Bookish Rants or Raves: Do Not Meddle in the Affairs of Dragons

Warning: I devour any and all books, movies, or shows that feature dragons. I’ve exhaustively researched dragon mythology. I unintentionally convinced a guy to smuggle a short dragon sword out of the country for me. I make a living by arguing with awful people about the semantics of domestic violence.* I have opinions about dragons and writing. And I have ZERO tolerance for misuse of these magnificent creatures.

So, without further ado, I present…

The Five Dragon Books You Should NEVER read, or The Draconic UnMentionables.

Dear Authors, when you squander the brilliance of dragons, you earn my enmity until the end of time.

I am here today to warn my fellow readers. No one should suffer as I have suffered. No one should be pulled in with promises of draconic glory, only to see the glorious creatures debased and defiled.

Le Morte D’Arthur by Thomas Malory.

You expect me to believe a dragon …

Bookish Rants or Raves: Here Be Dragons + giveaway

Warning: I devour any and all books, movies, or shows that feature dragons. I’ve exhaustively researched dragon mythology. I refused to play Magic: the Gathering in 9th grade because they wouldn’t give me any dragon cards. Also, I’m an attorney. Taken together this means that I have opinions about dragons in popular culture.

So, without further ado, I present…

The Five Dragon Books You Should Have Read Already!*

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Poor Smaug, napping on his hoard of unparalleled treasure, minding his own business, literally embedding his flesh with diamonds to render him impervious to weapons – you know living out the dream of the 1% – when some pint-sized moron gets conned into stealing from him.

My very first dragon book. It was awesomely illustrated.

Thieves! Fire! Murder! Such a thing had not happened since he first came to the Mountain! His rage passes description – the sort …

Review: The Drag Queen of Elfland by Lawrence Schimel

Format Read: ebook provided by author
Number of Pages: 144
Release Date: May 13, 2012
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Circlet Press
Formats Available:  ebook, paperback
Purchasing Info: Goodreads, Powells, BookDepository

Book Blurb:

The Drag Queen of Elfland is a collection of fantastical stories imbued with a refreshingly queer sensibility. These seventeen stories feature a lesbian werewolf taking back the night, a gay vampire discovering the perils of going to the gym (too many mirrors, for starters), a young lord’s son undertaking a quest to obtain a magical sword and win the heart of the boy he loves, and much more. Sometimes funny, sometimes moving, sometimes sexy, and always imaginative, these stories show readers the secret worlds that lurk beneath the surface of our own.

My Thoughts:

Excellent! An uneven number of stories. There won’t be a tie like last time.

As before, each story will get a blurb, and a + or – indicating if it’s …

On the Booklovers’ Shelves: DRACONISMOI HAS BOOKSHELVES!!!

I understand that it is ridiculous to write in ALL CAPS and than add extraneous exclamation points. (Dude, we get it already, you’re loud and excited.)

But allow me to assure you that today is a day totally worthy of duplicative emphasis. Why? Because today I GOT BOOKSHELVES!!!!!!

I’m a nomad by nature, moving across the country every few months, and subsequently living out of 3 pieces of luggage. One of which was always full of books. (I cannot tell you how many times TSA totally unpacked my carryon for being suspiciously heavy and dusted every single book for bomb residue. USians are not supposed to be aggressively literate. It is highly suspect behavior).

My mother does not approve of buying books when you can get them at the library for free. She never let me have more than a single small bookshelf growing up. I had to hide my collection under other …

Review: Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig

Format Read: ebook
Number of Pages: 358
Release Date: April 24, 2012
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Angry Robot
Formats Available:  ebook, paperback
Purchasing Info: Author, Publisher, Goodreads, BookDepository, Powells, Amazon

Book Blurb: 

Miriam Black knows when you will die.

Still in her early twenties, she’s foreseen hundreds of car crashes, heart attacks, strokes, suicides, and slow deaths by cancer. But when Miriam hitches a ride with truck driver Louis Darling and shakes his hand, she sees that in thirty days Louis will be gruesomely murdered while he calls her name.

Miriam has given up trying to save people; that only makes their deaths happen. But Louis will die because he met her. No matter what she does she can’t save him, not even if she tries.

My Thoughts:

This book will attack your brain directly through your eyeballs. You won’t realize it until it is …

Review: Running with the Pack by Ekaterina Sedia

Format Read: ebook

Number of Pages: 339

Release Date: May 4, 2010

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Anthology

Publisher: Prime Books

Formats Available:  ebook, paperback

Purchasing Info: Author, Amazon, Goodreads

Book Blurb:

Remember the werewolves of classic stories and films, those bloodthirsty monsters that transformed under the full moon, reminding us of the terrible nature that lives within all of us? Today’s werewolves are much more suave – and even sexy – and they’ve moved from British moors to New York City lofts, shaved, and got jobs. But as the tales of these writers will show you, they remain no less wild and passionate, and they still tug at the part of our being where a wild animal used to be. Running With the Pack includes stories from Carrie Vaughn, Laura Anne Gilman, and C.E. Murphy, and they will convince you that despite their gentrification, werewolves remain as fascinating and terrifying as ever.

My Thoughts:

Why did I …

Review: Last Car to Annwn Station by Michael Merriam

  Format Read: ebook from Author

  Number of Pages: 326

  Release Date: June 27, 2011

  Genre: Urban Fantasy

  Publisher: Carina Press

  Formats Available:  ebook, audiobook

  Purchasing Info: Author, Goodreads, Amazon

  Book Blurb:

“The fare is ten cents, miss.”

Mae Malveaux, an attorney with Minneapolis Child Protective Services, is burnt-out, tired and frustrated. Passing on an invite from Jill, her flirtatious coworker, Mae just wants a quiet night in. Leaving the office late, she’s surprised to find the Heritage Line streetcars up and running and hops aboard, eager for a quick trip home. But this is no ordinary streetcar. Death is one of its riders, and Mae is thrust into Annwn, a realm of magic and danger.

“Your transfer, miss. You’ll need that.”

Mae’s life is turned upside down as human and fae worlds collide. Her budding relationship with Jill takes a perilous turn when they are hunted by mythical beasts, and …

Interview with our Guest Reviewer draconismoi + Giveaway

We are very happy to welcome draconismoi aka Cass here today. She’s a guest reviewer at our site and we thought it would be nice for all of to learn a bit more about her today. So I grilled her a bit for you. So take a drink, read the interview and take your chance to win a book of your choice. Please give Cass a warm welcome!

Susi: Cass, tell us a bit about your life outside of reading and blogging.

Draconismoi: I’m a bush lawyer in Alaska.

Get your mind out of the gutter! Not THAT kind of bush.

I work with a legal aid organization in rural Alaska. (See the map? All that stuff inside the arrows? My territory. Lots of space. Only one me.) I provide free civil legal services to people who have serious legal issues and cannot afford to pay an attorney. Lots of domestic violence custody disputes, …

Review: In the Garden of Iden by Kage Baker

Format Read: Paperback
Number of Pages: 294
Release Date: 1997; Rereleased 2005
Publisher: Avon; Tor
Series: The Company #1
Formats Available: Hardback, Trade, Mass Market, Ebook, Audio
Purchasing Info: Goodreads, BookDepository –  Powells–  Amazon – 

Book Blurb:

In the 24th century, the Company preserves works of art and extinct forms of life (for profit of course). It recruits orphans from the past, renders them all but immortal, and trains them to serve the Company, Dr. Zeus. One of these is Mendoza the botanist. She is sent to Elizabethan England to collect samples from the garden of Sir Walter Iden.

But while there, she meets Nicholas Harpole, with whom she falls in love. And that love sounds great bells of change that will echo down the centuries, and through the succeeding novels of The Company.

My Thoughts:
I just went on a crappy-book binge. I am highly suspicious of new books right now. They …

Review: Casting Shadows by J. Kelley Anderson

Format Read: eARC from author
Pages: 230
Release Date: February 1, 2012
Publisher: World Castle Publishing
Formats Available: ebook, paperback
Purchasing Info: author’s website , Amazon

Blurb:

Edward Kelley wants to destroy the world. His family is dead and his odd habits have made him a pariah in the small town of Hurst, Ohio. After the unexpected arrival of an anonymous package, Edward quickly discovers the tools to forge his malevolent fantasies into reality. Yet, he soon finds that he is not the villain of his own story and, with the help of a surrogate grandmother, an undead servant, and a foul-mouthed cop, he is fast on the road to becoming an unlikely hero. Casting Shadows is a quirky amalgamation of Contemporary Fantasy and Magical Realism, with a sprinkling of Classical Literature, Necromancy, and Russian Folklore added for good measure.

My Thoughts:
Hello there Book Lovers! Draconismoi here. I’ve been lurking in BLI’s comment section for a couple years …