Broken Bones

Author: Deja Black

I read this as an uncorrected proof off of NetGalley. 

I found this story in desperate need of revision. The climax of the story felt late in development. The main character's father spoke in a manner that didn't feel natural. In fact, I found it distracting and pulled me out of the story more often than not. The initial crisis for the main character, Dan Tolliver, and it's connection to Dan's love interest, Dr. Aiden Kavanaugh, didn't feel like a strong connection. I believe more time should have been spent leading the reader into the correlation between Kavanaugh and Keith. The fact that two of the characters were Sandmen seams extraneous. The plot could have developed just as well if it was merely an romance. 

That said, these issues may have been addressed between the uncorrected proof I read and final publication. In the end, the characters the reader is suppose to like, I did like. I wouldn't discourage someone from reading this but I'm not likely to recommend it to someone. 

For more information on this title, visit Goodreads.

New Perspectives

I am one of the few people of my acquaintance who loves Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice.

My husband hates it because he feels Anne Rice jumped the shark when writing The Vampire Lestat. He finds Queen of the Damned disjointed and poorly written. Others just think Anne Rice is overly hyped and best read by teenagers who do not know any better.

I can accept the teenager crack. It's probably a valid reaction. I know I quit reading them in college and when (spoiler) Anne wouldn't let Louis die. I threw that book across the room. Anyway...

I love Queen of the Damned. Yes, it does jump from plot line to plot line. But this is something any reader of George R. R. Martin has experienced in his Song of Ice and Fire series. I like this structure. It almost teases the reader and keeps them reading and reading to get to the plot line that really has the reader hooked. This doesn't outshine my real reason for loving this book. I love how Anne explains the reason vampires exist. To me, this is enough to make me love this book. Rice took an old myth, one that exists in every culture, and tells us why those myths exist.

I've read other books that do this, explain some fictional thing into existance. Memnoch the Devil, also by Anne Rice, does this too in a slightly different way. Lucifer approaches Lestat, looking to make an agreement with the Vampire Prince. While this book doesn't explain anything, it does present another face to Lucifer. In some ways, humanizing the Morningstar, making the reader see him in other way. Bruce Almighty and Evan Almighty did similar things in film. God needs a vacation in Bruce Almighty and Steve Carell has his own Noah experience in Evan Almighty.

It's interesting to look at things in a different way, in a different angle. As children, we play with prisms and lenses. We're fascinated by these. Books can do the same thing for adults. And I love those books for the altered thinking I experience between their covers.

The Little Paris Bookshop

Author: Nina George

This book starts out feeling almost dreamlike and then the main character has an emotional crisis. Jean is still heartbroken over a failed relationship nearly 21 years prior to the start of the story. Every day he opens his bookstore, on a boat in one of the Paris canals, and treats his customers. Yes, treats. He sells books as if they are medicine. He recommends and sells books based on his customer/patients emotional needs. A true romantic notion of the written word. And for 21 years, he has been in love with a women who left him. 

The story is that of how Jean fell in love, how he lives after she left, and Jean's voyage of discovery of why she abandoned him. 

Truthfully, I've set this novel aside for the time being. I'm in need of something less real and more fantasy. I'll pick this story up again another day when I'm ready for Jean.

For more information on this title, visit Goodreads.

The Pact

The Pact is a series of 8 novella's by Christian Marshall.

The story centers around a group of very different people who are recruited into an espionage ring. Each recruit has a skill, knowledge, or connection to "The Syndicate," an international criminal organization. 

The novella's are very well written. Characters have distinct voices, flaws, and objectives. The tension builds nicely. The conflict also builds well. It's en engaging read. As I was editing the manuscripts, I would get anxious for the next novella to arrive in my inbox. I couldn't wait to see the next piece of the puzzle. 

The Pact is something I wouldn't have picked for myself to read but I'm so glad I had the opportunity to read it. I do recommend this to others, without hesitation. 

Not all things are perfect though. Despite my enjoyment, I would have preferred to have this story in one novel instead of eight episodes. That is just my personal preference. I do not think one novel would have improved the story. It just would have meant I didn't have to wait for the next 80 pages. 

The Pact is available through a number of ebook retailers. 

The Determined Heart: The Tale of Mary Shelley and Her Frankenstein

As an Undergraduate, I was an English major. Naturally read Frankenstein, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Byron. I also read William Godwin, Mary Shelley's father, and Mary Wolstencroft, her mother. When I found The Determined Heart, I knew I had to read it. 

Antoinette May, the author of The Determined Heart, did a great job in her fictionalized account of Mary Shelley's life. I'm only half through the book and can already say I recommend it. The writing, characters, and plot pace is good. I can easily immerse myself in the story.  I am anxious to find time to continue reading.  I'm even reading late into the night. Overall, I am finding this to be a well crafted read. 

Any reader who is familiar with Mary Shelley or any of her friends and family should at least consider reading this book. If you're a fan of Frankenstein, I would say this book is a must as it easily presents a look into what influenced Mary Shelley. While fictionalized, it still hits the major points of Mary's life. Fans of historical fiction should read this book.

As much as I recommend this book, and as familiar as I am with the major characters of the book, I have to say...I hate seeing Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron portrayed as such assholes. Yes, assholes. I knew that Bysshe was an adulterer and typically one step away from debtors prison. I knew Byron was arrogant and self involved. These things are well known. But it's still difficult to read. How could flawed people create such amazing works? 

Some of the publications by the numerous authors referenced in this novel are:

• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Maurice Hindle (Editor, Introduction)
• A Vindication of the Rights of Woman Mary Wollstonecraft
• The Anarchist Writings of William Godwin by William Godwin, Peter Marshall (Editor)
• The Complete Poetry of Percy Bysshe Shelley by Percy Bysshe Shelley, Neil Fraistat (Editor), Donald H. Reiman (Editor)
• Lord Byron: The Major Works by George Gordon Byron, Jerome J. McGann (Editor)

UPDATE: I finished the novel and I still feel the same as my previous post. It was a great read. A read I couldn't wait to get back too. 

BookBub's 13 to ReRead

I think I'm going to take this advice.  I've reread Pride & Prejudice enough to wear out two copies.  But some of these, I've not read at all!  My new top priorities are:

• Infinite Jest
• A Walk to Remember
• Gone Girl
• Kindred
• The Bad Beginning
• Paper Towns
• Gilead
• Fight Club

See the full list on the BookBub Blog, 13 Books That Are Worth Rereading.

Preordering eBooks, One of My Favorite Things

I read a lot. It's not uncommon for me to read two books during the week and another two books over the weekend. That leads to owning more books than a sane person with access to a library needs to have.

I started buying ebooks instead.

This was surprisingly a very difficult decision. Print books smell so good. New, old. The smell of books is wonderful. There is something about surrounding yourself with books you've read that's comforting. Like being surrounding by old friends. Printed books also take up a lot of room. Electronic books don't smell. You can't surround yourself with them. There's also the publishing industry issues surrounding ebooks. There have been multiple issues with authors not getting the same royalties from their ebooks as they do their printed versions. Amazon was dropping prices on their ebooks so much that other retailers and the publishers took actions against Amazon. Publishers, and brick and mortor stores have experienced a drop in sales of printed books. Some brick and mortor stores have closed their doors since the ebook has taken hold. As a lover of books, I wanted to support my local businesses but at the same time ebooks take up no room at all.

I learned that I could borrow ebooks from my library system. My hubby found out that I could order ebooks through my local stores too, giving them the sale instead of some other chain retailer. Then I discovered the Gutenburg Project. The project takes out of print books in the public domain and converts them into ebooks. For a former English major who's favorite drug is reading, this was an amazing find. If you've not explored the Gutenburg Project, go explore.

I bought a nook. I started reading ebooks nearly exclusively. I joined Earlybird and found new authors. I bought the hubby a nook. I started reading on my smart phone using a nook app. My nook got old, I bought a new nook. I love ebooks.

But what I love the most, pre-ordering.

Do you have a favorite author? Favorite book series? You can pre-order those books you just cannot wait to read. On the release date, they just appear in your library. And if you're like me, you sometimes forget you pre-ordered. Then it's a surprise when you find them waiting for you to read. Pre-ordering print books is always an option, but then you have shipping time to consider. Why wait for the shipping to arrive when you can have the ebook in your library at 12:01am on the release date?

Preordering. Do it. Death Wish by Angela Roquet is my next pre-order. Come on October 6! Until then, I'm taking advantage of Net Galley, staring with The Determined Heart: The Tale of Mary Shelley and Her Frankenstein by Antoinette May.

The Boy Who Granted Dreams by Luca Di Fulvio

This book was my first freelance copy editor manuscript from Bastei Lübbe, a German publishing company who is increasing their English language catalog. 

I did not know what to expect when I received it. When I started reading it, I quickly realized it wasn't something I would have picked out for myself. I typically read urban fantasy, in all it's variations. The Boy Who Granted Dreams is historical fiction. It's the story of a young girl, Cetta, who is becoming a young woman in a farming community in 1920's Italy. The girls family is poor and leaves Italy for America with her son, Natale. 

As the story brings the readers to America, the story begins to flash forward and back as the story moves from the view point of the mother to that of her son. Both Cetta and Natale have good and bad experiences, do good and bad things. But ultimately this book is the story of what people do for love, power, and money. I don't want to say too much about the plot itself as I really feel that this story should reveal itself as the author presents it. 

The author, Luca Di Fulvio, presents a very well written novel. Characters have distinct voices and are interesting. Transitions are not confusing or jarring to the reader. The setting of the story only adds to the interest for the reader. The 1920's and 1930's have long been a glamorized era for Americans with it's speakeasies, radio shows, flashy cars, and picture shows. The one issue I have with the story overall is the repeated sexual assaults that occur. I found it difficult to read those paragraphs. That said, I do not feel the novel would benefit from the removal or changing of those scenes. 

In the end, I would recommend this book. I think readers of historical fiction would particularly enjoy this read.  I would also encourage exploration of Luca's other works -- most of which are in Italian.

The Boy Who Granted Dreams is available from a variety of retailers. 

Net Galley

In the book industry, it is common practice to release a small number of books early to reviewers, bookstores, and other groups in an attempt to build hype for the book before it releases. These early printed books are referred to as gallies. I recently joined an online site that provides ebook gallies thanks to my freelancing and this poor neglected blog. Net Galley offers ebooks from over a dozen publishers including Simon & Schuster, Penguin, and Hatchett. 

Using the site is fairly easy as is downloading the books to your eReader. I typically download the eBooks directly to my Kindle app, which is ironically on a Samsung nook. However, my husband uses Aldiko. It does require some feedback from users on the books they use. You can give feedback on cover art (thumbs up or down), what made you interested in the book (cover, heard about it, the description), and/or write a review. There is also the ability to link a blog review instead of entering a new one, should the user have a blog where books are discussed. If you work within the book or publishing industry, I would recommend checking the site out. 

Why am I sharing all this? I will be discussing those books here from time to time, obviously. Stay tuned!