The Doctor Who Reading Challenge was hosted by Rayna @ Mom's Not All!

For the challenge I read the following 5 Doctor Who books:

1. The Stone Rose by Jacqueline Rayner - review
2. The Last Dodo by Jacqueline Rayner - review
3. Made od Steel by Terrance Dicks - review
4. The Feast of the Drowned by Stephen Cole - review
5. Wooden Heart by Martin Day  - review

Summary:

In 2000, Douglas Preston fulfilled a dream to move his family to Italy. Then he discovered that the olive grove in front of their 14^th century farmhouse had been the scene of the most infamous double-murders in Italian history, committed by a serial killer known as the Monster of Florence. Preston, intrigued, meets Italian investigative journalist Mario Spezi to learn more. This is the true story of their search for--and identification of--the man they believe committed the crimes, and their chilling interview with him. And then, in a strange twist of fate, Preston and Spezi themselves become targets of the police investigation. Preston has his phone tapped, is interrogated, and told to leave the country. Spezi fares worse: he is thrown into Italy's grim Capanne prison, accused of being the Monster of Florence himself. Like one of Preston's thrillers, The Monster Of Florence, tells a remarkable and harrowing story involving murder, mutilation, and suicide-and at the center of it, Preston and Spezi, caught in a bizarre prosecutorial vendetta.

My rating: 5/5

My thoughts on the book:  
This book is awesome! I don't really read non-fiction (almost never) but this book I couldn't put it down! I was really gripped with the story, especially with the second part! It was really suspenseful, with lots of twists! I haven't heard about this serial killer until I came across this book, so I knew nothing about it & the first part of the book is about the period of the killings, which Mario Spezi as a reporter covered! The 2nd part is about what happened to Mario Spezi & Douglas Preston when they decided to write a book about The Monster of Florence! I recommend it to every thriller fan! 

Challenges:

• The Four Month Challenge, Part 3!
• 100+ Reading Challenge 2010
• Stand Alone Reading Challenge 2010
• New Authors Challenge 2010
• The Summer Reading Challenge 2010
• The Hogwarts Reading Challenge 2010 (Muggle Studies)

Summary:

Surely Jane Austen would know how to handle such a rake...
From the author of Hundreds of Years to Reform a Rake, a new time travel romance featuring a modern day career woman swept back in time to Regency England, where she thwarts a Napoleonic spy, chats with Jane Austen, and falls in love with a notorious rake.
Eleanor is a costume designer in England for the Jane Austen festival, where her room at the inn is haunted. In the middle of the night she encounters two ghost sisters whose brother was killed in a duel over 200 years ago. They persuade her to travel back in time with them to prevent the duel. Eleanor is swept into a country house party, presided over by the charming Lord Shermont, where she encounters and befriends Jane Austen. But there's much more to Lord Shermont than the ghosts knew, and as Eleanor dances and flirts with him, she begins to lose her heart. 

My rating: 3/5

Challenges:

• 100+ Reading Challenge 2010
• The Summer Reading Challenge 2010
• New Authors Challenge 2010
• The Four Month Challenge, Part 3!
• Stand Alone Reading Challenge 2010

Summary:

God is dead. Meet the kids.

When Fat Charlie's dad named something, it stuck. Like calling Fat Charlie "Fat Charlie." Even now, twenty years later, Charlie Nancy can't shake that name, one of the many embarrassing "gifts his father bestowed - before he dropped dead on a karaoke stage and ruined Fat Charlie's life.

Mr. Nancy left Fat Charlie things. Things like the tall good-looking stranger who appears on Charlie's doorstep, who appears to be the brother he never knew. A brother as different from Charlie as night is to day, a brother who's going to show Charlie how to lighten up and have a little fun...just like Dear Old Dad. And all of a sudden, life starts getting very interesting for Fat Charlie.

Because, you see, Charlie's dad wasn't just any dad. He was Anansi, a trickster god, the spider-god. Anansi is the spirit of rebellion -- he is able to overturn the social order, create wealth out of thin air, and baffle the devil.

Exciting, scary, and deeply funny, Anansi Boys is a kaleidoscope journey deep into myth, a wild adventure, and a fierce and unstoppable farce, as Neil Gaiman shows us where gods come from, and how to survive your family. 

My rating: 5/5

My thoughts on the book:

I loved it! The last sentence of the summary above describes the book really well! It was really fun & hilarious book and now it's one of my favorites! I just love Neil Gaiman's books! I loved the characters, too! I highly recommend it! It's definitely a must-read!

Challenges:

• The Four Month Challenge, Part 3!
• Fantasy Reading Challenge 2010
• Read Your Name Challenge 2010
• 101 Fantasy Reading Challenge
• Stand Alone Reading Challenge 2010
• 100+ Reading Challenge 2010
• The Countdown Challenge
• Neil Gaiman Reading Challenge 2010
• Monthly Mixer Mele
• The Summer Reading Challenge 2010
• The Hogwarts Reading Challenge 2010 (Care of Magical Creatures)

Summary:

A little competition never hurt anybody...

Theresa Falconetti has it all: brains, beauty, a quick wit, and her own PR business. To the Deep disappointment of her large family, she never dates Italians, men from her old Brooklyn neighborhood, or professional athletes. Especially not athletes...

Michael Dante, popular hometown hero and winger for the Stanley Cup champion New York Blades is all three—and he is head over heels for her.

For Michael, Theresa's NO HOCKEY PLAYERS rule is a check to the heart. Nothing he does seems to melt her resolve. His stubborn refusal to give up on this wisecracking brunette, who—he knows—is hiding from her roots, is driving them both nuts. And whe he hires her to publicize his family's restaurant, more than the kitchen heats up. Then Theresa finds herself an Upper East Side kind of guy and Micheal is forced to take his game to the next level.

IT'S FACE OFF TIME...

  

My thoughts on the book:

I really enjoyed it! It wasn't as good as Body Check, but it was still fun! I'll definitely read the other books in the series!

My rating: 3.5/5 

Challenges:

• 100+ Reading Challenge 2010
• The Countdown Challenge
• The Summer Reading Challenge 2010
• The 2nd Reading Challenge
• The Hogwarts Reading Challenge 2010 (Muggle Studies)  

Summary:

A vast starship seemingly deserted is spinning slowly in the void of deep space. Martha and the Doctor explore this drifting tomb and discover that they may not be alone after all.

Who survived the disaster that overcame the rest of the crew? What continues to power the vessel? And why has a stretch of wooded countryside suddenly appeared in the middle of the craft?

As the Doctor and Martha journey through the forest, they find a mysterious, fog-bound village - a village traumatised by missing children and prophecies of its own destruction...

My thought on the book:

I enjoyed it a lot! I really liked the story, so another good Doctor Who book!

My rating: 4/5

Challenges:

• The Doctor Who Reading Challenge
• The Books About TV Reading Challenge 2010
• The 42 Challenge 2010
• The Summer Reading Challenge 2010
• New Authors Challenge 2010
• 100+ Reading Challenge 2010
• The Hogwarts Reading Challenge 2010 (Astronomy)

Summary:

There were no surprises in Gatlin County.
We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere.
At least, that's what I thought.
Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.
There was a curse.
There was a girl.
And in the end, there was a grave.

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

My thoughts on the book:

I loved it! I loved the story a lot & I liked the characters! It was really relaxing, sweet & refreshing book, with a few twists! I just couldn't put it down & I can't wait for the sequel! I highly recommend it!

My rating: 5/5

Challenges:

• The Four Month Challenge, Part 3!
• 2010 Summer Romance Challenge
• The Summer Reading Challenge 2010
• New Authors Challenge 2010
• The 2010 YA Reading Challenge 
• 100+ Reading Challenge 2010
• Fantasy Reading Challenge 2010
• The Hogwarts Reading Challenge 2010 (Care of Magical Creatures)

Summary:

This game's going into overtime.

Janna MacNeil is a publicist on a mission to change the image of the bad boys of hockey: the Stanley Cup Champion New York Blades.

Ty Gallagher is a captain on a mission— to get his team to win the Cup again... at any cost. His determination is legendary, as well as his unwillingness to toe the corporate line.

When the persistent publicist and the sttubborn captain butt heads, it's hard enough to crack the ice. But they may end up melting it instead...

My thoughts on the book:

I loved it! It was really fun & fast-paced and I liked the characters & I liked the story! I highly recommend it!

My rating: 5/5

Finished: 25 June 2010

Challenges:

• 2010 Summer Romance Challenge
• 100+ Reading Challenge 2010
• New Authors Challenge 2010
• Monthly Mixer Mele
• The Hogwarts Reading Challenge 2010 (Muggle Studies)

Summary:

When a naval cruiser sinks in mysterious circumstances in the North Sea, all aboard are lost. Rose is saddened to learn that the brother of her friend, Keisha, was among the dead. And yet he appears to them as a ghostly apparition, begging to be saved from the coming feast... the feast of the drowned. As the dead crew haunts loved ones all over London, the Doctor and Rose are drawn into a chilling mystery. What sank the ship, and why? When the cruiser's wreckage was towed up the Thames, what sinister force came with it? The river's dark waters are hiding an even darker secret, as preparations for the feast near their conclusion...

My thoughts on the book:

I loved it, loved it, loved it! The story was awesome & I enjoyed every second of it! It had everything: action, humor, suspence, etc... It would have been one awesome special episode or 2-parter! Definitely the best Doctor Who book I've read so far & it's now one of my favorite books! I highly recommend it to every Doctor Who fan!

My rating: 5/5

Finished: 24 June 2010

Challenges:

• The Doctor Who Reading Challenge
• Sci-Fi Challenge
• The Books About TV Reading Challenge 2010
• The 42 Challenge 2010
• New Authors Challenge 2010
• 100+ Reading Challenge 2010
• The Countdown Challenge
• The Hogwarts Reading Challenge 2010 (Astronomy)

Summary:

For Nora Grey, romance was not part of the plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how much her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her. Not until Patch came along.
With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Nora is drawn to him against her better judgment.
But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure who to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is, and to know more about her than her closest friends. She can't decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.
For Nora is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen - and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost her life.

My thoughts on the book:

I have really mixed feelings about this book & this has never happened to me! I usually know how much I like a book, but here I liked the beginning & the ending of the book, but in the middle I was feeling really annoyed with the story & with the characters! Maybe one of the problems was that I didn't really connect with the characters, actually now that I think about it, I didn't liked them at all, except I liked Patch at the beginning & at the end! Lol, as I said already, really mixed feelings ;) And where was the romance? I mean, when did they fall in love? I think it lacked a lot in that aspect! After all, it's a romance novel! Also, everything that happened didn't surprise me at all, so it was too predictable for me! Even with all that, I still couldn't put it down, which says a lot about Becca Fitzpatrick's writing! I just kept reading it until I finished it! I don't think I'll read the sequel, but I'm not sure! I know that many people are comparing it with Twilight, but I haven't read Twilight (and I don't think I ever will), so I can't say anything about that, but I guess Hush, Hush was just not quite my-cup-of-tea!

Finished: 23 June 2010

Challenges:

• The Summer Reading Challenge 2010
• 2010 Summer Romance Challenge
• The 2010 YA Reading Challenge 
• New Authors Challenge 2010
• 100+ Reading Challenge 2010
• The Hogwarts Reading Challenge 2010 (Defence Against the Dark Arts)

Summary:

Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her "power" to sense dead bodies - or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes the dead leave behind in the world . . . and the imprints that attach to their killers.

Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find dead birds her cat left for her. But now that a serial killer is terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he's claimed haunt her daily, Violet realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.

Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet find the murderer - and Violet is unnerved by her hope that Jay's intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she's falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer . . . and becoming his prey herself. 

My thoughts on the book:

I loved it! I loved the story & I loved the characters! The suspence & the romance was well written, with a little twist at the end! I just couldn't put it down & I'll be looking forward to another book in the series! I highly recommend it!

My rating: 5/5

Finished: 22 June 2010

Challenges:

• The 2010 YA Reading Challenge
• 100+ Reading Challenge 2010
• 2010 Summer Romance Challenge
• The Summer Reading Challenge 2010
• The Hogwarts Reading Challenge 2010 (Defence Against the Dark Arts)
• New Authors Challenge 2010
• Monthly Mixer Mele
  

Summary:

Ever the bold adventuress, Lucy Waltham has decided to go hunting for a husband. But first she needs some target practice. So she turns to her brother's best friend, Jeremy Trescott, the Earl of Kendall, to hone her seductive wiles on him before setting her sights on another man. But her practice kisses spark a smoldering passion-one that could send all her plans up in smoke.

Jeremy has an influential title, a vast fortune, and a painful past full of long-buried secrets. He keeps a safe distance from his own emotions, but to distract Lucy from her reckless scheming, he must give his passions free rein. Their sensual battle of wills is as maddening as it is delicious, but the longer he succeeds in managing the headstrong temptress, the closer Jeremy comes to losing control. When scandal breaks, can he bring himself to abandon Lucy to her ruin? Or will he risk his heart and claim her for his own?

My rating: 4/5

Finished: 21 June 2010

Challenges:

• 100+ Reading Challenge 2010
• 2010 Summer Romance Challenge
• Monthly Mixer Mele 
• The Hogwarts Reading Challenge 2010 (Muggle Studies)

Summary:

A deadly night attack on an army base. Vehicles are destroyed, buildings burned, soldiers killed. The attackers vanish as swiftly as they came, taking highly advanced equipment with them. Metal figures attack a shopping mall. But why do they only want a new games console from an ordinary electronics shop? An obscure Government Ministry is blown up ­ but, in the wreckage, no trace is found of the secret state-of-the-art decoding equipment.
When the TARDIS returns the Doctor and Martha to Earth from a distant galaxy, they try to piece together the mystery. But someone ­ or something ­ is waiting for them. An old enemy stalks the night, men no longer made of flesh. . .

My thoughts on the book:

I enjoyed it a lot! This is the first book with Martha & it's connected with the season 2 finale of the series! It was too short, but funny & enjoyable! 

My rating: 4/5

Finished: 20 June 2010

Challenges:

• The Doctor Who Reading Challenge
• The Books About TV Reading Challenge
• The 42 Challenge 2010
• 100+ Reading Challenge 2010
• New Authors Challenge 2010
• The Hogwarts Reading Challenge 2010 (Astronomy)

Summary:

Photographer Dominique Jeffries has come to Wyoming to find herself - her creative self, her sexual self. After escaping the engagement from hell, she's dying to break loose and live a little. And seducing a shirtless, sweaty cowhand looks like just the place to start..
Nick Chance isn't exactly a cowhand but, hey, he'll be whatever the lady wants! Only he soon realizes that this is more than just a quick roll in the hay. There's something about Dominique that calls to him, something about her that completes him.
There's only one problem. Dominique wants a fling, not another relationship.
Little does she guess how easily she'll be persuaded to take a Chance - again and again and again!

My rating: 3.5/5

Finished: 19 June 2010

Challenges:

• 100+ Reading Challenge 2010
• New Authors Challenge 2010
• The Hogwarts Reading Challenge 2010 (Muggle Studies) 

Summary:

In One Dance with a Duke - the first novel in Tessa Dare's delightful new trilogy - secrets and scandals tempt the irresistible rogues of the Stud Club to gamble everything for love.

A handsome and reclusive horse breeder, Spencer Dumarque, the fourth Duke of Morland, is a member of the exclusive Stud Club, an organization so select it has only ten members - yet membership is attainable to anyone with luck. And Spencer has plenty of it, along with an obsession with a prize horse, a dark secret, and, now, a reputation as the dashing 'Duke of Midnight.' Each evening he selects one lady for a breathtaking midnight waltz. But none of the women catch his interest, and nobody ever bests the duke - until Lady Amelia d'Orsay tries her luck.

In a moment of desperation, the unconventional beauty claims the duke's dance and unwittingly steals his heart. When Amelia demands that Spencer forgive her scapegrace brother's debts, she never imagines that her game of wits and words will lead to breathless passion and a steamy proposal. Still, Spencer is a man of mystery, perhaps connected to the shocking murder of the Stud Club's founder. Will Amelia lose her heart in this reckless wager or win everlasting love?

My rating: 5/5

Finished: 19 June 2010

Challenges:

• New Authors Challenge 2010
• 100+ Reading Challenge 2010
• 2010 Summer Romance Challenge
• Monthly Mixer Mele
• The Hogwarts Reading Challenge 2010 (Arithmancy)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Want to participate?

Go here!

My "can't-wait-to-read" choice is:

Almost to Die For

by

Tate Hallaway

Publication date:

August 3, 2010

On her sixteenth birthday, Anastasija Parker’s present winds up being the shock of a lifetime. When her mom referred to her absentee dad as a deadbeat it was actually half true—he’s a vampire. And a king, no less. A king who wants his daughter to assume her rightful position at his side. But, thanks to Ana’s mother, the blood of a witch also runs through her veins…

Too bad vampires and witches are mortal enemies.

With her parents gearing up for an all out brawl over her destiny, Ana’s about ready to scream. But things get even crazier when a male witch and a brooding bad boy vampire start vying for her affection. Then the barely leashed tension between the vampires and the witches starts to boil over, and Ana has to figure out once and for all if she wants to become heir to her dad’s throne. And deciding your eternal destiny is a pretty big deal for a girl who just wants to get through high school...

 

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

 

"Olden days, all the animals wanted to have stories named after them, back in the days when the songs that sung the world were still being sung, back when they were still singing the sky and the rainbow and the ocean. It was in those days when animals were people as well as animals that Anansi the spider tricked all of them, especially Tiger, because he wanted all the stories named after him.
Stories are like spiders, with all they long legs, and stories are like spiderwebs, which man gets himself all tangled up in but which look so pretty when you see them under a leaf in the morning dew, and in the elegant way that they connect to one another, each to each."

 

 

 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is being hosted by Sheila at One Persons Journey through a World of Books.

This is a great weekly event where everyone can keep track of the books finished last week & the books planning to read this week!

 

 

Last week I finished:

• Goddess of the Hunt by Tessa Dare
• The Feast of the Drowned by Stephen Cole 
• Body Check by Deirdre Martin

 

I've also started & finished:

• The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting
• Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
• Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
• Wooden Heart by Martin Day

 

This week I'm reading:

• A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn
• The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston & Mario Spezi
• Fair Play by Deirdre Martin
• What Would Jane Austen Do? by Laurie Brown 
• Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

 

So, what are you reading this week?

Tell us now here!