What I Read Last Week

Posted June 7, 2010 by Tracy in Features | 19 Comments

Hello there!
How the heck are ya?  Did you all have wonderful weekends?  I hope so.  Mine was definitely fun filled. 
On Friday night my youngest had, once again, another belt test.  I know it seems like she just had one but the last one was in March.  She did a great job on everything up until she had to break a board.  Her back kick is probably her weakest kick and of course that’s the kick she had to use to break the board.  He called her up and gave her about 8 chances and she couldn’t do it!  OMG the poor thing was in tears.  But then he looked at her and told her that he’d give her another try after he had tested some of the higher belts.  When he called her up again it was still touch and go but she managed to do it.  Here’s the vid of the second set of attempts.
And she passed!  Yay chickie!  Here’s a picture when she got her green belt.  I tried to video tape it but apparently I hadn’t cleaned up my camera in a while and the memory was too full – yikes! 🙂

Then Saturday the whole family went to Lori’s son Steve’s Bar Mitzvah.  He did a great job at the service and the party was a ton of fun.  They did a great job decorating the party room and the dj’s were great – they had everyone out there dancing.  I practically had to drag my girls off the dance floor when it was time to go.  Just a really fun party.
Well, on to what I read this past week:

I started with Lord of the White Hell by Ginn Hale.  This was an ARC of the book that releases on August 15th. It was an excellent read that I highly recommend.  You can read my review here. 5 out of 5

Next was Hue, Tint and Shade by Jordan Castillo Price.  This is the first story in the Petit Mort books and it was very good.  I really enjoyed reading about Tommy the total introvert and Nathan the outgoing window washer get together.  4 out of 5

Then another of my FTSP books Pack Territory by Crissy Smith.  This was Adam and Tasha’s story.  Adam is helping Tasha find her sister who has run away and they start to fall in love.  Along with that Adam has to deal with the fact that his father is in a m/m relationship.  I liked this one but not as much as the other 2 in the series.  3.5 out of 5

My next read was The Forbidden Rose by Joanna Bourne.  OMG I loved this book.  As much as I liked her other 2 books in this series I thought this one was just that much better.  Marguerite and William were just fabulous together.  This is a prequel to the other 2 books so if you haven’t read the series yet you could start with this one and still be ok. 🙂  I read this one for The Book Binge so will let you know when the review posts.  5 out of 5

Pool Hall Green by Sara Bell was my next read.  This is the story of Drew and his struggle with his family.  His parents kicked him out of the house when they found out he was gay but yet call him to get his reckless brother out of trouble whenever they can’t handle it.  It was a very good story about Drew coming to terms with his family and falling in love along the way.  I will definitely be reading more from Bell in the future. 4 out of 5

Skin Tight by Ava Gray was a really good book.  This is book 2 in the Skin series and it follows 2 characters we met in book 1 – Kyra’s friend Mia and casino thug Foster.  Only Foster is now Thomas Strong and he and Mia are working at the same facility.  It seems that Kyra and Strong weren’t born with the powers that they have  – they were basically science experiments.  Mia and Strong work together – against Strong’s better judgment and become close while in the process.  I really liked this story.  Strong (you’ll find out his real name in the book but I don’t want to give it away) is so closed off it was nice to see him loosening up and starting to trust someone – which he hadn’t done in a very long time.  4 out of 5

Yesterday was manga day.  I had a few piled up and knew I had to get to them so I could send them on to their next temporary home so I had a yaoi manga binge.

*The Devil’s Secret by Hinako Takanaga was the story of an incubus demon and a priest. There were some other shorts in there as well.  Interesting stories – pretty good graphics. 3.5 out of 5

*Sugar Milk by Dokuro Jaryu was a bunch of stories.  I didn’t particularly care for the graphics in this one – nor the stories – they were just kind of odd. 2 out of 5
*Shy Intentions by Shoko Takaku was the story of the teacher and the artist.  The teacher was pretty much relating the story of how they got together to another acquaintance.  I liked this one but I think I would have liked it better had it gone in chronological order.  The story was told – then they went back even further…then further again.  It was strange, but still good. 3.5 out of 5
*Restart by Shouko Hidaka was the story of 2 models.  One was going strong and then kind of fizzled out while the other started slow but is rising swiftly.  They get together when one is drunk and that starts the feelings a flowing.  I liked the story and the graphics in this one. 4 out of 5

Last of the week was Black Wade by Franz and Andaerle.  I’ve been wanting to read/view this graphic novel since Sarah put it on her DIK reading list.  It has wonderful color graphics and a short but good story.  Definitely worth the read/view. 4 out of 5

My Book Binge review that posted this past week:

Happy Reading!

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19 responses to “What I Read Last Week”

  1. Lea

    Oh wow Tracy, you young one should be so proud, what a little trouper!

    Congrats to her on persevering and her success!!

    As usual I am in awe of all you have read. Thanks for sharing!

    Best

    Reply
  2. Lori

    Those back kicks are brutal. Jeff always went for the roundhouse to break a board (they got a choice usually). Yay for your youngest!

    So glad you had a good time. Hope the hubby enjoyed himself, too. I know the girls did 🙂

    I hardly read anything last week 🙁 Finished No Mercy from Lisa Jackson and started Silent Scream, but didn't read a whole book start to finish. I can't remember the last time that happened to me.

    Reply
  3. Tracy

    Lea – Yeah, I'm glad she didn't give up and that he let her keep trying. Her front kicks are definitely her strongest.

    Lori – We ALL had a great time. We got to meet new people and just had fun.
    I can understand not getting an entire book read – with getting ready for the bar mitzvah you wouldn't exactly have time, now would you? lol
    The youngest actually hasn't had a choice in what kick she'd do. She's told which one she must do for each test. Last test side, this test back. Hopefully she'll get to do something else for the next test. 🙂

    Reply
  4. Jenre

    A great set of books this week Tracy. I'm really interested in that Sara Bell book. I think a trip to TQ may be necessary :).

    Reply
  5. Chris

    Oh, what a kick-ass little cutie! 🙂

    You had a good reading week! And, um, I was catching up on my manga reading yesterday, too. Hee hee.

    Reply
  6. Tracy

    Jenre – Yep, that book pimp Chris turned me on to Bell and I really liked the book. I'll need to look into more of her stuff.

    Chris – That's my baby. Who can kick my ass but would never. 🙂
    Must have been the manga weekend. I like reading them all at once like that but it does make it a bit pricey to send them to their new homes all at once. lol

    Reply
  7. Chris

    LOL – true, true. I bought a bunch of stamps, so really have no clue how much it cost. That's maybe better. 🙂

    Reply
  8. Chris

    And hey, wait, book pimp?! What?? I'll have you know that I am a Book Slut and I have the award to prove it, dammit.

    Reply
  9. orannia

    Congrats to your youngest daughter! Amazing perseverance!

    And a great reading week. I'm off to read your review of Lord of the White Hell! And I do like the sound of the Sarah Bell book too!

    Reply
  10. Lily

    Congrats to your daughter!!

    Looks like a good reading week for you. I'm not into manga but I've got a couple of the others on my buy list.

    Reply
  11. Tracy

    Chris – The stamp option works for USA but not so well for Intl. 🙂
    Oops, sorry, I MEANT book slut. 🙂

    Orannia – Thanks! I turned the vid off too soon after she broke the board – she did a cute little dance after that! lol

    Lily – I like the manga better than the yaoi novels – those are just too strange for me I think.

    Reply
  12. Chris

    D'oh – unclear. I mailed a domestic and two international, and ADDITIONALLY bought a few sheets of stamps, so it all blurred together.

    Reply
  13. Hilcia

    Congrats to your little one! That was awesome!

    I need to read The Forbidden Rose since I usually enjoy Bourne's books. I'm glad you liked Sara Bell… I haven't read this one, but will look it up. I've enjoyed a couple of her older books, Aquamarine (sports) and Heart Song (music/rocker). 🙂

    Reply
  14. nath

    Congrats to your youngest 🙂 Green belt!! Jeez, she's climbing the ladder very fast! I think the problem might be her aim… but then, back kick is not easy ^_^;

    Lucky, you got to go to Steve's Bar Mitzvah… So tell us, was Lori naked or did she find a nice dress? 😛

    Ohhh, Hue, Tint and Shade by Jordan Castillo Price sounds really good 🙂

    Reply
  15. Tracy

    Chris – It does, doesn't it? Well, it's still a heck of a lot cheaper to do it this way than to buy all of those books so I'm not complaining. 🙂

    Hilcia – I think you'll like the Bourne.
    Thanks for the recs on the Bell books. Chris also mentioned The Manny – she said it was a good one as well.

    Nath – Yep, definitely her aim. Once she hit it in the right spot it broke. Definitely something to work on. 🙂
    LOL Lori looked absolutely beautiful in her lovely black dress. It was so pretty!
    Hue Tint and Shade was good – I can't wait to read the others in the series.

    Reply
  16. Lori

    LOLOL!! Trust me. NObody would want to see me naked these days, Nath. I've gained a ton of weight. And there's a reason you don't see me in the pics – I took them so I wouldn't have to be in them. There's a picture of the dress I wore up on FB. I posted it a couple weeks ago.

    Reply
  17. Jill D.

    I am glad to see you enjoyed both The Forbidden Rose and Skin Tight. I am looking forward to reading both of those books. I can't wait to hear what you have to say about The Forbidden Rose. Are you going to go back and read the first two books now? I gave both of them an A grade. I really like her writing.

    Reply
  18. Tracy

    Lori – You looked great! Silly woman.

    Jill – I have to tell ya after I finished The Forbidden Rose I totally wanted to go and re-read The Spymaster's Lady again. I think if I'd had it here (I had lent it to my mom) then I would have snapped it up and read away. 🙂

    Reply

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