Sunday, June 30, 2013

What's On My Kindle? - Episode 3

Welcome to the third installment of What's On My Kindle?

What exactly is What's On My Kindle? This is my own little thing that I am going to be getting out every Saturday or Sunday (depending on what the evil thing known as RL does to me).  Within this post I'll list a few of the books that are currently on my TBR list on my Kindle.  Some are freebies (or were when I bought them), and others I paid for with gift cards, or had a few spare bucks to spend on a book.

All of them, I fully intend on getting to, at some point (and taking a massive chisel to my to-read list and hopefully hack it down to under 1000, again).

All of today's books are box sets that I'd purchased for nothing or at most .99 when they were on sale earlier this year on Amazon.

Royal Princes of Ruthenia Box Set - This has two books in it, and it is one of my indulgences of reading Romance, not that I venture out of my YA Box often, but I do, and the box set was .99 cents...so yeah. It has two books in it, Royal Seduction and Royal Passion.  I have to be in a mood for romance, but I will get to it.

The Witches of Santa Anna- This was another .99 cent box set find that I couldn't turn down.  Really, I couldn't.  Seven books for .99? Really now? Yes please.  Considering that the next box set is priced at 9.99 and each of the subsequent books are priced @ 2.99, I will jump on this one for now.  The first seven books of this series are: Claimed, Tricked, Rumored, Hushed, Pursued, Enticed and Ruined.

The Grimm Diaries Prequels Vol 1-6 - Again, six books for .99.  I will eventually be buying the next two volumes of prequels which are both currently listing on Amazon for $2.99.  What if everything you knew about fairy tales was wrong? The book included in this are Snow White Blood Red narrated by The Snow White Queen, Ashes to Ashes and Cinder to Cinder narrated by Alice Grimm, Beauty Never Dies narrated by Peter Pan, Ladle Rotten Rat Hut narrated by Little Red Riding Hood, Mary Mary Quite Contrary narrated by the Devil, and Blood Apples narrated by Prince Charming.

Historical Romance Boxed Set - Two books in this one, and I paid .99 for it, and it's now listing for $5.99 on Amazon.  One of the books in here I read as an ARC and loved it.  The books included in this box set are: Of Noble Birth and Honor Bound (which is the one I read as an ARC copy).

The Betrayed Series: Ultimate Omnibus - This Carolyn McCray series is a highly praised and highly controversial technothriller, and I am looking forward to reading it and exploring what she's created.  This set not only includes all three full length novels in the Betrayed Series, but the prequel to the series, two bridge short stories (which are HIGHLY controversial) and a short story that takes place after the third book.  The books/stories in this series are: Ambush, 30 Pieces of Silver, Targeted, Havoc, Covert, Shiva, Mayhem.

Apocalypse Babes: The Complete Series - I managed to have .99 cents when this book series went on sale, and I grabbed it.  I'd read the first one, and wanted to read more in the series, right now it is listed at $4.99 on Amazon.  I love the tag line for these novels: No mad skillz, no sacred destiny, just a pink tracksuit that will take her places she never wanted to go... The books in this series are: The Z Word, The X Factor, iRobotronic, Kumbaya Much, Bite Me, and Apocalypse For Realz.

Mimi's Mix - A Book From Each Series! - This box set will probably mess with my book OCD because they jump around in different series and it isn't always the first book in the series.  But, oh well. The books in this one are; Partners, His Devious Angel, and He's Her.

Friday, June 28, 2013

Review: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Title: The Handmaid's Tale
Author: Margaret Atwood
Format: e-book (Kindle edition)
Read: June 24-27
Rating: 4/5
Recommend: Yes

Summary: In this multi-award-winning, bestselling novel, Margaret Atwood has created a stunning Orwellian vision of the near future. This is the story of Offred, one of the unfortunate 'Handmaids' under the new social order who have only one purpose: to breed. In Gilead, where women are prohibited from holding jobs, reading, and forming friendships, Offred's persistent memories of life in the 'time before' and her will to survive are acts of rebellion. Provocative, startling, prophetic, and with Margaret Atwood's devastating irony, wit, and acute perceptive powers in full force, The Handmaid's Tale is at once a mordant satire and a dire warning. (Pulled from Goodreads)

Review: A classic and among one of those books that had been challenged repeatedly for many reasons.  I enjoy reading banned books, and going WTF at some of the reasons that are given for their "challenges."

There are so many questions left unanswered by the end of the book that I wish there were more.  The cliff-hanger had me simply staring at the book for several moments going..."That's it?..There's nothing more?"

Oh well, another "banned/challenged" book tossed into my epic pile of books.  There will be others..oh, yes, there will be others.  This is just a basic review and I will eventually be adding more to it as time goes on I think.

This review will soon also be available on my blog: <a href="http://caedyslibrary.blogspot.com">Confessions of a Bibliophile</a>.