110:24 Thread of Death & Other Stories by Jennifer Estep

Thread of Death takes place after Spider's Revenge and before By a Thread.  Gin is finally healed enough to leave the house but all her friends are concerned since she's leaving to attend Mab's funeral.  Her reasoning is that Mab has been such a big part of her life since she was 13 that she wants to say good-bye in her own way. Of course, the funeral is attended by all the up-and-coming scum of Ashland who are trying to figure out who's going to be the next big boss of the underworld there, many of whom are enemies of the Spider.  Then the shots start ringing....

A nice bridge novel.  Sets up a few things that will hopefully get played out in the next book or two.

I also read all the other bridge and background stories she has on her website.  I really liked getting more background on the Deveraux sisters and getting Mab's story from her perspective and what her issue was with Gin's mother.  I love when author's put those kinds of things out for the readers.  They are stories that make the world that much richer but are generally hard to weave into the main books, especially if they are written in a first-person format so nice move Ms. Estep.

Page count: 90p/7,356p ytd

110:23 Shaded Vision by Yasmine Galenorn

The 11th in the Sisters of the Otherworld series.  This one is told from Delilah's point of view.  Camille is still trying to heal from her ordeal with Hyto, Iris is pregnant and getting married, there is a new Daemon general in town, the Kyonni are back and their new leader has a spirit seal, and just for fun they are also in cahoots with Van and Jaycee the sorcerers who escaped in a previous book.

Yeah, it's kind of crazy how much is packed into this book but Galenorn weaves it well infusing enough humor and real-life issues to counterbalance the supernatural stuff they deal with.  It's nice to see Delilah starting to grow-up more and really come into her own.  She's always been the more innocent one of the bunch (and that is the one part I dislike is being reminded of that what feels like every few pages) and it's good to see her more cautiously optimistic rather than being the bubbly ditsy blonde.

In all, another wonderful installment in the series.

Page count: 337p/7,266p ytd

110:22 Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

A quick tale that speaks volumes on the duality of nature within the human psyche and how often the side that you feed is the side that will come out on top.

Page count: 90p/6,225p ytd

110:21 Rise Again by Ben Tripp

Yet another zombie book.  I admit tho, I was excited about reading this one because it had a good review on the cover  by Cory Doctorow who I think is an amazing writer.  As it turns out, I don't think I'll be listening to his reviews again.  The book was long and drawn out.  Character development didn't really start until about 20pages from the end.  Actually, scratch that.  The zombies did develop through the story which was really the only slightly interesting thing about it but since they so rarely showed up, it wasn't enough to save it.  The rest of the story was completely predictable and it was by sheer force of will that I actually finished it because all I could do when I had some free time was groan that I still wasn't done with it.   Maybe if you are a rabid zombie fanatic you can get into it but my recollection of it was "gross out scene"...blahblahblah..."insert pointless Iraq war memory during unconscious period here"...blahblahblah..."insert more pointless moaning about little sister and/or search for sister here"...blahblahblah....repeat endlessly

Page count: 371p/6,839p

110:20 A Hard Day's Knight by Simon R. Green

The 11th book in the Nightside series.  Excalibur has shown up on John's doorstep for him to wield long enough to find King Arthur and return it to him.  Of course, no one knows where Arthur is but everyone wants Excalibur.

A pretty standard romp in the Nightside with the only real surprise being at the end but it's good mindless fluff for when you just want to escape for a bit.

Page count: 294p/6,468p ytd

110:19 Etched in Silver by Yasmine Galenorn

A novella set in the Otherworld universe and is the story of how Trillian and Camille met and ended up soul-mated.  A nice little story that showcased what life had been like for them a bit more clearly back in OW before things opened up and they came earthside.  Not necessary to read to understand anything in the series but a fun little filler as I wait for the next book to come out.  Includes a sneak peak of the new book as well.

Page count: 50p/6,174p ytd

110:18 To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis

I picked this one up on the recommendation of a friend saying I absolutely had to read it.  I had it on my kindle for about a year with her asking me every time we got together if I'd read it yet so I finally broke down and read it.  Wow!  It got off to a really slow start and I was thoroughly confused and wondering if perhaps this was a second book in a series or something as there was so much going on.  Turns out no, there wasn't and everything does get explained but it takes a while.  I think I was about a quarter of the way in before it stopped being merely confusing and started getting to the point where I understood what was going on and could follow easily at which point I was totally hooked on the story.  Trying to summerize this one is hard but basically it's a story about time travel that takes place mostly in the story's present day (2057), 1940s Coventry, and Victorian England.  There is love, a missing bird stump, cats, and to say nothing of the dog.

In all, a very fun and entertaining read.

Page count: 493p/6,124p ytd