Feb 19, 2010

Friday Finds #5

What great books did you hear about / discover this past week?

Share with us your Friday Finds!

Here are my finds:


"Brooklyn Knight" by C. J. Henderson

Professor Piers Knight is an esteemed curator at the Brooklyn Museum and is regarded by many on the staff as a revered institution of his own if not an outright curiosity. Knight's portfolio includes lost civilizations; arcane cultures, languages, and belief; and more than a little bit of the history of magic and mysticism.What his contemporaries don't know is that in addition to being a scholar of all things ancient he is schooled in the uses of magical artifacts, the teachings of forgotten deities, and the threats of unseen dangers.
If a mysterious object surfaces, Professor Knight makes it his job to figure it out--and make sure it stays out of dangerous hands.
A contemporary on an expedition in the Middle East calls Knight's attention to a mysterious object in the collection of the Brooklyn Museum . just before it becomes the target of a sorcerous attack that leads to a siege on a local precinct house by a fire elemental.
What looks like an ordinary inscribed stone may unlock an otherworldly Armageddon that certain dark powers are all too eager to bring about--and only Piers Knight stands in their way.
 
"Red-headed Stepchild" by Jaye Wells

In a world where being of mixed-blood is a major liability, Sabina Kane has the only profession fit for an outcast: assassin. But, her latest mission threatens the fragile peace between the vampire and mage races and Sabina must scramble to figure out which side she's on. She's never brought her work home with her---until now.

This time, it's personal.
  
"Heresy" by S. J. Parris

Set in 1583 against a backdrop of religious-political intrigue and barbaric judicial reprisals, Parris's compelling debut centers on real-life Giordano Bruno, a former Italian monk excommunicated by the Roman Catholic church and hunted across Europe by the Inquisition for his belief in a heliocentric infinite universe. Befriended by the charismatic English courtier and soldier Sir Philip Sidney, the ambitious Bruno flees to more tolerant Protestant England, where Elizabeth I's secretary of state, Sir Francis Walsingham, recruits him to spy, under the cover of philosophical disputation, on secretly Catholic Oxford scholars suspected of plotting treason. As one Oxford fellow after another falls to gruesome homicide, Bruno struggles to unravel Oxford's tangled loyalties. Parris (the pseudonym of British journalist Stephanie Merritt) interweaves historical fact with psychological insight as Bruno, a humanist dangerously ahead of his time, begins his quest to light the fire of enlightenment in Europe.
 
"Reign or Shine" by Michelle Rowen

As if trying to fit in at a new school isn't stressful enough, sixteen-year-old Nikki Donovan just found out that her long-lost father is, in fact, the demon king of the Shadowlands - the world that separates and protects us from the Underworld. When she is brought there by the mysterious - and surprisingly cute - messenger Michael, she learns that her father is dying, and he wants her to assume the throne. To complicate matters, a war is brewing between the Shadowlands and the Underworld, her half-demon qualities are manifesting, and her gowing feelings for Michael are completely forbidden. Ruling a kingdom, navigating a secret crush, and still making it home by curfew - what's a teenage demon princess to do?
 

"Can't Stand the Heat" by Louisa Edwards

For sharp-tongued food critic Miranda Wake, the chance to spend a month in Adam Temple's kitchen to write an exposé is a journalistic dream come true. Surely Miranda can find a way to cut the hotshot chef down to size once she learns what really goes on at his trendy Manhattan restaurant. But she never expected Adam to find out her most embarrassing secret: she has no idea how to cook.
Adam's not about to have his reputation burned by a critic who doesn't even know the difference between poaching and paring. He'll just have to give the tempting redhead a few private lessons of his own - teaching her what it means to cook with passion.and doing more with his hands than simply preparing sumptuous food.

"Nightwalker" by Jocelynn Drake


For centuries Mira has been a nightwalker - an unstoppable enforcer for a mysterious organization that manipulates earth-shaking events from the darkest shadows. But elemental mastery over fire sets her apart from others of her night-prowling breed . . . and may be all that prevents her doom.
The foe she now faces is human: the vampire hunter called Danaus, who has already destroyed so many undead. For Mira, the time has come to hunt . . . or be hunted. 

13 comments:

  1. I think Heresy sounds good as well as Can't Stand the Heat (two very different genres, I think).

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  2. Yeah, I actually read almost all genres :)

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  3. Thanks for visiting The Crowded Leaf and telling me your story about Gaiman's books. I saw Mirrormask with my sister and LOVED it. I had no idea he wrote the book. I also liked the movie version of Stardust, but couldn't get into Coraline. I bet the book is better. :) Have a great weekend!
    Alayne - The Crowded Leaf.

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  4. You have a great list again! I loved Nightwalker, that's in one of my favorite series. I'm planning on reading Red-Headed Stepchild this sometime next week hopefully.

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  5. Yeah, Alayne I heard that the book Coraline is much better than the movie, so I plan to read Coraline, too :)

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  6. Good finds! I've really enjoyed the Nightwalker series so far. Thanks for visiting my blog!!
    http://readingangel002.blogspot.com/2010/02/friday-finds.html

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  7. Heresy and Can't Stand the Heat both sound like appealing reads to me! I like historical fiction and romance. I also love YA fiction. I've heard of Demon Princess before but I'm not sure I'd like it.

    Here are my Friday Finds.

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  8. I just discovered your blog yesterday through the Friday Finds meme.

    Here is an award for your blog!

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  9. You have an award at my blog

    http://readingthebestofthebest.blogspot.com/2010/02/one-lovely-blog-award.html

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  10. You have some interesting books out there!!

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  11. thanks for stopping by On the Bookcase.

    Heresy is on my TBR stack!

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