SOS: Serious Overload of Series discussion

Lets do it team!!

Well, then we keep reading!!

I'll be reading

I am positive is on there, so I will be reading that one.

I've heard such great things about Angelfall. Hope you enjoy it Leslie!

Loved Angelfall, and looking forward to the sequel this fall!

I've started , finally. Find I have to read the brothers in short bursts now...when I used to devour them.

But that works great as a fun break while getting this week's major projects done! Almost to FREE TIME! (which means housecleaning, reading and time with friends...not necessarily in that order!)

Great choice, Judithe! I've read the entire series except for the last one and started re-reading them a few months ago. They don't hold my interest the same way they used to, but still so much fun!

And reading Angelfall is strictly due to the good reviews I heard in this group. I've had it for awhile but it didn't jump out at me as something I needed to read. So I'm excited!

Angelfall is fantastic!

What team is it that has the "winning shelf"? I just wanted to see their progress. :)

Last round, my team had two more stamps to go when we got the winning shelf called -- and we won by Monday. :)

So it is team #14. They just got one of their stamps. Are halfway through tortured heroes and close on the other: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

Thanks for checking, Regina. I couldn't remember which team.

I'm glad you loved Angelfall! The next one is just around the corner!!

It looks like Team 14 is gonna take it! They have four in a row now. Go team 14! :D

I finished my Aliens book -- but I won't update, unless you all feel strongly about getting the stamp?

I don't feel strongly about it. I'm excited for Team 14!

I am too! My team won last round. And I read a lot of great books that I wouldn't have otherwise read this round.

I also had a lot of fun getting to know all of you better! You are fun to chat with!

This has been a great team! I've enjoyed this challenge a great deal for all the great books I've read and discovered and for having great teammates to get to know! Thanks for all the help during my wedding break!

Wow! This is my first time playing and I had a blast! I hope to be able to join in the next one too. I read a lot of books I have put off reading because of this game. I also enjoyed chatting with you guys.

It was great having you on the team, Monica! I'm glad you had a good time. The first time I played I was hooked on team challenges - they are so much fun!

You ladies are all fantastic and I've had such a great time being on a team with you all! :D And as is the case with every round of bingo I've played so far... my TBR list has put on a lot of weight :P

LOL, that is so true, Kate!!!

I love this game, and having great team members made this another fun round! Not ready to see it end, but happy & hopeful to see y'all in the next round!!! Though don't like saying "goodbye" to our little corner of the bingo-verse!

Is there a long break between bingo rounds? I will definitely do this again because it made reading fun. I'm sorry to see it end too.

Yes, Kate - have to agree with you there! My TBR definitely has grown. This was a great little team. I definitely like having fewer players so we get to know each other better.

Has anyone checked on Team 14 yet today?

They have 2 books to go!

They are going to get it! :)

COngratulations to them :) The randomizer may have been on their side but they worked hard to read all the books on time

They really did!

@ Kate & Regina: That is true!

Monica wrote: "Is there a long break between bingo rounds? I will definitely do this again because it made reading fun. I'm sorry to see it end too."

Yes, there will be a break, but not sure how long. We're working on another little event for September, but none of us can go tooooo long in between games! There is also a Banish Bingo Blues challenge up (still running I do believe, but haven't had time to check...hang on...)

OK, found it!

Banish Bingo Blues

Which is also a bit of fun between rounds! And good for a little TBR reduction...(HA...almost an impossibility!)

Congratulations to Team 14!! It's been fun, Team!! And I've done the Banish Bingo Blues Challenge before. It was great! I might have to look into it again.
I hope that I get on a team with y'all again sometime! And Judithe, great job!!

Well, Team #14 haven't won just yet. They still need to complete Tortured Hero ;)

:)

Just finished my book for this shelf! It was gooooood! And a welcome break between student papers! 36 hours until the next shelf...getting really antsy! Is everybody up to date, just in case? LOL! Wondering if I have one more date with Mr. R....

I'm reading my book right now and it's really good. I would love to have another week!

Should we post a review if we finish any of our books?

Ill post my reviews. I guess just in case?

I'll post mine too. I finished from dead to worse yesterday.

Yes, go ahead and post. I'll be finished with my book today and I'll post then.

From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris
Shelf # 9: Supernatural
Date Finished: 8/8/13
Rating 4 1/2 *
Review:

Well another book finished this year. I think I will be trying to finish more of this series this year. This takes up after the huge Vampire Counsel Meetup where many Vampires were seriously injured or died.

I am finding some of the story very blah and not as interesting as the first few books were. Sookie is still her Telepath self, her brother is now a were-panther and married (not happily), she has a witch for a roommate and a cat that is actually human.

There were a lot of little tiffs or fights in this book. It wasn't just one thing happening which made it interesting. You had Werewolves being murdered. The Queen of the Vampires still recuperating from the Vampire Counsel, Jason’s marriage not going along so smoothly, Sookie worried about her boyfriend.

Sookie helps the Weres, learns that the Queen is threatened and once she is dead the new king becomes indebted to her because she save him, Eric and Sam from the Queens one crazy bodyguard. Sookie and Sam are friend of the pack. The Vampires offer Sookie her their services after she saves the King. The vows that Jason took when he married the were-panther make her do something she doesn't want to do.

I loved the part when Eric remembers everything that had happened between them. Plus Sookie meets her Great-Grandfather and has him track down his cousins ex husband and child. That makes me want to continue reading the series just to see what happens.

Week 10: Tortured Hero

8/9/13 ***1/2 stars
Review:
3.5 stars This book was very hard to rate for me. Though I enjoyed it and the story was engaging, I didn't like some of the underlying premises of the book that began to emerge the more I read. The concept of an agnostic angel was just too weird and the underlying mythology not well explained. It began to feel that the author was trying to make some kind of statement.
Also, some of the world building was confusing and didn't feel finished to me. Who were the demons and why/how were they feeding. Why did they take over the world, what happened to the government. Lots of things were left hanging and people did things for not very well explained reasons. But overall enjoyable and I will definitely be looking for the next one.

This should complete week 7 and get us the stamp for aliens (and thus get us 4 in a row!)

Week: 7
Shelf: Aliens
Date finished: 8/6/13
Rating: ★★★★ (3.5 stars)
Book: 14 by Peter Clines

Review:
3.5 stars. This is a fun action packed story with great characters that author Clines richly develops. The audio is fantastic and if you like audio books, I recommend reading this one via audio. 14 is the type of story that was written to be a movie and I mean that in a very positive way. There are multiple characters and a few character point of view shifts (but told through the third person). The setting is almost entirely an apartment building, which eventually provides for a community of people who live together and in a way work together. 14 is a little bit mystery, a little bit horror and a little bit science fiction. It has a solid storyline that develops gradually as the readers gets to know the characters.

Who is the lead in 14? A guy. An average Joe. In fact, you probably know him; in fact, he could be you. He (Nate) is disappointed with his career options after college, he is in a dead end job and can’t seem to figure out what to do. He has not been very lucky in relationships and he needs a new apartment – cheap. He rents out this too-good-to-be-true apartment in Hollywood. The building is full of other renters just like him – people without strong ties anywhere and people who won’t ask a lot of questions when faced with an apartment that includes utilities.

The story begins with Nate moving into this new apartment. He is learning who his neighbors are, figuring out the commute and trying to find parking. Eventually, Nate starts to notice odd things about his place and he asks questions. Slowly, the neighbors go on a Scooby Doo like quest (Peter Clines’ comparison not mine) to figure out what is causing the strange happenings in the building. 14 is not predictable. The clues uncovered are interesting and while they are discussed in engineering terms – it isn’t done in a highly technical way. Put it this way – I am dense when it comes to building anything and I got it. The engineering and electrical constructs make it more realistic that the people who live in the building can figure out what is going on. As the mystery unravels it is really fun to watch the story progress.

The book isn’t perfect. A portion of the last quarter of the book dragged – but just a small portion. For that, I give the book 3.5 stars. But this is a solid fun book. And I recommend it for readers who enjoy action based stories with a touch of science fiction. I will definitely be reading Peter Clines’ other novels.

Seems almost silly to say -- but we are one stamp away from supernatural, lol.

And we now have aliens (or should soon, lol) - go team!

Here is my tortured hero review:

Week: 10
Shelf: Tortured Hero
Shooting Scars by Karina Halle The Artist's Trilogy #2

Read: 8/8/13
Rating: 3.5 stars

Review:
I wanted this book so bad and feel lucky to have gotten the ARC. Shooting Scars, is the sequel to Sins & Needles and is is much more faced paced than the first in the Artist's Trilogy. Despite being faced paced, it was slower to start. I had issues with the morality in this book -- or perhaps lack of. I love the characters, their flaws and how dark Halle is willing to push her stories. But the humanizing of murders is hard for me to swallow. Still, it is a good book with interesting characters and I am looking forward to the third in this series.

Requested our stamp!! We will go down fighting to the end!

LOL -- that is why we are the Bombshells! :D

I really hope that 14 pulls it through to win though. I am pulling for them.

Absolutely, Regina! But it seems one of their members who has that last book to read is on vacation or something. That slowed them down a lot.

So do I Regina!

I hope she checks in before call tomorrow. But I will be ready tomorrow!

Looks like Laura just finished her book for Team 14. They made it just in time!!

Happy for them but sad to see bingo end.

Ditto!

And ditto again!

CONGRATULATIONS, Bombshells!
You now have an updated BINGO card with a stamp on 'aliens'. 

[Your updated BINGO card can be viewed on page 1]

Good Job!! :D

Judithe, great challenge!! You and all the moderators involved did an amazing job. It was a great team challenge.