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

The Challenge Factory - June 2014 Dusty Book Challenge

June 2014 Dusty Book Challenge hosted by The Challenge Factory on Goodreads.

JUNE 2014 Dusty Book Challenge

Please post your shelves but add NO COMMENTS in this thread please. After I post the pair, it will add a link to the shelf, and then you can add discussion comments.

How It Will Work:
1) Please only post no more than 10 books that you would like to read this month.
*I would say minimum 4 books.

2) An assigned person will pick TWO books from your posted shelf.

3) You have one month: June to try to read one of the chosen books. You can read both if you would like (*if you don't read your book this month, it's okay because this challenge is for YOUR ENJOYMENT)

4) Please try to select for your pair ASAP as we all get excited and waiting is torture to some.

TIMELINE
May 19 -22, 2014: Participants will Post their shelves
*If you do not list a shelf, I will not pair you with anyone
**Cutoff on May 22: 12noon CST

May 22-28: Pairs will be posted & then Selection of TWO BOOKS for your pair
*Again, as I said earlier, please try to select for your pair ASAP.

May 29: Re-picks

I have joined this challenge as it is just about reading 1 book for the month of June and I think I should be able to do that.  

We all had to choose 10 books, of these another person would pick 2 and we have to read one of these.

My 10 books were:

1. The Mad Ship by Robin Hobb
2. Moon Spell by Samantha Young
3. The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson
4. Scent of Magic by Maria V. Snyder
5. The Alchemyst by Michael Scott
6. The Keepers by Donna Augustine
7. Run by Patti Larsen
8. It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet by James Herriot 
9. Omens by Kelley Armstrong
10. All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy

Sheila chose two books for me:

1. The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson
2. The Keepers by Donna Augustine

Nothing but Reading Challenges - April Showers Bring May Flowers Finished

April Showers Bring May Flowers hosted by Nothing but Reading Challenges on Goodreads.

I have now finished this challenge and spelled the flower Daffodil.

For this challenge I thought I'd throw a little educational information into the mix.

If you've read historical novels of the Victorian-era there is a good chance you've come across a book where flowers were used to symbolize how an individual felt about another. The language of flowers, sometimes called floriography, was a means of communication in which various flowers, colors, and even the way the arrangement was worn or presented held secret meaning, allowing individuals to express heartfelt emotions and feelings which otherwise might have gone unspoken. The nuances of the language are now mostly forgotten and tend to vary by source.

For this challenge you may read:

Option 1 - a combination of books that spell out a type of flower: can use 1st letter of title (or of the next word if a, the, an, etc are first word), 1st letter of a character's name who is in the book, or the first letter of the author's first or last name
Option 2 - a combination of books that mention flowers in them
Option 3 - a combination of books that use floriology in the book
Option 4 - a combination of books that have characters with floral names
Option 5 - a combination of books that mention a flower in the title
Option 6 - a combination of books that have covers that are the color of your favorite flower
Option 7 - any combination of the above

This challenge starts April 1st and goes through May 31st.

Levels:
Easy - 3 to 4 books.
Moderate - 5 - 7 books.
Difficult - Read 8+ books.

The following list was gotten from iflorist ( http://www.iflorist.com/t-meaning.aspx ). It was my favorite from all I could find:

My posts for this challenge.

List of books: 

1. D: Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews (Dina, Main character)
2. A: Night Broken by Patricia Briggs (Adam, Mercy's mate)
3. F: Pieces of Eight by Melissa Wright (Frey, Main character)
4. F: The Breeders by Katie French
5. O: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
6. D: The Demigod Diaries by Rick Riordan
7. I: White Witch, Black Curse by Kim Harrison (Ivy, Rachel's room-mate)
8. L: Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch (Lesley, Peter's fellow apprentice)

2014 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge - Finished

2014 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge hosted by Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf.

Challenge Rules:

• This challenge will run from Jan 1, 2014 – Dec 31, 2014. I will be posting a place to link up a sign-up post (below), reviews and a wrap-up post. (Note: You do not have to review the books to participate, but only those who link up reviews will be entered for the prize)
• Grab the reading challenge button (code & button below) and post this reading challenge on your blog to track your progress. Please include a link back to this sign-up post so others can join the reading challenge too. You do not have to be a book blogger to participate- you could track your progress and post reviews on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, etc.
• Any full length book that includes a witch as a main character or includes major witchcraft elements counts. They may be fiction or non-fiction. However, they should not be reference books which are not read cover to cover-I will leave this to your discretion.
• Books can be any format (bound, eBook, audio).
• Re-reads and crossovers from other reading challenges are allowed.
• You can list your books in advance or just put them in a wrap-up post. If you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you.
• When you sign up in the linky put the direct link to your post about joining the 2014 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge, not just a link to your blog.
• You can move up levels, but no moving down.
• Sign-ups will be open until Dec 15, 2014, so feel free to join at any time throughout the year.
• Have some Witchy Good Fun !!!

The Levels:
Initiate: Read 1 – 5 Witchy Books
Maiden: Read 6 – 10 Witchy Books
Mother: Read 11 – 15 Witchy Books
Crone: Read 16 – 20 Witchy Books
The Prize:
Witchy book of choice up to $10 from The Book Depository!
Participants who have officially signed up by linking up a sign-up post declaring their level will be given one entry for every review they link up. The more reviews you write and link up, the more entries in the contest! Link up your reviews on that month’s Review Link Up Post. Winner will be chosen on Jan 11th 2015 to give everyone a chance to link up their end of year reviews. All Challenge Posts can be accessed from my menu bar under my header!

I have now reached 22 books and finished this challenge. I will most likely end up reading a lot more witchy books but I have completed the challenge.
Thank you to Melissa for hosting this challenge, it is still one of my favourite ones.

All posts for this challenge are HERE.

List of books:

1. An Unlikely Witch by Debora Geary 
2. Saltwater Witch by Chris Howard
3. The Good, the Bad, and the Undead by Kim Harrison
4. Every Which Way But Dead by Kim Harrison
5. A Fistful of Charms by Kim Harrison
6. Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch 
7. Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness 
8. WitchHunt by Emma Mills 
9. For a Few Demons More by Kim Harrison 
10. The Outlaw Demon Wails by Kim Harrison
11. Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch  
12. Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews 
13. Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch 
14. White Witch, Black Curse by Kim Harrison
15. Baehrly Breathing by Elizabeth A. Reeves
16. Baehrly Bitten by Elizabeth A. Reeves
17. Baehrly Alive by Elizabeth A. Reeves
18. How (Not) to Kiss a Were Bear by Elizabeth A. Reeves
19. Black Magic Sanction by Kim Harrison
20. Pale Demon by Kim Harrison 
21. Pieces of Eight by Melissa Wright
22. A Perfect Blood by Kim Harrison

The Breeders by Katie French

Sixteen-year-old Riley Meemick is one of the world's last free girls. When Riley was born, her mother escaped the Breeders, the group of doctors using cruel experiments to bolster the dwindling human race. Her parents do everything possible to keep her from their clutches-moving from one desolate farm after another to escape the Breeders' long reach. The Breeders control everything and they're hunting Riley.
When the local Sheriff abducts the adult members of her family, Riley and her brother Ethan are left to starve. Then Clay arrives, the handsome gunslinger who seems determined to help to make up for past sins. As Riley's affection for Clay grows she wonders can she trust Clay with her secret and risk her freedom? The three embark on a journey across the scarred remains of New Mexico. When Riley is forced into the Breeder's hospital, she learns the horrible fate of her mother-a fate she'll share unless she can find a way out. From Goodreads.


A dystopian world where hardly any women are born. Sixteen-year-old Riley Meemick has to pretend to be a bender, a genderless person, to avoid being caught by the Breeders. After her stepfather is killed and her mother has been sold to the Breeders, Riley with her 8 year old brother goes looking for her. She gets help from Clay who believes she is a bender.
This was a free book but it is good enough that I am considering buying the next book in the series.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
Jumble Your Genres Reading Challenge 2014 (dystopian)
2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge
2014 Read Your Freebies! Reading Challenge
CCC A-Z Authors 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - April Showers
The Challenge Factory - R2: Team Challenge SS?
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (R-narwhal)
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon

Nothing but Reading Challenges - UnCover It! - Team Challenge

 UnCover It! - Team Challenge hosted by Nothing but Reading Challenges on Goodreads.

UNCOVER IT - A NBRC Team Challenge

Duration: Six weeks, starting May 16th - June 27th, 2014

Sign-Ups: Close May 12th, 2014. Thread is here.

As a player, you need to read at least a book a week. (Books read for this challenge need to be 160 pages or greater in length.)

The Basics:
• Each team is assigned a book to be “uncovered.” NOTE: You are NOT expected to read this book.
• Each week the teams ask a randomly selected team (their “opposing team”) one question OR they take a guess as to the identity of the other team’s book.
• Points are assigned each week based on choices made and books read (further explanation below).
• The “opposing team” changes each week (selected randomly).
• Winner is the team at the end of the 6 weeks that has the most points.

Books to be Uncovered.

Start of Challenge:
• Members are assigned to teams (probably 5-7 people per team including captain).
• Mods randomly assign the “uncover” book to each team.

Weekly:
• Mods will randomly determine for each team their “opposing team” for the week.
• Each team must select a genre they would give to the opposing team for a wrong guess (from the genre list used in Books Buffs’ Battleship*; each genre may only be used once by any team selecting throughout the challenge).
• Teams must ask a question of their opposing team for the week in a specified time period.
• NO SPOILER QUESTIONS (e.g. “Does the heroine die at the end?”). Please, no “open-ended” questions, only yes/no questions. In addition, you may NOT ask when it was BOM.
• Since all books have been past NBRC BOMs, there are discussion questions available for inspiration.

I saw this challenge and then forgot all about it. I was lucky enough that I was still allowed to join even though I was one day late in signing up.
This is all about asking the other teams questions about their book. If we get a no to our question we will be allocated a genre our team has to read, if we get a yes answer we decide the genre our selves.
The genres are the same as used for Book Buffs’ Battleship challenge.  In order for the book to be accepted it either have to have been tagged as the genre by more than 10 on Goodreads or the moderator for the challenge has to approve it.

Week 1: No  = History ➜ I read A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
Week 2: Yes = Fantasy ➜ I read Along Came A Demon by Linda Welch (which was banked)
Week 3: special = Young Adult  ➜ I read Prince of Hazel and Oak by John Lenahan
Week 4: Yes = Fantasy ➜ I read A Place Beyond The Map by Samuel Thews (which was banked)
Week 5: Yes =Thriller ➜ I read Wild Justice by Kelley Armstrong
Week 5: Extra ➜ I read Ever After by Kim Harrison (which was banked)
Week 6: No = Non Fiction ➜ I read Drifting Home by Pierre Berton
Week 6: Extra  ➜ I read The Keepers by Donna Augustine (for New Adult)

A Perfect Blood by Kim Harrison

Ritually murdered corpses are appearing across Cincinnati, terrifying amalgams of human and other. Pulled in to help investigate by the I.S. and FIB, former witch turned day-walking demon Rachel Morgan soon realizes a horrifying truth: a human hate group is trying to create its own demons to destroy all Inderlanders, and to do so, it needs her blood.
She's faced vampires, witches, werewolves, demons, and more, but humanity itself might be her toughest challenge yet. From Goodreads.

I am still enjoying this "The Hollows" series which has now reached number 10. In this book Rachel finally accepts her demon part.There are lots of different groups in this. I.S. the paranormal police, FIB the human police, HAPA a human group who wants to kill all paranormal beings and then a new group without a name. I think we will meet HAPA and the new group again in the next books.
Still interesting and a lot going on.

This book qualifies for:
I Love Library Books Reading Challenge 2014
2014 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Crazy Challenge Connection Chinese New Year Challenge
Sequel Spring Reading Challenge
Paranormal Addicts & Newbies - Paranormal Creatures Seasonal Challenge
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (P-leopard)
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon

A Gift of Dragons by Anne McCaffrey

For more than thirty years, Pern has conjured visions of brave men and women mounted upon the backs of dragons. As anyone knows who has been touched by the storytelling magic of Anne McCaffrey, to read of the exotic world of Pern is to inhabit it—and to experience its extraordinary dragons is to soar aloft with them and share their dazzling adventures.
Now, A Gift of Dragons brings together three beloved stories and a thrilling new tale of Pern in a single volume illustrated with beautiful artwork by Tom Kidd. In “The Smallest Dragonboy,” Keevan is the youngest dragonrider candidate, determined to impress a dragon when the next clutch of eggs hatches. But what transpires will surprise everyone—Keevan most of all. In “The Girl Who Heard Dragons,” a young girl’s rare ability to communicate with dragons puts her family in danger and will bring her face to face with her greatest fears—and with her most secret desire. The “Runner of Pern” is a girl named Tenna, who follows family tradition by delivering messages—and who will find her destiny on the mossy traces that runners have used for centuries under the dragon-filled sky. And finally, a very special gift: an exciting new Pern adventure, published here for the first time, fresh from the imagination of Anne McCaffrey. From Goodreads.

I really enjoyed being back on Pern. This contains four stories but I like "The Girl Who Heard Dragons" and “Runner of Pern” best. They also very clearly show what I dislike about short stories namely that I would have liked to have read full length novels about both of these characters. I have read just about all the Pern books that Anne McCaffrey has writtten and I have now decided I will try both the ones she has co-written with her son Todd and the ones he has written himself.
I have just ordered Dragon's Kin from the library.

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
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (A-narwhal)
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon

Pieces of Eight by Melissa Wright

After revealing a dark past, Frey is forced to join with a group of strangers whose pasts seem to intertwine with her own. She struggles to regain her memories, her full power, only to find there is more danger on the other side. And now, there is no turning back. From Goodreads

As it is about 9 months since I read the first book, it took me a bit of time to get all the characters sorted.
Frey was bound which meant she had no memory of her previous life or her powers. During this book she slowly regains both. It becomes obvious that her previous self was a complete different person to the one she is now and I am looking forward to see how she copes with that in the next book.
Frey and her companions have to kill the council members that bound her in order to free her memories and powers.
She has some very loyal friends. But as she now starts to remember things again, and remember her friends together with her enemies, she is unsure of their loyalty. They can't tell her too much as her brain can't cope and she keeps fainting when it gets too much.
I am glad I finally got round to reading this sequel.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
2014 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge
2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge
CCC A-Z Authors 2014
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Sequel Spring Reading Challenge
Nothing but Reading Challenges - April Showers
The Challenge Factory - R2: Team Challenge SS?
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (F-jellyfish)
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon

Spring into Horror Read-a-Thon 2014 - Finished

Spring into Horror Read-a-Thon 2014 hosted by Michelle @ the true book addict.

As I predicted in the midweek update I did not reach 5 books for this challenge. I read 3 books and that is still okay. I finished: Death on the Aegean Queen by Maria Hudgins (mystery), Boneland by Alan Garner and The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman  (horror)

I knew I wasn't going to read much over the weekend as I had to go to Copenhagen to see off some friends.

Lars and Suzi with their 2 children Tiuri (7 years old) and Liva (5 years old) are going to sail from Copenhagen in Denmark to Istanbul in Turkey in two Hobie kayaks. They have set aside 14 months for the project as they can't sail that far every day if the children have to enjoy the trip too.
Follow their trip on their website: Life is GOOD follow us. and also on Facebook.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE is a fable that reshapes modern fantasy: moving, terrifying and elegiac - as pure as a dream, as delicate as a butterfly's wing, as dangerous as a knife in the dark - from storytelling genius Neil Gaiman.
It began for our narrator forty years ago when the family lodger stole their car and committed suicide in it, stirring up ancient powers best left undisturbed. Dark creatures from beyond this world are on the loose, and it will take everything our narrator has just to stay alive: there is primal horror here, and menace unleashed - within his family and from the forces that have gathered to destroy it.
His only defence is three women, on a farm at the end of the lane. The youngest of them claims that her duckpond is an ocean. The oldest can remember the Big Bang. From Goodreads.





I enjoyed this. It was scary. I really like this kind of fantasy where the creatures and other things from beyond this world mixes with this world and catches people unaware. Of course there is, as there should be, the good "creatures", the three women who help the boy.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
2014 Literary Exploration Reading Challenge
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Crazy Challenge Connection Chinese New Year Challenge
Nothing but Reading Challenges - April Showers
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014 
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (O- dragonfly)
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon
Spring into Horror Read-a-Thon 2014

Boneland by Alan Garner

A major novel from one of the country’s greatest writers, and the crowning achievement of an astonishing career, BONELAND is also the long-awaited conclusion to the story of Colin and Susan – a story that began over fifty years ago in THE WEIRDSTONE OF BRISINGAMEN…
Extract from book:
A woman was reading a book to a child on her knee.
“‘So the little boy went into the wood, and he met a witch. And the witch said, “You come home with me and I’ll give you a good dinner.”’ Now you wouldn’t go home with a witch, would you?”
Colin stood. “Young man. Do not go into the witch’s house. Do not. And whatever you do, do not go upstairs. You must not go upstairs. Do not go! You are not to go!”
Professor Colin Whisterfield spends his days at Jodrell Bank, using the radio telescope to look for his lost sister in the Pleiades. At night, he is on Alderley Edge, watching.
At the same time, and in another time, the Watcher cuts the rock and blows bulls on the stone with his blood, and dances, to keep the sky above the earth and the stars flying.
Colin can’t remember; and he remembers too much. Before the age of thirteen is a blank. After that he recalls everything: where he was, what he was doing, in every minute of every hour of every day. Everything he has read and seen.
And then, finally, a new force enters his life, a therapist who might be able to unlock what happened to him when he was twelve, what happened to his sister.
But Colin will have to remember quickly, to find his sister. And the Watcher will have to find the Woman. Otherwise the skies will fall, and there will be only winter, wanderers and moon… From Goodreads.

I was really disappointed in this book and wish I hadn't read it. In my opinion it belittles The Weirdstone of Brisingamen and The Moon of Gomrath. The dark fantasy is gone and instead we have a grown up Colin that is a brilliant scientist but also a psychiatric patient. He is crazy because of what happened in the first two books which he has now kind of forgotten but not completely which is why it haunts him.
What I did enjoy was the description of  Jodrell Bank and the whispering discs as I visited there just last summer.
I can recommend reading The Weirdstone of Brisingamen and The Moon of Gomrath but don't read this book.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Audio Book Challenge
2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Sequel Spring Reading Challenge
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Spring into Horror Read-a-Thon 2014

Death on the Aegean Queen By Maria Hudgins

George Gaskill, a car salesman from Indiana, goes missing from the stern deck of the Aegean Queen leaving only a pool of blood and a strange note behind. Ollie Osgood, the husband of Dotsy Lamb's best friend Lettie, is the last person to have seen him and one of three men who lost a bundle to George in a Texas Hold'em Poker game. Then the ship's photographer turns up murdered on the beautiful island of Mykonos.
Dotsy wants only to unwind and to renew her promising relationship with Marco Quattrocchi, the Carabinieri captain she met in Italy three years ago, but since Ollie is the prime suspect in George's disappearance and Marco is embroiled in the photographer's murder, she can't.
The Aegean Queen is a ship with a theme--archaeology. Dotsy strikes up a friendship with the ship's guest lecturer, famous archaeologist, Dr. Luc Girard, and introduces him to the ship's klutziest dancer, Sophie Antonakos. With the help of Lettie Osgood's amazing powers of observation, Dotsy, Sophie, and Luc discover antiquities in the ship's display cases that have been looted from museums or smuggled from their homelands.
The trails of murder and theft converge on the island of Crete where Dotsy finds herself dodging bullets from the gun of a man she doesn't even know. From Goodreads.

This was a mystery and there was quite a lot going on but it was easy to follow. I like Dotsy's friend Lettie who remembers everything she has seen. It was a cosy, easy read. This was the third book in the series and I have not read the two first ones but it wasn't a problem.

This book qualifies for:
2014 Ebook challenge
2014 Monthly Motif Reading Challenge
2014 Monthly Key Word Reading Challenge
2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge
What’s In A Name 2014
2014 Read Your Freebies! Reading Challenge
You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge 2014
Romance Readers Reading Challenges: Yahtzee Challenge
Sequel Spring Reading Challenge
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2014
Nothing but Reading Challenges - Spell it Out - Animal Alphabet (L-eagle)
Crazy Challenge Connection Bard of Avon
Spring into Horror Read-a-Thon 2014