My November Reads

I've just noticed that I never put up my November reading list. Since I like having these for myself, whether anyone else reads it or not, I'll belatedly put it up today.

1. Lord Valentine's Castle - Robert Silverberg. Science
   Fiction/Fantasy. Reread. 9/10
   Read the review here.
   
2. Lord of the Fading Lands - C. L. Wilson. Romantic Fantasy. 8/10
   Read the review here.
   
3. The Last Hawk - Catherine Asaro. Science Fiction. Reread 10/10
   Read the review here.
   
4. Outlander - Diana Gabaldon. Historical. DNF
   Read the review here.
   
5. Dies the Fire - S. M. Stirling. Science Fiction. DNF
   Read the review here.
   
6. Cast in Shadow - Michelle Sagara. Fantasy. Reread. 8/10
   Read the review here.
   
7. Creation in Death - J. D. Robb. Futuristic Mystery. 8/10
   The latest Eve and Roarke book and another good story. The villian was certainly disturbing this time and it was a riot to see Roarke officially working with the police and trying to cope with being in the police station. His on-going disagreement with Eve about whether or not he should be shouting the entire task force decent meals to save them from the staff cafeteria was also fun. Eve did do something unusal at the end that I hope is brought up again in the future. The Eve from the beginning of the series would never have done such at thing and while the person Eve is now would, she wouldn't do it without at least so reflection on it later. I hope we get to see that reflection in future books. Not the best in the series, but certainly a good read.
   
8. Kidnapped! - Jo Leigh. Category Romance. 6/10
   I wasn't feeling well and wanted something I could read quickly and easily so I did shoe shopping for a few Harlequin romance ebooks. I don't remember a lot about this one now, except that for an over-the-top premise (which I knew when I bought it) it was handled pretty well. I liked the hero and the heroine wasn't too stupid, which she could have been, given the setup. I particularly liked the end where she finally found her strength and the very end where she went to find him. Certainly not my best book of the year (and equally certainly not the worst) but perfect for where my brain was at at the time.
   
9. Upon the Midnight Clear - Sherrilyn Kenyon. Paranormal Romance. 7/10
   I enjoyed this next installment in Kenyon's universe, although it was a pretty simple and short story really. A warning to readers, this is really a novella printed in large type to make it look like a book. If you know that going in, you're less likely to be disappointed. I don't mind her Dream-Hunter books, but they seem a bit pointless compared to the Dark-Hunters and Were-Hunters and I'd rather have more of them. Hopefully she's going to tie it all in together. The little Christmas vignettes at the end are not really necessary, but it is lovely to see a glimpse of favourite characters who haven't been around in a while. Poor Nick, he's got himself in a mess and I don't know how Kenyon is going to get him out. There's another Dream-Hunter book coming out early next year, but I'm really hanging out for Ash's book in August.
   
10. Eternity in Death - J. D. Robb. Futuristic Mystery. Short Story. 7/10
    Just a cute short story in the "Dead of Night" anthology. Eve goes hunting for a killer that may or may not be a vampire. The atmosphere is nicely done and the resolution of the vampire-ness of the villian is neat.
    
11. Lady of Light and Shadows - C. L. Wilson. Romantic Fantasy. 10/10
    This is the second half of Lord of the Fading Lands and it was a stronger, better book. I wish I had felt up to doing a full review as I did for the first book, but unfortunately I didn't. Ellie and Rain continue their courtship as things get nastier around them. By the end the mages are revealed as returned villians, a character is given a chance for redemption, significant characters are killed and Wilson rounds off the story in great style. I'm looking forward to the next pair of books next year.
    
12. Poison Study - Maria V. Snyder. Fantasy. DNF
    I had read this before and loved it, although I found it slow reading at the time. I liked it all over again, but found it slow again and just didn't feel like persevering, which is a pity as this is a good book. Don't let the fact I didn't finish it put you off. It was a case of "it's not you, it's me".

Books read this month: 9
DNFs this month: 3
10/10 reads this month: 2
New reads this month: 6
Rereads this month: 3

Books read so far in 2007 = 121
DNFs so far in 2007 = 13
10/10 reads so far in 2007 = 16
New reads so far in 2007 = 106
Rereads so far in 2007 = 15