Melanie's Week in Review - May 5, 2013

Welcome to my first ever week in review! I am new to The Qwillery and looking forward to sharing what I have been reading during the week. I am quite a voracious reader. This is partly due to my daily 2 hour commute on the London Underground. I can get through quite a few books with a minimum of 10 hours of dedicated reading. The downside of this is my perpetual hunt for something good to read. I have had so many great recommendations from The Qwillery and now it’s my turn to share what I have been reading.

I tried to finish a book I started last week The Scrivener's Tale by Fiona McIntosh, which is a mix of fantasy and modern day Paris. It is really engaging but as I started the chapter which had a big explanation of a complicated plot line I hit train delays and other irritants. This distracted me too much. I decided that I will hold off on finishing what is turning out to be an excellent story until I can concentrate properly. I then turned to Gaie Sebold’s Dangerous Gifts, which continues the adventures of the prostitute/gun-for-hire, Babylon Steel. I will be reviewing this book soon so keep your eyes out for it.

I also had a little trawl through NetGalley. I practically shrieked when I found Lilith Saintcrow's The Red Plague Affair which is the second novel in the Bannon and Clare series. I liked The Iron Wyrm but didn't love it so I was looking forward to seeing whether Saintcrow could keep me reading the series. Look for my review this week to find out what I thought of The Red Plague Affair.

I was looking for something to read that wasn't fantasy or steampunk. I tried Earth Girl by Janet Edwards. I quite like YF/YA so thought it sounded like it would be a good read. While I love watching science fiction I don't always like reading it (yes, that is weird) so I was keeping my fingers crossed I was going to like a book that was YA/SciFi. Hmmmmmm I think it is a bit too YA for me and not sure I am going to be able to continue it. The lead character Jarra, is a bit self-obsessed (like some teenagers) . There is prolific use of the made up scifi word 'nardle' that I am finding extremely irritating. I am going to give it another go later this week so will let you know how I get along.

Finally, I turned to Kindle recommendations to find something else to read. Recommendations based on buying patterns can be quite hit and miss. Goodreads are almost totally miss but I have found some little gems on my Kindle. I came across Bloodfire by Helen Harper and was delightfully surprised. It is set in rural Cornwall and is about Mackenzie the only human living amongst a pack of shapeshifters. Her life is turned upside down when her pseudo father and alpha of the pack is brutally murdered. It was quite compelling and I stayed up later and got up early to continue reading it. I ended up buying book 2 so will hopefully tell you all about it next week.

Until then, Happy Reading!