On the off chance that you’ve been hiding under a rock, and this is the first place you visit before any other place else on the internet, don’t forget to VOTE.
Since this is my own personal blog I’ll even say,
“DON’T FUCKING VOTE FOR TRUMP.”
Stay safe. Wash your hands and wear a mask. Don’t forget your sticker.
Today starts the nomination process for the Goodreads Choice Awards. I try to participate every year, but like most years, I haven’t read most of the books initially nominated. For those new to the awards to be nominated, the book has to be published this year. Goodreads uses their algorithms to come up with fifteen books in the twenty categories to start the process off. Considering some of the books nominated don’t come out until this month, I’m not sure how fair their algorithms are.
Each year I discover books I’ve overlooked or never heard of, but I also get incredibly frustrated. How am I supposed to take all the books I’ve read and narrow them down to the categories provided?? There’s only one romance category?? There’s no Juvenile Non-Fiction category?? There’s a sci-fi category, a fantasy category, a young adult fantasy category, but no young adult sci-fi category?? How am I supposed to vote when I still haven’t read all of the books from this year?? Why is this being held now when there are still almost two months left in the year?????
It’s too much!
So, I’m just going to post my favorite books of 2020, so far, here. None of them have been nominated, but the best part of the awards is that you can select them yourself. So if you too liked these books, then please head over to Goodreads and do your duty.
First, The Constant Rabbit by Jasper Fforde. I nominated this one under the fiction category, though it could probably go under the humor category as well. It was a fantastic satire novel that called out racism using absurd creativity.
I’ve got two historical romances, and I wish I could nominate both. The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows by Olivia Waite and The Duke Who Didn’t by Courtney Milan. Waspish Widows is the story of two older women who fall in love in a time when women didn’t even have the right to vote. The Duke Who Didn’t had a hero and heroine fall in love despite their incredibly different backgrounds. The backdrop was a small village in England that was predominantly people of Asian descent. Plus, there was a lot of good food mentioned.
Undercover Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams, Love Her or Lose Her by Tessa Bailey, and The Tourist Attraction by Sarah Morgenthaler were the contemporary romances that I wanted to nominate. Undercover Bromance is the second book in a series that I fell in love with earlier this year. The concept of a book group of men reading romance novels is one I love. Love Her or Lose Her made me realize I was missing out on an entire trope of married couples learning to fall back in love with each other. I absolutely loved the sweetness and humor in The Tourist Attraction.
Five romances, and I can only nominate one. It’s horrible. I ended up going with The Duke Who Didn’t because, well, it came down to the food. Lol It was really close, though. The Tourist Trap nearly edged it out for the coveted top spot. If only there were historical and contemporary romance categories.
The science fiction and fantasy categories were easier. The only five-star fantasy book that I’ve read this year was Emerald Blaze by Ilona Andrews. I did think about nominating N.K. Jemisin’s The City We Became, I liked it, but I liked Emerald Blaze better. Jemisin’s book was one of the fifteen nominated by Goodreads, so she will probably make it to the next round. If Andrew’s book doesn’t make it will make my next vote easier.
At first, I didn’t think I had a science fiction pick. Not only have I not read many this year, but I haven’t rated the ones I did read highly. I’m trying only to nominate books I rated five stars. I’ve started reading Christopher Paolini’s To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, but there’s no way I’ll finish it in time. So I decided to go with Sweep with Me by Ilona Andrews. Yes, it’s another Ilona Andrews book, but they’re my favorite authors.
Last, but certainly not least, is my non-fiction selection. I’ve slacked on non-fiction this year. I could not concentrate like I need to to read non-fiction. So I ended up nominating This Book is Anti-Racist by Tiffany Jewell. It’s a juvenile non-fiction book, so I don’t believe it stands a chance, but it was an excellent book. It clearly explained the issues for young people as well as adults with limited knowledge of the issues.
There are many categories where I didn’t nominate any books, which always bugs me. I don’t have enough time to read everything I want to unfortunately. I’m curious what books everyone else will be voting for, and I’m looking forward to the weeks ahead. Even though I know most of the books I love, if not all, will not win their much-deserved awards.
In the Company of Wolves (SWAT: Special Wolf Alpha Team #3)
By: Paige Tyler
Blurb:
He opened his mouth to order her to drop the MP5 she had aimed at him, but nothing would come out. It was like she’d robbed him of the ability to speak. Shooting her wasn’t an option, though. And the idea of arresting her didn’t make him feel any better.
There’s a new gang of criminals in town who are organized and ruthless in the extreme. When Eric Becker, along with the rest of the Dallas SWAT team, ends up in the middle of a shootout, he immediately senses werewolves-a lot of them. Turns out, the new bad guys are a pack of wolf shifters.
In a spray of gunfire, Becker comes face-to-face with the most gorgeous woman he’s ever seen. Becker does the logical thing. He hides her and leaves the scene with the rest of his team.
Jayna Winston has no idea why that SWAT guy helped her, but she’s glad he did. Ever since she and her pack mates got mixed up with those Eastern European mobsters, everything had pretty much fallen apart.
So what’s a street-savvy thief like Jayna going to do with a hot alpha-male wolf who’s a police officer?
Review:
I didn’t like In the Company of Wolves as much as the previous book in the series. Wolf Trouble was one of my favorite books of the year, so there was a lot to live up to. I still enjoyed In the Company of Wolves, but I wanted certain things more fleshed out. It also dragged in a few places.
I wasn’t expecting Becker to be the next wolf to find love. He’s been almost a running joke in the series up till this point. He’s obsessed with yoga pants and a young werewolf, but he came off as almost an oober alpha in the book. It was unexpected, to say the least.
Jayna believes she’s a beta wolf in a pack with other beta wolfs, whose lone alpha has made a series of bad mistakes. It comes as a surprise to her that she’s actually an alpha, and it’s never clear if she became one when her pack needed it or if she was born one.
Like the previous books, their attraction is instantaneous. As soon as they meet, Becker is doing something completely stupid, and it just goes from there. After the last book, I don’t understand why he didn’t go to his own alpha. Dixon is coming off as an utterly inept alpha at this point. His pack does not share anything with him.
I liked the idea of a pack of betas and enjoyed the werewolf lore being expanded. I wanted more of that, though. Jayna barely had her alpha moment, where she embraces her role and is a total badass. The moment she takes out the previous alpha is anticlimactic and glossed over because of what else is going on.
The book’s plot holes and how slow certain things took to develop made this book less enjoyable. It was a shorter book than the previous one, and I wonder if it was longer if Tyler would have been able to fix things. Fleshed some things out and added more. Or maybe this book should have been a novella. Honestly, I’m not sure.
I don’t have the next book checked out, and considering how many books I have out from the library right now, I’m not sure when I’ll be able to read the next in the SWAT series. So far, there have been two books I’ve found to be okay and one book I’ve loved, so I’ll be continuing. I’m just not sure when.
3/5
This morning I checked the Disney store and there were new gift sets and play sets. Mickey Mouse and Friends, Spider-Man Figure Set, Slave I, and Zurg’s Lair.
Zurg’s Lair comes out of nowhere. It’s been a while since we’ve had any Toy Story figures released, there hasn’t been a new movie or even a short, so I definitely wasn’t expecting it. Slave I was less of a surprise, especially after the most recent Mandalorian episode.
The Mickey Mouse set is $50. Since none of the figures appear to be showing up in the Disney Store anymore, if you missed any of them this would be the time to pick them up. You’re not really saving any money, though, so if you find them individually it would be cheaper.
I believe this is the first time that Spider-Hulk has been available. So if you’re trying to collect all the Hulks this might end up being the only way. The TIE Fighter pilot has yet to be available any other way than the set. So if you want Spider-Pig or Zurg, this might be the easiest way for you.
With Christmas coming it’s not much of a surprise that these are being released now. These are pretty expensive sets, ranging from $35-50. This is going to be a very tight year, financially, for a lot of people, unless they decide to put these on sale I’m not sure how many people will splurge for them.
I finished In the Company of Wolves tonight, my review will be posting tomorrow. Next up is 500 Miles From You. Based on the blurb I’m hoping for a romance that develops over email. Always some of my favorite stories.
I’ve never read anything from Jenny Colgan so I’m not sure exactly what to expect. There’s also the fact that I picked this book off a list and I haven’t had the best luck with those. Hopefully, my expectations are properly set.
Dynamite Review 