104:105 Harvest Hunting by Yasmine Galenorn

The 8th book in the Sisters of the Otherworld series by Yasmine Galenorn. This one was told by Delilah. Chase is dealing with his taking of the Nectar of Life and their relationship doesn't look like it can handle it. The Autumn Lord has decreed that she must begin her training and that she is to look for his surrogate whom she will know when her mark starts to sing. But of course, life continues to go on and there are still demons trying to hunt them down, the spirit seals to find and protect, the issues going on between the sisters and their father, and their suspicions of the Elf Queen. Life just can't get any more fun for the D'Artigo sisters.

This is life. There is never just one problem at a time, the bad guys don't just wait for you to find them, and your friends/family aren't always going to be there. People get hurt, sometimes even killed. Again, these books are fast paced with tons of sub-plots going on but everything is woven together so splendidly. I'm already chomping at the bit for the next one.

Page count: 273p/33,898p ytd

104:104 Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

Read for Matthew's book club. I still can't believe I'd never read this book before. I found it be wonderfully detailed and the language incredibly rich and descriptive. The constant side-switching of Silver kept me on my toes figuring out how things would all work out (have to admit I was hoping he'd swing after everything he'd orchestrated). A quick read but thoroughly enjoyable.

And with this, I've finished my 104 books challenge although I haven't hit the 35,000 pages that I was going for yet. This is the first year that I've hit 104 books with so much time to spare. Usually I'm reading like a fiend on December 31 trying to finish the last book. LOL I've got just under 1,500p to read to finish that goal up and I'm sure that won't be too hard with 2mos left on the year. I'm not going to figure out a new goal in terms of books read although I will obviously be continuing to read and I'll probably keep the same goals for next year as well. I'll wait to do a top 10 or something of my favorite books until the end of the year.

Page count: 177p/33,625p ytd

104:103 Death Masks by Jim Butcher

Book 5 of the Dresden Files. Once again, Mr. Butcher has many different plots all twisting Dresden around in many different directions and which will resolve into 2 different ones once everything settles towards the end. In the end, most things are wrapped up nicely with just a few slightly loose ends that will likely be further plot points.

So the basic plot points here are that Ortega of the Red Vampire Clan has challenged Harry to a duel to end the war between the Red Clan and the White Council. Susan is back in town which has something to do with Ortega. The Shroud of Turin has been stolen and is believed to be in Chicago and Harry has been asked to find it. The Denarian are out and about and appear to be gunning for Harry. Michael and his fellow Knights are determined to keep Harry out of things as they've been given a piece of a prophecy that his being involved could get him killed.

Butcher does a good job of keeping all the different sub-plots going and eventually condensing. I'm personally surprised by the fact that Dresden can keep all the different plots against his life straight so he remembers to get to the duel before heading to deal with the thing he was just in the middle of. Talk about all kinds of superhuman.

In all, a fun read. I'm enjoying the series for the bubblegum that it is. Nothing deep, no major character developments. People and plot are pretty straight forward with no major twists or turns but sometimes, it's nice to just go along for the ride.

Page count: 374p/33,448p ytd

104:102 Feed by Mira Grant

Not something I would usually pick-up and choose to read but yet again, the 16yr old handed it to me and said 'You MUST read this". I put it on my to read pile and promised to get to it when I could.

OMG! I am NOT generally a zombie person. They are okay but I won't go out of my way to see a zombie movie nor read a zombie book unless there is something incredibly unique about it (aka Breakthers) but this one had me hooked early on and by the middle I could no longer put it down until I had finished it. The characters were so real, the world she pictures (takes place in 2040) is so believable, it's impossible not to care about everyone. You are shocked when the acts of sabotage are committed and I will admit to actually crying at one point in the book (won't tell when tho). It's not often a book gets to me in that way but this one did.

This is the first in what will be a series although I don't know when the next will be out and Mira Grant is actually a pen name for Seanan McGuire who has an urban fantasy series in that name (which I have and totally can't wait to get to now that I've read this one).

In the words of my 16yr old "Go read this book NOW!"

Page count: 599p/33,074p ytd

104:101 Discord's Apple by Carrie Vaughn

I had no idea what to expect when I saw this in the bookstore. The only thing I knew was that I had enjoyed other books by this author so I grabbed it. Not my normal inclination for a new hardback that isn't in a current series I'm reading but sometimes fate leads you and following is good.

This was really different from her Kitty novels. No werewolves, no vampires, nothing so mundane for this book. We have nothing less than the return of the ancient magic and goddesses, kings and magicians. In a world intent on tearing itself apart, can they save us and at what cost?

Simplistic in her writing style, she lets the story tell itself rather than elaborately embellishing it. The story itself does weave through time a bit but only to give you information as you need it. I thoroughly enjoyed her weaving of this tale with all the different characters that she brought to it and was disappointed at the end only because it was over so quickly and it seems to be a stand-alone.

Page count: 299p/32,475p ytd

104:100 Lover Avenged by JR Ward

The 7th book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Ok, I'm admitting it. I'm glad I stuck with it. I really almost stopped reading because the cliche formula had just gotten to be too much for me and I was gagging it down. Not how I really want to spend my reading time. The last one was good so I was suspecting this one to be back to awful formula. I couldn't have been more wrong or more pleasantly surprised. In this one we get more in depth with Rehvenge. We already know about his deal with the princess of the sympaths and we know that he killed his step-father. We know he's a drug dealer and not a person (vampire/sympath) to piss off. In this one tho, we really get farther into his mind and see how deep his loyalties to those he loves do run.

Not only that tho but things with Lash and the lessers continue to play a fairly prominent role and there is some other drama going on with the vampire glymera. Top it all off but Wrath finally loses his sight completely and there is a lot for him to deal with.

Of course, it ends with a happy ending and Rehvenge gets his mate. And the next book is set-up to deal with the situation between John Matthew and Xhex (big surprise there, I know).

Page count: 647p/32,176p ytd

104:99 The Ancient Greek World by Jennifer T. Roberts & Tracy Barrett

Middle School level ancient history. I felt this did a very good job of going through ancient Greek history. It didn't focus over much on religion and mythology as I've seen so many others do. It focused more on how people lived and how their lives developed. Lots on the wars since that was, unfortunately, a fairly common occurrence but also on the development of the poleis (Greek city-states). They told of King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans against Xeres of Persia (the basis for the recent movie 300). Lots on the inventors and philosophers as well. Overall, very pleased with this series for middle school history.

Page count: 175p/31,529p ytd

104:98 Summer Knight by Jim Butcher

The 4th book in the Dresden Files. Harry is a wreck after what happened to Susan in the previous book and has been working non-stop for weeks to try and find a "cure". Unfortunately, his actions have started a war between the Red Court of the Vampires and the White Council of Wizards. The Council has charged Harry with gaining them safe passage from the Winter Queen, Mab, through her lands in Fairy or he will be given over to the Red Court to put an end to the war. Mab has already contacted Harry to let him know that his godmother has sold her stake on him to the Queen and she has a job for him. The Summer Knight has been killed and his mantle of power stolen and Mab is being accused. She wants Harry to find out who did it and clear her name. So just a few things for Harry to deal with.

Lots of fun, lots going on, lots of political intrigue. Not so much in the character development or growth. Harry is who he is and I suspect that we will see little growth beyond who we saw in the first book. Still, it's a fun urban fantasy series and good for when you want to turn the brain off and just enjoy the ride.

Page count: 371p/31,354p ytd

104:97 Lover Enshrined by JR Ward

The 6th book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Yeah, I kept reading them. I have to say I was much happier with this book than the last. The war with the Lessers has heated up, more vampire politics, and changes to the religion of the vampires. We don't learn a lot of Phury's past as so much of that was covered with Z so there was a lot more time spent on dealing with his addiction issues. Yes, in the end of course he got his one perfect mate but it didn't instantly fix his problems and overall, it was a minor part of the story.

I'm really hoping this trend continues in the next book. It would definitely make me think better of this series.

Page count: 534p/30,983p ytd

Happy Sweet 16, Christopher!!!

So hard to believe that 16yrs has passed since the moment we first heard you cry as you entered the world. So many ups and downs throughout your life and this last year has been no exception. I think this year tho, has seen so many huge changes in you that it's almost like your first 2yrs all over again. The incredible leaps in independence in so many areas, the maturity that is starting to be displayed more and more often, the self-confidence. I continue to look at you and wonder what happened to my baby but I also look at you and marvel at the incredible man you are starting to become.

I'm so proud of you and I love you with all my heart (despite my embarrassing you at every possible moment today).

Happy 16th Birthday Christopher!

104:96 Lover Unbound by JR Ward

The 5th book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. In this one we cross way over into the "Oh, come on! You can't be freaking serious?" realm of romance writing and I think this one has cemented the "I don't do romance books" into my brain. I just can not take how ridiculous this one got when the writing brought back the female love interest as a ghost just so the couple could stay together.

The good parts, learning more about V was nice. I do enjoy the background stories on the brothers. The start of Phury's book was in evidence. Unfortunately, that was the pretty much the only good part of this book. The plot was slow, the Lessers were a side note, the romance was totally unbelievable. Honestly, the worst of the series so far.

I have the next two here and want to be able to hand them back so I'm going to keep going but I'm almost cringing at the thought. Really hoping the next one is better.

Page count: 502p/30,449p ytd