What I’ve Read Recently:

The Silent Girl, by Tess Gerritsen
The Help, by Kathryn Stockett
Virals, by Kathy Reich
When Crickets Cry, by Charles Martin
Slow Love, by Dominique Browning
Iron Knight, by Julie Kagawa
The Secrets of Jin-Shei, by Alma Alexander
Let’s Take the Long Way Home, by Gail Caldwell,
Noah Zarc, by D. Robert Pease
Dust and Decay, by Jonathan Maberry

What I’m Reading Now:
Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Ember and Ash, by Pamela Freeman
Fury, by Elizabeth Miles
Celebrations, by Maya Angelou
366 Celt: A Year and a Day of Celtic Wisdom and Lore, by Carl McColman
Dragon’s Oath, by P.C. and Kristin Cast
Sisterhood Everlasting, by Ann Brashares

I was on vacation last week, so I got a lot of reading done, which is always a high point of any vacation to me. The Silent Girl, by Tess Gerritsen, is another enjoyable read in the Rizzoli & Isles series. Great mystery, touched by magic and mystique, that explores a long-ago murder in Chinatown that is somehow linked to present-day events. The Help, by Kathryn Stockett was a fantastic book. From the moment I read the first sentence, until I finished the last page, I was hooked on the lives of Abeline, Minnie, and Skeeter. Ms. Stockett paints such a vivid picture of Jackson, Mississippi in the midst of the civil rights battle, that I felt like I was there, living through it all. And I hated Hilly with a passion! What a horrible woman! On a side note, I saw the movie as well, and I highly recommend it to anyone. Very well-done, and does not suffer in comparison to the book.

Virals is Kathy Reich’s first venture into the world of YA fiction. Although tangentially connected to her adult books (the main character is Temperance Brennan’s niece), the books stands solidly on its own. With its slightly-creepy-yet-cool setting of a research island and another island inhabited solely by company workers and their families, Virals explores the evils of some men stoop to in the name of research and money, all centered on the lives of a group of teenagers who get caught in the midst.

When Crickets Cry, by Charles Martin, is another beautifully written book, about a cardiac surgeon who lost his beloved wife before she could receive a transplant, and the bond he forms with a young girl who needs a transplant of her own. This is a beautiful book that kept me up ‘til 2 a.m. so I could find out what happened! Slow Love, by Dominique Browning, is the story of a woman who loses her high-octane job as a magazine editor, and has to learn to live all over again, to a much slower tempo.

Iron Knight, by Julie Kagawa is not on the shelves yet, but I was fortunate enough to receive an e-galley, and will be posting a review closer to release date. But I will say that the fourth book in the Iron Fey series was just as good as the first three books.

The Secrets of Jin-Shei, by Alma Alexander was a book that surprised me. Set in a fictionalized version of China, it is about the jin-shei bonds—sort of a cross between friendship and sisterhood, only more—formed between a group of girls. It tells the story of their lives, as one of them grows up to be Empress, and the lives of the others become even more entwined.

Let’s Take the Long Way Home, by Gail Caldwell, is the true tale of the friendship that develops between Gail and Caroline, both writers and dog-lovers, and how Gail learns to face life without her best friend after she loses Caroline. This book made me cry. A lot. Twice.

Noah Zarc, by D. Robert Pease is a middle-grade fiction debut that combines time-travel, space ships, and high adventure into one adrenaline-laced story. I’ll be reviewing it in depth in the next day or so, as it was my pleasure to read both a first draft of this NaNoWriMo story, as well as the finished product. (It’s great to have writer friends, so you can see the beauty of a story’s evolution.)

Dust and Decay, by Jonathan Maberry, is a zombie story…but not your typical zombie gross-out tale of decaying flesh and overwhelming odds. It is a tale of survival and growth, of growing up and forming ties that will never be broken. There is some great humor in this story, and plenty of death and destruction as well.

My plan is to try to do a post every week about books I’ve read recently, or am currently reading. I read quickly, and I read a lot, and usually I’m reading multiple things at a time, so I shouldn’t run out of bookish things to talk about.

What I’ve read (finished) in the last week:

The Goddess Test, by Aimee Carter
Iceberg, Right Ahead!, by Stephanie Sammartino McPherson
Trial by Fire, by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

What I’m currently reading:

White Woman on a Green Bicycle, by Monique Roffey
The Cure is a Forest, by Desi Di Nardo
Understanding World Religions, by Irving Hexham
Damned, by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie
A Dance with Dragons, by George R.R. Martin

The Goddess Test is a YA/fantasy about a girl who makes a deal with a stranger in return for saving a life, and she ends up becoming Persephone to his Hades. An interesting premise, with some funny moments, and excellent characterization. Pretty good read.

Iceberg, Right Ahead! is, of course, about the Titanic. Although short, there are some pretty interesting facts, and some of even cooler pictures of everything from the ship’s construction, to survivors, and the remains of the Titanic itself.

Trial by Fire is the second in the Raised by Wolves series. A YA werewolf book with an interesting twist: the protagonist is the alpha of a werewolf pack, but she’s human. With lots of problems. Honestly, I stayed up far too late finishing this book, since I just *had* to find out what happened!

Of the books I’m currently reading, one is nonfiction, three are fiction (two of which are fantasy), and one is poetry. I don’t normally read much poetry, but so far, The Cure is a Forest is full of compelling, nature-oriented poems that I’m enjoying very much. I, along with a huge number of other fantasy fans, have been looking forward to A Dance with Dragons for years, and I have to say that 100 pages in, it’s been worth the wait. (Still kinda dreading which one of the characters I love Martin will kill off in this book…)

Roisin Meaney has published in Ireland for several years, but her newest novel, Semi-Sweet

, is the first to make it to U.S. markets. Full of small-town Irish charm and delectable cupcakes, Semi-Sweet is a light-hearted read that would be perfect for lounging poolside on July 4th.

Hannah loves her life. She has a wonderful boyfriend, Patrick. She’s about to realize her longtime dream of opening her own cupcake shop. Then Patrick tells her he’s leaving her for someone else, and Hannah’s dreams come crashing down around her. Before life can overwhelm her, her best friend, Adam, steps in, giving her a deadline of his birthday—seven months away—to make a go of the shop.

Soon Hannah’s life is a hectic swirl of long days, early-morning baking, and trying to get over Patrick—and his now-pregnant girlfriend. Despite her fears, the shop is doing well, and she even has some regular customers, including one handsome stranger with a sweet tooth. Hannah just isn’t sure she’s over Patrick, and trusting someone again is a scary prospect, but at least she’s surrounded by friends and family who support her.

Adam falls hard for a shy musician, and his desperation to win her affections knows no bounds. Family friend Alice’s life has taken a downward turn, and her husband, Tom’s; drinking is bad…but worse is in store. There’s a lot going on in this small Irish town, and the people in Hannah’s life will never be the same.

Semi-Sweet is a charming, engrossing tale of small-town life and one woman’s struggles to overcome her hurt and hang on to her dreams. Hannah’s pain and recovery is vivid and realistic, and her relationship with Adam is fun and uplifting—like a true best friendship should be. Fair warning: in addition to claiming the reader’s full attention for hours, this book is also sure to create an overwhelming desire for cupcakes!

(Galley provided by 5 Spot via NetGalley)

What would you do if you woke up in someone else’s body, with no memory of how you got there or who you where? It’s happened to Mercy before, but that doesn’t make it any easier to adjust to taking over someone else’s life. When she wakes up on a bus in the body of Carmen, a shy girl who loves to sing, she has no idea what’s going on. She has brief flashes of previous lives, but she doesn’t know who, or even what, she is. She does know that Carmen is shy, and is used to being on the fringes of life, but with her school participating in a vocal concert, and Carmen the lead soloist, Mercy has to learn quickly—and make sure she doesn’t ruin Carmen’s life while she’s at it.

She’s staying with the Daley family, whose daughter, Lauren, disappeared two years ago. Lauren’s twin brother, Ryan, is convinced Lauren is still alive, and soon Mercy is, too. But Luc, the mesmerizing man she keeps seeing in her dreams warns her not to interfere. As Mercy helps Ryan search for his sister, she uses a power she doesn’t fully comprehend to learn the truth, and the two grow closer—even as the trail they are following takes an unexpected twist. Mercy must decide between helping Lauren, and helping Carmen. Forced to make an impossible choice, will she learn to use her power before it’s too late?

Mercy, by Rebecca Lim, is the first in a series about a fallen angel with amnesia. This books isn’t big on back-story revelations for Mercy, but it is big on mystery and suspense. There are no slow scenes in this book; from the moment Mercy wakes up in Carmen’s body, through her floundering attempts to figure out what’s going on. The author gives us a distinct feeling for Mercy and her confusion, as well as her longing to find out who she is—and to find out just what history she and Luc share.

(Galley provided by Hyperion via NetGalley)

One of the most beloved literary classics of all time, Little Women, explores the life of four sisters: Josephine, Amy, Meg, and Beth March. Set during the Civil War, the book focuses mainly on the wild and rebellious Jo March, who always feels out of place and seems to always do the exact wrong thing. Generations of girls have fallen in love with the March family, and have shared in the sisters’ loves and heartbreaks. But what happens after Little Women (and after its sequels, Little Men and Jo’s Boys)? The Little Women Letters, by Gabrielle Donnelly explores one possible answer to this question.

What if the March sisters became nothing more than a family myth, with Grandma Jo as an eccentric, somewhat embarrassing ancestor? For Lulu, Emma, and Sophie Atwater, that is exactly the case. They don’t know much about Grandma Jo and her sisters, but when their mother asks Lulu to find a collection of old family recipes in the attic, Lulu ends up finding a treasure trove of letters written between the March sisters in the 1800s.

Steady Emma, who is about to be married, is the stable, levelheaded sister, and Sophie, an actor, is colorful and glamorous. But Lulu, with a college degree and no idea what she wants to do in life, moves from dead-end job to dead-end job and hasn’t had a boyfriend in forever. She feels like a failure, until she starts reading Grandma Jo’s letters and realizes she shares more than genetics with her ancestor; they also share a rebellious spirit and a need for more out of life.

Keeping the homey feel of Little Women, The Little Women Letters is told from the Atwater sisters’ viewpoint, as well as through letters between the March sisters. Events from the original book come to life again through the letters, and the adventures of the Atwater sisters mirror that of their ancestors as the girls struggle to find happiness and fulfillment, as well as staying true to themselves and their family.

(Galley provided by Touchstone)

Set in the historic French Quarter of New Orleans, Phantom Evil by Heather Graham is a ghost story and murder mystery rolled into one. The city itself is detailed so realistically that it becomes practically a character in its own right, and glimpses into the city’s shadowy past give it an even darker side.

A newly-formed paranormal investigator team comes to New Orleans to look into the murder of the wife of a prominent senator. Though the team has never met before, they each have a psychic talent of their own, and they are all haunted by their pasts.

They are staying in the historic mansion that was the home of one of the city’s first serial killers, and the site of many of his grisly murders. The senator’s wife has been ruled a suicide, but the senator does not believe she jumped from the balcony to her death. That is what the team is there to discover: haunted by the death of her young son, did she jump? Or is something more mundane, and human, responsible for her death? With the team seeing ghosts and other threatening presences, and the murky associations of those closest to the senator, the answers are hidden beneath a veil of evil and lies that threatens the team itself as they race to uncover the truth.

Ms. Graham does a masterful job of bringing the city to life in all its glorious, Technicolor detail, but she does just as good a job creating characters that are both memorable and realistic. The characters are flawed, but likable, and their different personalities shine through on the page. Some of the scenes in Phantom Evil are eerie, bordering on scary, and the urge to figure out what is behind the mystery will have the reader turning pages far into the night—and jumping every time something goes bump in the night.

(Galley provided by Mira via NetGalley)

Biblical fiction is a difficult genre to write in. Many people are familiar enough with the Bible to be able to point out inconsistencies and inaccuracies, even in written works that are clearly mean to be fictionalized. Writing about well-known and beloved characters without alienating readers would be hard, but writing about a character about which almost nothing is known is probably even more difficult. Tessa Afshar does an amazing job at this with her new book, Pearl in the Sand, about Rahab, the harlot who helped bring down the walls of Jericho and ended up becoming the ancestor of Jesus.

At the age of fifteen, Rahab became a harlot. She did it to save her family, but that did not stop her shame and dislike of her life. She despises Canaan’s gods, and refuses to worship them. If they were truly gods, would they allow their people to starve and suffer? When she first hears of the fierce Israelite army and their awe-inspiring God, she doesn’t know what to think. Soon the city of Jericho is awash in tales of the destructive army, but these Canaanites are smug about the protection of Jericho’s famed walls. Rahab is merely intrigued with tales of the Israelite God. When two Israelite spies enter Jericho, Rahab is moved to hide them, and even helps them safely escape the city. In return, they offer her protection with their army takes the city, and she and her family are the only ones who survive the ensuing destruction.

Rahab and her family are allowed to join the Israelites, and she finds faith in God that gives her strength. She meets Salmone, one of the leaders of the tribes, and the two must fight to overcome their pride and distrust and follow the path God has laid before them.

Pearl in the Sand is beautifully written, and grounded in historical details and description that brings not only the doomed city of Jericho to life, but also the Israelites and their way of life. Rahab is mistrustful of men, scarred by her path, and she has many emotional barriers to overcome before she grows into the full strength of her character. Salmone is burdened with pride and judges Rahab for her past, and it is difficult for him to see past who she was. The characters truly live and breathe on these pages, and it is wonderful to read this vision of how one woman’s life helped change the course of history.

(Galley from Moody Publishers via NetGalley)

The recent trend in dystopian young adult books continues with Those that Wake by Jesse Karp. Set in a future New York City where technology consumes the lives and minds of everyone, the setting of this story is dark and foreboding, filled with shadowy, threatening authority figures and a populace that is so self-involved as to be almost paranoid.

Laura has a perfect life. She makes good grades in school. She has a bright future ahead of her. Then one day, her parents no longer know who she is, and no one at her school has any memory of her. Mal is a loner, a boxer with no family but his brother, Tommy. After one middle-of-the-night phone call, Tommy disappears, and soon no one remembers Mal, either. When Mal and Laura meet, they discover that they have both had strange dreams, and everything around them seems to be breaking down. The two must struggle to figure out what is happening to their society, and to try to reclaim their lives.

Those That Wake is not a book that is overwhelmed with backstory and setting details. On the contrary, details are few and far between for both the reader and the characters, which can be a bit confusing. The book is well-written and the characters are engaging, but this lack of detail detracts from the quality of the writing and the story.

Happy Mardi Gras! To celebrate, you could attend one of the local Mardi Gras celebrations, like Fat Tuesday at the Mansion, or you could visit All Saints’ Episcopal Church tonight for their annual Mardi Gras feast. If neither of these is your style, you could try reading something set in the city that’s known for Mardi Gras: New Orleans!

Set mostly in New Orleans, Green-Eyed Demon by Jaye Wells, brings this richly-detailed world to vibrant life. The sometimes over-the-top characters are larger-than-life, and twice as fascinating. Even the most far-fetched details of the story seem realistic, and the action is nonstop and full of unexpected twists that will have the reader up late reading “Just one more chapter!”

Sabina Kane is a mixed-blood, half-vampire and half-mage. She’s also an assassin, and her temper and smart mouth frequently land her in a heap of trouble. This time, her evil vampire grandmother, Lavinia, had kidnapped her newly-discovered twin sister, Maisie, and Sabina is determined to rescue her sister—and eliminate Lavinia for good.

Along with steamy mage Adam Lazarus, and her demon familiar, Giguhl, Sabina heads of to New Orleans in search of Maisie. An uneasy alliance with the Fey Queen and weakened mages supports Sabina’s efforts, but they’re more concerned with killing Lavinia than rescuing Maisie. With the help of a voodoo priestess, a drag-queen changeling, and the lead singer of a rock band, Sabina races to find her sister before Lavinia can murder her, and in the process summon an ancient evil.

Jaye Wells is an author with local ties, since she lives in Texas, and has been known to frequent the Dallas/Fort Worth area doing book signings and even appearing at ConDFW. Her Sabina Kane urban fantasy series blends vampires, demons, and fey with arcane magic, snarky humor, and tons of action. The latest book in the series, Green-Eyed Demon, is no exception.