May has been a busy month! It seems as though I live and breathe work and school, with only the briefest moments of reading any of the books I am anxious to get to.
Last month, I told you about the invitation to write some book reviews for a great site called
Novels Alive TV. I'm happy to announce that I received an ARC (advanced review copy) of a murder mystery by first time author Allan Retzky, titled
Vanished in the Dunes: A Hamptons Mystery, and my first review for Novels Alive TV has been published! Please check out the site, and my review,
here. I would like to mention that the site isn't simply geared towards book reviews, but also has many interviews with new and well-known authors alike. If, like myself, you'd really like to get into the heads of your favorite authors then you will get a kick out of the interviews and reviews posted on Novels Alive TV.
In addition to my first review for Novels Alive TV, I also read a little series by George R. R. Martin, called
Game of Thrones. This I did strictly for my own pleasure, not necessarily for any blogging or reviewing purposes. I started by watching the first season of the HBO series based on the novels and as soon as I heard season 2 was filming, I HAD to go get the book series. My friend Kyle had advised me to do this from the beginning, and I wish I had listened! The first book was so spot on to the television series. The second book,
A Clash of Kings, has been the same in comparison to the television series, with only slight deviations that really don't affect the enjoyment of the original work. Let me tell you, George R. R. Martin has a way with words, and a great point of view for all of his characters. His transitions from character to character are so smooth that despite the many different points of view, the reader doesn't get as lost as you might expect.
Game of Thrones is mostly from the point of view of the Stark family, and so I expected the second book to continue with this as well. My loyalty as a reader has, understandably, been with Ned Stark and his family. I was a bit surprised that I was able to catch a glimpse of different characters than just that of the Stark's, and even more insight into characters that had once been only outlying members of the cast when Martin put them front and center in
Storm of Swords, the third installment. By the fourth book,
A Feast for Crows, I have come to expect the unexpected from Martin, and pleasantly so.
I am, however, a bit OCD when it comes to my books. I simply cannot handle it when you purchase the first of a series in paperback and half way through purchasing the rest of the series, realize that the newest books are only currently out in hardback. So.... I still have yet to read the fifth book,
A Dance with Dragons, only because the darn thing doesn't come out in paperback until August. Unless you share my OCD sickness of having all your book series match, you aren't going to get my annoyance and utter impatience with having to wait three months to read the last book!
Moving on to my current read, I decided to FINALLY get started with the Brenda Joyce
Deadly series, only to discover about four chapters in that the book I'm reading,
Deadly Illusions, is really the middle of the series. I thought the author was referencing material that might come up later in the book, but no. What I thought was book one is actually book seven. The horror of it all is almost too much for my OCD to take on. When I attempted to find the chronological reading order, I found the website for the author VERY difficult to read - full of spelling errors and pages that were undecipherable because of the background the owners have chosen. But I didn't let it stop me, as I'd already begun to enjoy the relationship between our protagonist Francesca Cahill and her fiance' Calder Hart. So my next move is to finish book seven and immediately go out and find the first six books. The good news about the author's website is that they are currently revamping it, so hopefully this will make it easier for new fans to find and experience someone I feel is a great author. I am a huge fan of Brenda after getting my hands on her paranormal romance series,
The Masters of Time, featuring some EXTREMELY hot Scottish hunks and beautifully written characters that intermingle with one another across space and time. Check out her
Twitter and
Facebook pages if you want to learn more about
The Deadly series or
The Masters of Time series. You'll thank me later!
So there you have it - that was the busy month of May! I hope that June will keep bringing me more novels to enjoy and to tell you about. Keep checking in and I will do my best to continue to bring you new reading adventures!
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I have one copy of The Queen’s Vow by C. W. Gortner and a painted Spanish fan to share with one of my readers . To enter…
