7:100 Kitty's Mix-Tape by Carrie Vaughn

 Ms. Vaughn is diving back into Kitty Norville's world in order to give us a collection of short stories about not just Kitty, but many of the other side characters that inhabited the world that people wanted to learn more about. There are songs and story notes for each piece, and many were written for specific anthologies but it's nice to have them all collected in one place and a few new pieces as well.  I hadn't read all the anthologies so many were new for me during this read.

I found it a fun collection but definitely suffered from not having read any of these books those characters appeared in since the last Kitty novel came out, so some of the smaller side characters who got their own stories I had no context for and had to do a quick look up to remember who they were. Those stories were enjoyable but lost what would have undoubtedly made them more special had I remembered what they meant to Kitty and the series. 

Page count: 272p/1,674p ytd/349,055p lifetime

New Releases I'm looking Forward To: 3rd Quarter 2020

My usual disclaimer:

Let me state, this is really based on authors or series that I'm already reading since those are the things I follow.  I'm not paid to write this blog nor do I have any affiliations with any publishers so I don't receive free books or advance notice of things except what I glean off Facebook from people who do have those contacts or what I research on my own (which again, leads back to authors that I'm already reading).  Maybe someday I'll be one of those who has the contacts and gets ARCs but it's not today.

Work has slowed a bit but I've been crazy busy trying to catch up everything else that fell to the side when things were super nuts, including my breath. Spring semester is over but summer semester has now started so I'm still trying to get a feel for how busy that will be. In other words, I've stretched myself thin again and am still desperately trying to find time for reading with everything else I'm trying to do. I really need more hours in my days.

In A Peculiar Peril, Jeff Vandermeer has created new worlds attached to our own through doorways in the basement of newly orphaned Jonathan Lambshead which must not intrude upon our own. The first in a YA duology, I have no doubt that the worlds will be rich, the characters intriguing, and highly unusual things will be afoot.

Release date: July 7

Spells for the Dead by Faith Hunter is the 5th book in the Soulwood series, a spin-off from the Jane Yellowrock. I really enjoy the Jane Yellowrock series and I have the first few in the series but haven't yet had time to read them. Rick and Nell have a new team member, they are on a case in Tennessee where dead bodies are decaying at a rapid pace, and someone at the FBI doesn't like paranormals. All the shit seems to be going down with this one.

Release date: July 27

The second of Carrie Vaughn's Robin Hood duology, The Heirs of Locksley, looks to be a fun imagining with the children of the famous outlaw and his nemesis, Prince John. Still need to read the first one though.

Release date: August 4

I enjoyed Binti by Nnedi Okorafor and have been trying to find time to read more of her work as the story synopsis are generally intriguing.  Ikenga is her first foray into writing for a middle-school audience with the main character, 12-year old Nigerian boy Namdi, gaining superpowers after the death of his father.  

Release date: August 18

Honestly, I'm not sure why I'm behind in the Hidden Legacy series by Ilona Andrews. I think I've only read the first book which was delightful bubblegum and that is definitely about the speed my brain can handle right now so I think I need to get caught up so I can read Emerald Blaze. It looks like the series has moved away from the original power couple and I know it's on the paranormal romance side so I'm not sure if  it's going to be like their The Edge series where the main couple changes every book.  Either way, I'm sure it's going to be fun.

Release date: August 25

My oldest got into the Iron Druid series by Kevin Hearne several years ago and I've recently read the first book in that series for my book club and enjoyed it. I'll definitely we working my way through all of them so I'm definitely interested in Ink & Sigil which is set in the same world with some cross-over characters while looking to be very much it's own thing.

Release date: August 25

For me, September with new releases has come to be synonymous with the newest October Day book coming out.  These books always have enough high stakes to make me bite my nails until I'm sure everything is going to be ok because sometimes they aren't and characters die or are wounded in ways that are not easily mended and I think my heart would break if something actually caused the break-up of Toby and Tybalt. In A Killing Frost, they are moving closer to their wedding when they are told that by Fae tradition, Toby's mother's husband is considered her legal father and must be invited to the wedding.  That same man would be the one who trapped Toby as a fish for 12 years and who just recently lost all the progress he made towards becoming less of an asshole to everyone. Yeah, that sounds like just the way to fuck with Toby and Tybalt's marriage that Seanan would come up with.

Release date: September 1

87:100 Badlands Witch by Carrie Vaughn

The second book in the Cormac and Amelia spinoff.  Cormac made a lot of enemies when he was a bounty hunter and thankfully most of them are dead...but not all of them. When he gets recruited by an archaeologist for a job and Amelia seems eager, they head off.  Now someone from his past is gunning for him and instead of just killing him has managed to steal Amelia away.  This leads Cormac to understand just how close he and Amelia have grown and how much he will do to get her back.

I'm enjoying getting to return to this universe with other characters and Cormac and Amelia is such an unusual pairing so that makes it doubly fun.  I've heard that there will be more and I certainly hope so.

Page count: 83p/21,757p ytd/330,454p lifetime

84:100 Dark Divide by Carrie Vaughn

A spin-off set in the Kitty Norville series but focusing on the strange relationship between Cormac and his new mental guest, Amelia, since he got out of prison and Kitty's arc is over. 

Cormac and Amelia have been asked to come to Donner Pass to investigate the death of one of the docents who starved to death in a cabin full of food.  It certainly seems to have a possible supernatural cause but is it merely some type of haunting based on the tragedy from the past or something even more sinister.

I thought that the twining of Cormac, a supernatural bounty hunter, and Amelia,a deceased witch, taking up residence in his head was a great idea when it first happened in the Kitty series and I really enjoy that Ms. Vaughn is now giving us stories of the two of them as they learn how to navigate the world and exploring how they can work together.


Page count: 94p/21,370p ytd/330,067p lifetime

49:120 Urban Allies edited by Joseph Nassise

An interesting concept where 20 urban fantasy writers were paired up and wrote stories with their partner utilizing a main character from their own series.  Rather than going into detail about each story, I'm going to focus more on how well I think the concept worked for that pair.

Jaye Welles & Caitlyn Kittridge - I've only read the Prospero Wars books by Jaye Wells and nothing by Caitlyn Kittridge so I had no idea about the characters in this story but it didn't matter.  One set was sent on a wild goose chase to hopefully take out the other set but the fur flies and it gets figured out so they team up to find the person who betrayed them both. The story swings back and forth between Sabina and Ava and it mostly works. Even without knowing anything about any of the characters, enough was given so I had a clue (and I'm now very interested in the Sabina books and might check out the Ava books as well) and didn't feel lost but I don't think it was so much that it would annoy someone who was already familiar with those worlds.

Seanan McGuire & Kelley Armstrong - This story right here was the thing that pushed me over the edge into buying this book.  I LOVE both of these authors and their worlds and the thought of them being combined might have made me squeee. Unfortunately, the story did anything but.  They "paired" up Verity from Seanan's Incryptid series with Elena from Kelley's Otherworld series but only sort of.  They were both in the same NY forest and stumbled upon the same poacher but their entire interaction was a brief moment when Elena was kicking the guy's ass and Verity says 'Hi'.  Really?!  I know both characters are cagey by nature but this story could easily have not had the other character and it would not have changed anything so in terms of being a collaborative effort and putting the characters really together it fell enormously flat and was very disappointing.

Steven Savile & Craig Schaefer - This is the first story that has more of what I was expecting in terms of a collaborative effort.  It does swing from what I'm assuming is one author's characters to the others but in a way that was naturally flowing and then flowed back to a cooperative narrative. It blended all the characters well and if I did not know this was a joint effort with characters from two different universes, I would not have guessed it to be the case.


Joseph Nassie & Sam Witt - I knew nothing of either of these writers or their universes before this story.  There was enough backstory in there that I didn't feel totally lost although there were definitely pieces of backstory that were hinted at but not explained which for a short story I think is actually good as it works as a hook to get people to go check out their other books which I totally get.  The story and characters worked well together on the whole.


Diana Rowland & Carrie Vaughn - Ok, I have to admit that the White Trash Zombie and Kitty Norville books are both ones that I really enjoy so I was pretty happy to see these characters mashed up together.  Unfortunately, this one didn't have a whole lot of backstory so I can easily see people not familiar with the worlds not really getting the characters.  They felt a bit flat and the story was predictable with little detail in any sense.  Why do the ones I'm so looking forward to in this book end up being the more disappointing ones?!


Weston Ochse & David Wellington - I really enjoyed this tale and had I not known it was a collaboration, I never would have guessed it to be one.  It flowed very well between the two characters who both seemed at home in the universe.  There was enough background for me to not feel completely disorientated but definitely left me knowing there was a lot more and what was it?! I might be looking into these authors a bit more.


Charlaine Harris & Christopher Golden - I didn't know either of these characters although I did recognize the name Niall from the Sookie books so that's the only way I was able to tell whose character was whose.  They did a nice job of melding the characters together in a world that neither was wholly familiar with which put them on more even footing and allowed a bit more exposition to sound natural as they are figuring everything out.  Well done mashup in my opinion.


C.E. Murphy & Kat Richardson - I've heard of C.E. Murphy but hadn't even added anything to my wishlist. I think it was more a "If you like xxx" kind of thing.  I've read most of Kat Richardson's Greywalker series so I knew one of the characters in this.  I have to say this was the most interesting way of combining two characters from different universes.  Instead of just throwing them in together and calling it the same universe, they end up in a pocket dimension that is bridging the two and Jo Walker and Harper Blaine end up there from their respective sides. The mystery is resolved only when each person takes a spirit into themselves that harnesses the power of the other so Jo and Harper both get to experience the magic of the other.  Quite interesting and well done.


Jeff Somers & Stephen Blackmoor - I'd never heard of either of these authors going into. It was pretty easy to differentiate between them (although I couldn't tell you who went with which character) but I felt like Lem's story gave a bit more back story to that world and fleshed things out more which definitely made it more interesting to someone with no idea about the characters or worlds.


Larry Correia & Jonathan Mayberry - I've heard of Jonathan Mayberry (one of my kids reads his zombie books) but otherwise, I came into this cold.  There was precious little exposition so I really only figured out that we were dealing with two military people who deal with different types of supernatural. I didn't get a good feel for either of the characters, the story was pretty simple and typical of the other types of stories in the book but it wasn't anything that made me want to go pick up anything else by these authors.


Page count: 410p/10,378p ytd/284,397p lifetime

127:120 El Hidalgo de la Noche by Carrie Vaughn

Set in the Kitty Norville universe.  This takes place many centuries ago as we find out more about Rick the vampire and get a glimpse of his relationship with his maker and other vampires that cross his path in the New World.  He was turned but given no real knowledge of his new race but finding a new group of vampires that belong to a family answers questions in ways he almost wishes he didn't know.

It was an interesting look at Rick's past which didn't really answer a lot of questions (other than his approximate age) but showed that he has continued to do his best to remain true to the ideals and beliefs he held when he was still human.


Page count: 30p/32,515p ytd/247,431p lifetime

114:120 Straying from the Path by Carrie Vaughn

A collection of short stories in all sorts of genres.  Some are her take on a historical events, some are purely fantasy.  A few were slow moving but most were intriguing and fun to read.


Page count: 196p/29,971p ytd/244,887p lifetime

86:120 Kitty Saves the World by Carrie Vaughn

14th and final book in the Kitty Norville series. Roman is finally ready to end The Long Game and Kitty and her friends have finally become a big enough nuisance and potential threat that he has decided to contact them directly. With the chance dangled in front of them, Kitty feels they have no choice but to try and take him out but when that doesn't work she is made aware of just how very vulnerable she and her friends are.  Now with most of her allies out of commission, she must do what she can with Ben and Cormac and the few others that are showing up out of the woodwork.  Now if they can just figure out where Roman plans to strike they may have a chance.  That is a big "if" made even more improbable with his pet demon continuing to make their life interesting.

I found this to be a very satisfying end to the series.  There was a good lead-up within the book to the final showdown but that was not short changed into something so quickly done that I felt cheated.  All the major questions were answered and the aftermath was dealt with nicely.  I'll miss Kitty and her friends but I feel like their story has been told and told well.  I will be happy if they show up again in other stories but if they don't, I won't feel like I was left hanging.

Page count: 318p/22,612p ytd/237,544p lifetime

New Releases I'm Looking Forward To: 3rd Quarter 2015

My usual disclaimer:
Let me state, this is really based on authors or series that I'm already reading since those are the things I follow.  I'm not paid to write this blog nor do I have any affiliations with any publishers so I don't receive free books or advance notice of things except what I glean off Facebook from people who do have those contacts or what I research on my own (which again, leads back to authors that I'm already reading).  Maybe someday I'll be one of those who has the contacts and gets ARCs but it's not today.

Well, school is finally out so I'm working hard to get caught up on a bunch of my personal reading.  The fact that I didn't add a ton this last quarter is going to help but oh boy, that is so not the case with this next quarter.  Apparently everyone was aiming for summer releases this year...

Flight From Death by Yasmine Galenorn kicks off the big 3rd quarter.  This is the start of her new Fly by Night series featuring Shimmer, a blue dragon, and the detective agency she works for run by Alex Radcliffe, a vampire.  Set in the world of Ms. Galenorn's Otherworld series, we have already been introduced to the characters in the short novella, Flight From Hell with the help of the D'Artigo sisters. I love that world and am definitely interested in seeing it from a different perspective.

Release Date: July 7

The following week sees two new books by authors not usually on my list.  Armada by Ernest Cline is his second book but after his Ready, Player, One which was fabulous, I'm very interested to see if he can pull it off again.  Zack seems to be a typical, every day nerd (so my kinda person) and even though he knows that the stuff he reads about and watches on TV isn't real, a part of him can't help but wish it were.  And then one day, it is...

Release Date: July 14

And speaking of second books, Go Set a Watchmen by Harper Lee has been a long time coming.  A sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird but written before it, it will be interesting to see what her original take on her characters was before she was asked to change it around completely.

Release Date: July 14

To finish off July, there is Spider's Trap by Jennifer Estep.  Gin took out Mab's daughter in the previous book and has now set herself up to take up the mantle of Head Crime Boss for the town.  Of course, this means that everyone will be gunning for her even more than ever but now she has to actually try and keep the bad guys in line with something more than her knives.

Release Date: July 28

August starts off big with a double header.  First up, Kitty Saves the World by Carrie Vaughn.  This is it, the end of the series and it looks like Kitty is going out with a bang.  With the information that Cormac was able to dig up in Low Midnight, Kitty and her friends are going to make their play but Dux Bellorum is already ahead of them and they are outgunned and outnumbered at every turn.  With all the friends Kitty has made over the years, can she bring them together to save the world?

Release Date: August 4

On the same day, Magic Shifts by Ilona Andrews also comes out.  Kate and Curran are working to set up their lives away from The Pack now although they both know it will take time to completely separate themselves.  However, when one of Kate's friends from the Merc Guild goes missing, it turns out that the ancient enemy is rising.

Release Date: August 4


Deceptions by Kelley Armstrong is the only other book on my list coming out in August.  We left Olivia with her ex-fiance stalking her at the behest of her enemies, those who most likely framed her parents for murder and Olivia herself trapped in her own head in so many ways.  Now her visions are becoming more frequent and she must learn to interpret them and find a way to strike a balance in her mind.

Release Date: August 18


September starts off with another crazy double header.  A Red-Rose Chain by Seanan McGuire is the start of the story that everything up until now has been getting Toby ready for and that probably doesn't bode well for her.

Release Date: September 1

Kim Harrison also kicks off a new series with The Drafter.  I'm not 100% sold on this one yet but I'll definitely be doing some more research.  Details are still kind of spotty but I really enjoyed her other work so odds are good I'll give it a chance.  Minority Report meets Bourne Identity could be interesting...

Release Date: September 1

Next up is a new collection of short stories in Led Astray by Kelley Armstrong.  The collection is to include stories from the Otherworld, Cainsville, Darkest Powers, and Age of Legends series.  I'm very interested in reading the stuff from Otherworld and Cainsville and I figure it will give me a chance to see what the other two series are like since to date, the blurbs haven't gripped me enough to actually delve into them.

Release Date: September 8

Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs is the third book the Miss Peregrine Home for Peculiar Children series.  Unfortunately I'm a book behind so all I can tell from the synopsis I'm seeing is that there is danger everywhere for these children and their caregiver, Miss Peregrine.  Hoping I can get caught up before it comes out.

Release Date: September 22

And the final book for this quarter is Autumn Moon by Jan DeLima.  Elen was made outcast because of her powers and lack of ability to shift to a wolf.  Now her powers and her kind heart have caused her to save her friends and use the energy she gained from that to change Cormack from the man in a wolf's body he has always been into a full shapeshifter.  Now Cormack finds himself wanting more from Elen than just her friendship but wants to be able to present himself as a full-man rather than one who is still learning the basics like a baby.  Before he can do that however, Pendaran has kidnapped Elen to force her to use her magic to aid him and his cause.  

Release Date: September 29

So yeah, a LOT of new releases coming out in the next couple of months.  I'm thankful that in all but one case, they are either stand-alones, starting a new series, or I'm caught up in the series already.  Still, lots and lots of reading to be getting done and I still haven't even gotten caught up in Elfquest before events in the Final Quest so I can read those as they come out.  That is definitely something I need to find time to change this summer.

Happy Reading!

38:120 Low Midnight by Carrie Vaughn

The 13th book in the Kitty Norville series, the second to the last and the first to be told from Cormac's point of view.  Kitty feels that the secret to defeating Roman may lie in the Book of Shadows they got from Amy Scanlon before she brought the mountain down on top of herself and the cult that was trying to kill Kitty in an effort to power a spell to defeat Roman.  Cormac and his ghostly hitchhiker feel that Amy's aunt may hold the clue to deciphering it and he goes on a fact finding mission.  To prove himself worthy, her aunt sets him a challenge that will require much of Amelia's expertise and help and sees him falling back into a world he thought he had left behind.

Cormac has always been one of my favorite characters (and apparently I am not alone) and it was fascinating to get such an intimate look inside his head and his internal interactions with Amelia and how they are managing to co-exist.  I'm hoping that although this series will be wrapping up with Kitty Saves the World later this year that Ms. Vaughn will still throw short stories and novellas from that universe our way occasionally and I really hope that some of them will have Cormac leading again.

Page count: 309p/7,805p ytd/222,739p lifetime

29:120 Paranormal Bromance by Carrie Vaughn

A short story set in the world of Kitty Norville.  Sam, Jack, and Aaron are typical bachelor roommates except for the fact that they are fairly young vampires.  Made in their 20s by a rouge vampire who was then taken out by the Family, the guys decided they would rather be out on their own then try to join up.  Their life has turned into a fairly boring and conventional one, ordering pizza on a regular basis so they can take a few sips off the driver, playing video games, selling stuff on eBay, etc, Sam has been okay with it until he meets Ginny and starts developing a mid-life crisis filled with all the 'what-ifs' her presence brings up in him.  His roommates don't understand his melancholy or his new desire to have a maid in to get the place in order.

I really enjoyed the heck out of this.  Seeing a group of vampires trying to figure out life and deal with more day to day type of stuff while not being super rich, or super powerful, or super sexy as most vampires we see in books are.

Page count: 64p/5,968p ytd/220,902p lifetime

New Releases I'm looking Forward To: 4th Quarter 2014

My usual disclaimer:
Let me state, this is really based on authors or series that I'm already reading since those are the things I follow.  I'm not paid to write this blog nor do I have any affiliations with any publishers so I don't receive free books or advance notice of things except what I glean off Facebook from people who do have those contacts or what I research on my own (which again, leads back to authors that I'm already reading).  Maybe someday I'll be one of those who has the contacts and gets ARCs but it's not today.

I am so far behind my reading from last quarter that I'm going quite crazy looking at all these beautiful books on my bookshelf!  I really need to just hole myself up for a few weeks with them and tell the world to take care of itself so I can get caught up.  Unfortunately, the last time I tried that, the kids found me within 15min and ruined that plan.  I don't foresee it going any better any time soon so I will just have to try and figure something else out.

First up is Broken Soul by Faith Hunter, the newest book in the Jane Yellowrock series.  The European Delegation is coming and Leo knows that they want his territory so he is hiring Jane to deal with the security but there is more going on than she can guess and a vicious creature stalking the streets that she must also contend with.  This is such a great series and Jane is such a kick-ass character!

Release Date: October 7

Poison Fruit by Jacqueline Carey is the third book in the Agents of Hel series.  I wish I could say more about this book but I haven't even read the first book in the series yet.  I loved her Kushiel and Namaah series and have heard that this series is fantastic as well but I'm still trying to find time to work it in.

Release Date: October 7

Ilona Andrews has a new series starting up with Burn for Me. A detective is being sent on a suicide mission to bring in a top-level magic user but she is not the only one who is searching for him and the other person is just as dangerous but in a much different way...

Release Date: October 28

Otherworld Nights by Kelley Armstrong sees many of the more obscure and hard to find short stories gathered in one collection.  I know I likely have several of them but there were a few I wasn't able to get so I'm happy to have the chance to read them.  I miss this world and am always happy to have any chance to dip into it with something new.

Release Date: October 28

The Cassie Palmer series by Karen Chance is always fun and I'm happy to see that Reap the Wind is going to center more on Pritkin than Mircea and the relationship with his father as Cassie drags him along on a search through time to find his son's soul.

Release Date: November 4

Waistcoats and Weaponry by Gail Carriger is the third in her Finishing School steampunk series.  Unfortunately this is another series that I'm desperately trying to find time to read but haven't had a chance to yet.  Really want to get it read before she starts her new series next year.

Release Date: November 4

Gin thought that life would get easier after she killed Mab Monroe, but as she finds out in Black Widow by Jennifer Estep Mab's daughter is so much worse than her mother.  M.M. Monroe doesn't go for the direct attacks like Mab but is instead working to wrap Gin and her friends in a tangled web that will destroy all that she cares about.

Release Date: November 25

What was originally a duology by Mira Grant has become a trilogy and Symbiont is the second book.  The first one was incredible blend of possible science with a cautionary tale of what can happen when humans take things too far without fully understanding the consequences of their actions.  I can't wait to see what happens in this one now that the consequences are coming home to roost.

Release Date: November 25

The Dark Angels series by Keri Arthur concludes with Darkness Falls.  This series has been a bit slow going so I'm a bit pleased that hopefully with several things to tie up that this one will actually move a bit better.  Risa just needs to find the third and final key to the gates of Hell and keep Director Hunter from getting a hold of them and putting an end to life as we know it.

Release Date: December 2

Carrie Vaughn is finally doing a spin-off of her popular Kitty series with Low Midnight which follows Cormac on a quest to solve the mystery of a coded diary that could spell serious trouble for Kitty.  We will apparently learn more about Cormac's past which will be nice since he's always been the "mystery man" in the series.

Release Date: December 30

So yeah, 10 new books coming out for the 4th Quarter and I've still got 8 from last quarter still sitting in my to-read pile a few of those as well as a few of these have other books I need to read before them because I'm behind in the series (or just haven't even started it).  So yeah, needing a lot more reading time here!

Happy Reading!