Reading Challenged Update: June 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):

Mystery & Suspense (8/24)
8. Three Seconds by Anders Roslund & Borge Hellstrom

Graphic Novels (12/12) - COMPLETED!
9. Nightmare Inspector 1 by Shin Mashiba
10. March Story 1 by Hyung Min Kim & Kyung Il Yang
11. Brody's Ghost 1 by Mark Crilley
12. Stagger Lee by Derek McCulloch & Shepherd Hendrix

100 Books in a Year (79/100)
65. Three Seconds by Anders Roslund & Borge Hellstrom
66. Q by Evan Mandery
67. Nightmare Inspector 1 by Shin Mashiba
68. March Story 1 by Hyung Min Kim & Kyung Il Yang
69. Brody's Ghost 1 by Mark Crilley
70. Stagger Lee by Derek McCulloch & Shepherd Hendrix
71. The Last Great Wizard of Yden by S. G. Rogers
72. Chronicles of Evolution by Daniel Armand
73. For Your Eyes Only by HyeKyung Baek & Cecily von Ziegesar
74. Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown
75. The Reaper of St. George Street by Andre R. Frattino
76. The Battle of Blood and Ink by Jared Axelrod & Steve Walker
77. Why Does Batman Carry Shark Repellent? by Brian Cronin
78. The Ridge by Michael Koryta
79. Witch Eyes by Scott Tracey

Debut Author (5/12)
5. Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown

Steampunk (3/6)
3. The Battle of Blood and Ink by Jared Axelrod & Steve Walker

Historical Fiction (5/5) - COMPLETED!
5. Stagger Lee by Derek McCulloch & Shepherd Hendrix

Horror & Urban Fantasy (17/48)
11. Nightmare Inspector 1 by Shin Mashiba
12. March Story 1 by Hyung Min Kim & Kyung Il Yang
13. Brody's Ghost 1 by Mark Crilley
14. Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown
15. The Reaper of St. George Street by Andre R. Frattino
16. The Ridge by Michael Koryta
17. Witch Eyes by Scott Tracey

Chunkster (2/4)

2. Three Seconds by Anders Roslund & Borge Hellstrom

YA Mythology (3/10)
3. Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown

New Adult (3/3) - COMPLETED!
3. The Reaper of St. George Street by Andre R. Frattino

YA Saves (6/10)
6. Witch Eyes by Scott Tracey

YA/MG Fantasy (10/10) - COMPLETED!
10. The Last Great Wizard of Yden by S. G. Rogers

Immortal (5/12)
5. Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown

Telling Tales (3/5)
3. Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown

Free Reads (1/5)
1. The Last Great Wizard of Yden by S. G. Rogers

Time Travel (2/3)
2. Q by Evan Manderly

Ghostly (6/6) - COMPLETED!
4. Brody's Ghost 1 by Mark Crilley
5. The Reaper of St. George Street by Andre R. Frattino
6. The Ridge by Michael Koryta


Paranormal Fantasy (7/10)
6. Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown
7. Witch Eyes by Scott Tracey

All-Male Review

Challenge:  All-Male Review
Host:  Bewitched Bookworms, Books and Things, In the Closet with a Bibliophile, Supernatural Snark, & The Unread Reader
Dates:  July 1st-31st
2011 Level: At least 1 book
2012 Level:  At least 1 book


1.

Stacking the Shelves: 6/24-6/30

For Review:

Back to Bataan by Jerome Charyn

Won:

Salt City by Robert C. Fleet

Magpie & Dilly by R. M. Wilburn

The Taken by Vicki Pettersson

The Guardian's Wildchild by Feather Stone

Darkroom by Joshua Graham

Requested from Paperbackswap:

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters

Sins & Shadows by Lyn Benedict

Elsewhere Online: June 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: Lies Beneath

Author: Anne Greenwood Brown

Challenges: Debut Author, Horror & Urban Fantasy, YA Mythology, Immortal, Telling Tales, Paranormal Fantasy, Once Upon a Time, 100 Books in a Year

Title: The Reaper of St. George Street

Author: Andre R. Frattino

Challenges: Graphic Novel, Horror & Urban Fantasy, New Adult, Ghostly, 100 Books in a Year

Title: The Battle of Blood and Ink

Author: Jared Axelrod & Steve Walker

Challenges: Graphic Novel, Steampunk, 100 Books in a Year

Title: Why Does Batman Carry Shark Repellent?

Author: Brian Cronin

Challenges: 100 Books in a Year

Title: The Ridge

Author: Michael Koryta

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

Title: Witch Eyes

Author: Scott Tracey

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

Freedom to Read Giveaway Hop (US/Can)

Hop:  Freedom to Read
Hosts:  I Am a Reader Not a Writer & Mundie Moms
Prize: Used Great Illustrated Classics: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, adapted by Deidre S. Laiken

Entry Form:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Follow the Hop:

Midsummer's Eve WINNER!

Rafflecopter has spoken and a big congrats go out to...

Darlene's Book Nook!

Email has been sent. Winner has 48 hrs to respond before a new winner is chosen.

For Your Eyes Only

Title: Gossip Girl: For Your Eyes Only 1

Author: HyeKyung Baek & Cecily von Ziegesar
Publisher: Yen
ISBN:  978-0-7595-3026-3
Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges:  100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: It was fun to see Gossip Girl in graphic format.  Sometimes, the manga style works really well, but at other times, it just looks too childish.  It is a fun read, though.

Rating: 3 stars

Chronicles of Evolution

Adam Orser: Chronicles of Evolution
by Daniel Armand
published by Two Harbors
2012
ISBN 978-1-937928-10-0Why Read?: Review
Challenges: 100 Books in a Year

What would you do if you found out you were not who you think you are?  That you were part of the next stage of evolution?  This is what the main character faces in Daniel Armand's first book in the Adam Orser trilogy, Chronicles of Evolution.

Adam Orser seems to have it all.  Not long out of college, he is a highly successful psychologist with a wonderful girlfriend that he plans to marry.  However, disrupted from his planned engagement by a emergency phone call, Adam rushes out of the restaurant only to be involved in a major car accident moments later, leaving him in a coma.  While in the coma, celestial beings take him through vigorous advanced training to become what he was meant to be which is higher stage of evolution.  Adam's help is needed in an epic battle of good and evil to save a very special missing child.

I struggled very much reading Adam Orser: Chronicles of Evolution.  The flashback within the first chapter threw me for a loop, and I was left there for the entire novel.  The head-hopping really threw me out of the story, making it extremely difficult for me to wrap my head around the philosophical concepts with which Armand imbued the story.  It also made it hard for me to connect with the characters, and for this book to work, one really needs to bond with Adam.

Daniel Armand presents some very unique concepts in this truly original story with some passage of absolutely gorgeous prose.  However, those concepts seems to have gotten lost in the translation from thought to the printed word.  With a lot of tightening and tweaking, though, Adam Orser: Chronicles of Evolution could be a revolutionary work.

Rating: 1/5

The Last Great Wizard of Yden

Title: The Last Great Wizard of Yden

Author: S. G. Rogers
Publisher: Astraea
ISBN:  978-1-936-852-63-5
Why Read?: Book Club
Challenges:  YA/MG Fantasy, Free Reads, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: This was a fun, fast-paced epic fantasy for young adults.  It is very nice to see a true YA epic fantasy as dark and paranormal fantasies seem to be all the rage now.  Rogers's writing draws the reader in immediately, and her world-building is excellent.  The characters were rather stereotypical, but that is what made them so fun and endearing.  I am glad this is only the first in a planned trilogy and I want to know more about the world of Yden.

Rating: 4 stars

Stacking the Shelves: 6/17-6/23

For possible review (on Bookloons):

ParaNorman by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel

Dust Girl by Sarah Zettel

Flirting in Italian by Lauren Henderson

The Master of Misrule by Laura Powell

Planes, Trains, and Auto-Rickshaws by Laura Pedersen

Swaps on Swap-bot:

Labyrinth by Kate Mosse

Stagger Lee

Title: Stagger Lee

Author: Derek McCulloch & Shepherd Hendrix
Publisher: Image
ISBN:  1-58240-607-3
Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges:  Graphic Novels, Historical Fiction, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: I picked this up shortly after seeing a reading of the first half of the musical which is currently in development.  A few things really drew me into the story.  The first was the basis - a song based on a real murder that eventually took on a life of its own.  The other thing that really hooked me was the historical aspect.  While some of the characters are fictional, others are real, and it was the politics they were involved in that kept me intrigued.  

Rating: 5 stars

Midsummer's Eve Giveaway Hop (US/Can)

Hop:  Midsummer's Eve
Hosts:  I Am a Reader Not a Writer & Uniquely Moi Books
Prize:  1 surprise pack of YA/MG ARCs from '07-'08
Entry Form:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Follow the Hop:

Stacking the Shelves: 6/10-6/16

For Review (on Bookloons):

Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

Won:

Prince Etcheon on the Secret of the Ancient by JoAnn Arnold

Pride & Popularity by Jenni James

The Vow by  S. A. Hunter

Brody's Ghost 1

Title: Brody's Ghost 1

Author: Mark Crilley
Publisher: Dark Horse
ISBN: 978-1-59582-521-6
Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges:  Graphic Novels, Horror & Urban Fantasy, Ghostly, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: This is the first in a six-volume series, and boy does it end making the reader want more.  Brody is a down on his luck slacker who sees a ghost.  Talia, the ghost, wants Brody's help to solve a murder so she can get into Heaven, but Brody does not think he has what it takes... and it ends with a bang.  I definitely need to find the rest of this series.

Rating: 4 stars

March Story 1

Title: March Story 1

Author: Hyung Min Kim & Kyung Il Yang
Publisher: Viz
ISBN: 978-1-4215-3755-9
Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges:  Graphic Novels, Horror & Urban Fantasy, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: This is a beautifully illustrated yet highly gory horror. Each chapter could stand on its own, but March’s backstory is slowly and expertly doled out through it, so they are much richer together and make for excellent reading. The story and illustrations compliment each other so well that it is amazing it was a collaboration. Not for the faint of heart, but definitely a keeper.

Rating: 5 stars

Stacking the Shelves: 6/3-6/9

For possible review (here and on Bookloons):

Jersey Angel by Beth Ann Bauman

Sykosa by Justin Ordonez

The Sacrifice Game by Brian D'Amato

Quest, Inc. by Justin Cohen

Soulbound by Heather Brewer

Won:

By His Grace by Kathleen Wiseman

Descended by Blood by Angeline Kace

Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins

Pieces of Eight by Melissa Wright

Molly by Melissa Wright

Swaps on Swap-Bot:

Nightshifted by Cassie Alexander

Lies & Omens by Lyn Benedict

Nightmare Inspector Vol. 1

Title: Nightmare Inspector 1

Author: Shin Mashiba
Publisher: Viz
ISBN: 978-1-4215-1758-2
Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges:  Graphic Novels, Horror & Urban Fantasy, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: I love shojo horror, and Nightmare Inspector is a pretty good example of the genre.  Mashiba keeps everything dark, however, most of the endings are just a tad too glum.  It does end with an awesome cliffhanger, though.

Rating: 4 stars 

Q

Title: Q: A (Timeless) Love Story

Author: Evan Mandery
Publisher: Harper
ISBN: 978-1-4027-8592-4
Why Read?: Early Review
Challenges:  Time Travel, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: Mandery has written a very interesting but uneven novel.  Part I does pull the reader in, but most of Part II is very slow (although towards the end of Part II is my favorite chapter where the I-xx's just keep coming).  Part III, though, is exactly as it should be, showing where the title comes from.

Rating: 3 stars 

Three Seconds

Title: Three Seconds

Author: Anders Roslund & Borge Hellstrom
Publisher: Silver Oak
ISBN: 978-1-4027-8592-4
Why Read?: First Reads
Challenges:  Mystery & Suspense, Chunkster, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: I could not get in to this and it took me forever to finally finish.  The last 100 pages were good and rather fast-paced, but it was just so incredibly slow getting there.  Also, I did not like any of the characters, which really distanced me from the story.  I have decided that Swedish crime fiction is just not for me.

Rating: 1 stars 

Stacking the Shelves: 5/27-6/2

For Review (here and on Bookloons):

Life Without Parole by Clare O'Donohue

Why Does Batman Carry Shark Repellent? by Brian Cronin

The Color of Snow by Brenda Stanley

Won:

Shadow Blizzard by Alexy Pehov

Rage of the Dragon by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman

The Possibilities of Amy by Jaye Frances

Swaps on Swap-bot:

Journey to the End of the Whale by John David Morley

Downloaded from Discover a New Love:

Lord of the Black Isle by Elaine Coffman

Received for Astraea Press Book Club:

The Last Great Wizard of Yden by S. G. Rogers