December Monthly Synopsis

This month I read:

1. Devil's Cub~ Georgette Heyer

2. Frederica~ Georgette Heyer

3. The Untamed Bride~ Stephanie Laurens

4. Quatrain~ Sharon Shinn.

5. Divine Misdemeanors~ Laurell K. Hamilton

6. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo~ Steig Larsson

ETA: 7. These Old Shades~ Georgette Heyer



Notes:


I can't believe it has taken me so long to read Georgette Heyer, as much as I love traditional regencies. She's wonderful & I'm rapidly glomming the new Sourcebooks Casablanca qp size releases. Untamed Bride is a wonderful Laurens, kind of a historical romantic suspense. I plan to read the rest of the series. Sharon Shinn's book is a collection of short stories, each one set in one of her worlds. They're all quite good. The one set in Samaria finally convinced me to read that group. I've bought them all at the UBS. The LKH is fine, as far as it goes. It's an episode in Los Angeles, wherein Merry & her crew must solve a mystery & Merry must learn a little more the role of a ruler, as opposed to simply being the heir. Less carefree and more responsability and more choices between what she personally wants and what id best for the group or for Faerie as a whole. I read the Steig Larsson book earlier this fall, but forgot to list it.

Note, pt.2

These Old Shades is paired with Devil's Cub, I read them in reverse order (which I don't recommend, as subtle interactions are lost if you are unfamiliar with the characters). They do stand alone though, if you're interested in reading them. TOS made me cry & therefore earns an automatic place on my keeper shelves.

October and November Synopsis

Listed below are what I've managed to read between 1 October and November 30, none of which are reviewed or listed in the archives. I hope to slowly work my way through them and review them, but am not overly hopeful that I will be able to achieve this in any timely fashion.


1. What Remains of Heaven~ C.S. Harris

2. The Taming of the Duke~ Eloisa James

3. Kiss Me Annabel~ Eloisa James

4. On the Way to the Wedding~ Julia Quinn

5. Desperate Duchesses~ Eloisa James

6. The Disdainful Marquis~ Edith Layton

7. The Abandoned Bride~ Edith Layton

8. The Untamed Bride~ Edith Layton

August Monthly Synopsis

Listed in no particular order, those that have been reviewed are hyperlinked. Those that aren’t, will be reviewed ASAP and the links will be updated early in October.

1.Death Wore White~ Jim Kelly
2.20’s Girl~ Sophie Kinsella
3.Four Wives~ Wendy Walker
4.The Enchantment Emporium~ Tanya Huff
5.Medicus~ Ruth Downie
6. The Graveyard Book~ Neil Gaiman
7.Midnight Secretary~ Tomu Ohmi (josei manga)
8. Love Cruise~ Tomu Ohmi (josei manga)


DNFs

1.Prince of Midnight~ Laura Kinsale
2.Driving Like Crazy~ P.J. O’Rourke

July Monthly Synopsis

Hardly read anything this month, truth be told. Well, hardly finished anything. The "reading mojo" as CindyS calls it seems to have gone on vacation. Which really annoys me since I've tons of great books around here begging to be read, but I've a shorter reading attention span than a two year old who needs a nap.:(

1.The Book of Unholy Mischief; Elle Newmark

2 DNFs~

Both explained in post

1. Iron Angel, Alan Campbell

2. Trading in Danger; Elizabeth Moon

Read earlier this year, but somehow forgotten in the monthly synopses, neither reviewed:

The Shadow Queen~ Anne Bishop~ Fantasy

Midnight Secretary~ Tomu Ohmi~ Josei Manga, click here for definition

Reviews for these coming soon. I hope.

6 Month Statistics

Here are my monthly statistics, organized a little differently this time around. All reviews, including the DNFs, are hyperlinked within each month listed below. After that they're all listed by subgenre. As always, my goal is to read 100+ titles per year, although I've not managed that since traditional regencies have pretty much gone out of print.




January

February

March

April

May

June


Total Books Read~ 41

Books by Subgenre

Chick Lit, paranormal- 1
Christian Thriller- 1
Christian Women's Fiction- 1
Diet- 0
Fantasy-8
Fictionalized Memoir- 2
Historical Fiction- 0
Horror- 0
Humor- 0
Literary Criticism- 1
Metaphysics- 1
Mystery, Contemporary- 3
Mystery, Historical- 4
Science Fiction- 4
Sociology- 2
Women's Fiction- 1


Romances


Contemporary Suspense- 0
Fairytale- 0
Fantasy Anthology- 0
Fantasy- 1
Historical (Incl. long format Regencies)- 3
Medieval-1
Mythology- 0
Paranormal- Vampire- 3
Paranormal- Faery- 0
Paranormal- Mythological Being- 0
Science Fiction- 1
Time Travel- 0
Traditional Regencies- 2

YA Vampire Romance- 1


DNF~ 2

Historical Fiction, WW I- 1
Historical fiction, Mythological character- 1

June Monthly Synopsis

I suppose June was more productive than I previously thought. I managed to catch up all of my reviews! I can't believe it. Still a slow reader, though, and it's not looking like it'll pick up anytime soon either.





1. The Sinful Life of Lucy Burns; Elizabeth Leiknes

2. Hidden Honor; Anne Stuart

3. Ruby's Slippers; Leanna Ellis

4. Midwinter; Matthew Sturges

5. The Moon's Shadow; Catherine Asaro

6. The Ruby Dice; Catherine Asaro

May Synopsis

Listed below are the books I read last month. #6-8 have been reviewed & are hyperlinked. Reviews for #1-5 will be hyperliked when the reviews go up or when I make my June synopsis. #8 is actually a reread, but since it wasn't in my archives I'm counting it toward my annual numbers.

Edited 12 July 2009~ Added hyperlinks for #s 1-5


1. Outliers; Malcolm Gladwell

2. Beyond Heaving Bosoms; Sarah Wendell & Candy Tan

3. The Magician's Guild; Trudi Canavan

4. The Midnight Choir; Gene Kerrigan

5. Scar Night; Alan Campbell

6. When He Was Wicked; Julia Quinn

7. Rooftops of Tehran; Mahbod Seraji

8. Four in Hand; Stephanie Laurens

April Synopsis

Below are listed the titles I've read this month, in no particular order. Titles that have been reviewed are hyperlinked to the review. Those reviews that have yet to come are so listed. It has been an excellent reading month!


Edited 1 June 2009~ All titles are now reviewed & hyperlinked>



1.Lord of the Keep; Ann Lawrence

2. Dark Need; Lynn Viehl

3. Hope's Folly; Linnea Sinclair

4. A Rake's Redemption; Donna Simpson

5. Immortal Hunter; Lynsay Sands

6. Deryni Tales; ed. by Katherine Kurtz

7. Certain Jeopardy; Struecker & Gansky

8. Melusine~ Sarah Monette

9. Night Lost; Lynn Viehl

10. The War of the Flowers~ Tad Williams

March Synopsis

Listed in totally random order. Reviews for 1-3 & 7 coming. #8 is a reread but hadn't been reviewed, so I'm counting it towards my annual total.

1. Evernight, Claudia Gray

2. Why Mermaids Sing, C. S. Harris~

3. Where Serpents Sleep, C. S. Harris~

4. The Risen Empire- Scott Westerfeld

5. The Killing of Worlds- Scott Westerfeld

6. Mistress of the Art of Death- Ariana Franklin

7. Light of the Moon- Luanne Rice

8. Daughter of the Blood- Anne Bishop


DNF

To the Last Man Jeff Shaara- took him over 100 pages to introduce all of the protagonists. Let's have some action already!

Correction-April 2- #8's correct author is Anne Bishop, not Anne Rice as originally listed.

February Synopsis

Read very little, actually. Very slow month. Listed in the order I read them. All books reviewed, link provided. In the case of the DNF I linked to my thought process & talked about why I didn't finish.

1. The Skinny; Rayni Joan

2. The Girl of His Dreams; Donna Leon

3. In Defense of Food; Michael Pollan

4. The Draining Lake; Arnaldur Indridason

5. Stranger in my Arms; Lisa Kleypas


Did Not Finish

Helen of Troy; Margaret George more information here.

January Synopsis

Below is the all too short list of what I've finished reading in January. Listed in no particular order, all books reviewed, link provided.

1. Fortune and Fate; Sharon Shinn

2. Lord of the Fading Lands; C.L. Wilson

3. The Messiah Interviews; Jerry Pollock

4. When Gods Die; C. S. Harris

December Monthly Synopsis

Read in December, listed in no particular order. Annual stats coming in a couple of days.



1. Dirt; Mark LaFlamme

2. Silent Night; Mary Higgins Clark

3. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society; Shaffer and Barrows

4. How Not to Die; Dr. Jan Garavaglia

5. I'm Not Scared (unabridged audiobook); Niccolo Ammaniti

6. Letter to my Daughter; Maya Angelou

7. The Wild Hunt; Elizabeth Chadwick Not Reviewed

Oct & Nov Reading Synopsis

In September and October I spent quite a bit of time reorganizing my archives, resulting in a dearth of book reviews. I did some reading but didn't write up any of them. I think this is just a hangover from the archiving & whatnot, but I've yet to fully come back up to speed with the book reviews. Below is a list of what I read those months.


1. Miss Wonderful~ Loretta Chase

2. Swallowing Darkness~ Laurell K Hamilton

3. The Sinner~ Madeline Hunter

4. The Queen of Sleepy Eye~ Patti Hill

5. Immortal Warrior~ Lisa Hendrix

6. Skeletons at the Feast~ Chris Bohjalian




Edited Dec.30 2008 to correct title listing.

September Monthly Synopsis

Over the course of the month, I managed to finish ten books- an amazing amount for me, especially factoring in my archive project. I continue to be desperately behind in the reviews, now I'm 17 titles in arrears. Seven from August and all of September.

Listed in random order.


1. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox; Maggie O’Farrell

2. Dark Curse; Christine Feehan

3. Mindless Eating; Brian Wansink

4. Words in a French Life; Kristin Espinasse

5. Angus, Thongs & Full Frontal Snogging; Louise Rennison

6. Secrets of a Summer Night; Lisa Kleypas

7. It Happened One Autumn; Lisa Kleypas

8. Devil in Winter; Lisa Kleypas

9. Lookin’ Back, Texas; Leanna Ellis

10. The Eye of Jade; Diane Wei Liang

August Synopsis

As mentioned in the July synopsis, I'm a month behind on my reading reviews. :( I plan to keep slogging ahead and eventually I'll catch up. Hopefully. As it is, at least I'm making progress towards my annual reading goal. The tortoise won, right?? These are listed in no particular order.




1. People of the Book, Geraldine Brooks

2. Miss Perfect, Loretta Chase

3. The Sinner, Madeline Hunter

4. Heart of the Hunter, Tina St. John

5. Heart of the Flame, Tina St. John

6. Atlantis Rising, Alyssa Day

7. Where’s My Hero; Quinn, Kleypas, MacGregor

8. The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever, Julia Quinn

9. Sins of the Night, Sherrilynn Kenyon

10. Passion, Lisa Valdez



DNFs and/or Wallbangers

1.Seducing the Prince, Patricia Grasso

2. Cherished, Elizabeth Thornton

3. To Hell With Love~ Sherri Erwin

July Synopsis

I’m late with this, in addition to the fact that none of them have been reviewed, but here’s the list nonetheless. Currently the plan is to write up the "Noras" in a group and the remainder individually. Listed in no particular order.

1.Jewels of the Sun, Nora Roberts
2.Tears of the Moon, Nora Roberts
3.Heart of the Sea, Nora Roberts
4.Lord of Scoundrels, Loretta Chase
5.Five Quarters of the Orange, Joanne Harris
6.Ladies of Liberty, Cokie Roberts


DNF

This Charming Man, Marian Keyes

Edited to add:
7.Komarr; Lois McMaster Bujold
8.A Civil campaign, Lois McMaster Bujold
9.Diplomatic Immunity, Lois McMaster Bujold

June Reading

Listed in no particular order:

1. Kushiel’s Mercy; Jacqueline Carey
2. Mystic and Rider; Sharon Shinn Review coming
3. The Thirteenth House; Sharon Shinn Review coming
4. Dark Moon Rising; Sharon Shinn Review coming
5. Reader and Raelynx; Sharon Shinn Review coming
6. Wrapt in Crystal; Sharon Shinn Review coming
7. Summers at Castle Auburn; Sharon Shinn Review coming
8. Force of Nature; Suzanne Brockmann
9. All Through the Night; Suzanne Brockmann
10.Just Perfect; Judith Lansdowne
11. Just Impossible; Judith Lansdowne
12. Just in Time; Judith Lansdowne

Uh, yeah. Glommimg Sharon Shinn, as is obvious.

May Synopsis

Wellllll..not the best month, but a whole sight better than previous work soaked months. Below is a linked list of books read during the month of May, in no particular order. All books should be listed in the archive on the sidebar.

1. A Kiss of Crimson; Lara Adrian

2.The Queen in Winter, Kurland, Delacroix, Shinn & Monette

3.Dragon's Kin; Anne & Todd McCaffrey

4.The Duel; Barbara Metzger

5.An Invitation to Sin; Suzanne Enoch

6.To Love A Princess; Patricia Grasso"

7.Just in Time; Judith Lansdowne

March Synopsis

I only finished two reviews this month, although I read three books. There just isn't time enough in the day to finish everything that needs to be done.


Sword of Shame, Medieval Murderers

A Rose for the Crown, Anne Easter Smith

February Reads

I read and posted about the following:

A Lady of his Own, Stephanie Laurens

Much Ado about You, Eloisa James

I finished three others, but haven't had time to post about them. I hope to write them up this month.