Nite Lite Book Reviews

06 January 2013

Stacked (37)

Hey everyone. Sorry this is coming a bit late. I think I am still on vacation time. I just drove back from my parents's house last night. I can't believe break is over. I feel like I wait for it all year long and then it's over in a flash. But I had a really nice holiday at home and hope you all did, too. This week's book haul is pretty small. I've only gotten a few things from the library and bought one book. One of my goals this year is to catch up on my NetGalley books and my physical books pile so I am trying to keep the buying to a minimum. We'll see how long I can hold out. :)

Alice In Zombieland by Gena Showalter - Found this at my local libary today. I really love this cover and the inside is gorgeous as well. This is definitely one I can see myself buying a copy of if it's good just because the packaging is so great.

Valkyrie Rising by Ingrid Paulson - I have heard good things about this one and picked it up from the Overdrive library. I think the cover model kinda looks like Brittany Murphy.

Chime by Franny Billingsley - Found a really pristine used copy of this at the local thrift store while on break. They always have great books. Got this one for $2.99.

Midnight Scandals by Courtney Milan, Sherry Thomas, Carolyn Jewel - I finally got this one after being on the Overdrive waitlist for ages. I am a huge fan of Courtney Milan and knew I had to read this. Am hoping the other stories are good as well.

Did you get anything good this week or are you reading what Santa gave you? I'd love to know so leave a link to your haul post and I will visit. Thanks for coming by. Hopefully I will get back into the blogging schedule soon. You'll probably be seeing more giveaways. I signed up for a bunch of hops just to get rid of some books. Hope you don't mind. Have a great week!

04 January 2013

Grave Peril - Audiobook Review

Grave Peril (The Dresden Files #3)
by Jim Butcher, ready by James Marsters

Publication date: 01 September 2001 by Roc/audio by Buzzy Multimedia

Category: Adult Urban Fantasy
Keywords: Urban fantasy, warlocks, ghosts, revenge, vampires
Format: Mass market paperback, eBook, audibook
Source: Library

Synopsis:

*This review may contain spoilers for previous books in the series.*

Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden has had a rough couple of weeks. As the only openly practicing professional wizard in the Chicago area, he has squared off against a multitude of supernatural bad guys. Harry has won the day against demons, poltergeists, sorcerers, trolls, vampires, werewolves, and even an evil faerie godmother. You might think nothing could spook him. You would be wrong.

Something is stirring up angry apparitions all over town. Something that can break all the laws of supernatural physics. Something that doesnt like Harry.

His closest friends are being targeted. The net is closing in. Harry must find a solution soon or find this is one Nightmare from which he will never waken.

Review:

The Dresden Files is one of those series that everyone seems to love and I feel like I should love it, too. I diligently listened to the first two books and, while I found them entertaining, they didn’t wow me. I never wanted to rush out and read the next book and I always felt like something was missing. But I kept seeing the reviews and people said that it just took a little bit of time for the series to hit its stride and then you’d be hooked. With that in mind, I decided to give the third book in The Dresden Files a chance in the hopes that it would be the book that would convince me of this series’ awesomeness.

The book starts off well enough with Harry and Michael, a new character, fighting off an angry ghost wreaking havoc in the maternity ward of the hospital. Looks like someone powerful is going around and pissing off a bunch of ghosts, causing them to act out destructively. The mastermind of these attacks is more powerful than other demon Harry has ever encountered and he has a grudge against Harry.

At this point, I am on board and it seems like this story could be pretty fun and interesting. Then a girl, Lydia, appears and Harry loses all his common sense. This is a reoccurring theme for Harry and there seems to be an endless queue of damsels in distress just waiting to take advantage of him. Then Harry gets a call that Johnnie Marcone has been attacked. Then some vampires come and threaten Harry and invite him to a ball. And then Murphy is also attacked in the same manner as Marcone. Oh and did I forget to mention that Harry’s evil fairy stepmother is after him as well?

Sounds like a lot of crazy stuff, right? Well it was too much for me. I felt like there were 3 or 4 storylines going on at once and I didn’t care about any of them. The plot just kept getting more convoluted and ridiculous. Seriously, why is everyone trying to kill Harry and how does he manage to survive? I don’t think it’s by his awesome detective skills because he missed a lot of things that were staring him right in the face. And while I normally enjoy Harry’s somewhat martyred air, he comes off as pretty whiny in this one.

The one bright spot was Michael, whom I really liked and wouldn’t mind seeing more of. I also really liked his wife Charity. She had a razor sharp tongue and wasn’t afraid to use it.

As you can see, Grave Peril was not the book to put me on the Dresden Files train. While I like most of the characters and many elements of the books, they just don’t wow me enough to continue on with the series. This last book especially was very tedious for me. Even James Marsters’s wonderful voice is not enough incentive to continue.

Visit the author online at www.jim-butcher.com and his blog.

03 January 2013

Clear Your Shelf Giveaway Hop (US ends 1/10)

Hi, everyone! I hope you are having a great 2013 so far. I am just about at the end of my vacation which makes me a bit sad. It's the start of a new year which means that I am cleaning my shelves. Thanks to Kathy at I Am A Reader, Not A Writer for hosting.

I have lots of gently read books that could use a good home. Most of these are in really good condition though there are a few that I bought used in alright condition. But all of them are readable and from a pet free home. Since I have so many books, I am having 3 (yes 3) giveaways. I have separated the lots into YA, Lit Fiction, and Romance. You can enter all of them though you will have to enter your mailing address for each Rafflecopter form. Sorry but it makes it easier for me if I already have your address and not everyone is going to enter each giveaway.

You don't have to be a follower to enter but, if you like what you see, we'd love it if you came back. Each giveaway lot will have slightly different tasks. Feel free to enter them all if you're so inclined. I am going to list each lot and then the Rafflecopter widgets, so scroll all the way down to enter. Thanks and good luck!

Giveaway Rules:

Open to US residents only.
We are not responsible for lost, stolen, or damaged items.
One set of entries per household please.
If you are under 13, please get a parent or guardian's permission to enter, as you will be sharing personal info such as an email address.
Winner will be chosen randomly via Rafflecopter widget a day or two after the contest ends.
Winner will have 48 hours to respond to to the email, otherwise we will pick a new winner.
If you have any questions, feel free to email us. You can review our full contest policy here.
PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE ANY PERSONAL INFO IN THE COMMENTS. Sorry for the caps but we always get people leaving their email in the comments. Rafflecopter will collect all that without having personal info in the comments for all the world (and spambots) to find. Thanks!

YA lot

Cloaked by Alex Flinn (ARC from library)

Living Violet by Jaime Reed (ARC)

Shatter Me by Tehereh Mafi (ARC)

The Traiter and the Tunnel by Y.S. Lee (UK paperback)

The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict by Trenton Lee Stewart (ARC)

Pride and Popularity by Jenni James (pb)

Romance lot

Good Girls Don't by Victoria Dahl (used pb)

Close Enough To Touch by Victoria Dahl (ARC)

A Seal In Wolf's Clothing by Terry Spear (pb)

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig (pb)

Touch of Power by Maria V Snyder (ARC)

Literary Fiction lot

The Wings of the Dove by Henry James (movie edition pb)
Queen of America by Luis Alberto Urrea (HC - think this might be signed to me)
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (ARC)
NW by Zadie Smith (ARC)
Sacre Bleu by Christopher Moore (ARC)

a Rafflecopter giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway

02 January 2013

Oblivion - Trailer

So I've been to the movies several times since I've been on break (Django Unchained - over the top and controversial; The Hobbit - awesome; Jack Reacher - more serious and better than I thought it would be) and each time I've gone they have played the trailer to Tom Cruise's new movie, Oblivion. Maybe I haven't been paying attention but I knew nothing about this movie. Looks like your typical dystopian sci fi movie, with Earth a barren wasteland. There's obviously some kind of conspiracy going on and Tom Cruise gets to play the man out for the truth (which he's usually pretty good at playing). And Morgan Freeman is always fun to watch. It's not something that I am going to run out to see but I'll probably catch it on DVD.

Anyone else interested in this one?