Category Archives: World of Books

Lois McMaster Bujold: A Civil Campaign

World of Books June 12, 2011 Leave a comment

I feel so pleased with myself for deciding to re-read the Vorkosigan saga, this time in English. I don’t mean to say anything bad about the Croatian translation but original is still original.

I know I haven’t been reviewing the books in the series but I just didn’t feel like to – I enjoyed them immensely and just didn’t feel I could do them justice in  reviews. It’s one of the best science-fiction series out there if you ask me. The way Ms. Bujold writes is just incredible. She can convey everything through her words and honestly, I don’t feel any translation can ever do her good unless done by an equally talented writer.

The reason I wanted to review this particular book, which is almost at the end of the series is because the whole series sort of coalesces in it. I’ve been having laughing fits over situations in this book which are the culmination of all the previous books and the fact that you got to know the characters so well that you can imagine completely the scenes that are happening.
So much irony, sarcasm, characters’ characters clashing, funny scenes, it’s wonderful how many situations that make one laugh ended up in this book. It’s the book where Miles is wooing Ekaterine, without her actually knowing it’s happening while everyone else does. Well, you can see where the funny  aspect can come from…
It was pure pleasure to read it. 🙂

I’m looking forward to other 2 novels left (and a novella) and then it’s the end of my Vorkosigan jaunt.
There are other worlds that await me but Barrayar is the one I know I’ll be coming back to.

Charlaine Harris: Dead Reckoning

World of Books June 5, 2011 Comments: 2

I don’t know what to think.

I love the fact that some of my favourite characters get to star in novel after novel but I also wish those novels would be on par with the beginning of the series.
I am not terribly happy with this installment of Sookie Stackhouse adventures, especially after having the series in my mind, which I have to admit that even though they don’t really stick to novels, are very well done in my opinion.

The moment that made most impact on me in the whole novel was the part where Sookie thinks about sins and says that she doesn’t think  a child molester and a person who doesn’t pay taxes make for equal sinners and goes on to say that you can’t choose what to obey when it comes to not sinning.
But I can’t help but agree that not all sins are equal and you aren’t supposed to choose yourself which sins you are going to commit, you’re supposed to do your best not to make them.
This is all in deliberation of what she is about to attempt and there might be some who might not agree with her thoughts. I can’t really say what my thoughts are on the subject as I’m having problems understanding Sookie’s character as it is. Although I’ve known this for some time now, I just don’t understand her frame of reference.

But that has nothing to do with how much I like the book. It’s just feels like taking advantage of the fact that series is so well known (not a new thing in the publishing world to be sure). I can’t seem to gather much enthusisasm about it. Yes, I read it as fast as I could as I love the series, and I will certainly buy the next one as soon as it’s out but it didn’t make me feel exhilarated and anticipating the next one as I feel good books should.

I sincerely hope this changes with the next one.

Rachel Hawkins: Demonglass

World of Books May 28, 2011 Leave a comment

I’m very thrilled and extremely upset at the same time.

This is the second installment of the Hex Hall series and although I was very happy after finishing the first book, Hex Hall, and realizing the second one had just been published, I can’t say I’m happy about it anymore.
I mean, it’s completely unfair to readers finishing a great book with a cliff-hanger and making them wait for god knows how long for the next one (the only info I could find said 2012 – aaarrgghh!). And the more times this happens, the more I get upset. Especially when the book was great.

I enjoyed Hex Hall immensely. I like reading YA novels and I find them good, rarely do I find them great and usually the further they go, the less the appeal of the story.
This one is just at its beginnings but I hope it’s not going to become a never-ending series always ending nowhere and making you frustrated you need to wait for the next one a whole year (do people even realize that readers forget parts of the story referenced in the future books as we tend to read a lot?).
Anyway, the only reason I’m ranting now is because I want to read the sequel so badly. 🙂

I don’t want to get into many details now, this book is about Sophie spending the summer with her father in England where she goes because she wants her powers removed and everyone else wants her not to. And as soon as she arrives, intrigant things start happening and well, it just keeps getting more and more complicated after that.

I love the fact she is snarky because she does it very well, and even though I’m no longer a teenager, she seems like a real portrait of one (and for a change, a rather smart one).
I also love the references throughout the book to different books and movies and just associations they have which seem very normal and expected in casual, snarky teenage conversations. I particularly loved one about Mr. Darcy (he, of course, has a special place in my heart). 🙂

So basically, it’s one of the best examples of YA novels out there and if you’re interested in reading it, I’m warning you in advance, you won’t be happy once you finish Demonglass.
As Hex Hall 3 is long way from being published…

Lois McMaster Bujold: Shards of Honor

World of Books April 21, 2011 Comments: 3

This is one of 2 prequels to Miles Vorkosigan stories but my second time around, I wanted to start at the beginning. And it’s been quite a while since I read the Vorkosigan saga.

This is the story of Miles’ parents meeting and falling in love. 🙂

Btw, I love it when reading a book makes me come to a whole bunch of realizations, one of which is also that by the time I write the review, I forget some, get some new ones, and forget to write some of those down too in the post. 🙂 But then again, I never said my mind was organized.

One of the realizations was the fact that I read for fun and thrills. What I mean is, that the story can be made interesting and breath-taking (reading without breathing much) and the love story can develop and characters not even to kiss well after they both know they are in love. And the best thing? It wasn’t even the kiss that was thrilling – it was all the dialogues that came before and after. 🙂

One of the more disturbing realizations was, what was I doing when reading this for the first time?! It’s normal to forget parts of the story, I just can’t remember everything after one reading, but I seem to have missed quite a lot of underlying hints too, looking in retrospect. And I’m not sure I can blame it all on the Croatian translation (as this series was translated into Croatian) and that’s how I read it originally. That was quite some time ago so I decided to do it again, only this time in original. And I’m glad I did. You always lose something in translation, it’s normal. Now, I’m enjoying myself fully.

It is such an intelligently written book and if you don’t pay attention, you can actually get lost in both the dialogues and underlying politics. It certainly engages the mind while giving it a thrilling science-fiction ride.
And even though the stories revolve around warfare and the Barrayar society is based on military basics, this book and the whole series is actually a strong voice against was, aggression and bloodshed.

I highly recommend this to anyone even slightly interested in either fantasy or science-fiction. You won’t regret it. Especially after Miles enters the scene. 🙂

J.D. Robb: Treachery in Death

World of Books April 19, 2011 Leave a comment

You know, I always wondered how someone who wrote 33 books in one series manages to make them all interesting, thrilling and basically un-put-downable (is that even an expression?!)?
I still have no answer, but JD Robb (Nora Roberts actually) manages just fine. Well, more than fine as I can’t wait for paperbacks and I keep ordering hardcovers, now, when the series is going so well, as you can’t get the books otherwise. Btw, I really hate that – I’m a long time reader of this, I should deserve being able to buy them at paperback prices without waiting so long. But ok.

The other thing I was wondering is how you review installment 33 of a series?! I mean, those who came so far don’t need a review and will probably buy the book as soon as possible, and those who haven’t probably aren’t interested in reading a review of book no. 33.  😉

So, if you’re wondering how I’m going to do it – I won’t.

I’ll just say it contains everything that made the previous books interesting – the love, the friendship, the intrigue, and the moral code good cops live by.
It all combines into another story that made Eve Dallas become a live character for me, a character that stands outside the novels and that is something that doesn’t happen often.

P.S. She also has the body and the husband I want. 🙂 Not the job though.

Shelly Laurenston: Hunting Season (The Gathering)

World of Books April 11, 2011 Comments: 4

Before I forget, please, anyone who reads my book reviews and has a suggestion for me of something I might like, do make it/them.
I’ve never even heard of Ms Laurenston before Geordan commented and mentioned her name in the context of paranormal romance.
Btw, has any of you ever wondered how broad a term romance is when applied to books? 😀

So, as this experience went well for me, AND it was my first official Amazon download to my Kindle, I’m now eager for more suggestions that will entice me to download more books. So, suggestions are welcome and well, expected. 😉

OK, onto the book. Like I already mentioned, romance is a broad term when applied to books, so I was a bit taken aback when the romance way I’m used to when applied to human anatomy went straight to direct speech. Can’t say I was expecting that. 🙂

But I believe it says a lot about the author that she made me forget I wasn’t used to naming parts of human anatomy and by the end of the book forgot that were the words I was reading.
Now I’m making it seem like this was the most important part of the book. 🙂 It wasn’t. Well, I don’t really know what was the most important part of the book as from what I gathered, it is supposed to be a start of the series, the only problem with that is there is no information when the next book might come out (or if). And I was ready to start reading about Tye and Janelle, figuring if the story about Neecy and Yager came out in 2009 ( and I believe that was re-published), chances were good I might be getting the next installment in a minute (through my lovely new friend called Kindle). No such luck. 😦

I keep writing and not saying much about the book. 🙂 But I guess you can tell from the fact that I wanted to start on the next right that minute, I enjoyed it. And I did.
I do think I could have done with a little more character development for Neecy and Yager but it was ok as it was.
I loved the conversations, I especially loved the bizarre situations featuring mostly Mike (I think his name is Mike, I’m bad with names), and the fact that this series is connected to Norse mythology. I don’t really want to talk about the story, as with all books that keep your attention throughout, there are enough little things that make it interesting.

P.S. I just need to say this – there is no way Yager looks like the guy from this cover.

Pic by: http://www.shellylaurenston.com/

Mary Balogh: a Secret Affair

World of Books April 1, 2011 Comments: 8

Sometimes I wonder what do people who read my blog for perfume reviews think of my taste in books? 🙂
I know some people are ashamed to admit to reading romance but I don’t know why – it’s one more thing that makes you who you are.

Anyway, I had a bit of a revelation today as I was chatting with a friend regarding horoscope and she took a look at my natal chart and laughed. It seems my horoscope shows I have an urge to escape reality through my hobbies and woe to anyone trying to separate me from them (luckily, my boyfriend is very supportive of both my reading and my perfume habit – but you know about the perfume part already).
So, if you consider that I need to escape reality and stress of everyday life, I don’t think my choice of books to read is that strange.

Well, this tells you nothing about the book. 🙂 I’ll start with, it made me cry. And that doesn’t happen often. Actually, it did happen recently with one of the Steven Burst’s books but also deservedly.
It’s been awhile since that happened – and I’m usually the laughing stock of anyone who watches a movie with me that makes me cry.  I honestly can’t help it. And it happens more with movies than with books.
So, a book that made me shed a tear is a good one. 🙂

I’ve had a period when I discovered Mrs Balogh’s books and went through all I could find. It’s been awhile so I forgot why exactly I loved her books so much but this one brought it all back.
I won’t go into details about the story, it’s on every other blog and book cover out there. I’ll just say that the dialogues between the two main characters are some of the best I’ve ever read in a romance novel. I loved them!

The story is great and a novel one (I’ve read so many romance novels that some seem like plagiarism) and I have nothing more to add. If you like reading romance, I highly recommend this.

Rachel Hawkins: Hex Hall

World of Books March 23, 2011 Leave a comment

This book made me wonder how come I like to read YA novels and enjoy them a lot. My perspective of the teenage years has changed a lot since I’m no longer one but I guess, the outlook teenagers have on life and the strength of emotions pouring out of them will always be fun to read.

So, Hex Hall.
It seems there is a recipe out there on how to write a  supernatural YA fiction. I couldn’t help but notice some plot/structure similarities with the House of Night novels, only in this case it’s about witches (and fae and shapeshifters) and not vampires.
This might not sound good but I actually enjoyed the book very much. The pace is fast, there are no superfluous information, it feels and reads very compact.

I liked Sophie, the main female character, and for once, I found a character who despite her teenage years didn’t seem to have problems reasoning. That seems to be a problem often with YA fiction, that characters somehow “miss” the obvious conclusions (you know, the underlying idea being they are young and still have problems with logical thinking, I just can’t buy that).
Not with Sophie. Yes, she is a typical teenager but she is strong and smart and I love her.

Luckily for me, the next book just came out in the beginning of March – Demonglass and I’m sure my Kindle will love having it.

Kristin Cashore: Graceling

World of Books March 13, 2011 Leave a comment

I want to read as much as I can lately. It’s probably due to two facts, I have so many great books on my to-be-read pile and I need some serious relaxation time (as there won’t be any skiing trips for me this year and I cannot describe how much that makes me sad).

Anyway, I feel I’m getting better and better at choosing new books (not series installments I follow) as this year I already read several new authors (to me) and all were good/great. In any case, better than expected. Which sounds condescending even to me but I’ve been known to purchase books I never finished.

One of the ways I determine how great a book was is whether when I stopped reading it for whatever outside influence, I go back to it or take something else into my hands that seems more interesting at the time, and when I finish it, I’m left wondering if there is a sequel.
This one made me think both. I love good fantasy and I love it when the author manages a new perpsective (because honestly, it’s all been re-done so many times, I forget who wrote which series).

The children born Graced are recognized by their unmatching eye-color, and even though eye-colors are recognized early, the Graces take a while to manifest.
The female character we follow, Katsa hasn’t had the greatest childhood at her uncle’s court (her parents are dead) as her Grace first manifested (a slights spoiler) when she bare-handedly killed a man at court.
Her uncle being a king and being a child able to kill with her hands, she is of course trained as a killer. and this is only the barest part of the story which I’m not going to describe here.

I love the way she thinks, I find it endearing how her childhood prevented her from learning to decipher people’s actions and how it takes forever for her to come to terms with her own emotions, while it takes her very little time to decide on the most proper way to act (unless again her emotions are at stake).

Life for the main characters in this book is not easy and the book doesn’t end in the manner of “They lived happily ever after” but it still leaves you feeling glad things came out the way they did.

I don’t think I’ll read the prequel but I will definitely read what comes next.

P.S. I won’t read the prequel as from what I’ve been able to gather it’s about the seriously evil character from this book and I’m just not up for reading a book about him, however great it might be written. I could be wrong in my assumptions though…

Kresley Cole: Dreams of a Dark Warrior

World of Books March 6, 2011 Leave a comment

I couldn’t wait for this book to arrive. As I’m a huge fan of Kresley Cole, I eagerly await each new book that comes out. And luckily for me, now I will no longer have to wait until it reaches Zagreb but will be able to instantly download it to my Kindle – yeeeey! 🙂
That wasn’t the case with this one though, as I’ve been on the waiting list here in Algoritam long before it came out.

Honestly I think Ms. Cole outdid herself this time. I recommend her books to anyone interested in paranormal romance as the place to start (even though that might set the bar high).

A slight spoiler ahead.

I loved Regin’s and Declan’s story. And when I say Declan’s, I do mean that. Aidan the Fierce being reborn through the ages because of his love for Regin, only to die in every lifetime (as someone else) each time they make love is some seriously tragic material. And I suffered through their tragedy, I laughed at Regin’s banter, my heart clenched at the strength of their tragic love, and well, the hot scenes did what they were supposed to as well. 😉

The romance I read usually manages to do one of these things, either I read one for the emotional satisfaction, or the great steamy scenes, or the characters’ conversations are fun to read. Sometimes two of those, but rarely all of it in such a strong (even cathartic) way. And that’s why I loved this book (maybe even a little better than all the others in the IAD series).

The best thing – this is not Aidan’s story, this is Declan’s story and he deserves it.

P.S. I’m left wondering what’s the deal between Nix and Lothaire. And who is this person he so badly needs to save.

Pic by: http://kresleycole.com/