13 Books I’m Thinking of Reading – Help me!
It’s still thursday here in Sea-Town. Amason has directed me to this list of 13 books, but I want the down low from real readers, ie YOU. Has anyone read these books? What do you think? Which should I start with? Which should I forget about? To guide you guiding me, I adore Meljean Brook’s Guardian series, Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series, and Ilona Andrews’ Magic Bites series. I am looking for books that live up to this lofty level of world building and heart. I prefer love to horror and I prefer no serial killers. They scare me. But really what I want to read is something original, thought provoking, and well written.
The thirteen books that Amazon directed me toward, In no particular order:
- The Devil Inside by Jenna Black
- Dragon Blood and Dragon Bones by Patricia Briggs
- Eyes of Crow by Jeri Smith-Ready
- Full Moon Rising by Keri Arthur
- The Iron Hunt by Marjorie M. Liu
- Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison
- Stolen by Kelley Armstrong
- Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead
- If Angels Burn: A Novel of the Darkyn by Lynn Viehl
- Wolf at the Door (The Others Book 1) by Christine Warren
- The Hunters by Shiloh Walker
- Witch Fire by Anya Bast
- Urban Shaman by C.E. Murphy
Help!
Tags: "romance novels", books, Urban Fantasy
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June 6, 2008 at 8:05 am
I can’t help you too much I can tell you that I own in the HUGE TBR pile the following:
1. The Devil Inside by Jenna Black
5. The Iron Hunt by Marjorie M. Liu (pre-ordered it)
3. Eyes of Crow by Jeri Smith-Ready (want it)
6. Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison (own it really want to read it)
7. Stolen by Kelley Armstrong (this is like the 8th in the series but I own everyone even though I haven’t read any…)
8. Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead (OKAY can help here didn’t like it at all DNF)
9. If Angels Burn: A Novel of the Darkyn by Lynn Viehl (again own but haven’t read)
10. Wolf at the Door (The Others Book 1) by Christine Warren
11. The Hunters by Shiloh Walker (want but don’t own)
12. Witch Fire by Anya Bast (own haven’t read)
13. Urban Shaman by C.E. Murphy (love her other stuff want to read this)
See not much help but hey it helped me realize how big my TBR pile is *g*
Good luck
June 6, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Sarai – Thanks! Maybe we should read some of these books at the same time and have joint review/discussions. Eyes of Crow just came in the library and The Devil Inside is in transit, but you don’t have either of those. I just read Bitten by Kelley Armstrong. Wanna read it and then discuss it with me? (obviously I’m dying to talk to someone about the books i read. Still trying and failing to get my friends here hooked on romance or UF. sigh.) I’m glad to hear you like C.E. Murphy. Urban Shaman is set in Seattle and seems to have similar threads to the book I’ve been thinking about writing, so of course I want to read this one. I just had never heard of her before.
June 7, 2008 at 12:54 pm
I’m rather new to having time to read and Urban Shaman sounds interesting just because I am from the Seattle area. I came across the book Take Me There by PK Kozak recently. It is certainly about love that transcends time. It puts a new spin on the phrase “Soul Mates”! The fun part of reading this book was being able to choose from a variety of endings. It’s a re-read for a different twist each time.
June 7, 2008 at 4:15 pm
I’m a huge Kim Harrison fan, so I’d recommend that one. Also, the Others by Christine Warren is great. :) The rest? Not so much. :D Hope you can find one to read!
June 8, 2008 at 5:59 am
OOH! If you read the Patricia Briggs let me know how they are. I have been toying with the idea of picking them up since I adore her Mercy series.
I read Dead Witch Walking and really liked it. I say a big yes to that one.
Wolf at the Door was a fyn read. Not great or amazing, but a run of the mill decent book. Not as good as the Briggs and Harrison books, but still worth it.
June 8, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Bridget – not so much in that you didn’t like them or you haven’t read them? I’ve got the Kim Harrison on my coffee table so it’s at the top of the list.
Shannon – Is anyone as good as Briggs? It’s such a high bar to live up to I don’t know if it’s even worth comparing. She and Ilona Andrews are in their own category. Have you read Magic Bites and Magic Burns yet?
June 8, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Most of the books on your list are either on my to buy list or TBR mountain.
I have read Urban Shaman and subsequent books. Only complaint was the most recent book taking the main characters in a direction that I didn’t really want them to go. I’ll get the next book in that series when it comes next year or so.
Wolf at the Door was a quick, fun read. It did seem more like a book in an already established universe rather than book 1. I gather that she’s re-releasing earlier books in the series. Book 2, She’s no fairie princess, is actually my favorite so far. But, as someone pointed out earlier, not as good as Briggs or Andrews.
I just finished Lara Adrian’s Midnight Awakening, Emma Holly’s Demon Daughter and JR Ward’s First black Daggerbrother book. Have Angela Knight’s Master of Wolves up next. So far they been good reads but not ones like Andrews & Briggs series, where I have baffled my husband by re-reading them as soon as I can.
You may have reviewed these in the past posts that I have got to yet. Some other books that have become keeper re-reads are Martha Wells (ile-rien series and wheel of the infinite), Lois McMaster Bujold (miles V. and sharing knife series), Lisa Shearin (magic lost, trouble found), Michelle Sagara (cast in.. series), nalini singh (psy-changeling), wen spencer, karen chance, linnea sinclair, pc hodgell, lora leigh, sharon lee & steve miller, eileen wilks, patricia mckillip, robin mckinley….
Got to go, spending too much time writing & reading on the internet rather than reading books.
Beth
June 9, 2008 at 5:58 am
Hey Ciara,
I liked Stolen, but not as much as Bitten. Succubus Blues was very well written and good, I thought. I’m not the hugest Kim Harrison fan ever, but that’s a humor thing. Keri Arthur I would solidly recommend for thrills and sex, but not super originality. If you’re looking for Briggs and Ilona, I’d look at Succubus.
June 9, 2008 at 11:28 am
Okay…so I didn’t see the Briggs book or the Marjorie M. Liu book the first time I looked. *smacks head* I’ll just say that Briggs rocks my world. :) I love Kim Harrison, but that’s me. The first book isn’t fantastic, but the series definitely gets better the more you get into it. :)
I just finished the latest Christine Warren book. That series is another one that gets better the further into it you go. The Demon You Know is HAWT! :)
Marjorie M. Liu writes great stories. I call her a lyrical writer, because of the way her prose fills the pages. I don’t think you could go wrong with any of them. :)
June 11, 2008 at 1:06 pm
The Devil Inside is worth a read– similar in style to Patricia Brigg’s Mercy books. The whole first chapter is up on the author’s website — once I read it, I *HAD* to go buy it. Not a romance. Some interesting kink. I found the end to be a slight let-down, but overall not bad. I’ll probably continue with the series.
Love Lynn Viehl. Don’t have a book-specific review, but there’s an author profile by my co-blogger on Alpha Heroes.
June 12, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Oh, I absolutely think you should read the Shiloh Walker book. Uh… not for any particular reason…except I like it when people read my books. :)
June 12, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Shiloh – I DID! It was very good. Thanks!
June 18, 2008 at 12:58 am
Thanks everyone for the suggestions! I’ve collected about half the list on my coffee table and as I read my way through them I’ll let you know what I I think.
Beth – I haven’t yet read Martha Wells, Lois McMaster Bujold, Lisa Shearin, Michelle Sagara, wen spencer, linnea sinclair, pc hodgell, sharon lee & steve miller, patricia mckillip, or robin mckinley. Looks like my TBR pile just got a whole lot bigger!
Nicola – I started The Devil Inside. I think the premise of the book is great. I like the references to the Philly setting, cuz I used to live there and can go “oooo I know that place!” BUT I have some reservations, which I’ll share with you when I see you.