I wish my Photoshop fu was this good:

It’s been ages since I last did some proper reviews, so I’m going to attempt to catch up with several book and movie reviews the next few weeks. Like last year I’m doing the 52 Book Challenge: read 52 books in 52 weeks. I “only” managed 40 books last year, so I was really hoping to push myself this year and read more. So far though week 22 just finished yesterday and I’ve done 15 books. Not bad, but also not on target.

Parasite – Mira Grant

I love Mira Grant/Seanan McGuire’s books. She one of my favourite writers and never fails to tell an interesting story. In Parasite, Grant sets up a world in the near future where scientists have discovered a way to keep people in perfect health: genetically engineered tapeworm implants. Six years ago after a major car crash, Sally Mitchell was the first person to be implanted with an “Intestinal Bodyguard”, but not everything about the implants are as straightforward as it seems…

I really enjoyed the book; the future world Grant describes has just enough realism and science to it that makes you believe it could actually be possible. My only complaint is that the ending is a bit predictable, but I’m curious to see how the events play out in the next book.

This Alien Shore – CS Friedman

I’ve only read one fantasy series from CS Friedman, so was interested to see what she did with a scifi story. I’m not even sure where to start with describing the plot: the background of the world she’s created is so rich and interesting, it’s impossible to describe in just a mere couple of sentences. I think the main thing though that sets it aside from other sci-fi books I’ve read: there are no aliens. When humans discovered long distance space travel, they discovered that a) they were alone and b) their long distance space travel created genetic mutations, creating basically a new alien race with each ship of colonists they sent out. After realizing this, they abandoned all the space colonies until a new form of travel could be discovered.

The Black Prism & The Blinding Knife – Brent Weeks

I really enjoyed Brent Weeks’s previous series The Night Angel trilogy, and he’s so good in telling interesting unpredictable stories. In The Lightbringer series he creates a world where magic is based on light and colour theory: mages can harness the visible light they have an affinity for and create a substance from it called Luxin. Each mage can “draft” at least one colour and each colour has its own special properties. Beyond the cool world and magic building though, the Lightbringer series so far tells such an epic story. I can’t wait until the next book of this series comes out!

The Tower & The Grove – Jean Johnson

These two books are the first two in Jean Johnson’s Guardians of Destiny series, a sequel to her previous Sons of Destiny series (8 books about 8 mage brothers). The books are about 8 different Guardians, each the protector of a great source of power bound to a specific location.

In The Tower, this takes the form of an ever-changing tower of traps, monsters and puzzles, which groups of adventurers can attempt for fortune and fame. When Guardian Kerric Vo Moss is locked out of his tower control center, he must pair up with the Painted Warrior Myal to run the gauntlet himself.

In The Grove, the Witch-Priest Aradin Teral is on a quest to find a suitable religious representative of the Kingdom of Katan to attend the Convocation of Gods and Man. He comes across Saleria, the Guardian of The Grove, a magical garden warped by the wild powers of the place.

Both of these books were so much fun! I loved reading about all the different puzzle chambers in the Tower and how the characters had to solve them. Unlike the previous series which was all set on the same island in the same country, this series visits different countries with different cultures and religions; Johnson has done a great job creating rich and intriguing stories.

Grant’s Pass

What if something catastrophic happened in the world? What if you had heard about a place that was safe? Would you go? Grant’s Pass is an anthology that asks just that question. Unlike most anthologies I know though, the stories in this one are all set in the same world: a major epidemic of three engineered plagues wipes out most of the world, leaving only a handful of people behind. Just before major communications went down, one blogger’s article went viral: if anything happened, she had plans to meetup with anyone that remained at Grant’s Pass.

I loved this anthology. There are seventeen stories and each gives a unique take on the world the editor’s created. There were a couple that really stood out for me though: Ascension by Martin Livings, Animal Husbandry by Seanan McGuire and Remembrance by James M Sullivan.

I’ve just started with my wedding planning: and I’m realizing there’s just so much stuff to do! This is pretty cool though: an Ignite wedding.

TeeFury has another TwoFury Battle today and this time both designs are Miyazaki based! The first one is from Kiki’s Delivery Service and the second one is from My Neighbour Totoro.

I loved Kiki’s Delivery Service (more than My Neighbour Totoro I have to admit) so obviously that tee is my favourite:

Both designs are available for the next 19 hours for just $11! Which one is your favourite?

Giveaway time! This time I’ve got a great giveaway for you guys, to celebrate the release of City of Heavenly Fire, the final book in the Mortal Instruments series. I’ve still been meaning to read this series myself, but I’ve heard so many good things about it.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster, one lucky reader will receive the complete series of The Mortal Instruments and a Mortal Instruments hoodie!

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment behind explaining what your favourite city is. You’ll also get a second entry if you’re following me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway with the hashtag #missgeeky. The competition is open to US residents only and it will end on May 31st.

About the book

City of Heavenly Fire is the final book in the #1 Bestselling The Mortal Instruments series.

Shadowhunters and demons square off for the final showdown in the epic conclusion to the #1 New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series.

Darkness has descended on the Shadowhunter world. Chaos and destruction overwhelm the Nephilim as Clary, Jace, Simon, and their friends band together to fight the greatest evil they have ever faced: Clary’s own brother. Nothing in this world can defeat Sebastian—but if they journey to the realm of demons, they just might have a chance…

Lives will be lost, love sacrificed, and the whole world will change. Who will survive the explosive sixth and final installment of the Mortal Instruments series?

Check out The Mortal Instruments website

I’m not sure if I might have blogged about this ring before, but it’s so cute!

I’ve just ordered it from Etsy seller DoubleBJewelry (who also made my awesome Space Invader earrings) and I can’t wait to see how it turns out!

What do you call an adorable dress featuring numbers in its design? Obviously: The Sum of Adorable!

You can get this dress for $79 on ModCloth. I still have never ordered something from ModCloth, mainly cause I know how tricky it is for me to get stuff to fit right and I just can’t help but think ordering clothes online is still too much hassle. Anyone else have any experience with ModCloth so far?

Via FirstShowing

I just got this book delivered yesterday and it looks great! Seanan McGuire is one of my favourite writers and it’s always fun seeing what she comes up with.

Here’s the description from Amazon:

Everyone knows the urban legend about the girl who asks for a ride home; the one who turns out to have been dead all along. But where did she come from? Who was she? And how did she die? She’s been called a lot of things: the Phantom Prom Day, the Girl in the Diner, and the Spirit of Sparrow Hill Road. Around here, we call her Rose.

Rose Marshall was sixteen years old in 1952, pretty as a picture, and in the wrong place at the wrong time. A drive along Sparrow Hill Road turned into a fight for her life—a fight she was destined to lose. Her story could have ended there, but a lucky break and a well-timed ride home set her on a different path. She’s been running down the ghostroads ever since, one more casualty who never made it home.

A lot of people have said a lot of things about her; she’s been called everything from angel to devil, from ghost story to myth to something more. They whisper her name everywhere from Michigan to Maine, from Wyoming to Washington…but no one knows what really happened that long-ago night at the top of Sparrow Hill.

Not until now.

Sparrow Hill Road is available from Amazon.co.uk for £9.49.

Okay, this looks great:

When I first heard about Gotham, I was expecting something more cheesy like Smallville, but this? This looks watchable. Fingers crossed that it’s not just good editing.