’s about to discover there are some creatures out there that both heaven and hell want to deny…

(Blurb taken from Richelle Mead's site richellemead.com)

I wont lie, I love Richelle Mead's work. I find her writing massively entertaining so this book already had a 3/5 points once I saw she had written it. Once I started reading it, it was just like her other books. I couldn't put it down. I was reading it in big chunks and when I didn't have time for that I would read 5 min stints instead. It took me around 3 days to read this one (Work and kids really cut into my reading time.)

If you are looking for a book that shows black and white, good and evil, this isn't it. Mead pulls you into a world that holds demons who are not really that good at being demons. It is only after you have read it that you realise these paranormal creatures seem as normal as day in a human world. The demon who poses as Georgina's boss is portrayed as a business man, not something to be feared, but an annoying boss you have to put up with.

I find the idea of having demons living as we do in a business based world to be a cool idea. It is a bit like Try me and Bite me, there is a whole community that lives amongst us but humans see them all as normal because they are doing the normal every day things we do.

I don't think this book is totally urban fantasy, it does have a chick-lit feel to it (without the whining though) it's a light and fluffy read. The slight love story in the book is a little cliche I guess. There is an unintended love triangle thing happening, but it isn't so over he top that it takes away from the mystery story line that accompanies it.

I don't really have anything bad to say about the book, I love that you have a self loathing succubus who is thrown into solving a mystery because she is accused of a murder she didn't commit. I love the demon boss who runs things like a business and I love the bumbling idiot vampires who are Georgina's friends.

As I said there is a love triangle, I really like Seth he is a character with different levels to him, but the other guy is a bit so so in my opinion.

Okay I will stop rambling now, I gave this a 4/5. It was a great read, light and fluffy but the element of mystery and some snappy attitude from Georgina made it all the better!

Chazz

Happy Blog Hop Friday!

I know I just posted my give away and this post will totally overshadow that, but it's time for the Book Blogger Hop! My fave time of the week where I can find new books to obsess over on other bloggers pages!

This blog hop is huge! I haven't even checked out half of the blogs that list on there yet. So head on over to Crazy for Books and check it out, you can add your link if your a book blogger too.

The question of the week for the hop is:

"How do you spread the word about your blog?
(e.g. Social Networking sites, Book Blog Directories, comments on other blogs...)"

I usually join the blog hops. I find they are the best way to find blogs that I want to read and I just hope that people come along to read mine too. I am listed on FB and Twitter but I get most of my readers and followers from the hops.

I have also discovered another hop called Follow My Book Blog Friday. Will be trying that one out this week too.

For this one you can head on over to Parajunkee's View to check out the guidelines and other book blogs that list there as well. I am sure there will be some that cross over but it's still a lot of fun!

Other than that, don't forget to check out my give away in the post below. My linky picture box thing to the side should show you the sneak peek post which lists the books I will be giving away!

Have fun book bloggers and bloggers alike!

Pssst... and yes, I am fully aware I have used too many ! points in this post and my technical language in the second last sentence leaves a lot to be desired :D

October Obsessions Week 1

Finally.... 

It is October 1st, I have finally dragged me sorry bum out of bed and am ready to start my October Obsessions Give Away!!!

Succubus Blues    

By Richelle Mead

Succubus (n) - An alluring, shape-shifting demon who seduces and pleasures mortal men.

Pathetic (adj.) - A succubus with great shoes and no social life. See: Georgina Kincaid.

When it comes to jobs in hell, being a succubus seems pretty glamorous. A girl can be anything she wants. The wardrobe is killer, and mortal men will do anything just for a touch. Granted, they often pay with their souls, but why get technical?

But Seattle succubus Georgina Kincaid’s life is far less exotic. Her boss is a middle-management demon with a thing for John Cusack movies. Her immortal best friends haven’t stopped teasing her about the time she shape-shifted into the Demon Goddess get-up complete with whip and wings. And she can’t have a decent date without sucking away part of the guy’s life. At least there’s her day job at a local bookstore—free books, all the white chocolate mochas she can drink, and easy access to bestselling, sexy writer, Seth Mortensen, aka He Whom She Would Give Anything to Touch but Can’t.

But dreaming about Seth will have to wait. Something wicked is at work in Seattle’s demon underground. And for once, all of her hot charms and drop-dead one-liners won’t help because Georgina’s about to discover there are some creatures out there that both heaven and hell want to deny…
(Excerpt from Richelle Mead's Website Richellemead.com)

I will be giving away one copy of Succubus blues this week. 

This is open to everyone so long as Booksdepository.com delivers to your country. 

You can have more than one entry, all you have to do is post your comment here and tally up your score (leaving links where you have made a post etc.) If you enter this week and want to be a part of next weeks give away you will need to enter again on the post for next week. The entries wont carry over.

I will announce the winner next Friday when then next giveaway round starts. The winner will be picked with a random number generator to be fair.

Entries are tallied as follows:

Leave a comment = 1 point
New Follower = 1 point
Old Follower = 2 points
Follow on Networked Blogs = 1 point
Like on Facebook = 1 point
Blog post with button = 5 points
Button on side bar = 4 points

And follow on twitter = 1 point
So you can have up to 16 entries per giveaway. 

My blog button will be posted to the side of my blog as soon as I know how to post it :)

Happy reading!

Oh and I will post a review on this book in the next day or so. I Just haven't had time with all my hippity blog hopping :)