To Read Or Not To Read, That's The Question

I'm Barbara, aka VampAngel, and I'm 34. I'm an avid reader. I love books. I read all the time, if possible all day long. Currently, my favorite genres are Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Young Adult, Dystopian, Steampunk, Sci-Fi, Mystery and Romance. I'll read almost anything though, but those are the types of books that are piling up around my house lately.

Dancing (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #22.5) - Laurell K. Hamilton I can't even...
Jhereg - Steven Brust, Olaf Schenk Fantastic book! I can't believe it isn't more popular.
All Our Yesterdays - Cristin Terrill 4.5 stars!
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - Agatha Christie Clever, clever author. She got me.
And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie Reread on August 2013.

I've always been a HUGE fan of Agatha Christie. I read all her books when I was about 13 years old. My mother was one of her biggest fans, my grandma too. My mom had every book she had ever written (over 80 books) on a bookshelf in her bedroom until she died and I moved them somewhere else. I remember the first time I read one of her books. I don't remember which one was it. However, I remember being 12 or 13 and whining to my mom that I was bored. My mom told me she could fix that. She turned around and grabbed one of Christie's books off her shelf and handed it to me. She told me to go read it and if I was ever bored again I should feel free to pluck another of her books from the bookshelf and read it. She advised me that I could read the books in any order I wanted, just that I should leave Curtain for last, since it was the last Poirot book and that it had been kept in a safe and published when Agatha was near death. She told me she was sure I would be back for another of the books soon. Of course I was. I read them all that year.

That was over 20 years ago and I hadn't reread any of them until 2 days ago when I decided to reread this one and see if it was as awesome as I remembered. It was. I had no recollection of who the murder was, but I did remember quite clearly the end and how it all had been accomplished. It had stuck with me for all this time.

It's just incredible how clever Agathe Christie was. I enjoy mystery books, but it's not my favorite genre, mostly because I ALWAYS figure out who did it before anybody else in the book. That kind of ruins most books for me. I want to be surprised and shocked. Agatha Christie is one of the only authors who has surprised me. Maybe because I was only 13, but I don't think so. That's one of the reasons why I'm rereading a bunch of her books now. I want to see if she will surprise me now that I'm older and smarter. I don't think this book counts because although I didn't remember who the guilty party was, I remembered how everything had gone down and the end. Plus, this is the MOST MEMORABLE of her books. I'm now reading another one and so far I can't remember anything. I hope that continues because I'm enjoying the mystery.

Anyway, this is not a review. Just a little ranting on my part. Mostly because Agatha Christie and my mom are forever linked in my mind and I miss my mom very much. I wish she was still here to recommend books to me. She had great taste and was such a reader/nerd like me. As is my grandma. At least, I still have her.

Mom, thank you. Thank you for being such a wonderful mom and thank you for stilling in me such a love of books. And I will forever love you, more than anything in this world or the next.
Dying Is My Business - Nicholas Kaufmann Another book I want to read now but it isn't out yet. GRRR ARGH!
The Husband's Secret - Liane Moriarty Another excellent book. I'm glad I decided to switch genres the last 2 days and check Amazon's bets sellers list. Now, I'm going to go buy every book this author has ever written.
The Silent Wife - A.S.A. Harrison Excellent book, truly excellent. Read it.
Archangel's Consort - Nalini Singh Meh.
Angels' Blood - Nalini Singh 3.5 or 4 stars, I'm not sure.
Reboot - Amy Tintera This novel is a lot of fun. It's original and well done. The heroine is a bad ass who doesn't have any TSTL moments. I LOVED HER! Wren is awesome. What I really enjoyed was the fact that the love interest is a lot weaker then the heroine. He depends on her and not the other way around. I can get behind that. I'm sick of reading about alpha males all the time and I love strong women. I would recommend you go read this now while I wait for the sequel.
Aftermath (Sirantha Jax #5) - Ann Aguirre 2.5 stars, sadly.
Killbox (Sirantha Jax, #4) - Ann Aguirre 3.5 stars actually.

This series would be a 5 stars series of it wasn't for the melodramatic romance. I adore the characters, with the exception of March, and the world building is fantastic. Each book is a new and awesome adventure. However, I just can't stand Jax and March's relationship. It's horrible. EVERY fucking book has one of them pushing the other away/breaking up for some lame reason and at the same time they keep professing their undying love. Fuck me gently with a chainsaw but that shit is super annoying. This is the 4th book, and it's just getting worse. The excuse for them breaking up in this book is just ridiculous. It just finally made me decide that I hate March. I don't think that's what the author had in mind. I think Ann Aguirre shines in other aspects, just not when it comes to writing a romance. I'd love if she got rid of March and put Vel as the love interest or if there wasn't a love interest at all. Plus. the cliffhanger at the ending made me lower my rating as well. I fucking detest them. But I have to add that besides the romantic melodrama and the cliffhanger this one is my favorite of the series so far.
Binding the Shadows - Jenn Bennett 3.5 stars because of the cliffhanger. I despise those.
Leashing the Tempest - Jenn Bennett Cute short story. Fun and only 99c.
Summoning the Night - Jenn Bennett I'm so glad this series is fun and without any relationship drama/angst WHATSOEVER so far. No love triangles and no cliffhangers either. I couldn't be happier. Go read this series!