Bookish Rant: Unconventional Endings Need Not Apply

“I don’t think man was meant to attain happiness so easily. Happiness is like those palaces in fairy tales whose gates are guarded by dragons: we must fight in order to conquer it” -Edmund Dantes.

Book adaptations are a constant bone of contention for Book Lovers. Do we want to see our favorite works beautifully depicted on screen a la Game of Thrones? Or are we outraged by the humorous defilement of a definitely not humorous body of literature in School of Thrones? (Note: Regardless of sexposition in the former, and lack of Arya in the latter, I am a huge fan of both adaptations.)

I take most adaptations on a case-by-case basis. But will instantly and irrevocably transform into a flaming ball of nerd-hate when screenwriters who are essentially transmitting the story directly from page to screen, get a sudden aneurysm brainstorm and “improve” the ending. Screw things like plot, character development, …

Bookish Rant or Raves: Negative Review or Personality Disorder?

I fervently adore negative reviews.  A negative review provides the perfect framework to fully interact with a book. That pissed off reviewer hates things about a book that I loved, is outraged by something I completely missed, or shares in the absurdity of the so-called worldbuilding the author alleges to have undertaken.

DRACARYS!

On any given day, I have to listen to an abusive oil lineman convince a Judge that the wife cut the brakes in her own car, or a Napoleonic landlord claim it was a violation of the lease for a family to light a fire in the fireplace in Alaska in the winter.

I want to read something cathartic; wherein the assholes get what’s coming to them. Alternately, I’m interested in something that gives me hope for the human condition. Either/Or. When I don’t get that…..

I. Am. Pissed.

But I fly right passed …

Review: The Queen Is Dead by Kate Locke

Review: The Queen is Dead by Kate Locke.

Format Read: ebook.

Number of Pages: 336.

Release Date: February 5, 2013.

Publisher: Orbit.

Genre: Urban Fantasy.

Series: The Immortal Empire #2.

Formats Available: Hardback, ebook, audiobook.

Purchasing Info: Author, Goodreads, Book Depository, Amazon.

Book Blurb:

Nothing lasts forever—and immortality isn’t all its cracked up to be.

When her brother Val gets in over his head in an investigation of Half-Blood disappearances and goes missing himself, it’s up to Xandra, newly crowned Goblin Queen, to get him back and bring the atrocities to light. Xandra must frequent the seediest parts of London, while also coping with what she is, the political factions vying for her favor, and the all too-close scrutiny of Queen Victoria, who wants her head. Add this to a being a suspect in a murder investigation, a werewolf boyfriend with demands of his own, and a mother hell bent on destroying the monarchy, and Xandra …

Review: Hammer of Angels by G.T. Almasi

Format Read: eARC from Netgalley.

Number of Pages: 352.

Release Date: March 26, 2013.

Series: Shadowstorm #2.

Genre: Urban Fantasy.

Publisher: Del Ray Books.

Formats Available:  ebook, mass market paperback.

Purchasing Info: Amazon, Book Depository, Goodreads.

Book Blurb:

In G. T. Almasi’s thrilling alternate reality, the United States, the USSR, and the Republic of China share a fragile balance of power with Greater Germany, which emerged from World War II in control of Europe and half of the Middle East. To avoid nuclear Armageddon, the four superpowers pursue their ambitions with elite spies known as Levels, who are modified with mechanical and chemical enhancements.

Nineteen-year-old Alix Nico, code-named Scarlet, is a kick-ass superheroine with killer Mods and an attitude to match. She’s considered one of America’s top Levels, even though her last mission nearly precipitated World War III. So now Scarlet and her new partner, Darwin, have been sent to Greater Germany to help sow the seeds …

Review: Matchbox Girls by Chrysoula Tzavelas

Review: Matchbox Girls by Chrysoula Tzavelas.

Format Read: eARC from Netgalley.

Number of Pages: 326.

Release Date: February 21, 2012.

Publisher: Candelmark & Gleam.

Genre: Urban Fantasy.

Formats Available: Paperback, ebook.

Purchasing Info: Amazon, Goodreads, Book Depository, Author.

Book Blurb:

Marley Claviger is just trying to get her life together. Stumbling into an ancient conflict between celestial forces is going to make that a whole lot harder…

When Marley wakes up to a phone call from a pair of terrified children, she doesn’t expect to be pulled into a secret war. She rescues them from an empty house and promises to find their missing uncle. She even manages to feed them dinner. But she barely feels competent to manage her own life, let alone care for small children with strange, ominous powers…

And when a mysterious angelic figure shows up and tries to claim the girls, it all falls apart…

Plagued by visions of disaster, Marley has …

Midnight Blue-Light Special by Seanan McGuire

Format Read: ebook and paperback.
Number of Pages: 368.
Release Date: March 5, 2013.
Genre: Urban Fantasy.
Series: InCryptids #2.
Publisher: DAW.
Formats Available: Paperback, ebook, audio.
Purchasing Info: Amazon, Book Depository, Goodreads, Author.

Book Blurb:

Cryptid, noun:

1. Any creature whose existence has been suggested but not proven scientifically. Term officially coined by cryptozoologist John E. Wall in 1983.

2. That thing that’s getting ready to eat your head.

3. See also: “monster.”

The Price family has spent generations studying the monsters of the world, working to protect them from humanity–and humanity from them. Enter Verity Price. Despite being trained from birth as a cryptozoologist, she’d rather dance a tango than tangle with a demon, and when her work with the cryptid community took her to Manhattan, she thought she would finally be free to pursue competition-level dance in earnest. It didn’t quite work out that way…

But now, with the snake cult that was killing virgins all over Manhattan …

On the Booklovers’ Shelves: Books For Other People (aka Enablers)

As all true Book Lovers know, there is a fine line between love and addiction. Gift-giving is perfect for leaping right over that divide and shamelessly pushing books on people. Why should your friends and family members have tidy houses utterly lacking in books for you to pillage and/or mercilessly judge?

No reason at all.

Getting an education was a bit like a communicable sexual disease. It made you unsuitable for a lot of jobs and then you had the urge to pass it on.

Susan Sto-Helit understands me. Just substitute “reading” for “education.”

We often ask Guest Authors and Guest Posters what the difference is between a book lover and a run-of-the-mill reader. The answer is really quite simple: The true book lover cannot fathom a world without books, and as such, is constantly pushing them on others.

However, It can be a bit difficult to have a book on hand for every …

Review: Scent of Magic by Maria V. Snyder

Format Read: eARC from Netgalley.
Number of Pages: 414 pages
Release Date: December 14, 2012.
Series: Healer #2.
Genre: Urban Fantasy.
Publisher: Mira.
Formats Available:  ebook, paperback
Purchasing Info: Author, Goodreads, Powells, Book Depository.

Book Blurb: 

As the last Healer in the Fifteen Realms, Avry of Kazan is in a unique position: in the minds of her friends and foes alike, she no longer exists. Despite her need to prevent the megalomanical King Tohon from winning control of the Realms, Avry is also determined to find her sister and repair their estrangement. And she must do it alone, as Kerrick, her partner and sole confident, returns to Alga to summon his country into battle.

Though she should be in hiding, Avry will do whatever she can to support Tohon’s opponents. Including infiltrating a holy army, evading magic sniffers, teaching forest skills to soldiers and figuring out how to stop Tohon’s most horrible creations …

Review: Iced by Karen Marie Moning

Format Read: Ebook.
Number of Pages: 495.
Release Date: October 30, 2012.
Genre: Urban Fantasy.
Series: Fever #6/Dani O’Malley #1.
Publisher: Delacorte.
Formats Available: Hardback, ebook, audiobook
Purchasing Info: Goodreads, Author, Book Depository, IndieBound.

Book Blurb:

The year is 1 AWC—After the Wall Crash. The Fae are free and hunting us. It’s a war zone out there, and no two days are alike. I’m Dani O’Malley, the chaos-filled streets of Dublin are my home, and there’s no place I’d rather be.

Dani “Mega” O’Malley plays by her own set of rules—and in a world overrun by Dark Fae, her biggest rule is: Do what it takes to survive. Possessing rare talents and the all-powerful Sword of Light, Dani is more than equipped for the task. In fact, she’s one of the rare humans who can defend themselves against the Unseelie. But now, amid the pandemonium, her greatest gifts have turned into serious liabilities.

Dani’s ex–best friend, MacKayla Lane, wants …

Review: Precinct 13 by Tate Hallaway

Format Read: ebook.
Number of Pages: 308.
Release Date: August 7, 2012.
Genre: Urban Fantasy.
Publisher: Berkley  Trade.
Formats Available:  ebook, paperback.
Purchasing Info: Author, Goodreads, Amazon, Book Depository.

Book Blurb: 
Recent college grad Alex Conner is thrilled to have landed a job as the Hughes County coroner/medical examiner in Pierre, South Dakota. But when her first day on the job ends with a missing corpse, Alex starts to wonder if she would have been better off collecting unemployment…

When the cops made some cryptic comments about being careful with the body they brought in, Alex just thought the boys in blue were messing with her. That is, until something freaky happens that no amount of med school could have prepared her for. By the time Alex gets herself together, the body has disappeared and the other residents of the morgue start talking her ear off.

After working up the courage to report the missing body, …