Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb

Young Fitz is the bastard son of the noble Prince Chivalry, raised in the shadow of the royal court by his father's gruff stableman. He is treated like an outcast by all the royalty except the devious King Shrewd, who has him sectetly tutored in the arts of the assassin. For in Fitz's blood runs the magic Skill--and the darker knowledge of a child raised with the stable hounds and rejected by his family. As barbarous raiders ravage the coasts, Fitz is growing to manhood. Soon he will face his first dangerous, soul-shattering mission. And though some regard him as a threat to the throne, he may just be the key to the survival of the kingdom. From Goodreads.

Another enjoyable book from Robin Hobb. Bastard children of nobles aren't treated very well and Fitz is no exception. Fitz is secretly training to become an assassin, he also has a hidden power that even his teacher is unaware of. When the Kingdom is threatened, he and several others have to learn the skill, which is not his hidden power, to help save the Kingdom. I like Fitz and also Burrich the stable master. I have already ordered the next book from the library.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
Wacky Reading Challenges: Word Search 2015
Rawk-A-Tiers: Words With ... Myself!
Rawk-A-Tiers: Scavenger Hunt
A Million More Pages: Reading Under The Stars
Wacky Reading Challenges: Book Tag Challenge #7
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Pick One For Me
Crazy Challenge Connection: Pick a Theme 2015-2016
Crazy Challenge Connection: Read your age

The Diving Pool: Three Novellas by Yoko Ogawa

The first major English translation of one of contemporary Japan's bestselling and most celebrated authors. 
From Akutagawa Award-winning author Yoko Ogawa comes a haunting trio of novellas about love, fertility, obsession, and how even the most innocent gestures may contain a hairline crack of cruel intent.

A lonely teenage girl falls in love with her foster brother as she watches him leap from a high diving board into a pool--a peculiar infatuation that sends unexpected ripples through her life.
A young woman records the daily moods of her pregnant sister in a diary, taking meticulous note of a pregnancy that may or may not be a hallucination--but whose hallucination is it, hers or her sister's?
A woman nostalgically visits her old college dormitory on the outskirts of Tokyo, a boarding house run by a mysterious triple amputee with one leg.
Hauntingly spare, beautiful, and twisted, The Diving Pool is a disquieting and at times darkly humorous collection of novellas about normal people who suddenly discover their own dark possibilities. From Goodreads

 

Unfortunately I found these three novellas boring and uninteresting. I only finished them because they were so short. They stories are twisted but neither beautiful nor darkly humorous as described in the blurb. 

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
I love Library books 2015
Crazy Challenge Connection A-Z Locations - 2014
Romance Readers Reading Challenges: Word Hunt 2015
The Challenge Factory: Scavenger Hunt Part XV
Wacky Reading Challenges: Word Search 2015
Rawk-A-Tiers: Words With ... Myself!
Rawk-A-Tiers: Rhyme Time
Rawk-A-Tiers: I Spy
Rawk-A-Tiers: Troupe Theme Challenges
Rawk-A-Tiers: Getting Acquainted
Rawk-A-Tiers: Scavenger Hunt
Rawk-A-Tiers: House Games
A Million More Pages: Summer Games
Wacky Reading Challenges: Favorite Album - Away From the Sun
Wacky Reading Challenges: Book Tag Challenge #7
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Backpacking Around The Globe
Wacky Reading Challenges: Animal House
Crazy Challenge Connection: Read your age

Legend by David Gemmell

The Legend
Druss, Captain of the Axe: the stories of his life were told everywhere. Instead of the wealth and fame he could have claimed, he had chosen a mountain lair, high in the lonely country bordering on the clouds. There the grizzled old warrior kept company with snow leopards and awaited his old enemy death.
The Fortress
Mighty Dros Delnoch, protected by six outer walls, the only route by which an army could pass through the mountains. It was the stronghold of the Drenai empire. And now it was the last battleground, for all else had fallen before the Nadir hordes.
And hope rested on the skills of that one old man… From Goodreads






I like fantasy and this was really good. There is a lot going on and I like that even the attacking bad guy is not all bad. We see all the weaknesses of the characters but it does not make them weak instead we think the more of them for overcoming their weaknesses.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: June Challenges
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: House Elves
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Deja Vu Books
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Guess Who?
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: MASH with a Hufflepuff
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: MARCHing Through Time
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Summertime Mountaineering
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Backpacking Around The Globe
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: The Amazing Book Race
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Clue#2
Crazy Challenge Connection Read your age

Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs

The Alpha and Omega novels transport readers into the realm of the werewolf, where Charles Cornick and Anna Latham embody opposite sides of the shifter personality. Now, a pleasure trip drops the couple into the middle of some bad supernatural business...
For once, mated werewolves Charles and Anna are not travelling because of Charles's role as his father's enforcer. This time, their trip to Arizona is purely personal - or at least it starts out that way . . .
Charles and Anna soon discover that a dangerous Fae being is on the loose, replacing human children with simulacrums. The Fae's cold war with humanity is about to heat up - and Charles and Anna are in the cross fire. From Goodreads.







Good to be back in Mercy's world. This is the fourth book in the Alpha & Omega series about Anna and Charles and these books can't be read out of order.
Again Anna shows the strength an Omega wolf possesses and Charles shows he will do everything to protect Anna and all other wolves including their families, even if they are not in his own pack.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
2015 Witches & Witchcraft Challenge
Novel Books & Reading Challenges Wheel-A-Thon II
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: April Challenges
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Hugh Jackman
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Holding out a Hero
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Meet a Million Members
Crazy Challenge Connection Read your age
Crazy Challenge Connection Scrabble, anyone?
Spring Into Horror 2015
Dewey's Read-a-Thon April 2015

The Woman In Black by Susan Hill

Arthur Kipps, a junior solicitor in London, is summoned to Crythin Gifford to attend the funeral of Mrs Alice Drablow, and to sort through her papers before returning to London. It is here that Kipps first sees the woman in black and begins to gain an impression of the mystery surrounding her. From the funeral he travels to Eel Marsh House and sees the woman again; he also hears the terrifying sounds on the marsh.
Despite Kipps’s experiences he resolves to spend the night at the house and fulfil his professional duty. It is this night at Eel Marsh House that contains the greatest horror for Kipps. Kipps later discovers the reasons behind the hauntings at Eel Marsh House. The book ends with the woman in black exacting a final, terrible revenge. From Goodreads.





Another Horror book that I didn't find particularly scary. At least it was slightly scarier than The Haunting of Hill House and I felt sorry for Arthur that the ghost followed him.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
I love Library books 2015
Novel Books & Reading Challenges Wheel-A-Thon II
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: April Challenges
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: All About the Stars
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
Crazy Challenge Connection Read your age
Crazy Challenge Connection Scrabble, anyone?
Spring Into Horror 2015
Dewey's Read-a-Thon April 2015 

Born in Fire by Nora Roberts

Maggie and Brianna Concannon are very different. The calm and gentle Brie seems able to weather any storm, even the constant criticism that rains down on them both from their mother, but Maggie is a passionate and fiery artist whose temper is as bold as her art. Their mother's bitterness is a mystery to the sisters. until secrets from the past challenge everything they've come to believe.
It's Maggie's skill as a glass blower that brings Rogan Sweeney, the international gallery owner, to her small cottage in County Clare. 
His interest in her is purely professional, until their personalities clash and sparks begin to fly... As her career takes off, how will Maggie cope with the heat of the spotlight and feelings for Rogan that she would rather ignore? From the back of the book.




This was very good, not just a quick romance. There is a lot about family and what makes Maggie who she is and why she has decided never to marry. The relationships with her father, mother and sister are all very interesting. Rogan is a successful businessman and thinks he can keep business and private life separate but of course that is impossible. I will try to get the next in the series from the library. 

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
I love Library books 2015
Crazy Challenge Connection A-Z Locations - 2014
Novel Books & Reading Challenges Tower Teams III
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: December-January Mini Challenge
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: January Challenges
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Hogwarts Face Off
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Spring Fling
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Diagon Alley Supply List
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: 2015 Reading Challenge!
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Clue round 4
Setting Alphabet Reading Challenge
Crazy Challenge Connection Read your age
A Winter's Respite Read-a-Thon 2015

Sapphire of the Fairies by Richard S. Tuttle

The sky is dark. Neither the sun nor the moon have been seen in decades. The land is fruitless, and the seas are barren. No law exists, only the rule of might is exerted over a hapless people by those who can wield it. In a land of darkness and despair, there is one shining light, an ancient prophecy that foretells of the coming king and his companion, the vanquisher of evil.Sapphire of the Fairies is the first of seven volumes of the epic fantasy series Sword of Heavens. Explore a vast continent where elves, dwarves, unicorns, fairies, demons, dragons, and man all exist. Sapphire of the Fairies begins the saga of five humans on the verge of adulthood. Living in a land where no one can be trusted, these five adventurers must restore the magical Sword of Heavens and defeat the Evil One, an evil sorcery whose minions roam the world in an attempt to defeat the ancient prophecy.Discover a world of magic and intrigue created by Richard S. Tuttle, called "one of this century's leading authors of innovative fantasy tales." Volume 1 of Sword of Heavens. From Goodreads.

The start of the book was very slow. The blurb had me expecting something completely different and not the slow character building of four of the young main characters. It wasn't bad, I just didn't expect it. After a while the adventure picks up and at the end of the story things are revealed about several of the characters. I might continue this series at a later date.

This book qualifies for:
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2015
2015 Witches & Witchcraft Challenge
The Challenge Factory - R5: Team Challenge SSS
Novel Books & Reading Challenges Tower Teams III
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: December-January Mini Challenge
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: January Challenges (2/9)
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Hogwarts Face Off
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Spring Fling
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: The Hunger Games
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: the 50 States Amazing Book Hunt
Crazy Challenge Connection Read your age

A Christmas Charade by Karla Hocker

Elizabeth Gore-Langton was hardly in a position to refuse to accompany Lady Astley to the Christmas party at Stenton Castle. After all, a paid companion must follow her employer's wishes. It scarcely mattered that Elizabeth would be forced to face the man who had unknowingly broken her heart years ago during her first season. Most likely, the Duke of
Stenton wouldn't even recognize her. But once she looked up into his dark, piercing eyes, she knew this was a man who forgot very little and forgave even less. Well, she was no longer a blushing schoolgirl, and the dashing duke would soon find that a broken heart, once mended, could be formidable, indeed!
Clive Rowland, Fifth Duke of Stenton, was in no mood for a holiday gathering. But the Christmas gala would provide the perfect cover as he investigated reports that French agents were doing a brisk trade in stolen documents along the Sussex coast. It would be devilishly difficult to play the host while tracking down traitors, but Clive was up to the task—provided he kept his wits about him and didn't get distracted by yule logs and Christmas folderol… or the delightful charms of the disturbingly familiar Elizabeth. She was hiding something, to be sure, and Clive liked nothing better than unveiling a lady's secrets!  From Goodreads.

This was an okay Christmas romance but there is a lot going on. We have got Elizabeth and Clive getting to know each other and Juliette and Stewart who are trying to make their marriage work. Then there are smugglers and French agents, and a treasure hunt.
What I liked best was Annie the ghost who even though she is a ghost actually is able to interact with quite a few of the characters.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
The Challenge Factory - R4: Team Challenge SS
CCC-Read your age
Crazy Challenge Connection Monopoly
Novel Books & Reading Challenges Tower Teams III
A Million More Pages Hogwarts Challenge
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: December-January Mini Challenge
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Castle Scavenger Hunt
Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge 2014

A Season of Angels by Debbie Macomber

Wishes for love bring hope from above.
Shirley, Goodness, and Mercy—three willing but sometimes wayward angels—are each given someone's prayer to answer . . .
Shirley: She's sent to help nine-year-old Timmy Potter, who longs for a new father. And although his mother, Jody, has vowed never to trust any man, Shirley is determined to help her love again.
Goodness: She knows Monica Fischer longs for a husband and home of her own, but the young woman has practically given up on finding the right man to stand by her side . . . until Goodness steps in to help.
Mercy: Can Mercy bring hope back into Leah Lundberg's life? This maternity nurse desperately wants a child to fill up the home she's made with her husband, Andrew.
But there's just one catch: Each angel must teach her charge a memorable lesson before the prayer can be granted . . . From Goodreads.


This was okay. A cosy, easy read about 3 angels who are sent to earth to help 3 humans get their wish. Shirley, Goodness and Mercy are cute angels especially because they don't always behave as they should. Not all 3 humans who need help are interesting, I liked Monica Fisher's story best.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
CCC-Read your age
Crazy Challenge Connection Monopoly
Novel Books & Reading Challenges Tower Teams III
A Million More Pages Hogwarts Challenge
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: December-January Mini Challenge
A Million More Pages Hogwarts: Castle Scavenger Hunt
Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge 2014

Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella

The book that inspired the movie Field of Dreams.
The voice of a baseball announcer tells the Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella: "If you build it, he will come."
"He" is Shoeless Joe Jackson, Ray's hero.
"It" is a baseball stadium which Ray carves out of his cornfield.
Like the movie FIELD OF DREAMS that was made from this novel, SHOELESS JOE is about baseball. But it's also about love and the power of dreams to make people come alive…. From Goodreads.

This was okay. It was at times interesting but I think it would probably be better if you know something about baseball as the names of baseball players are all over the book and I guess all the names are the names of real baseball players.
I have never seen a game of baseball, it is a minor sport in Denmark and there are only a few teams. (I had to check the internet to see if we even had the game in Denmark at all).

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Crazy Challenge Connection - Let's Play Jeopardy!
Crazy Challenge Connection A-Z Locations - 2014
CCC-Read your age
Nothing but Reading Challenges - 50 States Challenge

Victoria Line, Central Line by Maeve Binchy

Millions of people travel on London's tube every day, yet we usually give our fellow passengers only a cursory glance. But each one of these nameless passengers has their own story to tell.
At Notting Hill, the mysterious secretary, harbouring her secrets, travels to work; at Highburyand Islington, Adam has a sudden change of heart; and at Holborn, a disastrous reunion is about to take place...
With her characteristic mix of compassionate humour and biting realism, this vintage collection of stories is Maeve Binchy at her very best. From Goodreads.

This was very good. I enjoyed most of the short stories in this book. Some of the stories I would have liked to read more about at the same time as it is quite interesting when the end is just suggesting what the future of the characters of the stories might be.

This book qualifies for:
I Love Library Books Reading Challenge 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Crazy Challenge Connection A-Z Locations - 2014
CCC-Read your age
Crazy Challenge Connection Monopoly

Who Censored Roger Rabbit? by Gary K. Wolf

“Who’d want to kill a dumb cartoon bunny?”
That’s what Eddie Valiant wants to know. He’s the toughest private eye in Los Angeles, and he’ll handle anything – if you’re human. If you’re a Toon, that’s another story.
Eddie doesn’t like Toons – those cartoon characters who live side-by-side with humans. Not the way they look, and especially not the way they talk: word-filled balloons come out of their mouths and then disintegrate, leaving dust all over his rug.
Eddie will work for a Toon if his cash supply is low enough. So he reluctantly agrees when Roger Rabbit, a Toon who plays straight man (or should that be straight rabbit) in the Baby Herman cartoon series, asks him to find out who’s been trying – unsuccessfully – to buy his contract from the DeGreasy Brothers syndicate.
Then Rocco DeGreasy is murdered – and Roger is the prime suspect! The rabbit is also, as Eddie soon discovers, very, very dead.
Who censored Roger Rabbit? And who shot Rocco DeGreasy? Was it Roger, or was it Rocco’s hot-cha-cha girlfriend, Jessica Rabbit? Why had Jessica – a pretty steamy number for a Toon – ever married a dopey bunny in the first place? And why does everybody want Roger’s battered old teakettle?
As Eddie combs L.A. from the executive suites of the DeGreasy Brothers to Sid Sleaze’s porno comic studio, he uncovers art thefts, blackmail plots….and the cagiest killer he’s ever faced.  From Goodreads.

This was okay, a bit silly but fun. I know I saw the film advertised when it came out but I don't think I ever saw it, I have now ordered the DVD from the library. 

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
2014 Monthly Motif Reading Challenge
2014 Monthly Key Word Reading Challenge
2014 Read Your Freebies! Reading Challenge
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Crazy Challenge Connection - Sub-Genre Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (V-vulture)
CCC-Read your age
Crazy Challenge Connection Monopoly
Crazy Challenge Connection Scrabble, anyone?
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon

Infernal Devices by K.W. Jeter

HE INHERITED A WATCHMAKER'S STORE - AND A WHOLE HEAP OF TROUBLE. But idle sometime-musician George has little talent for clockwork. And when a shadowy figure tries to steal an old device from the premises, George finds himself embroiled in a mystery of time travel, music and sexual intrigue. A genuine lost classic, a steampunk original whose time has come. From Goodreads.

This is a classic steampunk and the author K.W. Jeter is supposed to be the one who came up with the genre steampunk. This unfortunately doesn't mean it is a great book.
I have read other steampunk books and this book of course has all the elements of that genre being one of the originals but to me it was boring.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
Read Scotland 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Crazy Challenge Connection: 1000 Member Celebration!
Nothing but Reading Challenges Wheel-A-Thon
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Crazy Challenge Connection - Sub-Genre Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (I-umbrellabird)
CCC-Read your age
Crazy Challenge Connection Monopoly
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon

A Croft in the Hills by Katharine Stewart

A real classic among Highland books, A Croft in the Hills captures, in simple, moving descriptions, what it was really like trying to make a living out of a hill croft fifty years ago. A couple and their young daughter, fresh from city life, immerse themselves in the practicalities of looking after sheep, cattle and hens, mending fences, baking bread and surviving the worst that Scottish winters can throw at them. From Goodreads.

I have been looking at this book for a while. This book was quite interesting as I have visited a few crofts in Scotland over the years, mostly uninhabited. This book takes place in the 1950's and shows that even that many years ago it was very difficult to live of a small plot of land. I am full of admiration for the hard work they had to put into it. Katharine Stewart has written more books from the Inverness and Highland area and I might try to get hold of them.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
Read Scotland 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
CCC-Read your age
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon
Nothing but Reading Challenges Wheel-A-Thon
High Summer Read-a-Thon 2014

It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet by James Herriot

How on earth did James Herriot come to be sitting on a high Yorkshire moor, smelling vaguely of cows? James isn't sure, but he knows that he loves it. This second hilarious volume of memoirs contains more tales of James' unpredictable boss Siegfried Farnon, his charming student brother Tristan, animal mayhem galore and his first encounters with a beautiful girl called Helen. 'He can tell a good story against himself, and his pleasure in the beauty of the countryside in which he works is infectious' - "Daily Telegraph". 'Full of warmth, wisdom and wit' - "The Field". 'It is a pleasure to be in James Herriot's company' - "Observer". From Goodreads.

This is a very humorous book. I remember watching All Creatures Great and Small - the TV-series adapted from the books James Herriot ( pen name for James Alfred Wight).
It was very clearly not an easy job but the stories he tells make it seem worth all the trouble.
I thoroughly enjoyed it and might read more in this series at a later date.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
Read Scotland 2014
2014 Full House Reading Challenge
2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
The Challenge Factory Spell It Out - Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Romance Readers Reading Challenges: Yahtzee Challenge
Crazy Challenge Connection - Let's Build a House
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Setting Alphabet Reading Challenge
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (I-quail)
CCC-Read your age
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon
Crazy Challenge Connection 2014 RaT #5

Dragon's Kin by Anne McCaffrey and Todd J. McCaffrey

Young Kindan has no expectations other than joining his father in the mines of Camp Natalon, a coal mining settlement struggling to turn a profit far from the great Holds where the presence of dragons and their riders means safety and civilization. Mining is fraught with danger. Fortunately, the camp has a watch-wher, a creature distantly related to dragons and uniquely suited to specialized work in the dark, cold mineshafts. Kindan’s father is the watch-wher’s handler, and his son sometimes helps him out. But even that important job promises no opportunity outside the mine.
Then disaster strikes. In one terrible instant, Kindan loses his family and the camp loses its watch-wher. Fathers are replaced by sons in the mine–except for Kindan, who is taken in by the camp’s new Harper. Grieving, Kindan finds a measure of solace in a burgeoning musical talent . . . and in a new friendship with Nuella, a mysterious girl no one seems to know exists. It is Nuella who assists Kindan when he is selected to hatch and train a new watch-wher, a job that forces him to give up his dream of becoming a Harper; and it is Nuella who helps him give new meaning to his life.
Meanwhile, sparked by the tragedy, long-simmering tensions are dividing the camp. Far below the surface, a group of resentful miners hides a deadly secret. As warring factions threaten to explode, Nuella and Kindan begin to discover unknown talents in the misunderstood watch-wher–talents that could very well save an entire Hold. During their time teaching the watch-wher, the two learn some things themselves: that even a seemingly impossible dream is never completely out of reach . . . and that light can be found even in darkness.

This is the first book in the Pern series that has not been solely written by Ann McCaffrey, Her son Todd has been part of it.
I really liked this book that is more about the watch-whers than about dragons. I also liked the twist the main characters close to the end.
I have already ordered the next book Dragonsblood from the library.

This book qualifies for:
I Love Library Books Reading Challenge 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Sequel Spring Reading Challenge
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014 
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (A-polarbear)
CCC-Read your age
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon

From a Whisper to a Scream by Charles de Lint

In the early 1990s, Charles de Lint wrote and published three dark fantasies under the name "Samuel M. Key." Orb is now reissuing them under de Lint's own name, beginning with 2002's Angel of Darkness. In From a Whisper to a Scream (1992), years after the death of a notorious child murderer, children begin dying again, and a crime photographer begins to suspect he has the one true clue that connects the events.
"The [Newford] books have all been written in such a way that you should be able to pick up any one and get a full and complete story. However, characters do reoccur, off center stage as it were, and their stories do follow a sequence." From Goodreads.

This is the third book in the Newford series but it is nothing like the others. There is always a dark element in the books fighting the evil from the spiritworld but this is more about the evil in human nature and that makes it a lot scarier.
This is a very dark disturbing book. It contains paedophilia, violence and several kinds of abuse.
We follow at least 3 lots of people and they all end up together in the end, fighting the horrific ghost that is killing young women.
It ends as well or better than expected.
I have some time ago decided to read all of the Newford series but I think I need to wait a bit with the next book as that is also supposed to be rather scary.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Crazy Challenge Connection Chinese New Year Challenge
Sequel Spring Reading Challenge
The Challenge Factory - R2: Team Challenge SS?
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (L-impala)
CCC-Read your age
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

The Appalachian Trail trail stretches from Georgia to Maine and covers some of the most breathtaking terrain in America–majestic mountains, silent forests, sparking lakes. If you’re going to take a hike, it’s probably the place to go. And Bill Bryson is surely the most entertaing guide you’ll find. He introduces us to the history and ecology of the trail and to some of the other hardy (or just foolhardy) folks he meets along the way–and a couple of bears. Already a classic, A Walk in the Woods will make you long for the great outdoors (or at least a comfortable chair to sit and read in). From Goodreads.

I liked this book although I have read it before, many years ago. I enjoyed Bill Bryson's talk of buying the gear as I know it can be quite scary to buy new gear. Though his stories about the people he met on the trail were humorous they were also a bit belittling and I don't remember him approving of anybody he met, even though he himself was very ill prepared for hiking the trail.
Still I am impressed by how much both he and Stephen Katz managed to hike.
What I especially liked was the description of the areas he walked through. I could almost close my eyes and see it.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Full House Reading Challenge
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - UnCover It
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014 
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (B-umbrellabird)
CCC-Read your age
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon

Alien Stars by C.J. Cherryh, Joe Haldeman, Timothy Zahn

Three great authors, three alien dooms.
Cherryh: In Downbelow Station earthmen and colonists fought to the death. Now Earth and Union must join forces against an enemy that could not surrender.
Haldeman: One moment they are lords of Creation - the next Joe Haldeman's humans are the helpless prey of unexpected enemies.
Zahn: Timothy Zahn's aliens were obviously primitive - so why were their weapons far beyond any invented by man? From backcover.

Three very different science fiction short stories about war.
The two first stories were okay and had some surprises in them but I didn't like the last very much.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Quick fix Challenge (254 pages)
Eclectic Reader Challenge 2014
2014 Monthly Motif Reading Challenge
2014 Monthly Key Word Reading Challenge
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (A-leopard)
CCC-Read your age (published 1985)
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon

Night Broken by Patricia Briggs

An unexpected phone call heralds a new challenge for Mercy. Her mate Adam’s ex-wife is in trouble, on the run from her new boyfriend. Adam isn’t the kind of man to turn away a person in need—and Mercy knows it. But with Christy holed up in Adam’s house, Mercy can’t shake the feeling that something about the situation isn’t right.
Soon, her suspicions are confirmed when she learns that Christy has the farthest thing from good intentions. She wants Adam back and she’s willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen, including turning Adam’s pack against Mercy.
Mercy isn’t about to step down without a fight, but there’s a more dangerous threat circling. Christy’s ex is more than a bad man—in fact, he may not be human at all. As the bodies start piling up, Mercy must put her personal troubles aside to face a creature with the power to tear her whole world apart. From Goodreads.



It was good to be back with Mercy and the werewolves. Christy, Adam's ex-wife is back and a huge problem for Mercy as she is good at manipulating people. They also have to fight an unknown supernatural and Mercy's "dad" turns up which always makes things more complicated. This is book 8 in the series and I hope Patricia Briggs will keep going.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
2014 Full House Reading Challenge (published 2014)
Eclectic Reader Challenge 2014 (published 2014)
Shifter Challenge 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Romance Readers Reading Challenges: Pass The Parcel Team Challenge
Romance Readers Reading Challenges: Yahtzee Challenge
Crazy Challenge Connection Chinese New Year Challenge (#8)
Sequel Spring Reading Challenge
Nothing but Reading Challenges - April Showers (Adam)
Paranormal Addicts & Newbies - Paranormal Creatures Seasonal Challenge
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (P-impala)
CCC-Read your age (2014)
Nothing but Reading Challenges - 50 States Challenge (Washington)
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon