Of Thunderstorms and Computers

Between the thunderstorms and my computer being a pain.  I will be delaying the Galley Galore 2.0 blog post.  It will go up tomorrow with the blog post intended for tomorrow.  I do apologize, I at least got one of the reviews up, the others are still in the works, as it is a four book series.  I promise I will have it up tomorrow after work.

Lots of love,
Cae

Also, look for something EPICALLY awesome to be revealed HERE at Confessions of a Bibliophile on June 15th by 11am!

Review: Beneath the Shadows by Sara Foster

Title:  Beneath the Shadows
Author:  Sara Foster
Rating: 4/5

Summary:  A year after her husband, Adam, vanishes outside their Yorkshire moor cottage, Grace returns with her infant daughter Millie.  However, when the weather turns nasty and the winter storms threaten to cut her off from the rest of the world Grace makes a discovery and now must attempt to get her daughter back from the one person intent on taking her away, praying she can get to them on time.


Review:  North Yorkshire has been setting to some of my favorite stories throughout my reading career Dracla, Wuthering Heights, and that in and of itself gives this story brownie points in my book.  After Adam’s mother dies of cancer, he moves in with his grandparents, after attending University and meeting Grace, he marries her, their daughter born within their first year of marriage.  Adam’s grandparents die, and leave him the cottage, so they move from London to the cottage in North Yorkshire.  After they move into the cottage, Adam takes Millie for a walk – Millie is returned, Adam however is not found. 

The tiny village near the cottage is pretty much deserted; however, there is still an old schoolhouse where Meredith and her daughter Claire live. Claire is fine, however, there is something being masked by Meredith’s perfectly polite demeanor.  Ben, the handyman/contractor Grace hires to renovate the cottage is also hiding something…and no one is willing to divulge their secrets.  Winter’s approaching, and this often means snowstorms that keep drivers from being able to see the road, along with a grandfather clock that stops and starts at 3am, and we can’t forget the stories in Ghosts of the Moors – all of these things are slowly doing their best to drive Grace slightly mad. 

The sense of menace is real in this story, and the setting only adds to it and brings it more into being.  The mysteries surrounding Adam’s disappearance, Ben’s secret, and Meredith’s less than honest welcoming attitude are all eventually revealed.  My only disappoint me is that it didn’t have a bit more touch on Wicker Man/Harvest Home theme to it.  My only complaint that dropped this down from a five star review was the constant use of “tears streaming down her face” in reference to Grace when she was crying (which happened frequently).


If you have any questions, comments or recommendations you can contact me at simplicity.kindreth@gmail.com
My reviews can be found here:
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Scheduled Events for the Bibliophile

Things have again been quiet for me.  While I'd planned out a full two weeks of blog posts, it's going to be slightly shifted in its initial posting dates.  I've got about five reviews to write before the first day goes up, and I've also got to get those reviews sent through netgalley.com to the publishers and let them know that they are live, and see about getting the trailer that I'd wanted for one of the books. Beyond that I've still been reading, and already been forming my top 100 books of 2012 list from what I've read so far this year, including what I am waiting for to come out as the year continues toward its end.

So, want a little idea of what is going to be coming up in the next couple of days? Oh, and I've also got a special surprise for you coming up on June 23rd.  I will be hosting a cover-reveal for A.M. Hargrove's new book, Book 3 in the Guardians of Vesturon series.  Are you excited yet?!  Okay, so here is the plan for the next few days (and hopefully the world will behave and I'll be able to stick to it without much divergence):

1. Galley Galore 2.0 - June 13th
• Beneath the Shadows by Sara Foster
• The Unbidden Magic Series by Marilee Brothers (Galley under The Moonstone Series)
• Moonstone
• Moon Rise
• Moon Spun
• Shadow Moon
2. Galley Galore 3.0 - June 14th
• One Moment by Kristina McBride
• Scars by Cheryl Rainfield
• Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
• Honor Bound (Galley titled The Bastard) by Brenda Novak
3. Anticipated Releases - June 15th
• The Lost Prince (The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten) by Julie Kagawa 
• The Mark of Athena (Heroes of Olympus #3) by Rick Riordan
• The Paladin Prophecy by Mark Frost
• Innocent Darkness by Suzanne Lazear
4. Kiddie Corner - June 16th
1. Time Warp Trio Series
2. The Pain and the Great One Series

That's all the update you get for now :) Of course there will be more to be discussed on each of these topics especially the anticipated releases and the Kiddie Corner.  I've already started working on things, because I need to get the reviews up and sent to the publishers via netgalley, and I'm working on reading a couple of different books, including galley copies from different publishers.  One of which is on my list of anticipated releases, though I'm not telling you which one. 

Also, I'm always up for taking suggestion on books to read, my TBR list is probably going to cry if I don't start plowing through it, as it currently has just over 700 books on it and that only accounts for maybe two thirds of the books that I actually have at my disposal to read since I haven't listed all of the available options I have available through Kindle for PC until I can replace my Kindle. 

If you've a suggestion of a book you want me to read, or you have a favorite author that you'd like me to do a feature on her at Confessions of a Bibliophile you can email me at Bibliophile, or simply leave a comment and I will gladly take it into consideration and see if I can get a copy of the book in a reasonable time frame.  

Series Sunday: We Love Them

Series.  Everyone loves a good one, as much as we love a good stand alone novel.  There are so many that have stood the test of time, been turned into major motion pictures, and some that have fallen into obscurity.  I have my favorites, and I'm sure that everyone out there has their own personal favorites.  These are the books that we fall back on time and time again when we need to find something for "comfort" reading or simply to revisit the worlds that we have fallen in love with.

I have fallen in love with The Witches of Eileanan series by Kate Forsyth.  I was originally turned on to this series a couple of years ago by a good friend and I now own all six books of the series, simply because I borrowed the first one from her!

• The Witches of Eileanan  
• The Pool of Two Moons  
• The Cursed Towers
• The Forbidden Land
• The Skull of the World
• The Fathomless Caves

One of the other series that I'd been given as a gift was the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.  I was initially given book four, Drums of Autumn for my sixteenth birthday by my aunt.  I loved it, it's got elements that I absolutely love in a good story: romance, time travel and historical events.  

• Outlander
• Dragonfly in Amber
• Voyager
• Drums of Autumn
• The Fiery Cross
• A Breath of Snow and Ashes
• An Echo in the Bone

There are also so many urban fantasy, vampire, werewolf and classic series that I love, and there are some that I just never started reading (please do not throw stones, I will eventually get into them at some point). What got me on a series kick for today, I'm not sure, but I have a feeling it may have something to do with one of the past episodes of Laser and Sword where they had been talking about series and the time between books, since the last book in the Wheel of Time series is due to come out in the next year or so.  That would be one of the series that I never actually started reading, but I know some who have gotten into it and loved it all the way through, and there are some like Veronica from Laser and Sword who stopped at book four.  

Urban Fantasy series that are my favorites are the Alpha and Omega series and the Mercedes Thompson series both by Patricia Briggs.  I've also fallen in love with the Iron Fae series by Julie Kagawa.  Some of the classic series that I love are Tolkins Lord of the Rings series, and I even loved the movies.  I also love some of the more popular trilogies and series such as Fifty Shades, The Hunger Games, Wings, and Artemis Fowl.

What are some of your favorite series?

Author Read and Review Corner

Alright, so through various groups that I am part of on Goodreads, I have come across some epic books that I've been given a chance to review by the author.  Today's blog post will feature a handful of books by various authors that I've been given the pleasure of reading their books.

Alright, are you ready for a showcase of four fantastic books?  I know I am! So, let's get started.

First book on the list, is A Story not Wished to be Read by Nicola Black.  This is a collection of poetry and is actually quite good, nothing about it ruffled my feathers like some poetry is known to do.  My review was short, but this is by far a four star book, and one that will keep you thinking long after you've read through this short collection.  Review: A Story not Wished to be Read by Nicola Black.

Now, from poetry we venture off into some Dreadful Beginnings, which is the first in the Penny Dreadful series by Marty Shaw.  This book is cute, and I'm looking forward to reading more about Penny and Dr. H. as the series progresses.  Epic book here.  I mean you've got a teenage heroine with pink highlights, strange and mysterious Doctor (complete with nifty and mysterious suitcase of epic demon slaying things), and Penny's new "company car" is a hearse! Review: Dreadful Beginnings by Marty Shaw

From a teenage demon slayer and the strange Dr. H we go to the story of Heather Robbins who has finally escaped her hometown and is beginning her freshman year of college, her own apartment, and so much more, but wait, it's all been a dream?  Spending time in a coma, Heather has created this life in a dream.  She must now press forward and begin finding out the truth, but will she lose all that she has fallen in love with when she finally finds it? Review: Reflection by Jessica Roberts

From dreams created in a coma patient to the New England Immortals, see, I told you this would be a unique and entertaining venture going all over the place!  Andrea Dayla is heading off to college, leaving her Uncle behind, and heading to the town of Hanover, however little does she know that the stories her Uncle has been telling her have been truthful, and not just superstitious nonsense. She meets Shane Brennen and falls in love, but being a teenager and being in love is only half of it right?  Something has to go horribly wrong doesn't it?  Yup, turns out Andrea is only one in a long line of immortal vampire hunters - wait doesn't that mean she has to kill her boyfriend? Just great! Review: Believe by E. Leighanne Grimm-Weever

All of these books are among my favorites and I will definitely be looking for more books in each of these series (save for the poetry book because it isn't in a series).  I've fallen in love with these characters as we are all inclined to do when we get our hands on a good book.  Take a look at all of these books and you will hopefully fall in love with them as well.