The Printed Page

And because sometimes my blog doesn’t like to play nice here are my ratings for the books in The State of the Bookcase, part 1 | September ’10 reading wrap-up

1. The Pindar Diamond by Katie Hickman | DNF’d @ pg. 69
2. Six Suspects by Vikas Swarup | DNF’d @ pg. 34
3. The Last Wife of Henry VIII by Carolly Erickson | Very good
4. Pretty Little Things by Jillian Hoffman | Excellent
5. Damsel Under Stress by Shanna Swendson | Favorite series, Katie Chandler book #3
6. India Black (A Madam of Espionage Mystery) by Carol K. Carr | New series, India Black book #1
7. City of Veils by Zoe Ferraris | Very good
8. Mary Tudor: Princess, Bastard, Queen by Anna Whitelock | DNF’d @ pg. 105
9. Heat Wave by Richard Castle | Entertaining fun; Nikki Heat book #1
10. The Hooded Hawke by Karen Harper | Favorites series, Elizabeth I mysteries book #9 (finished series)
11. A Fountain Filled with Blood by Julia Spencer-Fleming | DNF @ pg. 230, Reverend Clare Fergusson book #2
12. The Countess and the King: A Novel of The Countess of Dorchester and King James II by Susan Holloway Scott | Very good
13. Don’t Hex with Texas by Shanna Swendson | Favorite series, Katie Chandler book #4 (finished series)
14. The Ninth Daughter by Barbara Hamilton | DNF’d @ pg. 29
15. Murder on Lenox Hill | Favorite series, Gaslight mysteries book #7
16. Plea of Insanity by Jilliane Hoffman | Very good
17. A Flaw in the Blood by Stephanie Barron | DNF’d @ pg. 32
18. Homicide in Hardcover by Kate Carlisle | New-to-me series, Brooklyn Wainwright book #1
19. Murder in Little Italy by Victoria Thompson | Favorite series, Gaslight mysteries book #8
20. The Immortals by J.T. Ellison | Favorite series, Taylor Jackson book #5

• Number of books read: 14 (13 eBooks)
• Number of pages read: 5,040
• DNFs: 6
• My ratings can be found here because my blog wasn’t in a mood to play nice

• My rating: I absolutely love this series and give it very high marks. While the subject matter of The Immortals wasn’t my favorite (pagan rituals and alternative religions I enjoy but please no vampires) I devoured it in almost one sitting. Her story telling is addictive and I have trouble finding a good stopping point because I just want to keep on reading until the sun comes up on a new day. I discovered the series earlier this year and blew through the first four books within the blink of an eye. I can’t seem to get enough of Lt. Taylor Jackson. Keep ‘em coming J.T.
• New-to-me author: No
• Would I read more from this author: Yes and J.T.’s website is announcing that book #6 in the Taylor Jackson series, So Close the Hand of Death, will be published in March of 2011. Yay! Its already wish listed.

Title: The Immortals

Author/website: J.T. Ellison

Publisher: MIRA Publication date & page count: October ’10 & 390 pages

It is Samhain – the Blood Harvest. Non-believers call it Hallowe’en. The night when eight Nashville teenagers are found dead, with occult symbols carved into their naked bodies. It’s a ritual the killers believe was blessed by Death himself. When children are victimized, emotions always run high, and this case has the public both outraged and terrified: a dangerous combination. Recently reinstated Homicide Lieutenant Taylor Jackson knows she has to act quickly, but tread carefully. Exploring the baffling culture of mysticism and witchcraft, Taylor is immersed in a darkness that threatens to unbalance the order of her world, and learns how unchecked wrath can push a killer to his limits.

Thank you to everyone who entered. The giveaway was so popular that commenting (entries) on the original post actually shut down. Be sure and stop by next September during Book Bloggers Appreciation Week 2011 when once again you’ll have the opportunity to win an Amazon gift card, a Kindle or if you’re lucky maybe I’ll even give away one of each!

Due to the number of entries the original post is no longer accepting comments. Please leave your entry here through Midnight MT (US) today Wednesday, 9/22.

The details:

• Open to all readers whether you blog or not.
• Enter by leaving a comment at this blog post.
• Fair play rules: one entry per person please. Duplicates will be eliminated.
• Entry must include whether you’d like the $100 Amazon Gift Card (worldwide) or the Kindle 3 (US entries only).
• Giveaway closes Wednesday, 9/22 Midnight mountain time (US).
• Winner notified Thursday, 9/23.

Good luck everyone!

• My rating: Very good (I read for entertainment not historical accuracy)
• New-to-me author: No
• Would I read more from this author: Yes

Title: The Countess and the King: A Novel of the Countess of Dorchester and King James II

Author/web site: Susan Holloway Scott

Publisher: NAL Trade

Publication date & page count: September ’10 & 390 pages

Katherine Sedley is born to wealth and privilege in seventeenth-century London, and her unconventional upbringing includes a mad mother who believes that she’s the queen and a father who is one of the most notorious libertines in Restoration England. She quickly becomes a favorite at the palace for her sly wit and daring, and soon attracts the attention of the married Duke of York, His Majesty’s brother. She snubs respectable marriage to become the duke’s mistress, but when her lover becomes King James II, she is suddenly cast into a tangle of political intrigue in which a wrong step can mean treason, exile, or death on the executioner’s block. As the risks rise, Katherine is forced to make the most perilous of choices: to remain loyal to the king — or to England.

Due to the number of entires this original post is no longer accepting comments. Please leave your entry through Midnight MT (US) today Wednesday, 9/22 at BBAW Giveaway Part 2

The details:

• Open to all readers whether you blog or not.
• Enter by leaving a comment at this blog post.
• Fair play rules: one entry per person please. Duplicates will be eliminated.
• Entry must include whether you’d like the $100 Amazon Gift Card (worldwide) or the Kindle 3 (US entries only).
• Giveaway closes Wednesday, 9/22 Midnight mountain time (US).
• Winner notified Thursday, 9/23.

Good luck everyone!

• My rating: DNF @ pg. 105 (I will be in the minority on this one; it’s non-fiction (which I didn’t realize before buying the Kindle edition) and the author uses a lot of quotes from the time. How they spoke and wrote back then is so different from today that I can’t make heads or tails of what they’re talking about or referring to. It just didn’t hold my interest and I even read to Chapter 21. I was hoping for more a story than a case study. I should have downloaded the Kindle sample before buying. Oh well I won’t break that rule again.)
• New-to-me author: Yes
• Would I read more from this author: Maybe; it would have to be historical fiction the next time around

Title: Mary Tudor: Princess, Bastard, Queen

Author/web site: Anna Whitelock

Publisher: Random House

Publication date & page count: September ’10 & 422 pages

She was the first woman to inherit the throne of England, a key player in one of Britain’s stormiest eras, and a leader whose unwavering faith and swift retribution earned her the nickname “Bloody Mary.” Now, in this impassioned and absorbing debut, historian Anna Whitelock offers a modern perspective on Mary Tudor and sets the record straight once and for all on one of history’s most compelling and maligned rulers. Though often overshadowed by her long-reigning sister, Elizabeth I, Mary lived a life full of defiance, despair, and triumph. Born the daughter of the notorious King Henry VIII and the Spanish Katherine of Aragon, young Mary was a princess in every sense of the word—schooled in regal customs, educated by the best scholars, coveted by European royalty, and betrothed before she had reached the age of three. Yet in a decade’s time, in the wake of King Henry’s break with the pope, she was declared a bastard, disinherited, and demoted from “princess” to “lady.” Ever her deeply devout mother’s daughter, Mary refused to accept her new status or to recognize Henry’s new wife, Anne Boleyn, as queen. The fallout with her father and his counselors nearly destroyed the teenage Mary, who faced imprisonment and even death. It would be an outright battle for Mary to work herself back into the king’s favor, claim her rightful place in the Tudor line, and ultimately become queen of England, but her coronation would not end her struggles. She flouted the opposition and married Philip of Spain, sought to restore Catholicism to the nation, and fiercely punished the resistance. But beneath her brave and regal exterior was a dependent woman prone to anxiety, whose private traumas of phantom pregnancies, debilitating illnesses, and unrequited love played out in the public glare of the fickle court.

• My rating: Very good (The Muslim cultural details regarding daily life, as always, are fascinating)
• New-to-me author: Yes
• Would I read more from this author: Yes

Title: City of Veils

Author/web site: Zoe Ferraris

Publisher: Little Brown

Publication date & page count: August ’10 & 389 pages

When the body of a brutally murdered and severely disfigured woman is found on the beach in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Detective Osama Ibrahim dreads investigating another unsolvable housemaid murder—unpleasantly common in a city where the veils of conservative Islam keep women as anonymous in life as the victim is in death. Digging deeper, however, an ambitious lab-tech named Katya discovers that the body is not that of a disobedient servant, but Leila Nawar, a rebellious young filmmaker who has made more than a few enemies with her probing documentaries on religious hypocrisy and sexuality. Aided by her conservatively religious friend Nayir Sharqi, Katya is determined to find Leila’s killer and uncover the mystery of her death. Meanwhile, when American Miriam Walker’s husband Eric disappears only hours after picking her up at the airport, she struggles not to worry. As ex-patriots living in Jeddah, run-ins with the religious police are not uncommon. But when Nayir and Katya show up asking about her husband’s connections to Leila Nawar, it becomes apparent that Eric may have been mixed up in something considerably more sinister. By agreeing to help them find her husband and prove his innocence, Miriam puts herself in the dangerous path of his kidnappers, leading her far into the deserts of the Empty Quarter.

• My rating: Very good (Gotta love a woman with major amounts of moxie and India is that woman)
• New-to-me author: Yes; India Black is her debut novel
• Would I read more from this author: Yes; I’m already looking forward to India’s next adventure

Title: India Black: A Madam of Espionage Mystery

Author/website: Carol K. Carr

Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime

Publication date & page count: January ’11 & 296 pages

When Sir Archibald Latham of the War Office dies from a heart attack while visiting her brothel, Madam India Black is unexpectedly thrust into a deadly game between Russian and British agents who are seeking the military secrets Latham carried. Blackmailed into recovering the missing documents by the British spy known as French, India finds herself dodging Russian agents—and the attraction she starts to feel for the handsome conspirator.