CompBiblio

Official Hiatus Announcement

noreply@blogger.com (Julia) — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 16:44:00 +0000

Yeah. This is pretty much me as of late (meaning these past few months). I have been eating, drinking, sleeping work. So all of my reviewing power has been transported to The Broke and the Bookish, where it is a little less demanding (meaning I don't have to post every day there).

Will I come back to this? Maybe. Currently I am getting ready to move (!) and so I've been busy with a lot of that stuff. But I could potentially see me blogging more after I move into my house and settle in.

So for now, if you hadn't noticed, there is a break. But if you miss my wit and amazing, please check me out at The Broke and the Bookish or on Goodreads.

Love you guys,

Julia

Mod Post: Where have I been?

noreply@blogger.com (Julia) — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 02:46:00 +0000

Hey ya'll. Long time no see right? So where the hell have I been? Well, outside reading to be quite honest. :)

I have been starting to put some reviews again, so there is that. BUT I have been doing some stuff over at The Broke and the Bookish so I thought I'd give y'all the rundown.

Review of Four Sisters, All Queens by Sherry Jones
Remember I did a Waiting on Wednesday on this, way back when. I finally got to read it!

I highly enjoyed this story. It is a tale of a time that I cannot really fathom living in. All that war, all that oppression. ... The plot focuses on the sisters and their lives. ... Instead of directly focusing on one of the many issues of the time, Jones allows us to view these problems through the eyes of her queens.

Top Ten Books for People Who Liked The Other Boleyn Girl

Top Ten Books for People Who Liked Author X

So there are a few posts from what has been going on... and at 12:01 tonight I will link to this week's Top Ten Tuesday which is "Top Ten Most Vivid Worlds/Settings"

Hope you are taking advantage of the nice weather, if it is in fact nice where you are...

Happy Reading!

photo by Colin_K on Flickr

Review: Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace by Kate Summerscale

noreply@blogger.com (Julia) — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 18:45:00 +0000

Book Title/Author: Mrs Robinson's Disgrace: The Private Diary of a Victorian Lady by Kate Summerscale
Publisher/Year Published: June 2012 by Bloomsbury
Where I got it: NetGalley first, then I accidentally let it expire and had to wait a long time to finish it from the library
Rating: 3/5 stars

Summary:via Goodreads

Headstrong, high-spirited, and already widowed, Isabella Walker became Mrs. Henry Robinson at age 31 in 1844. Her first husband had died suddenly, leaving his estate to a son from a previous marriage, so she inherited nothing. A successful civil engineer, Henry moved them, by then with two sons, to Edinburgh’s elegant society in 1850. But Henry traveled often and was cold and remote when home, leaving Isabella to her fantasies.

No doubt thousands of Victorian women faced the same circumstances, but Isabella chose to record her innermost thoughts—and especially her infatuation with a married Dr. Edward Lane—in her diary. Over five years the entries mounted—passionate, sensual, suggestive. One fateful day in 1858 Henry chanced on the diary and, broaching its privacy, read Isabella's intimate entries. Aghast at his wife’s perceived infidelity, Henry petitioned for divorce on the grounds of adultery. Until that year, divorce had been illegal in England, the marital bond being a cornerstone of English life. Their trial would be a cause celebre, threatening the foundations of Victorian society with the specter of "a new and disturbing figure: a middle class wife who was restless, unhappy, avid for arousal." Her diary, read in court, was as explosive as Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, just published in France but considered too scandalous to be translated into English until the 1880s.

This was a really cool book! I love that it's actually true and not just the normal romantic fiction that I read. In between the story of Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace is woven other tales of the Victorian Era. Charles Darwin features often in the second half of the book. Dickens is mentioned as well. I would highly recommend this to anyone who wants to know more about the life and times of the upper-middle class in Victorian England.

The romance and inevitable disgrace itself is told through tidbits collected from Isabella's letters and infamous diary. I find it interesting how often that diary is used. I mean, I have tried to do the diary thing but I lose interest in it pretty quickly. At one point, Summerscale makes the point that due to her horrid marriage Isabella is lonely. Thus her diary becomes her friend. I guess if I had no friends, and no internet, to talk to my diary would be used quite frequently as well.

Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace held my interest more than a plain old biography. I was so caught up in it that sometimes I forgot it was real. I really didn't know how the book would end up going through it. It read more like a fiction novel intersperced with real history, but then I would shake my head and think, "No. This is real."

As a reader of historical romance, I enjoyed this. If romance readers want a hint of a REAL romance story, check this out. This is one history book I wouldn't miss.

Why not more stars though if I loved it so much? Well as interesting as it was sometimes there was just too much history for me, especially during the trial. I really wanted to know what happens, not how Darwin would take to the waters. But this particular criticism is probably mostly due to my own struggles with non-fiction.

Overall this was pretty much just a good book. Check it out!

PS: I found about this book through NetGalley, but I waited too long to read it and my book expired! So I waited and immediately grabbed this from the library to finish it because I wanted to so badly know what happened to Mrs. Robinson.

Review: Fifty Shames of Earl Grey by Andrew Shaffer

noreply@blogger.com (Julia) — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 01:59:00 +0000

Book Title/Author: Fifty Shades of Earl Grey by Fanny Merkin (aka Andrew Shaffer)
Publisher/Year Published: July 31st 2012 by Da Capo Press
Where I got it: NetGalley
Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary:via Goodreads

A shrewd, laugh–out–loud parody of E. L. James' bestselling Fifty Shades of Grey series:

Young, arrogant, tycoon Earl Grey seduces the naïve coed Anna Steal with his overpowering good looks and staggering amounts of money, but will she be able to get past his fifty shames, including shopping at Walmart on Saturdays, bondage with handcuffs, and his love of BDSM (Bards, Dragons, Sorcery, and Magick)? Or will his dark secrets and constant smirking drive her over the edge?

I have never read Fifty Shades of Grey*. I've heard a lot about it and realized quite quickly through some snippets that Fifty Shades was not a book for me. That said, I am sort of obsessed with the phenomenon that is Fifty Shades and have read a few reviews, followed a lot of romance community's opinion and listened to one hilarious podcast. Knowing how much I enjoyed the tongue in cheek podcast, I knew 50 Shames of Earl Grey was right up my alley. It did not disappoint. In fact, it did the opposite.

This book is a parody and boy does it do a good job at it. There were quite a few instances of me being afraid of disturbing the peace with my laughter. Like the TSA was going to come take me off the airplane sort of thing. It does a great job of parodying not just the ridiculous story lines of Fifty Shades of Grey and Twilight but also how they're horridly written. It takes a really smart written book to be able to ironically write badly.

I knew enough about the general gist of the source material to highly enjoy this book. You don't have to have read either of the sources to enjoy it, though I would suspect people who had would pick up more of the subtle parody. I did however knock a star off because it did start to drag a bit toward the middle to the end of the book. This may be a limitation on the source material, but I was getting a bit bored a little over halfway through.

Overall, this book was a really fun read. If you are looking for a light read that mocks current pop culture as well as "those" popular books, give this a try. There are some sexy-times, but they usually culminate in being only a few lines or doves coming out the hooha. You know, the normal stuff.

PS: Kudos on the awesome cover. The first 80 times I looked at this cover I didn't notice the 'special' gesture our tea drinker is making. Love it!

*Sidenote: Seriously, every time I spell 'grey' or 'gray' I think, "Which way am I supposed to spell it again?" And I work in a job where 'greyscale' is a word I type all the time.

Sunday Status: 7/1/12

noreply@blogger.com (Julia) — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 03:38:00 +0000

Books I Finished Since the Last Update
The Duke's Perfect Wife by Jennifer Ashley
Centauri Twilight by Cynthia Woolf
A Rogue by Any Other Name by Sarah MacLean
Sweet Enemy by Heather Snow
Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace by Kate Summerscale

Books I am Currently Reading
A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

Books To Be Read Next
Four Sisters, All Queens by Sherry Jones
Anything on by priority pile...

Reviews of the past two weeks
Incarnate by Jodi Meadows
Sweet Enemy by Heather Snow

At The Broke and the Bookish
I Suck at Girls by Justin Halpern

Things to look forward to
Top Ten Tuesday this week is about Top Ten Books I'd Recommend For People Who Liked Author X

Summer is awesome here this year. I am all about the outdoor reading by the pool, or on those super hot days the alternate reading by the pool and jumping into it. I still have some new things in the works, so stay tuned. It is taking a little longer than I thought.

RAK

Since it is the end of the month it is time for my RAK wrap up post!

Books I Received:

Firelight by Kristen Callihan
From Danielle at Ramblings From This Chick

I am sooo excited to read this book! When I found in online earlier this year, it sounded really interesting and not something that I read all the time.

Thanks, Danielle!

Books That I Sent:

One Night in London by Caroline Linden
To Danielle at Book Whore

I am not sure if Danielle got it yet as I sent it out toward the end of the month. But I have read some Caroline Linden before and really enjoyed the book. Hopefully she will enjoy this one as well.

Let me know any feedback. Also if you have some cool links, comment with them! Until next Sunday, have a great week!

Review: Sweet Enemy by Heather Snow

noreply@blogger.com (Julia) — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 02:27:00 +0000

Book Title/Author: Sweet Enemy by Heather Snow
Publisher/Year Published: February 2012 by Signet
Where I got it: I won a contest on Heather Snow's Facebook page :)
Rating: 3/5 stars
Series: Veiled Seduction #1

Summary:via Goodreads

Geoffrey Wentworth, a war hero and rising political star, never wanted to be the Earl, but when his brother dies, he knows his duty—take up the responsibility for his family’s estates. His mother’s definition of duty differs from his, however, and can be summed up in one word-heirs. When Geoffrey rushes home to answer her urgent summons, he finds himself host to a house full of women, all vying to become the next Countess of Stratford. But his love is Parliament, where he wields his influence and reputation to better the lives of ex-soldiers, until a tempting houseguest and a secret from his past threaten his freedom...and his heart.

Liliana Claremont, a brilliant chemist, doesn’t want to be any man’s wife, much less a Countess. If she had tuppence for every time she’d been told her place was filling the nursery, not experimenting in the laboratory, she could buy the Tower Bridge. However, when she receives a coveted invitation to the Earl’s house party, she trades in her beakers for ball gowns and gladly takes on the guise of husband hunter—for the chance to uncover what the Earl had to do with the murder of her father.

Liliana believes the best way to get the answers she needs is to keep her enemy close, though romance is not part of her formula. But it only takes one kiss to start a reaction she can't control...

Heather Snow's debut novel, Sweet Enemy, gives us a new take on the house party in historical romance. Liliana is a chemist on a quest to avenge her father. Geoffrey is a second son soldier thrust into the role of an earl, and surprising himself, he is doing quite well at it. Only one thing, he has no wife and thus no heirs. Hence his mother tricks him into a house party with many eligible young ladies, and of course, one ineligible. Let's take a look at the SCORE.

The Story
The story was probably my favorite part of this whole book. The plot was super engaging and not something that I have seen in many romances. Liliana goes to this house party just so she can search the house for more clues regarding her father's young demise. Inadvertently Lilian catches the attention of Lord Stratford thus allaying her plans to continually slip away and search the house.

The house party itself had some pretty unique elements to it, but it really is just the backdrop to the main story of the investigation. Though I will say, there was one part of the story where the house party and the romance completely overshadowed that main motivation and plot line almost to the story's detriment.

The Characters
Liliana is a nontraditional heroine who likes to defy social convention and be in a man's world. I couldn't help but think when writing that sentence that she is a non-traditional for the time heroine but not for historical romance. Anyway, it's a motivation of "Why won't anyone believe she knows anything about chemistry?" She was well developed, though I can't say I connected with her character too much. At times she just seemed genuinely annoying and obstinate. But overall I could deal.

Stratford and I actually had a connection because of his war wound. I don't have a war wound, but I do have that constant pain. I was a little bereft that something that bothered him so much in the earlier part of the book was nary mentioned a bit after he used her magic poultice. Can I have some, please?

But I digress. I liked him. I liked his character. I thought that he had his heart in the right place, and wasn't dull. I mean, is he one of my favorite heroes? No, but he is not one of my least. I just plain and simply liked him.

This is a series so we met the hero of the next book, potentially heroes if my guesses are right. He wasn't overly developed besides being "The nice guy" and one other detail I will not give away. Overall the secondaries were not remarkable, but not one note either.

The Romance
I felt the heat. I loved the romance in this. It was fun and at the same time heartrending. The misunderstanding at the end or the big reveal or whatever you want to call the trope was believable and each character acted well within in their characterization.

Also the sexy-times were quite ... enjoyable :)

The Execution
Here is where I start to get a little more critical. While as I said before I thought the story was good, I thought the execution of said story was quite clunky. The biggest problem I had was there were paragraphs that were filled with too much information. It was to the point where it drew me out of the story. I know the main characters had backstories, but I feel like there is a better way to work in the information that is needed to make a character well-rounded without info dumping tons of information. It was more noticeable in the beginning before I was engrossed in the actual story, but even later on I had a few eye-raising moments.

Also there was the thing that I mentioned with the leg earlier. I guess it all ties in to the to much information thing. I think that this book needed a bit more focus.

The Overview
So overall, I liked this book. Though there were some issues, I think that as the author develops her voice and style, these will go away. The story was great and from what I read of the next one I am definitely going to check it out. If you are looking for a new voice to read, check this one out.

Celebration: CompBiblio is turning TWO!

noreply@blogger.com (Julia) — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 04:00:00 +0000

Wow. I can't believe that I have been missing posts on this blog for months for two years :)

But really. I am so happy to make this milestone and I am grateful for each and every one of you who comes here to read my thoughts on books. Books have always been a big part of my life. To be able to find an international community of readers to interact with, was a Godsend two years ago. I love being able to hear so many opinions.

Though certain times have been more reading less reviewing, this online community is always close to my thoughts.

So in celebration of two years of blogging and in general celebration of this online community, I want to throw a giveaway for ya'll.

The Prize:
An up to $15 book of choice from The Book Depository

The Rules:
Enter via Rafflecopter below! If you can't enter via the Rafflecopter, please email me at bambbles{at}gmail{dot}com or leave a comment and I'll enter for you!

Also check and make sure The Book Depository ships to you. If not and you still want to enter, or if you just prefer it, I can give an eBook from any vendor of your choice that allows gifting eBooks (I know BN and Amazon, but not sure about Kobo)

The contest ends at 12:01 EDT on June 30th.

So let's celebrate CompBiblio's birthday the hobbit way! Giveaway for all!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

noreply@blogger.com (Julia) — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 02:06:00 +0000

Book Title/Author: Incarnate by Jodi Meadows
Publisher/Year Published: January 2012 by Katherine Tegen Books
Where I got it: The library
Rating: 3/5 stars

Summary:via Goodreads

Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.

Even Ana's own mother thinks she's a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she'll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?

Sam believes Ana's new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana's enemies—human and creature alike—let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else's life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?

I read this book in about 4 hrs on a trans-continental(ish) flight. So it was engaging. I will say that about it. But something just makes me go, "Hmm".

After more pondering, I think I liked it mostly for the romance aspect, which was fine. Not great, but definitely not bad, better than some other YA books I've read recently. Actually, before I complain more, let me first laud this book with multiple praises for NOT having a love triangle. Praise the YA book Gods!

But if I took out the romance, it was meh. I needed less romance and more world-building. I feel like I still don't understand the rules of this world. Can you hold a philosophical conversation with a baby? How does the money work? Why is the temple so weird? How do you get your name? If Ana is reincarnated male will she always be Ana? (Unfortunate)

And to get really vague to avoid spoilers, I really dont understand the ending and all the science behind the twist.

Let's look at the characters. Ana didn't bother me too too much. I forgave a lot because she was emotionally abused her whole life. Obviously she is not going to be a beacon of sunshine and normality.

Sam was nice but at the same time not. I didn't like some of the things he hid from Ana. He is curious and a kind person especially for accepting Ana into his home, but outside of initial physical attraction between them, what draws him to her? Why her and not any other of the souls? Is it her ability to pick up music? I don't know, and I think I should.

However, if you wade through all the moaning I just did, I did enjoy it. The romance was done well enough, and the story was fine. There are things that could have been better, but by virtue of the fact that this is a YA without a love triangle, it in the pro column of my book.

I'm totally going to keep reading this series.

Top Ten Tuesday: My Summer TBR List

noreply@blogger.com (Julia) — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 02:02:00 +0000

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Over at The Broke and the Bookish (where I also review things), we like to do this thing called Top Ten Tuesday. Every week is a theme, and everyone gets to create a list.

This week, the topic is....

Top Ten Books On My Summer TBR List
For me, this means books published between June 21st through September 21st, technical summer :)

1. Thief of Shadows (Maiden Lane, #4) - Elizabeth Hoyt
Fourth book in the Maiden Lane series (which I love), I will be jumping over people to get to this book. I think this book holds the most giveaways I entered to win a ARC. Can't. Wait.

2. A Dangerous Liaison with Detective Lewis (The Gentlemen of Scotland Yard, #2) - Jillian Stone
Ever since I saw Hysteria* this weekend, I have been thinking about the first book in The Gentlemen of Scotland Yard series. Little did I realize this book was right around the corner! Now I have more fun history facts and non-conventional historical romances to look forward to.

3. The Ugly Duchess (Fairy Tales, #4) - Eloisa James
James is one of my auto read authors. Her Fairy Tales series, a loosely connected series only being a series because they are all based on fairy tales, have been hit or miss for me. This one is based on the Ugly Duckling.

4. The Duchess War (Brothers Sinister, #1) - Courtney Milan
I've been reading a lot of Courtney Milan lately and reviewing it on here a lot, too. She is a really good author technically, but sometimes I just get annoyed so much with one little thing... BUT I liked the novella that was the precursor to this series. So book one is a definite try.

5. Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1) - Sarah J. Maas
This book one me over at this sentence in the Goodreads description: "Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin." A girl/woman being a badass? yes please.

6. The Unnaturalists - Tiffany Trent
Yay! Some new steampunk to read! I love that this one seems to have an aura of mystery around it. Definitely something worth looking in to.

7. Riveted (Iron Seas #3) - Meljean Brook
though I have not yet read the second in this series, I really liked the first. Knowing that the third is out makes me want to keep reading!

8. Medusa, A Love Story (Loves of Olympus, #1) - Sasha Summers (Goodreads Author)
So I only had 7 written on here and I thought I could find some list on Goodreads that would help flesh me out to 10. Well, I didn't find 10, but I did find this. I love mythology and this series sounds so promising.

9. ???

10. ???

So I bet ya'll have your lists filled, but I don't. Help me fill in 9 and 10!

*Hysteria is a GREAT movie. It's a British comedy about, among other things, the TRUE history of the vibrating massager. Check it out if it is near you!

Sunday Status: 6/10/2012

noreply@blogger.com (Julia) — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 00:21:00 +0000

Books I Finished Since the Last Update
Beguiling the Beauty by Sherry Thomas
Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
Unlocked by Courtney Milan
I Suck At Girls by Justin Halpern

Books I am Currently Reading
The Duke's Perfect Wife by Jennifer Ashley

Books To Be Read Next
I have so many in a pile... I don't even know.

Reviews since I've been gone
At The Broke and the Bookish
Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
I Kissed an Earl by Julie Anne Long

Things to look forward to
Top Ten Tuesday this week is about Top Ten Books I'd Recommend As Good Beach Reads

So I am back now! Yay! Mini-hiatus should be over now and regular posts should resume :)

Thanks for hanging on until I came back!

Let me know any feedback. Also if you have some cool links, comment with them! Until next Sunday, have a great week!

RAK: May Wrap-Up Post

noreply@blogger.com (Julia) — Thu, 31 May 2012 04:00:00 +0000

Hello! What a fun first month this was for me here with RAK!

Books I Received:
Divergent by Veronica Roth
From Doodle at Doodlebugs Books

I have been seeing this book float around for awhile now so it will be exciting to actually read it and see what y'all are talking about!

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
From Kayla at Bibliophilia, Please

I've been wanting to read this book for ages! Now I should be able to get to it soon and finally appease those who have been asking if I have read this yet.

Since I am out of the country and have not checked my mailbox, there is one more that I should be getting, but I will include it on the next month because I won't see it until June anyway :)

Books That I Sent:
An Affair with Mr. Kennedy by Vanessa Stone
To Danielle at Ramblings From This Chick

I really liked this book and when I saw it on her wishlist I just had to share!

Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel
To Kayla at Bibliophilia, Please

Not going to lie, I chose this because I highly liked the cover!

My blogging hiatus will continue again after this as I am usually pooped when I get back to the hotel from a day full of exploring and experiencing the culture of Japan. Regular posts will resume again June 6th or 7th. :D

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Non-Book SItes

noreply@blogger.com (Julia) — Tue, 22 May 2012 04:00:00 +0000

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Over at The Broke and the Bookish (where I also review things), we like to do this thing called Top Ten Tuesday. Every week is a theme, and everyone gets to create a list.

This week, the topic is....

Top Ten Non-Bookish Sites

Holy Crap. I didn't realize how my internet habits have slowly gravitated to bookish sites... wow. The most common sites on my chrome page are: Goodreads, Facebook, Smart Bitches Trashy Books, My blog, The Broke and the Bookish, Gmail, Photobucket and the Library. lol.

Let's see what I can dig up.

Top Ten Non-Bookish Sites

1. Fark
Fark is a new aggregation website where boys who live in their mothers basement make up headlines for popular articles. But it has some witty things sometimes, and often there are some pretty fun arguments for me to read. But mostly it keeps me updated on the news when I check it out. And sometimes give me a laugh. And sometimes more an eyeroll.

2. Post-Secret
Oh, post-secret. How I love you. I used to hang out and the community there for about a year in college. Now I just pop by for the Sunday Secrets. Still love reading them on Sundays.

3. Smart, Pretty and Awkward
I have no idea how I found this blog, and it is not something that I read every day. But it usually has some fun quotes, some good advice and occasionally fashion tips that I can listen to :)

4. Dear Girls Above Me
DGAM is a hilarious blog where Charlie quotes and comments on the two very girls who live above him. They say some really dumb things sometimes, and often the resulting commentary is quite funny.

5. Questionable Content
QC is the one web comic I follow on a regular basis.(The other comic I read when I remember is XKCD). I love Marten and all the girls at the coffee shop. The now world mixed with the future is quite entertaining.

6. Almost Fearless
Such a fun travel blog written by a woman who quit her job and her, her husband and her baby and started living around the world. It is fun to experience the world with them, especially Cole who is now two.

7. Cleolinda's LJ
I've followed Cleolinda for forever. Though she doesn't post too much anymore, when she does it is usually about movies (sometimes books). She is super intelligent and a great writer. She wrote the Movies in 15 Minutes blog as well as some super popular twilight commentaries.

8. Mark Watches
I don't check out Mark Watches as much as I used to, but that there is a fun community. Mark watches (and reads!) things an episode at a time and then comments on them. He started with Twilight, I jumped in at Harry Potter, but now does a ton of different things. But! Beware! There is a heavy spoiler policy, because the fun of it is that he goes into these things blind so we get to see it like we are watching it for the first time.

9. Woot!
Woot is a daily deal site. I actually had to stop going to shirt.woot! because I was going broke with all the cute clothes! Nooo! They have NEW. CUTE. CLOTHES! I am going to go broke making this list.

10. That Guy with the Glasses
I love this site. It has music and movie video reviews. I ended up on this site because of a link to Nostalgia Chick (The Smurfette Principle) and stayed for the Nostalgia Critic (Moulin Rouge). Then I expanded to Paw's reviews of Musical Movies and Todd in the Shadows Pop Song (and now One Hit Wonders) reviews! Love this site!

Honorable mentions, and also the obvious, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest. Done.

Reivew: Since the Surrender by Julie Anne Long

noreply@blogger.com (Julia) — Mon, 21 May 2012 00:59:00 +0000

Book Title/Author: Since the Surrender by Julie Anne Long
Publisher/Year Published: 2009 by Avon
Where I got it: The library
Rating: 2/5 stars
Summary:via Goodreads

Fearless. Loyal. Brilliant. Ruthless. Bold words are always used to describe English war hero Captain Chase Eversea, but another word unfortunately plays a role in every Eversea's destiny: trouble. And trouble for Chase arrives in the form of a mysterious message summoning him to a London rendezvous . . . where he encounters the memory of his most wicked indiscretion in the flesh: Rosalind March—the only woman he could never forget.

Five years ago, the reckless, charming beauty craved the formidable Captain's attention. But now Rosalind is a coolly self-possessed woman, and desire is the last thing on her mind: her sister has mysteriously disappeared and she needs Chase's help to find her. But as their search through London's darkest corners re-ignites long-smoldering passion and memories of old battles, Chase and Rosalind are challenged to surrender: to the depths of a wicked desire, and to the possibility of love.

I think I graded this one so harshly because I loved the one before it so much. Like No Other Lover if you are interested :)

Warning
I kind of go off below, regardless of keeping specific things vague. They are minor spoilers, I guess. I felt like I had to put a warning up. If you don't want the specifics, the bold text could be considered the spark notes :)

Why this book is two stars:
- The Plot was boring for the first 100 pages.
Seriously I don't know how I even stayed awake during those pages. The hero and heroine rarely interacted and there was all these choppy flashbacks. When the plot did finally show up, it made it readable, but it still was kind of a "wtf is going on" story.

- Random sexy times.
They had sex at such RANDOM times. Like in the middle of searching for the kidnapped sister. No, it's not like time is of the essence or anything.

- The guilt of the hero/heroine
So part of the back-story is they met when she was married to his compatriot in the war. Now I was thinking this whole time they had the sexy times in the past and got caught and their guilt was what kept them apart. When I found out it was just one, steamy kiss I raised a brow. Now that her husband's dead, guilt from one kiss is keeping you apart? She kept thinking (in her monologues) "I ruined his life/career. He will never forgive me" He was transferred and it ended up saving his life and he was considered a war hero (we're told). I don't think you ruined anything.

- The chemistry between the hero/heroine
This is why it is not one star. I thought they had some good sparks flying between them. They were just misplaced in this weird "mystery" plot. I feel like if the plot were different, these two could have flourished as I liked them each as characters (outside of the guilt thing...)

Not my favorite.

Sunday Status: 5/20/2012

noreply@blogger.com (Julia) — Sun, 20 May 2012 23:22:00 +0000

Books I Finished This Past Week
Unraveled by Courtney Milan

Books I am Currently Reading
Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
Beguiling the Beauty by Sherry Thomas

Books To Be Read Next
Unlocked by Courtney Milan
Sweet Enemy by Heather Snow
Divergent by Veronica Roth

Last week in reviews
The Governess Affair by Courtney Milan

Things to look forward to
Top Ten Tuesday this week is Top Ten Blogs/Sites You Read That AREN'T about Books

There are some fun things that I have planned for this blog in the near future. Before those fun things can happen though, I will be on vacation. I am going to try to have some posts queued up while I am gone. We shall see. You may just get nothing and have to stare and the lovely main page here. hehe.

The reason why I am sure I will not be able to post often is the destination....

JAPAN!

I am super excited! And I am not going for work either! Yay! I'll be back in two and a half weeks so look for sparse posts from now until then.

Cool Posts from around the Net
Wondering about the suits that are going on with the big publishers? Dear Author has a GREAT summary.

Let me know any feedback. Also if you have some cool links, comment with them! Until next Sunday, have a great week!

Review: The Governess Affair by Courtney Milan

noreply@blogger.com (Julia) — Tue, 15 May 2012 23:16:00 +0000

Book Title/Author: The Governess Affair by Courtney Milan
Publisher/Year Published: April 2012, Self Published by Courtney Milan
Where I got it: Barnes and Noble Nook store
Rating: 4/5 stars
Summary:via Goodreads

She will not give up…

Three months ago, governess Serena Barton was let go from her position. Unable to find new work, she’s demanding compensation from the man who got her sacked: a petty, selfish, swinish duke. But it’s not the duke she fears. It’s his merciless man of business—the man known as the Wolf of Clermont. The formidable former pugilist has a black reputation for handling all the duke’s dirty business, and when the duke turns her case over to him, she doesn’t stand a chance. But she can’t stop trying—not with her entire future at stake.

He cannot give in…

Hugo Marshall is a man of ruthless ambition—a characteristic that has served him well, elevating the coal miner’s son to the right hand man of a duke. When his employer orders him to get rid of the pestering governess by fair means or foul, it’s just another day at the office. Unfortunately, fair means don’t work on Serena, and as he comes to know her, he discovers that he can’t bear to use foul ones. But everything he has worked for depends upon seeing her gone. He’ll have to choose between the life that he needs, and the woman he is coming to love…

I loved this. Best 99 cents spent ever.

The Story
The Governess Affair is about two non-noble (yay!) people. Serena was a governess cast out because of her unchaste behavior. Hugo is the duke's "man" who is trying to solve all his money problems so that Hugo can get some money of his own. They run into each other when Serena refuses to leave the front of the Duke's house until he owns up to his behavior. Oh yeah, he raped her and got her with child. Serena is confused and doesn't think it was forced because she didn't scream. Happy story, right?

Well Hugo is charged with getting rid of her and he slowly learns the facts to what happens. As that happens he also learns what a joy Serena is and they fall in love.

This is a novella at about 250 ish pages (says my nook) but never once did I feel rushed or think that I was getting cheated. This story was brilliant in the way that it handled what was going on. This book is to set up Milan's new series as we can see through the epilogue. I thought it did well on it's own.

I am torn on if I wish we saw more of them. An additional 50 pages may have been good to flesh out the ending with Hugo especially, but overall, unlike a lot of reviewers, I didn't mind the length that it was.

The Characters
Let's look at Serena. She was never defined by the fact that she was raped. She took it as something that happened to her, and she needed to move on for the sake of her child. And I loved it. Her character was super well rounded and strong.

Hugo was smart, witty and ambitious. He was also super well-rounded. He knew what was happening between them and tried to come to terms with that while keeping his main goal (being the riches coal miners son in all of England) in sight.

The Romance
More love here. You see, it is be very hard to deal with the rape aspect in romance novels. You want it to be serious enough but have the woman be able to move past it enough to be with the man she loves. I think Milan does excellent here. The sexy times scene is probably one of my favorites ever. I don't want to say any more because I want you to go spend 99 cents and read this!

The Execution
For a novella and for a full length novel, I adored this. There were some things that maybe could have been fleshed out more for a full length novel, but I really didn't mind. I bought their romance in the time it occurred in because of how they communicated with each other. There is one letter writing scene that I just adored.

The Overview
I don't know what more that I can say except add me to the mass of people who adored this book. I need a new word besides adored but it's true. It will be an excellent 99 cents spent if you buy this. Milan's writing is brilliant and she give it her all even though this is a novella. I can't wait for the series this sets up :)

Sunday Status: 5/13/12

noreply@blogger.com (Julia) — Mon, 14 May 2012 01:01:00 +0000

Books I Finished This Past Week
I Kissed an Earl by Julie Anne Long
The Governess Affair by Courtney Milan

Books I am Currently Reading
Unraveled by Courtney Milan

Books To Be Read Next
Unlocked by Courtney Milan
Sweet Enemy by Heather Snow
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

Last week in reviews
The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook

Things to look forward to
Top Ten Tuesday this week is Top Ten Tuesday Freebie Week!

Coolest book related thing that happened to me this week? I went to my cousin's 16th birthday party and my other cousin brought me the first two books in both The Song of Ice and Fire series and The Dark Tower. Awesome unexpected books!

Cool Posts from around the Net
Check it out! I have not watched it yet, but here is a link from Discover a New Love about what happens behind the scenes at a romance novel cover shoot.

Let me know any feedback. Also if you have some cool links, comment with them! Until next Sunday, have a great week!

Review: The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook

noreply@blogger.com (Julia) — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:30:00 +0000

Book Title/Author: The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook
Publisher/Year Published: October 2010 by Berkley Trade
Where I got it: Borders Blowout
Rating: 4/5 stars
Challenges: Reading Romances May Challenge: SciFi; TBR Pile Challenge
Summary:

After the Iron Duke freed England from Horde control, he instantly became a national hero. Now Rhys Trahaearn has built a merchant empire on the power-and fear-of his name. And when a dead body is dropped from an airship onto his doorstep, bringing Detective Inspector Mina Wentworth into his dangerous world, he intends to make her his next possession.

But when Mina uncovers the victim's identity, she stumbles upon a conspiracy that threatens the lives of everyone in England. To save them, Mina and Rhys must race across zombie-infested wastelands and treacherous oceans-and Mina discovers the danger is not only to her countrymen, as she finds herself tempted to give up everything to the Iron Duke.

I've been hearing rumblings about The Iron Duke around the internet for quite a while, especially when talking about steampunk books. I don't know what put me off reading it. Maybe there were a bit of mixed messages, but forever reason I didn't read it. I ended up reading it now because I randomly picked it up at one of Border's going out of business sales because I vaguely remembered good things. Well now I have an option. And overall that one is good.

The Story:
I don't even know how to start explaining the story. There is just so much intricacy built in with the way Brook constructed the book. The world-building was excellent. It really felt like the past mixed in with the alternate reality future. At first I was a little put off and confused by the terminology but she doesn't deluge you with facts and slowly awakens your knowledge of the world she has created. I was soon up on the lingo and the world.

The basic plot is there an inspector, Mina, who get's called out on a case at the Iron Duke's house. He is sort of a celebrity in London due to him freeing them from their former occupiers, the Horde. As the investigation grows into something bigger either thought, they are pushed together more often than not and drawn to each other.

I don't want to give too much away, but this story is WAY more than just a who done it. It turns into some crazy shiz. And yes, that is the technical term.

The plot was no too hard to follow, but some scenes I thought were a bit rushed or non-existent. Like one in particular time, she built us up for a sea battle and we saw very little of it. Boo. The ending was okay I guess. I can't put my finger on why it felt off for me (and I mean like the VERY ending).

The Characters:
This was by far my favorite part of this book. The leads were wicked dimentional. The secondaries were as well and I really hope to see more of them again with their own book.

Mina, the inspector, has some interesting issue to deal with and I thought they were handled well. I didn;t think they were too glossed over and instead took a bit to be worked out. Rhys, the Duke, though could be a hit or miss for people. Early on he seems like the biggest alphole to ever walk the pages of my brain, but slowly you see him grow and change. His growth and change however does not make him lose his alpha characteristics. That's why he could be hit or miss. Within the context of this book and because of this character growth, he was a hit for me. Well, I warmed up to him.

It's gotta be mentioned. Scarsdale made me laugh out loud at least once a time he was on the page. Between him and Lady Corsair they were probably the most well rounded secondary characters I have seen in a romance novel for a while.

The Romance:
This is a paranormal romance novel and thus there are a number of romantic-centric scenes. But I hesitate to say that is how I would define it. It is very much a well done interweaving of romance and paranormal. It's easy to get lost in either side.

There are some difficult romantic elements in this book dealing with the way sexuality was expressed during the Horde rule. They are not comfortable scenes. Were they necessary in the context of the book? I think so. I really do. It made the world more real to me.

Also, the sexy times are frequent, hot and like I mentioned sometimes tied to some heavy emotional moments that could be triggers for some of us, so if you are not into that, this may not be for you.

The Execution:
Overall I enjoyed it but my biggest qualm lay here. Some of the scenes, especially ones with lots of action seemed unbelievably confusing to me. I literally read a page 3 times very slowly to try and get what just happened and I still had trouble. The times I had to do this were not overwhelmingly high, but enough to bother me.

What did bother me though is there are two admirals each with a B name and one is a good guy and one is a not-so good guy (?) and I still get them confused. We didn't see them enough for me to remember the name and who was what. I wish that one of the other letters of the alphabet were used so I wasn't like "Wait, isn't he dead?"

The Overview:
Overall, I sure as hell enjoyed it enough to survive this hectic work week with only on average 5 hrs of sleep. That may even be a max of five hours each night. All because I wanted to go back into this world and be with these people. I am really excited to continue this series.

Waiting on Wesdnesday: A Night Like This

noreply@blogger.com (Julia) — Thu, 10 May 2012 00:11:00 +0000

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. This weeks book is...

A Night Like This by Julia Quinn
Release Date: May 29th 2012

Anne Wynter’s job as governess to three highborn young ladies can be a challenge – in a single week she finds herself hiding in a closet full of tubas, playing an evil queen in a play and tending to the wounds of the oh-so-dashing Earl of Winstead. After years of dodging unwanted advances, he's the first man who has truly tempted her, and it's getting harder and harder to remind herself that a governess has no business flirting with a nobleman.

Daniel Smythe-Smith might be in mortal danger, but that's not going to stop the young earl from falling in love. And when he spies a mysterious woman at his family's annual musicale, he vows to pursue her. But Daniel has an enemy, one who has vowed to see him dead. And when Anne is thrown into peril, he will stop at nothing to ensure their happy ending . . .

Why I want to read it: I loved The Bridgerton Series! So, so much. When reading them, I always thought "That poor Smythe-Smith family..." so it awesome to go back and finally get to see them get their happy endings. The first book, Just Like Heaven), wasn't bad. It was cute, fun and cute. I can't wait to have more fun and cute experiences :)

Sunday Status: 5/6/12

noreply@blogger.com (Julia) — Sun, 06 May 2012 23:24:00 +0000

Books I Finished This Past Week
The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook
Lady Chatterly's Lover by D.H. Lawrence

Books I am Currently Reading
I Kissed an Earl by Julie Anne Long

Books To Be Read Next
Sweet Enemy by Heather Snow
Divergent by Veronica Roth

Last week in reviews
An Affair with Mr. Kennedy by Jillian Stone
DNF Roundup by Julie Anne Long

Things to look forward to
Top Ten Tuesday this week is about Top Ten Favorite Quotes From Books

Last week, I was super busy and barely had time to surf the net.. mostly because I was super absorbed in The Iron Duke.
One cool thing that is happening this week is that the two most recent Waiting on Wednesday's that I have done are releasing this week, Enchanted by Alethea Kontis and Four Sisters, All Queens by Sherry Jones.

Something to look forward to forward to on a Book to Movie (or in this case TV series) is Sherlock starts today on Masterpiece theater!! Yay!

Let me know any feedback. Also if you have some cool links, comment with them! Until next Sunday, have a great week!

Review: An Affair with Mr Kennedy by Jillian Stone

noreply@blogger.com (Julia) — Thu, 03 May 2012 02:23:00 +0000

Book Title/Author:An Affair with Mr. Kennedy by Jillian Stone
Publisher/Year Published:January 2012 by Pocket Books
Where I got it: The library
Rating: 3/5 stars

Summary:Via Goodreads

London, 1887. Part stoic gentleman, part fearless Scotland Yard man, Zeno "Zak" Kennedy is an enigma of the first order. For years, the memory of a deadly bombing at King's Cross has haunted the brilliant Scotland Yard detective. His investigation has zeroed in on a ring of aristocratic rebels whose bloody campaign for Irish revolution is terrorizing the city. When he discovers one of the treacherous lords is acquainted with his free-spirited new tenant, Cassandra St. Cloud, his inquiry pulled him unexpectedly close to the hear of the conspiracy -- and into the arms of a most intriguing lady.

Cassie is no Victorian prude. An impressionist painter with very modern ideas about life and love, she is eager for a romantic escapade that is daring and discreet. She sets her sights on her dour but handsome landlord, but after she learns their meeting was not purely accidental, she hardly has a chance to forgive her lover before their passionate affair catapults them both into a perilous adventure.

This was definitely one of the more unique historical romances out there. I can see why RWA gave her an award. Let's break it down, shall we?

The Story:
The story is gripping. It takes you on a journey with Scotland Yard and its heroes, especially Zeno aka Zak. There is a plot afoot and Cassie seems to be unwittingly caught in the middle. Zak makes it his responsibility to protect her, and well, things happen along the way. The story bounces back between their love and the nefarious schemes of The Bloody Four. It is rather unique in that there is an actual mystery like plot with Scotland Yard, and their romance pretty much solidifies about halfway through the book.

You can tell all the research that went into this novel, too. She really makes it known that this is the turn of the century (almost) Victorian England, and it doesn't do the novel disservice. Although through the first chapter, I wrote down all of the references I didn't get or the inventions I wasn't sure existed. After losing hours to Wikipedia, she was right on them all, and I learned the history of vibrators.

The Characters:
First we shall look at the leads.

Cassie was a contradiction. Well maybe not a contradiction but built a contradiction in me. She is the daughter of a suffragist who rides bikes in breeches. All well and good and pretty awesome. Side note: I've ridden a bike in a skirt and do NOT recommend it). She is also an artist. Super likable, yeah? But then she goes and does stupid things like refusing a guard when she knows this not nice man from her past is tailing her and wants her kidnapped. "No I am good with one guard." Seriously?! I don't care how "feminist" you are, it seemed stupid to me and I just couldn't forgive her for the needless danger she kept getting into because of it.

Zak was less of a struggle to like. He was pretty consistent. I got a little tired of the hero gig that he kept playing over and over again. But I guess it comes with his job? I mean he must be super good at it.

All of these complaints make it sound like I hated Zak and Cassie, but I didn't. Not really. They were pleasant for the most part, these were just my qualms.

I did extremely love the side characters and can't wait for them to have books of their own.

The Romance:
The romance took a bit of a backseat to some of the story, but it wasn't too bad. The first half was brilliant in the romance aspect. After they hooked up the first time it was more.... leisurely. And you know that isn't really a bad thing. I would have liked to see more romance outside of the sexy times, but you know this isn't really a negative. It made the story and characters seem more like characters in the real world as opposed to Romancelandia.

The Execution:
Remember how I mentioned the bouncing between romance and mystery? Well, it does this rather smoothly for most of the novel, but the end seemed to drag. To be honest, I wish this would have ended scenes earlier. Like about 50 pages. The ending seemed a little anticlimacitc.

The Overview:
Overall, I liked it. It was refreshing to read a non-regency, a non-ton (for the most part) story about a man making his living in the world. A super interesting living with crime solving and bombs. I am really looking forward to reading more from Ms. Stone, especially more of the Scotland Yard books.

3/5

Mod Post: TTT and RAK

noreply@blogger.com (Julia) — Tue, 01 May 2012 23:50:00 +0000

Hello everyone! Happy May Day to you all! It was a cloudy dreary where I am today, but the sun managed to peek out a little.

Three things:

FIRST: Today is Top Ten Tuesday and my list is the one over on The Broke and the Bookish. I feel like most of you follow both, but just in case you don't and are curious, my Top Ten Books I'd Like to See As a Movie are over there!

SECOND: For the month of May I have decided to take part in Book Soulmates Random Acts of Kindness (RAK). What this means is that I sign up on a list which includes my wishlist (now a helpful link in my menu bar). Then people somehow chose who they want to send an RAK to and contact them for their info (a little shady... but you can check out the people).

The cool part is while new books are probably the most happily accepted, people are asking for gently used already read ARCs, eBooks, etc.

Which you sign the list to receive, it is also required that you give to at least one person. It doesn't have to be a book or new, handmade things are even welcome. It's just that they want people to give to.

I am not sure what I am more excited about, the giving or the receiving.

HOW THIS AFFECTS YOU: What I've decided is that if there is a book I get that I read and don't feel the need to keep for whatever reason, I will pass it on in a giveaway (sadly most likely US only, depending on how poor I am that month).

I am really excited about this whole business!!

THIRD: I changed the name of the website so it actually match the URL. It was getting rather long and I've been abbreviating it CompBiblio for a while now. I like it :)

DNF RoundUp: January - April

noreply@blogger.com (Julia) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 06:07:00 +0000

Welcome to the the first DNF roundup! It came to my attention this year that I have had little patience with books that just either didn't suit my taste or were written horridly. In the past, I slogged through hoping that it would get better. Well, sometimes it doesn't. There are too many books in the world that I want to read to go ahead and waste time with something that just didn't suit me whatever reason may be.

I've always wanted to review these DNF books, but usually they just sit in the queue and fall to the bottom in favor of the snazzy new books that I actually finished. I don't want these books falling to the wayside. That is where the DNF Roundup comes in.

Each month or so depending on what I've DNF'd, I will have a DNF Roundup post where I will post some mini-reviews along with why they were DNFs for me.

So without further ado, the first DNF Roundup. By the way, all the one line summaries are mine and are my impression of what the summary was from what I read.

Raziel by Kristina Douglas

One Line Summary: Paranormal romance featuring a fallen angel and the chick that just died whom he was helping take to hell.

What roped me in: Despite my poor recap, it actually sounded good. I love angels and wanted to try a PNR featuring them.

Why a DNF: I dislike first person narration. I really dislike first person narration that flips people every other chapter. Now this can be done well (see Across the Universe), but what happened here was at the beginning of every chapter, we would recap the last few pages from the other persons perspective. This resulted in a slow pace and overall annoyance. I was out at 55 pages.

This One Time with Julia by David Lampson

One Line Summary: Teen trying to figure out life gets roped into some kind of trip by his twin who promptly abandons him with Julia.

What roped me in: I have a thing for books with my name in them.

Why a DNF: Joe, the narrator, bothered the hell out of me. He wasn't too horrid to read when there wasn't dialogue, but when there was it was atrocious. People do not talk like that. The one line that really stuck out for me was, "I miss you, Alvin" "You too are the one that I miss" ... What? I got 50 pages in and I couldn't go on.

The Devil in Disguise by Stefanie Sloane

One Line Summary: Will, a spy, needs to protect Lucinda, a pretty lady, from a murderous man by pretending to court her in Regency England.

What roped me in: I liked the cover and I think Julia Quinn had it on her recommended reads page.

Why a DNF: My biggest issue was I felt no connection to the characters. The characters lost their sense of self really quickly, especially the heroine. We are told things about her, and then she acts in a completely different way. What am I suppose to believe? Thus things felt like they were dragging, and I just didn't care anymore. I stopped halfway through.

The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross

One Line Summary: Steampunk England where there is a girl who does steampunk things (I didn't get far in this one).

What roped me in: I like steampunk and the cover is pretty cool.

Why a DNF: This one I think was mostly my fault. There was a LOT of exposition in the first few chapters. Two lines of dialogue would precede four pages of backstory. Show don't tell. It was rough and because of this, I just was't insterested in the little plot that I was aware of to continue on. I made it a few chapters in.

The Price of Innocence by Susan Sizemore

One Line Summary: A woman was kidnapped by a pirate in Asia, was mentally and physically traumatized and now has to meet and deal with this asshat again.

What roped me in: The actual summary I thought was about meeting a woman a man who was her pirate lover back in London and dealing with bringing their love together with their real lives. So that sounded good.

Why a DNF: I really wanted to like this book. In fact, some of the book, the flashbacks, I did like and thought could have been a strong story (until it got all rapey). It looked so promising in the first chapter. The summary was misleading, there were some forced sexual encounters and I never saw anything even close to a healthy mental and physical relationship between the two of them in the 100 pages or so that I read. The writing was fine, the plot/execution of a potentially cool idea was horrid.

So there you have it folks. Books I tried to read so far this year and why they ended up in DNF pile. Hopefully this feature is few and far between ;)

Sunday Status: 4/29/2012

noreply@blogger.com (Julia) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 06:22:00 +0000

Books I Finished This Past Week
Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen
Incarnate by Jodi Meadows
Since the Surrender by Julie Anne Long

Books I am Currently Reading
The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook

Books To Be Read Next
I Kissed an Earl by Julie Anne Long
Sweet Enemy by Heather Snow

Last week in reviews
Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen
Like No Other Lover by Julie Anne Long

At The Broke and the Bookish
Book vs. Movie: I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

Things to look forward to
Top Ten Tuesday this week is about Top Ten Books You'd Like To See Made Into A Movie

For the month of May, I have finally gotten around to getting all prepared for Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) hosted by The Book Soulmates. I have a new bar in my menu that goes to a wishlist of the books I would like to receive. I don't like to own too many books (my shelves are overflowing as it is!) so the potential of giveaways stemming from this is high. This is partly why I included a list of May releases I am interested in. If I don't love it (or collect it for some reason), I will most likely give it away on here :) Sounds exciting right?!

In other exciting news, AmandaSue won the No Strings Attached Bloghop Giveaway and picked The Vow: The True Events That Inspired the Movie by Kim & Krickitt Carpenter. I wanted to see that movie! I didn't know there was a book about their story as well.

Cool Posts from Around the Net

So I am sure you all heard about the crazy shit that went down at The Story Siren this past week. Plagiarism is not to be taken lightly. I was never a big fan of hers or anything, and now I wont be, but it sickens me to see the victim blaming people are doing in her new apology post.

Don't know what I am talking about? Here is a link from Smart Bitches that pretty well summarizes what happened (includes links to the victims blogs). Here is a link talking about the reaction to the apology and the victim blaming that went on from Gossamer Obsessions. Examples of the hatemail at Smart Bitches. Grit & Glamour, one of the victims, with her response to the clarified "apology".

Quite the dramafest, but what are you going to do. I am in the firm camp that what she did was wrong. Plagiarism, even if it's something small, isn't a small offence. People work hard for their content. People work hard for their designs. It makes me sad to see the reaction to this.

But you know what can make me happy? This link to Jim Hines posing like a man from book covers. lol :)

Let me know any feedback. Also if you have some cool links, comment with them! Until next Sunday, have a great week!

Review: Like No Other Lover by Julie Anne Long

noreply@blogger.com (Julia) — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 20:45:00 +0000

Book Title/Author: Like No Other Lover by Julie Anne Long
Publisher/Year Published: October 2008 by Avon
Where I got it: The library
Rating: 4/5 stars
Challenges: Reading Romances April Challenge: Borrowed Books

Summary:via Goodreads

It's the last chance for Cynthia Brightly, the ton's most bewitching belle. Driven out of London by a secret scandal, she must find a grand husband at the Redmonds' house party before word of her downfall spreads all over England. Unfortunately, someone at Pennyroyal Green is already privy to the whispers of broken engagements and dueling lovers: Miles Redmond, renowned explorer and—thanks to his brother's disappearance—heir to the family's enormous fortune.

Miles set his sights on Cynthia once, at a time when the ambitious beauty thought herself too good for a second son. But now he's heir apparent, relishing his control. He strikes a bargain with her: he'll keep Cynthia's steamy secrets and help her find a husband among the guests—in exchange for a single kiss.

What could be the harm in a simple kiss? Cynthia is about to discover that it's enough to unleash fierce passion—and that Miles Redmond is most certainly like no other lover in the world.

It's time to review another romance novel! This one is the second in the Pennyroyal Green series, the first of which was The Perils of Pleasure, which I liked well enough. This one however was quite good.

Like No Other Lover reminded me of the early Bridgerton novels by Julia Quinn: sweet scenes, hilarious scenes, and great characters. The plot, let's be honest here, is one that has been done before. Impoverished beauty needs to find a husband so she doesn't end up on the streets, thus she has to do it quickly. Enter house-party romance time.

Miles' family through the house party and she shows up. He of course knows (somewhat) of her plight and tries to help her find a man, all the while falling for her himself.

So let's clearly the plot is not what sets this book apart. It's the characters. I loved the leads. I thought they had the best chemistry I've read in a while. While both are mainly a romance novel stereotype, Miles the studious man in the glasses who people overlook and Cynthia the impoverished beauty, they have enough depth and dimension that this doesn't define them.

And not only the leads are well rounded, the secondary characters carry themselves as well. I hope we see more of those guys pop up in later books (there are six so far I believe). Without these characters, this novel really would have fallen flat.

This is a good stand alone, as well. One thing I have seen about this series is you really don't have to read it in any order (unless you are anal like me and HAVE to). This would be a good book for someone looking to read a "desperate times call for desperate measures" house party story.

As I mentioned earlier, some scenes really reminded me of Julia Quinn in their hilarity. The drinking game is one that stands out for me. There were quite a few times that I would laugh out loud in a crowded airplane. And to make people look at me like I am that crazy person, clearly this must have been good.

There was one thing that I couldn't get over though, and this has no fault with the actual story. The covers, particularly the back cover, is holy cow embarrassing. Remember how I said I was reading this on an airplane, well I didn't realize the horrid nature of the back cover until I saw down in the boarding area.

Here it is. The flash location is a happy coincidence.

So overall summary: Great book, wonderful characters, good chemistry, get it as an eBook :)

Broke and Bookish: Book vs. Movie

noreply@blogger.com (Julia) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 03:06:00 +0000

Hey guys! While you are waiting for my next review, I am featured at The Broke and the Bookish today with a Book vs. Movie comparison of I Capture the Castle.

I finished Incarnate a few days ago, I am letting it sit before typing a review so that and more to look forward to :)

See you soon!