Dying to Get in July: Andrea's Story

*At the beginning of the month I post covers of new releases I am just dying to get my hands on and why I am so excited. Inspired by Waiting on Wednesday *

The only book I absolutely must have this month releases on the last day of the month, so it's practically an August release :(

July 31st: Gunmetal Magic.

When Ilona Andrews first announced that the next book book in the Kate Daniels series would be Andrea's story instead of a new adventure with Kate and Curran, I was not very amused. I needed my Kate and Curran fix, dammit! But as the days went by, the idea began to grow on me, and I am fully intrigued now. After reading the first chapter, I am fully invested - I want this book now! I can't wait to explore Andrea's backstory. It is going to be epic. On an aside, it's never gonna happen, but it would be totally awesome if she dumped Raphael and went off into the sunset with Roman!!

TGIF @ GReads #7: Most Valuable Books

TGIF is hosted over at GReads every Friday, and features many thought-provoking questions that are fun to answer.
Today's Question:

Most Valuable Book: From your personal collection of books, which ones hold the most value to you - is it signed by the author? or maybe it's your favorite story of all time? Share it with us.

Hmm. The most valuable books I have are the books I have loved enough to share with all my friends and/or the books I love enough to save/note so I can buy them for my kids. Yes, I am going to be THAT mom who makes her kids read all the books she loved when she was a kid and then demand to know what they think, haha.

• Archangel by Sharon Shinn, which was shared with me by Simone, and which I shared with all my friends.

• The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede, which was one of my earliest encounters with a dragon and a feminist princess (my kids will most def be reading these books).

• The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare- one of my earliest love stories, filled with sensible people, and a lesson in prejudice. 

• The Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews - because I recommend this to everyone I know who reads UF and because of the joy I get in immersing myself in pure awesomeness

• The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis - do I even need to explain this one?

• Daring to Draw Near by John White which very fundamentally changed my view of prayer.

• Prayer by Richard Foster which expanded on my changing views of Prayer

• Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton - which helped me think through my own philosophy of faith

• Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis - which showed me that Christians could be thinking people too

• A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle, which was one of my earliest journeys into sci-fci and fantasy, and showed me that weak people can be strong heroines too, something we seem to have forgotten nowadays.

To name a few, these are some of the treasured books in my library. There are so many more where those came from.

#1: Thinking On... Re-Reads

For me, the best part about rereads is coming back to a familiar story. And because I already know the sequence of events, there is no hurry. I can go on the journey again, taking the time to savor it, and in the process I notice new things: subtle nuances (redundant, I know), a character description I missed, someone's POV, an opinion expressed, beautiful prose, striking images - all the things I overlooked because I was s caught up in the euphoria and the drama of the plot the first time around.

I don't often reread books, but when I do, I am usually glad [unfortunately there are a few books that I don't enjoy on reread, and it makes me wonder how/why I liked them so much before].

Here are some of my favorite books to reread, and which I do often:

 Rose, Declan and the boys. Their story never fails to make me smile, and I never, ever fail to be immersed in Declan and Rose's lives. And each time I reread it, I notice something funny that I didn't notice before. I always read this one from cover to cover, and I always fall a little bit more in love with Rose and Declan every time I pick this one up.

Probably my favorite series of all time. Just being with Kate and Curran and enjoying their lives and seeing their world through their eyes is a wonderful experience I keep returning to these books over and over again. I have lost count of how many times I have read the books, especially book 4, my favorite, and the Curran POV's. 

The sheer beauty of Sharon Shinn's writing and the awesomeness of the characters make this book a treat time and again. Gabriel is one of my most favorite heroes in all of fiction. On every reread, I notice something new about him. I notice his flaws more, but I see his strengths more too. Rachel is also made of awesome. For 10 years and counting I have loved this book, and it never goes out of style each time I pick it up.

 Hawke! In all his fantabulosity.... and Sienna .... and the SnowDancer pack.... and Lucas. But mostly Hawke and his beautiful self. I love this world that Nalini Singh has created, and I love spending time with such a wonderful ensemble cast, the most wonderful of whom is Hawke!

Do you have any favorite books that you reread often? Do you reread any books at all?

Memorable Monday #6

 Memorable Monday is a new meme hosted by the ladies over at Escape in a Book, and invites us to share a memorable quote from something we've read/ are reading.

Today's quote comes to you by courtesy of Curran, another of my favorite heroes evarrrrr!!!!! This is taken from his POV from Magic Strikes:

Kate short-circuits my brain. In my head we always have these clear and coherent exchanges, but once we meet, what comes out is, "Kate, do as I say or I will kill you." Her default reply is "Fuck you!" and we go downhill from there. 

Gotta love Curran! :D

Cover Reveal: Gunmetal Magic by Ilona Andrews

I just saw this on Ilona Andrews' website: the cover for Gunmetal Magic, Kate Daniels #5.5, also known as the Andrea spinoff. It's slated for publication August 2012.

 

I like it. It think it definitely conveys Andrea's 'badass' aura, so the feel is right, but.... I don't know if the face is right, if you know what I mean.  Excited!

Nevertheless, I think it's my favorite cover so far in this series. 

Oh, and I love the view of a magic-ravaged Atlanta in the beackground.

Review: Curran Hot Tub POV by Gordon Andrews

 *NB: This is a freebie snippet of Curran's POV in the Kate Daniels series. It is a quick read; you can find it on Ilona Andrews' website here. This one takes place during Kate Daniels book #3, Magic Strikes.


Author: Gordon Andrews
Title: Curran Hot Tub POV
Series: Kate Daniels, Curran #4
Source: Ilona Andrews' website.


I LOVE my Curran (well, he's actually Kate's Curran, but we're not dealing with semantics here, hehe)!!

Hanging around in Curran's mind never fails to make me smile. I love how he thinks, how he sees himself, the way he analyzes the situation, how he sees Kate. I love everything about my Curran :D.

This scene was from Magic Strikes, the hot tub scene, and the events just preceding it. owing to the nature of the scene, Curran's POV was slightly cheesy, but still sweet. His interactions with Derek made me laugh out loud.

Again, thank you Gordon Andrews, for making my night!

★★★★

OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES:

1. Curran
2. Fathers and Sons
3. Curran #3