Cold Days

Cold Days                      
by Jim Butcher is the latest installment in his wonderful 'Dresden Files' series which features that singularly independent wizard Harry Dresden.   If you have never read these stories (or watched the television show during its all too short run) they are a great set of tales that showcase an immensely talented author.  Harry is irreverent and has the most amazing allies and friends, not to mention an irresistible brother who is a White Court vampire.  One of my favorite secondary characters is called 'Bob' who loves salacious literature and inhabits a skull, not to mention the enormous canid known as Mouse who became attached to Harry several books ago.  Harry has become more comfortable with his powers as the series unfolds but his life gets ever more complicated and he is now committed to serving as the Winter Knight under Queen Mab of the Winter Court of the Sidhe.  Her version of rehabilitation would be considered torture by most people's definition but she has a plan, however devious it may be.  It is virtually impossible for Harry to determine who, if any, of the Winter Court will be allies rather than enemies but he knows that he can count on his ties from his previous life.

There are always new and exquisitely fascinating characters introduced in this creative series and the Cat Sith, the malk, is one of those who is highlighted in this particular story.  Just as with any cat, one never knows what mischief will accompany this being who operates according to its own arcane rules.  Harry continues to gingerly traverse that infinitesimally thin line between right and wrong as he struggles to retain his humanity in the face of all of the pressures threatening to undermine him.  An eerie encounter with a being named Kringle gives new fodder to speculation about what happens the other 364 days of the year after the gifts have been delivered, lol.  Another great addition to the series, complete with more unexpected developments that will leave one anxious for the next volume in this exciting series.  My Night Owl review is at this link.

Jim Butcher also has a wonderful action-packed fantasy series known as the 'Codex Alera' which showcases his ability to write enthralling war scenes even as an intricate game of kingdoms is being played, involving fascinating races who have their own rigid structure and code of honor.  Another fun series to read.

                         


 

Upcoming reviews and reads that I am looking forward to!

I have the great fortune to be ALMOST overwhelmed by a significant number of wonderful reads to look forward to.  I am a little stymied by the fact that I have a few projects that I am juggling and have not been able to keep track of what is being released as closely as I should so I have neglected to post some of my reviews in a timely manner.  I am trying to work on lessons through an online class even as I have had the opportunity to do several interesting editing and proofreading jobs and have accrued quite a few titles that I have read and greatly enjoyed and now have to do the reviews!  I refused to make resolutions for New Year's but did promise myself that I would try to catch up on some of the books that I have been sent for reviews so I am slowly trying to integrate them into my pile but I am afraid that it may almost be an insurmountable task so I am just going to do what I can, a little at a time.  My thought on this is...what a delightful problem to have!

   




Recently reviewed:

The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks  (fantasy, sequel to The Black Prism)
Heart of Danger by Lisa Marie Rice (romantic suspense with a paranormal twist), start of a new series
The Protector by N.L. Gassert (m/m, older/younger romantic suspense)


             


Reviews that are pending include:
Wait Until Dark by M.L. Buchman  (military romance)
Cat Bearing Gifts by Shirley Rousseau Murphy  (cozy mystery? with paranormal elements)
Caller of Light by T.J. Shaw  (fantasy)
Lady Eve's Indiscretion by Grace Burrowes (historical romance)
The Marine Next Door by Julie Miller  (Harlequin Intrigue)
A Lady's Pleasure by Robin Schone  (time travel romance)

    


 
Upcoming:
Cold Days  by Jim Butcher  (fantasy)
The Dog in the Dark by Barb and J.C. Hendee  (fantasy)
Dream Unchained by Kate Douglas  (erotica)

Learning tools through the library

I am always amazed by what is available through my local county library.  I treasure libraries since they have provided me with many an hour of entertainment, especially as a child when I could not afford to purchase books.  They help me keep my current book budget down to a dull roar since I am fortunate to have two different library systems to draw from (and yes, both library cards get a workout).

I have mentioned before that there are several resources that I take advantage of through the internet and my county library card number, one of which is called Freegal which allows me to download three songs per week without any piracy concerns.  There is quite a wide range of things available, including a profanity laden but hilarious recording of Robin Williams discussing the planning that went into the formation of the human body called Intelligent Design as well as the ethereal songs recorded by young Jackie Evancho and several works by some of the smooth jazz artists that I like.  I am ashamed to admit that I haven't kept up with the foreign language lessons that I started through Mango but intend to get back to them one of these days and lately have discovered that there is another educational tool called 'Ed2go'.  I am intrigued because there are a breadth of classes that can be attended at one's convenience online and I was delighted to discover that some of them address writing and publishing so I am taking a beginning class in editing.  It's amazing what is out there for free and I urge those of you with local county libraries to look into what they can offer access to, it is pretty amazing.

And, what have I been reading from the library?
Lauren Dane's poignant tale Never Enough which gives Adrian Brown's love story, the entertaining anthology Hex Appeal which includes great stories by Jim Butcher, Rachel Caine, P.N. Elrod and husband and wife team Ilona Andrews , as well as the delightfully spicy Hot in Handcuffs which has tales by three of my favorite authors in their field, Shayla Black, Sylvia Day and Shiloh Walker!  Unfortunately, I have been so busy reading that I haven't written up the reviews so I will have to rectify that.  Support your local library (I tend to donate a lot of my review books to one of my local libraries but they also can use volunteers to help shelve or perform other tasks).  My sincere thanks to the dozens of authors at RWA who cheerfully donated books to help supplement the collection at the Wanda Kirk Library in Rosamond!