We all grow up with warnings from our mothers, “Don’t swim after eating, you’ll drown, ” Don’t go outside with your hair wet, you’ll catch a cold,” “Feed a cold, starve a fever.”  Well, they’re all myths, but I didn’t know this one, “Reading in dim lighting will make you go blind.”  While I didn’t think it would make you go blind, I did think it affected your eyesight.  Myth.  It can give you headaches and strain your eyes, but that’s about it.  Personally, I don’t need the headaches, so I stick with nice, bright lighting when I read.

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joysann

Beyond the Night by Joss Ware

Read by joysann

After an earthquake, or something, Elliott and his companions emerge from their cave explorations to discover that the cataclysm impacted the whole world and, in fact, all of society. Even worse, fifty years have passed and everything they’ve ever known is gone. They are drawn to a city called Envy, and there Elliott finds a woman called Jade and a reason to continue living.

I’m delighted to have found this book because it’s starting me on a new adventure that I’m sure to enjoy in the next five books (#6 comes out in March). Suspenseful, exciting, mysterious and romantic, I couldn’t stop turning pages till I finished. I could easily get stuck in a reading marathon, getting little else done.

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Heidi

Discretion by Allison Leotta

Read by Heidi

Assistant US Attorney Anna Curtis is given the chance of a lifetime to handle the biggest high-profile case of her career: the death of Caroline McBride. Caroline, the highest paid escort in Washington DC plummets to her death off the balcony at the US Capitol. Anna is teamed up with the FBI to investigate the death and powerful elected officials. Anna is also teamed up with chief homicide prosecutor, Jack Bailey, who she is also secretly dating and doesn’t want that relationship exposed. Shocking twists and turns happen that lead Anna and her team on a chase that puts everyone in jeopardy.

I have been a fan legal thrillers most of my reading adult life. It takes a lot to surprise me and engross me, and this book did BOTH! I couldn’t put this book down, and when I was at the end, I couldn’t believe it. And just when you think you have all the answers, BOOM! Another twist to make me say out loud, “MAN, that was a great book!”

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Ashley

Lyon’s Bride by Cathy Maxwell

Read by Ashley

Lord Lyon is proud, decisive and cursed. If he falls in love he dies,  part of an old Chattan family male curse.  The problem is Lord Lyon needs an heir, so he hopes he can marry and have a son without loving the women. Then just maybe this will break the ancient curse.  But then the brilliant matchmaker Thea, who is given the task of finding an unlovable bride for the Lord, enters his life and both of them start to remember feelings best that complicate everything.

A magnificent read with touching emotions and sizzling sensuality Lyon’s Bride is an excellent start to a new trilogy, I can’t wait to read the next book “The Scottish Witch”.

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joysann

Tiger’s Eye by Barbra Annino

Listened to by joysann

Since her father died and her mother left, Stacy Justice has refused to participate in her grandmother’s and her sisters’ (the locally infamous Geraghty girls) rituals of witchy magic. But when, after all these years, Stacy is tipped that her father’s death was not an accident but murder, she inexpertly starts using her magical inheritance to find who is responsible.

This is the third book in the Stacy Justice series, and the continuing mysteries are quite fun and charming. Written humorously with clever dialogue, it translates in an entertaining audiobook, courtesy of narrator Amy Rubinate. I enjoyed the books one after the other, and look forward to the next for a few light, easy hours listening.

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Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko, Narrated by Paul Michael (Audio)

Listened to by Joe

Anton, an Other on the side of the Light, is a night-watchman, patrolling the streets and Metro of the city as he protects ordinary people from the vampires of the Dark. On his rounds, Anton comes across a young woman, Svetlana, whom he realizes is under a curse that threatens the entire city, and a boy, Igor, a young Other, as yet unaware of his own enormous power. Partnered by Olga, an Other who is in the form of an owl, he struggles to remove the curse and thereby save the city, while at the same time prevent Igor from falling into the clutches of the Dark.

The book is a political thriller mixed into a supernatural world. A cold war existing between the sides of Light and Dark. A strong read all on its own. In audiobook one must also look at the narrator. In this instance it is more narrator than voice actor, but a solid piece of narration. While I tend to favor the voice acting side of audiobooks more, I will always listen to a book read by a solid narrator, and Paul Michael has a long list of work that speaks volumes before you even hit play. An excellent example of a good book recorded into a strong audiobook.

Jean

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Cold Days: A Novel of the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
Read by Jean

Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only wizardly detective, is back from the dead. Good news, except for the fact that he’s now in bondage to one bad-ass queen of faery. Mab wants him to kill for her, and kill, not just anyone, but an immortal. The problem is, someone is lying, and Harry must discover the truth, not only so he doesn’t kill an innocent, but before dark forces put a Chicago-sized hole in the earth. But when Harry does find out what’s going in, it only makes things worse…

I admit Jim Butcher is one of my few autobuys. I love magic, adventure, mystery and sparkling wit, and Butcher has them all. I’m in awe of how he ramps up tension and stakes–just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, they went straight to hell. I also love the recurring staunch friends and allies and how I, like Dresden, can count on them in dark moments. I finished the story well-satisfied but I’m already wishing for the next book!

Bottom Line:  Today is National Pie Day…I’ll have coconut cream, please.