Monthly TBR Pile Update: April 2013

I have a ton of books on my reading pile and this feature showcases the ones I've managed to knock off that pile during the month.  Or it shows books I've read period.  However you want to look at it.

This past month I ended up reading only one book on the pile and the rest I purchased and read straight away. 

Nearly Departed in Deadwood is the first book in the Deadwood mystery series by Ann Charles.  I've had this book on my Kindle for way longer than I'd like to admit.  So, at the beginning of April, I was in the mood for a light mystery and decided to give it a try. 

This 'try' resulted in me purchasing every single book in the series, including the first short story she released, and devouring every one of these books within a two week timeframe.  I am absolutely in LURVE with this series and would recommend it to anyone who loves murder mysteries with humor, ghosts, and spicy romance mixed in.  This series had it all and then some and the character development and world-building are phenomenal!!  Unfortunately, I will now have to suffer and wait for at least another six months or longer before the next book in this series comes out.  But I can guarantee that I will be downloading it the minute it becomes available!

As for other books, I've started reading A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin.  But I can safely say that I will not have that book finished by the end of April, so I won't include that in the books completed pile for this month.

What books did you read this month that you really enjoyed? 

Leave me a comment below as I'm always looking for new books to check out!

 

Insatiable Reading Trend

I love to read!  It's the next best thing to writing.  Well, that and chocolate and other things I won't mention here. lol

Anyway, as much as I love to read, I sometimes go through dry spells where I won't touch a book for months.  And it just so happens that I was going through one of those dry spells towards the end of last year, beginning of this year.  But then one day, I picked up Nearly Departed in Deadwood by Ann Charles and suddenly my reading passion is back with a vengeance!  Yay!!

Since picking up that book, I've read every book in the series up through book 4 (actually I'm about 30 pages from the end of that book which I should finish today, but I'm counting it as having read all the books) and that includes the short story she released not long ago to compliment the series.  This woman has astounded me...seriously!  Sure, it's your basic murder-mystery, but she's thrown in ghosts, a middle-aged single mother of twins, a crotchety old man that has sex on the brain constantly, a Dirty Harry style detective, and a smokin' hot alpha male for the heroine to lust after.  Add in all the humor that mixes so well with the story and it's no wonder I have devoured this entire series within two weeks!  Ann Charles, you are a goddess of humorous, ghostly murder mysteries!

As I mentioned during that ramble, I'm about 30 pages away from finishing the last book in the series (please, please, please let there be more books in this series) and I realize that my reading frenzy is just getting started.  So, I was pondering what to read next.  Enter George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series.  Game of Thrones anyone?

Yeah, I got hooked on the HBO series and decided I needed to read the actual books.  I was curious as to whether HBO kept fairly close to the plot line or if they went their own direction with it.  From what I've heard, they stay pretty close with the storyline, but I recognize that there's so much going on behind the scenes that you can't fit it all into an hour episode.  So, with my sudden craving for all things Game of Thrones, I ordered a box set of the first four books which arrived in the mail yesterday...woot! 

So, to answer the question of what I'll be reading next....A Game of Thrones....hopefully starting tonight!  I plan to envision Peter Dinklage every time Tyrion Lannister makes an appearance in the book.  I'm completely in love with this character and feel that Peter Dinklage does an astounding job in the HBO series!

Anyway, I guess we'll see how long this latest insatiable reading trend lasts and I'll be sure to share my thoughts on books that I find worthy of expounding on!