Free Kindle Copy: "How to Talk to Girls at Parties" by Neil Gaiman

If you're like me and you're looking forward to the Ocean at the End of the Lane  by Neil Gaiman, now is your chance to get a free Kindle copy of the short story "How to Talk to Girls at Parties". Also included is a generous helping of a preview of the novel to come. I don't know how long this is available, but last time I checked, 6/11/13 12:30am. it was still available.

Waiting on Wednesday #2 - The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

This week I am looking forward to getting my hands on The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman.

Booklist gave it a starred review and said some wonderfully intriguing things about it.

In Gaiman’s first novel for adults since Anansi Boys(2005), the never-named fiftyish narrator is back in his childhood homeland, rural Sussex, England, where he’s just delivered the eulogy at a funeral. With “an hour or so to kill” afterward, he drives about—aimlessly, he thinks—until he’s at the crucible of his consciousness: a farmhouse with a duck pond. There, when he was seven, lived the Hempstocks, a crone, a housewife, and an 11-year-old girl, who said they were grandmother, mother, and daughter. Now, he finds the crone and, eventually, the housewife—the same ones, unchanged—while the girl is still gone, just as she was at the end of the childhood adventure he recalls in a reverie that lasts all afternoon. He remembers how he became the vector for a malign force attempting to invade and waste our world. The three Hempstocks are guardians, from time almost immemorial, situated to block such forces and, should that fail, fight them. Gaiman mines mythological typology—the three-fold goddess, the water of life (the pond, actually an ocean)—and his own childhood milieu to build the cosmology and the theater of a story he tells more gracefully than any he’s told since Stardust(1999). And don’t worry about that “for adults” designation: it’s a matter of tone. This lovely yarn is good for anyone who can read it.

I especially like the idea of his exploring the mother, maiden, crone concept as guardians. I've always enjoyed what he's done with mythologies and religions in the past, and I don't expect it to be any different this time. 

What book are you looking forward to reading this week?

Waiting on Wednesday #1 - The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

I know it's Thursday, but I didn't decide to participate until today. And even though most people will list a book that's yet to come out, I am listing one that's out that I haven't been able to acquire and read yet.

The  book I am most waiting on reading right now is The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker. Chava - a golem whose maker died at sea on the trip over to the States and Ahmad a jinni who is free, but not entirely so, meet in turn of the century New York City. "Like their immigrant neighbors, the Golem and the Jinni struggle to make their way in this strange new place while masking the supernatural origins that could destroy them," says GoodReads.

Also according to GoodReads, "Marvelous and compulsively readable, The Golem and the Jinni weaves strands of Yiddish and Middle Eastern literature, historical fiction and magical fable into a wondrously inventive and unforgettable tale."

Turn of the century New York City was a fascinating place. Not that I would ever have wanted to be there, but I know one of  my great-grand fathers was there not long after that. All the immigrants settling in to life in the United States would make for confusion, miscommunication, and opportunities for friendship in the shared struggles. Throw in the Yiddish and Middle Eastern literature and fable with the history and you get an interesting blend that sounds like a winner to me. I am so looking forward to reading this. It's on my wish list for now. Waiting on the library to get it.

And thanks to Breaking the Spine for hosting Waiting on Wednesday!

Review: 14 by Peter Clines

I was drawn to 14 by Peter Clines by the blurb. In particular by,   "Because every room in this old Los Angeles brownstone has a mystery or two. Mysteries that stretch back over a hundred years. Some of them are in plain sight. Some are behind locked doors. And all together these mysteries could mean the end of Nate and his friends. 
Or the end of everything"

I was expecting a haunted apartment building. Or possessed tenants.  Or some combination of both. What I got was a lot weirder than that. I can't say too much or else it will give away spoilers. 

Nate and his friends in the building start to explore.  They discover that no two apartments are the same and that each apartment has it's own unique weirdness. Their impromptu Scooby gang continues to explore looking for explanations and finds much, much more than they expected. 

My favorite characters in the book were Nate and Veek. Veek is the one who gets Nate turned onto exploring the weirdness in the building. Until he meets her, he thinks it's just in his apartment. Many of the other characters lack depth, but they aren't playing big parts either, so it feels okay. 

It was hard to suspend my disbelief at some points until I realized which other famous author's universe Clines was playing in. That said, Clines keeps it original. And he keeps it moving for the most part. I read the first 80% of the book very quickly. I actually missed some sleep because I needed to know what happened next. Some of the last part of the book though, where there was the most action, moved the slowest. And there was a plot line near the end that seemed to be tacked on as if the author thought the main problem was solved too easily or quickly and needed one more complication.

Still, overall it's a good book. I enjoyed reading it. I could easily see it as a movie. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars. I think you would like it if you like urban fantasy type horror. It is not a paranormal. 

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Review: Weird Detectives: Recent Investigations edited by Paula Guran

Weird Detectives: Recent Investigations ed. by Paula Guran is an anthology of short stories wherein strange things happen. Sometimes what's being investigated goes bump in the night; sometimes it's the investigator that is more on the weird side.

Most of the stories have been published elsewhere before this collection. The selection of writers is well and varied. Among them  are Neil Gaiman, Caitlin Kiernan, Patricia Briggs, and Charlaine Harris. You've got everything from Sherlock Holmes to ghostly goings on to demons. None of the stories really stood out more than any of the others for me. They were all good quality writing.

I think this anthology will appeal to people who enjoy urban fantasy, science fiction, or paranormal fiction. It is the latest in the "recent" series of anthologies (Zombies: The Recent Dead, New Cthulhu: The Recent Weird, Ghosts: Recent Hauntings). The paperback version of this book just came out April 3, 2013. It is now available both in ebook and paperback format.

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in return for my unbiased opinion.

Review: The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau

The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau is a YA dystopian novel told from Malencia Vale's point of view. This is  book one in a new trilogy.

It's after the Seven Stages War and the majority of the population is organized in colonies for safety. Cia and her family live in the Five Lakes colony which is the smallest colony and hasn't sent any graduates to the testing in several years. It's also a little more self sufficient than the other colonies giving the students lots of skills. Cia is a young student about to graduate school and wants nothing more than to go for Testing for University. But, is she ready for the Testing and all that it holds?

Ready or not she is selected along with a few others from her colony. Before they leave, her father gives her one last piece of advice based on his own shadowy recollections of his own testing, "Trust no one."

Tomas is her love interest. Everyday he seems to be more in love with her. But. should she trust him? Should she be ruled by her heart or her head?

I usually don't much like dystopian novels, but this one I did. I found myself turning the pages wanting to find out what happened next. I liked the characters especially Cia and Tomas. I liked the variety of action and the character development. People who enjoyed The Hunger Games or dystopian fiction in general will like this book. And I think if you like science fiction at all you will enjoy it. This book is expected to be available
June 4, 2013.

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Review: Miss Julia's Gift by Ann B. Ross

Miss Julia's Gift is an eSpecial! from Ann B. Ross. It's a short piece, novella size, but no less rich for it.

Sam Murdoch, her second husband, has a habit of giving her gifts for every possible holiday including Groundhog Day and sometimes just because. Miss Julia doesn't quite know how to handle this kindness. She studies other people's reactions when they get gifts for clues as to how she should react.

And she talks to some of her trusted friends about "waiting for the other shoe to drop." She wonders if marriage will change Sam for the worse like it seemed to do to her first husband.

While there is not a lot of action in this book, the introspection is wonderful. It allows us a window into Miss Julia's state of mind just after her marriage that is sweet and could belong to many a second bride. Miss Julia makes it her own though when it's her turn to give Sam a gift for Valentine's Day. Hurray for Ann B. Ross bringing us closer to Miss Julia!

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

And if you like this book and want to read more Miss Julia there is a whole series with the most recent release being Miss Julia to the Rescue in paperback in March. And Miss Julia Stirs Up Trouble will be released April 9th in hardcover,

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased opinion.