Currently Reading

Its been a while since I've done a "currently reading" catch up, so this week, I'll be listing out what I've been reading lately and what I've thought about each book. 

Most recently, I finished Smoke Bitten by Patricia Briggs. It's fun and a good book, like most of her Mercy Thompson series. Not the best of the series by any stretch, but certainly somewhere in the middle there. Worth a read if you like Urban Fantasy. If anyone was put off by the love triangle in the first few books, by book 3 or so she has 100% chosen and it isn't an issue anymore. Stick with it, that part goes away. 

Just a few days before that I finished the latest Guild Codex series release, Lost Talismans and a Tequila by Annette Marie. A fun bit of urban fantasy that I highly suggest... as highly as I suggest the Mercy Thompson series. If you enjoy urban fantasy and haven't read either of these series, you're doing yourself a disservice. Go pick up the first one. You won't be disappointed. 

Another book I read is the first book in the Log Horizon light novel series by Mamare Touno. The third season of the anime is coming out later this year in the fall. You can't go wrong with this series. Some may find it a bit wooden to read, due to its translated status. Push past that. The characters are fun and the world-building is top-notch. 

I decided on a lark to read the C.E. Murphy's Walker Papers series again. I finished that series early in July. Again, this is one of the urban fantasy novels that I highly suggest you read. Its one of the series I'll return to again and again. Check them out. 

I read Wolf's Whisper by Arizona Tape earlier this month as well. This one, I can't suggest, unfortunately. The writer writes desire well, but the MC is more than a bit on the stupid side, everyone is an emotional bomb and I still can't tell you if this was supposed to be fantasy, Asian fantasy, urban fantasy, or something else. It was a harem, which was fine, but it was a harem in which there is no sex. Considering that the MC often forgot about her quest in favor of thinking about sleeping with her harem, this is a bit unforgivable. 

Right now, I'm reading the Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger. Starting with Meat Cute, the latest release detailing the oft-mentioned "hedgehog incident", it tells the meet-cute of our heroine Alexia Tarabotti and Lord Conall Macon. Technically, its book 0.75 of the series, as it happens just a few years before the first book. I would suggest you read the Parasol Protectorate series first if you haven't already. Otherwise, you may find yourself in for a hell of a ride in the next books. The whole series (steampunk, paranormal romance) is fun and one hell of a ride. Just stick with it past the silliness... or rather, understand that reading it is half the fun and it is meant to be outrageous that way. 

The other book I'm reading right now is The Undine's Tear by Talena Winter's. So far, its got my nod of approval. This is a fantasy about a mermaid type woman who has to heal the stone that powers everything for her people... set in an alternate earth, it seems most normal people don't even know the merpeople, known as undines, even exist. So really fun ideas there. 

And that is it for this week. Tell me what you've been reading lately and whether you've liked them. Also, can you let me know where you'd like me to link each book to? The Kindle ebook? The physical book from Amazon? Goodreads? Let me know and in the future, I'll see about finding the links that you'd prefer I connect to. 

Grateful

          Today, I received the loveliest compliment today from a fellow writer. Kate Larking on Anxiety Ink was talking about feeling thankful for all the great people she knows, specifically today, the writers. She included me in that list, with the one of the nicest compliments that I have received. Seriously, I've included the link just above for her page and I suggest you go check it out. I know at least a few of the other writers she thanks on there and they are all great people (with links to all their sites as well).

          Also, I totally squee'd when I saw that she thanks CE Murphy. I have read her urban shaman series and it completely rocks (that series is also why I now own a white leather jacket). The writer community is reasonably tight so as you make friends, you'll find you are able to meet and greet with authors that you may find squee-worthy and are way above your pay-grade (meaning, usually, that they can make a living off this). Sorta cherry-topped that awesome feeling, especially since I started reading her Urban Shaman series again (in fact, I started Coyote Dreams yesterday).

          The other absolutely awesome thing that happened today is that I ordered my business cards. I've been working on their design for a few weeks now, to the point of actually designing a logo for my "press" when I start publishing. I'll have more on that after I've registered my company name and its officially mine (I needed to update some of my identification before I can finish putting the register through). I can't wait to receive them! The estimated shipping time said 7 days, so with a bit of luck I'll be able to do a full reveal of both sometime next week.

          As a final note, I picked up Isuna Hasekura's final novel in the Spice & Wolf light novel series yesterday. Volume 17: Epilogue. Due to that, I did not work on my editing much when I got home yesterday or today. I am 40% of the way through the read through so far, with one character deleted and two to three chapters I'll need to write in so far and I'll definitely be working on it more tonight or, at the latest, tomorrow, depending on how late my company stays tonight. Here's hoping that I can have the read-through finished for my next post on Sunday.