A Book Review and a Book Sale

I LOVE a good book!

Don't believe me?  Think I am exaggerating?

Well, just ask my husband.  He will tell you that I read about a book a week (sometimes more if the books are really good and I am flying through them)...which is exactly what happened last week when I read Tiger's Voyage, the third installment in the Tiger's Curse series by Colleen Houck.

If you love to read, STOP RIGHT NOW, pick up your keys, drive to the bookstore, and BUY THIS BOOK! 

...on second thought, you should probably buy Tiger's Curse, and Tiger's Quest (Books 1 & 2 of the series) first. 

The point is, if you loved The Hunger Games series, or the Twlight series, you will instantly fall in love with the Tiger's Curse series!  Seriously!  I don't rave about that many books to my friends and family, but this series has it all:  action, romance, ancient mythology, mystery, and suspense.  And each book in the series just keep getting better and better.  Once I get my hands on them, I can't put them down!  For example, I received Tiger's Voyage on Friday around noon.  The book has 564 pages.  By Monday at noon I was finished (and we threw a party and watched football in between).

Here is a description of the series:

Tiger's Curse will be a 5-book series. Its genre is action and romance. It was originally an eBook novel series before it got published. Premiering with its first book in January 2011, it rose to popularity in the teen section. It follows teenager Kelsey Hayes as she travels the world trying to unlock an ancient Indian curse that was put upon Ren, the mysterious white tiger who she loves, and Ren's brother Kishan, the black tiger who loves her. While she adventures through India trying to break the curse, she discovers herself being hunted by a evil wizard king, Lokesh, and trying to sort out her feelings for Kishan, leading to a possible love triangle later in the series if Ren gets his memory back. (citation)

Okay, okay....I get that this synopsis makes it seem like I am obsessed with some sort of cheesy, teen romance novel.  I promise you I have not fallen off the deep end here!  This series has no relation to Danielle Steele, and there is no Fabio-like character or damsel-in-distress!

• The adventures are captivating.
• The characters are complex.
• The story is interwoven with ancient mythology from around the world.
• The book is unlike anything I have read before: utterly unique and spellbinding.

Regarding the most recent installment in the series, one critic wrote:

I was a bit hard on the second installment [Tiger's Quest] in this series, but was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed this third novel [Tiger's Voyage] quite a bit. I still find some elements of the story to be a bit on the melodramatic or cheesy side, but I think that, overall, the author does a good job of mixing romance with adventure. I really grew to like Kelsey more in this novel, and think that Houck has done a good job of developing the characters. I am really looking forward to the next novel.

Another critic focused on the character of Kelsey from the series:

Ah, the characters. I can safely say that Colleen may very well have created the most astute, yet ignorantly hardheaded female lead in the history of the written word. It's been seen in previous volumes, but is never more obvious than in this installment. The girl knows what we know, but she is very set in her ways. She is... so... DARN... hardheaded!!! All that aside, I can't help but love the girl.

Moral of this post: If you love a good read, go pick up the Tiger's Curse series!  You won't be disappointed!

I am already looking forward to July 2012 when the 4th installment, Tiger's Destiny, is released!

In other book news, Bo and I visited Half Price Books yesterday.

On Tuesday morning we went through our bookshelves and identified a full box of books that we no longer wanted.  So, we decided to head on over to Half Price Books to take advantage of their Sell To Us program.  In the end, they offered us $25.00 for our books!  I decided to purchase a new book (after all, I was all out after finishing Tiger's Voyage in just three days), and we took the rest in cash.

I'm very pleased that we discovered this store.  Half Price Books is organized very similarly to a Barnes & Noble or Borders: 

• the books are organized by genre and author's last name;
• the store features media such as movies and CD's; and
• it includes a small little coffeehouse selling pastries and java. 

With Half Price Books just a 15 minute drive away, I will have very little need to purchase books at full price (unless they are new releases that I just have to have right away....um, can you say Tiger's Destiny, July 2012?!). 

Next up - pumpkin recipe extravaganza!!!

Question of the Day:

Do you enjoy reading?  If so, what is your favorite type/genre of book?

Blessings,
Ally and Bo