Friday, May 5, 2017

On the Horizon

So, for those of you who are curious as to how the Great Reading Contest of 2017 is going, I am currently at 30 titles and counting.  That's an average of about a book every 4 days.  If I keep going at my current rate, by the end of the year, I should have read somewhere around 90 books.  That's a lot of freaking books!   I'm looking forward to, at the year's end, doing a Top 10 list!  (I love lists.)

Classes are done for the semester, and I find myself with a little more time on my hands.  I hope to fill it with more writing, as I am tired to listening to the voices of characters in my head yelling to be recognized and made whole.  I also hope to keep reading at the pace I've been for the past couple of months. As I get back into the habit of composing regular blog posts, I find this a wonderful place to lay out my reading plan for the month.  I've planned eight titles, so two books a week.  Doable. There's a nice mixture, I think, of titles, and all of them are first-time reads for me.

My TBR pile is actually more of a TBR tower, so here's to hoping I can take it down a few stories.

In no particular order, here is my reading list for May:

Lock & Mori by Heather W. Petty

As I've said, before, I'm a sucker for Sherlock Holmes.  These days, one can trip anywhere in a bookstore and fall into a new incarnation of the brilliant detective and his counterpart, Dr. Watson.  This book, though, doesn't feature Holmes and Watson, and Sherlock is not the main character.  It's about Holmes and MORIARTY!  And Moriarty is the main character.  AND... Moriarty is a GIRL!   (Rubs hands together in anticipation...)  This will likely be the title I start with this month - I'm itching to dive into it.  This is the author's first book, so I have slight reservations about her tackling such canon characters in her first foray into publishing, but here's hoping she's clever enough to pull it off.


A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

 Oh, Fayre and Rhysand, how glad I am to see you back for round three. This is the third title in Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses series (yes, it's a rubbish title, since it's just the title of the first book - the series deserves its own name...), and it has been much-anticipated.  I came to the series just after the second title was published, and read the first two in rapid succession.  I very much enjoy the uniqueness of this series.  One of the things I really appreciate about Maas is that she writes strong female characters, and she writes them well.  They are not above making mistakes, and they are strong enough to accept help when they need it.  Also, this series has ALL THE FEELS, and the power to devastate me; I'm a little scared to read this one. 


This Savage Song by V.E. Schwab
  
I've seen a lot of Schwab's books on shelves, and she is generally well reviewed, but I've never read one. I like dark, gritty stories, though, and this may be right up my alley.  Additionally, it sounds like it has some Romeo and Juliet-esque qualities to it, which intrigues me.  Though post-apocolyptic, dystopian stories aren't my favorite, the plot of this book is unique enough to snag my interest.  Monsters (that aren't vampires or zombies).  And humanity divided into two city sectors, separated by a dark zone.  And the only hope of avoiding a war is the human daughter of a tyrant and the monster son of a doctor.  Sign me up.  I'm hoping I love this book; it'll be another author to add to my reading list who has a nice backlist.


The Librarians and the Lost Lamp by Greg Cox

 Yes, I'm a huge nerd.  And I'm totally ok with that.  When TNT produced their first Librarian film years ago, I fell in love with Flynn Carson for life.  He was brilliant and handsome and a complete bumbling dork - which was fantastic.  Throughout the subsequent films, my love for the Librarian only grew.  And then came The Librarians.  What?  More than one Librarian at a time?  Sacrilege!  BUT, I gave it a shot.  Season one was kind of sketchy for me because of the Ezekiel Jones character, but the stories were great - fun and clever, and just a little bit out of this world.  So, I stuck around for seasons two and three.  And now the team is my team.  This is the first tie-in novel for the series, with another to be released this fall.


The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman
 
 This is another new author to me.  The cover is what made me first pick up this book, but the dilemma of the main character is what made me buy it: will Lady Helen choose to become the belle of London society, or a demon hunter?  What the what?  I'm totally in!  Shadowy Regency London streets; a dark, handsome lord with a sketchy reputation; a mystery; and a sassy heroine - how can this miss?  One of the story tropes I always love is the dual-nature trope, where the character must present themselves to society as being one thing, while actually existing as something completely different.  I'd say socialite by day, demon hunter by night definitely falls into that category.  All the signs point to me loving this book; fingers crossed it doesn't disappoint. 


Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

 It took me a while to figure out the title of this book.  Here's a hint: strange isn't an adjective. I love Laini Taylor's writing.  She has the most beautiful way of crafting words into sentences as anyone I've read.  That she chooses to use her talent to write the types of books I like to read, I consider a gift.  Her books tend to be moody, and just a little left of normal, which makes me like them all the more.  I've been anticipating this book since I finished her Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy; she is just an author I will always read.  This is the first title in a duology - which I always like more than trilogies, where I feel like the middle book is just a bridge between the first and last chapters of the story.  I have very high hopes for this one. 


Catalyst by James Luceno

 What kind of self-respecting nerd would I be if I wasn't a Star Wars fan? I have gone into the new Star Wars films with some trepidation.  However, so far I've been pleasantly surprised by the quality of the films (even if The Force Awakens lacked originality...  And I'm still reserving judgment about the new Han Solo film.  I'm very cranky that Harrison Ford didn't just Indiana Jones it up and find the Fountain of Youth so he could play his younger self).  I'll admit that I watched Rogue One knowing that Mads Mikkelsen's portrayal of Galen Erso was going to be epic.  His character has such an incredible story that's not told in the film; I want to know more.  I want to know what happened to him in those lost years.  Here is my chance to find out.


And I Darken by Kiersten White

 This is the first installment of a planned trilogy that tells the story of Lada Dragwyla, the brutal princess-daughter of Vlad Dracul.  Heck.  Yes.  For one thing, I love, love, love books set in Eastern Europe.  There is such history, mystery, and tradition tied to that part of the world, that doesn't exist anywhere else.  Also, this is the Impaler in female form.  All the history of Wallachia, the Ottomans, the sultan Mehmed, with Dracula's daughter as the linchpin. I have read a lot of "Dracula books" in the past; this is the first to be brave enough to make the heart of the story a girl, and a bloody, dark, conniving, brilliant girl who is brave, and knows her own heart enough to do whatever it takes to ensure the survival of those she loves.


So expect reviews for these books as I finish them.  I hope to find one or two gems in the batch.  And I may find a minute or two to talk about some of the creative writing projects I'm immersed in.  Who knows.

Auf wiedersehn, until next week.  Lock & Mori, here I come. 

2 comments:

  1. Great reading list! It looks like we have similar ones one the radar (at least for this year if not this month :P) Happy Reading!

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  2. I noticed that, as well, while I was reading through some of your reviews. You should do a guest review for my blog sometime!

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