Reading Challenges Update: May 2012

Here is where I stand with the challenges I have joined after the month of May (only challenges that I read books for this month are featured here): 

Audio Books (4/6)
4. The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan


Mystery & Suspense (7/24)
5. Spectral by Shannon Duffy
6. Shadow on the Wall by Pavarti K. Tyler
7. Revived by Cat Patrick

Graphic Novels (8/12)
7. Honey/Chocolate by Nanao Okuda
8. When the Heavens Smile by Aki Senoo

100 Books in a Year (64/100)
53. Honey/Chocolate by Nanao Okuda
54. The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
55. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
56. Spectral by Shannon Duffy
57. When the Heavens Smile by Aki Senoo
58. Shadow on the Wall by Pavarti K. Tyler
59. Albino by E. J. Dabel
60. Wild Horses by Linda Byler
61. I, Iago by Nicole Galland
62. Revived by Cat Patrick
63. Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann
64. Dark Parties by Sara Grant

Debut Author (4/12)
4. Spectral by Shannon Duffy

Historical Fiction (4/5)
4. I, Iago by Nicole Galland



Horror & Urban Fantasy (10/48)
9. Spectral by Shannon Duffy
10. Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann


Why Buy the Cow? (4/12)
4. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen



Sophomore (3/10)
3. Revived by Cat Patrick



New Adult (2/3)
2. Wild Horses by Linda Byler



Standalone (7/15)
7. Revived by Cat Patrick



YA Saves (5/10)
4. Revived by Cat Patrick
5. Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann



YA/MG Fantasy (9/10)
9. Albino by E. J. Dabel


Telling Tales (2/5)
2. Albino by E. J. Dabel



British Books (5/12)
5. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

Witches and Witchcraft (5/5) - COMPLETED!
5. Spectral by Shannon Duffy



Paranormal Fantasy (5/10)
5. Spectral by Shannon Duffy


Ghostly (3/6)
3. Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann

Elsewhere Online: May 2012

As you know from my In My Mailbox posts, I review for two other websites (bookloons.com and bittenbybooks.com). As I cannot post my reviews there and here, but I would still like to count the books I read for the challenges, I am going to have a post like this at the end of the every month listing the books I reviewed and what challenges the went towards.


Title: Albino

Author: E. J. Dabel

Challenges: YA/MG Fantasy, Telling Tales, 100 Books in a Year

Title: Wild Horses

Author: Linda Byler

Challenges: New Adult, 100 Books in a Year

Title: I, Iago

Author: Nicole Galland

Challenges: Historical Fiction, 100 Books in a Year

Title: Revived

Author: Cat Patrick

Challenges: Mystery & Suspense, Sophomore, Standalone, YA Saves, 100 Books in a Year

Title: Cryer's Cross

Author: Lisa McMann

Challenges: Horror & Urban Fantasy, YA Saves, Ghostly, 100 Books in a Year

Title: Dark Parties

Author: Sara Grant

Challenges: 100 Books in a Year

Shadow on the Wall

Shadow on the Wall

by Pavarti K. Tyler

published by Fighting Monkey

2012

ISBN 978-0-9838769-1-5

Why Read?: Review

Challenges:  Mystery & Suspense, 100 Books in a Year

I can honestly say that Shadow on the Wall is unlike any book I have ever come across.  Pavarti K. Tyler takes a variety of themes and tropes and puts them together in a way that is simply stunning.

Recai Osman, a prominent young businessman and heir to a multi-billion Euro company, finds himself buried in the middle of the Turkish desert.   Luckily, Hasad Sofaer discovers him and brings him home to rest under the care of his daughter, Rebekah.  Hasad has misgivings about bringing a Muslim into his home, but it is not Recai he needs to worry about.  While he is out, the Reformation of Turkish Kurdistan (RTK) come, and although the Jewish Rebekah keeps a burqua on hand for occasions such as this, they accuse her of seducing Recai.  What happens next shapes Recai for the rest of his life, leading him down the path to become a superhero.  But along the way, he will have to fight against many more injustices from religious bigotry to sexism, testing him as a man and as a Muslim.

While Recai is the title character, Tyler tells the story from many third-person POVs, letting the reader experience all aspects of a culture that many Westerners know little about.  This characterization and attention to detail - and the fact that Tyler is not willing to pull any punches - is what makes Shadow on the Wall really stand out.  At times, this can be a difficult read, but that is only because Tyler's writing is so superb, it brings all of the injustices to vivid light.

Pavarti K. Tyler has amazing talent and is definitely an author to watch.  Shadow on the Wall may not be for everyone, but those who can stand to learn more about another part of the world and try to see it through the character's eyes will eagerly await the next installment in The SandStorm Chronicles.

Rating: 4/5

When the Heavens Smile

Title: When the Heavens Smile

Author: Aki Senoo
Publisher: June
ISBN: 978-1056970-052-5
Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges:  Graphic Novels, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: I had a hard time really understanding any of the stories in this yaoi collection.  The plots were thin and just did not make sense.  Also, the BL was not congruent and did not add anything.  Maybe it was a case of something being lost in translation, but I did not enjoy this one at all.

Rating: 1 stars 

Stacking the Shelves: 5/20-5/26

This weekly meme about newly obtained books comes from Tynga's Reviews. 
All images come from Goodreads.

For Review (on Bookloons.com):

Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown

Won:

What a Boy Wants by Nyrae Dawn

Swaps on Swap-Bot:

Washington! by Dana Fuller Ross

Bought on Kobo:

The Song of  Kahunsha by Anosh Irani

Spectral

Spectral

by Shannon Duffy

published by Tribute

2012

ISBN 978-0-09837418-7-9

Why Read?: Review

Challenges:  Mystery & Suspense, Debut Author, Horror & Urban Fantasy, Witches & Witchcraft, Paranormal Fantasy, 100 Books in a Year

Shannon Duffy mixes an ancient occult feel with contemporary romance in her YA paranormal, Spectral.

Jewel Rose has spent her entire life on the run.  Every few months means a new town, a new school, and a new name.  Jewel thinks her parents are hiding from the mafia, but shortly before her seventeenth birthday, she learns the truth after moving to the sleepy little town of Ponoma Park, Florida.  Arriving at the same time as her family is another new student, Roman.  The mysterious and attractive Roman explains to Jewel that she is a spectral, a special witch who turns seventeen on a summer solstice with a full moon.  What makes a spectral so special is that she is able to assimilate the powers of any other witch if those powers are used on her.  Every coven wants her – either to use her power or to kill her because of it – and that is part of the reason her family has been running for so many years.  The other reason is that they kidnapped her for their own coven.  Now with Roman’s help, she must find her real family…but can she trust someone whose coven is out to kill her?

Spectral is very fun and fast-paced.  The pages fly by as Duffy doles out twist after twist, shaking Jewel’s sense of whom to trust with each new development.  The only problem is its lack of believability.  Yes, it is a paranormal, and by that definition alone, it is unrealistic, but there should still be some plausibility.  Jewel was a realistic teenager with solid young adult feelings but the turn her life takes was a tad too fantastic lacking the by-in that lets a reader suspend their disbelief.

All in all, Spectral is an engaging YA paranormal romance.  I look forward to more works by Shannon Duffy – especially ones with a hint of the occult.

Rating: 3/5

Splash Into Summer Giveaway Hop (US/Can)

Hop:  Splash Into Summer
Hosts:  I Am a Reader Not a Writer & Page Turners Blog
Prize:  1 World Book Night edition of Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

Entry Form:
 a Rafflecopter giveaway
Follow the Hop:

Stacking the Shelves: 5/6-5/19

For review (here and on Bookloons):

The Battle of Blood and Ink by Jared Axelrod & Steve Walker

The Aspen 2-Million Winner-Take-All by John Morris

Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World by Simon Callow

The Cranes Dance by Meg Howrey

The Soldier's Wife by Joanna Trollope

Won:

Dark Passage by M. L. Woolley

Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko

Grounds for Death by Andrea Zanetti

Wrecked by Anna Davies

Library Thing Early Reviews:

A Mind of Winter by Shira Nayman

This weekly meme about newly obtained books comes from Tynga's Reviews.

All images come from Goodreads.

Mansfield Park

Title: Mansfield Park

Author: Jane Austen
Publisher: Kobo
ISBN: 
Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges:  Why Buy the Cow? (Kobo), British Books, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: Mansfield Park is the fourth of Austen’s works that I have read. I was not too thrilled with the last one I read, Persuasion, but I did love Mansfield Park. Fanny was rather shy for a main character, but she was a lot of fun. And the ending made me happy.

Rating: 5 stars 

The Eye of the World

Title: The Eye of the World

Author: Robert Jordan
Publisher: Audio Renaissance
ISBN: 9781593974329
Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges:  Audio Books, Book Blogger Recommendation, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: I can see why Jordan's Wheel of Time series has endured through so many novels.  This is one of the best epic fantasies I have read.  The only problem I had was with the narrators - why was a female narrator needed when she only read a couple of chapters (in a 50+ chapter book)?

Rating: 5 stars 

Stacking the Shelves: 4/29-5/5

For Review (on Bitten by Books):

Wild Ghost Chase by Ericka Scott

Won:

Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Downloaded from Discover a New Love:

The Lord of Illusion by Kathryne Kennedy

This weekly meme about newly obtained books comes from Tynga's Reviews.

All images come from Goodreads.

Honey/Chocolate

Title: Honey/Chocolate

Author: Nanao Okuda
Publisher: June
ISBN: 978-1-56970-037-2
Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges:  Graphic Novels, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: This manga contains two fun shonen-ai stories.  The first one is really cute, but it wasn't after I put it down that I understood the title, "Honey/Chocolate".  The second is a little odd if you think too much about the relationships.

Rating: 3 stars