Reading Schedule:
It’s that time! Time for the October Read-Along to start.
This weeks schedule is the following:
Daily Archives: October 10, 2010
It’s Monday, what are you reading?
Posted on October 10, 2010
Sheila from One Person’s Journey through a World of Books hosts this meme and I love to participate in it! Head on over and check out her blog and the great participants there.
Folks – I’m exhausted. I had a 1500 word research paper due on Stem Cell Research Litigation this past week along with the first three pages of my research paper on censorship and book banning due. This session of school ends next week and I am feeling the pressure – but thankfully next weekend at this time I will be enjoying the pleasures of Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party in Orlando, Florida!
Also, starting today we are doing a read-along of Orwell’s 1984 . Be sure to stop by the stickied post and introduce yourself – I’m looking forward to reading this along with you!
Books I’ve Read this Week (Links to reviews):
- The Wrong Blood by Manuel de Lope
- The Débutante by Kathleen Tessaro
- Coronets and Steel by Sherwood Smith
- For the Win by Cory Doctorow
- The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue
Book reviews posted this week:
- Daughter of Xanadu by Dori Jones Yang
- The Sevenfold Spell by Tia Nevitt
- The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory
- The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackburg
Books to read this week:
Corduroy Mansions by Alexander McCall Smith
Dewey’s Nine Lives by Vicki Myron
Fated by S.G. Browne
Got some on this list that I’m SUPER excited about (Delirium being one of those!). Excited to get to this weeks worth of reading now that I have the bulk of my school work done with. What are you reading this week?
Coronets and Steel by Sherwood Smith
Posted on October 10, 2010
Order from:
Reason(s) for Reading:
- Again, another cover so horrifically bad (did you see A Posse of Princesses cover?) that I had to get the book.
- I have a confession. I have a crush on Sherwood Smith’s name. I just think it’s cool.
- Urban Fantasy – sounded right up my alley!
I recommend:
- Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning
- Magic Lost Trouble Found by Lisa Shearin
Summary from GoodReads:
California girl Kim Murray is unsatisfied with grad school and restless in life. Modern men disappoint her, and she studies ballet and fencing because they remind her of older, more romantic times.
She lives with her parents and her beloved but secretive aristocratic grandmother, who speaks only French and refuses to share stories about the mysterious family she left behind in Europe, inspiring Kim to travel there and find her roots.
Kim soon finds herself swept up in an adventure of fantastic deceptions and passionate intrigue-and a shocking realization about her own bloodline that leaves her reeling.
My Review:
After a very favorable experience with A Posse of Princesses, I picked up Coronets and Steel by Sherwood Smith with some anticipation. I was looking forward to losing myself in a charming story and was interested to see Sherwood Smith tackle some urban fantasy. So, as I’ve learned to do at this point, I looked past that horrible cover (yes, that’s a girl wearing sunglasses and sneakers wielding a sword), and dove into the story.
There was less “para” than “normal” in this story, unfortunately. I don’t think Smith quite got the concept. She created an interesting, background-filled story with a great, strong female lead character but the “paranormal” aspects were a bit lacking, and honestly, a little confusing.
There was so much background information given in Coronets and Steel, I lost sight of what the story was actually supposed to be, a story about Aurelia Kim, a young woman on a mission to figure out who her Grandmother’s family really was. When that story finally got back on track toward the end it culminated in a very unsatisfactory ending.
I’m still hopeful about Sherwood Smith’s other books. I intend to read the Inda series (I gave them a shot a few years ago, but it just wasn’t the right time) as I’ve heard they are absolutely fantastic. I just don’t know whether I was expecting too much when it came to urban fantasy, I actually expect some glaringly obvious fantasy elements and not just the words tossed here and there.
Check out these review(s):
