Mk's Blog – October 2011 Archive (13)

Autographed Book Giveaway & Review: The Devil's Ribbon by D.E. Meredith

Although The Devil’s Ribbon is Book #2 in the Hatton & Roumande series, I haven’t read the first book and still found that Book #2 works just fine as a stand-alone novel.

It’s 1858 and London is experiencing a nasty cholera outbreak among its poorest residents, the Irish. No one knows what causes cholera, although there are a lot of theories floating around so no one knows how to stop it until it’s run its course. The Irish had…

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Added by Mk on October 31, 2011 at 1:12pm — No Comments

The Pumpkin Man: Got Your Jack O’Lantern Carved Yet?

John Everson won the HWA Bram Stoker award for his first novel, Covenant. The Pumpkin Man is his fifth novel. I originally snapped up an advance reader’s copy of The Pumpkin Man because it looked so appropriate for Halloween. I’m not a huge horror fan so I was kind of dreading reading it. This is definitely an over 18 book, because of the nature of some of the rituals involved. That said, I really liked the main…

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Added by Mk on October 25, 2011 at 12:10pm — No Comments

Autographed Book Giveaway & Review for Sophie & Carter by Chelsea Fine

I don’t recall how I learned about Sophie & Carter by Chelsea Fine, only that something about the synopsis for this story caught my eye and touched my heart. I do know that I contacted the publisher and asked to review it, and (with fingers crossed) asked if they would sponsor a book giveaway. Not only has the publisher provided a novel but it’s an autographed copy, which is so cool!

You know I don’t traditionally review romance novels, unless…

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Added by Mk on October 20, 2011 at 11:20am — No Comments

Dearly, Departed: Zombies, High Tech and Victorian Manners

What do you get when you mix zombies, steampunk and a dystopian Victorian future? You get Lia Habel’s new novel Dearly, Departed of course! Other book reviewers and I were chatting last month about a new trend we’re seeing in zombie novels. At the same time, I kept seeing comments about Dearly, Departed that looked very interesting, so I was delighted when I snagged an advance reader’s copy from the publisher. I had no idea our conversations… Continue

Added by Mk on October 19, 2011 at 12:52pm — No Comments

Book Giveaway and Review of Being Someone Else by J.R. Lindermuth

I can’t recall how J.R. Lindermuth came to my attention on GoodReads but when I read about his novel, Being Someone Else, it sounded like something I would like to read and tell you all about. Being Someone Else is part of a series but he assured me it could stand alone. Thankfully he was right. And even better, he’s sponsoring a giveaway so we can give an autographed copy to a lucky reader! Read the rest of my review & enter the…

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Added by Mk on October 18, 2011 at 12:33pm — No Comments

Book Giveaway & Review: Practical Jean by Trevor Cole

When I was looking for books to review during October, a.k.a. Halloween month, I knew I had a winner when I saw the publisher’s brief synopsis for Practical Jean by Trevor Cole. It cracked me up and made me go “Eeew” all that the same time. I approached the publisher about sponsoring a book giveaway and they said yes! So on top of learning about this twisty tale, one lucky reader will also win a copy of Practical Jean! WooHoo!

A…

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Added by Mk on October 17, 2011 at 12:24pm — No Comments

Book Giveaway and Review: The Wandering Falcon by a Master Storyteller

I’m always looking for ways to learn more about other cultures so when I saw the publisher’s synopsis for The Wandering Falcon by Jamil Ahmad, it looked like a great opportunity to learn more about the tribal groups in an area about which Jamil Ahmad is an expert – the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Not only did I learn more about those groups, their culture and the hostile environment in which they live, but I began to…

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Added by Mk on October 14, 2011 at 11:41am — No Comments

Steampunk: An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories

I’m fascinated by the steampunk sub-genre, so you know I couldn’t resist when I got the opportunity to read an advance reader’s copy of Steampunk: An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories, edited by Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant. Although this steampunk anthology is classified as young adult fiction, it’s definitely going to appeal to adults too. There’s really something for everyone in this anthology! Read the rest of my review at…

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Added by Mk on October 13, 2011 at 11:49am — No Comments

Sam Vimes Is Forced to Take a Vacation on Discworld

Snuff is Terry Pratchett’s latest Discworld novel, the 39^th Discworld novel to be more exact. Not to worry though. They can be read individually as well as in a series. Discworld is a very interesting flat world (like a disc – doh) and resides on the backs of 4 enormous elephants, which stand together (very important) on the back of an enormous sea turtle, which swims throughout the universe. Works for me! It’s filled with every creature known to man and…

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Added by Mk on October 11, 2011 at 10:34am — No Comments

L.A. Mental: What’s Making Los Angeles Go Mental?

Living in Southern California means being accustomed to movies finding yet another way to destroy Los Angeles and seeing all kinds of novels written about our fair or not so fair city. Given how stressful this city can be for its inhabitants, I was intrigued when I saw the title for bestselling author Neil McMahon’s newest psychological thriller, L.A. Mental. There are lots of things that could cause Angelenos to go mental, not least of which is their commute every…

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Added by Mk on October 6, 2011 at 11:44am — No Comments

Black Diamond: Who Wouldn’t Love an Irish Horseracing Mystery?

When the publisher made available an advanced readers copy of Black Diamond by John F. Dobbyn, I jumped on it. I used to be a fan of horse-racing mysteries but I hadn’t read anything like that in a long time so it seemed like it was meant to be. After reading Black Diamond, I learned it’s Book #3 in this mystery series; however, it makes a great stand-alone novel. If you like a good mystery like I do, you’ll be pleased with this one. Read the… Continue

Added by Mk on October 5, 2011 at 12:02pm — No Comments

Deviant: Small Towns Can Attract Serial Killers Too

From the book cover art for Deviant by Adrian McKinty, I thought this was a young adult fantasy or science fiction novel. Instead it’s a YA mystery/thriller. After reading the novel, the cover made much more sense to me. Deviant is a story that I think younger teen boys can relate to in many ways; however, they may not enjoy reading about animal sacrifice any more than I did. Read the rest of my review at http://popcornreads.com/?p=1909

Added by Mk on October 4, 2011 at 11:41am — No Comments

Debris: From Architect to Debris Collector – What’s a Girl to Do?

Debris has technology at its heart, including disturbing, surreal veche men. Having it written from Tanyana’s point of view makes it come to life from the first page and gives it a lot of heart, so the technology just becomes part of the world construct. It was a quick read for me, mainly because I couldn’t put it down once I started it. Read the rest of my review at http://popcornreads.com/?p=1903

Added by Mk on October 3, 2011 at 9:36am — No Comments