140:120 Undead and Uneasy by MaryJanice Davidson

6th book in the Queen Betsy series.  Betsy is only a few weeks from her wedding date and still doesn't have a dress!  She's also now missing a groom and all of her friends which really sucks for her when she is at her dad and step-mom's funereal.  Where has everyone gone?!  Especially now that she is the guardian for BabyJon and has werewolves beating down her door looking for Antonia.  Thank goodness she has the right shoes for every emergency.

A little darker than previous installments and we see a bit more growth from Betsy as she has to deal with trying to figure out what has gone on but still on the fluffy side.  A fun read and I will be interested to see where it goes from here.

Page count: 258p/36,658p ytd/181,058p lifetime

And with that, I think I'm done with reading for the year. There will be friends over and the odds of finishing another book are slim. I hit most of my goals and will do my yearly wrap-up and new goals post in the next day or so. In the meantime, for those that actually read this blog, keep reading!

139:120 The Spider by Jennifer Estep

Book 10 in the Elemental Assassin series.  It's a normal day at the diner when a package is delivered for Gin containing a dozen dark blue roses with milky stems and the cryptic message "Happy Anniversary".  The flowers trigger a trip down memory lane and we get a look at the novice assassin on her first major hit and one that taught her many life lessons she has never forgotten as well as filled her with guilt like no other.  

It was nice to see Gin back before we first met her in Spider's Bite and see Fletcher again.  Good story and plot although fairly transparent.  A few cameos put in for the die hard fans which was a nice touch.  My main complaint is the same one I always have with this series which is the long, repetitive internal monologues.  We got that your family was murdered but honestly, even brand new people to the series don't need to be reminded every other chapter.

Page count: 400p/36,400p ytd/180,800p lifetime

138:120 Affliction by Laurell K. Hamilton

Book 22 in the Anita Blake series.   It's a day like any other until Anita gets a call from Micah's mother whom he hasn't spoken to in years in an effort to keep his family safe from Chimera.  Micah's father has been bitten by some strange zombie and is now rotting from the inside out and doesn't have long to live.  Anita goes with Micah to his father's bedside as his support but it's also her job to try and figure out what is going on with this new zombie infection and what she finds out isn't comforting at all.

The plot was decent and the number of sex scenes was down which are both good things but instead she has now replaced the meaningless sex with long internal monologues about how well Anita's life is working so she doesn't want to screw it up.  The book was mostly one long dive into how Anita's relationships are working and how much she has changed from who she was with the occasional foray into screwed up family relationships.  I had high hopes when Edward came along only to find that he has apparently gone into therapy and is no longer our favorite little sociopath but is encouraging Anita to go have sex and cuddle with her guys.  The main bad guy could have been much more interesting but again, that seemed to take a back seat to the relationships and emotional garbage.  And the repetition!!!  OMG!  Seriously, we don't need to hear repeatedly how Leandro has a family so can't be put into danger like she did last time or about JC's eyes or any of the other things that we were reminded of on a constant basis.  Also, seriously, get a better editor!  There were multiple places were it looks like a sentence had been changed but the old one not completely erased or something as they made no frigging sense whatever.  I would have to reread them several times to try and figure out what was trying to be said.

So why did I read it when I was pretty sure I was done with this series after the last book?  Mostly because I was still hoping to make my page read count for the year (not happening) and it was at the library at the same time I was with a lot of pages I could read quickly and I caved.  Big mistake.

Page count: 570p/36,000p ytd/180,400p lifetime

137:120 Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater

Mr. Popper paints houses for a living but in the winter when no one wants his services, he spends his time researching famous explorers and fantasizing about traveling around the world.  Then one day, Admiral Cook answers his letter by sending him a penguin of his own from Antarctica and the adventure begins.  First, how do you care for a penguin in your home in the midwestern United States, especially when you are broke?  Then what about licensing and regulations?  And what to do when he gets lonely?  Mr. Popper has to come up with a way to deal with all these things and the adventure is on!

An extremely well done and cute book about an extraordinary experience for an ordinary family.  My kids love it and it's easy to see why it's a classic.

Page count: 139p/35,430p ytd/179,830p lifetime

136:120 Forbidden by Kelley Armstrong

A new story set in her Otherworld series featuring Elena and Clay.  Morgan has decided to take Elena and Clay up on the offer they made when they were in Alaska and come down to check out the Pack.  Unfortunately, when he makes a pit stop in a small town, he gets more than just dinner.  When he is found naked out in the woods and picked up by the local police, they search his things and find Elena's name and number.  When she gets the call, she and Clay go out there to assess the situation and bring Morgan back to the Pack.  Unfortunately, after they spring him from the jail they find their tires have been slashed as have Morgan's.  From there, things only get stranger and stranger as they are pushed into staying and since they are here, they start poking their noses into everything and uncover more than they bargained for.

I so miss this series and especially Elena and Clay as they were my favorites. This was a wonderful story with them, especially watching them work on their new roles as Alpha and Enforcer while not losing their relationship as husband and wife.  I'm glad that while the main story has been told, Ms. Armstrong continues to bring out these other side stories through a small publisher and hope there will be many more to come.

Page count: 212p/35,291p ytd/179,691p lifetime

135:120 Drinking and Conjuring Don't Mix by Stefon Mears

Wizards should never conjure after they've been drinking.  It seems pretty obvious but Perry thought it seemed like a good idea at the time.  Sort of like when he bound his familiar into a chalkboard.  Now he has a spirit of deception running around asking them difficult questions every time they try to bind it and their time is running short to banish it before it grows strong enough to summon its kin.  

A delightful little romp and a great lesson for future wizards.  Heck, maybe I'll have my kids read it as a lesson in why pretty much anything you think is a good idea when drunk probably isn't.

Page count: 30p/35,079p ytd/179,479p lifetime

134:120 The Curse of Valassa by Stefon Mears

The war is over and now it's time for the men who left as boys to return to their villages with little more than what they left with if they return at all but for for two of them, that is not enough so when they meet a priest at an inn looking for protection on the road, they take him up on it.  What none of them know is that they will end up dealing with the priest's god's nemesis and the Curse of Valassa which has taken hold of the priest's village.  Whose God will prove the mightier?

As a short story the plot was basic and not much in the way of character growth but it moved nicely and the world set-up was well done and interesting.  I would definitely read more in this universe.

Page count: 42p/35,049p ytd/179,449p lifetime