#49 Murder Under a Mystic Moon: A Chintz 'n China Mystery by Yasmine Galenorn

My Rating: 7 out of 10 stars

I very much enjoyed this 3rd book in Galenorn's Chintz 'n' China Mystery series. On the personal front, Emerald's relationship with Joe is beginning to get a bit more serious. And now Autumn is in full swing and the town is getting ready for it's annual Early Autumn Breeze Celebration.

Emerald has also become good friends with Jimbo the biker, who featured in the previous book. And now, Jimbo's friend Scar has gone missing, and tales point to the legendary Klakatat monster, supposedly living in the woods surrounding Klickavail Valley. Scar asks Emerald to use her senses to try to figure out what, if any, ill will has come to Scar since the local police chief isn't too concerned about a missing biker. But what Emerald and Murray discover is older than man itself!

I look forward to more of this series!

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#48 Vampirates: Tide of Terror by Justin Somper

My Rating: 7 out of 10 stars

I loved this second in the Vampirates series just as much of the first. Lots of action and adventure, and best of all, both vampires AND pirates! :)

This book picks up right where book 1 left off. We've got Conner and Grace, now both on the Diablo, the pirate ship that rescued Conner from the waters when he and his sister's boat capsized. They are happy to be together now, but Grace can't help thinking back to her time on the Vampirate ship, and she sorely misses some of them, especially Lorcan and Darcy. And she's also not so sure anymore that the Diablo is the right place for her and Conner....

So off to Vampire Academy they go with Cheng Li, to learn more about what it means to be a pirate and other useful skills. But how will what they do and learn there affect their future on the Diablo, or if they even return....

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#47 Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie by Holly Black

My Rating: 7 out of 10 stars

I didn't like this one quite as much as Tithe. Though it seems more of a standalone, there are a few characters from Faery from the first one that are mentioned later on here. Apparently, Ironside, the third book in the series, is more of a direct sequel to Tithe.

When seventeen-year-old Val finds her mom and her boyfriend making out, she runs away from her home in New Jersey to the streets of New York City. She befriends a group of kids who live in the subway tunnels where she encounters some strange substances, and meets some even stranger people, including Ravus the Troll. She agrees to help him with deliveries since he cannot go out in the sun, while he teaches her sword fighting in return. She grows to admire him and when he's accused of poisoning the other exiled faeries, she vows to help him in any way she can and everything ends happily ever after (sorta). Just like a true fairy tale. LOL

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#46 Thunderbird Falls by C.E. Murphy

My Rating: 7 out of 10 stars

Not bad... I can't say I like this series as much as the Retrievers series by Laura Anne Gilman though, which I find similar enough that I get some of the characters mixed up between the two series. :( It's really just the two main characters, Joanne and Wren, that seem pretty similar to me.

In this second installment in the series (3rd if you count the short story appearing in the Winter Moon anthology), we start off with Joanne trying to deny her powers (again!) because of what happened last time in the first novel. Some of the same things that bothered me there bother me here as well, with the main character suppressing her powers rather than embracing them. But since it's a story involving magic, which happens in our world in the here and now, I can't keep away. :P And I've got a lot of hope for this series going forward.

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#45 Shakespeare's Christmas: A Lily Bard Mystery by Charlaine Harris

My Rating: 8 out of 10 stars

Another great entry in the Lily Bard Mystery series. In this one, Lily travels home during the holidays to be a bridesmaid in her sister's wedding, and of course trouble follows her... as does her sexy new boyfriend Jack! ;)

We learn a bit more about Lily's background in this one as she stays with her family during her homecoming. This is really the first time she's been home since the incident which scarred her both physically and emotionally.

I'm looking forward to reading more of this series!

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#44 Shakespeare's Champion: A Lily Bard Mystery by Charlaine Harris

My Rating: 8 out of 10 stars

This is the second book in the Lily Bard Mystery series. I'm really beginning to like Lily cuz she kicks ass! :P Granted, I may not always agree with her "need to be alone" attitude but I can understand where it comes from. Like the other reviewers, I liked this one a bit more than the first one as there was definitely more action here, and more setup there.

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#43 Zahrah the Windseeker by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu

My Rating: 7 out of 10 stars

Zahrah lives in the northern Ooni Kingdom, where fear of the unknown runs deep. She is born dada, with vines growing through her hair and believed to have special powers. Besides their fear of dada, the people of the Ooni Kingdom also gravely fear the Forbidden Greeny Jungle, which begins on the outskirts of their small village. But when Zahrah notices changes going on within her and is then faced with having to save Dari's life, she's ready to confront all her fears head on, and challenge everything she's been taught.

This was a fun adventure. I enjoyed Zahrah's trek through the jungle and the various creatures she met therein. Because this is a children's book (ages 9–12), it also teaches a few important lessons, many which I believe strongly in to this very day. That one being to not believe everything you're told if you don't feel comfortable with it. It's okay to challenge old, outdated beliefs to forge the way for the future. Another is that you are definitely stronger than you think when faced with seemingly impossible odds.

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#42 Julian's House by Judith Hawkes

My Rating: 8 out of 10 stars

I really enjoyed this story. It was very atmospheric, and I enjoyed it more so because there wasn't so much blood and murder as opposed to suspense and psychic happenings due to the haunted house. The characters were portrayed well, and though i can't say that I really cared for David all that much, I had the same feelings of dislike towards Sally in the beginning as well... until I began to empathize with her situation a bit further along.

My only complaint about the book might be that sometimes I felt the paragraphs went on a bit too long for my taste, and that if they were split up, it might've been a bit easier to read. But I think a lot of that could also be due to the fact that I've been reading a lot of the more contemporary and/or YA authors lately, whom tend to stick to smaller paragraphs to make for easier reading. Certainly the paragraph lengths the author used here weren't outside the boundary of acceptable writing. I've just found shorter to be better for me personally in holding my interest and keeping me from getting too distracted. Obviously a lot of contemporary authors have jumped on the same bandwagon.

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