BTT: Recent Informative...

What’s the most informative book you’ve read recently?

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Just purchased, and halfway through...

BTT: Recent "Chunky"...

What’s the biggest book you’ve read recently?

(Feel free to think “big” as size, or as popularity, or in any other way you care to interpret.)

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Hmmm...I guess my chunkiest recent read was late last year with Sherrilyn Kenyon's "Acheron". It weighed in at a hefty 728 pages - and I finished in a day (mind you, I didn't get anything else accomplished that day)! ;-)

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Filed in:
BTT at Chasing the Mouse...

BTT: "Fluffy" Content

What’s the lightest, most “fluff” kind of book you’ve read recently?

Depends on you definition of fluff! ;-)

Light, entertaining, fun, easy to read... I love fluff books! (Except for chick-lit - those I can only take in small doses.) Actually, I rarely consider a book a "fluff" - a lot of so-called fluff books can have excellent characters, wonderful stories, and smart plots. Plus, since they're usually pb's, they're easy to carry around! ;-)

But as for my most recent fluffy read? It was a little while ago, but I would have to say Erin McCarthy's "High stakes", the first book in her "Vegas Vampires" series. It was a fast read, with just a hint of mystery, (vampire politicians? vampire first ladies? in Vegas, no less!) and the match between Alexis and Ethan was fun! ;-)

Title: High stakes
Author: Erin McCarthy
Series: Vegas Vampires
Published: 2006
Genre: Vampire chick-lit
Summary: He's a bloodsucking freak of nature. But, unlike other politicians, Ethan Carrick is actually a nice guy. Not to mention a very hot, wealthy, casino-owning vampire. It's an election year for vampires, which means he'll first have to escape his opponent's hit men. Then he'll have to find a suitable First Lady, preferably here in Vegas. Brittany Baldizzi fits the bill. She's smart, pretty- and sweeter than a glass of diabetic O-Negative. But her protective sister Alexis steps in with a message for Ethan: Bite me. It's then that he realizes it's the sexy, no-nonsense Alexis who raises his stake. And as much as she denies it, Alexis wouldn't mind a romp in the coffin with him. But can a mere mortal, even one who risks her life for him, make a centuries-old, womanizing vampire feel something entirely new? [Fantastic Fiction]

Filed in: Booking Through Thursday in "Chasing the Mouse..."

BTT Challenge: Best Recent Read

What’s the best book you’ve read recently?
(Tell me you didn’t see this one coming?)

For pure personal enjoyment (which is how I'm going to define "best"), Patricia C. Wrede's "Searching for dragons" (book 2 in the Enchanted forest chronicles) was my best recent read.

[original cover]
I read the first book, "Dealing with dragons" a few years back, but then never went through the process of borrowing the remainder of the series. [Watch as I now kick myself] Not long ago, I ran across a review of Wrede's newest series (Cecelia and Kate), which pinged my memory about the dragons, and thus I decided to splurge on the box set of the "Enchanted forest chronicles", which contains books 1-4.

I must warn you: I usually have problems with second books in a series. "Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets" was my least favourite, as was Jim Butcher's "Fool moon" and, more recently, Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell's "Return of the emerald skull." I find they tend to make the trilogy, quartet, series, etc. sag, flounder, or otherwise loose the reader's attention. With half a dozen (or more!) plot threads, it's easy to see how this can happen. That said...

I loved "Searching for dragons"! Cimorene was her usually spunky self, and Mendanbar was seamlessly introduced into the world as the king-who-doesn't-want-to-be-king (he's banned all official functions, much to the dismay of his steward) of the Enchanted Forest. What I found most unique was that this book was Mendanbar's story, told from his angle (though still in third person pov). My only fault with the book was the ending wrap-up, which I found a bit rushed.

[reprinted cover]
Title: Searching for dragons
Author: Patricia C. Wrede
Series: Enchanted forest chronicles, book 2
Published: 1991
Genre: YA fantasy
Summary: Cimorene, the princess who refuses to be proper, is back - but where is Kazul the dragon? That's what Cimorene is determined to find out. Luckily - or perhaps not-so-luckily - she's got help: Mendandbar, the not-very-kingly King of the Enchanted Forest, has joined her in her quest. So with the aid of a broken-down magic carpet, a leaky magical sword, and a few buckets of soapy lemon water, they set off across the Enchanted Forest to tackle the dragon-napping and save the King of the Dragons. [back cover]

Filed in: BTT Challenge Index at Chasing the Mouse...

BTT Challenge: Worst Recent Read

What’s the worst book you’ve read recently?
(I figure it’s easier than asking your all-time worst, because, well, it’s recent!) [from Booking Through Thursday]

I tend to read most books (good, bad or ugly), but I've rarely (there have been one or two memorable occasions!) given up in the middle of a book (and on those said occasions, acutally thrown the book away) - that said...

The first thing that comes to mind is "The marine's baby" by Rogenna Brewer (a Harlequin Super Romance). Despite the general prejudice against category romance, I (for the most part) love them! The very good ones have memorable characters, a great storyline, and just enough sexy (sometimes more than enough - whoo hoo!)...plus they're an easy (and quick) read. Those authors become sought-after favourites.

This one, however... [shakes head and sighs deeply]. The main problem was that I hated the main characters, almost right from the beginning. She was winey and wishy-washy, and he was an idiot (even at the end when the HEA occured) - but she annoyed me the most! This was the first book I've read by Rogenna Brewer, but (and I hate to say it...) it will probably be my last.

Title: The marine's baby
Series: Bundles of joy (9 months later)
Author: Rogenna Brewer
Genre: Category romance
Published: 2008 (Harlequin Super Romance)
Summary: In just a few months Caitlin Calhoun went from a wife to a widow to a mother-to-be. All she'd wanted was to honor her dead husband by having his baby. But that's not what she got. Thanks to an unfortunate mix-up, her child's father is her husband's half brother, Lucky. So how does she break the news that he's about to become a father? Family is the last thing the war-toughened Marine expected to have--not with all the bad blood in his own. But Lucky would never turn his back on a child...or the woman who's given him a second chance. [Amazon.com]

Filed in: BTT Challenge Index at "Chasing the Mouse..."