"Unbound" by Kim Harrison, Jeaniene Frost, Vicki Pettersson, Jocelynn Drake and Melissa Marr

Short story time! And this one wasn't bad as short story collections go; I've read three of the five authors before, and indeed, follow their series. The tag line on the back of the book says "Not all hunters are bound by human laws...", so you have an idea what each story will be about. And it's always nice to have some light reading that doesn't involve romance!

"Ley Line Drifter" by Kim Harrison was quite the treat. No sign of Rachel, our favorite witch/demon here, only her pixie partner, Jenks. He's been contacted by another pixie to investigate what's killing his children. If you know anything about pixies, you know this is extremely rare, one asking for help from a member of his own species. It's a good little mystery, and Bis, the young gargoyle, gets enlisted to be Jenks' sidekick. Definitely worth picking up.

In "Reckoning" by Jeaniene Frost, immortal hitman Bones must solve a mystery involving a very infamous pair of serial killers. The story is set in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, a perfect time for any serial killer to hit town. I've never read Frost before, but I'm much more inclined to pick up her Night Huntress series after reading this story. She has good character development, nice touches of humor, and a darn good little mystery.

"Dark Matters" was very enlightening, if not one of my favorites here. Pettersson writes the Sign of the Zodiac series, which I've been following, although it requires a lot of suspension of disbelief. I like the characters and the action enough to mostly ignore how darn impossible a lot of sounds. Anyway, this piece delves into the background and history of one of the key players in that series. No, I won't tell you who - because it truly came as a surprise to me when I realized the twist. Definitely good for filling in that back story. Not great, however, as a short story overall.

The fourth entry was the one I read last, due to how much I love the author's work. Like saving something for dessert! "The Dead, the Damned, and the Forgotten" shows us our favorite fire-starting vampire Mira before she meets Danaus, the vampire hunter. A nightwalker has been killed in Mira's domain of Savannah and she's got to investigate and bring the killer to justice. Her right-hand man, Knox, is on the page quite a bit, and that was great; you don't get much info on him in her Dark Days series, and I like Knox. The Council plays a role here, too, in the form of Bishop, a vamp from Mira's past. If she can't control her city, the Council will demand her return to Europe, something she does not want. I'm so glad I saved this story for last because it was fantastic! I just can't say enough good things about Drake - you really, really need to check her out!

Finally we have the first adult offering from Melissa Marr, who's famous for her Wicked Lovely young adult series. "Two Lines" is about Eavan, a glaistig (which read very much like a succubus, but I'm still not clear on that). She's still human at this point but will become a full-blooded glaistig if she hunts and kills a human, and has sex, not necessarily at the same time (but they usually do). The glaistigs normally all live together (hmmm.... sounding like the Valkyries from Kressley Cole's Immortals After Dark series); Eavan has been "allowed" to live away from her kin for now. It's sort of confusing and I wasn't very impressed by the characters. I don't know if that's because Marr usually writes for teens, or if I just didn't like the story.

Overall, a good collection to pick up, with some great stories from some great authors.

November releases

OK, rather than go week by week as I've been trying to do, I'm just going to hit the highlights for this month. I have a coming up, some field trips to handle, and at least one meeting to attend, so The Bookbabe doesn't have much time for anything other than work. Yes, please feel sorry for me! LOL! Anyway, there's not a whole lot coming out unless you want to go thru the endless "holiday" titles, and we all know how I feel about those. I will, however, list them just so you can look for them in the store, should you choose to part with your hard-earned money on the little buggers.


Week of November 2nd
"Ford Country" by John Grisham. No, it's not a legal thriller. No, it's not a novel. Yes, it revisits his setting for his first book, "A Time to Kill". Yes, it's a collection of short stories by him, all about said setting. No, I don't think people are going to be happy when they read it.

"The Audacity to Win: the inside stories and lessons of Barack Obama's historic victory" by David Plouffe. I don't know about this. It's being talked about on all the news shows and such, and I guess it could be interesting - if you like our current president. I sort of think it's a bit too soon to be writing a work like this, but that's just me. That, and I can't get over the guy's last name! Sounds too much like "poof" - the sound of something suddenly disappearing...

"A Christmas Blizzard" by Garrison Keillor.

"It's Your Time: activate your faith, achieve your dreams, and increase in God's favor" by Joel Osteen. I have a big, big, big problem with the leaders of the so-called mega-churches. I think they've achieved the spiritual equivalent of rock stardom, and it goes to their heads just as easily as it does the guy singing about his last groupie. Osteen seems a bit less smarmy than some, but just as wrong. Plus I don't think you need to buy a book to "increase in God's favor".

"Kindred in Death" by J. D. Robb. #29 in the series by Robb, aka Nora Roberts. I am becoming suspicious that Roberts has others writing for her, sort of like James Patterson (who puts out a "new" book almost every month). At least Patterson gives the other authors credit.

"The Lacuna" by Barbara Kingsolver. Her first novel in nine years, according to Publisher's Weekly. I've never read her, but I remember when one of her books kept getting assigned in high schools. Doesn't seem to have much of a fan base here in my library.

"Rainwater" by Sandra Brown. Another wunderkind that will sell out her title, no matter how good or bad it is.



Week of November 9th
"Under the Dome" by Stephen King. Always up for a new King book, especially one with a promising plot. However, this one clocks in at almost 1100 pages, which is awfully long. I'll probably wait and try to get my reserve set for sometime around Christmas, when we're closed for 4 days!

"Fly by Wire: the geese, the glide, the Miracle on the Hudson" by William Langewiesche. This is the book to pick up if you only want to read about Captain Sullenberger's flight and landing back in January of this year. If you want to read about Captain Sullenberger's life, pick up his book "Highest Duty" instead.

"Ice" by Linda Howard. Romantic suspense, highly popular, never read her, don't plan to.

"Last Words: a memoir" by George Carlin. The world lost a great guy when Carlin died. I can't wait to read this, and I hope there's some comedic gems in it. Mostly, I just think he had a fantastic way of pointing out the obvious, especially when it came to human stupidity. RIP George.

"Open: an autobiography" by Andre Agassi. I was surprised to see someone in our system suggest purchasing copies of this book for our branches. Agassi? Would anyone even remember who he was? Then I started seeing a few reviews and read an excerpt, and now I have to admit, it might be worth it. Not for our whole system, but yeah, at least two copies at our main branch. Turns out Agassi says he hates tennis, would even go so far to say he loathes it. Well, it certainly made him a lot of money, didn't it?

"Wishin' and Hopin': a Christmas story" by Wally Lamb.

Week of November 16th
"Going Rogue" by Sarah Palin. Hmmm. I'd heard that part of the reason Palin quit her govenor post was to write a memoir, saying that she'd be able to make a lot more money writing than running Alaska. And here it is! Guess this is one rumor that's true. I don't consider her to be much of a rogue, though.

"How to Be Famous: our guide to looking the part, playing the press, and becoming a tabloid fixture" by Heidi Montag. Lord save us from inane "reality" stars. Heidi is the "idi" part of Speidi, aka Spencer and Heidi Montag, from The Hills. Or the OC. Or one of those TV shows that I don't watch. How on earth people can be famous for pretty much just existing is beyond me. And after watching her on "I'm a Celebrity - Get Me Outta Here!" this summer, I really, really don't get why she's "famous". Sigh.

"I, Alex Cross" by James Patterson. Another entry in his famous and well-loved Alex Cross series, which used to use children's games and nursery rhymes for titles. Sadly, the last 4 or 5 entries have all used "cross" in them somewhere, which just smacks of laziness to me. I think these are the only books of his that he's still actually writing.

"The Wrecker" by Clive Cussler. Action-adventure sort of tales. Not to my taste.


Week of November 23rd
"Pirate Latitudes" by Michael Crichton. Proving yet again that you don't have to be alive to publish a book. This is supposedly from a manuscript that they "found" after he passed away. We'll see if this is the only one, or if there will be more.

"Breathless" by Dean Koontz. You'd think as much as I enjoy reading horror/paranormal/just plain weird books, I would have picked up a Koontz title by now. But I have not. Strange, isn't it? And so many of his have sounded pretty good...

"First Lord's Fury" by Jim Butcher. This is book 6 in the Codex Alera series, and according to one of our patrons, this is a very good series. Much more sci-fi than his Harry Dresden series, but she said it's still good. I haven't tried any of them - yet. One of these days!

"KISS Kompendium" by Gene Simmons. Oh, how I wanted to be able to get this for our library system! But, it's also very pricey, say around $75 or so. Sigh. If you've got the money, and you're a KISS fan, I would say this is worth it. Better yet, buy your library system a copy!

"Why My Third Husband Will Be A Dog: the amazing adventures of an ordinary woman" by Lisa Scottoline. I love the title. I have no idea if it will be any good, but patrons like her fiction.

OK, people, wich me luck getting through November! Good reading!

"A Touch of Dead" by Charlaine Harris

This is being billed as "Sookie Stackhouse: the complete stories", and as I've read the entire series, I was excited to pick this up. Not for long, though. Turns out there are only five short stories in this small, short, and altogether overpriced book. Even worse, I realized when reading the introduction by Harris that I'd already read two of the five stories. Sigh.

"Fairy Dust" starts off the quintet. Sookie is contacted by Claudine, a fairy that often frequents Merlotte's Bar, to investigate the death of her sister, Claudette. When Sookie agrees, she learns that Claudine is a triplet; Claudette and Claude are the other siblings. Claude and Claudette worked at a strip club, and Claude and Claudine are convinced that someone at the club murdered Claudette. Sookie's job is to use her telepathic powers on the three employees the fairies have kidnapped and thus suss out the culprit. This story first appeared in Powers of Detection, and it felt very familiar. Probably read it there or in a reprint somewhere.

"Dracula Night" is one I do remember previously reading. It's "Trueblood" meets "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and hottie vamp Eric is stuck playing Linus. It's a cute little story, even if it casts Eric in a most unflattering light. This originally appeared in the anthology Many Bloody Returns, which was a pretty good book, if memory serves me correctly.

"One Word Answer" is the first time we meet creepy lawyer Mr. Cataliades. He comes to Bon Temp to inform Sookie of her cousin Hadley's death (she had gone vamp after running away from home several years earlier). He also informs her that she has inherited her cousin's estate. Sookie has a lot of questions about how Hadley died, and queries Mr. Cataliades driver, another vampire named Waldo. In the end, Sookie solves the mystery and meets a very important person in the vampire world. First appeared in Bite.

"Lucky" was a good little story, one that I didn't remember reading before. Surprisingly enough, it deals with an insurance agent and the whole idea of balance. It seemed like a mystery at first, but I really liked the way Harris wrapped it up. First appeared in the collection Unusual Suspects, which I don't recall reading (which doesn't mean anything, as I real a lot!)

Finally, we have "Gift Wrap" which first appeared in a great anthology called Wolfsbane and Mistletoe. It's an OK story, but on reading it for a second time, I found myself thinking that Sookie was, well, rather slutty here. It just didn't ring true the second time around. Still, not a horrible story.

So, here's the thing - if you're collecting the Southern Vampire books, yes, I would probably recommend buying this. Try your best to find it on sale, though, because at $23.95, I really do feel that full retail value is too much to spend on such a small book. This really could have been done as a trade paperback, thus saving the buyer probably anywhere from $5-$10. Better yet, if you're not collecting the books, just borrow this from your local library. It won't take much more than two hours or so to read the whole thing!

Last week of October 2009

Ah, yes, 'tis the season. For the "holiday" books to start hitting the stores, that is. If you follow this blog even a tiny bit, you know that I do not like the whole concept of holiday books. I find them to be cheesy and overpriced, and often they do nothing to forward a series along. Guess this is why I'm not in publishing, huh? Anyway, there are a few good titles coming out the last week of this fall month, so let's get to them, shall we?

"Angel Time: The Songs of the Seraphim" by Anne Rice. Jesus has left the building, and now Rice is concentrating on angels. Still fiction, but hopefully better than her works about the life of Christ. Had a few patrons try to read those and said while it was obvious that she'd done a lot of historical background, the stories themselves were very dry and boring. Egad! Also read a review of this in either EW or People (sorry, just got both yesterday and can't remember which mag right now!); said it was a pretty good story even if it was a bit preachy. I think I'll wait and see what the patrons have to say.

"Ayn Rand and the World She Made" by Anne C. Heller. This might be an interesting bio to read, especially if you like Rand and her works. I'll admit I have great aspirations to read "Atlas Shrugged" - until I remember how BIG that book is! I did finally read "Anthem", which was not only pretty good but also a much more appealing (and manageable) size.

"Emeril Quick and Easy" by Emeril Lagasse. I used to love to watch this guy cook. Sadly, I find myself bored now when I come across his show. It seems to be the same old thing each time. And "quick and easy"? I highly doubt it.

"The Gathering Storm (Wheel of Time series #12)" by Robert Jordan. I guess if you're a hardcore fantasy reader, this is the series to read. I know it used to be very popular about 10 years ago or so when I was still working at the used book store. I've had a few people inquire about this and when it's coming out, but not nearly as many one would expect for a series that was still well-loved. Time will tell...

"Grave Secret" by Charlaine Harris. Oooooh, now this is one I've been waiting for! This will be the fourth entry in Harris's Harper Connelly series, and I'm anxious to read it. However, I will admit a bit of fear as well; the last Sookie Stackhouse book was not very good. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Harris still has enough time to do justice to Harper and her world.

"Last Night in Twisted River" by John Irving. Back to the "literary" guys. Never read anything by him, never wanted to.

"Matchless: A Christmas Story" by Gregory Maguire. Maguire has hit the big time with his book "Wicked", especially after they turned it into a musical. What some may not know is that he's done several juvenile fiction pieces as well. This might be a holiday crossover for him - hard to say. The only problem I see with this is that the original tale of the little matchstick girl is not a happy holiday tale. And this year I just think people are going to want happy endings.

"Nigella Christmas" by Nigella Lawson. Love this woman! Have never made any of her recipes because, again, they are not easy cooking, not for me, anyway. But I think she's a brilliant person to watch - she obviously loves food (never trust a skinny chef!). I think the best part is listening to her descriptions of the food she's working with, truly poetic. But... this is a holiday book. Sigh.

"True Blue" by David Baldacci. Another patron favorite. Never read him, but I'm told he's good.

"You Better Not Cry: Stories for Christmas" by Augusten Burroughs. ARGH! Another "holiday" book! Told you they were starting to hit the shelves. I haven't read any of Burroughs other works, either, so I can't tell you if he's good or not. I do get the impression that he's a bit like David Sedaris - you either love him or you hate him.

Until next week (or the next review), keep on reading!

Week of October 19th

This will be fast - I've got too much to do and a snotty nose to boot. Sigh. Just not feelin' it this week, folks. Let's hope for a quick recovery!

"The Scarpetta Factor" by Patricia Cornwell. Looks like Cornwell is going the Patterson route with this series as all the titles now have the main character's name in the title. Just screams lazy to me. This series has been flagging lately according to the patrons, so I doubt this one will dazzle them.

"Eating the Dinosaur" by Chuck Kosterman. This is another collection of essays by Klosterman. I read his first fiction piece, "Downtown Owl", and enjoyed it. Haven't done his non-fiction though....

"Shades of Blue" by Karen Kingsbury. This woman in the James Patterson of Christian fiction. At some point, I totally expect to see another author's name included on her works, because she's putting them out at a fairly quick pace. Hmmm......

"Superfreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance" by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen Dubner. YES! The guys are back!! If you haven't read the original "Freakonomics", do yourself a huge favor and find a copy. Yes, it seems like it would be dry. No, it's not! Very fun and interesting way to look at things. Just saw the authors interviewed on Good Morning America today, and now I'm totally stoked!

"What the Dog Saw: and other Adventures" by Malcolm Gladwell. Another genius! Gladwell hit it big with "Blink", which I read, then went back and picked up "The Tipping Point". Loved both of them. Also read "Outliers" and was impressed with it. This is a collection of essays he's done for The New Yorker. Should be interesting.

All right, gotta run. Good reading to you this week, and keep your fingers crossed that my runny nose goes away soon!

"Johannes Cabal the Necromancer" by Jonathan L. Howard

"In this uproarious and clever debut, it's time to give the devil his due. Johannes Cabal, a brilliant scientist and notorious snob, is single-mindedly obsessed in heart and soul with raising the dead. Well, perhaps not soul...He hastily sold his years ago in order to learn the laws of necromancy. But now, tormented by a dark secret, he travels to the fiery pits of Hell to retrieve it. Satan, who is incredibly bored these days, proposes a little wager: Johannes has one year to persuade one hundred people to sign over their souls or he will be damned forever. To make the bet even more interesting, Satan throws in that diabolical engine of deceit, seduction, and corruption known as a "traveling circus" to aid in the evil bidding. What better place exists to rob poor sad saps of their souls than the traveling carnivals historically run by hucksters and legendary con men? With little time to lose, Johannes raises a motley crew from the dead and enlists his brother, Horst, a charismatic vampire (an unfortunate side effect of Johannes's early experiments with necromancy), to be the carnival's barker. On the road through the pastoral English countryside, this team of reprobates wields their black magic with masterful ease, resulting in mayhem at every turn. Johannes may have the moral conscience of anthrax, but are his tricks sinful enough to beat the Devil at his own game?"

Ever since I saw a short blurb about this book in a professional catalog, I've been dying to read it (no pun intended). One of my coworkers is a huge debut novel nut, and this sounded right up her alley, too. Between the two of us, we pressed for our library system to pick up this title, and they did - ONE COPY. Which is assigned to our branch, thank you very much! With good reason, too; after both of us devouring this wonderfully wicked work, we'll be recommending it to lots of our patrons.

I really loved the cross between a Faustian tale and the old Bradbury carnival of "Something Wicked This Way Comes" - it works. In fact, I'd read somewhere that the author got the idea for this after reading Bradbury's piece, wondering what sort of person would run such a carnival and what the back story would be. Johannes isn't really what you could call a nice guy, and you have to wonder if it's because he is soulless when we meet him. Maybe yes, maybe no, but he's decided that his "experiments" always go wrong precisely because he doesn't have that soul. Thus the wager with the Devil. And you know the Devil is a sneaky bastard!

The most interesting character is his brother, Horst. As the book jacket says, he's a very charismatic character, and yes, he just happens to be a vampire. He's also a living embodiment of Johannes's conscience, trying to remind him constantly that this is the Devil they're dealing with, and to be on the lookout for a double cross. He also knows the "dark secret" that fuels Johannes's desire to conquer Death, and tries at every turn to persuade him not to go down that road.

I was reminded a bit of authors such as Christopher Moore while reading this book, although I think Howard doesn't go for the actual laughs as often as Moore. While quite often funny, there's a deeper, much sadder underlying theme. I know - how often do you get that? Do yourself a favor and don't miss this carnival when it hits your town. Then tell all your friends about it, too!

Hitting the stores this week

Oh my gosh! I can't believe that the month of October is already almost half-way over! Sigh. Where does the time go? And why don't I ever have enough time to read all the books in my to-be-read pile? LOL!

Hmmm..... appears to be quite a few little gems hitting the stores this week, including of course, more editions of all things Twilight. I'm not going to list those here; if you're that big a fan, you already know about them!

"Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days" by Jeff Kinney. This is the fourth book in Kinney's hugely popular series. The book description tells me that this time around we read about Greg Heffley's summer vacation, which he's using to play yet more video games inside his house. Guess his mom is going to insist on some "family togetherness", which will certainly ruin Greg's plans. Why this is so big with the kids is beyond me - I read the first two books and I just don't get it. The stories are OK, the drawings are cute, but Greg is a first-class jerk, rude to his family, his supposed best friend, and just about every one else he comes into contact with. Whatever.

"And Another Thing..." by Eoin Colfer. Colfer takes over (with Douglas Adams' widow's blessing, thank you very much) the much beloved Hitchhiker's Guide series. Colfer is best known for his young adult work, primarily the Artemis Fowl books. I guess there was the usual kerfluffle when it was first announced that Colfer would be doing the sixth book, but once people got a chance to calm down (and again, once Adams' widow said she was OK with it), it looks like readers are warming to return of Arthur Dent. It's been so long since I've read any of the books, I doubt I'll pick up this one. Then again, you never know.

"Chronic City" by Jonathan Lethem. A "literary" sort of read. Enough said.

"Deep Kiss of Winter" by Kresley Cole. Holy crap! How did I miss that Cole had out a new book? Well, after popping into Amazon to find out more about it, I can see why. This is actually two novellas, one by Cole, the other by Gena Showalter. Yes, I'm a bit disappointed, but I'm sure Cole's story will be outstanding. And who knows? Maybe I'll like Showalter - she's pretty popular here at the library.

"Dracula: the Un-Dead" by Dacre Stoker. This is going to be one of those books. You know the kind - much-hyped, big ad campaign, perhaps some good reviews, and probably not a hit with the general public. Does anyone remember "The Historian"? I tried to wade my way through it, but gave up at the requisite 50 pages. And yes, you read the author's last name correctly; he's a direct descendant of Bram himself. I doubt I'll read this, as I'm honestly not a big fan of the original. I know - ME. Strange but true.

"Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters" by Chesley B. Sullenburger. I just scanned the review of this memoir in the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly; they gave it a C, stating that only the last 100 pages deal with the miraculous landing of the plane on the Hudson River. My response to that reviewer is to read the book title again. This is a memoir, folks, not a tale about that fateful day. I for one would be pleased to read about Sullenberger's life, the whole kit and kaboodle, as I think he's a rarity in today's world - a man of great integrity and work ethic.

"Nine Dragons" by Michael Connelly. Yet another entry in the ever-popular Harry Bosch series. Just saw the review in EW, though, and they were not kind. Doubt it will matter to those who love Harry!

"Pursuit of Honor" by Vince Flynn. Never read anything by Flynn, but he's well-liked by library patrons. Sort of writes in the legal/armed forces thriller category, if there is such a thing. LOL!

"The Trump Card: Playing to Win in Work and Life" by Ivanka Trump. Oh please! Like she'd be writing a book if her daddy was anyone other than The Donald.

"My Dead Body" by Charlie Huston. Huston is one of those awesome writers that not enough people know about. Noir mystery starring vamp detective Joe Pitt. I've heard this is supposed to be the last book in the series, which makes me sad. But I know Huston will be back with another great read soon.

Currently reading: "The Fire King" by Marjorie Liu