Bibliophile Support Group

Another Throwback Review, this time from February 2012. Take a looksie: The Game of Triumphs is a YA urban fantasy by Laura Powell. Fifteen-year-old Cat is on her way home, doing her best to avoid human contact as always, when she can’t help but notice a man being chased – a man that asks for her help. But Cat sees the gleam of excitement in his eyes, along with the fear, and figures he’s just a weirdo. Yet something about it all sparks her curiosity, and Cat can’t seem to help pursuing the situation. Doing so brings her to an extravagant party that introduces her to the Game of Triumphs. It’s a centuries-old game played between modern-day London and an alternate, unexplainable reality called the Arcanum where game players embark on challenges having to do with the tarot cards they are dealt, or the card they are trying to win. It’s all a bit confusing to Cat at first, but the intrigue is undeniable. Not long after becoming involved in this enigmatic game, though...

It’s that time of year again, you fiendish book lovers! As always, I hope you had a Christmas full of happiness, warmth and BOOKS. Whether those books were wrapped up under your tree or bought with some gift cards! Hopefully you haven’t burned through ALL your disposable income, as this my sixth annual Stand-Out Books of the Year post! You know you’re going to want to check out my recommendations… Each year that I post this wrap-up, I seem to be recording less and less reading. Well, that is MOST certainly the case for 2015. Now not only do I have that same full-time job, but I have been doing overtime, went on a work trip and started college courses in September. In other words… yikes! Yet we must face that as we get older and gain more responsibilities and goals, well – our free time sharply declines. So you shall see that reflected in my numbers.   Also: I am only presenting 19 books as Stand-Out’s this year. Standard rules apply – the books I pos...

Time to find out what I personally recommend to you, my lovely bibliophiles!!! After what I hope was a bookish Christmas full of gift cards and novels wrapped in pretty, festive paper, I am bringing to you the fifth annual Stand-Out Books of the Year post! Being that I am working full-time and sadly have less time to read than I used to, a lot of my numbers have dropped when it comes to statistics. However, what has not changed is the fact that there are a whole lot of books that stood out to me in 2014! As always, the books don’t have to have been released in 2014 – I’ll just have read and/or reviewed them in 2014. So: How many books did I read? 120 That's 45 less than in 2013. How many pages did I read? 41,186 That's 15,123 less than in 2013. How many pages, on average, did I read per day? 113 That's 41 less than in 2013. Like I said – far busier as I get older – but a bibliophile I shall always be!!! This year there are a whopping 44 ...

Valour and Vanity is the fourth book in Mary Robinette Kowal’s historical fantasy series The Glamourist Histories . Having read all four of the released books, I implore you to read this series in order!!! First there’s Shades of Milk and Honey , then Glamour in Glass and third there’s Without a Summer . Once you’ve read all three of the prior books, THEN you can read this review of Valour and Vanity without fear of spoilers! Got it?!? Having happily kept Melody company throughout her marriage and the beginnings of the new couple’s tour of the continent, Jane and Vincent are rather ready to separate from Jane’s family and continue their glamour experiments – just the two of them. In Murano, Italy Jane and Vincent plan on studying with acclaimed glassblowers to pursue their theories on glamour in glass. However, while sailing to Murano their ship is set upon by Barbary corsairs – just as Jane’s fretful mother feared. Though blessedly not enslaved, Jane and Vincent find thems...

Moonblood is the third book in the Tales of Goldstone Wood fantasy series by Anne Elisabeth Stengl. Personally, I strongly suggest reading this series in order. Even though Stengl does jump around in time a bit, giving different perspectives and stories from different angles at parallel times, it can get super confusing if it’s not in order. Case in point: I was introduced to this series with book two, Veiled Rose . Then I read book one, Heartless . Then, somehow, I totally missed book three (until now) and read book four Starflower and book five Dragonwitch (shockingly!) in order. Now I’ve read Moonblood , book three, before I’ll be reading the next book, number six, Shadow Hand . Yeah, I’ve been jumping all over the place. It just sort of happened. I do not recommend you follow my example. Anywho, a short synopsis of Moonblood : Prince Lionheart, having returned to his kingdom immediately after his kingdom had suffered a long, terrifying occupation of a Dragon, is in ...

Happy 4th of July, everyone!!! The Shadow Throne is the third and final novel in the YA historical political intrigue Ascendance Trilogy by Jennifer A. Nielsen. If you haven’t read The False Prince and The Runaway King , well – you need to! Not only are they exceptional books, but they are necessary reading before you even skim this review of the final book, The Shadow Throne . In other words, BEAT IT ! Unless, that is, you have read the previous books – then: welcome, friend! :)  You’ve been warned! Jaron is back on the throne – but war has come to Carthya. He knew it was coming – and now it has… Immediately, things look grim for Carthya, but Jaron has a few tricks up his sleeve, utilizing a mind that was made all the more strong during his years living as an orphan rather than royalty. When it is made known that King Vargon of Avenia has kidnapped Imogen, however, it is obviously a ploy to distract Jaron. And it’s working. Determined to rescue her, Jaron concoct...

The Rising is a YA supernatural contemporary novel and the FINAL book in an AWESOME dual trilogy; this one entitled Darkness Rising , by Kelley Armstrong. Okay, since back from the moment I read The Summoning , the first book in the Darkest Powers trilogy, I have LOVED this series, these characters, and this world of supernaturals-within-our-world-being-experiments!!! So, obviously I don’t want you spoiling the entire experience for yourself by jumping right into this last book! The Rising gives an end to the Darkest Powers series and the Darkness Rising series by uniting the sets of characters. For your reading pleasure, here is the order to read the novels in and links to my reviews (where applicable, as my old computer ate my review of The Reckoning ). Darkest Powers : Book One: The Summoning Book Two: The Awakening Book Three: The Reckoning Darkness Rising : Book One: The Gathering Book Two: The Calling Book Three: The Rising I recommend only reading revie...