National Library Week--April 14 - 20

April 14-20 is National Library Week here in the U.S. I love libraries. The small town I grew up in didn't have any bookstores so the library in our town was very precious to us. Some of my earliest memories are going to the library with my mother. I remember the children's section was in the basement. I was thrilled when I finally came upstairs and looked for books in the adult section! In those days there weren't any young adult books though looking back a lot of the books I read were pretty much young adult--Mary Stewart, Andre Norton and some of Robert Heinlein, for example.

I loved spending a Saturday morning browsing through the adult section at the library. In those days I read a lot of mysteries and science fiction and it was wonderful just to pull books from the shelves and look through them to decide if I wanted to check them out. My mother read a lot, read to me when I was younger and when I was a teenager we read a lot of the same books. It was wonderful for us to go to the library and each check out books and then trade books part way through the two week check out period. Even after I became an adult and moved away we each continued to use libraries and continued to talk about books and share favorite authors.

You can check out the graphic below at this site:

This graphic illustrates how important libraries are today. They have evolved and stayed relevant in this Internet age. I still love to browse the shelves in a library, but today I also check to see if my library is offering e-books or DVDs. When my husband and I travel we often find a library we can go to use the Internet. When we moved to Maryland one of the first things we did was visit the library so we could find out more about the area we were moving to.

What about you? Do you use libraries? Have they been important in your life?

Sunday Post--April 14

The Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer. This is where I review my last week and look ahead to what I might be doing next week.

Last Week

Around the House
We drove home from Iowa this week. Lots of driving, but fun to see friends and family. My husband helped his dad clean up his yard to get ready for spring.

We arrived back in the DC area and it was summer! The daffodils my sisters-in-law helped me plant last fall are blooming, tulips are growing and the lawn is getting green. We've only been in this house a few months so this is our first spring. The soil is terrible--hard clay. The builder destroyed all the top soil and compacted everything so we are just hoping to keep the lawn growing. Our lot has a few trees growing at the end of our very small backyard and we have a runoff pond just beyond that so we have a little more privacy than most people in the subdivision. We've put up bird feeders and over the winter had lots of birds...goldfinches, woodpeckers, chickadees, cardinals, and hoards of red winged blackbirds! My cats love to watch them through the windows (as do I)!

Posts on my blog
Sunday Post--April 7

Review: Kiss of Steel by Bec McMaster

Review: Monster in My Closet by R. L. Naquin

Books read
Assassin's Gambit by Amy Raby

E-books bought

Assassin's Gambit by Amy Raby

Hunting by Andrea K. Host

Now May You Weep by Deborah Crombie

The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz

Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet by Darynda Jones

The Fever Series: Five Book Bundle by Karen Marie Moning

The Accidental Demon Slayer by Angie Fox

A Bit of Bite by Cynthia Eden (short story)

Big Boy (Strangers on a Train) by Ruthie Knox (short story)

Around the web
Kristen at Fantasy Cafe is hosting her second annual Women in SF&F Month. Each day in April she has a post by fellow bloggers or authors, For example, Lois McMaster Bujold has written a post about the women who write science fiction and fantasy and how this conversation is a re-run of many others. Very interesting! I've been enjoying all the posts. I've found a number of new authors and books to read! Go and check them out.

Next Week

Around the house
A little more spring than summer this week so I'm hoping to plant some containers with flowers. I'm also hoping to do lots of reading. I bought the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning and am reading the first book. Really enjoying it. I also want to start making more cards. I've lots of birthdays and friends and family to send "happy spring" cards to! It should be a fun, productive week!

On the blog 
Planned posts:

• National Library Week
• Top Ten Tuesday
• Review
• Buddy Review with nath at the Breezing Through blog: Assassin's Gambit

Review: Monster in My Closet by R. L. Naquin

R. L. Naquin is another new author I've read this year. Thus, this review is listed at the New Author Challenge 2013 hosted by the Literary Escapism blog. I love the fact that I'm finding so many new authors I want to read. Usually I don't read more than a half dozen new authors in a year. For whatever reason (even before I found this challenge) I read five new authors just in January!


Monster in My Closet
by R. L. Naquin
A Monster Haven series, book 1
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Published by: Carina Press, 2012
E-book, purchased
209 pages
Grade: B

I stopped believing in monsters long ago. But I knew I wasn’t imagining things when I found one in my kitchen baking muffins. I’d seen him before: lurking in my closet, scaring the crap out of my five-year-old self. Turns out that was a misunderstanding, and now Maurice needs a place to stay. How could I say no?

Ms. Naquin describes her books as urban fantasy with a cheeky edge! That's exactly right. The book is not a gritty urban fantasy, but even though it has a cheeky edge there is also danger in this world.  The cover of the book is cute and seems to indicate a light book, but several people do die in the book and Zoey is certainly in danger, too.

Zoey is human, a wedding planner, who works with her best friend. She's always been an empathic and sympathetic person. She always soothes the brides when they melt down before their wedding. Until Maurice, a closet monster, shows up in her kitchen she doesn't know a paranormal world exists and that she draws them to her, too.

I liked the idea of the closet monster. Zoey had caught a glimpse of him when she was a child, but her Mom calmed her...she thought her Mom was showing her there really wasn't a monster. Her mother was telling the monster he couldn't be in Zoey's closet! Jump ahead 20 years or so and the closet monster is sitting at her kitchen table drinking coffee! Zoey finds out there's a whole world of supernatural creatures she never knew anything about. Her mother had also been a human who drew the supernatural world to her, but she disappeared when Zoey was 8 years old. So Zoey never had a chance to talk to her mother about this hidden world.

I didn't quite understand why when she accepts that the closet monster is real she is suddenly thrown into the supernatural world and comes to the attention of a succubus demon. In this book the demon is a frightening creature and Zoey must figure out how to stop him--from killing her and killing her friends.

There is a bit of romance in this book and I would guess that continues and perhaps deepens in the next book.

I liked this book a lot and bought the next in the series which came out the end of March--Pooka in My Pantry.

Review: Kiss of Steel by Bec McMaster

Bec McMaster is another new author I've read this year. Thus, this review is listed at the New Author Challenge 2013 hosted by the Literary Escapism blog.

Kiss of Steel 
by Bec McMaster
London Steampunk Series, Book One
Genre: Steampunk Romance
Published by Sourcebooks Casablanca, September 2012
E-book, purchased
448 pages
Grade: B

Synopsis: Honoria Todd has no choice. Only in the dreaded Whitechapel district can she escape the long reach of the Duke of Vickers. But seeking refuge there will put her straight into the hands of Blade, legendary master of the rookeries. No one would dare cross him, but what price would he demand to keep her safe?

Ever since Vickers infected him with the craving, Blade has been quicker, stronger, almost immortal—and terrified of losing control of the monster within. Honoria could be his perfect revenge against the duke…or the salvation he never dared to dream of.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit even though it's more paranormal romance than urban fantasy. Generally, I don't like the paranormal romance genre, because I think the emphasis is usually more on the romance than creating a believable world for the characters. In this case I thought the author did a good job creating the world and creating likeable main characters. Honoria Todd was a strong character trying to save her family. Blade was the scary monster who turns out to be very human. He was my favorite character in the book. He's larger than life and everyone is afraid of him, but he protects what's his.

When Honoria first meets Blade she is overwhelmed and fearful, but knows she has to hide her emotions:

"Living among the Echelon for ten years had taught her the benefit of managing her emotions. One hint of fear and they would turn their pale eyes on her like sharks smelling blood. This man might rule the rookeries with an iron fist, but she had faced down the prince consort himself, with his colorless, red-rimmed eyes and too-pink lips. Blade was dangerous, but she couldn’t afford to let him see how much he frightened her. That wasn’t how the game was played. And the cursed blue bloods liked their games so very much…"

Blade isn't impressed though:

“You’ve been six months in me turf and not paid a visit,” he said. “That ain’t polite, dove. It ain’t wise for a woman to be without protection. You been lucky so far. People been wonderin’ if you and I ’ad struck a deal. Now they’re wonderin’ if I would care if you went missin’.” He flicked the cheroot over a small tray and the ashes crumbled. “Consider this a polite warnin’ and an offer. You won’t be unmolested for long.”

The pistol was a heavy, reassuring weight in her skirt pockets. “Then they shall receive a little surprise if they do. Only a fool walks these streets without protection.”

“That little barker in your pocket and the pig-sticker in your boot?” He laughed, low and husky. “Won’t do you much good when your throat is slit.”

...

There was a blur of movement and something grabbed her from behind. Honoria gasped, the knife a sharp warning against her throat as Blade drew her back against his hard body. Her chin tipped up and she swallowed hard, the edge of the knife hovering directly over her carotid artery. His arm was a steel band about her waist, hugging her close.
His lips brushed her ear. “Still not impressed,” he whispered.

 The book is set in a steampunk Victorian-style London and I enjoyed the setting a lot. The author does a good job of evoking the scene:

"...that familiar hollow feeling pooled in her stomach as she paused in front of the derelict building. The fog eddied away from the roughened brick walls as though something kept it out. A pair of crossed daggers was carved into the wooden sign that hung over the door, the sign that all the Reapers gang wore, proclaiming which gang they ran with."

The next book in this series comes out in May. Heart of Iron is set in the same world, but looks like it has different main characters. I usually like books in a series to continue with the same characters, but I will definitely try the next book!

Sunday Post--April 7

The Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer. This is where I look back at the last week and look ahead to what I might be doing next week.

Last Week

Around the House

Spring Clean-up in Iowa

We haven't been around the house too much. We drove from Maryland to Iowa for a quick trip to see some of our family. We've been having a great time here in Iowa and though we don't see flowers blooming or trees leafing out yet it's in the 60's. Nice to have some warm weather. We haven't had more than a day or two in the 60's in Maryland so far this year and we are quite a bit further south than Iowa. I guess it's supposed to get into the 70's there next week. Yay!


On my blog
I signed up for Goodreads this week. I wish I had done it several years ago, but I'm enjoying it now. It's a great place to connect with other people reading the same kinds of books I do and also to list the books I've read.

Even though we spent much of the week traveling, I managed to post some things on the blog this week:

The Sunday Post--March 31

April 2013 Books

Review: Wake Me When the Sun Goes Down by Lisa Olsen

Books read
I read several books last week:

Monster in My Closet by R. L. Naquin (review pending)

Apocalyptic Moon by Eva Gordon (review pending)

The Scrapyard Incident by Phillip Nolte (review pending)


E-books bought

Cold Magic by Kate Elliott

Pooka in My Pantry by R. L. Naquin

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Fledgling by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

Storybound by Marissa Burt

Wide Open by Deborah Coates

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

The Heart of Matter by Evan Currie

I'm excited to read some of these books. Other than the books by Steve Miller/Sharon Lee, R. L. Naquin and Kate Elliott I haven't read any of these authors' books. It's always fun to find new authors and one of my reading challenges this year is to read new authors. I'm doing a good job with that so far!

Next Week

We will be driving back home next week. We plan to get back on Tuesday evening. It has been a lot of driving, but my husband and I enjoy traveling together and it's so much fun to see family and friends. But it will be good to get back to my cats.

On the blog
I'm hoping to add a couple of reviews.

Review: Wake Me When the Sun Goes Down by Lisa Olsen

I am challenging myself to read new authors this year. Luckily I found a blog which is hosting a new author challenge! This challenge--New Author Challenge 2013--is hosted by the Literary Escapism blog.

Wake Me When the Sun Goes Down
by Lisa Olsen
Forged Bloodlines series, book 1
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Published by: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform, 2011
E-book, purchased
260 pages
Grade: B+

Synopsis: Anja Evans wakes up in the morgue with a helluva hangover. She chalks it up to a strange brush with death and gets back to her life as a music student in San Francisco. It takes almost eating her best friend before she figures out… she’s a vampire! When a dark and dangerous vampire shows up at her door asking to see her license and registration, Anja assumes Bishop is a regular cop. But breeding among vampires is strictly controlled, and her unlicensed status makes her an enemy of The Order. Struggling to find a balance between her former life and her undead one, Anja tries to blend school and living up to her new identity, all while searching to find the elusive Viking whose blood gave Anja the strength of a vampire hundreds of years old.

Lisa Olsen's books appears to be self-published. She has written three books in the Forged Bloodlines series now and I've read all three since January! She has also written a number of other books.

Ms. Olsen does a good job in Wake Me When the Sun Goes Down introducing Anja, Bishop and the other characters as well as explaining the world she creates. There is humor in these books which I enjoyed and Anja is a likeable character. It's a fun book to read.

In this world vampires and other paranormal creatures are hidden from humans and intent upon remaining hidden. The Order polices the vampire world and has strict laws about producing new vampires. If the vampire doesn't have a license to create a new vampire both the vampire and human he has turned are killed by the Order.

Bishop, the powerful Order vampire, who shows up at Anja's door after she is turned should kill her, but perhaps because she reminds him of someone in his past he lets her live. This all happens before Anja even realizes she is a vampire. She has no memory of who turned her into a vampire and no one steps forward to confess. Thus, she is pretty clueless about being a vampire. This first book is about her stumbling steps while she tries to figure out the vampire world, who sired her and whether she can still live her old human life.

She was a music student and she continues trying to attend classes with varying degrees of success. On the several occasions Anja has problems figuring out the vampire world Bishop reluctantly helps her. It's evident he's attracted to her, but he has been in the Order for years and takes his duties seriously. He really wants to forget her and get on with his life, but finds he can't.

In the next two books in the series--Meet Me When the Sun Goes Down (B)  and Find Me When the Sun Goes Down (B-)--Anja continues her journey of self-discovery. Each book has a mystery which affects her life, but these books are mostly about Anja and how she tries to fit into her new life without losing her humanity. I liked the first two books better than the third book, but will definitely look for the fourth book in the series.

One criticism I have I also have with some other books, too. All the covers and titles in this series are very similar. It's hard to keep track of them. It's good to have a brand so readers quickly know the book is part of a series, but I would like a little more individuality. After a few months go by it's hard to remember which book I read and if the book I'm seeing is a new book. If I don't have time to investigate further I sometimes put off figuring out which book I've read and which I haven't so I may not get a new book at all.

April 2013 Books

April 1

This is free right now for the Kindle (I'm not sure about other sites)
Far in the Wilds
by Deanna Raybourn
Prequel Novella (54 pages)
Published by Harlequin Mira
Genre: Historical 
Synopsis: Kenya, 1918 
Ryder White is Canadian by birth but African by choice. He is more at home in the wilds of the savannah, shooting and sleeping his way across the continent, than amongst the hedonistic colonists of Kenyan society. 

In a landscape where one false move can cost a man his life, Ryder's skill as a guide is unparalleled, but only the rich or royal can afford his services. When a European prince hires Ryder to help him hunt an elusive leopard Ryder thinks it's just another well-paying job with yet another spoiled voyeur. But this perilous journey is full of dangers that may change Ryder forever....

Ryder returns in A Spear of Summer Grass, where he encounters a woman from a very different world, to explore beauty and darkness and what is truly worth fighting for.

April 2

The Good, the Bad, and the Witchy
by Heather Blake
Series: A Witchcraft Mystery, #3
Published by Signet
Genre: Cozy Mystery 
Synopsis: Darcy Merriweather is Enchanted Village’s newest resident Wishcrafter—a witch who can grant wishes for others. But as Darcy prepares a celebration for a magical florist, she discovers that every rose has its thorns…

When magical florist Harriette Harkette decides to throw a lavish eightieth birthday party for herself, she hires Darcy’s Aunt Ve’s personal concierge service, As You Wish, to plan the soiree. But turning eighty isn’t all Harriette is celebrating—the Floracrafter has recently created the midnight black Witching Hour rose, the first all-natural rose of that color.

Darcy works hard on planning an extravagant celebration that will make Harriette feel like the belle of the ball. But when cake delivery boy Michael Healey—a former employee at Harriette’s greenhouse—is found dead, the celebration takes a turn. Now Michael’s ghost has imprinted on Darcy, meaning that they’re bonded until she can untangle the thicket surrounding his murder—and what exactly it has to do with the Witching Hour rose….  

Blood Trade
by Faith Hunter
Series: Jane Yellowrock Novel, book 6
Published by Roc
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Synopsis: Jane Yellowrock is a shape-shifting skinwalker who’s always up for a fight—even if it means putting her life on the line...
 
The Master of Natchez, Mississippi has a nasty problem on his hands. Rogue vampires—those who follow the Naturaleza and believe that humans should be nothing more than prey to be hunted—are terrorizing his city. Luckily, he knows the perfect skinwalker to call in to take back the streets.

But what he doesn’t tell Jane is that there’s something different about these vamps. Something that makes them harder to kill—even for a pro like Jane. Now, her simple job has turned into a fight to stay alive…and to protect the desperately ill child left in her care.

Assassin's Gambit
by Amy Raby
Series: The Hearts and Thrones #1
Published by Signet
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Synopsis:Vitala Salonius, champion of the warlike game of Caturanga, is as deadly as she is beautiful. She’s a trained assassin for the resistance, and her true play is for ultimate power. Using her charm and wit, she plans to seduce her way into the emperor’s bed and deal him one final, fatal blow, sparking a battle of succession that could change the face of the empire.

As the ruler of a country on the brink of war and the son of a deposed emperor, Lucien must constantly be wary of an attempt on his life. But he’s drawn to the stunning Caturanga player visiting the palace. Vitala may be able to distract him from his woes for a while—and fulfill other needs, as well.

Lucien’s quick mind and considerable skills awaken unexpected desires in Vitala, weakening her resolve to finish her mission. An assassin cannot fall for her prey, but Vitala’s gut is telling her to protect this sexy, sensitive man. Now she must decide where her heart and loyalties lie and navigate the dangerous war of politics before her gambit causes her to lose both Lucien and her heart for good.…

Emilie and the Hollow World
by Martha Wells
Series: Book 1
Published by Strange Chemistry
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Synopsis: While running away from home for reasons that are eminently defensible, Emilie's plans to stow away on the steamship Merry Bell and reach her cousin in the big city go awry, landing her on the wrong ship and at the beginning of a fantastic adventure.

April 16

Taken
by Erin Bowman
Series: Taken #1
Published by Harper Teen
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Synopsis: There are no men in Claysoot. There are boys—but every one of them vanishes at midnight on his eighteenth birthday. The ground shakes, the wind howls, a blinding light descends…and he’s gone. They call it the Heist.

Gray Weathersby’s eighteenth birthday is mere months away, and he’s prepared to meet his fate–until he finds a strange note from his mother and starts to question everything he’s been raised to accept: the Council leaders and their obvious secrets. The Heist itself. And what lies beyond the Wall that surrounds Claysoot–a structure that no one can cross and survive.

Climbing the Wall is suicide, but what comes after the Heist could be worse. Should he sit back and wait to be taken–or risk everything on the hope of the other side?

Bronze Gods

by A. A. Aguirre
Series: Apparatus Infernum Novel #1
Published by Ace
Genre: Steampunk Fantasy 
Synopsis: Janus Mikani and Celeste Ritsuko work all hours in the Criminal Investigation Division, keeping citizens safe. He's a charming rogue with an uncanny sixth sense; she's all logic--and the first female inspector. Between his instincts and her brains, they collar more criminals than any other partnership in the CID. 

 
A Counterfeit Betrothal/The Notorious Rake
by Mary Balogh
Series: n/a
Published by Dell

Genre: Historical Romance
Synopsis:  A COUNTERFEIT BETROTHAL--Lady Sophia Bryant has no intention of marrying anytime soon. Her one desire is to reunite her parents, who have been estranged for fourteen years. Surely, if she happens to announce her betrothal—even a false one—they will be forced to see each other. Devilishly handsome Lord Francis Sutton seems perfect for such deceit, always agreeable to games of passion in which he has nothing to lose. The trap is set—if only Lady Sophia can keep her foolish heart from falling prey to her brilliant snares.

THE NOTORIOUS RAKE--Lord Edmund Waite is everything that Lady Mary Gregg despises: lewd, lascivious, mocking—the most incorrigible and successful rogue around. A bluestocking like her would never tempt a man whose taste runs to pretty playthings—so Mary is startled to find herself the object of Lord Edmund’s desires. Even more surprising is her reaction to his shocking advances. She may be a lady, but this man knows so well how to make her feel like a woman.

A Spear of Summer Grass
by Deanna Raybourn
Series: n/a
Published by Harlequin Mira
Genre: Historical Fiction  
Synopsis: Paris, 1923
The daughter of a scandalous mother, Delilah Drummond is already notorious, even amongst Paris society. But her latest scandal is big enough to make even her oft-married mother blanch. Delilah is exiled to Kenya and her favorite stepfather's savannah manor house until gossip subsides.


By the time I was done with my list I had more books to be excited about this month than I thought I was going to have!  What books are making you excited for the month of April?