Hauling Sunday CII

So how was everyone's week-end? :) Mine was good, but could still have been better. It was our annual gift exchange yesterday :) Lots of fun and laughs as usual LOL and I got a new scarf! However, we wrapped up early because everyone was tired and we were actually meeting for brunch today. Alas, I missed brunch! :( I went to the emergency to have my foot checked out. On Friday, I said that I've been experimenting twinges in my left heel right? Well I ran some errands yesterday and it became pain when I put my weight on it and it hurt a lot when I walked :( Since I figured I wouldn't have time to see the doctor this week before Wednesday and I was afraid it could become worst, I went to the emergency... Sigh. As I was not a high priority case, I did wait a long time. I totally understand, but I have to admit it was frustrating... Anyway, my heel is inflamed apparently and it's most probably due to change of footwear ^_^; Also, the doctor asked me if I've taken something like Tylenol and I was like: "Euh no." Felt really stupid... I didn't even think about it. Guess because lately, I've had a few health issues where there's nothing I could do except wait, so it didn't even cross my mind. Plus, I didn't it would help because frankly, it feels like something is tight... but it is. The pain was better than yesterday and with the Tylenol, looks like it'll go away. Sigh, I'm just so tired of all this crap!! It's always like that it. It seems that whenever something happens to me, it's never just one thing, ugh.

Okay, enough about all of this. It just depresses me! Let's talk about something cheerful. Books. I'm still slumping, but I really hope something will pull me out soon :) Hope these books will do it:

 

The First Prophet by Kay Hooper - It finally arrived!! I pre-ordered this book back in November, but I guess they had some issues at the warehouse... The First Prophet is the first book in Ms Hooper's new series, Bishop Files, which is kind of spin-off series of the FBI SCU that I love so much. Hey, if I mean I get two books by Ms Hooper per year, I won't be complaining :)

The Other Side of Us by Sarah Mayberry - This is Ms Mayberry's next release coming out in January. I requested it on Netgalley hoping that it'll pull me out of this slump. Seriously, this lack of release is killing me!

***

That's it for me this week. Pretty slow. What about you? What did you add to your TBR pile? Or they waiting patiently under the Christmas tree? Again, suggestions to get me out of my reading slump are welcome :)

Hauling Sunday XCIX

Hi everyone!!

How are you doing? First, happy belated Thanksgiving to all my American friends. Hope you enjoyed the long week-end :) Did any good shopping?

Quick update about me. The past week was quite busy at work. Boooo. And then, when I had time, I was busy reading, hence the lack of reviews. Hopefully, this week will go better. Health-wise, I'm still feeling dizzy, although I got to say, the past two days were much better. I saw my family doctor on Thursday and she said the dizziness stemmed from post-concussion syndrome and it usually lasted 4 to 6 weeks. I get to see her again in mid-January and by that time, if I still feel dizzy, she'll send me for scans. After this week-end though, I'm hopeful that it'll go away soon. *Knock on wood* Finally, curling-wise, it was a so-so week. I lost both my games (Thursday and Friday) and played not very good. Very inconsistently. It felt like something was off and I think that on Friday, it was the way I held my broom when sliding off. Too close to myself. I lost my balance (when throwing) quite a few times... Also, my rocks just didn't curl. One of my teammates told me it's because my body wasn't properly aligned. Something to work on next week. It also seems that very soon, I'll be playing on Wednesday instead of Thursday, as we'll most probably drop section. Ah well LOL.

Now, book-wise. There was a Black Friday sale at the bookstore, "Buy 3, get the 4th free," but after the two last weeks, I really have no new books to buy. Sigh. Seriously, they should space out the promotions a bit!! I did get a book though and it's been one I was really looking forward to:

Did You Miss Me? by Karen Rose - Yep, it finally came!! And yes, I finished reading it :) This is the UK edition of the book. The North American one comes out in February, so keep your eyes open for it :) I just can't wait because I'm such a huge fan of Ms Rose. I really love her writing and this book was totally worth getting the UK edition. Not only the story and characters were great, but you really get your money worth as the book clocks over 500 pages! Been a while I haven't read such a thick book!

That was it for this week :) Luckily, this week will be as exciting as there are some books I'm really looking forward to coming out. What about you? Good week?

Review: The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

Finally a review!! Woohooo! I had plans for this review last week, but with the bed rest... you know how it turned out :)

Quick update about me. First, a big thank you for all the comments and encouragements! It's really heart-warming to know that there are people who care :) So, unfortunately, the dizziness is not completely gone yet. The good news is that it hasn't worsen either. I read online that some symptoms can last a few weeks after the injury... so I'm figuring that the dizziness will go away on its own eventually. I have a family doctor appointment next week, so I'll talk to her about it and if anything feels abnormal or get worse, I'm heading to the emergency right away. Although I gotta say, this morning, it felt better! Not gone, but less. I'm also taking it easy at work and going to try to limit my reading and blogging and so on. However, there's no way I'm going back to veg :( I also plan to resume curling this week. So you have it, the latest with me :)

Onto the review now!

The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan
published by Hyperion in October 2012

Annabeth is terrified. Just when she's about to be reunited with Percy—after six months of being apart, thanks to Hera—it looks like Camp Jupiter is preparing for war. As Annabeth and her friends Jason, Piper, and Leo fly in on the Argo II, she can’t blame the Roman demigods for thinking the ship is a Greek weapon. With its steaming bronze dragon masthead, Leo's fantastical creation doesn't appear friendly. Annabeth hopes that the sight of their praetor Jason on deck will reassure the Romans that the visitors from Camp Half-Blood are coming in peace.

And that's only one of her worries. In her pocket Annabeth carries a gift from her mother that came with an unnerving demand: Follow the Mark of Athena. Avenge me. Annabeth already feels weighed down by the prophecy that will send seven demigods on a quest to find—and close—the Doors of Death. What more does Athena want from her?

Annabeth's biggest fear, though, is that Percy might have changed. What if he's now attached to Roman ways? Does he still need his old friends? As the daughter of the goddess of war and wisdom, Annabeth knows she was born to be a leader, but never again does she want to be without Seaweed Brain by her side.

Genre: YA, Fantasy
Series: Heroes of Olympus, Book #3/Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book #8

The Story: The Mark of Athena starts off where The Son of Neptune left off, with a delegation of Greek demigods consisting of Annabeth, Piper and Leo, as well as Jason, arriving at Camp Jupiter aboard Argo II. Both camps are still suspicious of each other, but know that Hera/Juno has gone through all this trouble for some reasons and come to a consensus on the seven demigods who will undertake the Great Prophecy/Prophecy of the Seven: Percy, Jason, Annabeth, Piper, Leo, Hazel and Frank. However, the truce comes to an abrupt end due to a misunderstanding and our seven demigods are forced to flee Camp Jupiter. Now, their journey to the ancient lands is even more critical because not only do they have to stop Gaea from waking and creating havoc, but the success of their mission will also prevent a war between the two demigods camps.

However, as usual, things are not simple. Just before making their escape, our group of demigods gets a new prophecy... and this means a detour to Rome to save Nico who's been imprisoned by the giant twins. Also, Annabeth has been tasked by her mother, Athena, to avenge her by following the Mark of Athena... A mission that countless demigods before Annabeth has failed. Our heroes also cannot count on the help of their gods because a lot of them are out of commission, busy fighting headaches brought on by their Roman and Greek personas. And as usual, they only have a few days to succeed...

My Opinion: I really enjoyed The Son of Neptune and as a result, was anxiously looking forward to The Mark of Athena. As soon as I got the book, I simply devoured it :) As you can imagine, the expectations were quite high. All in all, I do think that Mr Riordan delivered with The Mark of Athena as it was enjoyable... but I feel the book could have been more.

One of the best parts of the book for me was Annabeth. I'm actually not a big fan of Annabeth, I always felt she was a bit too "know-it-all," too stuck-up, too conservative... However, in The Mark of Athena, I found her more likable. I feel Annabeth has softened up and it suited her well :) Part of it is her maturity, but another part I believe is Percy's influence on her. It was a good change especially since we finally got Annabeth's POV for the first time and I have to say, I enjoyed it. I thought she was interesting. Still very smart, but more approachable. It also made her storyline more interesting because I was rooting for her :) I gotta say, at first, I was a bit skeptic at how much this book would focus on Annabeth. Yes, I wanted to read Annabeth's POV, but there's a big difference between wanting her POV and wanting her to be the central element of the book. In the end though, Mr Riordan did a good job at balancing out the storylines and yes, Annabeth's mission was important, but it didn't steal the show. Not only that, but Mr Riordan was very subtle with Annabeth's role throughout the book and that really fit with her character :) In any case, it was nice to see Percy and Annabeth reminisced about the past, to see how strong their relationship has become. They really complement each other very well :) The reunion between the two was very sweet and so is the ending of The Mark of Athena, in a way.

As usual, The Mark of Athena is full of clever and funny elements such as the idea of the Greek/Roman schizophrenia that some gods suffer. It's a really good idea and I loved how the gods that only had one persona (Greek or Roman) or the ones where both personas were so similar in function such as Nemesis were unaffected. One of my favorites was Bacchus/Dionysus with the Pepsi/Coke relationship. It was so clever. And of course, some of the situations and how Mr Riordan mixed in the Greek and Roman mythology made the book :) Oh and I also really liked that Mr Riordan answered the Leo/Sammy question and didn't let the readers wonder and speculate too much. That would have been really annoying... although I have no idea what it means in the future for Leo, Hazel and Frank.

Also, The Mark of Athena was very action-orientated. It was really one adventure after another. That's usually how it is with this series' books... However, in The Mark of Athena, it didn't work as well in my opinion. Yes, it was still very fun and entertaining... but at the same time, it felt a bit too cartoonish. There wasn't much transitions between the adventures and that hurt the flow of the book. Especially after the first quarter of the book, it was simply non-stop. In addition, for logistical purposes I assume, Mr Riordan had to split the group of seven demigods into smaller groups for these adventures. So very rarely were the seven demigods together. And that's where I think Mr Riordan missed his chance to make The Mark of Athena more memorable. I think he should have focused more on developing a dynamic, a trusting relationship between the characters than the adventures. I wished we've seen the characters interact and bond more with each other, to overcome the Greek/Roman prejudices as well. Oh it was somewhat still achieved in the book, but it lacked something in my opinion to be totally believable. I felt the trust they were able to establish was too reluctant, in the sense of "we're in this together, I don't have a choice" instead of it being truly genuine. Also, I would have liked to see more of Jason and Percy dealing with each other, the two leaders cooperating. As I said, there was some, but more would have been better :P

Finally, my only negative about The Mark of Athena was Piper ^_^; I'm really not a fan of hers and I could have done without her POV. There was so much going on and there she was, worrying about her relationship with Jason. It didn't help that we didn't have Jason's POV in this one, but I can bet that her doubts were unjustified. Perhaps I'm being mean, but in comparison to the other characters, I felt she didn't bring much to the story.

My Grade: B. The Mark of Athena was entertaining and enjoyable :) It would have been even better if there had been more chemistry, more cohesion between the characters. Overall, I thought it was better than The Lost Hero, but not as good as The Son of Neptune... hence the in-between grade :) Looking forward to the next book! Hoping to get Nico's POV this time around!

Bed Rest...

Hi everyone!

how are you doing? Hope everyone is doing well. I'm sorry for the lack of posts this week :( I had a plan, but you know how it goes with plans :( Never go accordingly, at least, not for me LOL.

Long story short, I went to see the doctor on Tuesday and turned out I had a concussion from my fall on last Friday :( Doctor said I had no neurological problems, but to get rid of the dizziness, I had to rest for a few days. Actually, I had to veg: no reading, no tv, no nothing T_T Boring!! Of course though, I cheated a little ^_^; And then, yesterday, I went to work and oh boy, the dizziness. So I'm taking today off and planning to rest the whole week-end.

So just wanted to let you know I was still alive and what was going on :) No mini-review tomorrow, but hopefully, by Sunday, I'll feel better and will be able to post a Hauling Sunday post because while I cannot read, I did buy and receive books!

Ugh, see, that's when I think if I was more organized, I should have posts sitting there and waiting to be posted. Something to really work on next year!

Have a nice day and week-end!

Hauling Sunday LXIII

Ugh. I had a few days off and I was so happy to have them and health issues just came and ruined all the fun :( Really sorry to sound/be whiny, but I just need to get it off my chest. Sigh, I just want to be healthy again and not worry about things :( In part, I think I'm having a BPPV relapse :( I've been nauseous in the past few weeks and had a few dizzy spells. Nothing as bad as last March though. I actually felt better while I was in Toronto... but this week-end? Bleh. And now, I don't know, but I think I feel a bit of tingling/numbness in my hands and feet. Not sure if I'm just over-worrying and imagining it or paying too much attention to it. Seriously, I regretted taking my health for granted and I'd do anything just to feel normal and not worry at every little health hiccups ^_^; Anyway, I'll pay attention to it. I just hope it's perhaps BPPV combined with stress and dehydration. Oh yeah, gotta love the internet for self-diagnosis ^_^; If it's not better in a few days, then I'll go to the doctor.

Okay, whining part over. Now, onto a much more fun topic: books :) Wow, hard to believe it's been almost a month since I last did a Hauling Sunday post!! So are you ready to see my haul? :)

Heart of Steel by Meljean Brook - I got this book a couple of weeks ago, but didn't want to do a Hauling Sunday post with only one book. LOL, I never thought though it'd be so much time after! I still haven't read The Iron Duke. I think I'm having a mental block when it comes to that book ^_^; I'm hoping I'll have more success with this one :) Ms Brook is a brilliant author and I so want to love this series.

Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally - So I've never really been into contemporary YA, but lately, that's what I've been craving to read. Weird, I know. In any case, as soon as I read Catching Jordan's blurb, I knew I wanted to read that book. I thought the premise was really interesting - Jordan being a girl and playing quarterback for her high school team. I thought it'd be a good mix of contemporary and sport and I was right :)

Fate's Edge by Ilona Andrews - I'm a big fan of Ms Andrews' Kate Daniels series. I love that series - the action, the characters dynamics and the humor. However, the world building has always been a problem with me, just because I have difficulty "seeing" it. Well I have the same issue with The Edge series and the characters have not won me over yet.... but I have hopes, especially considering the hero is Kaldar :)

Kiss of Frost by Jennifer Estep - I've reviewed Touch of Frost not too long ago and if you've read my review, you know why I got Kiss of Frost :) I just love Ms Estep's writing and I'm glad she has two series going on :)

Treasured Vows by Cathy Maxwell - This book was released in 1996 (wow!) and the reason it caught my attention is because Alex has reviewed it not long ago. I wanted to give it a go because while it's set in England, it's different as in the hero is not titled. Small detail, but it can be a lot of fun!! :)

To Wed a Wild Lord by Sabrina Jeffries - This is the 4th book in the Hellions of Halstead Hall series. I've been enjoying this series so far and wanted to know more about Gabe... especially after the challenge the heroine threw him in the last book!


So all these books have been ordered online a couple of weeks ago. I've just been waiting for them to arrive. The only book I've actually bought is the following:

The Lady's Secret by Joanna Chambers - I read Hilcia's review yesterday and it was such a great review that I immediately bought it LOL.

And speaking of Hils, well she sent me a couple of books...

 

LOL, you can say I'm ready for the holiday season :)

And voila, a month-worth of haul! Definitively a great haul, but not too crazy right? :) Yes, I'm fishing for compliments for my restraint LOL.

Hauling Sunday XIV

Hi everyone!! Did you miss me? :P Sorry for the lack of posts in the past week. Life has been busy, chaotic and stressful lately ^_^;

Sigh, where to start? I guess from the beginning. I've been experiencing some health issues in the past two weeks. It all started when I suddenly got urinary frequency. At first, I thought it was an urinary tract infection and so, went to see the doctor who prescribed me antibiotics. However, after a week, I was still experiencing urinary frequency. Seriously, peeing every 30 to 60 minutes really does alter a life... and it's not fun :( Since the bacteria culture came back negative, the urologist is suspecting the kidneys. However, my blood test came back normal... So go figure. In any case, I have an ultrasound scheduled this Friday, so we'll see. However, right now, I think everything was due to stress ^_^; Seriously, seems like stress is going to kill me one day.

A lot has been going on at work also. We're in the process of publishing an article, my co-worker's work schedule has been erratic due to family emergency, the experiments are going so-so... and of course, it just had to happen all at the same time.

The only good thing that has happened is that I went to New Jersey/New York City the past week-end! Woohoo! My sister has been saying that she wanted to go somewhere for her birthday. She specifically wanted to go to New York City and initially, none of her friends could... so I told her we should go :) That way, I would get the chance to meet Hilcia and Christine :P And so, that's what we did! :) Because of my health issue and work, the trip was almost canceled, which added additional pressure. In the end though, my sister and I left early Friday morning and spent the week-end with Hilcia and we got to meet Christine :) I had an awesome, awesome time and a full post coming up very soon :P I was planning to share the good news with everyone, but yeah, it was very busy ^_^; Add in that I had relatives coming over during the week-end and staying in my room... that meant extreme deep cleaning ^_^;

So yes, life has been quite busy... however, I'm back :D Or at least, I'm planning on it :P and to start it all, here is my haul from the States :)

Here above are my new books from Borders. I have to say, I prefer Borders over Barnes and Nobles for some reasons.

Quickly, here's the breakdown of the haul.

The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook - That was priority number 1 of the trip. Something's been going on with book delivery and some books have been showing up really late at the bookstores. Trade-size paperbacks have been most affected so far.

Healer's Choice by Jory Strong - This is book 3 in the series and I haven't read the first 2, but I'm intrigued with this one thanks to Tori's review.

The Darkest Hour by Maya Banks and Wicked Intentions by Elizabeth Hoyt are two books I've gotten because of the great reviews they've received in blogland. Other books I bought because they caught my attention at one point and I was like, why not since they are cheaper in the States :P

Here are books I've got from Hilcia mostly :) She's a ruthless purger and I took advantage of it LOL. Butterfly Swords by Jeannie Lin is a loan from Christine :P

All in all, I think that once again, I did great in the States LOL.