tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42077356793331637942026-10-14T02:35:55.576-04:00A blog of romance, fantasy, and penguins.TheReadingPenguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09732545193031333377noreply@blogger.comBlogger434125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207735679333163794.post-49083608401917654492013-08-15T10:00:00.000-04:002013-08-15T10:00:01.318-04:00

It's probably obvious by now that I'm not as comfortable reviewing graphic novels as I am with standard novels. It's more or less an entirely different medium, and my ability to criticize it is just not very well developed. I can't, for example, effectively comment on are style or layout because my experience is simply inadequate. However, my mission on this blog is to share good

TheReadingPenguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09732545193031333377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207735679333163794.post-67534585698274741452013-08-14T10:00:00.000-04:002013-08-14T10:00:01.639-04:00

It's no secret that I heartily enjoy urban fantasy, particularly the kind with kick-ass female leads and large scale monster hunts. The Edie Spence series is more of the same, except that the heroine is not particularly kick-ass at all. Edie is a nurse working third shifts at a hospital ward secretly dedicated to creatures of the night--shapeshifter, vampires, and vampire's servants. Moonshifted

TheReadingPenguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09732545193031333377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207735679333163794.post-91741793141853250342013-08-13T10:00:00.000-04:002013-08-13T10:00:00.872-04:00

And yet more contemporary romance! Laura Florand's Amour et Chocolate books are a bit like quiet, modern fairytales set in Paris, where food artists make impossibly brilliant and delicious things with chocolate. They aren't books to read if you're on a diet, because you will want chocolate, and if you're like me you will eat all of the chocolate. Jolie is trying to talk pastry chef Gabriel

TheReadingPenguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09732545193031333377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207735679333163794.post-21074821513285224182013-08-12T10:00:00.000-04:002013-08-12T10:00:01.623-04:00

Marching right along with my "catch up" reviews, we have another contemporary that I read in May (lots of contemporaries coming up--hunker down, kids). I'll admit that Samantha Young's On Dublin Street series has taken me a bit by surprise. The way that the first book looked, the descriptions, and most of the reviews (both positive and negative), had me kind of convinced that it wasn't for me.

TheReadingPenguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09732545193031333377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207735679333163794.post-27400751064951801712013-08-11T10:09:00.000-04:002013-08-11T10:31:26.604-04:00

Here I am, returning to the world of book blogging after a long 2 1/2 month absence. Wow. When I decide to take a break from reviewing, I honestly never intended to be away for even a whole month. My original justification was that I had major readers block and I just needed a breather so I could come back fresh, and I thought two weeks would do it. Life happened, as it often does. I

TheReadingPenguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09732545193031333377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207735679333163794.post-60723052916059423272013-05-22T07:30:00.000-04:002013-05-22T07:30:01.624-04:00

Welcome to Part One of a three part post series on Angel. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a show that was unique at the time and became iconic, to the point that many shows and movies have since tried to capture it's particular brand of appeal, with varying degrees of success. It seems natural that such a larger than life show would deserve a spin-off. Angel was a natural character choice for a

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One of my goals for this year is to read more M/M romance, and this series was recommended to me for that reason. I'm a little ashamed to admit that I honestly did not expect to enjoy it. The premise is that our two heroes are FBI agents forced into a partnership with the goal of catching a serial killer. Romantic suspense, specifically the kind with murder mysteries, is not my usual cup of tea,

TheReadingPenguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09732545193031333377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207735679333163794.post-40615535516381296872013-05-19T09:00:00.000-04:002013-05-20T11:03:00.816-04:00

On the surface, this seems to be your typical historical romance, with the arguably gimmicky catch of a hero who is "mad". In fact, Ian suffers from Asperger's, which can best be described as very high functioning autism. I'll be honest, that's what made me buy this book in the first place. For some reason it seems that mental disorders are fairly taboo in the romance with,

TheReadingPenguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09732545193031333377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207735679333163794.post-12708624862753334452013-05-17T10:00:00.000-04:002013-05-17T10:00:02.896-04:00

I didn't want to read this book at first. Yes, it's true that I want to try more new adult books, but the college setting makes me leery since I'm only a year removed from living in that setting. Tammara Webber managed to win me over with a truly excellent love story, much to my surprise. The book opens with our heroine, Jacqueline, very narrowly avoiding getting raped by her ex-boyfriend's frat

TheReadingPenguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09732545193031333377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207735679333163794.post-19949242601770261152013-05-15T10:00:00.000-04:002013-05-15T10:00:04.803-04:00

A few notes, just to keep everyone informed: Now that I've completed my Buffy series, I am planning on moving on to Angel. Hopefully that will be a more organized and comprehensive review series, now that I'm starting to grasp how I would like to structure those posts. I need some time, of course, to rewatch most of the episodes. Tentatively, I that series will start next Wednesday. To continue

TheReadingPenguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09732545193031333377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207735679333163794.post-63831641078715830662013-05-12T10:00:00.000-04:002013-05-12T10:00:02.227-04:00

It's fair to say that Larissa Ione has her fair share of duds, even in an otherwise lovely series. That was certainly the case here. In the interest of full disclosure, it's not like I went into this book expecting a terrific read. As a hero, Reseph failed to excited me. He spent the previous three books as the vile, villainous version of himself. We were never given enough information on good

TheReadingPenguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09732545193031333377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207735679333163794.post-35028286644250478242013-05-11T09:00:00.000-04:002013-05-11T21:08:35.721-04:00

I've talked a lot about how I'd been sort of reluctantly looking forward to this book. Reluctantly, because when I stop and analyze The Selection, it was a very flawed book. Unfortunately all of the flaws from the first book were only magnified in this book, and while it was still oddly readable, it left me with such a feeling of hollowness and frustration. I have long since accepted the fact

TheReadingPenguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09732545193031333377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207735679333163794.post-72343088391955574942013-05-10T12:00:00.000-04:002013-05-10T12:00:00.679-04:00

I've admitted time and again that I'm not the biggest fan of romantic suspense. My issue is that I've never been one to get deeply immersed in murder mysteries, and often a mystery is the basis of the suspense portion of romantic suspense. My decision to give this series a try despite my usual preferences was based on the fact that it kept appearing on DABWAHA year after year, making it pretty

TheReadingPenguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09732545193031333377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207735679333163794.post-33334624629775502362013-05-08T23:00:00.000-04:002013-05-09T19:41:21.415-04:00

Okay, so you'll remember that I had promised a review of Iron Man 3. I figure that I better get it up today, because by next week it will be fully irrelevant. So here are my quick and dirty thoughts on the latest Marvel superhero movie. Better than Number 2, not as good as Number 1. The first Iron Man movie had an impact on me in that it made superhero movies seem less juvenile. I liked

TheReadingPenguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09732545193031333377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207735679333163794.post-69283519558131193382013-05-08T11:24:00.001-04:002013-05-08T11:24:24.458-04:00

I had originally intended for this to be a seven part posting series--seven parts for seven seasons. However, once I finished my marathon re-watch of the entire series, I kind of felt like it might be time to close this off and move on. And what better way to finish off the series than with a top ten list? So without further ado, my top ten favorite Buffy the Vampire Slayer Episodes. #10: The

TheReadingPenguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09732545193031333377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207735679333163794.post-30748187681181328902013-05-07T09:06:00.000-04:002013-05-07T09:06:01.075-04:00

It's time once again to update my list of anticipated books for the coming year. July The Darkest Craving by Gena Showalter--Now that I've caught up with this series, I can put the next installment on my list of books to look forward to. This book is set to feature Kane, keeper of disaster, as the hero. Apparently his love interest is half-fae, and her name is Josephina. I have absolutely no

TheReadingPenguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09732545193031333377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207735679333163794.post-81784621465824993672013-05-05T08:00:00.000-04:002013-05-05T08:00:08.044-04:00

Lately there's a lot of chatter about "New Adult" novels, and New Adult romance in particular. The idea, I suppose, is to have a genre that bridges the gap between YA and...just plain A, with characters that are traditional college age (18-23, or so). They are still young enough to be in that very transitional period where all of the good character development that we see in YA can happen. The

TheReadingPenguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09732545193031333377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207735679333163794.post-26631154949921175172013-05-04T08:37:00.000-04:002013-05-04T08:37:08.549-04:00

One of the things that persuaded me to get back into this series was the fact that I knew Paris had a book. Not only do I sort of grudgingly like Paris (I'll explain the grudging part in a minute), but the set up between Paris and Sienna, which took place earlier in the series, was really excellent. Paris is possessed by the demon of Promiscuity, and one of the consequences of his possession is

TheReadingPenguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09732545193031333377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207735679333163794.post-68413698496034079742013-05-01T10:00:00.000-04:002013-05-01T16:10:05.298-04:00

And so we arrive in a brand new, shiny month. April was a truly excellent month for reading. I blew through thirteen novels, and not one of them was appallingly bad (although one was pretty boring). I have so many reviews I need to write, but first and foremost--the best book of April... Yeah, if you follow me on Goodreads, this won't surprise you at all. Easy by Tammara Webber is sweet and

TheReadingPenguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09732545193031333377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207735679333163794.post-79128381505088696002013-04-28T10:00:00.000-04:002013-04-28T10:00:02.476-04:00

I've been sort of subconsciously intending to  read more M/M this year, so here we go--a nice contemporary that actually sort of surprised me with some of the directions it took. Vinnie, a forty-something accountant turned plumber from a big Italian family, has a sudden epiphany that he might be gay. In an effort to figure this out, he goes to a gay club way outside of his usual

TheReadingPenguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09732545193031333377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207735679333163794.post-68438330934171160022013-04-27T10:00:00.000-04:002013-04-27T10:00:00.882-04:00

Erotica review today! As usual, this is an 18 and over review. Click below to read. This book is both hot as hell and kind of interesting, from a world building perspective. In my experience that's pretty rare for erotica, so I could recommend it for that reason alone. We open with Noelle being kicked out of Eden, the protected, safe, supposedly perfect city where her father is a political

TheReadingPenguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09732545193031333377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207735679333163794.post-59936700795918510502013-04-26T10:00:00.000-04:002013-04-28T09:18:18.162-04:00

This is another one that was recommended so frequently and from so many different sources that I felt obligated to just try it, already. It's funny, though, that after all of the reviews and summaries I read, I still had an entirely incorrect idea of what this book is about. I thought it was erotica. Like, really kinky, hard core erotica. Or maybe like, 50 shades style wannabe porn. I don't

TheReadingPenguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09732545193031333377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207735679333163794.post-46812714485025562212013-04-24T10:00:00.000-04:002013-04-24T10:00:05.168-04:00

When Angel left the show and went off to his own spin off, there was a kind of boyfriend vacuum around Buffy that just had to be filled. Enter Riley Finn, the very bland anti-angel college boyfriend. I liked a lot of things about seasons four and five. I liked seeing Buffy go on to college and mature as an adult. I liked that the show allowed her to develop and gave her new, more adult

TheReadingPenguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09732545193031333377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207735679333163794.post-20886801074583643132013-04-23T10:00:00.000-04:002013-04-23T10:00:07.000-04:00

What attracted me to Amy and Roger's Epic Detour was the fact that it's a road trip book--I can't remember ever reading a road trip book before, and there's magic in the property of novelty. I'm not sure how I would feel about this book if I were more experienced with road trip stories, and I can't judge it on those terms. What I can say, is that it was an okay YA story and a compulsively

TheReadingPenguinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09732545193031333377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4207735679333163794.post-33190094868214063522013-04-22T12:38:00.000-04:002013-04-22T12:38:34.354-04:00

My month of random unorganized reading marches on, and I've got a lot of reviews that I need to complete and publish. Lo and behold, a posting schedule. 4/23--Review of Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson 4/24--Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Pt. 3 4/26--Review of On Dublin Street by Samantha Young 4/27--Review of Beyond Shame by Kit Rocha 4/28--Review of Family Man by Heidi Cullinan and

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