What's Happening This Week

Last week was crazy to say the least with high school final exams, three Thanksgiving feasts, teens invading my home like loud, food consuming shape shifters who never sleep and one 9 year old begging me to get out Christmas decorations. The extra teens are gone, my teens are done with exams, the feasts are finished and we have the Christmas decorations in place. Whew. Maybe now I won't fall asleep after reading two pages!

I've received some very cool books in the mail but missed In the Mailbox this week. so I'll just write a big recap of what's been dropped off at my house.

First, I won these great books:

-Crystal Clear Storm Ryder by Dana Warryck (Signed!) from Bitten by Books.

-Deathwish (Signed!) by Rob Thurman in a cool, quickie contest she had on her blog.

-Halfway to the Grave (Signed!) by Jeaniene Frost in another quickie contest from her blog. (I'm really excited because I gave my copy to my husband to read and he left it in the bathroom where it was drenched with water from someones shower. No one would 'fess up. NO ONE touches this copy but ME.)

-Stakes & Stilettos by Michelle Rowen from Enchanted by Books. (I also won a copy of Tall, Dark & Fangsome last week, so I'll wait for that one to read them both.)

-Bitter Night by Diana Francis from The Book Tree blog. She has a cool interview with the author here.

Now, I realize those are awesome books, but I went a little crazy on Paperback Swap and these came in the mail:

Heart of the Dragon (Atlantis, Bk 1)
Undead and Unwed (Queen Betsy, Bk 1)
Destiny Kills (Myth and Magic, Bk 1)
The Turning (Blood Ties, Bk 1)
The Taste of Night (Second Sign of the Zodiac, Bk 2)
Full Moon Rising (Riley Jenson, Guardian, Bk 1)
When Darkness Comes (Guardians of Eternity, Bk 1)

You can see that I am starting out quite a few series that I haven't read before. I will review the books I've won first, then move on to the others.

I'm also VERY excited that I'll be participating in my first blog tour in December, and a second one as well.

~Moonsanity

In My Mailbox: November 15, 2009

It was a party in my mailbox this week.

I won first place in the The Completely Out-of-Control, Over-the-Top Book Giveaway put on by Chris from http://www.stumblingoverchaos.com/! I was the first to be able to choose five books from her list and they came this week!

Bitten (Women of the Otherworld)
Minion (Vampire Huntress Legend, Book 1) by L.A. Banks
Through a Crimson Veil (Crimson City) by Patti O'Shea
The Iron Hunt (Hunter Kiss, Book 1) by Marjorie M. Liu
Rogue (Werecats, Book 2) by Rachel Vincent

I also received my copy of Cheating, Death by Teel McClanahan that I won as a First Reader on Goodreads. Here is a bit about the book:

When the walking dead fill the streets, who can cheat death? Who can survive? Featuring a zombie outbreak that devastates Denver, an indecisive adulterer, and a series of violent, disturbing, and perhaps even heart-rending events of the sort you'd expect when the dead rise up to eat the living, Cheating, Death is a roller-coaster ride through a horror show both of death and of the heart.

I also won a copy of the ebook The Dancing Dead by Grace Mahoney from Nicole Hadaway's FreE-Book Friday on her blog at http://nicole-hadaway.blogspot.com/. She does this every week so be sure to stop by.

I received a cool book from Paperback Swap. It's a trade paperback of:

Happy Hour at Casa Dracula by Marta Acosta

Finally, I won the anthology Fantasy with stories from Christine Feehan, Sabrina Jefferies, Emma Holly and Elda Minger and it arrived this week. I participated in VampChix Halloween Vamp Bash in October, which as a blast!

I have my reading cut out for me this week, plus I finished a couple great books that I need to review this week.

For more more In My Mailbox fun drop by The Story Siren!

~Moonsanity

In My Mailbox: November 8th

It's time again for In My Mailbox. It was a slow week, but I had a lot of reading material from last week, so it was just as well. You can see from my reviews that I was a busy reader.

I've been waiting for almost two weeks for Intertwined by Gena Showalter and finally it came in after being "in transit" for almost the entire time. Before that it had been listed on the shelf in our county library system. I missed the group review at Blog With Bite, but I'll still review it as soon as I finish. I'm not sure what the hold up was, but at least it finally came!

I also received two books from Paperback Swap:

Ecstasy: The Shadowdwellers
by Jacquelyn Frank

Among the Shadow dwellers, Trace holds power that some as willing to kill for. Without a stranger's aid, one rival would surely have succeeded, but Trace's brush with death is less surprising to him than his reaction to the beautiful, fragile human who heals him.

The Darkest Night (Lords of the Underworld, Book 1)
by Gena Showalter

All her life, Ashlyn Darrow has been tormented by voices from the past. To end the nightmare, she has come to Budapest seeking help from men rumored to have supernatural abilities, not knowing she'll be swept into the arms of Maddox, their most dangerous member -- a man trapped in a hell of his own.

For more more In My Mailbox fun drop by The Story Siren!

~Moonsanity

In My Mailbox: November Ist, 2009

This is my first In My Mailbox post.  It's a cool meme from The Story Siren. You can find more information on it here: http://www.thestorysiren.com/2007/12/in-my-mailbox.html. I have so many cool books to tell you about, plus a neat non-book package that came in my battered mailbox during the last week and a half or so. After this I'll stick to what comes each week.

First, I used an Amazon gift certificate for the following books:
Be Mine Tonight (The Brotherhood of Blood, Book 1)by Kathryn Smith
The Scent of Shadows (Sign of the Zodiac, Book 1)by Vicki Pettersson
Legacy (Anna Strong Vampire Chronicles, Book 4) by Jeanne C. Stein
Hunting Ground (Alpha & Omega, Book 2) by Patricia Briggs
Embrace the Night (Cassandra Palmer Series, Book 3) by Karen Chance

I've read Hunting Ground and Embrace the Night out of this last already, and need to review them.

I won a writing mini-pack from Eleni Konstantine, who's been having these cool interviews with writers on the value of critique partners and other words of wisdom. You can read them here: http://elenikonstantine.com/  I had to practically wrestle my daughter to the ground to keep the pen. I won because well, she's only nine and I'm bigger:)

Next, I bought these I bought on ebay for a good price.
Crimson City by Liz Maverick
Stray by Rachel Vincent
Skykeepers by Jessica Andersen

I've read Stray and Skykeepers so far, and loved both. Yes, they are my "Review or Die" list. (As fast as I read I need more motivation than just "To Be Reviewed".)

On Day 10 of  the Bitten by Books  contest, 31 Days of Dark Delights, I won When Ghosts Speak by author Mary Ann Winkowski. A note on this book: I've never been a fan of nonfiction paranormal books, so instead of reading and reviewing this myself, I had an ephinany. My son belongs to a small group called Zombie Defense and Paranormal Studies. Once a week they meet and discuss and/or debate all things paranormal. He told me about half the kids think zombies, vampires and such are cool, but not real. The other half believes some of these things could exist. I gave them the book to have their first book discussion. They will meet next week, and look it over together then discuss it. Cool, huh?

I joined PaperBackSwap.com, and the first book I chose was Fantasy Lover by Sherrilyn Kenyon. The series has been recommended to me SO many times that I had to get it started.  I finished the first book, but I think I will wait to review until I read more of the books, and get a good feel for the series.

My Goal This Week: Review Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress series plus her anthologies.

~Moonsanity