Living by the List...

So this is a challenge we're doing in one of our groups. We make a list of 8 with 3 alternatives and read those 8 in a month (usually easily done). The point is to feel like we are making a difference in our TBR piles and wheedling them down a little. I have 3 books in at the library, and At Graves End should arrive in the mail any day. I also have 3 others on the way from paperbackswap. That covers quite a few on my list and doesn't leave many from my shelf here at home that I've been needing to get to. My alternatives are a book I have on hold at the library that could come in soon and a couple that have been sitting on my shelf for ages. I have quite a few Historical fiction books that I want to get read, but I just haven't been in the mood for deep reading so I only put one on the list. I'm not sure if that's a mistake or not... but I guess I'm sure I'll read more then 8 books in a month so if I throw in an extra one or two...
So here is my next 8 with 3 alternatives:

My List:

1.At Graves End by Jeaniene Frost (Done)
2. Heir to the Shadows (The Black Jewels Trilogy, Book 2)by Anne Bishop
3. Shopaholic Takes Manhattan (Shopaholic, Bk 2)by Sophie Kinsella
4. Portrait in Sepia by Isabel Allende
5. Witchling by Yasmine Galenorn
6. Once bitten, twice shy : a Jaz Parks novel by Jennifer Rardin
7. The Treasure of Montsegur by Sophy Burnham
8. Ironside by Holly Black

Alternatives
1. Lament : the faerie queen's deception by Maggie Stiefvater
2. Minion by L.A. Banks
3. The Cry of the Icemark Stuart Hill

Some Christmas Spirit...

This was an amazing book. Not that I loved the writing style so much, and at times I was thinking "get on with it already", but the heart of the story 'spoke' to me and made me want to 'pay it forward'. Its a tough year for us financially, like so many others, and this heart warming style reminded me of all the good people out there. First of all the book is about a girl who is left at a Chicken restoraunt as a baby. The lady who finds her ends up raising her. As an adult she becomes a journalist and her mother ends up passing away from cancer. She has a hard time and is depressed and then someone breaks into her apartment. She then finds a Christmas Jar sitting inside her door and its full of money. This sends her off finding out if there are more people who have been the recipient of such generosity, and there are several more. She ends up finding the family that started it many years ago and becomes close to them. It is about the generosity of this one family that led others to do the same and it sort of became a pay it forward thing. I think all of us should have a CJ in our kitchen to dump our spare change into all year and then give it to someone around Christmas who really needs it. I know I would feel so good being able to help someone out like that. I've had my share of people being generous to me. One year a coworker bought my husband and I a ton of grocerys. She just needed to do something for someone in need and it was a tough time for us. Just this year I had a friend send me a gift card so I could order a book we've been anxiously awaiting the release of and which I knew I couldn't afford to buy. It made me very happy to recieve it and I can't wait until we are in a better place financially so I can help out someone myself. Last year around Christmas I made sure I always had a few dollar bills and cans of soda so when I was stopped at lights or at off ramps I could give the homeless a soda and a couple dollars. It sure made me feel better cause I felt like I was doing something for them. Anyway, this was a great book and it'll warm your heart to read it!

My List of books I really should read soon...

So on one of my shelfari groups we're doing a challenge where we post the next 8 books we plan to read and have 2 or 3 alternates (can't remember which) that we can switch out if we're not in the mood for one of our books or it didn't come in on time, etc. The point is to get some of the books on our shelves read, especially those that may have been on there for ages. I have LOTS of books waiting to be read and lately they've been calling my name. When I got them I was very anxious to read them but well, there's just SO many books in the world waiting to be read! So anyway, I was thinking maybe I'll start a list here to sort of remind me.
A few of the books that are on my shelf waiting for me are:
Ironside by Holly Black (The first two were great, not sure why this one is still sitting there, waiting.)
Minion by L.A. Banks
Cry of the Icemark by Stuart Hill (YA so should be an easy one to read)
Fantasy Lover by Sherrilyn Kenyon (this book was highly recommended, but I just haven't really felt like reading it, I'll have to try though)
Dark Lover and Lover Eternal by J. R. Ward (Another series highly recommended but just haven't felt in the mood)
The Sun Witch by Linda Winstead Jones
A Man in a Kilt by Sandy Blair
Wolf at the Door by Christine Warren
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Books 3, 4, 5, and maybe 6 of the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton
Portrait in Sepia by Isabel Allende
Yellow Moon by Jewell Parker Rhodes
The Secret Book of Grazia dei Rossi by Jacqueline Park
The House of Sight and Shadow by Nicholas Griffin
Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles by Margaret George
Mary Called Magdalene by Margaret George
The Treasure of Montsegur by Sophy Burnham
Chapel Noir by Carole Nelson Douglas
That Egyptian Woman by Noel B. Gersman
The Boleyn Inheritance by Phillipa Gregory
The Kitchen Gods Wife by Amy Tan (my mom got this one for me, I feel I really should try it)
Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
Christmas Jars by Jason F. Wright (this is my Christmas book for this year)
And the list goes on...
Thats a few anyway, and it'll feel good to get some of them read. I do have several books on hold at the library that will be coming in as well and I have a couple books from PBS I hope to recieve before too long. So much read and so little time to read them. I would also like to reread The Mists of Avalon and that series, its been so many years, and its sooo good! And, I almost forgot a book that was loaned to me that I really should try to read, Folly by Laurie R. King. So... which one should I read first? Maybe I'll read Christmas Jars cause its nice and short and perfect since its almost Christmas.

Fantastic story!

I finished The Vampires Seduction and I thought it was terrific! It had a lot of descriptions of where the vampires sleep. It seems that in most books its always a big secret where the vampires sleep and they just never get into it. I also liked how these two led such normal lives and continued to be 'good' people. But the author still made it seem real by throwing in evil and and bringing out that evil is buried inside them and can be brought out. The book ended without too big of a cliffhanger, but made me anxious to read the next one. I'm just not sure how I'm going to get the next one The Vampires Secret, as the library doesn't seem to have more then this first book for some reason.

Win a free book!

My friend Evie posted an interview with the author of The Vampires Seduction on her blog http://randomminutiae.blogspot.com/ at her blog you can comment and be entered to win The Vampires Seduction from the author.

This also happens to be the next book I plan on reading. So I'll post the description here:
When it comes to a wild and seductive nightlife, Savannah has bite.

Older than the United States and wealthy beyond his years, playboy William Cuyler Thorne is a vampire with a nice long undead life—one that includes a steady stream of admirers, a consistent supply of rejuvenating blood, and, best of all, a cover as one of Savannah’s most prominent pillars of society.

But all good things must end.

Now an ancient enemy has come for William from across the seas. It is his sire, Reedrek, the vampire who created him. And Reedrek will stop at nothing until all that is precious to William—his beautiful mistress, his stable of willing female victims, his glorious estates, and his good-ol’-boy vampire sidekick, Jack—is within his voracious grasp. But William has an arsenal of his own—one that is enhanced by the power of voodoo. And when these two bloodsuckers meet, there will be hell to pay.

This is suppose to be a good one! I'll let you guys know what I think.

Finished The Summoning...

Great book! It was nice and fast, I read it in a day! I can't wait to read The Awakening. I'll have to look it up. I have the description for the book below or archived.

Current Book I'm reading...

I picked this up from the library today and got it started while watching my daughter play. It was easy to get into and seems like a fast read. I had this on hold since August so I had pretty much forgotten what it was about. I got re-excited once I got it though.
Here's a brief description:

My name is Chloe Saunders and my life will never be the same again.

All I wanted was to make friends, meet boys, and keep on being ordinary. I don't even know what that means anymore. It all started on the day that I saw my first ghost—and the ghost saw me.

Now there are ghosts everywhere and they won't leave me alone. To top it all off, I somehow got myself locked up in Lyle House, a "special home" for troubled teens. Yet the home isn't what it seems. Don't tell anyone, but I think there might be more to my housemates than meets the eye. The question is, whose side are they on? It's up to me to figure out the dangerous secrets behind Lyle House . . . before its skeletons come back to haunt me.

I finished!

I finally finished Daughter of the Blood! I'm so glad I finally made it through this one. This is a story that will stick with me for awhile. Although the beginning was hard to get into and there were just so many people introduced it turned into a great story in a fantastic world. The second I finished I got on PBS and ordered the next two. I can't wait to get them! I totally recommend this series and I just have to say, stick with it! If you read a lot of fantasy it might be easier for you as I think a lot of fantasy is like this, harder to get into because of all the explaining of the world and strange characters, but if you don't then I just have to warn you, its slow going, but worth it! Its not a series everyone will like though. Some would find it disgusting and totally not to their taste. You'll find the description below, or archived once I post more.

My current work in progress...

So I started this one last night... I've been waiting for it for AGES and it finally came from PBS. Its been a little slow to get into, but I was warned it was like that. The world is a little confusing and I feel like I need to make a chart for all the different 'people' in the story. But I still have faith that this will turn out to be a great story.

Amazon.com Review
Anne Bishop's debut novel, Daughter of the Blood, is like black coffee--strong, dark, and hard on delicate stomachs. Within the Blood (a race of magic-users), women rule and men serve, but tradition has been corrupted so that women enslave men, who seek to destroy their oppressors. Female children are violated before they can reach maturity; men are tortured and forced to satisfy witches' sexual appetites.

Bishop's child heroine, Jaenelle, is destined to rule the Blood, if she can reach adulthood. Her power is hidden; her family believes her mad. Saetan, High Lord of Hell and most powerful of the Blood males, becomes Jaenelle's surrogate father and teacher. He cannot protect her outside Hell, where he rules. She refuses to leave Terreille, risking herself to protect or heal other victims of violence. Can Daemon, Saetan's estranged son, keep her safe from the machinations of the evil High Priestess? Or will he lose his battle to control his destructive urges and endanger her?

Readers may find some aspects of Bishop's world confusing; not least that most of the good guys live in Hell. But her protagonists are compelling, sympathetic characters who overcome terrible adversity. If you like Anne Rice or Laurell K. Hamilton, try this one. --Nona Vero --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

One of my favorite series of all times starts with:

Kushiels Dart is the first in the Kushiels Legacy series. The first 3 books in the series are about Phedra and the last 3 are about Phedra's adopted son Imriel. Although this series has a slow beginning it is worth sticking with it as it is full of everything, fantasy, romance, adventure, and I'm sure the list goes on. Many people have a hard time sticking through the book to get to the good part. Like many books that are the first in the series it has to set you up to let you know about the world and the characters in it.
Here is a brief description:

This brilliant and daring debut, set in a skewed Renaissance world (people worship Jesus-like "Blessed Elua" but also demigods), catapults Carey immediately into the top rank of fantasy novelists. In the character of Phedre no Delaunay, "a whore's unwanted get" sold into indentured servitude in opulent Night Court, the author has created a particularly strong and memorable female lead, and has surrounded her with a large and varied cast, from nobles and priests to soldiers and peasants. An engrossing plot focuses first on court intrigue and treachery, then, in a surprising shift, on high adventure, travel in barbarian lands including Alba (England) and war. Two demigods rule Phedre: Naamah, for sensual love; and Kushiel, for sado-masochistic pain, his "dart" being a blood spot in Phedre's eye. Not everyone will go for Phedre's graphic if elegantly described sexual encounters, which usually involve the infliction of pain, whether from lashing, branding or even cutting. Phedre, however, is no cliched sexpot but a complex character motivated by religious zeal. In one amusing scene, a group of sailors on the march chants: "Whip us till we're on the floor, we'll turn around and ask for more, we're Phedre's Boys!" At the end, the heroine reminds one of an equally strong-minded sister whose home was Tara. No mere feminist novel, this is an assured and magnificent book that will appeal to both male and female readers.

Tall, Dark and Dead by Tate Hallaway

A delightful beginning to a series about witches, vampires, and the search for the perfect man.

Recovering witch Garnet Lacey manages Wisconsin's premier occult bookstore. And a fringe benefit of the job is getting customers like Sebastian Von Traum-piercing brown eyes, a sexy accent, and a killer body. The only thing missing is an aura. Which means he's dead. And that means trouble.

So what's a girl to do if she's hot for a dead man walking? Run like hell-and take full advantage of the nights.

This was a great first book in a series. It pulled me in from the first page and held my attention through the entire thing. I really loved the combination of witches, vampires, and the Vatican witch hunters. There really is a lot to this story, but its a nice fast easy read and I recommend to everyone who loves paranormal. It is an adult book though! There is some sex, but its not too much, just a few different scenes but they don't ramble on and don't take over the story. Oh, and it has TWO hot vampires! And who can't resist that?!