Friday, September 30, 2011

September RAK Wrap-Up






Random Acts of Kindness is brought to us by Book Soulmates.






For September RAK, I mailed out the following:


To Lillie @ Read My Mind 

Nightfall by Ellen Connor 
Forsaken by Leanne Ellis


To Sara @ Sara's Urban Fantasy Blog

Shadow Kin by M J Scott


To Jennifer @ The Book Nympho

Tempest Rising by Nicole Peeler 
Tracking the Tempest by Nicole Peeler


To Kate @ Musings of a Book Lover

Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution by Michelle Moran


To Lisa @ Turning Pages

Monster High by Lisi Harrison


To Dottie @ Tink's Place

Bloodshot by Cherie Priest


To Lori @ Escape Between the Pages

A Box of Books


Received RAK's


From Ivy @ Ivy Reads

Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink


From Sara @ Sara's Urban Fantasy Blog


Vampire Empire by Clay & Susan Griffith
Game Over by Taylor Keating


From Lillie @ Read My Mind


Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison
The First Days by Rhiannon Harrison
Viper Moon by Lee Roland


September was a wonderful RAK month.  I am looking forward to October.  :)

September Reading Re-Cap


Another month has come and gone.  The weather is finally turning cooler here in Georgia and I love it.  The holidays will be here before we know it.  :)


The books I read this month were all over the place as far as ratings go.  Here they are:


5 Stars


Daughter of Smoke & Bone - Laini Taylor
Isle of Night - Veronica Wolff
Tempted - Elisabeth Naughton
Kindling the Moon - Jenn Bennett
Dark Descendant - Jenna Black


4 Stars


Hellforged - Nancy Holzner
Bed Bugs - Ben H Winters
After the Virus - Meghan Ciana Doidge
Nightfall - Ellen Connor
Bloodshot - Cherie Priest
Wither - Lauren Destefano


3 Stars


The Paladin - Ken Newman


2 Stars


Nocturne - Syrie James
Enemy Lover - Karin Harlow
Deadworld - J N Duncan


How was your reading month?

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Guest Post by Author Stephanie Dray



To help promote the upcoming release of her latest book, Song of the Nile, author Stephanie Dray has stopped by Michelle’s Book Blog with a guest post.


Welcome Stephanie.


Dances with Snakes
Snake Charming, Symbolism and Politics in the Ancient World
by
Stephanie Dray

The heroine of my novels, Cleopatra Selene, is the daughter of the much more famous Cleopatra VII of Egypt, the notorious Queen of the Nile who is best known for having committed suicide by way of clutching a venomous serpent to her breast. There is some debate over whether or not the story is true, but the legendary iconography remains.

The idea that Cleopatra was a seductress, a wicked woman who lured good Roman soldiers to their deaths, fits in with the Judeo-Christian idea of both women and serpents. The bible presents the snake to us as an object of wicked temptation, luring us to offend the divine order of the universe. But this Judaic view of the serpent is only one of the perspectives in the ancient world.

To the Egyptians, the cobra was a sacred animal that represented the ancient cobra-goddess Meretseger, who guarded the tombs of pharaohs. Another cobra-goddess was Wadjet, who was a guardian and protectress. The symbol of the cobra was so closely associated with the idea of royalty and the right to rule that it would become part of the official crown in the form of the uraeus, an icon of royalty that Cleopatra adopted herself. In fact, she chose three--one serpent to represent herself, her son Ptolemy Caesarion and the Roman man she claimed was her husband, Julius Caesar.

If Cleopatra did choose to die by the bite of a cobra, it would have been a highly symbolic political act--one that declared her the rightful ruler of Egypt, at one with the old gods of Egypt, and immortal.  (The shedding of skin helped to perpetuate the image of the snake as an immortal animal.)

Despite her mother’s association with snakes--or perhaps because of it--Cleopatra’s daughter seems to have eschewed their symbolism in favor of crocodiles. However, she was likely to have encountered snakes in the Kingdom of Mauretania, where she was sent to rule. Snake charming was a popular entertainment in the ancient world and ancient magicians were said to be able to turn staves into snakes.

Snake charming, then as now, was accomplished by way of training a serpent, then pretending as if the music has hypnotized the dangerous animal. In reality, most of these performing snakes had their mouths sewn loosely shut or their fangs removed. However, the reputation of the charmers was often strong enough that they were called upon to rid villages of dangerous snakes.

But even if the Hellenized Queen Cleopatra Selene hadn’t been impressed by the reverence of Egypt for the snake, or by the snake charmers of North Africa, she would still have had to contend with the Greek idea of serpents.

In Greek mythology, the serpentine caduceus is a staff held by Hermes, who was a messenger god, a guardian of commerce, a protector and a guide to the dead. This symbol of the caduceus is often mistaken as a symbol of healing because it is confused with the single serpent and rod of Asclepius, the Greek God of medicine and healing. The shedding of snake skin represented for the Greeks a rejuvenation of the body or spirit. The serpent itself is also a representation of the dual nature of a physician who deals with both life and death. Because of this, the serpent was a highly respected animal in ancient Greece and figured prominently in mystery cults. Even the mother of Alexander the Great was said to keep serpents as pets and was rumored to have been seduced by Zeus in the form of a snake.



Song of the Nile is the second book in the Cleopatra’s Daughter series by Stephanie Dray.

Book Blurb:

Sorceress. Seductress. Schemer. Cleopatra's daughter is the one woman with the power to destroy an empire...

Having survived her perilous childhood as a royal captive of Rome, Selene pledged her loyalty to Augustus and swore she would become his very own Cleopatra. Now the young queen faces an uncertain destiny in a foreign land.

The magic of Isis flowing through her veins is what makes her indispensable to the emperor. Against a backdrop of imperial politics and religious persecution, Cleopatra's daughter beguiles her way to the very precipice of power. She has never forgotten her birthright, but will the price of her mother's throne be more than she's willing to pay?



Product Details
Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Berkley Trade (October 4, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0425243044
ISBN-13: 978-0425243046



Bio

Stephanie graduated from Smith, a small women’s college in Massachusetts where–to the consternation of her devoted professors–she was unable to master Latin. However, her focus on Middle Eastern Studies gave her a deeper understanding of the consequences of Egypt’s ancient clash with Rome, both in terms of the still-extant tensions between East and West as well as the worldwide decline of female-oriented religion.

Before she wrote novels, Stephanie was a lawyer, a game designer, and a teacher. Now she uses the transformative power of magic realism to illuminate the stories of women in history and inspire the young women of today. She remains fascinated by all things Roman or Egyptian and has–to the consternation of her devoted husband–collected a house full of cats and ancient artifacts.

For more information on Stephanie Dray and her books, visit her website:  Stephanie Dray.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

WoW: Thief by Anitra Lynn McLeod



Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly post started by Breaking the Spine to showcase books we are patiently awaiting.
My WoW for the week:



Thief is the first book in the Fringe series by Anitra Lynn McLeod.

Book Blurb:

On the edge of freedom lies a dangerous love.


Nothing has ever come easy for Jace Lawless, captain of the salvage vessel Mutiny. Forced into thievery after a virus unleashed by the InnerWorld Government killed his family, only one ambition burns at the back of his mind. Kill the next IWOG officer he has at his mercy.

Bargaining over goods with a middleman isn’t exactly his strong suit. But who in his right mind spends an entire salvage job’s profits on a woman, even if she has a body built for sin and eyes so fathomless a man could lose himself in them? He must be getting soft.

Once Kraft realizes Jace expects only the “cook” part of their cook-whore contract, she sets out to change his antiquated ideas about women. A challenge she relishes, especially if it earns her the freedom and money to get her own ship. Her big mistake is letting down her guard.

Shameless flirting only intensifies the itch to ride Jace hard and put him away wet—several times. It’s an itch it would be dangerous to scratch. Exposing her heart could reveal her secret, one that the still-grieving Jace must never know…or showing her mercy will be the last thing on his mind.



Product Warnings

Contains a celibate ship captain who can’t abide swearing, a kick-ass woman with a marshmallow heart, a motley crew of misfits, interstellar battles, thwarted groping, sensual seduction, and a total bastard who owns his own planet. 

Type: Paperback
Genre: SciFi - Futuristic
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Publication Date: 10-04-2011
Length: 296 Pages
ISBN: 978-1-60928-295-0



Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Review: Hellforged by Nancy Holzner



Hellforged is the second book in the Deadtown series by Nancy Holzner and an ACE Fantasy.


Book Blurb:


They call it Deadtown: the city’s quarantined section for its inhuman and undead residents.  Most humans stay far from its borders - but Victory Vaughn, Boston’s only professional demon slayer, isn’t exactly human...


After Vicky banished her demon nemesis to the fiery depths of Hell, she thought life would return to normal.  But considering she has a werewolf lawyer boyfriend, a zombie apprentice who’s angling to become a pop star, and an eccentric vampire roommate, what is normal anyway?


Then the supposedly banished Hellion starts to trespass in Vicky’s dreams - just as several of Deadtown’s zombies are viciously attacked and become really dead.  When Vicky realizes she’s the only connection between the victims, she suspects that the demon is somehow working through her dreams to become Deadtown’s living nightmare.


What she doesn’t know is that her old enemy brings with it a force more terrifying - and deadly - than anything she’s battled before.


My thoughts:


Vicky Vaughn is a Cerddorian, a shape-shifting descendant of Ceridwen capable of fighting demons - a demon slayer.


She makes her living killing demons: clearing Glitches out of electronics, Drudes out of dreamscapes - if you have a demon problem, and can pay the fee, Vicky will get the job done.


Being a Cerddorian, Vicky has the ability to manipulate her own dreams - to control them.  But now her dreams are being invaded by the Hellion she thought she’d banished.  And what’s worse, there is nothing she can do about it.  Vicky has lost control of her own dreams.


Now zombie’s are being killed in the most brutal fashion and Aunt Mab has called Vicky back to Wales.  It seems that there is a prophecy - and some think that prophecy involves Vicky - and Mab knows that Vicky needs more training if she is to win the upcoming battle.


Hellforged is another great installment to the Deadtown series.  I like Vicky a lot and can’t wait to read more.


I give Hellforged 4 out of 5 stars.

 
  Product Details


    Paperback: 352 pages
    Publisher: Ace (December 28, 2010)
    Language: English
    ISBN-10: 0441019803
    ISBN-13: 978-0441019809

Monday, September 26, 2011

Review: DeadWorld by J N Duncan



Deadworld is the first book in the Deadworld series by J.N. Duncan and an Urban Fantasy from Kensington.


Book Blurb:


She’s as tough as anything haunting Chicago’s streets.  But to deal with an inhuman power that won’t stay buried, this FBI agent needs help that comes at an immortal price...


Jackie Rutledge has seen her share of supernatural killers.  But her latest murder case is what recurring nightmares are made of.  


Brutally exsanguinated human victims, vanishing into the ether evidence, and a city on the edge of panic mean that she and her psychic partner, Laurel, are going to need more than just backup...


My thoughts:


Jackie Rutledge is carrying around a lot of baggage.  To cope - she drinks.  When she drinks she loses respect for all boundaries.  This behavior has finally escalated to the point that her partner, Laurel, has had enough.  So has her superior.


The latest case Jackie and Laurel are working on is  bad.  Really bad.  Laurel is psychic and she can feel the evil surrounding this perp.


What little evidence the two have lead them to confront P.I. Nick Anderson - and Laurel is sure that there is more than meets the eye as far as Nick is concerned.


Jackie’s investigation leads to more questions about Nick’s past.  Because something happened in Nick’s past that is directly related to the present murders.


Deadworld was an okay read.  I found it slow going in spots and thought it could have been wrapped up a little quicker.


I give Deadworld 2 out of 5 stars.


Product Details


    Paperback: 352 pages
    Publisher: Kensington (April 1, 2011)
    Language: English
    ISBN-10: 0758255667
    ISBN-13: 978-0758255662

Saturday, September 24, 2011

In My Mailbox: 09-24-11



In My Mailbox is a feature that was started over at The Story Siren. Each week we share what we bought, borrowed from the library or received in the mail.

Here is what I received this past week:


For Review:

In Blood We Trust - Christine Cody
Dead Mann Walking - Stefan Petrucha
Bloodstone - Nancy Holzner
Sins of the Angels - Linda Poitevin
In Memories We Fear - Barb Hendee
Frail - Joan Frances Turner
Thanks to Penguin

Wishes & Stitches - Rachel Herron
Falling Together - Marisa de los Santos
Thanks to WilliamMorrow

Crazy In Paradise - Deborah Brown 
Thanks to Deborah Brown