Holiday Reading & a Challenge

As you know I was off on my holidays last week to CenterParcs at Sherwood Forest.  Whilst I didn't get to see this man...

...or even better, this one...

...I did manage to get some reading done.  Apart from the second part of The Rifter by Ginn Hale which I reviewed yesterday, I decided that I would try and read something from my, sadly neglected, TBRead pile, rather than my TBReviewed pile.  I found it a very enjoyable experience and thought I'd do some quickie reviews.

The first book I read was Chaos Magic by Jay Lygon which I bought after Chris had recommended it on her blog.  The story is about a young witch, Sam, who has just escaped from an abusive relationship with Marcus and is seeking to get back into the dating scene.  He's a submissive and he thinks he's found his match in Dom, Hector.  However, Hector's jealousy and the fact that Marcus keeps stalking Sam threatens not only their relationship but also Sam's fragile peace of mind.  What worked for me was the way that the story looked at abusive relationships within the BDSM community, and also provided a sympathetic character in Sam who is prone to periods of depression.  What didn't work as well was the mystical magic storyline which was a little confusing at times and left me with a number of unanswered questions.  Sam was an engaging narrator and I liked him a great deal, especially because he had a lot of dignity in amongst his understandable fears.  This is the first book in a series and I think I will be reading the others very soon.  Grade: Very Good.


Then I read Hariji's Pet by Auburnimp and Michael Barnette which I bought yonks ago after reading a review at Emmy's sadly missed site.  It's a futuristic D/s story set in Tokyo which tells of zonewarrior Hariji who is rescued by a discarded battlepet when he is attacked by a gang on the street.  A battlepet is a genetically bred man or woman who is created to act as a sexual slave to the rich but who is enhanced with fighting abilities so they can be pitted against each other in something similar to a dog fight.  Hariji takes the pet home and becomes his new master.  On a suspicious routine job Hariji discovers that there's much more to his pet than just being good in bed.  Like all good futuristic novels the beauty of this book was in the complex world created by the authors.  Hariji lives in a sort of ghetto where the dregs of society are fenced off from the privileged 'corps', and the friendships and dangers in this part of Tokyo are brought to life in an expert fashion.  This rich/poor divide was realistic, as was the way that genetic modifications and genetically bred people have developed.  I liked the relationship between Hariji and his pet, and in particular the parts from the pet's point of view where he struggles to understand the world away from the opulence and comfort he found with his previous master.  The pet falls quickly in love with Hariji, which was realistic given that it's part of his programming, but I did find the love too sudden on the part of Hariji, especially since the story only takes place over about 3 days.  My only other complaint is that I wanted more from this world.  This is supposed to be the first book in a series, but I can't find any others and given that this was published nearly 3 years ago I can only assume the authors have decided not to write another one.The book still stands on its own though, and I found it an absorbing and at time thrilling read with a high dose of hot sex and some gruesome violence.  Grade: Very Good.


Finally, I read White Flag by Thom Lane.  I love Thom Lane's Tales of Aramanth books but this was a very different read from those books.  It's a charming story of travel writer and nomad, Charlie, who meets French wine maker Matt whilst travelling along a French canal gathering material for his next travel article.  The men have a fling, but Charlie knows that it will never work between them because he's a free spirit who can't put down roots and Matt is firmly grounded in his life in France.  I loved this story, really loved it.  There's a quiet beauty about the prose and the descriptions of Matt's family and the French countryside were accurate and evocative.  Charlie's a personable narrator and I thought the author had got the balance right between the attraction and camaraderie between the men and a looming desperation in their interactions when they realise how they are both so right and so wrong for each other.  There's a hint of insta-love to the story, but I could forgive that because I liked the characters, and also there's a forced time period as part of the plot.  All in all a really heartwarming and engaging story.  Grade: Excellent.


All this reading from my TBRead pile made me wish I could find a way to be more structured in my approach to reading more books from that pile, as opposed to just concentrating on books for review - which is what I tend to do.  Then I remembered that Tam and Lily are taking part in an A-Z challenge (started by Lily) where they are choosing a book from their TBR pile from each letter of the alphabet.  I normally don't do reading challenges because  have enough pressure in my life without adding to it, but It struck me that this would be a good way of forcing myself to pick books which I may be passing over and so I think I shall give it a go too.  I shall read a book and then do of my 'short' reviews.  It's probably going to take a while as I may only be able to do one a week (or even less) depending on my other commitments.  A quick perusal of my TBR pile shows that I have at least one book beginning with each letter of the alphabet except Q, X & Z, but I shall cross that bridge when I come to it :).  So that's something to watch out for in the future.