Angieville

Top Ten Tuesday is a bookish feature hosted at That Artsy Reader Girl It's been awhile, but this topic was too good to pass up. When I thought about it, I genuinely could not recall which were the first ten books I actually reviewed here on the blog. So then, of course, I had to know . The thing is, I originally started the whole thing simply posting a once a month list of my favorite reads and rereads of the month. That went on for some time until lo and behold I went ahead and wrote and posted my first review on November 9, 2007. In hindsight, I probably should have known exactly which book pushed me over the edge into full fledged reviews. So this was a rather delightful journey back in time. Do you remember the first book you ever reviewed (in any forum) or what made you take the plunge? Here are my first ten (and I have to say, looking at this snapshot from the past, these remain some of my absolute favorite authors and a pretty spot-on array of the genres I read and l...

It's funny, the timing of books. It's so funny. I've been sitting on Winter for around about a year now. And it's been well over two since I reviewed Cress . You'll remember, I was not what you might call a "fan" of that book, which partly explains why I waited so dashed long to start Winter . It's just that I was such a genuine fan of the first two books. Scarlet is perfect, in my opinion. And as I was most displeased with Wolf and Scarlet's treatment in Cress (to say nothing of the, shall we call it "phoning in" of Cress and Thorne's characters), well. I had issues, guys. I had issues. But something continued to niggle in the back of my mind that Winter would be different. A return to form, possibly. A casting out of new lines, so to speak. Whatever it was, the Winter kairos all came together for me a week ago, and I basically whipped my way through the fourth installment in the Lunar Chronicles. Ahem. Spoilers for the first ...

I somehow neglected to write a review of Illuminae when I read it last year. It may have had something to do with my response to the novel, which was complex. I was completely riveted to the page throughout. In fact, I swallowed it in a single night. However, I wasn't sure if it would prove to be a re-read for me, primarily because I felt a distance between myself and the characters. The separation enforced by the epistolary format, on top of the protagonists' themselves separation for the majority of the novel combined to make me feel a bit wistful. I suppose I just wished I felt a level of closeness to them that matched the level of commitment I felt to the unfolding story. Which was to say complete and utter . There was, interestingly, no question of whether or not I would be picking up the sequel. Also somewhat interesting was how I felt nothing but excitement that the sequel would follow a new couple. And so it was that Gemina fell into my lap and swallowed me whole. ...

It's been too long since I let myself slip into Linnea Sinclair 's Dock Five universe. Way too long. I love science fiction. I love space opera. And this series is just one of the best out there. I read the first book-- Gabriel's Ghost --a couple of years ago now and I've read several of Sinclair's other non-Dock Five books in between then and now and thoroughly enjoyed each of them. Games of Command is still my favorite. That Kel-Paten. Gets to me every time. But when I finally picked up Hope's Folly the other night in desperate need of some good action and romance, I wasn't prepared for how quickly the world would suck me in again. This installment follows a side character from the earlier books--Chaz's ex-husband and confirmed lifer Admiral Philip Guthrie. I love getting the real story on what's going on with a character we've previously only seen through other characters' eyes. And I wasn't disappointed with Philip's story. Ha...

I have been going through another bout of Kate & Curran withdrawals lately. Really, they're simply Ilona Andrews withdrawals because I just am ten different ways in love with the way they write a world. I know going in to expect to be amazed, delighted, and--above all and thank the high heavens-- entertained . Whether its shapeshifters and magic waves, overlapping dimensions and backwoods feuds, or futuristic assassins and genetically enhanced mafiosi--it is guaranteed to get my bibliophilic heart pumping and I can't tell you how much I look forward to each encounter. This is a good year because we get two full-length novels in two excellent worlds and, having already downed Magic Bleeds , I found myself looking ahead longingly to September and the release of Bayou Moon . And then it occurred to me that I'd never gotten around to reading Silent Blade , the novella published last year from Samhain . I'm not sure how it slipped past me, but I immediately purchased it...

I know what you're gonna say. "Um, Angie?  Doubleblind came out like five months ago. What are you doing reviewing it in February? And you call yourself a fan..." Before you judge me too harshly, I thought I'd lost it. I've been ransacking my house for months trying to find it and hadn't replaced it because I knew it just had to be there somewhere. But it was starting to get a bit ridiculous and just when I was about to go buy another copy, I found it! I won't tell you where because it's embarrassing. But it and I were supremely happy to see each other again and I immediately dove into the Adventures of Jax 3.0 and it was like I was right at home again, as though we hadn't been apart for months on end. Jax is growing up. Despite herself. As the ambassador to Vel's home planet of Ithiss-Tor, she finds herself forced to play a part. A part she feels supremely unsuited for. It doesn't help that she's accompanied by her particularly ragt...

I was lucky enough to win a copy of  The Outback Stars  in a giveaway at  Janicu's Book Blog . She  read and reviewed it  awhile back and enjoyed it so much she decided to give away a copy to spread the love. Awesome, no?  She really piqued my interest, so I was thrilled to get a copy.  The Outback Stars   is military scifi meets space opera meets Australian mythology.  Janicu  says (and I agree with her): I think if you are a fan of Elizabeth Moon you will like Sandra McDonald's books, particularly because of the military aspects. If you like Linnea Sinclair and Ann Aguirre you may like this as well. The author was an officer in the U.S. Navy and her knowledge of the day to day workings of the military seems to really show in this novel. She's right on with that assessment. Specifically, it reminded me in many ways of the wonderful  Games of Command . So if you're a fan of that book  like I am , this one might be for you....

Grimspace   was one of my favorite books of 2007. I loved it because it was nonstop excitement and action, with freaking awesome characters and witty, passionate dialogue. I loved how it ended and would have been happy with that. As I loved the characters so much, I was thrilled to find out  Ann Aguirre  had a contract for three more books in the series.  Wanderlust   picks up shortly after the cataclysmic close to  Grimspace .  Sirantha Jax is at a bit of a loss. Having been declared legally dead puts a damper on your spirits, not to mention access to your bank accounts. Jax is in need of a job and so, against her better judgement, she accepts an offer to serve as, of all things, a diplomat on a suicide mission to a hostile planet in order to forge an alliance with the Conglomerate. Fortunately, March, Dina, and Vel are along for the trip to watch Jax's back. And she needs it as things go south rather quickly.  My heart was in my throat for...

I decided to follow up my first Linnea Sinclair book ( Gabriel's Ghost ) with Games of Command and I am so glad I did. What a fun, fun book this is. I inhaled it over the weekend and wished there was a sequel lying around somewhere when I was done. Games of Command follows main characters Captain Tasha Sebastian and Admiral Branden Kel-Paten as well as secondary characters Dr. Eden Fynn and Captain Jace Serafino. As in Gabriel's Ghost , the two main characters have a history from the get-go and I love that. Makes me feel like I've stepped into something real and multifaceted, like the characters didn't just begin to exist when I opened the book but have instead been living their lives just fine without me and are now generously letting me peek in on what's going on. When their respective employers form an alliance, the former nemeses find themselves working together on the same ship. Tasha and Kel-Paten both have a few very potent secrets to hide, from each oth...

Thanks go to The Book Smugglers for tipping me off to this one. I've heard good things about Linnea Sinclair for awhile but was never sure where to jump in and was waiting for the right mood. I've definitely had a sci-fi hankering lately, so I figured now (on the heels of Grimspace and The Host ) was as good a time as any. Gabriel's Ghost is certainly a fast-paced book and it was kind of cool that it started after some pretty significant action had already happened. The reader is caught up along the way as Captain Chasidah Bergren, aka Chaz, attempts to survive her life sentence on the desolate planet Moabar for a crime she didn't commit. Sound a bit like Jax's predicament in Grimspace ? The two stories do have a fair bit in common, including a leading man who's "psychically gifted" to put it mildly. Though the writing style, IMO, is distinctly different. I'm going to skip a detailed plot synopsis and just say it's light, entertaining spa...

So I hadn't read any actual Sci-Fi in awhile and was looking for something fresh and good. I read a blurb Sharon Shin n wrote for Ann Aguirre 's Grimspace and eagerly picked it up the day it came out. Space opera meets urban fantasy, Grimspace is, justifiably, being compared to the most excellent Firefly and Serenity . In other words, it completely rocks. Sirantha Jax, known simply as Jax, is a rare J-gene carrier, which means she is able to "jump" into a parallel kind of hyperspace known as grimspace and serve as navigator for ships traveling across copious distances in a short time. Each jumper has a pilot and the bond between them is incredibly complex and intense, to put it mildly. Only problem is Jax's pilot is dead, killed in their last flight along with everyone else on board except Jax. Now she's locked up in solitary confinement, deep in the bowels of The Corporation. Under intense psychological "therapy," Jax is forced to relive the ...