Apr 5 2016
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Tackling the TBR [10]: April 2016

tackling the TBR

It’s once again time for my favorite feature: Tackling the TBR! There’s nothing I love more than picking out which books to read next, and this slightly organized method of reading has really amped my enjoyment to the next level. Bring on the mantras!

Read the best books first.
&
Life is too short to read books you’re not enjoying.

However you put together your TBR for the next month, the goal is to reduce the amount of obligation in reading and increase the fun.

Here’s a look at how the system works:

1. Identify the titles that take top priority in your TBR.
2. Combine them all in your own Tackling the TBR post.
3. Throughout the month pick from that pile as the mood strikes you.

Here’s what mine looks like:

April 2016 TBR Tackler Shelf:

I’m most excited about the Agent of Hel novels by Jacqueline Carey (which is why I included more than just the first book on my TBR). I loved her high fantasy series so, so much that I can’t wait to dive into her urban fantasy stuff. so excited! I am also stoked for the two new releases on the list – Glittering Court and The Fall of the Dagger, both of which have been on my highly anticipated list for months!

What I did last month:

Of the ten titles I had listed last month, I read 6 1/2 of them. :)

Now, I can tell you from experience that this Tackling the TBR experiment is so much more fun and rewarding when there’s more than one person (me) participating. Does anybody want to play along?

Even if you don’t specifically use my system, feel free to share your versions of how you manage your TBR pile (and the links to your posts if applicable) in the comments!

Maybe we can help make each other’s systems even better. :)

What books are you Tackling this month?

by Niki Hawkes

Mar 31 2016
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Book Review: Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson

September 22, 2015

Title: Walk on Earth a Stranger

Author: Rae Carson

Series: The Gold Seer Trilogy #1

Genre: Teen Fantasy [ish]

Rating: 4/5 stars

The Overview: Lee Westfall has a strong, loving family. She has a home she loves and a loyal steed. She has a best friend—who might want to be something more. She also has a secret. Lee can sense gold in the world around her. Veins deep in the earth. Small nuggets in a stream. Even gold dust caught underneath a fingernail. She has kept her family safe and able to buy provisions, even through the harshest winters. But what would someone do to control a girl with that kind of power? A person might murder for it. When everything Lee holds dear is ripped away, she flees west to California—where gold has just been discovered. Perhaps this will be the one place a magical girl can be herself. If she survives the journey.

The Review:

As Rae Carson is responsible for my favorite Young Adult book of all-time, “The Girl of Fire and Thorns,” I knew I had to read everything she published next. “Walk on Earth a Stranger” had all of the elements I loved from her first series: excellent characters, fantastic settings, and immersive writing that draws you in completely. While “Girl of Fire and Thorns” will always sit on a pedestal for me, this first book in the “Gold Seer” trilogy gave it a good run.

My favorite thing about this writer is how she develops and crafts her main characters. In a market inundated with female leads who start out already good at everything, Carson’s heroines are anything but typical. It’s refreshing because these girls (Elise for “Girl of Fire and Thorns” and Lee for “Walk on Earth a Stranger”) are so much more relatable. They have flaws and insecurities like the rest of us, and experiencing how they cope with different trials celebrates their inner strength and fortitude and inspires me to overcome my own obstacles. Both leading ladies have magic, but it’s always their strength of character that gets them through the day. My favorite things about Lee in this novel are her resourcefulness and ability to make the best of some very tough situations.

Great characterization aside, another thing “Walk on Earth a Stranger” has going for it is the setting. This historical landscape immerses you in early America when the California/Oregon Gold Rush began drawing people west by the thousands. Not only was it interesting to read what came across as a well-researched timepiece, but it also made me incredibly nostalgic about things from my childhood (most notably “Little House on the Prairie” and that old “Oregon Trail” computer game I used to play in grade school… does anybody else remember that?), but represented in an edgier fashion.

I have to admit historical fiction is not my genre of choice, and even though “Walk on Earth a Stranger” had a few fantasy elements, they were nowhere near as integral to the plot as I would have liked. Well, perhaps the elements were indeed integral, they just weren’t always at the forefront. For that reason, I wouldn’t recommend this book with fantasy as a main selling point. Genre aside, at the end of the day it was still an engaging story that will have you clamoring for the next one (coming out September 27, 2016):

like a river glorious by rae carsonTitle: Like a River Glorious (Gold Seer #2) 

The Overview: After a harrowing journey across the country, Leah Westfall and her friends have finally arrived in California and are ready to make their fortunes in the Gold Rush. Lee has a special advantage over the other new arrivals in California—she has the ability to sense gold, a secret known only by her handsome best friend Jefferson and her murdering uncle Hiram. Lee and her friends have the chance to be the most prosperous settlers in California, but Hiram hasn’t given up trying to control Lee and her power. Sabotage and kidnapping are the least of what he’ll do to make sure Lee is his own. His mine is the deepest and darkest in the territory, and there Lee learns the full extent of her magical gift, the worst of her uncle, and the true strength of her friendships. To save everyone, she vows to destroy her uncle and the empire he is building—even at the cost of her own freedom.

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Mar 25 2016
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Mini Book Review: In a Handful of Dust by Mindy McGinnis

In a Handful of Dust by Mindy McGinnis

Title: In a Handful of Dust

Author: Mindy McGinnis

Series: Not a Drop to Drink #2

Genre: Teen Dystopian

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

The Overview: Lucy’s life by the pond has always been full. She has water and friends, laughter and the love of her adoptive mother, Lynn, who has made sure that Lucy’s childhood was very different from her own. Yet it seems Lucy’s future is settled already—a house, a man, children, and a water source—and anything beyond their life by the pond is beyond reach. When disease burns through their community, the once life-saving water of the pond might be the source of what’s killing them now. Rumors of desalinization plants in California have lingered in Lynn’s mind, and the prospect of a “normal” life for Lucy sets the two of them on an epic journey west to face new dangers: hunger, mountains, deserts, betrayal, and the perils of a world so vast that Lucy fears she could be lost forever, only to disappear in a handful of dust.

The Mini Review:

Not a Drop to Drink is easily one of my favorite YA novels, so I was understandably nervous In a Handful of Dust wouldn’t live up to my high expectations. But it did! And I’m thrilled. :-)

While Not a Drop to Drink was Lynn’s story, this one was Lucy’s. I think I enjoyed Lynn’s POV a tad more, but Lynn is so involved in this novel it hardly mattered. In contrast to the first book, we got to see more world building and how the lack of water affected more than just Lynn’s neck of the woods(which I liked) and that went a long way towards keeping the story fresh and exciting. There were also a couple of moments so poignant I’ll remember them forever. In a Handful of Dust was gut wrenching, beautifully written, and exciting from start to finish; a more than worthy sequel to one of my favorite books. Mindy McGinnis is a wonderful writer and I look forward to devouring anything she writes next (I’m currently working on A Madness So Discreet and am looking forward to The Female of the Species out September 20, 2016 and Given to the Sea releasing sometime in 2017).

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Mar 23 2016
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Coming Soon: The Black Key by Amy Ewing

The Black KeyTitle: The Black Key

Author: Amy Ewing

Series: The Lone City #3

Genre: Teen Dystopian

Release Date: October 4, 2016

The Overview: For too long, Violet and the people of the outer circles of the Lone City have lived in service to the royalty of the Jewel. But now the secret society known as the Black Key is preparing to seize power. And while Violet knows she is at the center of this rebellion, she has a more personal stake in it—her sister, Hazel, has been taken by the Duchess of the Lake. Now, after fighting so hard to escape the Jewel, Violet must do everything in her power to return to save not only Hazel, but the future of the Lone City.

Waiting on Wednesday
Hosted by Breaking the Spine

Having loved The Jewel and The White Rose, you can see why I am super eager for The Black Key. This series has many of the elements I loved about The Selection series, but has a bit more world building and a more interesting setting. I also really like the writing style of the author even though it’s so smooth I found myself finishing the book a lot faster than I’d intended (it’s one of those that I wanted to savor). Overall, the story seems to be headed in an awesome direction and, between you and me, October can’t come soon enough!

What book are you waiting on?

 by Niki Hawkes

Mar 18 2016
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Book Review: Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs

Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs

Title: Fire Touched

Author: Patricia Briggs

Series: Mercy Thompson #9

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

The Overview: Tensions between the fae and humans are coming to a head. And when coyote shapeshifter Mercy and her Alpha werewolf mate, Adam, are called upon to stop a rampaging troll, they find themselves with something that could be used to make the fae back down and forestall out-and-out war: a human child stolen long ago by the Fae. Defying the most powerful werewolf in the country, the humans, and the fae, Mercy, Adam, and their pack choose to protect the boy no matter what the cost. But who will protect them from a boy who is fire touched? [Via Goodreads]

The Review:

I love Patricia Briggs and consider her among my all-time favorite urban fantasy writers alongside Jim Butcher, Kim Harrison, and Keri Arthur. She’s one of those authors who has been consistently good for so long that her books are on my very short “auto-buy” list. I never worry if I’ll like them or not (I always do) because they are the kind of guaranteed good reads that I’d save for rainy days if I wasn’t so eager to gobble them up the minute they hit the stands. Fire Touched, book 9 in the Mercy Thompson series, was no exception!

All of Briggs’ books have an excellent balance of internal and external conflicts. In every book, the crew has one big problem to solve (usually a supernatural monster of some sort) which leads to a lot of exciting, action-packed scenes. In Fire Touched, the problem, or “monster,” is the Gray Court of the Fae. Now, by this point in the series, Briggs has developed the Fae into a dynamic and complex society that I personally find absolutely fascinating to read about. This novel offers more of a glimpse into their inner workings and politics then we’ve seen before and, as usual, Mercy and Adam are right in the middle of the conflict.

I have to say, as good as the author is at creating engaging broad conflicts for her characters, it’s the smaller, interpersonal conflicts that make these books so much fun to read. Once again I found myself just as immersed in the werewolf pack’s dynamics as I was during the exciting battle scenes (if not more). The characters are all realistic and vibrant, and watching them argue and work out issues with one another is one of my little joys in life. In this book in particular, it felt like the focus was more on these interpersonal dynamics rather than the broader conflict (which I loved), but there were a couple of occasions where the plot seemed a little disjointed. That said, it all came together beautifully in the end and now I’m eager as ever to see what happens next.

As a bookseller who loved recommending titles, the “Mercy Thompson” series was easily my favorite urban fantasy to hand-sell. The story is less intimidating than say, the “Dresden Files” (which I also love) and makes a better first impression than “The Hollows” series (another favorite), and is a lot of fun to read. Now let’s face it, you’re probably not going to be very interested in my review of book 9 unless you’ve already read up to this point. If you haven’t, I’d highly recommend picking up a copy of “Moon Called,” the first in the series. Additionally, I’d recommend the Alpha and Omega series and suggest reading them alongside the Mercy books based on publication date, as the two series start to overlap as they get further along. That’s 13 books (so far) of great storytelling to look forward to! It makes me want to go back and reread them all. For those of you who have read up to this point, if you’re interested in reading more about Thomas and Marsilia, I’d recommend the short story “Fairy Gifts” found in the novella compilation “Shifting Shadows.”

I’d like to thank Berkley Publishing Group, Patricia Briggs, and NetGalley for the chance to read and review a reviewer copy of Fire Touched.

Other books you might like:

 by Niki Hawkes

Mar 7 2016
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Tackling the TBR [9]: March 2016

tackling the TBR

It’s once again time for my favorite feature: Tackling the TBR! There’s nothing I love more than picking out which books to read next, and this slightly organized method of reading has really amped my enjoyment to the next level. Bring on the mantras!

Read the best books first.
&
Life is too short to read books you’re not enjoying.

However you put together your TBR for the next month, the goal is to reduce the amount of obligation in reading and increase the fun.

Here’s a look at how the system works:

1. Identify the titles that take top priority in your TBR.
2. Combine them all in your own Tackling the TBR post.
3. Throughout the month pick from that pile as the mood strikes you.

Here’s what mine looks like:

TBR Tackler Shelf:

I am thrilled to read all of these titles – some of which are second books in series I’ve started within last year and really enjoyed. There’s a lot of urban fantasy in this line up and I have to say, I don’t hate it.

What I did last month:

Of the 10 titles I selected last month, I actually read 8 of them! What’s more, not a single one of them was lower than 4 stars. This year is starting off with a bang!

Now, I can tell you from experience that this Tackling the TBR experiment is so much more fun and rewarding when there’s more than one person (me) participating. Does anybody want to play along?

Even if you don’t specifically use my system, feel free to share your versions of how you manage your TBR pile (and the links to your posts if applicable) in the comments!

Maybe we can help make each other’s systems even better. :)

What books are you Tackling this month?

by Niki Hawkes