Romance Readers Reading Challenges discussion

So, who's up for the June Pick-It-For-Me challenge?


Explanation:
It's a group recommend a book thing - works just like a Secret Santa or Xmas Exchange, except the gift is replaced by a book recommendation. The names (givee-giver pairings) are randomly assigned. So whomever you get, you recommend a book for them. Preferably it should be something new and unfamiliar to that person, NOT a book from their to-read list - the point is to introduce new books and new authors. In return, you'll have a book recommended to you (but by someone else). And after you're done reading it, a short post with some feedback would be appreciated.

For this challenge, you need either have your profile set to public (preferable) or make the person who'd be going the recommending to you your friend. On top of that, I strongly advise keeping your bookshelves updated, otherwise you might end up with a recommendation for something you've already read...

Signing up period will remain open until the 29th of May .

Who is picking for whom:


Melissa picks for Kasia
Sarah picks for Annvelwis
Melody picks for Melissa Lara
Keyona picks for Yz
Michelle picks for Sarah
Tosca picks for Lori
Lori picks for Nancy
Amanda picks for Valerie
Mel picks for Annie
Yz picks for Michelle
Annvelwis picks for Mel
Kristen picks for Melody
Valerie picks for Lara Melissa
Kasia picks for Kristen
Annie picks for Amanda
Lara picks for Keyona
Nancy picks for Tosca

June Pick-It-For-Me Books: (all recommendations filled in already)


Melissa has chosen for Kasia: The Automatic Detective & Don't Look Now
Sarah has chosen for Annvelwis: Tiger Eye
Melody has chosen for LARA: I Burn for You
Keyona has chosen for Yz : Wake
Michelle has chosen for Sarah: Tempting Danger & Magic Bites
Tosca has chosen for Lori: Rush in the Dark
Lori has chosen for Nancy: Soul Mates Bound by Blood & My Fair Captain
Amanda has chosen for Valerie: Graceling
Mel has chosen for Annie: City of Bones
Yz has chosen for Michelle: Hotter After Midnight
Annvelwis has chosen for Mel: Howling at the Moon & Wondrous Strange
Kristen has chosen for Melody: The Princess and the Hound
Valerie has chosen for MELISSA: The Gargoyle
Kasia has chosen for Kristen: A Certain Slant of Light
Annie has chosen for Amanda: Tempt Me with Darkness & more
Lara has chosen for Keyona: For One More Day & City of Bones
Nancy has chosen for Tosca: Trash Sex Magic

I'm in.

Count me in!

I'm in.

I'm in.

I'm in

This sounds like fun...count me in!

I am in. I assume the pairings will be announced May 30 (or 31) and not June?

Ooops, my bad.
Yes, it's May we're talking about, thanks Valerie. I've just changed it...

I'm in

Count me in!

I'm in!

Me too. :O)

I'm in!

I'm in!

I'm in.

I'm in :)

Kia ora, kia ora - I'm in ;0)

Anybody else? If not, I'd be posting pairings sometime tomorrow...

Who is picking for whom:


Melissa picks for Kasia
Sarah picks for Annvelwis
Melody picks for Melissa
Keyona picks for Yz
Michelle picks for Sarah
Tosca picks for Lori
Lori picks for Nancy
Amanda picks for Valerie
Mel picks for Annie
Yz picks for Michelle
Annvelwis picks for Mel
Kristen picks for Melody
Valerie picks for Lara
Kasia picks for Kristen
Annie picks for Amanda
Lara picks for Keyona
Nancy picks for Tosca

Have fun.

OK, Kasia - You've read A LOT! My first choice for you is The Automatic Detective by A. Lee Martinez. It's a sort of sci fi mystery, but a little light on the sci fi. One of my very favorite books and I think you'd like it. If you can't find it or just don't think you'd want to give it a try, my second choice is Don't Look Now by Linda Lael Miller. This is the first in a mystery/suspense trilogy. This series made me try others by her and I've come to like everything she's written.

My pick for Annvelwis is Tiger Eye by Marjorie M. Liu. I really liked this first book in the Dirk & Steele series.

Hi Sarah, had a look round your shelves, quite a variety of titles! It was quite difficult to pick 2, mainly cause the ones I think you'll like are on your tbr shelf! So, I'm choosing Tempting Danger by Eileen Wilks. It's a werwolf book but I think you'll like it. It's the first book in a series, the dynamics of the main characters relationship reminds me of Eve & Roarke from JD Robb's In Death series. If this doesn't suit then I will recommend Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews. This is an Urban fiction title, not much romance but plenty of action. It's a husband & Wife writing team with interesting results! If you'd rather have no magic or other wordly characters just let me know :)

Michelle,

It was fun browsing through your shelves, and we have so many books in common. However, that makes it slightly difficult to find a good one that you don't have already on your list.

I'm going to recommend Hotter After Midnight by Cynthia Eden. You have mentioned that you enjoy PNR more than any other genre, and this is a hot romance between an alpha werewolf and a human with a "special" gift. I enjoyed this book very much, devouring it in one day.

I hope you'll have as much fun reading it as I did.

Yz wrote: "Michelle,

It was fun browsing through your shelves, and we have so many books in common. However, that makes it slightly difficult to find a good one that you don't have already on your list.
..."

Thanks Yz, I'm looking forward to reading this book. I just ordered it from Amazon, hopefully it will be here soon. I have faith in your choice though as I loved the Nalini Singh book's you recommended to me. I do love PNR, I started reading about Vamps, Witches etc as a kid and it's never left me...

Melissa wrote: "OK, Kasia - You've read A LOT! My first choice for you is The Automatic Detective by A. Lee Martinez. It's a sort of sci fi mystery, but a little light on the sci fi. One of my ve..."

Thanks Melissa! I'm so excited!!! I haven't heard about either of those books, and that's a good thing.

Mel, I pick Howling at the Moon by Karen MacInerney for you. If you'd rather something else, I recommend Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston. I've noticed you liked Wicked Lovely so I think you might enjoy it.

Sarah wrote: "My pick for Annvelwis is Tiger Eye by Marjorie M. Liu. I really liked this first book in the Dirk & Steele series."

Thank you! :)) I think I'll like it :D

Ok Kristen, your impressive TBR made it hard for me to make a recommendation, but I think I got it - The Red Tent (if you feel like historical fiction) or A Certain Slant of Light (some romance, some paranormal stuff). Whichever you like best, The Red Tent is one of my all time favorites tough.

Thanks, Michelle. I'll try Tempting Danger!

For Tosca I would like to recommend Trash Sex Magic by Jennifer Stevenson, easily one of the most unusual and original romantic fantasies I've ever read. It's a shame this book isn't more well known. I hope you enjoy it, Tosca!

Oooo Kasia - two good looking books. I think I'm going to go for A Certain Slant of Light because I do tend to drift more towards paranormal. If I have time, I'll pick up The Red Tent as well. Haha. I have a serious issue with adding more and more books to my TBR shelf.

Alright, Melody. I see that your interest in YA is peaking and that you tend to look towards retelling of fairy tales, so I'm suggesting The Princess and the Hound. If you love it, there is a sequel that just came out called The Princess and the Bear.

Keyona, I am so nervous about this because you did such a great job last month with picking Minion for me. I have 2 choices for you. My first pick is one of my all time favorites. For One More Day by Mitch Albom. If you don't want to read that one my second choice for you is City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. I hope you enjoy!

Nancy! You have a queer shelf! Amazingly though, we only have one book in common.

I've read so much M/M lately it's really hard for me to pick just one for you so I'll give you a couple of choices.

Soul Mates Bound by Blood by Jourdan Lane

or

My Fair Captain by J L Langly

These are both the first books in a series. I hope you like them.

Oooh, they both sound great, Lori, thanks!

I really enjoyed Langley's With/Without series.

Lori,

Oohh la la! I had fun choosing your book. We've read a LOT of the same m/m stuff so had to think hard and dig deep. Have chosen Rush in the Dark by Lynn Lorenz. I have a thing for cowboys so I hope you do, too :D

Hi de hi Nancy - have requested Trash Sex Magic so as soon as June begins I'm set with my first book :) Read a few write ups about it and I'm looking forward to it - it sounds quirky. Quirky good is my lifelong philosophy. Well, that and 'chocolate good', too ;)

Hi Amanda. Looking at your shelves, it feels like you read like I do - depending on your mood.
So, I thought I'd offer you so choices, depending on what you feel like reading, and what you can lay your hands on...
PNR: Tempt Me with Darknessby Shayla Black
PNR for young adult: Marked by P C Cast.
Historical crime romance: Slightly Shady by Amanda Quick
OR:
The Lady Lies by Samantha Saxon.

Hope at least one of those tempts you!
Annie

tosca wrote: "Hi de hi Nancy - have requested Trash Sex Magic so as soon as June begins I'm set with my first book :) Read a few write ups about it and I'm looking forward to it - it sounds quirky. Quirky good..."

Quirky it definitely is! I found the book purely by accident at a local library sale. The title caught my eye, I paid my 50 cents, and it ended up becoming one of my all-time favorites.

Another book you may enjoy is Jesse Hajicek's The God Eaters. It is a self-published title and rather expensive, but you can read it online for free here:

http://chartreuse.studiowhippingboy.c...

Just click on the title at the top of the page.

Annie wrote: "Hi Amanda. Looking at your shelves, it feels like you read like I do - depending on your mood.
So, I thought I'd offer you so choices, depending on what you feel like reading, and what you can lay..."

Thanks Annie! All of these look great and are definitely going on my to-read shelf. I'll see which one I can get at the library for this month. Thanks again!

Hi Valerie, I saw that you enjoyed The Hunger Games as much as I did so my recommendation for you is Graceling by Kristin Cashore.

Other books you might enjoy are Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series (Bitten) or her YA Darkest Powers series (The Summoning). Maria V. Snyder's Study series (Poison Study) is also very good.

I hope you find something you enjoy out of these!

Amanda wrote: "Hi Valerie, I saw that you enjoyed The Hunger Games as much as I did so my recommendation for you is Graceling by Kristin Cashore.

Other books you might enjoy are Kelley Armstrong..."

Thanks for the recommendations Amanda. My local library doesn't have Graceling :( but they do have Poison Study so I will try that one.

Valerie,

Poison Study was my recommended book from last month's challenge, and it turned out to be a pretty good read.

I think you will enjoy it.

Annvelwis: Thanks for the picks. My library doesn't have either books :(

May I ask for a third choice?

Annie: Wow you have so many books on your shelves. I see you've read quite a few YA books so for you I choose City of Bones by Cassandra Clare.

Hope you like it.

Kristen wrote: "Alright, Melody. I see that your interest in YA is peaking and that you tend to look towards retelling of fairy tales, so I'm suggesting The Princess and the Hound. If you love it, th..."

Thanks Kristen, that looks good and seems to be available too! :O)