It's Monday, What Are You Reading? (Oct. 3, 2011)

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

Last week was another slow reading week. At my current rate I am really unlikely to meet my goal 0f 250 books for this year. I did manage to finish:

Lassiter by Paul Levine which was an entertaining mystery novel set in South Florida and featuring the pornography industry and assorted gangsters. My mail complaint was that the "hero" wasn't really heroic. He was an ordinary guy who made mistakes, cut corners and tried to redeem himself. He was a champion for justice but not necessarily a fan of the "rule of law." I did enjoy the story. My review is here. 

A Beautiful Friendship by David Weber is his first young adult book. I have long been a fan of his Honor Harrington series and fascinated with Nimitz, Honor's treecat companion. I was pleased that this was the story where humans and treecats first met and became companions. The main character - Stephanie - is smart, honorable, courageous and willing to do anything for her new friends. My review will be posted on October 8.

Both of these were books I had received for review. Continuing the theme, so is the book that I am currently reading: Blood: Book One of the Mercian Trilogy by J. K. Wignall. This one is a young adult vampire story about a young man who was born in 1240 and "taken ill" in 1256. He has been alternating between periods of wakefulness and hibernation every since. When he wakes he craves blood. But this awakening is somehow different. I don't think that I will be following on to books two and three because I am not really connecting with the main character.

Next week I have two young adult books and two adult books on my stack. Three of the four are also books that I have for review.

Eve by Anna Carey is one of my Amazon Vine picks. Here is the description that intrigued me:

Where do you go when nowhere is safe?

Sixteen years after a deadly virus wiped out most of Earth’s population, the world is a perilous place. Eighteen-year-old Eve has never been beyond the heavily guarded perimeter of her school, where she and two hundred other orphaned girls have been promised a future as the teachers and artists of the New America. But the night before graduation, Eve learns the shocking truth about her school’s real purpose—and the horrifying fate that awaits her.

Fleeing the only home she’s ever known, Eve sets off on a long, treacherous journey, searching for a place she can survive. Along the way she encounters Arden, her former rival from school, and Caleb, a rough, rebellious boy living in the wild. Separated from men her whole life, Eve has been taught to fear them, but Caleb slowly wins her trust . . . and her heart. He promises to protect her, but when soldiers begin hunting them, Eve must choose between true love and her life.

In this epic new series, Anna Carey imagines a future that is both beautiful and terrifying. Readers will revel in Eve’s timeless story of forbidden love and extraordinary adventure.

I also have Steampunk: An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories from NetGalley. I have liked all the steampunk stories I have read and am eager to give these a try too.

I just received A Lawman's Christmas by Linda Lael Miller for review. I have like the books I have read by Miller and am in the mood for a good romance. This ones sounds like fun. 

Cast in Ruin by Michelle Sagara is the latest in her epic fantasy series. I have enjoyed all of the rest of the series and am very eager to read this one (even though I have tons of review books that I should be reading).

Those are my plans. Wish me luck in actually completing them. I don't think I have anything major scheduled to disrupt my reading time this coming week. My poor Atlanta Braves didn't make the Play-Offs. So my interest in post-season baseball is pretty slight this year.