Review: The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith

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The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith (UK edition cover)

Title: The Silkworm (A Cormoran Strike Novel, 2)
Author: Robert Galbraith
Genre: Crime, Detective Story, Mystery
Publisher: Sphere (19th June 2014)
Blurb:

When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, she just thinks he has gone off by himself for a few days – as he has done before – and she wants Strike to find him and bring him home.

But as Strike investigates, it becomes clear that there is more to Quine’s disappearance than his wife realises. The novelist has just completed a manuscript featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows. If the novel is published it will ruin lives – so there are a lot of people who might want to silence him.

And when Quine is found brutally murdered in bizarre circumstances, it becomes a race against time to understand the motivation of a ruthless killer, a killer unlike any Strike has encountered before . . .

A compulsively readable crime novel with twists at every turn, The Silkworm is the second in the highly acclaimed series featuring Cormoran Strike and his determined young assistant Robin Ellacott.

Rating: *** (3 stars)
Review:

THE SILKWORM is the second book in Robert Galbraith’s CORMORAN STRIKE series, Life has returned somewhat to normal after the events of the first book in the series THE CUCKOO’S CALLING (review), and Strike is busying himself with cases of suspected cheating when Leonora Quine, the wife of author Owen Quine, steps into his office and asks Strike to locate her husband for her. THE SILKWORM tells the story of Strike’s search for Quine, and then the hunt for Quine’s killer when the author is found murdered in peculiar circumstances.

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Review: Murder of Crows by Anne Bishop

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Murder of Crows by Anne Bishop

Title: Murder of Crows (A Novel of The Others, 2)
Author: Anne Bishop
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Publisher: ROC (4th March 2014)
Blurb:

Return to New York Times bestselling author Anne Bishop’s “phenomenal”* world of the Others – where supernatural entities and humans struggle to coexist and one woman has begun to change the rules . . .

After winning the trust of the Others residing in the Lakeside Courtyard, Meg Corbyn has had trouble figuring out what it means to live among them. As a human, Meg should be barely tolerated prey, but her abilities as a cassandra sangue make her something more.

The appearance of two addictive drugs has sparked violence between the humans and the Others, resulting in the murders of both species in nearby cities. So when Meg has a dream about blood and black feathers in the snow, Simon Wolfgard – Lakeside’s shape-shifting leader – wonders whether their blood prophet dreamed of a past attack or of a future threat.

As the urge to speak prophecies strikes Meg more frequently, trouble finds its way inside the Courtyard. Now the Others and the handful of humans residing there must work together to stop the man bent on reclaiming their blood prophet – and stop the danger that threatens to destroy them all.

* Urban Fantasy Investigations

Rating: ***** (5 stars)
Review:

MURDER OF CROWS is the second book in Anne Bishop’s fantastic THE OTHERS series. It continues the story of Meg Corbyn, who we first meet in WRITTEN IN RED (review), a cassandra sangue who wants to live a ‘normal’ life. Meg has survived so far, and slowly adjusted to the world outside but prophecy still calls to her, and as events in the world build the desire to cut and see the future grows.

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ICYMI Sunday 17 – Catch-up & Books

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ICYMI (In Case You Missed It) Sunday is a new meme that I am planning to feature on the blog every week. It is based on the Sunday Post  which is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer, which was in turn inspired in part by the In My Mailbox meme. Basically, it allows me to let you know what went on the blog this week and anything interesting that is going on. It will also allow me to showcase any books I receive like the Showcase Sunday which is hosted by Vicky at Books, Biscuits, and Tea.

It’s been a while since I did one of these posts. Sorry about that. The past eight weeks have been something of a rollercoaster. I went to YALC back in July on the Saturday and just had a really bad day/time there. It was crowded, badly organised, and the toilet facilities were awful. I’ve also been pretty up and down with illness – starting with that weekend – and it’s only really in the last two-three weeks I’ve really stabilised. I also took part in Bout of Books 11, which was fun and I managed to get a lot of reading done – and back on target with my reviews 🙂

On the blog the last couple of weeks:

What else is going on?

No news/links from me this time as I am playing catch-up with blog posts and with new books I’ve received. Sorry guys.

This week there are quite a few books, but it covers almost two months worth of books.

These are the books I got from YALC/Waterstones Piccaddilly/Forbidden Planet:

  • THE INCOMPLETE BOOK OF DRAGONS by Cressida Cowell
  • SHIELD OF WINTER by Nailini Singh
  • LANDLINE by Rainbow Rowell
  • THE IRON TRAITOR by Julie Kagawa
  • THE FOREVER SONG by Julie Kagawa
  • TAKE BACK THE SKIES by Lucy Sazon
  • FROZEN by Melissa de la Cruz and Michael Johnson
  • WORLD AFTER by Susan Ee
  • WE WERE LIARS by E. Lockhart

I got this book from BookBridgr:

  • HALF-BLOOD by Jennifer L. Armentrout

I got these books from Windmill Books (one’s for a friend):

  • The Girls from Corona del Mar by Rufi Thorpe

I got this from Waterstone Piccaddilly:

  • SILVER SHADOWS by Richelle Mead

I won this from Scholastic UK on Twitter:

  • TO AL THE BOYS I’VE LOVED BEFORE by Jenny Han

Currently these books make up my complete physical TBR pile and I’m really looking forward to reading all of them 🙂

I would love to hear what you’ve been up to this week and what books, if any, you’ve got so please leave me a link in the comments below.

Thanks for stopping by :D

Review: Fantasy Lover by Sherrilyn Kenyon

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Fantasy Lover by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Title: Fantasy Lover (Dark-Hunter #1)
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon
Genre: Mythology, Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Piatkus (7th April 2011)
Blurb:

It might sound like a man’s ultimate fantasy – to live forever, destined to be the lover of thousands of women. But for Julian of Macedon, it’s a nightmare. Once a proud Spartan general, he’s now a love-slave, his essence magically held captive in a book for eternity. Then, one day, Grace Alexander summons Julian to fulfill her passionate dreams – and sees beyond the fantasy to the man himself.

Long years as a sex therapist have taken a lot of the fun out of the physical side of love for Grace. But the rules of the enchantment cannot be changed – Julian is hers for the next month. And as their time together slips by, Julian and Grace find more to share than sympathy and conversation and they begin to wonder if love might be within their grasp. That leaves only one question. Is love enough to break a 2,000-year-old curse?

In FANTASY LOVER, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon has penned a highly original novel inspired by Greek mythology that is utterly captivating and completely unputdownable.

Rating: *** (3 stars)
Review:

FANTASY LOVER is the first book in Sherrilyn Kenyon’s well-known DARK-HUNTER series. It tells the story of Grace Alexander, a sex therapist, whose friend thinks that her life should be about more than just her work. Grace’s friend convinces her to try the spell on the book containing Julian of Macedon.

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Bout of Books 11 – The Wrap-Up

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The Wrap-Up

Sunday concluded Bout of Books 11, and it was a great reading day for me. I read 433 pages, which I was really proud of. I finished reading the book I started on Saturday and made an indent into a new one. So I got to end Bout of Books 11 on a high note 🙂

Books Completed (Total): 4 – INTO THE STILL BLUE, NIGHT BROKEN, THE ASSASSIN’S BLADE, DARK VISION
Total Pages: 1,643
Twitter Chats: 2 – I took part in the Monday and Saturday chats. They were beautifully chaotic.
Challenges: 2 – I took part in a Monday Challenge and the Saturday Challenge

Although I did not manage to read 100 pages every day, my total amount of pages read is more than double my original goal. So, I think I should count that as a win 🙂

I had huge fun taking part and am looking forward to participating in Bout of Books 12.

Bout of Books 11 – Day 6

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Saturday – Day 6

Today was a typical Saturday, so I got a little caught up in life and didn’t end up reading much BUT I did manage to squeeze in the challenge. It ended up being a LOT of fun, though more work than I expected it to be!!! Today’s challenge was created by Kimberlyfaye Reads and can be found here.

The challenge:

Use the first letter in any book you’ve read or want to read to spell out a word. You can choose first name, initials, your birthday month, or your zodiac sign.

You can see my entry below – it spells SEPTEMBER (my month of birth).

I used:

Sea of Shadows by Kelley Armstrong
Eon by Alison Goodman
Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
Tiger’s Curse by Colleen Houck
Eona by Alison Goodman
Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder
Battle Magic by Tamora Pierce
Ever After by Kim Harrison
Rising Darkness by Thea Harrison

It was quite difficult finding some of the letters, especially the ‘e’s as I tried not to use any book that had titles starting with the. But I managed it! I’m super proud 😀

Books Read Today: 1
Books Completed (Total): 3 – INTO THE STILL BLUE, NIGHT BROKEN, THE ASSASSIN’S BLADE
Pages Read Today: 50
Total Pages: 1,210

Bout of Books 11 – Day 5

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Friday – Day 5

I had a bad start reading-wise for day five. I slept late then I met Mum in town for lunch, and it was my turn to cook dinner. So I didn’t start reading until probably early evening. Despite that I had a brilliant day reading-wise, though I didn’t participate in the challenge. I think it’s safe to say that Bout of Books is going surprisingly well at the moment.

Books Read Today: 1
Books Completed (Total): 3 – INTO THE STILL BLUE, NIGHT BROKEN, THE ASSASSIN’S BLADE
Pages Read Today: 430
Total Pages: 1,160

Bout of Books 11 – Day 3 & Day 4

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Wednesday – Day 3

The third day of the read-a-thon was a bit busier for me than the previous two days I had to visit the doctor for a routine appointment. Read-a-thon wise the day was…well, a dud. I read zero pages, didn’t do a challenge, and I didn’t stay up and participate in the chat (2am was too late y’all).

Ah well…

Books Read Today: 0
Pages Read Today: 0
Total Pages: 279

 

Thursday – Day 4

With the disaster of day three behind me I approached the fourth day of the read-a-thon with renewed zeal…. and didn’t end up reading in the morning, but I totally surprised myself by the end of the day and I think I’m back on track (kind of).

Books Read Today: 2
Books Completed (Total): 2 – INTO THE STILL BLUE, NIGHT BROKEN
Pages Read Today: 451
Total Pages: 730

Review: Shadowlark by Meagan Spooner

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Shadowlark by Meagan Spooner

Title: Shadowlark (Skylark Trilogy, 2)
Author: Meagan Spooner
Genre: Dystopian, Young Adult
Publisher: Corgi Books (3rd October 2013)
Blurb:

“They only come at night, when the Star fades”

Lark Ainsley escapes the Iron Wood to search for her brother, only to find herself captured and imprisoned in an underground metropolis.

Powerful magic protects the city of Lethe, providing sanctuary from the Empty Ones, monsters who hunger for human flesh.

But this magic comes at a terrible price, and the city lives in fear of their leader Prometheus and this gang of Eagles.

Danger lies in the shadows, and Lark must find the light . . .

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

SHADOWLARK is the second book in Meagan Spooner’s SKYLARK TRILOGY. The book continues the story of Lark Ainsley as she continues her journey to locate her brother Basil. Having left the Iron Wood behind she travels with Nix and Tansy to the next place her brother is rumoured to have travelled to upon his escape.

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Bout of Books 11 – Day 2

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Tuesday – Day 2

The second day of this read-a-thon went much better than the first, at least as far as reading was concerned.

I didn’t participate in any of the challenges, though I did think about them. Infinite Ink’s challenge (more info here) sounded particularly interesting… So I thought I would say something here instead.

Challenge:

For this challenge, I want to hear all about your favorite literary OTP.  Tell me why you ship them.  Tell me how perfect they are for each other.

I have to admit that I don’t have a single OTP, and most of my preferred OTPs are not by any definition canon. So thinking of a canon based OTP has been a bit of a challenge, but I think I’ve managed to come up with a couple, one of which was inspired by Crystal’s example on Infinite Ink. So here goes…

Li Syaoran & Kinomoto Sakura from Card Captor Sakura and Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles both by CLAMP.

I was first instroduced to Syaoran and Sakura through the anime Card Captors, and I just fell in love with the characters and the world. Then I read the manga on which the series was based, and it was awesome. So when I heard that CLAMP were re-using the characters in Tsubasa I had to read it too.

I ship Syaoran/Sakura because they are just adorable together. It was really fun in both mangas watching them fall in love with one another, and the other characters’ reactions to their relationship.

If you’ve never read a manga before, then I totally recommend anything by CLAMP as a great place to start. They typically write really cute romances with adventure and magic.

Alanna & George from The Song of the Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce.

I’m afraid I’ve been an Alanna/George shipper from the start. I know a lot of people wanted Alanna to be with Jon, but I always felt that Alanna would have to bend too much for the relationship to work long-term. I ship them primarily because George makes Alanna laugh and take life less seriously – sometimes she can be too serious, and life has to have fun times too. I also ship them because George is always there for Alanna even when she’s made it pretty clear that she just wants them to be friends.

Books Read Today: 1
Pages Read Today: 241
Total Pages: 279