Top Spot: September

I love a good meme, and the Skype Sisters are hosting Top Spot each month.  Simply pick your favorite book of the month and share the reasons why. 

Picking just one book is always hard.  But as much as I loved A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, the book that I most want to gush about is Fingersmith by Sarah Waters.

According to meme rules I can't give away any spoilers, so I'll just say that Fingersmith literally made my jaw hit the floor a few times... okay, more than a few times.  I don't know much about Sarah Waters, but her mind must be a dark, twisty, clever thing.  And I love her for that!  Fingersmith is often compared to Charles Dickens' books, but as my book club member Randy said, it's like "Dickens on acid".  It's like Dickens gave a peek to London's dark underbelly, but Waters drags you inside.

Here's the thing, I didn't particularly love the characters.  At first Sue's too harsh and Maude's too weak- in fact one of my favorite quotes is about her:

She was like milk- too pale, too pure, too simple. She was made to be spoiled.

And for a first time, it didn't matter that I didn't particularly love the characters, they were still intriguing, and I was so caught up in the plot that I honestly didn't realize I didn't have much love for the characters in it.
But now that it's been a few weeks, I guess maybe I do love the characters, despite their many, oh so many, flaws, because I miss them.

Fingersmith starts out a simple con game, you think you know the players and their moves, but nothing about Fingersmith is simple, except maybe Dainty.  The book is chock full of mystery, danger, madness, murder, and love- both twisted love and enduring love.  Fingersmith is often found in many parts of a library or bookstore- Historical Fiction, GLBT, Mystery, Romance, etc.  And it fits in all of these categories to degrees, but for me it transcends them all and I don't know if it really belongs in any other category than Awesome, Mind Blowing Reads. 

Fingersmith made for an amazing book club discussion too, one where we actually discussed the book itself for hours instead of just a few minutes before bringing up Halloween or Harry Potter (because inevitably, all things lead back to the Chosen One).   There was much talk of plot twists and motives and a lot of "did you notice this?" or "yes, but did you read the part where this happened?".  Read this book and you won't be sorry!

So what's your September Top Spot?

Thanks to Reading Angel for introducing me to this meme!

Banned Book Week- What are you reading?

It's Banned Book Week once again, and while challenges are going down, there is still a lot of fear and ignorance out there.  I believe that parents have the right to make the choice of what their children read, but banning books to "protect" the young minds of all children is not right.

I read a lot as a child.  I read books far more mature than my age.  I was reading Stephen King, Anne Rice, Jackie Collins, V.C. Andrews, John Saul and Dean Koontz from a very early age.  I am so grateful to my parents for never saying no when it came to what I was reading- of course they both were prolific readers so I was doubly lucky as a child (much thanks to Da for leaving Firestarter in the guest bathroom for me to discover and laughing at me when I put my face in front of the fan so my hair was blowing around me as I pretended that I was Charlie McGee, because yes, they let me watch the movie too).

As much as books have been a part of my life, as much as they have shaped the life I've led, I've never changed my entire self because of a book I read.  After reading It, I didn't go down to the sewers to search for a monstrous clown, after reading Go Ask Alice (often on the challenged list) I never took drugs, after reading The Secret Circle I didn't go try to dig up a crystal skull and unleash deadly magic.  Okay, I might have started a neighborhood "detective" agency after reading Nancy Drew, and I might secretly think that I'd make a better bounty hunter than Stephanie Plum, but what I'm saying is that books open your mind, they don't put you under hypnosis and turn you into another person.  A book won't make you gay, or promiscuous, or a leprechaun.  It can help you deal with the fact that you're gay, promiscuous or a leprechaun, or all three.  And God knows, there just isn't enough leprechaun support groups out there. But books are our friends and if more people took the time to read the books they want to ban, maybe they'd know that.

In honor of Banned Book Week I will be reading Annie On My Mind and, hopefully if it comes in at the library, And Tango Makes Three.

Banned Book Week

ALA (American Library Association)

Wikipedia List of Most Commonly Challenged Books

What are you doing to celebrate Banned Book Week?  What are you reading, or what is your favorite challenged book?

Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs Review

Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs
by Molly Harper
From Goodreads:

Maybe it was the Shenanigans gift certificate that put her over the edge. When children's librarian and self-professed nice girl Jane Jameson is fired by her beastly boss and handed twenty-five dollars in potato skins instead of a severance check, she goes on a bender that's sure to become Half Moon Hollow legend. On her way home, she's mistaken for a deer, shot, and left for dead. And thanks to the mysterious stranger she met while chugging neon-colored cocktails, she wakes up with a decidedly unladylike thirst for blood.
Jane is now the latest recipient of a gift basket from the Newly Undead Welcoming Committee, and her life-after-lifestyle is taking some getting used to. Her recently deceased favorite aunt is now her ghostly roommate. She has to fake breathing and endure daytime hours to avoid coming out of the coffin to her family. She's forced to forgo her favorite down-home Southern cooking for bags of O negative. Her relationship with her sexy, mercurial vampire sire keeps running hot and cold. And if all that wasn't enough, it looks like someone in Half Moon Hollow is trying to frame her for a series of vampire murders. What's a nice undead girl to do?

My Thoughts: I downloaded a sample of this book some time ago and I remember thinking it was funny and I eventually bought it for my Kindle.  And like so many book purchases, whether digital or paperback, it lingered on my tbr shelves.  Last week I was I started reading it while at work and I found myself wondering why the heck I hadn't read it before!


Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs is not my usual kind of read.  I usually prefer my supernatural a little more dark.  But Molly Harper is such a fantastically funny author that I just want to share her with the world!  I found myself highlighting so many passages just because they had me snorting and laughing out loud.  Jane Jameson is such a great heroine, very easy to relate to, especially for book lovers.  And while there is romance and much hotness, there's so much more!  This is the best book to read if you need a laugh, if you need to take a break from the more maudlin reads, or a quick pick me up. 

I had a hard time choosing what quotes to include since there were sooo many quotes I have highlighted, but here's a few to give you an idea of Molly Harper's awesomeness:

"It caught me off guard, and I accidentally bit down on his bottom lip hard enough to draw blood.  The good news was he liked that, so I came off as provocative, no inept."

' "Air-quote fingers aren't attractive on anyone, honey," he said, using his authoritative teacher voice."

' "You have a lot of unicorns," he said, his voice shadowed in both awe and horror.'

"She turned to me and put on her "sales face." "Jane, have you ever had a vision?"
   "I had a reaction to antibiotics when I was five and saw tigers jumping out of the walls," I offered."

"I felt like the first anonymous fighter who gets killed off in the Jean-Claude Van Damme cage-fighter movies."

I have a feeling that Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs will be the start of a wonderful relationship between me and author Molly Harper.

Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs gets a Midnight Book Rating of:

*obviously, for my readers who are vampires, sleeping in the next day is par for the course.*

Has anyone one else read any books by Molly Harper?  I know I've seen a lot of buzz on the blogosphere about her Naked Werewolf series.

Library Haul and Books Bought, Begged or Borrowed

Already in full gear Readathon mode, I made a recent trip to the library looking for books that I can hold hostage until October 22nd, and a few books to hopefully read before then.  Here's what I got:

 Library 

For the Readathon:

The Lover's Dictionary

Dear Bully

Persepolis

For non 24-hour reading:

I Will Always Love You (in anticipation of the Psycho Killer Gossip Girl book I requested from Net Galley)

Nefertiti

Witches of East End

Hourglass (how was this just sitting on the shelf?!  So glad it was though)

The Hypnotist

Bought 

Drive- loved the movie and the Hubs wanted it, liked it, so I'm adding it to Readathon pile.

Fade- again for Readathon

Every Thing On It- yup, for Readathon

The Night Circus- because I couldn't resist it's siren call anymore!

Begged

Swoon- from Paperback Swap

So what books have you bought, begged or borrowed lately?

What's in a Name 4- Challenge Completed!

So it appears I've been slacking on my challenges and forget about that whole Read n' Review... for a book blogger the amount of actual reviews I write is pretty dismal considering I've read 130 books so far this year... oh, well- time to get back on track!

While looking over some of my challenges I noticed that I did read (and review!) all the books needed for the What's in a Name 4 Challeng!  Go, me!!

For this challenge I needed to read:

A Book with a # in the title- One Day
A book with jewelery or gem in the title- The Blackstone Chronicles Pt. 2 Twist of Fate: The Locket
A book with size in the title- Scott Pilgrims Precious Little Life
A book with travel or movement in the title- Before I Fall
A book with something evil in the title- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
A book with a life stage in the title- Stiff: The Curious Life of Cadavers

I also thought maybe I was through with the A-Z challenge, but I'm still reading XVI for my X, and because I'm not picking book titles that start with A or The, I still need letters K and Y.  Anyone know any books, preferably quick reads, that I can read for those letters?  *help*


Oh, and I've totally finished 111 in '11!  Must go see about writing a wrap up for that challenge and where I'm at with some of the other challenges.  Next year I need to much more organized!!!

Jumping on the Spooky Wagon!

Saw this on Midnyte Reader's site and thought I'd join up!  

Ready to curl up and let an author scare the living daylights out of you?  I am! The Frightful Fall Reviewers Challenge is being hosted by  Haunted Orchid, Fiction State of Mind, The True Book Addict and Castle Macabre and you can sign up here.   I should have been born in October, because it's my favorite month!  I can't wait to start this challenge, so I think I'll get to it. Won't you join me?

Top 100 YA List

 Do you, my readers, ever just assume that I'm some young tween because I read so much YA?  I assure you I'm not.  And I'm not ashamed of my YA love, although there was a time I used to pretend I was shopping for my nieces.  Fortunately all of you have helped me overcome that embarrassment- and with the help of JK Rowling, Suzanne Collins and Stephenie Meyers, you see lots of adults browsing in the YA section for their next read.

 It's been a long time since I did a meme, but I've been seeing this one pop of everywhere.  Officially I'm stealing it from The Hopeless Bibliophile.  It's interesting to see how my list compares to others.  Can't wait to see yours!

Books I've read will be in blue.

Books I want to read but haven't yet will be in purple italics.

Books I don't particularly care to read will be in black.

1. Alex Finn – Beastly

2. Alice Sebold – The Lovely Bones

3. Ally Carter – Callagher Girls (1, 2, 3, 4)

4. Ally Condie – Matched

5. Alyson Noel – The Immortals (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

6. Anastasia Hopcus – Shadow Hills

7. Angie Sage – Septimus Heap (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

8. Ann Brashares – The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (1, 2, 3, 4)

9. Anna Godbersen – Luxe (1, 2, 3, 4)

10. Anthony Horowitz – Alex Rider (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)

11. Aprilynne Pike – Wings (1, 2, 3)

12. Becca Fitzpatrick – Hush, Hush (1, 2)

13. Brandon Mull – Fablehaven (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

14. Brian Selznick – The Invention of Hugo Cabret

15. Cassandra Clare – The Mortal Instruments (1, 2, 3, 4)

16. Carrie Jones – Need (1, 2, 3) (and I have no wish to continue)

17. Carrie Ryan – The Forest of Hands and Teeth (1, 2, 3)

18. Christopher Paolini – Inheritance (1, 2, 3, 4)

19. Cinda Williams Chima – The Heir Chronicles (1, 2, 3)

20. Colleen Houck – Tigers Saga (1, 2)

21. Cornelia Funke – Inkheart (1, 2, 3)

22. Ellen Hopkins – Impulse

23. Eoin Colfer – Artemis Fowl (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

24. Faraaz Kazi – Truly, Madly, Deeply

25. Frank Beddor – The Looking Glass Wars (1, 2, 3)

26. Gabrielle Zevin – Elsewhere

27. Gail Carson Levine – Fairest

28. Holly Black – Tithe (1, 2, 3)

29. J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

30. James Dashner – The Maze Runner (1, 2)

31. James Patterson – Maximum Ride (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

32. Jay Asher – Thirteen Reasons Why

33. Jeanne DuPrau – Books of Ember (1, 2, 3, 4)

34. Jeff Kinney – Diary of a Wimpy Kid (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

35. John Boyne – The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

36. John Green – An Abundance of Katherines

37. John Green – Looking for Alaska

38. John Green – Paper Towns

39. Jonathan Stroud – Bartimaeus (1, 2, 3, 4)

40. Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl – Caster Chronicles (1, 2)

41. Kelley Armstrong – Darkest Powers (1, 2, 3)

42. Kristin Cashore – The Seven Kingdoms (1, 2)

43. Lauren Kate – Fallen (1, 2, 3)

44. Lemony Snicket – Series of Unfortunate Events (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)

45. Libba Bray – Gemma Doyle (1, 2, 3)

46. Lisa McMann – Dream Catcher (1, 2, 3)

47. Louise Rennison – Confessions of Georgia Nicolson (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)

48. M.T. Anderson – Feed

49. Maggie Stiefvater – The Wolves of Mercy Falls (1, 2, 3)

50. Margaret Peterson Haddix – Shadow Children (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) (read as a kid)

51. Maria V. Snyder – Study (1, 2, 3)

52. Markus Zusak – The Book Thief

53. Markus Zusak – I am the Messenger

54. Mark Haddon – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

55. Mary Ting – Crossroads

56. Maureen Johnson – Little Blue Envelope (1, 2)

57. Meg Cabot – All-American Girl (1, 2)

58. Meg Cabot – The Mediator (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

59. Meg Cabot – The Princess Diaries (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)

60. Meg Rosoff – How I Live Now

61. Megan McCafferty – Jessica Darling (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

62. Megan Whalen Turner – The Queen’s Thief (1, 2, 3, 4)

63. Melina Marchetta – On the Jellicoe Road

64. Melissa de la Cruz – Blue Bloods (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

65. Melissa Marr – Wicked Lovely (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

66. Michael Grant – Gone (1, 2, 3, 4)

67. Nancy Farmer – The House of the Scorpion

68. Neal Shusterman – Unwind

69. Neil Gaiman – Coraline

70. Neil Gaiman – Stardust

71. Neil Gaiman – The Graveyard Book

72. P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast – House of Night (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)

73. Philip Pullman – His Dark Materials (1, 2, 3)

74. Rachel Caine – The Morganville Vampires (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)

75. Rachel Cohn & David Levithan – Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist

76. Richelle Mead – Vampire Academy (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

77. Rick Riordan – Percy Jackson and the Olympians (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

78. Rom LcO’Feer – Somewhere carnal over 40 winks

79. S.L. Naeole – Grace (1, 2, 3, 4)

80. Sabrina Bryan & Julia DeVillers – Princess of Gossip

81. Sarah Dessen – Along for the Ride

82. Sarah Dessen – Lock and Key

83. Sarah Dessen – The Truth about Forever

84. Sara Shepard – Pretty Little Liars (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)

85. Scott Westerfeld – Leviathan (1, 2)

86. Scott Westerfeld – Uglies (1, 2, 3)

87. Shannon Hale – Books of a Thousand Days

88. Shannon Hale – Princess Academy

89. Shannon Hale – The Books of Bayern (1, 2, 3, 4)

90. Sherman Alexie & Ellen Forney – The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

91. Simone Elkeles – Perfect Chemistry (1, 2, 3)

92. Stephanie Meyer – The Host

93. Stephanie Meyer – Twilight Saga (1, 2, 3, 4)

94. Sue Monk Kidd – The Secret Life of Bees

95. Susan Beth Pfeffer – Last Survivors (1, 2, 3)

96. Suzanne Collins – Hunger Games (1, 2, 3)

97. Suzanne Collins – Underland Chronicles (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

98. Terry Pratchett – Tiffany Aching (1, 2, 3, 4)

99. Tonya Hurley – Ghost Girl (1, 2, 3)

100. Wendelin Van Draanen – Flipped

Now some of the books in black don't necessarily mean I won't ever read them, it's just some are books I don't recognize (especially when the series name is different from the name of the actual books).  The series that I've read a few books from, and the rest are still in black means that its a series I have no wish to continue (Need, I'm talking about you!). 


Are there any of the books in black that you feel like talking me in to reading?  I love a good book reading dare!

Wake Review, Zombie Walk, and Readathon Reads!

So my lovelies, September is rushing by and soon it will  be October and then it will be Readathon!  It's safe to say that I have readathon on the brain (speaking of brains, I also have Richmond Zombie Walk on the brain, see below for pics from last year).  Hmm, feeling hungry...

Where was I?  Oh, yeah, Readathon.  For me the best part of readathon is compiling the Pile O' Books.  It's very important, in order to have a successful readathon, to pick the right kinds of books.  Now obviously some of you out there are super serious readers who can power through War and Peace in just a few days, but for those of you out there like me, you want simple, fun, entertaining reads if you're going to make it through 24 hours of reading (although you really should take the time to be a cheerleader- it's a fun break for you and much needed support for lonely bloggers suffering from lack of sleep and the fear that their 24 hours of reading is going unnoticed).   So soon I will be posting a list of books/graphic novels that might help you through the long hours of readathon.  And please, give me your suggestions!!! 

One book that I bought for my Kindle for a past readathon (is it driving you crazy that sometimes I capitalize Readathon and others times I don't?  It's annoying me too), but only recently got around to reading is Wake by Lisa McMann.  Everyone told me what a great readathon read it would make, but I just kept putting it off, waiting for the next readathon.  But part of that is that I so love the physical tower of readathon books, that I end up not reading on my kindle or nook.  However, I do plan on getting the second book in McMann's series for my readathon pile this year. 

Wake 
by Lisa McMann
From Goodreads:

For seventeen-year-old Janie, getting sucked into other people's dreams is getting old. Especially the falling dreams, the naked-but-nobody-notices dreams, and the sex-crazed dreams. Janie's seen enough fantasy booty to last her a lifetime.
She can't tell anybody about what she does they'd never believe her, or worse, they'd think she's a freak. So Janie lives on the fringe, cursed with an ability she doesn't want and can’t control.
Then she falls into a gruesome nightmare, one that chills her to the bone. For the first time, Janie is more than a witness to someone else's twisted psyche. She is a participant.

My Thoughts:  A really great, quick read.  I read this in just a few hours, and really enjoyed the premise and that characters.  I can see now why people urged me to read it on Twitter during past Readathons.  There was a point in the beginning when I felt like I was reading a Nightmare on Elm Street book, but overall it felt fresh and new.  I like that the main characters aren't super rich, aren't worried about what they're going to wear or who designed their shoes.  So many YA books feature rich, or at least very comfortable middle class characters.  The characters in Wake are poor, and not just in the "My iPod is almost two years old" way.  And it's not a big deal, it's just a fact.   The only thing that really keeps this book from being a true Midnight Book read is that the writing style can be a bit jarring at time.  It's told in third person, which is rare in YA, but it didn't always work for me.  That said, I happily devoured the book, and can't wait to read the next two in the series.  I owe this book an apology- I apologize for leaving you to linger in my kindle for so long, I apologize for all the readathonss that passed us by, you deserved a better, more dedicated reader!  However, I feel better that I'm getting the word out.  Wake would make a great Readathon book (see, doing the capitalization thing again, argh!). 

Wake gets a Midnight Book Rating of:

It might not be perfect, but it's perfectly readable. :)

Okay, so I know you don't care about this next bit, and feel free to skip it, but I'm getting super excited about Richmond Zombie Walk!  Last year was my first time participating, and I was lucky enough to get two of my lovely nieces to join in.  This year will be even better, because my nieces are Girl Scouts and my sister in law is planning on getting the entire troop to dress up as Girl Scout zombies... which will be epic!  Last year was just kind of pulled together so we didn't have a theme but I did learn how to make my own fake blood.  Here's some pics:

 Heather Coy Photography

 Heather Coy Photography

 Heather Coy Photography

 Heather Coy Photography

Heather Coy Photography

We're kind of in the background on the first couple of pics, but there's a great one of my niece Kerry reaching toward the camera.  I'm the brunette wearing the flannel  and my niece Grace is the one wearing the vampire/witch dress.  Much thanks to photographer Heather Coy who took these pics and shared them on facebook!

So if you're still here and awake, let me know some of your choices for best Readathon books and I'll include them in a future post- or feel free to create your own post that I'll link to when I create mine.  Thanks!

Currently Reading #1

So once again I'm working a lot more hours and haven't had time to properly write up reviews... okay, that's not entirely true.  I sound like one of those people that always say "I don't have time to read!", as if insinuating readers have hours to leisurely flip through pages of silly fiction (actually, I do get to read quite a bit at work).  I just haven't been making the best of my time, not when it comes to book blogging.  So in order to put something up, I'm going to share the Goodreads synopsis on all 3 books I'm reading (one for bookclub, one I bought yesterday and one I'm currently reading on my kindle).  What are you currently reading?

Fingersmith 
by Sarah Waters

From the author of the New York Times Notable Book Tipping the Velvet and the award-winning Affinity: a spellbinding, twisting tale of a great swindle, of fortunes and hearts won and lost, set in Victorian London among a family of thieves.

Sue Trinder is an orphan, left as an infant in the care of Mrs. Sucksby, a "baby farmer," who raised her with unusual tenderness, as if Sue were her own. Mrs. Sucksby's household, with its fussy babies calmed with doses of gin, also hosts a transient family of petty thieves-fingersmiths-for whom this house in the heart of a mean London slum is home.

One day, the most beloved thief of all arrives-Gentleman, a somewhat elegant con man, who carries with him an enticing proposition for Sue: If she wins a position as the maid to Maud Lilly, a naïve gentlewoman, and aids Gentleman in her seduction, then they will all share in Maud's vast inheritance. Once the inheritance is secured, Maud will be left to live out her days in a mental hospital. With dreams of paying back the kindness of her adopted family, Sue agrees to the plan. Once in, however, Sue begins to pity her helpless mark and care for Maud Lilly in unexpected ways. . . . But no one and nothing is as it seems in this > Dickensian novel of thrills and surprises.

The New York Times Book Review has called Sarah Waters a writer of "consummate skill" and The Seattle Times has praised her work as "gripping, astute fiction that feeds the mind and the senses." Fingersmith marks a major leap forward in this young and brilliant career.

Thoughts so far: You never know with books set in the past, sometimes the writer tends to bog it down in impossible to read slang and overwhelms you with details- no fear in Fingersmith.  It truly gives the proper feel of the time without sacrificing the spark that makes you flip eagerly through the pages.  So good so far. :)  Reading this for book club!

A Clash of Kings 
by George R.R. Martin

Time is out of joint. The summer of peace and plenty, ten years long, is drawing to a close, and the harsh, chill winter approaches like an angry beast. Two great leaders--Lord Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon--who held sway over and age of enforced peace are dead...victims of royal treachery. Now, from the ancient citadel of Dragonstone to the forbidding shores of Winterfell, chaos reigns, as pretenders to the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms prepare to stake their claims through tempest, turmoil, and war.

As a prophecy of doom cuts across the sky--a comet the color of blood and flame--six factions struggle for control of a divided land. Eddard's son Robb has declared himself King in the North. In the south, Joffrey, the heir apparent, rules in name only, victim of the scheming courtiers who teem over King's Landing. Robert's two brothers each seek their own dominion, while a disfavored house turns once more to conquest. And a continent away, an exiled queen, the Mother of Dragons, risks everything to lead her precious brood across a hard hot desert to win back the crown that is rightfully hers.

A Clash of Kings transports us into a magnificent, forgotten land of revelry and revenge, wizardry and wartime. It is a tale in which maidens cavort with madmen, brother plots against brother, and the dead rise to walk in the night. Here a princess masquerades as an orphan boy; a knight of the mind prepares a poison for a treacherous sorceress; and wild men descend from the Mountains of the Moon to ravage the countryside.

Against a backdrop of incest and fratricide, alchemy and murder, the price of glory may be measured in blood. And the spoils of victory may just go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel...and the coldest hearts. For when rulers clash, all of the land feels the tremors.

Audacious, inventive, brilliantly imagined, A Clash of Kings is a novel of dazzling beauty and boundless enchantment--a tale of pure excitement you will never forget.

From the book jacket of the 1999 Bantam Spectra Edition.

Thoughts so far: I told myself I was going to wait until I finished with Fingersmith before I picked this up, but I couldn't resist buying when I was at Barnes and Noble yesterday, along with a cute Owl bookmark and yet another Halloween coffee mug.  I just read the first little bit last night, but I'm sure it'll be a great read because winter is coming.  I'm also sure my heart will break a thousand times.

Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs
by Molly Harper

Maybe it was the Shenanigans gift certificate that put her over the edge. When children's librarian and self-professed nice girl Jane Jameson is fired by her beastly boss and handed twenty-five dollars in potato skins instead of a severance check, she goes on a bender that's sure to become Half Moon Hollow legend. On her way home, she's mistaken for a deer, shot, and left for dead. And thanks to the mysterious stranger she met while chugging neon-colored cocktails, she wakes up with a decidedly unladylike thirst for blood.
Jane is now the latest recipient of a gift basket from the Newly Undead Welcoming Committee, and her life-after-lifestyle is taking some getting used to. Her recently deceased favorite aunt is now her ghostly roommate. She has to fake breathing and endure daytime hours to avoid coming out of the coffin to her family. She's forced to forgo her favorite down-home Southern cooking for bags of O negative. Her relationship with her sexy, mercurial vampire sire keeps running hot and cold. And if all that wasn't enough, it looks like someone in Half Moon Hollow is trying to frame her for a series of vampire murders. What's a nice undead girl to do?

Thoughts so far: Hilarious!  I'm a little less than a fourth done with this book, but the writing style is very funny.  This is not my usual genre, but it's like Stephanie Plum meeting Sookie Stackhouse, so all the humor with a dash of hot vampire.  Great fall read!

10 Years Later...

Just wanted to take a moment to share this.  Ten years ago the entire world, not just America, was changed.  The outpouring of love and heroism that arose that day is what I choose to remember.  I have never felt so much an American as I did on that day, but I also never felt so closely connected to the rest of the world as I did then either, as they watched and prayed for our country. To the families of the victims, the survivors, the heroes that rushed in to help despite the danger, our hearts are always with you and we will not forget the fallen.

Abducted by Pottermore and the Imp!

Okay, normally my friend Courtney is the blogger who gets Abducted, but this time I fear it's me who has been swept away and taken captive, albeit completely willingly.
Here's my abductors:

I got my official Pottermore invite the other day so I've been obsessively playing and trying my best to win glory for the Ravenclaw house (at the moment we're ahead of Slytherin for house points but it's a tight race).  Plus I spent several days without internet due to Irene- she didn't mess us up during her actual visit but all that water fried our internet cable.  :(

Second only to Pottermore, I've been abducted by the Starks and Lannisters.  Well, mostly just the Imp.  I don't know why, but I love that sarcastic little man as much as I hate his evil sister.  Seriously if you haven't read A Game of Thrones then you simply must.  You must.  I already want the second book, but I have a hefty tome to read for book club this month (Fingersmith), so I will wait as much as it kills me.

Thirdly- it's almost October!!!  For those of you that don't know, I am an October girl.  I love all things fall and Halloweenish (note the new Halloween mug from Barnes and Noble that I picked up already!).  Plus Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon is coming up and I can hardly wait!!!  And then the NaNoWriMo party is almost always the last day or two of October, so you can see that my mind has been elsewhere this past week.

Fear not, faithful readers, I will eventually get around to reviewing all the good books I've been reading.  After all, winter is coming as the Starks would say. ;)