January Through June 2011 Reads – Star Ratings

Books I read in January through June this year. Separated into star ratings, then listed by order in which I read them. All up at GoodReads. Some reviews here on my WordPress. Does not include books that I didn’t finish, because I’ve deleted them from my catalogue, and likely my memory.

Let me know if you decide to read or not to read them, based on my ratings. Because yes, I am that egocentric 😉

5 STARS: Rage (Jackie Morse Kessler), American Vampire (Jennifer Armintrout), Project 17 (Laurie Faria Stolarz), The Gathering (Kelley Armstrong), The Repossession Mambo/Repo Men (Eric Garcia), Moongazer (Marianne Mancusi), Wither (Lauren DeStefano), Girl Hero (Carrie Jones)

4 STARS: Outside In (Maria V. Snyder), Stocking Full of Coal (Amanda Feral), The Walled Garden (Michele Lang), The Shadow Runners (Liz Maverick), The Vespertine (Saundra Mitchell), Linger (Maggie Stiefvater), Dark Life (Kat Falls), Demonized (Naomi Clark), The Reckoning (Kelley Armstrong), Midnight Alley (Rachel Caine), Feast of Fools (Rachel Caine), Lord of Misrule (Rachel Caine), Carpe Corpus (Rachel Caine), Fade Out (Rachel Caine), Coming Home (P. D. Martin), Kiss of Death (Rachel Caine), XVI (Julia Karr), Ghost Town (Rachel Caine), The Girl in the Steel Corset (Kady Cross), Matched (Ally Condie), Uninvited (Amanda Marrone), The Bradbury Report (Steven Polansky), Uninvited (Justine Musk), Exile (Rebecca Lim), Helper12 (Jack Blaine), Darkness Becomes Her (Kelly Keaton)

3 STARS: Jealousy (Lili St. Crow), Among the Betrayed (Margaret Peterson Haddix), Among the Barons (Margaret Peterson Haddix), Becoming (Kelley Armstrong), Shadow Days (Andrea Cremer), Day of Fire (Kathleen Nance), Dreaming Anastasia (Joy Preble), Things Bogans Like, Beyond Heaving Bosoms (Sarah Wendell & Candy Tan), Fugitives (Alexander Gordon Smith), The Power of Two (Patti O’Shea), Coming Undone (Lauren Dane), In the Arms of Stone Angels (Jordan Dane), The Iron Witch (Karen Mahoney), Damaged (Yolanda Sfetsos), Falling Freestyle (Vivian Arend), Jeweled (Anya Bast), Thyla (Kate Gordon), It Takes a Village Idiot and I Married One (Alex Borstein & Cherry Chevapravatdumrong), Burn Bright (Marianne de Pierres), A Touch Mortal (Leah Clifford), Night and Chaos (Naomi Clark), Savage Transformation (Lexxie Couper), The Official Illustrated Guide (Stephenie Meyer), Exit Strategy (Kelley Armstrong), Made to Be Broken (Kelley Armstrong), You Are So Undead to Me (Stacey Jay), Hereafter (Tara Hudson), Relentless (Lauren Dane), The Scarlet Empress (Susan Grant), Close Encounters (Katherine Allred), Perfect Cover (Jennifer Lynn Barnes), Killer Spirit (Jennifer Lynn Barnes), West End (Laura Van Wormer), Moon Sworn (Keri Arthur)

2 STARS: Defiance (Lili St. Crow)

[REVIEW] Close Encounters – Katherine Allred

Katherine Allred
Close Encounters (Alien Affairs, Book 1)
HarperCollins Eos (CA: 16th March 2009; US: 31st March 2009; AU: 1st June 2010 [eBook only])
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

Aliens? They may not be on “Old Earth”, but the Buri are more like another tribe than another species. They speak a different language and are more spiritual, but they’re still human in my opinion. The flora and fauna on Orpheus Two are different, though.

The summary sounds a lot like Avatar (which in turn sounds a lot like other stuff): a big corporation wants to plunder a planet, mining all its resources and colonising it, but the natives stand in their way. Enter an agent who earns the trust of the natives, mate-bonds with their leader, becomes their closest thing to the Goddess, and together with the community defeats the corporation.

For the first half, I alternated between reading this (I own it) and a library book (which I loved). But once I switched full-time to Close Encounters, I enjoyed it more than the earlier part. I’m easily distracted by shiny, colourful things, so the geodes attracted me. They get a bit weird, though, the more we learn about them. Really weird. I don’t like paranormal in my science fiction, damn it!

But keep an eye out for the massiveness the mountain is hiding – oddly appealing weird shiz, more SF than para.

The human/alien characters don’t work for me, but I like AI Max and love Crigo the rock cat. The romance and spirituality elements don’t work for me at all, and the too-familiar storyline seems cliché. There is good stuff here, but it’s buried amongst some faff – you’ll have to mine deep for it, but stick around.

July 2010 Releases

Done with June 2010 Releases? Here are the July 2010 Releases. As always, to see future releases, check Reading Wishlist.

June 2010 Releases

Done with May 2010 Releases? Here are June 2010 Releases. To look further into the future, check Reading Wishlist.

May 2010 Releases

Done with April 2010 Releases? Here are May 2010 Releases. To see further into the future, check Reading Wishlist.

Adult Releases – 2010 & Beyond

Since I listed YA Releases yesterday, it’s only fair that I list the adult ones today. Only I don’t like using the term “adult” – makes the books sound skeevy. They may BE skeevy, but we don’t have to advertise them that way 😉

Disclaimer: Does not include every title, stuff I’ve already read isn’t included, only listing them if I have release dates, may be reprints and international editions, etc… Check my Reading Wishlist for more titles.

MARIO ACEVEDO – Werewolf Smackdown – 24 Feb 2010/9 Mar 2010/15 Feb 2011
ANN AGUIRRE – Hell Fire – 6 Apr 2010/10 Jun 2010
ANN AGUIRRE – Killbox – Sep 2010
ANN AGUIRRE – Shady Lady – 1 Aug 2011
KATHERINE ALLRED – Close Contact – 5 May 2010/25 May 2010
JENNIFER ARMINTROUT – American Vampire – Dec 2010
KELLEY ARMSTRONG – Tales of the Otherworld – 13 Apr 2010
KELLEY ARMSTRONG – Waking the Witch – 3 Aug 2010/5 Aug 2010
KERI ARTHUR – Moon Sworn – 25 May 2010/3 Jun 2010
KERI ARTHUR – Mercy Burns – 7 Oct 2010/28 Dec 2010
ANYA BAST – Wicked Enchantment – 5 Jan 2010/18 Mar 2010
ANYA BAST – Cruel Enchantment – Sep 2010
ANYA BAST – Jeweled – Nov 2010
JES BATTIS – Inhuman Resources – 25 May 2010
LAURA BICKLE – Embers – 30 Mar 2010/31 May 2010
LAURA BICKLE – Sparks – 31 Aug 2010
KYLIE CHAN – Earth to Hell – 1 Jan 2010
CAROLYN CRANE – Mind Games – 23 Mar 2010
SARA CREASY – Song of Scarabaeus – 7 Apr 2010/27 Apr 2010
SARA CREASY – Children of Scarabaeus – 15 Nov 2010
SEAN CUMMINGS – Shade Fright – 1 Mar 2010
LAUREN DANE – Coming Undone – 5 Jan 2010
LAUREN DANE – Insatiable – 6 Jul 2010
LAUREN DANE – Inside Out – Nov 2010
CLAIRE DELACROIX – Rebel – 1 Oct 2010
LORI DEVOTI – Amazon Queen – 27 Apr 2010/28 Jun 2010
KELLY GAY – The Darkest Edge of Dawn – 31 Aug 2010
MIRA GRANT – Feed – 27 Apr 2010/3 Jun 2010
LAURELL K. HAMILTON – Flirt – 2 Feb 2010
KIM HARRISON – Black Magic Sanction – 10 Feb 2010/23 Feb 2010/29 Apr 2010
MEGAN HART – Switch – 1 Jan 2010
MEGAN HART – Naked – Jul 2010
MEGAN HART – Selfish Is the Heart – Oct 2010
MEGAN HART – Somewhere Only We Know – Jan 2011
MEGAN HART – Collide – Jul 2011
ERICA HAYES – Shadowglass – 2 Mar 2010
MARK HENRY – Battle of the Network Zombies – 23 Feb 2010/2 Mar 2010
JEANNIE HOLMES – Blood Law – 22 Jun 2010
KERRIE HUGHES (ed.) – Chicks Kick Ass – 2011
STACIA KANE – Unholy Ghosts – 25 May 2010/27 May 2010
STACIA KANE – Unholy Magic – 22 Jun 2010
STACIA KANE – City of Ghosts – 27 Jul 2010
CAITLIN KITTREDGE – Daemon’s Mark – 2 Mar 2010/25 May 2010/28 Jun 2010
RICHELLE MEAD – Succubus Shadows – 18 Mar 2010/30 Mar 2010
RICHELLE MEAD – Iron Crowned – Jan 2011
TRACEY O’HARA – Death’s Sweet Embrace – 15 Aug 2010
TRACEY O’HARA – Sin’s Dark Caress – 15 Aug 2011
VICKI PETTERSSON – Cheat the Grave – 8 Jun 2010
STEVEN POLANSKY – The Bradbury Report – 6 Apr 2010/3 Mar 2011
KAT RICHARDSON – Labyrinth – 3 Aug 2010/5 Aug 2010
DIANA ROWLAND – Blood of the Demon – 23 Feb 2010
JERI SMITH-READY – Bring On the Night – 27 Jul 2010
JEFF SOMERS – The Terminal State – 5 Aug 2010
K. A. STEWART – A Devil in the Details – 6 Jul 2010
LESLIE TENTLER – Midnight Caller – Feb 2011
RACHEL VINCENT – Shift – 19 Feb 2010/1 Mar 2010
JOSS WARE – Beyond the Night – 12 Jan 2010
JOSS WARE – Embrace the Night Eternal – 9 Feb 2010
JOSS WARE – Abandon the Night – 3 Feb 2010/9 Mar 2010
SKYLER WHITE – And Falling Fly – 2 Mar 2010
SKYLER WHITE – In Dreams Begin – Dec 2010
ALAYNA WILLIAMS – Dark Oracle – 25 May 2010
GAYLE ANN WILLIAMS – Tsunami Blue – 1 Apr 2010

[COVER ART] Katherine Allred’s CLOSE CONTACT & Kylie Chan’s EARTH TO HELL (AU)

Cover for Katherine Allred’s Close Contact, and the Australian cover for Kylie Chan’s Earth to Hell.