BookLove First Half 2009 Recap

January
1. Grave Peril by Jim Butcher- Ghosts, vampires, Dresden getting beat up–a lot. 3 1/2 stars
2. Welcome to the Jungle by Jim Butcher- Possessed animals, finally full visuals of the characters, nice teaser for the series, but on the expensive side. 3 1/2 stars
3. Sacred Book of the Werewolf- Long, very long, distracted, rambling, funny, great ending, if you can make it that far. 3 stars
4. Northlanders volume 1- A Viking revenge story? Gore, violence, sex, damn almost-moral ending! 3 1/2 stars
5. HellBlazer: Original Sins- Ugh, 80s comic art, fantastic stories, leaves off mid scene–boo! 4 Stars
6. Storm Front Comic #1 & #2- Oh look, it’s a cartoon version of the first book, not at all bad, nothing new though. 3 Stars.
7. Apex January 2009- Good stories, two great ones at the end (one with a monster house and one reprint from History is Dead) 4 stars.
8. Evil Penguins by Elia Anie- Hilarious, but no staying power, good gift for people you don’t know (like those secret gift exchanges). 3 stars

February

9. A Practical Guide to Faeries- D&D for kids–seriously– but it’s pretty, fun and kids and role players will love it. 4 stars
10. Murky Depths #6- One of my favorite mags. The stories won’t be soul-shattering, but they will be entertaining and deliciously cross genre. Great graphic strips in this issue. 4 stars.
11. HebrewPunk by Lavie Tidhar- Nazi werewolves, drugged out mystics, immortal Jews and blood banks run by angels, what’s not to love? 4 stars
12. The Lesser of Two Evils by Zoe Whitten- Strong, fun characters of negligible morality chasing down a serial child killer, science plus paranormal=rock! 4 stars
13. VAMPS by Nancy A. Collins- Mean Girls meets vampires. I hated Lilith, but like Cally. Will probably keep reading the series as a guilty pleasure. (sort of like watching a soap opera) 3.5 stars
14. Pride by Rachel Vincent-The continuing adventures of a female werecat trying to break the Old Boy’s Club and be valued as something other than the current and future contents of her uterus. I love this series, 5 stars!
15. The Monster Within Idea by R. Thomas Riley- A bunch of supernatural horror stories. Either they hit or miss completely, 4 stars.

March
16. Unspeakable Horror- A mix of horror types from high brow to more action and horror”ish”. All well written, but not all a single fan’s style. 4 stars
17. Watchmen-I missed the bus on this one. 3 stars
18. Dead Witness by Joylene Butler- Not ready for prime time. 2.5 stars.
19. Something Wicked #9- An average mix of horror and dark SF. 3 stars.
20. Apex Magazine, February 2009- Two thumbs up. Go read it. 4 Stars.
21. Blue Diablo by Ann Aguirre- A unique, Mexican and 90s police movie flavored urban fantasy. 4 stars

April
22. Apex Magazine, March 2009- Very Nicely done. Bravo! 5 stars
23. The Black Act by Louise Bohmer- Pretty and sensory, but not fast paced. 3 Stars
24. The Blue Mirror by Kathe Koja- Wow, Like Twilight, but good. Real good, and no vampires. 5 stars
25. Hollow-Eyed Mary by Andre Duza- Excellent on every level. Brutal, beautiful and engaging, but very horror. 4 stars.
26. Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews- So awesome. Kick ass urban fantasy without too much romance or angst or super powered vaginas. 5 stars.
27. Bestial by William D. Carl- More than campy werewolf fun, there’s some clever writing here too. 4 stars
28. Attack of the Two-Headed Poetry Monster by Mark McLaughlin & Michael McCarty- Excellent! Love it, srsly could not stop reading it. 5 Stars.
29. Afraid by Jack Kilborn- Strong thriller, tighter than Stephen King, less amped up than David Morrell. Very readable. 4.5 stars
30. Skin Tight by Ann Aguirre- There’s an under appreciated segment of the romance community who are going to love this when it comes out…next year. 4.5 stars
31. Splattered Beauty by Brandon Ford- An homage to scream queens and B-movies 5 stars for what it is, 3 stars as a book in the larger picture of the horror literature

May
32. A Dangerous Climate by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro- Excellent, smooth and detail, more historical fiction than horror. 4 stars
33. Black Jack Derringer Book 1: The Ace of Spades-If you like weird SF westerns you should buy this. 4.5 Stars.
34. Apex Magazine, April 2009- Excellent show by guest editor Michael A. Burstein 4.5 stars.
35. The Convent of the Pure by Sara M. Harvey- An excellent dark fantasy w/ steampunk elements, but not long enough. 4 stars
36. Thin Them Out by Kim Paffenroth, Julia Sevin & R.J. Sevin-Very pretty in places, too short, more suggestion than story, but well written. 3.5 stars
37. Dying to Live: Life Sentence by Kim Paffenroth- Excellent intelligent zombie horror. Give me more horror like this! 4.5 stars
38. Blood Bar by Norm Applegate- DNF
39. An Ice Cold Grave by Charlaine Harris- Dark mystery with the touch of supernatural. Another great book in this series. 4 stars
40. Buffy: The Long Way Home by Joss Whedon- I didn’t realize how much I missed Buffy until I picked this one up. Now I can’t wait until volume two arrives. 4.5 stars.
41. Tales From the Crypt #3: Zombilicious- No zombies 🙁 Slick packaging, cheesy product, 3 stars (if you like that kind of thing).
42. Killing Kiss by Sam Stone- A fine traditional vampire book. No “vampire porn” here, 4 stars

June
43. Moon Called by Patricia Briggs- A nice paranormal with action and plot, but not mega drama. 4 stars.
44. Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn- Ugh, whiny MC, jolting pace, a lot of uncomfortable emotional abuse. 1 star
45. Apex Magazine, May 2009- Another more-fantasy issue, lyrical stories but last issue for who knows how long. 4 stars
46. Tales from the Crypt #4: Crypt-Keeping it Real- This is the best the Crypt series gets. 4 stars
47. The Big Guy & Rusty the Boy Robot- Awesome, awesome! Five stars and go watch the cartoon on YouTube!
48. Symptoms of a Broken Heart by Cory Cramer-A nice read with two strong, not cliché female horror leads that aren’t lesbians! 4.5 stars.
49. Escape of the Living Dead- Solid sex, violence and zombie fun graphic novel. Not much new though 4 stars.
50. Heaven’s Bones by Samantha Henderson- Lovely writing, loosely Ravenloft rich details. 4 stars