November Reading List 2013.

Yes, I am just crazy enough not to be slacking on books while writing NaNoWriMo this month. Boy, do I have a list of books I'm excited to read this month! I hardly think there's an author in here that I haven't been excited enough to either make a post about up till now, or plan to write about soon enough.

Grave Surprise.

This is the first of many of my continued series reads. Last year, I started the first one in Charlaine Harris' series after it was given to me for free. I've always meant to get back to it. Luckily, there are a bunch of readers on Goodreads who are happy to join me in that aim.

Magic Strikes.

The second continued series read. This book series just keeps getting better and better. Not quite as amazing as Patricia Briggs (I know, I'm a hard judge), but more in keeping with a female Dresden by Jim Butcher. As with that series, the more we get to know about this world, the more and more I'm being dragged into it.

Ship of Destiny.

This is actually the last book in a series, so at least one series will be closing up for me this month. Totally reason for me to start a whole bunch of new series? Whether it is or not, that's what I've got coming up this month!

Wideacre.

I first fell in love with Philippa Gregory reading The Queen's Fool. This is a very different time and type of story. Still historical, the main narrative point that has jumped out at me is that it involves incest between brother and sister. Intriguing, I say.

Charmed Life.

Another first book in a series. This also doubles as my young adult token read of the month. Apparently this is the woman who has taken a large hand in defining Young Adult writing as we currently read it. Published in 1977, I can't wait to see where Young Adult writing has developed from.

Five Quarters of the Orange.

For all I know, this is another young adult-ish read. Heavy on the "ish" as this is not usually the style of writing that Joanne Harris employs. However, what I do know about this novel is that it's meant to be a book primarily about childhood. So. It's not part of a series, but it is the second book I've read by her this year.

Shelf Life.

This book doesn't appear in the picture, largely because I have it on ebook format. Still, I have been waiting for the next great book from Stephanie Lawton, and I have been lucky enough to score an ARC just before release. Be assured, there will be more written about this book to come!

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As ever, feel free to follow my progress on Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6878229.Nicole_D_Fergusson

Throne of Glass, by Sarah J. Maas.

About a week ago, I entered a contest to win Sarah J. Maas' new book Throne of Glass held on Yolanda Sfetsos' website.

As someone who hardly ever wins any of these contests (largely because Australian addresses are often too far for American giveaways to be sent), I was hugely excited both to have an opportunity to enter this contest, and then also to win!

The book arrived today, courtesy of Bloomsbury Australia, and I couldn't wait to read it. Having gone from knowing nothing about this book about a week ago, Goodreads.com has equipped me with a fount of information, reviews, as well as many people I know who are looking to read the book early this month. 

And, it turns out: this book is amazing. From the first chapter, I was comparing it to the Anna Bishop character Lucivar (from The Black Jewels, a stunning yet sadly finished series that I also heartily recommend) were the genders reversed.

Celaena is a young woman who has been made a slave in the mines for a year and earns her reprieve in the opening pages of this book.

Although the sticker on the front cover obviously wants to compare this novel to The Hunger Games (an amazing set of stories and I myself can hardly wait for Catching Fire to screen in cinemas later this year) the fact that Celaena is an assassin makes me draw parallels between this book and other assassin-centric books: Grave Mercy, or the Robin Hobb Assassin trilogy. Thankfully, it's not like the former.

I have found the pacing of this novel is phenomenal. There isn't a slow moment, paragraph or scene so far! About the only thing that I have cause to complain about is the letter 'C'. Celaena. Chaol. Captain of the King's Guard. Crown Prince of Adarlan! (Crown Prince's hunting dogs). The first time a character without a 'C' in their name or title walked past the page, I almost dropped the book.

All in all, this is a first book by an author I've only recently heard of. It's impressed me and I'll definitely consider picking up another book of hers in the future. Indeed, I have it on Yolanda's good authority that the second book is even better than the first! :D

June 2013 Reading List

HELLO! I'm here, I'm still here. I swear it.

So, for anyone interested in the continuation of this post, I have now quit my previous job. My partner and I are the happy owners of an Aussie Farmer's Market franchise and I am... dare I say it, happy. Well, at least not waking up and dreading the day ahead. I won't speak too much about that (truthfully, I'm still working out the kinks of just spelling the word 'franchise'), but suffice to say that it's taken me away from my reading in the last two weeks of the month and, I suspect, will continue to do so for at least a little longer.

Added to that, my writing muse has come back! I blame it on this book, by Patricia Briggs. The last time I tried to pick up this novel in February, it sparked renewed interest in writing my Shadows of Melbourne series. This time, not only did it end my writer's block, but I also finished the damned thing in two days. Two days! It's a good read; the whole Mercy Thompson series is highly recommended.

Still. This month, I'm not expecting to get a whole lot of reading done. Maybe I'll use any excess time I have to finish up reading Game of Thrones.

For this next month, I've been hanging on from last month for two books in particular. These are:

Pandemonium.


3/5 - Not as good as the first one. Nowhere near.
Somehow, in my excitement of putting together my list of books for the month of May, I completely forgot to include a young adult title. This will not happen again. I've even added a whole new list of YA titles on my Goodreads.com account to ensure I will not run out. I love YA.

Seriously... I'm Kidding.

3/5 - Enjoyable but episodic. No unified story.
After reading and enjoying Portia de Rossi's memoir in April, is it any surprise that I've hardly been able to wait to read Ellen DeGeneres' memoir? I'm expecting a completely different tone for this one. Actually, I have no idea at all what to expect about this one. Maybe dolphins.

The Mad Ship.

4/5 - While enjoyable, not the best thing she has written.
Another title I've been looking forward to. Ship of Magic left a lot of questions unanswered and, I suspect,  will do the same, being as it's a second book in a trilogy. Still, my heart looks forward to sailing with Althea once more!

A Storm of Swords.

2/5 - A hard slug and a very thick book.
Actually, that idea above was a really great idea. I have about two hundred pages left of reading this, and glances through have proven to me how different it looks than the end of the HBO series so I won't be confused when I pick up A Feast of Crows.

Cry Wolf.

3/5 - Its only failing being that it's the first book in a series, yet seems to start in the middle.
I don't usually read two novels by the same author in two consecutive months, but I was planning to read this book last month until the library lost it. Also, it is the first book in a different series; Alpha and Omega rather than Mercy Thompson. As I don't actually have this title on my personal bookshelves, I had to wait. Then, lo and behold, it was ready today!

I suspect I shall have to staple my wrist to my forehead and cry 'woe!' for having to read two Patricia Briggs novels in as many months.

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As always, follow my progress this month at my Goodreads.com account: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6878229.Nicole_D_Fergusson

April 2013 reading list

Alright, so March is done.

I am absolutely looking forward to this month. My list may be a little bit ambitious, but we're going to see how we go.

First up!

Delirium.
5/5 stars. 10/10! Flawless read.

My YA novel for the month. I have heard so many great things about this book that I don't even know where to begin, so I will say again a huge big 'Yay!' for the reading party this weekend that ended up with me taking away a free copy of this novel for my home library, and I will probably be following it up with other books in this series pretty soon.

Brave New World.
3/5. Far from flawless, but I can see why this is a classic.

This is my Goodreads.com group read of the month. It has also been sitting on my shelves for a long time, having people tell me that I really must read it, so I'm happy to be giving it a shot. I'm sure it will blow my mind.

Wormwood.
4/5 stars. Some stories were really amazing, some were really gratuitous. 

This is a bit of a cheat book for me this month. I've started this book already, but I need a good excuse to finish it. Poppy's books are kind of like stepping into another world. Truth be told, I am a little bit worried about the shape my mind is going to come out by the end of this month... Still, in pages to be read, I'm more than making up for it with--

Ship of Magic.
4/5 stars. Not as good as her previous writing, but only just.

This book is on loan from a friend and if I don't start and finish it soon, he's probably going to take it away from me. As it is, he's already started asking why it was so urgent for me to get it to him when it's taken me two months already to even get to it. Not my fault! I protest, I love all books equally. I promise I'll at least start this book today. (Whether I finish it this month is a completely other story...) I absolutely loved Hobb's writing for both the Assassin and the Golden Fool trilogies, so I suspect it will be no hardship at all to get through the 880 pages this book boasts.

Dear First Love.
DNF. There is one book every month, and this was this month's.

This novel totally stole a title I would have loved to use but, if it's a good read, I'll forgive it. This book is my NA (New Adult) novel for the month. I totally meant to write up a post before the end of last month exploring the realms of this new genre that seems to have captivated the imaginations of authors and publishers alike, but somehow never quite found time for it. Hopefully I can find time sometime during this month. In between all these books...

Unbearable Lightness.
4/5 stars. Depressing, not particularly well written, but still completely drew me in.

Last, but certainly not least, I look forward to this book for so many reasons. A couple of them are personal, one of them is the fact that I'm really digging memoirs right now. This one has been sorta vaguely on my list since I saw it sitting on a shelf in a bookshop I used to work at. I have a lot of expectations for what I expect this book will be. If it makes me cry, I'm going to be real happy. If it makes me think and reflect, better yet. Just so long as it's written articulately, I'm sure it's going to be great.

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As ever, for anyone interested in following my progress throughout this month, feel free to follow me on Goodreads.com: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6878229.Nicole_D_Fergusson