Nightshifted

Nightshifted Cassie Alexander

Edie Spence is a nurse who’s left her cushy private clinic job to work the nightshift on Y4. Y4 is County Hospital’s supernatural ward. If she works there, the Shadows (the things that help hide supernatural activity from normal people) will keep her junkie brother clean.

This isn’t a light-and-fluffy paranormal romance. This is much grittier and more a mystery than anything. When a vampire dies on Edie’s watch, his dying words are “Find Anna.” And when she does, she gets pulled into some serious bad vampire stuff. There is a lot of action, a lot of blood, and a lot of nurse straight-talk (Alexander is a nurse when she’s not writing and it really shows and adds a lot to the book.)

Plus, there’s a were-dragon, a hot shapeshifter, and Edie has a zombie boyfriend. Plus, a possessed CD player that speaks only in German.

But it’s also full of lonely, broken people. Working the nightshift for low pay in order to save your brother is hard (and Edie has issues.) Being a zombie and over 100 years old is hard. Having to give up control to the moon is hard. Different characters handle it differently. There is sex, but little romance. There is A LOT of blood.

But guys!! So Awesome!! Alexander has really built this world. The characters have issues, but they’re mostly great people that you can’t help but love and root for. Their issues are so real and not easy to resolve-- many don't get resolved. Also, the action and politics are intense.

I found out about this book from Clear Eyes, Full Shelves, and it doesn't undersell.

Lucky for us, this is the first in a series, because you won’t want to leave Edie and Y4 behind.

Book Provided by... my wallet

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Awaken

Awaken Meg Cabot.

Things aren’t going well in the Underworld-- the boats are late, it’s very hot, and there are swarms of birds coming. The hurricane is above land and below, and the tension and release is real and metaphorical. Only, right before the storm breaks, John somehow dies. And none of the souls can move on, unless Pierce and crew can find the spirit of Thanatos on land, in the middle of a hurricane.

Do me a favor-- read this trilogy at once. I mean, it starts with a hurricane warning and the storm doesn’t really hit until the climax of the third book. It’s a very compressed timeline and would just flow better if you read it all in one go. (And now that all three books are out, it's easy-peasy to do that.) And here lies one of the problems-- I like John and Pierce. John’s an ass, but Pierce can handle it. It makes sense how their relationship unfolds over the 3 books, but when you think about the actual timeline involved, it’s pretty quick.

Over the series, Pierce really grew on me, and I loved the visual of her running around in a hurricane, in her fancy dress with an old school whip, kicking some serious ass. I loved the cultural slice-of-life of what life in the Keys is like when a storm hits (something I trust Cabot to be very familiar with, as that’s where she lives).

It’s not my favorite of Cabot’s works. But it was very enjoyable and I did like reading it. I also liked her take on daily life in the Underworld, and how mythology might still work in our modern time frame. I also appreciated that Pierce demands that Queen of the Underworld = Co-Regent, and how she really dives in and takes charge in this one.

Book Provided by... my local library

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School Spirits

School Spirits Rachel Hawkins

This is a companion novel the Hex Hall series, and takes place after that series wrapped up.

Izzy Brannick is used to moving around, not having friends, and hunting monsters who make trouble. But now everything is different-- six months ago her sister Finn went missing on what should have been a routine mission. Izzy knows she’ll never live up to Finn’s skills or her mother’s expectations.

So now Izzy and her mom have moved to Ideal, Mississippi to take care of a simple school haunting. The ease of the mission is almost insulting. The hard part isn’t the ghost-- it’s the fact that to investigate, Izzy needs to enroll in high school and blend in. Izzy can handle monsters, but can she handle friends?

LOVE this. I love Izzy’s relationship with Torrin-- the evil warlock trapped in her mirror. It’s a great friendship full of screwball comedy banter. I also like that Izzy comes to town and immediately has 2 boys like her and I can see why. Izzy isn’t very confident, but Hawkins often shows us how awesome she is, and I can see all the guys falling over her and her mysterious ways. I also liked how it was there, but it was a pretty minor part of the plot, because Izzy doesn’t have the time or energy for such nonsense. I loooooooooooooooooooooooved Izzy’s new ghost-hunting friends and how they dealt with the high school crap.

And oh my, Dex. An asthmatic Prodigium who wears a lot of purple and has a smart mouth? Can we get more romantic leads like this? Seriously fun to read and swoon over.

Fans of Hex Hall will like this one and should get it.

Sadly, Rachel Hawkins told me on twitter that this is a stand-alone and not a series. While the plot is resolved, there is SO MUCH MORE to explore-- especially with Finn’s disappearance and Torrin. (I want so much more Torrin. Someone should write me some torrid Torrin fanfic. I would love you forever).

Book Provided by... my local library

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Nonfiction Monday: Hacking Your Education

Hacking Your Education: Ditch the Lectures, Save Tens of Thousands, and Learn More Than Your Peers Ever Will Dale J. Stephens

Stephens (founder of UnCollege) lays out his manifesto on why college isn’t the best option for most people and instead offers a new template on how to learn, grow, and find gainful employment.

Stephens was an unschooler and carries that mentality into higher education.

It’s a compelling case-- basically college is crazy expensive and the higher earnings degree holders used to see are shrinking. When you look at how much money you had to put into college in the first place-- it’s not necessarily at great ROI.

In the words of Good Will Hunting (and this quotation opens the book) “You wasted $150000 on an education for $1.50 in late fees at the library?”

Now, personally, I would have been a horrible uncollege student. I didn’t have the personal drive necessary to be successful at it.

But one thing I love about this book is it’s not just for college-- Stephen’s plan for life-long learning is great for learning at any point in your life--high school, college, post-college. He has a lot of really useful exercises to get you started and great ideas to get up and go.

It’s an quick and easy read and a very interesting look at education and how we can, and need to, make it work for us.

Today's Nonfiction Monday is over at Shelf-Employed.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.