Season of the Witch October 2012 Finished Post

Season of the Witch October 2012 has finished.

My goal for this month was to read at least 10 books with some kind of magic in them. Well I reached my goal as I read the 10 books. I like witchy books a lot so this was a fun challenge to do.

The books were:

1. Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher 
2. Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson
3. Forgiven by Jana Oliver 
4. White Night by Jim Butcher 
5. A Modern Witch by Debora Geary 
6. A Hidden Witch by Debora Geary   
7. The Witchlings Midnight Curse by Amanda Turner    
8. A Reckless Witch by Debora Geary
9. Small Favor by Jim Butcher
10. Lonely Souls by Karice Bolton

Lonely Souls by Karice Bolton

It’s two weeks before Triss turns 18, and her world is about to change into the most magical one imaginable as she readies herself to enter The Witch Avenue Order... that is until her mother’s disappearance. Instead of celebrating her transformation, she finds herself spreading rose petals into her mother’s empty grave.
When Logan, her best friend from junior high, moves back to town for college, he vows to help her find the answers she so desperately seeks surrounding her mother’s disappearance. As they begin uncovering clues, it becomes apparent that the life of white magic they both grew up loving is not what the majority practices, and their lives are in danger.
With a haunting feeling that her mother may still be alive, she begins to hear a call to the wilderness. Triss realizes that in order to find the answers she needs, she must learn the ways of her ancestors and become the hunter, not the hunted before it’s too late, and she becomes part of the lonely souls. From Goodreads

A girl about to turn 18 loses her mum, not necessarily dead, but she disappears. Most of her coven friends turn out not to be as friendly or helpful as she has thought all her life. An interesting twist with a lot of dark, evil magic and of course there is romance in it as well. I liked it enough that, after finishing it, I bought the second book in the series.

This book qualifies for: 
100 books in a year Reading Challenge 2012, 
Goodreads 2012 Reading Challenge, 
2012 Ebook Challenge,
A-Z  Book Challenge 2012,
Season of the Witch October 2012,
2012 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge

Small Favor by Jim Butcher

Gumshoe wizard Harry Dresden has had one quiet -- make that dull -- year. For 12 whole months, nobody has tried to kill him. Just as he's settling into these doldrums, Mab, the monarch of the Winter Court of the Sidhe, calls him in for a small favor. (Favors, it seems, are the main currency of Dresden's universe.) What begins as a tip of the hat quickly escalates into deadly matters that pit Harry against two deadly foes. Supernatural crime noir. From Goodreads.

Book 10 in the Dresden Series. I really like these books, they are full of humour and a lot of fighting bad guys. And then again the bad guys aren't always the ones you think they are or at least not all bad guys are equally bad. I also like that he has Molly his apprentice who has a very different kind of magic to Dresden. I wish there had been more than one season of the television series.

This book qualifies for: 
100 books in a year Reading Challenge 2012, 
Goodreads 2012 Reading Challenge, 
2012 Ebook Challenge,
A-Z  Book Challenge 2012,
Season of the Witch October 2012,
2012 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge,
22 on 22 Read-a-Thon  
Finishing the Series Reading Challenge

A Reckless Witch by Debora Geary (+ A Witch Central Wedding)

With great power comes great responsibility. So says the tradition of witching. One teenage witch missed that lesson…
As a child, Sierra Brighton traveled the world. She swam with the baby whales, danced in storm funnels, and lived in complete magical freedom. And then Momma died and Sierra ended up in foster care, an unhappy and very secret witch.
Fetched by Nell's spell, she'll no longer need to do magic on lonely beaches - but can Sierra learn to use her power safely? Or will her reckless blood put Witch Central at risk? From Goodreads

I am enjoying this "A Modern Witch" series by Debora Geary a lot at the moment. I have only one left to read now and it won't be long.  This one is about Sierra, a teenager who hasn't learnt to do magic in the same safe way as they are taught at witch central. Here they are afraid she is like her mother and that she is not interested in doing magic safely.
There is of course also a romance going on with two of the other characters.
If you want to read something cute, funny and with a bit of romance mixed with witches and magic, this is a series to read.

It's a Witch Central wedding - and you're invited :).
This is a short read, about the length of two chapters in my series books. Not a short story, really - more like a snapshot. The chance to share in an important moment in the lives of your favorite witches.
This should be read between A Reckless Witch and A Nomadic Witch. Enjoy the wedding! From Goodreads.

I have added this short story to this post as the story is only 32 pages and is a continuation of the romance in A Reckless Witch. It is a cute and funny little story about a wedding in the family.
 
This book qualifies for: 
100 books in a year Reading Challenge 2012, 
Goodreads 2012 Reading Challenge, 
2012 Ebook Challenge,
A-Z  Book Challenge 2012,
Season of the Witch October 2012,
2012 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge,
22 on 22 Read-a-Thon

The Witchlings Midnight Curse by Amanda Turner

Roxanne didn't know what to expect when she started her new school. However, what she didn't expect was a new boyfriend. Luke was gorgeous but came with baggage, otherwise known as the Elites. Why did they worry her so much ? She was soon to discover that the Elites were a secret coven of witches. Roxanne is thrown into a world full of mystery, spells and best of all love. But love comes at a price. Can Roxanne overcome the Elites, a curse and worst of all the witch finders to find true happiness. From Goodreads.

In the beginning of the book a 16 year old girl starts a new school. There is a group that stands out and when she sees them the first time she can't look away.
Sound familiar?
Luckily this is about witches not vampires and it does get better. It was okay and I might buy the sequel at some point.

This book qualifies for: 
100 books in a year Reading Challenge 2012, 
Goodreads 2012 Reading Challenge, 
2012 Ebook Challenge,
A-Z  Book Challenge 2012,
Season of the Witch October 2012,
2012 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge,
22 on 22 Read-a-Thon

A Hidden Witch by Debora Geary

Elorie Shaw, steeped in the traditions of the Nova Scotia witching community, but not a witch. The fetching spell must have goofed this time… or did it?
Travel to Fisher’s Cove, Nova Scotia, where Moira is matriarch and the old ways are nurtured and passed to the next generation. Where a crotchety old witch makes small children cry and builds walls around the silent pain in his heart. And where Elorie - sea-glass artist, inn owner, and Moira’s granddaughter - makes her home.
The old magics are strong here. Which is all fine and good until the fetching spell pulls Elorie into Witches’ Chat. 
 Because she’s not a witch. Or at least not any kind of witch the old ways recognize… From Goodreads. 





Okay, I am now totally hooked. I only meant to read a couple of chapters last night when I went to bed but I ended up reading this book in one sitting and didn't finish till 5am this morning. I enjoyed it and was both giggling and had wet eyes during this book. I will definitely continue this series and also look into Debora Geary's other books.

This book qualifies for: 
100 books in a year Reading Challenge 2012, 
Goodreads 2012 Reading Challenge, 
2012 Ebook Challenge,
A-Z  Book Challenge 2012,
Season of the Witch October 2012,
2012 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge

A Modern Witch by Debora Geary

Can you live 28 years without discovering you're a witch? — Lauren is downtown Chicago's youngest elite realtor. She's also a witch. She must be - the fetching spell for Witches' Chat isn't supposed to make mistakes. So says the woman who coded the spell, at least. — The tall, dark, and handsome guy sent to assess her is a witch too (and no, that doesn't end the way you might think). What he finds in Lauren will change lives, mess with a perfectly good career, and require lots of ice cream therapy. From Goodreads.

I had heard of this series a long time ago and actually bought all four books back in August but I haven't gotten around to reading them. I am just now doing Season of the Witch Reading Challenge and that was a good reason to try the series out.
I was pleasantly surprise. It was a cosy, humoristic, easy read and I am ready to read the next books right away.

This book qualifies for: 
100 books in a year Reading Challenge 2012, 
Goodreads 2012 Reading Challenge, 
2012 Ebook Challenge,
A-Z  Book Challenge 2012,
Season of the Witch October 2012,
2012 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge,

White Night by Jim Butcher

Someone is targeting the city’s magic practitioners, the members of the supernatural underclass who don’t possess enough power to become full-fledged wizards. Many have vanished. Others appear to be victims of suicide. But the murderer has left a calling card at one of the crime scenes–a message for Harry Dresden, referencing the book of Exodus and the killing of witches.
Harry sets out to find the killer before he can strike again, but his investigation turns up evidence pointing to the one suspect he cannot possibly believe guilty: his half brother, Thomas. Determined to bring the real murderer to justice and clear his brother’s name, Harry attracts the attention of the White Court of vampires, becoming embroiled in a power struggle that renders him outnumbered, outclassed, and dangerously susceptible to temptation.
Harry knows that if he screws this one up, a lot of people will die–and one of them will be his brother. From Goodreads


The witches are being killed and again it is Harry's job to find out who is doing it. This is a book filled with deceit, manipulation and secrets. Harry of course solves it all in the end.

This book qualifies for: 
100 books in a year Reading Challenge 2012, 
Goodreads 2012 Reading Challenge, 
2012 Ebook Challenge,
A-Z  Book Challenge 2012,
Season of the Witch October 2012,
2012 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge,
Finishing the Series Reading Challenge,
Dewey's Read-a-Thon October 2012  

Forgiven by Jana Oliver

The days are growing darker for 17-year-old demon trapper Riley Blackthorne. With her father’s reanimated body back safely, Beck barely speaking to her because of her tryst with a hunky fallen angel and a deal freshly made with Lucifer, she has enough on her hands to last a normal teenage lifetime. Though she bargained with Heaven to save his life, her ex-boyfriend Simon has told the Vatican’s elite team of demon hunters that she’s working with Hell. So now she’s on the run, at the top of everyone’s most-wanted list.
But it’s becoming clear that this is bigger than either Riley or Beck, and rapidly getting out of control. Someone's tampering with Atlanta's Holy Water, and it’s on Riley to figure out who. On top of that, there’s something wrong with the demons; they’re working together—and refusing to die. The trappers and hunters are doing their best, but civilians are falling in harm’s way.
Caught between her bargain with Heaven and her promise to Lucifer, Riley fears the final war is coming—and it may be closer than anyone thinks.. From Goodreads

I read the first 2 books in this series in Dewey's Read-a-Thon October 2011 and I thought it fitting to continue this year. I was afraid it wasn't easy to get back to the story as it was a year ago I read the last but no problem, I got sucked into the book right away. This is a brilliant continuation of the series and I am interested in seeing where the author is going with this. I will read the the next book within the next few months.

This book qualifies for: 
100 books in a year Reading Challenge 2012, 
Goodreads 2012 Reading Challenge, 
2012 Ebook Challenge,
A-Z  Book Challenge 2012,
Season of the Witch October 2012,
2012 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge,
Finishing the Series Reading Challeng,
Scavenger Hunt 2012 Reading Challenge,
Dewey's Read-a-Thon October 2012  

Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

Warbreaker is the story of two sisters, who happen to be princesses, the God King one of them has to marry, the lesser god who doesn’t like his job, and the immortal who’s still trying to undo the mistakes he made hundreds of years ago.
Their world is one in which those who die in glory return as gods to live confined to a pantheon in Hallandren’s capital city and where a power known as BioChromatic magic is based on an essence known as breath that can only be collected one unit at a time from individual people.
By using breath and drawing upon the color in everyday objects, all manner of miracles and mischief can be accomplished. It will take considerable quantities of each to resolve all the challenges facing Vivenna and Siri, princesses of Idris; Susebron the God King; Lightsong, reluctant god of bravery, and mysterious Vasher, the Warbreaker. From Goodreads.



Why did I read this book? well, because my husband has been pestering me for weeks to read it! I do trust him to know which books I like and value his opinions on books and once again he was right.
This book was brilliant! I love the way their magic is obtained and can be used. Nobody is what they seem and everything changes all the time. Who is friend and who is foe? We don't find out to the final chapters. Who is good and who is evil? well, there is quite a grey area there. Read the book and find out. I  recommend this book to anyone that likes anything to do with magic. This was the first Brandon Sanderson book I have read, it will not be the last.

This book qualifies for: 
100 books in a year Reading Challenge 2012, 
Goodreads 2012 Reading Challenge, 
2012 Ebook Challenge,
A-Z  Book Challenge 2012,
Season of the Witch October 2012,
2012 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge,

Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher

Harry Dresden is the only wizard in the Chicago phone book. He consults from the police department on those so-called "unusual" cases. He's even been on talk shows. So there's no love lost between Harry and the White Council of Wizards, who find him a little brash and undisciplined. But now war with the vampires has thinned the ranks of wizards, and the White Council needs Harry, like it or not. He's drafted as a Warden, and assigned to look into rumors of black magic in the Windy City.
And if that wasn't enough, another problem arrives in the form of the tattooed and pierced daughter of an old friend, all grown-up and already in trouble. Her boyfriend was the only one in a room where an old man was attacked, but in spite of this, he insists he didn't do it. What looks like a supernatural assault straight out of a horror film turns out to be...well, something quite close to that, as Harry discovers that malevolent entities that feed on fear are loose in Chicago. All in a day's work for a wizard, his faithful dog, and a talking skull named Bob... from Goodreads.


I guess it by now is clear that I really like the Harry Dresden series. This book adds a new character or rather upgrades an earlier mentioned girl to a more important character. I am looking forward to see where that is going to go in the next book. There is a lot more going on in these books as Harry has to be the warden he doesn't want to be because of the ongoing war with the red vampires, working for the police, trying to rescue the daughter of a friend and as part of that again has to take on the winter fairies. This book was very entertaining and though it didn't quite make it up to 5 Polar Bears, I would have given it an extra Polar Bear cub if I used them.

This book qualifies for: 
100 books in a year Reading Challenge 2012, 
Goodreads 2012 Reading Challenge, 
2012 Ebook Challenge,
A-Z  Book Challenge 2012,
FrightFall Read-a-Thon October 1 - 7 2012,
Season of the Witch October 2012,
2012 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge,
Finishing the Series Reading Challenge 

Season of the Witch October 2012 Start Up Post

"My first annual month long October event, Season of the Witch! I hope you will join me for some scary fun this Halloween season."

Another reading challenge to help me get back to my reading.

A short list of books I might read this month that have witches, wizards and other kind of magic.

1. Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson
2. Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness
3. Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
4. Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher
5. White Night by Jim Butcher
6. Small Favor by Jim Butcher
7. Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

My goal for this challenge is to read a least 10 books this month that has some kind of magic in them.

Season of the Witch October 2012

Michelle from The True Book Addict has two Reading Challenges in October, this is the second one.

"My first annual month long October event, Season of the Witch! I hope you will join me for some scary fun this Halloween season."

I am definitely joining this Reading Challenge as well and I know I still have some witch and wizard books in my TBR pile.

Again my list of books and my goal for this challenge will be published in a start-up post Monday.