A Chelsea Cain Weekend Reading Binge!

My TBR stack is a monster. I've got the best intentions with it, but obviously my eyes are bigger than my stomach in this case and I usually end up hoarding them away for the apocalypse. On average I would say I read 2-3 books a week. The books entering the house massively outnumber that! It's all good. Means I have lots to choose from and lots put away for a rainy day.

As you can see from this post on Chelsea Cain's debut, Heartsick, I never did get around to my initial binge read, but I remedied that this weekend. Only one new book since then, so I wasn't too much further in the hole.

Sweetheart had been patiently waiting and I finally snatched it up on Friday. What a ride!

This second in the series begins with the discovery of a body in Portland's Forest Park, a once-famous dumping ground for Gretchen Lowell. But since Lowell's been in prison and this body is definitely a bit fresh, there's no possible connection. Two more bodies are soon discovered and Detective Archie Sheridan finds himself facing down some pretty disturbing memories of his time with Gretchen and his search for the Beauty Killer. And when Gretchen escapes from prison, Sheridan is once again immersed in the Beauty Killer's twisted game. Meanwhile, Susan is not willing to let the current case slip by unsolved.

Obviously, as the title of the blog implies, I got in some good reading time this weekend. Sweetheart was a one-day, if not a one-sitting, read. I moved on to Evil at Heart on Saturday and will give you a breakdown tomorrow!

Eek, it was a dark and twisty reading weekend, but man it hit the spot! And with the fourth in the series, The Night Season, due out March 1, it was just in time!

New Releases 3/01/11

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton

Point by Thomas Blackthorne -- follow up to Edge

Mermaid by Carolyn Turgeon

Night Season by Chelsea Cain -- fourth in the Gretchen Lowell series

The Brothers of Baker Street by Michael Robertson -- second in the series

You Don't Love This Man by Dan DeWeese

Sing You Home by Jodi Piccoult

A Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss -- second in the series

Minding Frankie by Maeve Binchy

Iron Crowned by Richelle Mead

Where Shadows Dance by C. S. Harris -- Sebastian St. Cyr #6

Late Eclipses by Seanan McGuire -- October Day #4

New on DVD:

Love and Other Drugs

Faster

127 Hours

New reviews at Bookbitch.com:

Blood, Bones & Butter

Green-Eyed Demon by Jaye Wells

Sweetheart by Chelsea Cain

Pre-Pub Book Buzz: One of Our Thursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde

Thursday Next is back! Yes, that's right! Jasper Fforde's latest installment in the Thursday Next series is finally here and due out on shelves on March 8. And he's coming to Denver! Whoo hoo! All these exclamation points -- can't you tell that I'm excited. Fforde, by the way, is absolutely hilarious in person, so if you have a chance to go to one of his signings, do not let it pass you by.

So, here's a little about One of Our Thursdays is Missing from the publisher:

Once again, The New York Times bestselling author has a field day, gleefully bending satire, romance, and thriller with literary allusions galore. Fforde transports readers into a fantastic adventure through the landscape of a frisky and fertile imagination.

It is a time of unrest in the Bookworld. Only the diplomatic skills of ace literary detective Thursday Next can avert a devastating genre war. However, a week before the Peace Talks, Thursday vanishes. Has she simply returned home to the Realworld, or, is this something more sinister?

All is not lost however. Living at the quiet end of Speculative fiction is the written Thursday Next, who is attempting to keep her own small four-book series both respectful to her illustrious namesake and far from the grim spectre of being remaindered.

Despite her desire to stay away from the spotlight, written Thursday is asked by Jurisfiction to investigate a novel that has suffered an in-read breakup and deposited a narrative debris-field halfway across the Bookworld. It is not quite so straightforward: Someone has ground the ISBN numbers from the wreckage, and all of a sudden, the mysterious Men in Plaid want her dead.

As the hunt for answers takes her from the Council of Genres to Fan-Fiction and from Comedy to Vanity publishing, written Thursday realizes that Real Thursday had been investigating a plot fiendish enough to be killed for. But who is responsible?

Only a trip up the Mighty Metaphoric River and a visit to the hideously frightening Realworld can provide the answers.

With her clockwork butler Sprockett and her Designated Love Interest Whitby Jett, Thursday has to get grips with her inability to match up to her Namesake’s talent, and prove herself to the one person she respects more than anyone else: The real her…

Fans, or Ffans as we like to call them, will rejoice that their favorite character in the Fforde universe is back.

Yay! Now for all you out there who may not have read this series yet, you do have to read them in order. They are:

The Eyre Affair

Lost in a Good Book

The Well of Lost Plots

Something Rotten

Thursday Next: First Among Sequels

One of Our Thursdays is Missing

I suggest you go out and make your local bookstore very happy and buy them all -- or you can buy just the first two. And yes, you have to buy the first two -- I have to admit that even for a fan, Eyre Affair is so completely unlike anything else out there. You have to get into the Fforde groove, but then you won't want to stop, so you might as well buy the set : )

Learning to Swim Winner

By random selection, the winner of Sara J. Henry's excellent thriller debut, Learning to Swim, is:

Grumpydan!

Thanks to all who entered and contemplated entering. I've got more giveaways forthcoming, so stick around!

So Close the Hand of Death

Fast on the heels of JT Ellison's The Immortals comes her latest release, So Close the Hand of Death.

It's been just forty-eight hours since Taylor closed her last case and now The Pretender is setting his game back into motion. In an attempt to draw Taylor out, The Pretender has attacked one of her own. As she and Baldwin fly to North Carolina, though, The Pretender has unleashed a set of killers nationwide, each one copying a different killer. Then Taylor finally gets a lucky break, a clue that will finally lead to the unmasking of The Pretender. And now, Taylor is willing to do whatever it takes to end The Pretender's game once and for all.

Holy cow! I mean really, holy freaking cow! J.T. Ellison is amazing. The amount of planning that has gone into this series is so awesome! Tiny pieces of the puzzle have been introduced all along the way, until each one snowballs into a major plot point. I don't know what's in store next, but I do know that I can't wait!

Ok, now here's the really fun part (and my little surprise for you). I have a copy of So Close the Hand of Death to give away. You do have to read this series in order BUT, and here's a big but, this is technically the continuation of what was set in motion in 14, so if you've read that one, you're in good shape!

Leave me a comment here before Monday night (Feb 28) -- with your email. I'll randomly select a winner and announce on Tuesday! US only please.

Good luck and happy reading!

New Paranormal Must Read!

There is a hot new voice in the paranormal world this month -- Darynda Jones! Her debut and first in the Charley Davidson series, First Grave on the Right, is a hilarious addition to the genre and definitely a must read for paranormal mystery and romance fans.

Charley is a grim reaper. Has been all her life. She can see and speak to the dearly departed and help them pass into the light. This ability has come in handy throughout the years -- she used to help her dad, a cop, with some of his more difficult cases, and now she runs her own PI firm, still consulting for the local police. When the ghost of a dead lawyer pops up in her apartment screaming murder, Charley is on the scene in no time. And so are the cops -- and two more dead lawyers! All three worked for the same firm and are convinced that one of their recent cases is the reason for their untimely deaths. The case in question -- a local man accused of, and convicted for, the murder of his nephew. Meanwhile, Charley has some personal issues affected her work, namely a sexy spectre that's invading her dreams -- both asleep and awake.

First Grave on the Right is the perfect opener for a new series: a great new heroine with a snarky sense of humor and a fun cast of supporting characters. Not to mention a well thought out plot and killer ending. It leaves you wanting more after you turn the last page. Another author to add to the must read list!

Second Grave on the Left is set for release in August and I can't wait!

Many, many thanks to Cheryl over at Cheryl's Book Nook for giving Jones's debut such a glowing recommendation! You were right, Cheryl! I loved it!

Ooh, I Missed One!

Are you a League fan? You need to be. The League of Reluctant Adults is a group of hilarious and talented UF and paranormal authors who all hang out in one place: here. So if you're a fan of authors the like of Jaye Wells, Nicole Peeler, and Mark Henry (and so many, many other cool ones I can't list them all), then you should check it out.

Anywho, I missed a new release on this week's list that I must tell you about! (I'm sure I missed plenty, but I NEED to tell you about this one.) The fourth book in Anton Strout's Simon Canderous series is out this week. You may recall I recently read Dead to Me on a plane trip to Charleston and had a great time! (With the book, not with the plane.)

The series, in order, is as follows:

Dead to Me

Deader Still

Dead Matter

Dead Waters

And don't forget, Jaye Wells's Green Eyed Demon and Molly Harper's How to Flirt With a Naked Werewolf are also out this week.