Stacking the Shelves: A little bit of this and a little bit of that

Not every week can be a stinker and I don't hit the mother lode all that often. Most week's seem to be somewhere in the middle. This week for me has been a mish mosh, but I picked up some fun things.

Also, I went back to the storage facility. I believe the rest of the book boxes have now been found. I believe I was estimating about 15? I think it ended up being closer to 30. Now why, I have to ask the cosmos, do I have an entire book box full of old TV guides? Sure the covers are all cool; Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, X-Files, who knows what else, but why did I keep them? I guess I thought they'd be collectible one day. That box is still in storage, but it has been identified.

And why Paul Young? I found two boxes of old cassette tapes as well as cassingles, some of you must remember those.

But enough about what I found. I'll be posting more on the fun stuff I found, and embarrassing stuff, once I get through more of the boxes.

This is about what I got this week. Isn't it always? So without further delay...

Stacking The Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

 

 

Books I purchased from the local book store:

Wicked Jealous by Robin Palmer

Before I Wake by Rachel Vincent

 

15% off Barnes and Noble coupon and my husband was kind enough to pick up one of them for me.  They're both pink covers, so that was quite a sacrifice.

I just have to catch up on my Rachel Vincent books and pick up the prior book before I can get to this one.

 

EBooks I purchased:

Enchant me by Anne Violet (From Amazon: " Rumors. Magic. Secrets. Attraction.)

Taste by Kate Evangelista (It's like the manga Vampire Academy although without pictures.) - I picked this one up after reading a review from my blog roll.

 

 

Non-Books:

Sandman mini statue by Randy Bowen purchased off ebay

Glow in the dark lavendar Domo qee purchased from local comic book store

 

 

CDs purchased:

The Party's Over by the Smoking Popes

Rocket by Primitive Radio Gods

 

DVD Purchased:

 

Geek Charming from Disney - I don't really expect the movie to be all that great, but it is based on a  book my Robin Palmer of the same name.  I have read all her books except for Wicked Jealous, which just came out, so I thought I'd give the movie a try.

 

 

That's it for me this week.  What ended up on your shelves?

Book Review: Enchanted by Alethea Kontis

I just can't seem to stay away from the fairy tales. Enchanted by Alethea Kontis was an interesting take on the classic fairy tale. This seems to me to be like a fairy tale stew. There were elements of all kinds of fairy tales such as The Frog Prince, Jack and the Beanstalk, Snow White, Cinderella. Now I'm not saying the plot is the same, but there were elements from the classic tales. There was a magic mirror, a tower, a courtyard of people enchanted with a sleeping spell, some magic beans and other things.

Book Description:
Publication Date: May 8, 2012
It isn’t easy being the rather overlooked and unhappy youngest sibling to sisters named for the other six days of the week. Sunday’s only comfort is writing stories, although what she writes has a terrible tendency to come true.

When Sunday meets an enchanted frog who asks about her stories, the two become friends. Soon that friendship deepens into something magical. One night Sunday kisses her frog goodbye and leaves, not realizing that her love has transformed him back into Rumbold, the crown prince of Arilland—and a man Sunday’s family despises.

The prince returns to his castle, intent on making Sunday fall in love with him as the man he is, not the frog he was. But Sunday is not so easy to woo. How can she feel such a strange, strong attraction for this prince she barely knows? And what twisted secrets lie hidden in his past—and hers?


My Review:
Sunday Woodcutter likes to spend time on her own in the woods writing stories. However, what she writes tends to come true, so she will only write about things that have already come to pass about her family. One day while in the woods, she encounters a talking frog. When asked for his name, he tells her it is Grumble. He asks her to read her stories and she obliges him. As is the way with fairy tales, she falls in love with him in a very brief period of time as he does with her.

The first day they meet, Grumble asks if she will kiss him. So she does, but the spell is not broken. It is not until she tells him she loves him that he turns back into a man. We find out he is actually the crown prince Rumbold, but his return to humanity is anything but an easy transition. He is haunted by ghosts of his past and the ghosts of his memories. He has no recollection of his life before becoming a frog and as he tries to piece together his past, he is not sure he was an altogether good sort of person.

In an effort to try to woo her, the prince announces there will be three balls held and all the eligible daughters in the kingdom must attend. His plan is to allow Sunday to get to know him as a man, but there is a history linking his family with hers and there is bad blood between the two family's. How can he possibly hope that she will fall in love with the very man responsible for her oldest brother's death?

There's also the matter of the king and just how old is he? Just how much of a jerk was Rumbold before he was ensorcelled? What happened to Sunday's brother Jack? What is Rumbold's godmother jealous of? Why does Sunday's godmother show up now of all times to train her with her gift? Just who is related to whom or is everyone related to each other? Will Sunday ever learn to love the man that Rumbold is and forget the frog that he was? Which one is better company? For answers to these questions and more you'll just have to read the book, but I don't think you'll be disappointed.

It is well crafted and blended together effortlessly to make for one enjoyable story.

It's Just Another Manga Monday: Dawn of the Arcana by Rei Toma

Book Description:
Publication Date: June 5, 2012 | Series: Dawn of the Arcana (Book 4)
Reads R to L (Japanese Style), for audiences rated teen.
Princess Nakaba of Senan is forced to marry Prince Caesar of the enemy country Belquat, tantamount to becoming a hostage. While Caesar is pleasing to the eye, he is also selfish and possessive, telling Nakaba outright: “You are my property.” With only her attendant Loki at her side, Nakaba must find a way to cope with her hostile surroundings, her fake marriage...and a mysterious power!

Princess Nakaba of Senan and Prince Caesar of Belquat only married each other for the sake of peace between their two warring countries, so no one expected there to be love between the unlikely couple. But just as feelings start growing between them, Nakaba's power, the Arcana of Time, shows her a vision of a young woman's murder. Has the time come for Nakaba to harness her power to change fate?

My Review:
Here is yet another title with a political theme. This series is about warring nations and the political marriage to breach the gap between the two countries. It is also about prejudice. The two countries, Belquat and Senan. Belquat sees the people of Senan as country bumpkins and even though Senan has their own royalty, they are thought to be beneath the Royal family of Belquat.

Princess Nakaba has flaming red hair which is also traditionally thought to be common. Royalty should have black hair. She is given in marriage to the prince of Belquat, Caesar, who is at first pretty much one of the biggest jerks I've encountered so far. At first he's arrogant and cruel and doesn't want anything to do with the wife forced on him.

There is also a race of people called the Ajin. They are demi-humans with the tails and ears of animals and possess super-human abilities. They are slaves, soldiers and are looked down upon by the humans who would rule them.

The series is full of intrigue and conspiracies. The Ajin and planning an uprising. The King of Belquat is conspiring in secret to destroy Senan once and for all. And as Nakaba and Caeser grow closer, they vow to stop the warring, murder and suffering brought about by the conflict between these warring nations.

As much as I hated political science in college, I do have to ask myself why it is that I continue to find these series of books that have a political theme. Well, I like the characters in this series.

Loki is Nakaba's attendant. I don't entirely trust him. He seems like he would sacrifice everything for the cause. Things seem to be black and white with him. You're either with us or against us. He will turn Nakaba against Caesar all for the cause. And while he is loyal to Nakaba, he is more loyal to the cause, freedom for all Ajin, and he will commit murder if he has to achieve victory.

Nakaba is strong-willed and a free spirit, but she hides a vulnerability. She is in a foreign land amongst enemies and though she is princess of Belquat in name only, she is really just a hostage to keep the peace. Despite her isolation, she refuses to bend to the will of the royal family of Belquat. As an example, she refuses to wear the traditional clothing of Belquat and instead wears her Senan garb which makes her appear more barbaric. Even though Caesar's family looks down on her, she stands up to them. She has no illusions about her life, marriage or even her death. And she bears a mystery of her own.

Caesar was at first quite a jerk. He saw Nakaba as only his property to do with as he saw fit, but he slowly gets to know her and his feelings toward her change. For the first time in his life, he wants to care and protect someone. He falls for her and will do anything to make her happy. It is funny, though, because he keeps trying to do things to make her happy, but it is based on Belquat custom and not anything Nakaba would want, like fancy clothes and such. I truly learned to like him because he seems so genuine in his affection for Nakaba. He may be a fool, though. Loki, as I said, does not seem trust worthy and yet Caesar made him one of the princes guard and I can't help but feel nothing good will come of that.

This series makes me anxious. I do like to believe that people are essentially good and I like to have a happy ending ultimately, I get the feeling that there will be tragedy ahead and just hope everyone will get the happy ending they deserve. I'll have to keep reading to find out.

Volume 5 is due out 08/07/12. I can't believe two months have gone by since I got this volume. Wow.

Stacking the Shelves

Stacking The Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

This was a slow week for me, which is just as well. I have been trying to catch up on things like clearing off my computer desk. I have just been throwing receipts and papers and stuff on it for weeks and it was finally starting to topple over.

I have also been trying to empty out the storage facility that I have been renting for the past 7 years, from two moves ago. My goal is the end of the summer.

Remember how I said I had 7 book cases downstairs, 3 in my nieces room and a night stand crammed full of books not to mention the walk in attic. I have no count for those books. Well, last Saturday I was organizing the storage facility better since we are going to be selling some of the stuff. Let me tell you, I found probably about another 25 boxes of books. It's amazing how you collect them when working for a book store. Lots of advance reading copies and although the books are older, I need to try to give them away. The majority of books from the storage facility I will probably be looking to unload. Some of them I will keep, though.

I had a lot of fun going through my 45s, a lot of classic bands like Madness, Squeeze, The Smiths, Bruce Springsteen, The Police and a bunch of others, the majority were all in mint condition. Found a couple of old Monkees 45s that are beat to hell since I used to play them all the time.

I've also started going through some of the stuffed animal boxes. I have a ton of beanie babies, some actual Ty BB. However, I also have a lot of Disney BB.

If I find any real gems among the boxes, I'll share my finds.

In the meantime, this is what I either picked up or received in the mail. Mr. Postman has not been kind to me...again.

Free ebook anthology:

Purchased in the store:

A little tidbit of information.  I was going to read in the tub as I always do and accidentally knocked my half full large DD ice tea on the floor and then proceeded to know my book on the floor as well.  So now my nice copy of Die For Me is damp and tea stained.  So now I'm cranky.


Received from Amazon:

I decided to pick up the Amy Plum book after reading the review from one of the blogs I follow.  I downloaded the eReader sample and that was enough to get me to buy the book.  So far, it is really good.

Can't get to Endlessly yet as I am behind on the Paranormalcy series.

I've been picking up the Hellboy anthologies in the attempt to reduce the shelf space, or comic box space, needed to house my Hellboy collection.  I've been reading Hellboy for much longer than the movies have been out. 

In His Eyes?  Free.  Need I say more?

What's in your mailbox?

Comic-Con: Neil Gaiman to write new 'Sandman' series for DC Comics' Vertigo imprint

Posted from http://shelf-life.ew.com on 07/12/12.

Comic-Con: Neil Gaiman to write new 'Sandman' series for DC Comics' Vertigo imprint
by Jeff Jensen

Call it a dream come true. Acclaimed fantasy author Neil Gaiman (American Gods, Coraline) is returning to comics and the character that made him a superstar scribe: Dream, a.k.a. Morpheus, member of the Endless, a deeply dysfunctional family of eternal though not immutable entities with names that begin with the letter ‘D’ who preside over various aspects of human existence (except Destruction did abandon his mantle and dominion and ran away… but never mind). Gaiman — who wrote 75 issues of The Sandman from 1988 to 1996 (all collected in “graphic novel” form), producing one of the most celebrated and most erudite comic book series ever — will team with artist J. H. Williams III (Promethea, Batwoman) for a mini-series that’s set prior to the events in Sandman #1. In that story, an English occult leader inadvertently summoned Dream using a black magic ritual involving rat claws and angel wings on June 10, 1916 and held him captive for 72 years. (The foolish mortal was actually trying to trap Morpheus’ sister, Death, but something went awry. Magic: So darn unpredictable!)

“When I finished writing The Sandman, there was one tale still untold: The story of what had happened to Morpheus to allow him to be so easily captured in The Sandman #1, and why he was returned from far away, exhausted beyond imagining, and dressed for war,” Gaiman said in a statement provided by DC Entertainment. “It was a story that we discussed telling for Sandman‘s 20th anniversary… but the time got away from us. And now, with Sandman‘s 25th anniversary year coming up, I’m delighted, and nervous, that that story is finally going to be told.”

The mini-series will hit in 2013. The publisher made the announcement at Comic-Con during Vertigo’s afternoon panel.

If you have never read Sandman before by Neil Gaiman, do yourself a favor and pick up the first volume, Preludes and Nocturnes. You won't be sorry you did.

It's Just Another Manga Monday: Rin-Ne by Rumiko Takahashi

The wacky hijinks continue in the newest installment of Rin-Ne by Rumiko Takahashi. In this volume, a student is cursed to fall asleep whenever studying for exams, the ghost of a little girl haunts an ice skating rink, Tsubasa Jumonji is being haunted by the spirit of a girl who wants to feel truly loved, Rin-Ne gets a call to exorcise a spirit at a local ramen shop, a wig is haunting the high school theatrical production, and Ageha's black cat by contract, Oboro, is trying to break the contract and spring himself free.

Rin-Ne has his hands full trying to assist all the spirits running rampant to pass on peacefully to the Wheel of Incarnation.

My favorite chapters were about the ramen shop. As it turns out, Rin-Ne's father is the owner of the ramen shop and he is being possessed. This particular possession actually has Rin-Ne's dad actually working for the first time in his afterlife. How will he get out of this one? And will Rin-Ne take pity on him and help out his father for the sake of the family relationship?

Volume 10 is due out November 13th

It's Just Another Manga Monday: Ouran High School Host Club 18 by Bisco Hatori

I'm sad to say it is finally time to say good bye to our favorite cross-dressing heroine, Haruhi Fujioka. After 18 volumes, Ouran High School Host Club by Bisco Hatori is finally coming to an end. Since I have already reviewed the series, I am not going to go into any series detail, but I will say that this series got the ending it deserved and, more importantly, it made sense.

I find that often with manga and anime, I get through the whole series and get to the last installment only to wonder what happened. Sometimes it seems like an ending is just slapped together and it doesn't really resolve anything. In this case, everything was wrapped up nicely.

It was a very sweet ending. Throw in some madcap hijinks and it was a prefect conclusion to the series. Bisco also gave us a peek into the possible futures of all the characters which was fun.

If you haven't read Ouran High School Host Club yet and you like a series that is a bit on the crazy side, this might be the series for you. I highly recommend it.

Now to catch up on some of the other series.....