What Did You Read In January?

And was it any good?

Here are my January reads (all genres):

The House of Gaian - Anne Bishop - 3/5
Coraline - Neil Gaiman - 5/5
All The Pretty Girls - J. T. Ellison -3.5/5
Severance Package - Duane Swierczynski - 2/5
Tempt the Devil - Anna Campbell - 5/5
Running Hot - Jayne Ann Krentz - 2/5
The Hallowed Hunt - Lois Mcmaster Bujold - 3.5/5
Barrayar - Lois McMaster Bujold - 4/5
Shards of Honor - Lois McMaster Bujold - 4/5
Lie to Me- Starr Ambrose - 3.5/5
Find Me - Debra Webb - 3.5/5
Whisper No Lies - Cindy Gerard - 4.5/5
Shadows and Light - Anne Bishop - 3/5
Talk of the Town - Karen Hawkins -3/5
Paladin of Souls - Lois McMaster Bujold - 5/5
Tangled Webs - Anne Bishop -3.5/5

Here are the books I read in January, all genres though mostly romance *of course*. :D

1. Mysteria Lane by MaryJanice Davidson and Various Others (4 stars)
2. Night Falls Darkly by Kim Lenox (4.5 stars)
3. Double Fantasy by Cheryl Holt (3 stars)
4. Thirty Nights with a Highland Husband by Melissa Mayhue (4.5 stars)
5. Persistence of Memory by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes (5 stars)
6. Never Deceive a Duke by Liz Carlyle (4.5 stars)
7. The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong (4.5 stars)
8. The Great Scot by Donna Kauffman (4 stars)
9. Double Enchantment by Kathryne Kennedy (3.5 stars)
10. Nothing but the Truth by Avi (4 stars)
11. Reason to Believe by Jessica Inclan (4 stars)
12. Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts (4.5 stars)
13. Atonement by Ian McEwan (3 stars)
14. The Hollow by Nora Roberts (4.5 stars)
15. Caine's Reckoning by Sarah McCarty (4.5 stars)
16. The Pagan Stone by Nora Roberts (4.5 stars)
17. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (3 stars)
18. A Gentle Rain by Deborah Smith (4 stars)
19. The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks (4 stars)
20. Magic or Madness by Justine Larbalestier (4 stars)
21. Cradle and All by James Patterson (4.5 stars)
22. White Wolf by Susan Edwards (4.5 stars)
23. Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs (4.5 stars)
24. Touch of Evil by C.T. Adams (3 stars)

Here's mine, not much compared to the lists above me lol!

1. Midnight Blue by Phoebe Conn
2. Maidensong by Diana Groe
3. Forgive the Wind by cindy Holby
4. Savage Beloved by Cassie Edwards
5. Burning Tigress by Jade Lee
6. The Scoundrel by Lisa Plumley
7. For My Lady's Honor by Sharon Schulze
8. His Duty, Her Destiny by Juliet landon
9. A Reputable Rake by Diane Gaston
10. Jared's Runaway Woman by Judith Stacy

Here are mine for January, two were 1001 classics, but still had romantic elements to them:

1. House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende (3.5 stars)
2. Master of the Highlands by Veronica Wolff (3 stars)
3. Lady Sophia's Lover by Lisa Kleypas (5 stars)
4. The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt (4 stars)
5. Gentle Warrior by Julie Garwood (3 stars)
6. Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy (4.5 stars)
7. Enslaved by Virginia Henley (3.5 stars)
8. Wild and Wicked in Scotland by Melody Thomas (3 stars)

You asked!

For novels I read:

1. Vampire Academy by Richelle Meade
2. The Darkest Night by Gena Showalter
3. Babylonne by Catherine Jinks
4. PsyCop by Jordan Castillo Price
5. Lover Unbound by J.R. Ward
6. Blood Red by Heather Graham
7. Frostbite by Richelle Meade
8. The Pagan Stone by Nora Roberts
9. Wuthering Heights by Charlotte Bronte
10. Midnight's Daughter by Karen Chance
11. Oleander House by Ally Blue

Manga:
Vassalord vols 1 & 2
Wild Adapter vols 1-3
Her Majesty's Dog vol. 11
Black Sun Silver Moon vols 2 & 3
Satisfaction Guaranteed vols 1-4
InuYasha vol 1
Black Cat vols 9 & 10
A Wiseman Sleeps vol 1
Monochrome Factor vol 1
Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle vol 20

Also reviewed the Early Review book President Obama Election 2008 which was mostly all pictures with some captions. It was actually pretty interesting since I didn't follow the campaign.

Generally I liked everything. My favorites were Lover Unbound and Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle vol 20.

My disappointments were Babylonne and Monochrome Factor.

I did ask! I like to see what everyone's reading, and see whether there's anything I should try. There's a lot of stuff on your list I hadn't heard of.

I'm almost afraid to look at other people's lists because I already have so many I want to read! LOL However, I can't stop myself anyway!!

Ok, here is my January list.

1. Hot Blooded anthology by Feehan, Shayne, Holly, Knight (4 stars)
2. Dark Secret by Christine Feehan(5 stars)
3. Blood Red by Heather Graham(4 stars)
4. Dark Demon By Christine Feehan(5 stars)
5. Dark Celebration by Christine Feehan(5 stars)
6. Dark Possession by Christine Feehan(5 stars)
7. Dark Curse by Christine Feehan(5 stars)
8. The Road Taken by Megan Hart (4 stars)
9. Three Bedrooms, One Corpse by Charlaine Harris(3 stars)
10. No Humans Involved by Kelley Armstrong(4 stars)
11. A Gentle Rain by Deborah Smith(5 stars)
12. Natural-Born Protector by Carla Cassidy(3 stars)
13. Real Murders by Charlaine Harris(3 stars)

13, is that a lucky number for books being read?

My whole January list, with romances in bold:

1. The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett (4½ out of 5)
2. Everything and the Moon - Julia Quinn (3½)
3. Raven Black - Ann Cleeves (5)
4. The Food of Love - Anthony Capella (4½)
5. Service with a Smile - PG Wodehouse (4)
6. Lord of Scandal - Nicola Cornick (3½)
7. The China Governess - Margery Allingham (3½)
8. People of the Book - Geraldine Brooks (4½)
9. Miss Verey's Proposal - Nicola Cornick (4½)
10. The Convenient Marriage - Georgette Heyer (5)
11. The Temptation of Rory Monahan - Elizabeth Bevarly (4)
12. When Jayne met Erik - Elizabeth Bevarly (4)
13. Mrs Pollifax Pursued - Dorothy Gilman (3½)
14. Secret Cinderella - Dani Sinclair (2)
15. Decent Exposure - Phillipa Ashley (4)
16. If on a Winter's Night a Traveller - Italo Calvino (3½)
17. A Civil Contract - Georgette Heyer (5)
18. Jingo - Terry Pratchett (4)
19. Dry Store Room No. 1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum - Richard Fortey (5)
20. The Discovery of Chocolate - James Runcie (2½)

3/ ashleylynn31 - I am curious how you liked Burning Tigress? I read a few of Jade Lee's earlier Tigress books, then got tired of how the same they all were - very interesting period, place and stories, but it didn't feel like the characters were any different. Her writing showed promise, though, and I'm curious how some of her more recent stuff is?

8/ onyx95 - I read through your reviews, and liked the one for Megan Hart's The Road Taken - can't find it on Amazon though... Also, I would highly recommend Kelley Armstrong's Bitten - her first, and very different from all the others (though Jaime Vargas is not featured in it - she comes in later) - it sounded from your review of No Humans Involved like it was your first of hers?

My list for January...

Seduce Me At Sunrise by Lisa Kleypas (3 stars)
Mona Lisa Darkening by Sunny (2 stars)
Stranger by Megan Hart (4 stars)
A Lady's Pleasure by Renee Bernard (2 stars)
Only Pleasure by Lora Leigh (1 star)
To Seduce A Sinner by Elizabeth Hoyt (as well as To Taste Temptation, to refresh) (3 stars)
Undercover by Lauren Dane (1 star)
The Ice Dragon by Bianca D'Arc (1 star)

Wolfsbane and Mistletoe (for the Patricia Briggs and Karen Chance shorts)
Red Hot Valentine's Day (for the Megan Hart short)

Rosamenz - Burning Tigress was very different lol! I have one or two more of them but I haven't read them yet. Parts of that book were just very strange and after the 100th time of hearing yin/yang or dragon it got pretty old!

Whisper No Lies by Cindy Gerard 4
Lone Star Woman by Sadie Callahan 3
Find Me by Debra Webb 3 1/2
Hot Mail by Janice Maynard 4
Veil of Midnight by Lara Adrain 4
Wicked Burn by Beth Kery 2 1/2
Dangerous Deception by Beverly Barton 3 1/2
Bad Penny by Sharon Sala 3
Blue Justice by Illona Haus 4 1/2
Freefall by JoAnn Ross 4 1/2
Crossfire by JoAnn Ross 4 1/2

bookbeat -

I am interested in your feelings about Blue Justice. I loved Haus' first book, didn't care for the second, and was wondering whether I should read this one. Have you read the other two?

adept, I did read the first two & I agree, I didn't care for the second one either. I'd had Blue Justice in my tbr pile for awhile & put off reading it because of that. I don't want to give too much away, but if you were disappointed in the direction of the relationship between Kay & Finn in the last book, you'll enjoy Blue Justice. There's some sad aspects to it, but I liked it much better than the last one.

>10 rosamenz: Rosamenz, I saw you didn't seem to care for The Ice Dragon. I have a few books by this author on my wishlist and wondered if you had read anything else by her you might have liked better, or was this a first and last sort of thing?

>11 ashleylynn31: ashleylynn31 - "after the 100th time of hearing yin/yang or dragon it got pretty old!" - LOL! That was my feeling with her (Jade Lee's) earlier ones - some lovely ideas, but belabored to death - struck me as one of those authors so unique editors are afraid to edit - could have been half as long and twice as good without all the belaboring. I am curious how her Crimson City one was - I actually haven't read any in that series - though I like some of Liz Maverick's stuff, I am off Marjorie M. Liu - anyone read those/care to share??

>15 Jenson_AKA_DL: Demon, I guess I just expected more from The Ice Dragon after all the raves for this author. It was like warmed-over Anne McCaffrey. Her writing was technically sound, but it was just so un-blushingly juvenile. I wouldn't NOT try another of hers, but it was a "first and last sort of thing" - love that phrase!

I give one stars to things I think should never have been printed, waste of paper, shameful - maybe this wouldn't have been as bad as a download, but it just wasn't strong enough to be printed - usually I find Samhain titles more reliable than Ellora's Cave in that way, but not this time!

Who knows, maybe I just read too many dragon books in my impressionable years. But for better dragon stories (with more romance, and even some sizzle!), I'd recommend McCaffrey's first one - Dragonflight, or the newer YA titles Dragon's Bait by Vande Velde or the eerie Dragon's Keep by Janet Lee Carey, both very good.

(Oh, and I just realized I'd read another d'Arc title, Lords of the Were, also glowingly reviewed - yeouch! I found it unreadable, as in the 'not even for the sex' category...)

bb -

It was not just the relationship, though that was definitely part of it, but I was disappointed in the characters themselves--I felt they were acting in ways that would lead me not to like them. Still, I thought Haus' writing was strong, so I will give this one a shot!

adept -

Let me know when you finish it what you think.

10>rosamenz - it is my first by Kelley Armstrong (the only one the library had at the time) now I am planning on going back to get Bitten and a few of her others. The Megan Hart is actually a short story, I got it as an audio - not even sure if it would be more than part of an anthology size story in print. I also have (I think) Tempted by Megan Hart, I just haven't started it yet.
Thanks

I just posted a list of January reads to my blog since I decided I'm keeping track of what I read for a year just to see. So here's my list (all genres but mostly romance this month):

* Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie (fiction, contemporary romance, bought used, reread)
* Faking It by Jennifer Crusie (fiction, contemporary romance, bought used, reread)
* Women and Money by Suze Orman (nonfiction, personal finance, borrowed from library)
* The Look of Love by Jennifer McKnight-Trontz (nonfiction, pop culture, bought new)
* Yours Until Dawn by Teresa Medeiros (fiction, historical romance, borrowed from library)
* Knitting for Good by Betsy Greer (nonfiction, activism, free from LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers program)
* A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action by LuAnn McLane (fiction, contemporary romance, bought new)
* Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (fiction, gothic romance, borrowed from library)
* Clutter’s Last Stand by Don Aslett (nonfiction, organization, borrowed from library)
* Hummingbird by LaVyrle Spencer (fiction, historical romance, bought used)
* Separate Beds by LaVyrle Spencer (fiction, romance, bought used)
* The Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice (fiction, horror, bought used)
* Anyone But You by Jennifer Crusie (fiction, contemporary romance, bought used, reread)
* Snowbound by Janice Kay Johnson (fiction, contemporary romance, free ebook)
* Dancing in the Moonlight by Raeanne Thayne (fiction, contemporary romance, free ebook)

>17 rosamenz: Rosamenz, thanks! Now I'm kind of curious to read to see how bad it is LOL! Actually, Lords of Were is one of the ones in my wishlist.

I've had Dragon's Keep on my wishlist for a while. I'm kind of pre-planning a challenge list for 2010 with a dragon list, so if I don't read it before, it will definitely get read then.

Um, does it make me kind of weird that I'm already pre-planning the 101010 Challenge themes/books for 2010? I have a list started on my computer.

>22 Jenson_AKA_DL: - Overachiever! LOL... I think it's awesome that you have a plan (and a theme!) for 2010... If you're going to do dragons, definitely add the Vande Velde - from what else I've seen you like, I think you would like it the best of the three I mentioned - very romantic (though the ending definitely leaves you wanting more!)

Oh, and I thought The Ice Dragon was actually better than Lords of the Were - which is not saying much, but apparently some people did really like them - ?! If you go for either, I'd like to hear your opinion, but I'd definitely recommend getting them at the library if you can! I'm curious though, do you have an inherent were/dragon (or vampire) preference, like many paranormal readers seem to, or are you paranormally non-denominational?

>20 onyx95: onyx95 - Bitten is SO good - I hope you enjoy! Thanks for the info on the Megan Hart - I thought it was weird I couldn't find it on Amazon. I really enjoyed Tempted - thought it was fantastic, actually - though it's definitely NOT romantic. Will leave you thinking, though...

I'll have to keep the Vande Velde novel in mind too then. I read a couple others by her and wasn't impressed but I'm willing to try again :-)

I'm a pretty non-discriminatory paranormal reader LOL! I like all the weird stuff.

I've actually decided on a music themed 101010. I'm picking out books based on song names. Puff the Magic Dragon seemed like a good one!

How about you, do you have any preference on paranormal themes? I always found absolute niche reading odd. I've read comments by die-hard vampire lovers that flat out refuse branch out at all. Ghosts can be romantic too, just without the neck biting.

Vande velde is VERY spotty - I first stumbled upon Heir Apparent which I LOVED - a girl gets trapped inside a virtual reality game, keeps getting killed, and having to start the game all over again until she can find a way out by winning the game - kind of the same premise as the movie, Groundhog Day - very fun! And Dragon's Bait was very good, but there have been a lot of hers I couldn't even get through, so I hear you there!

So it 101010 another way of writing 2010? It looks like binary code! I like the music theme...

I'm also a non-discriminatory paranormal reader who finds "absolute niche reading odd" - ! I've heard the folks who only like vampires or only werewolves or whatnot, and just don't understand it - a good read is a good read, regardless!

It's not just readers who are weird about categorizing though - how long (if ever) do you think it will be before you walk into a bookstore and there's a 'paranormal' section? I find it odd that some are in romance, some are in scifi/fantasy (a group that never has gotten split, despite reader preferences), some are in straight fiction, etc. etc. I think Laurell K. Hamilton was originally in Horror - may still be? And I've always found the YA distinction fairly spurious. And African American fiction - what's with that?? Why is the one place that is still segregated the BOOKSTORE, for cryin out loud? I like that the library by and large ignores these distinctions, but then it gets hard to find just 'Romance' because libraries don't recognize this category - it's the invisible subject!

LOL! I know what you mean about libraries and romance. Mine has it in with all the general fiction which makes it seem like looking for a needle in a haystack.

>23 rosamenz: It turned out my library did have Lords of the Were and I'm so glad you suggested taking it out instead of buying it! I had to quit about halfway because I felt there wasn't enough plot or character development to balance out the sex scenes. Also, I always find smutty bedroom talk kind of a turn off. I like more romantic dialog and this seemed kind of like something out of a porno.