Now I just need some new books to buy! So in that spirit, I thought I'd offer quick rundown of books I've read and liked in the last few months and seek your recommendations on any others that I need:
1. Kresley Cole- Immortals after Dark series: Fabulous. Seriously. One of my favorite series ever and though we're up to book 14 Cole manages to keep each new story just as strong as the ones before it. Dark Skye (which will be Lanthe's book) is coming out in August and I can't wait!
1.5 Kresley Cole- The Professional/Game Maker mini-series. Whoah. As a warning this is erotica (something many people apparently didn't realize when they downloaded Cole's latest when it popped up on Amazon), but it's well-written, with good, mostly 3-dimensional characters and though I haven't actually read 50 Shades of Grey, I've read a few excerpts (that were terrible), and I can assure you that this book is WAY better.
2. Kresley Cole- Arcana Chronicles: I continue to be obsessed with this series and am very sad I didn't discover it 5 years from now when all the books will be written and done so I could binge read them like I want to. Instead I'm stuck re-reading books 1 and 2 and waiting another YEAR for book 3 to come out. Cole recently said she expects to write 5-6 for the series, so at this rate I'll be about 40 when they're finally done. Just about time for me to probably stop having countdowns for new releases in YA book series.
3. Larissa Ione- Lords of Deliverance series: A dark, funny, and fabulous spin-off of the similarly fabulous Daemonica series (I actually prefer the Lords of Deliverance books, but I re-read all 10 books on a regular basis). Another of my very favorite series ever. Reaver came out recently and though it was supposed to be the last book, she's announced that at least 2 more are coming and I'm so happy.
3.5 Larissa Ione- Moonbound Clan series: This popped up in my Amazon feed and since it was written by Ione, I bought it, but I didn't find it quite up to par with her previous two series. There's only one book so far, so she's still world building, and I'll definitely download book 2, but if you're going to go Ione, start with Pleasure Unbound.
4. Jeaniene Frost- Night Huntress series: Great fun! I started out pretty "meh" for the first half of book 1 (the heroine annoyed me greatly in the beginning), but I persevered and next thing I knew I'd read all 6 books and all 4 spin-off books and have already re-read several of them 2-3 times. Frost is no Larissa Ione or Kresley Cole, but she's good and I enjoyed the books and characters. (Except for the last book, but I'm just pretending that one didn't happen because I'm too happy to have found another fun paranormal romancey adventurey series).
5. J.D. Robb/Nora Robert- In Death series: I'm kind of a sucker for this one. During my maternity leave I read all 40, borrowing them from our library's ebooks section, and re-download and read favorites all the time. I enjoy the characters and the TV-episode-like nature of the book installments. It's like watching House- established characters you know and enjoy, a new little mystery you know will be solved by the end, and small character developments along the way. You can read them out of order and it doesn't really matter, but I enjoy them all the same.
6. Veronica Roth- Divergent trilogy: I thought book 1 was great, book 2 was mediocre, and book 3 was TERRIBLE. Terrible. Just seeing the title in my kindle account renewed my fury and I deeply regret not demanding a refund back when I read it. I do remember finishing it, hours after it was released, and just staring at my kindle and saying out loud, What. The. Fcuk. I don't care about the shocking plot twist, it was that the shocking plot element didn't make sense within the plot. Roth's world-building fell into pieces when she tried to expand it. The characters were unrecognizable and when the first person perspective bounced back and forth between them I frequently had to back page just to remember who was the one talking. SO BAD. Clearly I'm still pretty mad about it.
7. Marie Force- Fatal series: These have been fun. Honestly, they read like a paler imitation of JD Robb's In Death series (to the point that I can't believe Force hadn't read many an In Death book and didn't accidentally have them in the back of her mind while she was writing), but they're still good and I've enjoyed them all.
8. Roberta Gellis- Rosalynde Chronicles: some of the first historical fiction I ever read (back in middle school, I think), I just rediscovered these on the Kindle a few months ago and enjoyed re-reading them. They're not as heavily researched as your average Sharon Kay Penman novel, but they're a fun look at medieval England.
9. J.D. Ward- Black Dagger Brotherhood: the newest installment ("The King") is coming out next Tuesday and I'm very excited to get a whole book focused on the two original characters of the series. I feel like Ward's story lines have gotten so convoluted and scattered and I'm hoping this book brings a bit of focus back to the series. Her prose (tough guy talk that frequently sounds ridiculous) may be annoying at times, but the characters and the friendships and relationships are wonderful and very real. Despite, you know, all of them being vampires.
So let me know what I need to read next! I have a strong preference for series, but will occasionally read a stand-alone if it's really REALLY good. I could use a good string of historical fiction/romances- I've been on an accidental paranormal streak and wouldn't mind jumping tracks for a bit (though, that said, if you have a good adventure-y romance-y paranomral-y series, please chime in!).
Speaking of adventure-y, romance-y books, Outlander, still my second favorite book series of all time (Harry Potter Forever in spot #1), has a new book coming out in June and a TV series debuting later this year! I'm thrilled and terrified to see it translated on screen, but the trailer and character casting has been very good and the author has been heavily involved in the casting and scripting, so I have hope.
And not speaking of anything relating to this post, Cora is teething and it is terrible. She is the saddest, but still also the sweetest, and she tremulously smiles at me in the middle of the night (SO much waking up in the middle of the night) with big fat tears in her eyes and it makes my heart hurt. When we got home from school/work this afternoon she only wanted to be held while she chewed on her elephant (basically a poor man's Sophie, but Cora doesn't mind), so that's exactly what we did for 1.5 hours. I read a new book (the latest In Death installation, I finally got to the top of the library's hold list) and we cuddled while the big kids played outside.
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I finished the book just as JP got home and we threw dinner together in less than 10 minutes (our shishless kebabs, so delicious!), which circles us back to the point- new book recommendations! I needs them.
How in the hell do you have time slash mental power to read all these? You amaze me!
ReplyDeleteHa, books are my love and my escape (and I read very, very quickly). Some people watch TV to zone out at night, but I'd much rather curl up on the couch and read. And JP will work next to me at night (instead of in the separate sun room) if I keep the TV off, so that's pretty much what we do every evening- he's on the couch working and I'm curled up next to him reading :).
DeleteThis might be the first time I've ever commented, though I've been following for a while - you're the reason I zoomed through the Outlander series last fall - but I had to chime in with my vehement agreement to your assessment of the Divergent triology. The last book was just terrible!
ReplyDeleteAs to book recommends... I steer clear of series because I get wrapped up and don't sleep until they're done, but a few recommendations based on the books above: Shana Abé's Drakon triology, Steve Cash's The Meq triology, and Kristin Cashore's Graceling Realm books. Also, Justin Cronin's The Passage triology (well, books 1 and 2 so far) is fantastic if you're looking for something different - it's definitely more dystopian than fantasy but still enthralling.
Unrelated, your little ones are lovely and - as a recent attorney - I love the perspective you provide of staying engaged in real life while practicing law!
I have the same problem with series! They're like drugs and I know they're bad for me, but I can't resist. And I've written down all the ones you listed- let the late night reading begin! (And thanks for the sweet words :).
DeleteI am so glad to hear that someone else was frustrated with the last book in the Divergent series by Roth. I just finished it and am unhappy! I, like you, kept getting confused about who was the narrator (with all the switching back and forth) and found the ending to be very disappointing. I am really regretting purchasing the books instead of just waiting for them at the library...
ReplyDeleteOn another note, I just started the Nora Roberts Cousin O'Dwyer series (the 2nd book "Shadow Spell" came out yesterday). I really enjoyed the first one, "The Dark Witch." Only problem is it will be months until the 3rd book is released.
I just read the first Dark Witch book yesterday! I liked it, but I feel like her books are just getting too fluffy for me. I enjoy a good unrealistic romantic romp, but her relationships have zero conflict now (instant connection, small misunderstanding/2-day fight, makeup get married) and even the evil they're fighting pales in comparison to what she used to conjure up (her old Circle Trilogy comes to mind; one of my favorite sets of books ever), but I'm sure I'll still download the rest and read them :).
DeleteLongtime reader, but I don't think I've ever commented before! I have about the same taste in books as you. Have you read the Into The Wilderness series, by Sara Donati? Similar to Outlander (Claire even makes an appearance!). I love them. Elisabeth
ReplyDeleteYes I love those books! I think I wrote about them years ago- I've read every one and while I didn't love the last one, I loved every one before it. Great characters, dialogue, setting, etc. I think I found them because Diana Gabaldon had written a review of Sara Donati and anything Diana likes, I'm willing to try.
DeleteHave you tried Christine Feehan's Dark Carpathian series? I can't remember if I recommended those to you last time or not. The first one is Dark Prince. They are paranormal vampire with a twist and really really good. I enjoyed them as much (if not more) than J.D. Ward's BDB series. I also really enjoyed Feehan's Drake Sisters series. It's about a family of 7 sisters who are all witches. Both series are heavy on the romance and heavy on the action.
ReplyDeleteJust downloaded the first book! I'm traveling for work today and can't wait to get on the plane and start reading! (The joys of traveling sans children ;).
DeleteI 100% agree with your review of the Divergent series. I only started the series because my kids were reading it, and I really had to struggle to finish the third book. It was just.so.bad.
ReplyDeleteI took a carload of 12 year old girls to see the movie premiere last week. There were several divergences from the book (see what I did there?), but I think many of them were necessary to translate into a new media and to address some of the plot problems. The movie was ok, Four was a nice distraction--he's hot!
If you like YA dystopian literature, my kids like the Maze Runner and Unwound series. Maze Runner was pretty good, but like Divergent, it started out better than it ended. I did not care for Unwound and did not read past the first book, although my oldest DD really likes that series.
--LC
I'm glad to hear that Four was hot- that's definitely how I pictured him in my head. He was by far my favorite character which I think is why I disliked book 2 and downright hated book 3- he seemed like a completely different person from the one we were introduced to. Ugh, I'm still pretty bitter about it.
DeleteI agree with the previous poster about the Maze Runner series if you like YA dystopian (which I am also reading nonstop right now) and also the Testing Series by Joelle Charbonneau. The Testing is the first book and I just finished Independent Study, the second book. It's darker, and more violent kind of like the Hunger Games, but I enjoyed them. The third book just came out and is getting good reviews as an awesome ending (but my library wait is probably still a few more weeks). Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteNow on my list!
DeleteKaren Marie Moning's Fever Series. 5 books that will blow your mind. (and there is a follow-up series, too) No really. You must be getting to reading this series. Two words: Jericho Barrons.
ReplyDeleteIt's all about the Fae world, so right up your paranormal alley. http://www.karenmoning.com/kmm/novels/fever-series.html
This author simple does not mess around. She has an incredibly enormous following, too. Because this series is just.that.good!
Karen Marie Moning has a Highlander historical series, too. Some characters carry over into the Fever series, but the Highlanders would meet your need for something historical. http://www.karenmoning.com/kmm/novels/highlander-series.html
Oh yay, I'd forgotten those were recommended to me before. I just downloaded the first book in the Dark Carpathian series recommended above, but the Fever series is next. I'm going to end up blowing through my $50 in about 3 days...
DeleteSharon Kay Penman has the end of the Richard books out (called King's Ransom) - it was pretty good. (Assuming you've read the first one Lionheart - she spilt them in two when it was getting too long)
ReplyDeleteAlso, have you tried Secret History of the Pink Carnation and its sequals/series by Lauren Willig?
Oh, the Pink Carnation books are good!
DeleteOn the list! (And yes, I had read the first Richard book and then kind of forgot it was a series, I could use a little more historical in the fiction I'm reading these days.)
DeleteI am going to the Written in My Own Heart's Blood talk/book signing in July when Diana comes to Portland!! I confess that I am a super slow reader and I am only on Book 5 of the Outlander series, and I started 4+ years ago. I did have to read a few other book series and have a few babies while working my way through each book. There is no hope for me finishing the series before July.
ReplyDeleteSo jealous! I re-read the first 6 books on maternity leave and need to plow through the last few before WiMOHB comes out. I found the last one to be a bit plodding until the end, but she has so many storylines running right now I feel like I have to refresh myself before picking up this next one. Particularly when she left us with such a cliffhanger!
DeleteJoanna Bourne's Spymaster series (historical romance) is fantastic. Meredith Duran's books are also well written historical romance. My favorite is Written on your Skin but her lates Fool me twice is also good. Sherry Thomas (not quite a husband). Karen Marie Moning's series is like crack. For YA I recommend Kristin Cashore Graceling series. Also Maggie stiefvater Scorpio Races and Raven Boys series.
ReplyDeleteAnother friend just recommended the Graceline series and Karen Marie Moning is now all over my list. After re-reading the same books for the last few weeks (I love a good re-read, but it was getting ridiculous), I'm so excited to have so much new reading to do!
DeleteNot really YA or romance per se, although it shares some characteristics, but I'm going to make a plug for Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake trilogy (Oryx and Crake, Year of the Flood, MaddAdam). Speculative fiction/dystopian novels set in not-too-distant future. Just amazing, couldn't put it down, writing. I love Atwood. If you have a chance to read Blind Assassin, that's also amazing.
ReplyDeleteAwesome, on the list.
DeleteI share your opinion of Divergent -- loved the first one, thought the second one was boring, didn't even bother with the third. If you like Dystopian YA, Scott Well's Partials is good. I'm reading the follow up now. I also second whoever recommended Karen Marie Moning. Her books are fun. Now I'm going to go spend some of my Amazon credit trying a Kresley Cole book!
ReplyDeleteKresley Cole is so good! The first book in the Immortals After Dark series is actually not my favorite (it's the heroine, she's fine, but she writes better ones for pretty much the rest of the series)- it's great, but books 2 and 3 are my absolutely favorites, followed closely by pretty much everything else. I hope you enjoy them!
DeleteI'm commenting a month late, but I really want to recommend the Dresden Files series. It's grown up Harry Potter. Less magical (like, "magical childhood", not "change frogs to stone" magical - plenty of that sort) but still really good and excellent characters. The writing quality in the books (there are 13 currently!) gets better as you go on, too. Bonus for a Chicago-lover, the series is set there.
ReplyDelete