I wish I had found this group sooner! I'm moving my challenge over here from another group. I'm going to tweak it a bit to make it fit this group. If you want to see some of my earlier reviews, check there:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/64441Edited to show categories1. Vampire (closed world) 9/9
2. Vampire (open world) 5/9
3. Vampire Graphic Novels 8/9
4. Anthologies 7/9
5. YA Vampire 8/9
6. YA (non-vampire) 9/9
7. Werewolf 9/9
8. New-to-me authors 7/9
9. "Other" paranormal 9/9
Message edited by its author, Nov 30, 2009, 11:24pm.
Come and join us, we'd love to have some other members. I am doing alright on the challenge so far, just want to get some good reading done over the summer, so that when term starts again I can focus on work and not books. :) Welcome!
Welcome, BookLizard! I'll have to take a peek @ your other 999 thread. I love vampire books, too (even though I'm not doing so hot on this challenge).
4. Anthologies 7/9
1.
Highland Thirst by Hannah Howell and Lynsay Sands ***
2.
Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance ****
3.
Night's Edge by Maggie Shayne, Barbara Hambly, & Charlaine Harris ****
4. On the Prowl by
Crystal Jordan ****
5.
Tapestry by Lynn Kurland, Madeline Hunter, Karen Marie Moning, & Sherrilyn Kenyon ****
6.
On the Prowl by Patricia Briggs, Eileen Wilks, Karen Chance, & Sunny ***1/2
7
Never After by Laurell K. Hamilton, Yasmine Galenorn, Marjorie M. Liu, & Sharon Shinn ****1/2
8.
9.
Message edited by its author, Nov 30, 2009, 11:15pm.
So I've moved my challenge over here and I need to still tweak it a little bit to make it fit.
Do other folks include Science Fiction as paranormal? In particular, I'm wondering about
The Hunger Games. I don't want to spoil the ending for anyone who hasn't read it, but for those who have . . . do you think the final scene in the arena is more science fiction or paranormal?
I haven't read
The Hunger Games (the one by
Suzanne Collins, right?), so I don't know if it has any paranormal bits in it, but you can definitely add any cross-genres (romance, fantasy, historical, western(??), mysteries, etc), as long as it has some otherworldly factor in it (vampires, fairies, aliens, werewolves, etc). Great list so far! Obviously a vampire, huh? Me too. :)
Yes, I'm a vampire aficionado. :^)=
Some folks have
The Hunger Games tagged as fantasy. It takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, so it's definitely speculative fiction. There's something creepy that happens at the end that I don't think was explained scientifically. Maybe I'll go ask in the YA Fiction group since they did it for a group read.
Dancing with the Devil by Keri Arthur ***1/2
This novel was Arthur's first published book and it shows, but it's still enjoyable. I really like the characters - it's the plot which takes too many contrived twists that makes it just average. Nikki is a private investigator with psychic powers who is hired by a rich man to find his wayward daughter who, it turns out, has fallen under the thrall of an evil vampire and doesn't want to be found. That part of the story is resolved too quickly and then it's just the bad vampire trying to get Nikki and the good vampire Michael trying to stop him.
I plan to read the whole series since I love her Riley Jensen series, so I'll let you know if they get better. I stuck this in my "other" paranormal category because that's where I had room for it! LOL. Normally I'd stick it with vampires, but since she has all these psychic powers, I think I can get away with putting it here. ;^)
Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs ****1/2
This book in the series was pretty unputdownable. Mercy's vampire friend Stefan "drops in" with a warning that the queen of the local vampires is out to get Mercy. Afraid of putting her friends' lives in danger, Mercy decides to leave town for a few days to help an old college friend whose house is haunted. Of course, trouble follows Mercy wherever she goes.
Wicked (The Pack of St. James) by
Noelle Mack **
This novel just didn't work for me on so many levels. I expected it to be hot, but it was borderline erotica. I wouldn't mind it being so racy if it was satisfying, but it wasn't. If you're really into S&M you might appreciate this story more than I did. However, the so called hero was stupid and weak and the author relied too much on coincidences to move the plot. I can believe in werewolves, but I can't believe that the heroine was able to see all of London from the rooftop and just happened to see the hero who left the house hours ago and just happened to notice that he was being followed and then just happened to be so friggin' STUPID that she forgot to tell him about it when he got home.
I should take back one of the stars, but it was a quick read so I'll give it a brownie point for that. If you can't be good, be brief.
UPDATED 12/10/09 OK, I am taking back one star. I read the first book in the series, Wild, and it was better than Wicked but still not good, so I need to downgrade the rating on this one.
Message edited by its author, Dec 10, 2009, 5:50am.
On the Prowl ***1/2
This is an anthology, so I'm going to break it down story by story.
Alpha and Omega by Patricia Briggs. I picked up the anthology for this novella and it was worth it. It's set in the same world as the Mercy Thompson series, but with different main characters. ****
Inhuman by Eileen Wilks was OK. I guess it's also part of a larger series, but it didn't make me feel the need to read any further. ***1/2
Buying Trouble by Karen Chance redeemed the author in my eyes. I really didn't like her novel Touch of Dark, but this story was more original and I enjoyed it. ***1/2
Mona Lisa Betwining didn't do much for me either. It appears to be part of a larger series, but it was more erotica than romance -- all sex and not much plot. Nothing wrong with that, but the male characters (yes, more than one) just weren't real enough to engage my interest. ***
Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison ***1/2
Rachel Morgan, a witch, has a price on her head after she leaves her job as a runner for the I.S. - a police force for the supernatural. She joins forces with Ivy, a living vampire, and Jenks, a pixy, to form a private detective agency. Rachel hopes that if she catches a big-time drug dealer and turns him over to the I.S., they'll let her live.
This book took me forever to read. I download the e-book from the library over three weeks ago, but only made it through the first few chapters before the lending period expired. So I checked out the paperback thinking it would be a faster read, but it still took me a week to finish. The novel just didn't grab me, maybe because of the lack of a sexy male romantic interest. I didn't dislike it, so I might eventually try the next book in the series, but I just didn't find it all that compelling.
Jacob by Jacquelyn Frank ***1/2
Jacob is The Enforcer for his people - when a demon gives in to lust for a human, Jacob is there to punish the transgression. That is, until he himself falls under the thrall of a human.
I was really disappointed in this book. Maybe it's because I've been reading so much urban fantasy lately, but I finally "got" what critics mean when they talk about purple prose. It took me over 2 weeks to finish reading it, so it really didn't grab me and hold my attention. I might eventually try the next book in the series, because it wasn't that bad, but it wasn't that good either.
My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent ***1/2
Teenager Kaylee Cavanaugh begins having premonitions about people's deaths, but she can't warn them because if she opens her mouth, all she can do is scream. One of the hottest guys in school has suddenly taken an interest in her, but she's afraid that if he discovers her secret, he'll be the one to run screaming.
This was OK. Didn't love it, didn't hate it, didn't think it was good enough to be the start of a series, but apparently it is. I think the biggest problem for me was that none of the characters were that compelling.
Vampire Diaries: The Awakening and The Struggle by L. J. Smith ****
I liked these 2 stories more than I should have. LOL. The writing isn't that great. Elena is Too Stupid To Live.
But boy are Damon and Stefan hot! (They're both hundreds of years old, so it's legal.) LOL. I'm sure I'm influenced by the TV show, but the Elena on TV isn't TSTL like in the books and Stefan on TV isn't as sympathetic and attractive. I guess I just like love triangles, and the books give you a better idea of the characters' motivations.
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater ****
Ever since she was attacked and pulled from her swing as a young girl, Grace has been fascinated by the wolves that haunt the woods behind her house every winter. Now that a boy from her high school has been attacked and killed by wolves, the men in town want to eliminate the wolf pack, especially after the boy's body disappears from the morgue. When Grace sees a new wolf with the same bright blue eyes as the boy who was attacked, she wonders if he was ever really dead or just changed into something different, something impossible to believe . . . a werewolf. Grace must somehow save the wolves, especially the one with the golden eyes, the one who saved her as a child and has watched her all these years.
Ruined: A Novel by Paula Morris ****
I'm giving this novel 4 stars because I really enjoyed it - not because it deserves it. The 12 year old cousin is too childish; the history is poured on too thick - doesn't come naturally; I got confused by the narrator on several occasions; the ending is too difficult to believe -- everything is just swept under the rug instead of realistically resolved. BUT, I still really enjoyed the novel, maybe because I love New Orleans so much. The ghost was believable, her back story was well done, the main character was likable and not too stupid . . . Great story, I just wish the writing had been better.
Pretty Dead by Francesca Lia Block ****1/2
I've always wanted to like FLB more than I actually do.
Violet and Clare was good, but I didn't like
Weetzie Bat as much as everyone else does. Well, vampires fit FLB's style perfectly!!! Her books deal with relationships and emotions and identity. The plot is never as important as the characters. You don't read her books - you experience them, and
Pretty Dead is worth experiencing.
On vacation, I got to catch up on some of my reading. Finished
Vampire Diaries: The Fury and Dark Reunion. The ending was really annoying, but I requested the new book in the series from the library anyway.
Read a really good anthology of "fairy" tales,
Never After.
Finally got to read
Bound to Shadows by Keri Arthur. I was a little bit disappointed because the stories are getting formulaic and Riley made some really stupid decisions.
I also reread
Dead Until Dark. I didn't count it as part of my challenge since it's a reread, but I reserve the right to change my mind before December 31st! LOL. I really need books for my open-world vampire category and it fits the bill perfectly.
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