One more update

Another month coming, another update on my challenge reading.
This next month, I'll be reading four books. Having an e-reader is such a great help to go through ebooks! Much easier and nicer to read on my BeBook than to read in the PC.

Anyway, the author's I'll be reading in July will be:
B, from Alex Beecroft
E, from Karma Eastwick
K, from Nicole Kimberling
M, from KA Mitchell

Once again, I haven't chosen the books yet, I'll post as I read.

Jessica Andersen - Storm Kissed

When sexy Nightkeeper Dez goes rogue, the bounty hunter enlisted to catch him is Reese, his former lover. The sexual energy between them is hotter than ever-but the life-and-death stakes attached to the chase may pull them apart for good.

Comment: I'm quite pleased with this new installment in the nightkeepers series. It is much better than the previous one. Actually as soon as I read a daring new things in the storyline I was shocked, there was no way the author would go on with this, but I guess it was just a reaction of the moment, because right now the idea doesn't seem that reckless. Something I wouldn't choose, definitely, but not so bad.

So, in this new book, the nightkeepers adventures are coming close to its end. Snake Mendez is finally working with the rest of the nightkeepers and his help is vital to the success of their mission. Reese Montana is there too, to joing forces with Mendez and help uniting the team even more.
At the same time we see some scenes from Sven's POV (he will be the next book's protagonist) and we find out thrilling news to the good one's team.
Of course, some bad things might also happen but the book is amazingly well balanced in this matter.

I won't post spoilers, but I must say I was quite shocked to see the path the author took to lead the story. I'm still thinking about it. I wouldn't do it this way, but I hope her talent makes this all right in the end.
We get to see new characters and tidbits for the two last books. It was supposed to be three of them, but apparently only two are going to be released because the schedule probably wouldn't allow more. Next will be Sven's and Rabbit's will close the deal. I can't wait for both of them.

In this Storm Kissed, the author has once again written a good story, strong and balanced and with many information, which shows her deep research. The romance isn't my favourite, as I'm not a fan of the reunited lovers theme, but she wrote it in a way that didn't bothered me much and I was able to overcome this little pet peeve of mine. Anyway, the writing keeps solid and serious and gives a tone of reality to the story.
In the end, I enjoyed it a lot.

Laura Wright - Eternal Hunger

Alexander Roman wants nothing to do with the controlling rulers of his vampire breed or the family he escaped from a hundred years ago. But as a new threat to the pureblood vampires emerges, Alexander's ties to the past are forced upon him again, and without warning, he finds himself -- disoriented, terrified, and near death -- at the door of a stranger.
Dr. Sara Donohue is dedicated to removing the traumatic memories of her patients -- like those of the stranger at her front door. But what he tells her of his past is too astonishing to believe. Yet she has seen his flesh scarred by the sun and witnessed his inhuman strength. And never before has she felt so connected to a man....
But as their worlds collide, Sara and Alexander are bound by something stronger, as one becomes hunter and the other prey....

Comment: Years ago, I did read one of the author's stories she wrote for harlequin. The book had been interesting, but obviously short and to sugary.
I felt a bit reluctant to read this book because I was afraid to read more of it, but then I must say I got positively surprised to be proven wrong.

The story is focused on the Roman brothers, a trio of vampires who severed links with their vampire community and went to see and live the world outside. Now the Council wants their help to look for and kill an Impure who wants to destroy the race as it is. Alexander is the oldest and gets marked to change and to become a vampire in its last phase. In this state he must look for his true mate in order to stay alive and healthy.
Sara is a doctor who gets on the vampire way and ends up helping him. Thus starts an adventur neither saw coming.

Like I said, I'm surprised by the book and by how happy it made me feel. This didn't dazzled me at all, but it started a good story and one I feel the need to keep reading about. I'll buy the second one for sure.
One thing I liked in the book is the fact we have many characters and slowly we get to see a bit of them all. The book isn't only about the romance and that is something I love in my books.
The fact the story is divided in, mostly, short paragraphs also helps the reader feel it's reading more and more and to avoid boring moments.
I'm very eager to read about secondary characters and to know how this couple is doing, I liked how the author made things work out that way.

Amy Lane - Truth in the Dark

"I am not beautiful..."

Knife's entire existence has been as twisted as his flesh and his face. The only thing beautiful in his life is his sister. When Gwennie is obliged to turn a suitor down because she fears to leave her brother to the brutality of their village, Knife is desperate for anything to ensure her happiness.

Her suitor's cousin offers him a way out, but it won't be easy. Aerie-Smith has been cursed to walk upright in the form of a beast, and his beloved village suffers from the same spell. Aerie-Smith offers Gwen a trousseau and some hope, if only Knife will keep him company on his island for the span of a year and perform one "regrettable task" at year's end.

Knife is unprepared for the form the island's curse takes on his own misshapen body. In one moment of magic, he is given the body of his dreams—and he discovers that where flesh meets spirit and appearance meet reality, sometimes the only place to find truth is in the darkness of a lover's arms.

Comment: This was my choice of mrs Lane for the challenge. I didn't check reviews or other comments before reading, so I could start it with a clean slate.
I wasn't prepared to read a story where one of the main cgaracters was an animal most of the time, but that fact didn't disturbe me or my will to read.

Aerie Smith has been cursed for an innocent mistake in his past and he knows only a sacrifice can help him and the people in the island where he lives. So, he asks for Naef's help, although Naef is often rude and doesn't accept it at first.
But a promise makes him go to the island and help his host.
In there he understands what its liek to be friendly, to trust and to love. He accepts the other habitants of the island and helps them in their daily issues, as well as accepting himself for what he is. Then there's his relationship with Aerie Smith and all that goes with it...especially love and confidence.

Naef has had a troubled childhood, he isn't good looking and has a limp. He was violated and his sister defended him, so she means the world to him. When she refuses to marry in order not to leave him, he agrees to go to Aerie Smith's island as a favour to his future brother-in-law, which means his sister might follow her heart at last. In there he understand what is to love and trust. I think the writer has a great way with words, it felt like she used the perfect words to describe whatever was happening. I eagerly read each page and was happy to see new things hapenig and how each main character dealt with his own feelings and what those meant to the whole situation and the other person. It's a very raw study on emotions, I believe, to understand sometimes what others see in ourselves is really there, no matter how difficult it is to us to see it too. I think the magic is in there, mostly. We just can't see it but someone else swears it is. Then there's the trust issue, with true love comes trust and although Naef didn't trust Aerie Smith at first, he grew to see that sometimes true love deserves all the trust in the world.

I liked the story a lot and I feel I'll re-read it often too. It has such sweet parts. I felt happy when I finished and the book totally worked out for me. Plus there's always some kind of magic in the air in the author's novels. I like that a lot.

Colleen McCullough - Tim

Mary Horton is content with her comfortable, solitary existence . . . until she meets Tim. A beautiful young man with the mind of a child -- a gentle outcast in a cruel, unbending world -- he illuminates the darkness of Mary's days with his boyish innocence. And he will shatter the lonely, middle-aged spinster's respectable, ordered life with a forbidden promise of a very special love.

Comment: This is an amazing book. The author is a hit or miss for me, but this book is truly amazing. It shows it was written in the 70's, but the theme keeps actual because people with problems are still not trated right by others.

Tim is a young man, very beautiful, but with a slighty retardation. He thinks like a young boy and needs a lot of attention. His parents are getting old and they worry what will happen to him once they're dead because Tim's sister will marry too and then what would happen to Tim?
Tim, despite, his problems, works and lives a normal life although some of his coworkers make fun of him, but he doesn't get why and isn't really offended. While finishing a job, he meets Mary, a spinster lady, and between them a friendship begins.

This is a swet book that focuses on the problems people with a mental handicap have and how others around them live and see them. It's also a study on how people behave in thei lives knowing the stress and worries that come with someone like that.
I liked reading about the praticality of Mary in taking care of Tim, and how their relationship developped. It was bittersweet because soem bad things happen - not to Tim - and everyone must react and change their opath accordingly.
I enjoyed it a lot, it's an interesting reflection on the human behaviour and the faith and beauty of people.

Keith Melton - The Zero Dog War

The first bullet is always free. After that, you gotta pay.
After accidentally blowing up both a client facility and a cushy city contract in the same day, pyromancer and mercenary captain Andrea Walker is scrambling to save her Zero Dogs. A team including (but not limited to) a sexually repressed succubus, a werewolf with a thing for health food, a sarcastic tank driver/aspiring romance novelist, a three-hundred-pound calico cat, and a massive demon who really loves to blow stuff up.
With the bankruptcy vultures circling, Homeland Security throws her a high-paying, short-term contract even the Zero Dogs can’t screw up: destroy a capitalist necromancer bent on dominating the gelatin industry with an all-zombie workforce. The catch? She has to take on Special Forces Captain Jake Sanders, a man who threatens both the existence of the team and Andrea’s deliberate avoidance of romantic entanglements.
As Andrea strains to hold her dysfunctional team together long enough to derail the corporate zombie apocalypse, the prospect of getting her heart run over by a tank tread is the least of her worries. The government never does anything without an ulterior motive. Jake could be the key to success…or just another bad day at the office for the Zeroes.
Product WarningsContains explicit language, intense action and violence, rampaging zombie hordes, a heroine with an attitude and flamethrower, Special Forces commandos, ninjas, apocalyptic necromancer capitalist machinations, absurd parody and mayhem, self-deluded humor, irreverence, geek humor, mutant cats, low-brow comedy, and banana-kiwi-flavored gelatin.

Comment: This is one of the funniest books I've read. And the best part is that it doesn't make the book look silly. The storyline is coherent in the middle of all the nonsense. It really is.

The story is interesting to follow, the Zero Dog mercenaries are having a busy but complicated day and it gets worse when things don't go according to plan, but in the end the job is done. However, the bad part of it is they don't have much money, so they'll need to do any job that comes their way..and that's when Jake Sanders comes along.

I think the best part of the series is the characters. They all bring something to the story and not just the funny dialogue. Which, by the way, it's another of the best things in the story. I lost count of the times I laughed and laughed because of the things they said. Andrea is the captain and she's a bit serious but her thoughts are quite funny..and we get to see  from her perspective, except the parts where we get what the villain is thinking.
Sarge is also serious but sarcastic, Gavin is always saying something ironic and Rafe is a horny werewolf with a taste for nakedness. Then there's Mai, who runs a horde of furry animals from...hum, somewhere, there's Hanzo, a white medic who lives the life of a wannabe ninja and Tiffany, a shy succubus. Oh and there's Stefan, the too lazy vampire to be noticed and the alien pet cat.
This whole bunch is funny, they say what they want and behave like five year olds sometimes. It's amazing. I had such a great time reading about them and their job. It's all very funny, I can't stop repeating myself.
But the author also managed to give a semblance of order to the plot, so despite all the craziness, it makes sense when we read it.
And also, like I said, there's a consistency in the writing, and among all the laughing, there's a balanced way of telling the story, of making things go forward, which makes the book solid instead of simply silly.
I enjoyed it a lot and will get some more books by the author in the future.
Grade: 8/10 

Alyssa Day - Vampire in Atlantis

The most unexpected of all allies to Poseidon's warriors has proven to be the fiercest-Daniel, a vampire and Night Guild mage. But even the strongest alliance can be destroyed when a vampire's oath crosses paths with a maiden's quest, and an eleven-thousand-year-old desire is reborn.

Comment: This series is almost on its end. This book is one of the last ones to be published. Part of me is sad to see it end but another one is actually relieved to see something solved and concluded. There are only two more stories to be told in the Atlantis universe. The author's plans for incoming new stories...are yet to be shared.

Anyway, this story is about Daniel, the atlanteans vampire friend. He's been around for more than eleven thousand years and is ready to see the sun, at last. However, a girl from his past comes back and almost when there's no turning back, she saves him and then their story begins.

I was expecting a bit more from this couple...I mean, their condition in live was rocky for both of them and of course some things seemed rushed, considering the time of action in the book, but in the end I hoped for a bit more.

The rest of the story though...great! I loved seeing more characters who seem to play an important part in the future, even if we won't see it develop and more, it's good to see some things getting solved. There's nothing worse than a misplaced end in a series. So, on this subject, the author seems to be doing a good job. Obviously, the bigger part of this will be done in the final book, but we can see where she's going and that it will end with a complete HEA for everyone.

All in all it was good to see things ebing solved and explained and how it will allow other things to work out too. The author has done a good job linking and connecting several issues. I just wished I'd seen more characters from the previous books.

Deborah Smith - When Venus Fell

The ties that bind us--to our families, to our pasts--are at the heart of this deeply engrossing story. Venus Arinelli saw her future as a concert pianist shattered when her father's life ended in disgrace. Now Venus plays in cocktail lounges, sporting her survival skills like a suit of armor. When a stranger emerges from her parents' long-ago past with an offer too good to refuse, Venus' suspicions flare up.

But Gib Cameron has a special mission. He represents the Camerons of Tennessee--a family as rooted in American history and Southern soil as Venus' is notorious and fly-by-night. Yet the Camerons, survivors of tragedy, need Venus for reasons that have to do with honor and loyalty and an almost mystical bond to their shared past. And Gib, as hard-eyed a skeptic as Venus herself, has to persuade her to come to their mountain home.

Comment: Another month, another book by this author. I've decided to read one a month, and considering the ones I already bought anf have, I'll be reading a book by her until january! If I don't get others that didn't seem that appealing too.

The book I've read this month was When Venus Fell. I loved the blurb and the story didn't disappoint, at all!
Venus and her sister have been running from place to place, never with much money or conditions, because their father was accused of terrorist connections and the government is always looking for them for more and more questions.
They work a few months in one place and then they go when they're found. This time it's Gib Cameron who finds them. But he is actually looking for them because Venus an Ella's parents married in Gib's family estate and now it's time for them too see it and... the money he left them.
In there Venus and Ella find many things to love and cherish and they finally get to have a home.

Once again, the author blended well the personalities of several characters and a very good story.. I think her best features as a writer are her input in relationships and in how it's natural to have people around you. I love this.
Venus and Gib don't start quite well but slowly they fall in love even when neither admits it..until there are no more excuses. I think the characters are always well depicted in this author's books. They all have a strong voice even when it doesn't look like it.
Both Gib and Venus have things they rather not share but while they get to know each other better, they do and it feels right for them and the reader feels it too. Venus is my favourite character, she has a vulnerable side that really reaches the reader and I think her actions are believable. Gib accepts ealier what is happening between them but nothing is rushed and he doesn't force Venus to anything.
I think they are quite balanced.
The other characters also have an important role to play and their importance isn't diminuished as it sometimes happens in some books that focus to much on the main couple.
This is a warm, sweet story and I loved it. Gentle Rain remains my favourite by the author but this one is right after.

Nalini Singh - Kiss of Snow

Since the moment of her defection from the PsyNet and into the SnowDancer wolf pack, Sienna Lauren has had one weakness. Hawke. Alpha and dangerous, he compels her to madness.

Hawke is used to walking alone, having lost the woman who would’ve been his mate long ago. But Sienna fascinates the primal heart of him, even as he tells himself she is far too young to handle the wild fury of the wolf.

Then Sienna changes the rules and suddenly, there is no more distance, only the most intimate of battles between two people who were never meant to meet. Yet as they strip away each other’s secrets in a storm of raw emotion, they must also ready themselves for a far more vicious fight…

A deadly enemy is out to destroy SnowDancer, striking at everything they hold dear, but it is Sienna’s darkest secret that may yet savage the pack that is her home…and the alpha who is its heartbeat…

Comment: This is another of the best books I've read this year. Perhaps part of it is because I've been waiting for it for so long...well, me and all the other fans. But it it had been a disapointment, now I'd feel double depressed, but thankfully Nalini Singh has proved to be perfect, once again, in her writing.
Kiss of Snow is more than just a book, it's a work of art, a gift to all the faithful fans and a gem in the romance department. For real. The author has acomplished a hard task, to fulfil and achieve almost perfection in her books in this psy/changeling series. I'm sure there are many readers who don't feel this way but there are also a lot more who do.

I won't review the book because I know I wouldn't do it as well as some other reviewers out there.
There's only my personal comment to this wonderful story and I just want to say it worked for me. The feelings and development of the romance between thr main couple and the links to all the other characters who have a strong presence in the story...this is mrs Singh strongest's points...the relationship connections among the packs. It's wonderful to see and very balanced. Once again I didn't feel someone was being left out just because they didn't have central stage.
There are many things happening in this story and I won't post spoilers, but I have to say I loved the end, I felt is was suited and perfect. I was afraid it wouldn't happen all the way but it did and it put a smile on my face. It stil does after all this time. Actually all books in the series do, which amazes me.
Perfection is this series' second name.
For me, for sure.

Serena Yates - To Find and to Keep

Four years ago Ryan's parents disowned him for being gay. To escape their threats, he ran away to Canada. Now his twin sister Nicole is getting married to his best friend Peter, and Ryan will risk anything to attend. Help arrives in the most unexpected form: Peter's older brother Daniel, the man Ryan had never stopped loving.

Comment: Another medium story for me.

As it happened with the previous story, there's nothing in this one that makes think twice about it.

Ryan went away after his parents threw him away foe being gay. He went, not knowing he had support in his friends and sister, but now she's getting amrried so he returns just to see her. In the process he meets again his old crush but perhaps it's not a one way crush...

Ryan and Daniel are sweet together, Ryan had had trouble, both financially and emotionally. That they rekindled their relationship is actually a good thing for Ryan but he has been in love with Daniel for so long and he's not sucessful so he doesn't think something can come out of it, despite Daniel's apparent attraction. This is a sweet story, key on the fact we should count on our friends, but is's a bit too cliché to be awesome. The way it is, I'd say it's simply normal, there's isn't a wow factor.
This is the first thing I've read by the author, and I'm aware there is a sequel to this story, I'll get it later on to see it there's an improvement. But well, some things don't work for some people, right?

Emily Veingory - Wolfkin

Arun is in training to be a priest of the Fire God when he is abruptly plucked from his peaceful studies, bespelled and staked out as bait to capture a monster—a wolfkin. But the wolfkin isn’t quite what Arun expected. He has a name, Trae, and he’s more man than beast. And from their first touch, they are far more than predator and prey to each other.

Instead of killing Arun, Trae spirits him away to the distant city of Shireen. There, on a family plot of land, they should have a good life together. But the spell that a witch cast on Arun is growing stronger, taking over—and it still wants to destroy the wolfkin.

Torn between the power of the spell and his love for Trae, Arun must face the darkness within him—or it will kill them both.

Comment: This is another of my reads for the m/m challenge. I had read one book by this author a long time ago and I liked it but to be honest there wasn0t anything distinctive about it. This another story I've picked, Wolfkin, is another one of that type..it's obvious the effort the author put in, but I didn't see or read anything in it that makes me remember it.
A young accolyte is forced to seduce a wolfkin in order to save his sister from the dangerous lord of the estate, and in the process magic is used so after they meet, the wolfkin is captured and the young man starts to develop a strange darkness within...

Well, I must say I was surprised with some things that happened after this and that "saved" this story from being too much safe. Nothing against the writing style, but I don't know, there's something in there that just doesn't appeal, like it lacks sizzle.
The characters looked promising and were the story further developped I'm sure it would be interesting to see the decreasing conflicts and feelings emerge. The way it ended, it seemed rushed.
I can't say I loved it but it was ok.

Barbara Ashford - Spellcast

Maggie Graham is having a very bad day. First, she loses her job. Then the bathroom ceiling in her Brooklyn apartment collapses. That’s when Maggie decides she needs to get out of town. A weekend in Vermont seems like the perfect getaway.
When she stumbles on the Crossroads Theatre, reviving her acting career is the last thing on her mind, but a week later, she’s back in summer stock at a theatre unlike any she’s ever known.
Director Rowan Mackenzie is even odder than the collection of misfits that comprise the cast. What kind of director casts people in the roles they need? And never leaves the grounds of the theatre? And possesses the power to transform a train wreck of a show into a magical experience for cast and audience alike?
There’s a secret at the Crossroads, and Maggie is determined to uncover it before summer’s end – if she can prevent her mother from discovering her whereabouts, deal with the staff’s efforts to thwart her, and avoid falling prey to Rowan Mackenzie’s charm. She never imagines that she will uncover secrets about her past that will change her life – and Rowan’s – forever.

Comment: This book is, so far, one of the best I've read this year. It has everything to be perfect except one thing but it's something I feel confident we'll see solved int he sequel, coming out in 2012.

Maggie is having a bad day and after a collpased ceiling, she decides to travel while loking for a new job. She arrives Vermont, where an amateur theatre company is starting a show, so she makes an audition, not really knowing what is going on.
And then she starts a vouyage of discovery, of friendship, love ans curiosity. The characters all work together like a well defined and complex machine, and theis actions and what they are and do is..Did I mention this is a great book?

This was the first thing I've read by the author, but I'm happy to have read it, the words sound fluid and easy in her writing style, there's nothing boring or heavy in her words and even though the story is told by Maggie, all the characters arounf her gain live in a way many authors can't do.
Then there's many elements from the world of theatre, the plays, the notions, the proper names, it's clar the author has knowledge of what she's talking about, and the story only gains with it.

I loved the story, the pace, the things happening, the mysterious director of the theatre and his secrets and the end...oh the way it ended...it was very wel suited, but I hope the sequel brings some closure and an HEA for this world.

I totally recommend it, I decided to read it after reading a review in another blog and I'm quite happy to have jumped into it. It's a beautiful tale of love and regrets, with many, many layers of emotion.

Josephine Cox - Live the Dream

Plain, down-to-earth Amy Maitland can't help but notice the sad and handsome stranger who spends every Tuesday at the local cafe -- an artist who puts his heart and turbulent emotions on canvas in vivid, powerful paintings. No stranger herself to the pain of loss and betrayal, she is drawn to this haunted man, his kindness, and his mystery.

But Luke Hammond is more than he seems. A wealthy factory owner in financially depressed Blackburn, he seeks a haven from his guilt and tragic past -- an escape he seems to find in Amy's warm smile and gentle spirit. Yet Amy Maitland is not of his world, and there is no place for her in Luke's shattered life -- unless they can both open their wounded hearts to a promise each believed long dead ... and find the courage to embrace the most glorious dream of all.

Comment: This book was...well, if I were to compare it to food, tasteless.
There's nothing in this sort of story/writing that appealed to me. I wonder if it's just this one book or if all her books are like this, but to be honest I don't fell the need to check for myself.

All the characters seemed strong at some point but they didn't act like it. The only character that "stays" in my mind was the crazy one and it's mostly because she acted more childish than vicious. which makes her a little bit pathetic. I'm being mean, I'm sure, but this is how I feel. The story promised some things (namely a HEA with two certain characters) and in the end I finished the last line with a mild WTF?...mild because I wasn't that expectant to be really annoyed.

The writing..well, it sure was correct but lacked pasion, purpose..things were there because they had to. I wasn't convinced. At all! Plus the blurb on back cover is deceiving...it seems like a lighter story, but wirh a healthy dose of romance and in the end I was quite surprised about how insipid it felt.

Perhaps I'm being unfair, as the author has many published books and certainly fans love her, otherwise she wouldn't publish as much, but I'm afraid I won't become one of them.

Ilona Andrews - Magic Slays

Kate Daniels may have quit the Order of Merciful Aid, but she’s still knee-deep in paranormal problems. Or she would be if she could get someone to hire her. Starting her own business has been more challenging than she thought it would be -- now that the Order is disparaging her good name, and many potential clients are afraid of getting on the bad side of the Beast Lord, who just happens to be Kate’s mate.

So when Atlanta’s premier Master of the Dead calls to ask for help with a vampire on the loose, Kate leaps at the chance of some paying work. Turns out this is not an isolated incident, and Kate needs to get to the bottom of it -- fast, or the city and everyone dear to her might pay the ultimate price . . .

Comment: I loved this book. Curran and Kate are still one of my favourite couples in urban fantasy. Their relationship keeps strong and believable.

Well, this time Kate is a bit depressed because she's lacking clients in her business and she doesn't want to fail, so when a contract comes along, she jumps right into it. Then many wrong things start to happen and she looses control. She makes disturbing discoveries about her past, and we get to see more clues to her real upbringing.

I think one of the most wonderful things about this author's writting is the perfect balance between the overall storyline and the personal information we get about the main characters and some of the secondary ones. I never feel I'm being left out in knowing important things about them or about what's happening. Then there's the way they interact...it's really amaing to watch.

Another strong point is the fact we "see" the story moving along, there's always things happening in a way that is clear where things are going, even not knowing the how's of it. I believe this is quite well done. Many authors fail to move their stories in a balanced pace.

I like how the characters seem something and then we don't understand some things but in this case the characters usually justify their actions and it's interesting to watch their mental pathways to why they act the way they do.

All in all this series are totally worthy of the time and money we spend on them and I, for one, will religiously await for the next installment.

Updating the challenge

The next letters - and authors - for the M/M challenge will be the following:
L, from Amy Lane
V, from Emily Veinglory
Y, from Serena Yates

I'll post as long as I go. Only Serena Yates is an unknown author from this lot, but I hope I like her writing as well I did the previous stories I've read by the other two authors.

So far, and counting the three authors in this month, I still have 21 books to read! This is a lot of them! I must hurry up.

Karen Blixen - Out of Africa

Karen Blixen went to Kenya in 1914 to run a coffee farm; its failure in 1931 caused her to return to Denmark where she wrote this classic account of her experiences. "Out of Africa" is a celebration of her life there; her friendship with the various people of the area and her sympathetic response to the landscape and animals are drawn with warmth and unusual clarity. Although the book is pervaded by her sense of loss, Karen Blixen looks back with an unsentimental intelligence to portray a way of life that is now gone forever.

Comment: I don't have much to say about this story...it's beautifully written and there are moments where one can actually feel the traditions and feelings of Africa. This isn't a romance and I wouldn't label it a travel book either. It's a collection of memories from the author. She chose things she wanted to tell and in the end summarized what it felt like to leave Africa, and to be honest that was the most heartfelt part of the book. It's sad to think something that makes soemone so happy must end.
For those who expect something like the movie, forget it. The book is a storytelling, a walk through memories and experiences and people. It's beautiful but not entertaining.