A Clash of Kings by George RR Martin

Second in the Song of Ice and Fire series, A Clash of Kings picks up right after A Game of Thrones. Martin continues to throw surprise after surprise at the reader and I fully admit that this book was the first one that I peeked ahead to see if a certain character was going to show up again.
I like that Martin gives the reader the feeling that certain characters are destined for greater things, I like that he writes characters the reader can hate so violently as well as characters it is very easy to become attached to, plus characters one isn't entirely certain what to make of.
It's been 2 and a half books since I finished Clash of Kings, so forgive the poor review. It's fantastic, spares nothing, gets into the grittiness of war, and made me desperate for A Storm of Swords, which only recently was returned to the library (which is the only reason 2.5 books have been read since finishing Clash of Kings), and I look forward to starting it.
Wonderful, engrossing, and these books really need to be read in quick succession. I can't imagine how fans have waited so long between books!

A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin

The first book in the Song of Fire and Ice series is an engaging historical fantasy. Admittedly I am a fantasy fan and historical fiction fan, and Martin does such a remarkable job of integrating the history of Westeros, the different highborn families, all while dropping tantalizing hints of what will (hopefully) be revealed later.
Like most good fantasy I read, it was a bit slow going to begin with; I seem to take longer to get a handle on the people and the places, but eventual I was enthralled with (enraged by, beguiled by) the different characters in the book that I did not want to put it down.
The book is told from the point of view of a handful of characters, and while we get slightly into their heads, we're not entirely wrapped up in them, which is nice. Martin does a fabulous job of ending a chapter about one character at a point where I wish he would continue with that character but by the time I get to the next character's part of the story I don't find myself wanting to skip ahead. Martin has such richly drawn characters, so well fleshed out that a reader gets a feel for all the characters, not just the ones telling the story.
I am not a particularly astute reader--I prefer to be swept up by the story, thinking more about what has been revealed, what's currently being revealed, not worrying too much about what's going to happen--so certain aspects of the book came as a surprise to me. It becomes obvious that war is brewing in the Seven Kingdoms, I just did not think it would begin in the first book (knowing this is a series, I figured the action would take place later). I am glad it did though, because now I'm mulling on (when I'm not reading) what's going to happen in the rest of the books (and I really don't have a clue, except for one event that's pretty inevitable). A Game of Thrones is an engaging story, especially if you a fan of history. It's fictional history of course, but it gives the feel of medieval Europe, with warring families and usurpers and tentative alliances. There is enough familiar in the fantasy aspects to prevent Martin from slowing down the story by explaining every detail of the fantasy and writes (much like what I've read of Scott Westerfeld) with an assumption that the reader will pick up what the author is talking about. And the reader does.
I'm excited to read this series and before I even finished the first book, I checked out the second from the library (and even debated purchasing it for my Kindle, and seeing as the vast majority of books on my Kindle I've acquired for free, that's saying a great deal). I'm completely lost in the wonderful storytelling of this series and join the legions of fans in July eagerly anticipating the next book in the series.

The Truth About Lord Stoneville by Sabrina Jeffries

Lord Stoneville is the eldest of 5 grown siblings, his parents died when he was young, and since then the Sharpe siblings have been looked after by their feisty brewery-managing grandmother. It comes as a shock to all the Sharpes when Gran tells all 5 they have 1 year to be married or she's cutting them all off.
Oliver, Lord Stoneville, does not want to be married and thinks he can end his grandmother's threat by bringing home a most inappropriate woman as his intended. Maria Butterfield, an American, is searching for her missing fiance, and the path leads her and her cousin Freddy to a brothel. Which is where Oliver finds her and saves the pair from being hung as thieves. Not doing it just out of the goodness of his heart, Oliver forces a promise from Maria to act as his fiance in front of his grandmother. She agrees in order to not be sent to jail and to secure Oliver's help in finding her fiance.
Being a romance novel, mishaps occur, misunderstandings take place, seduction happens, and the pair that seem mismatched ends up together. I didn't think Jeffries writes with the same sense of humor as Julia Quinn, but I enjoyed the book. The historical setting is good, the story good, the supporting characters interesting (each of the Sharpe siblings will have his or her own book, and 2 additional have been published), and ending happy. I enjoyed it, a good light read and I look forward to reading the rest.

Entwined by Heather Dixon

A retelling of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses", Heather Dixon's Entwined is a story of family, loss, magic, and of course dancing.
Azalea, the eldest daughter of the King and Mother (the girls all call the King "sir" instead of father) is called upon to host the annual Yuletide ball, as Mother is very pregnant and very sick. When she is supposed to close the ball with the King, the Prime Minister Fairweller (a younger man, very sober) comes instead to dance with Azalea. The ball is abruptly ended and it is not until the next morning that Azalea discovers why--Mother has died.
The youngest of the princesses, Lily (the 12th daughter, all of whom have flower names), was delivered right before Mother died. The King, distraught and grief-stricken, though unable to show his daughters such, rides off not long after the funeral to fight a war with neighboring country.
Without their parents, the princesses are trapped in the palace during mourning, in which they cannot leave the castle and most depressing for them all, no dancing. Mother loved to dance and when the girls surreptitiously dance they feel connected to their mother. When Azalea finds a magic passage to a beautiful pavilion with a dark man trapped in the passage. In their anger towards their father, the girls swear not to tell anyone--especially the King--about where they go in the evenings.
So begins the fairy tale in earnest. Entwined is wonderfully written, Azalea is a proud, stubborn, determined young woman who wants to fulfill her promise to her mother of taking care of her sisters, and she wants the best futures for all of them (and herself!). It's a great story that doesn't ignore the King, and the personalities of the sisters are developed as well. Definitely a recommended read.

Wives of the Kings of England: From Hanover to Windsor by Mark Hichens

Just from the title I knew this book was something I was going to like. I was a little more intrigued when I picked up the book on the library shelf: it's less than 200 pages.
Don't get me wrong, I love history, but admittedly, history writing can be rather ... dull. The Queen Mother led a fascinating life, but when I read William Shawcross's official biography (weighing in at more than 1000 pages), it took me more than a month to read. Enjoyable, definitely, but long.
Wives of the Kings of England suited me not only because its length, but because it provided brief snapshots of the nine women, so there was no way for me to be overwhelmed or bogged down by a great number of details. Though entire books could be (and have been) written about each individual woman, this glimpse provides a continuity from the woman dealing with her own parents, her husband, her husband's parents, and then herself as a parent.
I did not know very much about most of these women. I had read The Trial of Queen Caroline by Jane Robins, and The Queen Mother: The Official Biography by William Shawcross, but the rest of the wives (with the exception of the Duchess of Windsor) I was fairly clueless on. The long suffering Charlotte, married to George III, lead an interesting life. Queen Alexandra and Queen Mary I found the most interesting, however, but that may be because that's the time period I find most fascinating. Can you imagine having Queen Victoria as a mother-in-law? I certainly cannot. And that Queen Mary is so very different from Queen Alexandra, in fact George V and Edward VII were quite dissimilar. A fascinating, enjoyable read, well worth the time and energy to peruse the slim volume. Recommended for anglophiles like myself who are enthralled by the history of the royal family.

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

I did. I finally finished the Twilight Saga.
Thank heavens.
I fully admit to finding Breaking Dawn more palatable than the previous books, especially considering the quality of the writing. I find it much improved in this final book, though it did still drag on for a bit.
Granted, the half-vampire baby eating its mother from the inside out is a little weird and the birth scene a little weird, but those actually were minor in my eyes, probably because I had heard about them before I read the book. The first part of the book told from Bella's point of view had me rolling my eyes frequently. My main complaint with Bella is that she's an insecure whiner. She can't believe Edward loves her, can't believe Edward marries her, thinks she so not worth his time, and frankly, I think that's a terrible attitude for a character to have, especially one that appeals so much to young girls. Yes, I understand that girls are not particularly self-confident, but other others (Meg Cabot comes immediately to mind) have the same flawed characters who end up growing and thinking better of themselves. And I wish it didn't take Bella turning into a vampire to do that for her.
I enjoyed the Jacob-narrated part of the book, if only to get me out of Bella's head (that's really the main irritant for me, the book told from Bella's point of view) for a bit, though--much as I am on Team Jacob--why he puts up with her became much more difficult for me to understand. I just didn't see the attraction I had seen in previous books.
Edward became less obsessed and abusive after Bella became a vampire, I suppose because she couldn't really be broken anymore (and he got her into his family, they're a secret, she wasn't going to see all her old friends anymore, so I guess he won). I've just always thought there was something unhealthy about that relationship.
After Bella became a vampire I didn't like how she kept thinking she was "perfect" and that her human hearing and sight were "weak". I would have been happier if she had come to some sort of positive opinion of herself before she became a vampire. Edward wants to spend eternity with you, Bella, he would not do that with someone he was not devoted to. Wise up. Think better of yourself. Be a vampire, I don't care, just be a better role model for teen girls reading this book.
Renesmee: It's sweet, I think, that Edward & Bella got to have a family. I don't mind the happily ever after part of the story, I think that's quite nice. The imprinting thing I can even handle and think that Jacob's right, Renesmee is why he put up with Bella for so long. One random pet peeve: put the kid in a damn car seat. I don't care if you're supernaturals, the kid needs to be in a car seat, not sitting on someone's lap in the front seat of the car. I don't care if it's fiction.
As for the Volturi, I thought it was interesting that they showed up, I thought it was an intriguing part of the story (I've always found the back stories of the vampires and werewolves interesting in these books), I think I was a little disappointed the confrontation ended so flatly? Glad that none of the Cullens or the werewolves had to die, but it was kind of flat ending to all that build up.
Will I be reading Midnight Sun if Meyer ever decides to complete and publish it? No. I don't think there's anything Meyer could write about Edward that would actually make me like him (or think he's a good book boyfriend for teen girls).
I feel better for having completed the series (even knowing how it ended before I picked up Twilight), primarily because I'm a young adult librarian and if teens are reading, I should have an idea of what they're reading.

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

Elantris is a rich, well-plotted, wonderful fantasy. The characters are well-developed, the history of the nations and religions and characters are revealed in piecemeal throughout the book, encouraging the reader to keep reading! Like most good fantasy, it is not a fast read (at least it wasn't for me) but it was thoroughly enjoyable.
Sarene is a princess from across the sea, sent to marry the prince of Arelon, Raoden. She is 25 and edging on spinsterhood in her own country and in her own mind and feels the marriage with Raoden will not only do good for her country of Teod, but is her last chance at marriage. She arrives unexpectedly a week before the wedding in order to finally meet her future husband in person only to discover on arrival that he has died. The marriage contract was written in such a way, however, that even if one of the parites died before the wedding, the pair is considered married. So Sarene is now a widow without actually having gone through a wedding. Fortunately her uncle Kiin, his wife and children are in Kae, so she has the comfort of some family, since King Iaoden (Raoden's father) has so little patience with women in general.
Raoden is not actually dead, but has suffered the Shaod, or has been cursed with a disease that strikes the Arelish people--their hearts have stopped beating but their minds won't die. Like all people who have the Shaod, Raoden has been thrown into Elantris, the once great city that was the center of Arelon. Elantris once housed what the people called gods, people who could do magic, feed people without growing food, could heal with magic. Mysteriously 10 years ago the Elantrians began to be cursed and with the faltering of the gods of Elantris, Ioaden and the merchants seized control of Arelon.
Third in our story is Hrathen, a Derethi priest who has been sent to convert the people of Arelon to the Derethi religion within three months or Wyrn (head of the Derethi religion and king of the Derethi empire) will simply send armies to Arelon to take it by force. Hrathen is a very logical and practical man, not above bribing to get what he wants.
These three characters (and so many more!) challenge each other, make discoveries about themselves, and fight to save (in each person's opinion) Arelon and Elantris. A rich rewarding read, Elantris is a fantastic story with excellent world building, and wonderfully created characters.

Holly's Inbox: Scandal in the City by Holly Denham

I really enjoyed Holly's Inbox, published in 2009, so when I saw there was a sequel, I knew I needed to read it.
Holly's still working at DK Huerst (the bank) as a receptionist, and she's still with Toby, though it's a bit awkward as he spends a great deal of time in France for work so Holly feels like she rarely sees him. It definitely causes a strain in their relationship.
The rest of the cast of characters have returned as well: Trisha, the veteran receptionist Holly sits next to but can't speak with; Marie, the switchboard operator; Claire, the slightly ditsy upper floor receptionist; friends Jason and Aisha; and family. Holly's also faced with new challenges, including Tanya Mason, head of catering services at the company, with whom things turn ugly when Tanya shows interest in Toby.
One of Holly's biggest challenges is when she's temporarily made Front of House manager (managing the room reservations and the receptionists). She's excited and nervous about this advancement, even though it could be only temporary, but does her best to ensure it becomes a permanent position. Nothing is ever as easy as she would like it to be (and it wouldn't make for interesting reading otherwise) but Holly handles it the best she can.
Holly matures a bit in this book; her relationship with Toby makes her excited about taking on the challenge of the new job and wanting to excel at it, and other changes in her personal life cause her to rethink much of what she's done and thought before.
I really enjoy how quickly the book moves, since it's written in all emails. It's fast, it's breezy reading, it's light and enjoyable. I wanted something different to read since I've been reading so many dystopian novels lately and Holly's Inbox: Scandal in the City definitely fit that bill. I'm hoping there's another book to follow up with Holly's life because I'm really enjoying knowing her.