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Monday Morning Visits

It's Monday morning again. I hope your weekend was a good one and that you're not too tired and grouchy this morning. I'm in a good mood because in my most recent trolling I had the startlingly happy experience of coming across several reviews of books I regularly sing the praises of by a handful of bloggers I love. By the time I finished reading them, I had a grin of pure delight on my face and just had to share the links with you. Go read their lovely reviews and say hi. 
For the last little while, Kristen over at Fantasy Cafe has been the patient recipient of a little not-so-gentle nudging from Ana of The Book Smugglers and myself to read Megan Whalen Turner's Queen's Thief series. She read (and enjoyed) The Thief not long ago and yesterday's Leaning Pile of Books post revealed she recently devoured The Queen of Attolia as well. In her little teaser, she had the following to say:
I've already finished this one since I was unable to stop reading it today until I got to the end. The Thief was good, but this one was something special and now holds the spot of favorite book I've read so far this year.
That sound you just heard was me sighing blissfully. I <3 you, Kristen.
My friend and avid reader Chachic over at Chachic's Book Nook just posted her review of Sharon Shinn's Archangel. I had no idea she'd picked it up and I'm so happy to discover she liked it. Chachic has this to say:
I love that even though they’re meant for each other by the god’s mandate, they still have to work for it. It’s definitely not love at first sight and they keep rubbing each other the wrong way. Love-hate relationships for the win! ♥
What can I say but that I wholeheartedly agree. Any other good angel books to recommend? She's asking for your input.
Brenda over at Brenda Loves Books (I just love her header and the quote running along the bottom of it) has been working her way through one of my most beloved series--Tamora Pierce's Alanna books--the Song of the Lioness quartet. Yesterday she posted her review of the fourth and final book Lioness Rampant. She says:
I also just adore the characters in this series.  Alanna grew so much, and I admit, I cried at the ending.
You are not alone, Brenda. I've lost count of how many times I've read these books, but I cry at the ending every time. And, uh, at a few other key moments as well. I'm only human! I happen to know of a few other bloggers who are in the process of reading this series as well and it makes me incredibly excited to know it's still reaching new readers after all these years. 
Lastly, I wanted to point you to Nicole over at Linus' Blanket who recently hosted the Outside the Zone edition of the always excellent Bookworms Carnival. This particular edition focused on books outside your comfort zone and it's worth heading over to check out these bloggers' experiences with books they would not normally have picked up but ended up loving. 
That's it for me for now. Happy reading!
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Comments

  1. Lani Woodland11:31 AM

    I loved Archangel, Meghan Whalen Turner and the Alanna books!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Pam Pho11:39 AM

    I haven't read many of these haha.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Brenda12:19 PM

    Thanks for linking to me. I just fell in love with the Alanna series. Great writing, and I can't believe it took me so long to read these. One of these days I'm going to give the second in the Queen's Thief series a try, even though I didn't love the first.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nicole (Linus's Blanket)1:16 PM

    Thanks for submitting your review for the carnival. Glad you enjoyed it!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Angiegirl6:28 PM

    Michele, *grin* that is because you have excellent taste.

    Pam, lol. No worries. I will say, though, that all three series are just awesome and I recommend them. Highly.

    Brenda, I'm so glad. Alanna was a huge influence on me and the books hold up just extremely well over the years.

    And I know you've heard me say it before, but do give THE QUEEN OF ATTOLIA a shot before your write off MWT. It's SO very different from THE THIEF in so many ways and it's just an incredible read. Okay, I'll stop now. :)

    Nicole, thanks for hosting us! It was a great topic and some good suggestions.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Kristen6:32 PM

    Thanks for the link! I <3 you back, Angie, for mentioning these books so often! If not for you and Ana, I'm sure I never would have picked them up. And it would have been a shame to miss out on a book like The Queen of Attolia.

    Brenda - While I liked The Thief, I didn't love it, either. The ending was great, but some of the traveling parts seemed a bit drawn out. I thought The Queen of Attolia started out pretty well and just kept getting better and better, though.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Chachic8:18 PM

    Ooooh thanks for the link, Angie! :) I was happily surprised to find out that you agree with my review. I will check out the other links that you posted because I love both Megan Whalen Turner and Tamora Pierce.

    Brenda, The Thief wasn't that great for me either when I first read it. But then I read The Queen of Attolia and it blew me away. The King of Attolia is just as good. After reading the latter books, I went back to the The Thief and discovered that I enjoyed it a lot more as a reread.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Angiegirl11:56 AM

    Kristen, it was my pleasure. Truly. And I'm still giddy that you loved QUEEN so much. That ending...*shivers*

    Chachic, oh, I'm sure you were shocked I agreed. ;) I love that book so much. It can pull me out of any slump. I just love watching them spar.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Chachic6:18 AM

    I'm so excited to read the rest of the books in the Samaria series! I have a feeling they're just as good.

    ReplyDelete

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