Bibliophiles Anonymous

In this episode of Bibliophiles Anonymous, Denise and Jess review Shadowbound, the latest book in the Shadow World series by Dianne Sylvan. This is such a good series if you are a fan of vampires, good urban fantasy, and snark. This latest installment doesn't disappoint, furthering the plot, bringing well-loved characters more into the forefront, exploring new concepts in the mythology, and introducing new characters who are all kinds of awesome. There are also new villains that no one expected, who will stop at nothing to bring our vampires down, even if it means sacrificing their own souls. For anyone who missed our episode on Queen of Shadows, the first book in this series, you can listen to it here. Also, just for giggles, here is a gem from Dianne Sylvan's official website - Queen of Shadows, as told by LOLcats. Just because it's funny. Next week's topic: our favorite characters who have come back from the dead. Be sure to let us know which ones you would like to see mentioned in the show. Feedback? Top

In this episode of Bibliophiles Anonymous, Denise and Jess are back and talking about their favorite fictional places that they would love to go visit. Oh come on, who doesn't want to go to Hogwarts? Unsurprisingly, a lot of these revolve around bookstore and/or libraries. Can I just live here? Or hobbits. Who wouldn't want this house?   Jess's favorites: Hogwarts Castle (particularly the Room of Requirement) - Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling Polgara's kitchen - Belgariad series by David Eddings Cadogan House - Chicagoland Vampires series by Chloe Neill Bag End or Rivendell - The Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien The New York Institute - Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare Denise's favorites: Diagon Alley (particularly Flourish & Blotts, the bookstore) - Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling The Vale of Aldur - Belgariad series by David Eddings The Haven Music Room - Shadow World series by Dianne Sylvan The Green Dragon pub - The Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien The Cloud

In this episode of Bibliophiles Anonymous, Denise and Jess discuss the final book in the Infernal Devices trilogy - Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare. This book . . . wow. We will have to recover from this book. Denise will always love the friendship between Will and Jem. Jess finally feels VINDICATED as she sees several of her crackpot theories actually come to pass. This whole trilogy was amazing. If you haven't read it yet, read it now. A reminder - we will not have an episode next week. We will be back the week after. Have you read the Infernal Devices? Were you as taken with it as we were? Let us know what you thought! Email us at bibliophiles.podcast@gmail.com, find us on Facebook or Twitter, or leave us comments at our official website, www.bibliophiles-anonymous.com. We'd love to hear from you! Thanks for listening!

In this episode of Bibliophiles Anonymous, Denise and Jess continue their discussion of Cassandra Clare's Infernal Devices trilogy with book two - Clockwork Prince. This story just gets more and more complicated. Full of romance and adventure, twists and turns, and all the Shadowhunter drama you could ever want, book two brings a lot more characters into the spotlight and presents a bunch of new questions that we need answers for! Plus, Jess presents her crackpot theory for the series so far. Is she right or is she way off base? Only time will tell. Are you reading along with the show? Let us know! We'd love to know what you think of the Infernal Devices. Email us at bibliophiles.podcast@gmail.com, find us on Facebook and on Twitter, or leave us comments on our official website - www.bibliophiles-anonymous.com. Join us next week when we discuss the final book in the trilogy, Clockwork Princess. Thanks for listening!

In this episode of Bibliophiles Anonymous, Denise and Jess kick off their read of the Infernal Devices trilogy by Cassandra Clare, starting with book one, Clockwork Angel. A prequel to the Mortal Instruments series, the Infernal Devices series follows Shadowhunters living in Victorian England. We meet Tessa Gray, a young American going to live with her brother when she is captured by a pair of women called the Dark Sisters. While in their care, she is forced to reveal the strange power that she has - the ability to shapeshift into different people - a power that she herself didn't know that she had. According to the Sisters, she is to be groomed as the bride of their leader, a mysterious figure known only as "the Magister." Tessa is rescued by two Shadowhunters, Will Herondale and Jem Carstairs, who take her to the Institute. There, Tessa begins the process of trying to discover what she is and to solve the mystery of what really happened to her brother. Both Denise and Jess are big fans of Cassandra Clare a

In this episode of Bibliophiles Anonymous, we have our second "Stump the Host" feature, where Jess gets to test Denise's knowledge on all things Harry Potter. How did she do? You'll have to listen to find out! Professor Snape will make you study for this trivia challenge! For our next "Stump The Host" episode, Denise will be challenging Jess to Belgariad trivia. That should be fun! Want to participate? Email your questions to bibliophiles.podcast@gmail.com with the subject "Belgariad Trivia." That way Jess will know not to read those! Next week begins our read through of the Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare, starting with Clockwork Angel. Get started reading folks! Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest info, or check out our official website at www.bibliophiles-anonymous.com! As always, thanks for listening! Please rate, review and subscribe!

In this episode of Bibliophiles Anonymous, Denise and Jess give you another list of favorite characters, this time dealing with animals. Animal characters, whether they speak or not, always seem to steal whatever scene they're in. Here are our picks: Jess Altra the Firecat from the Mage Storm trilogy by Mercedes Lackey Warrl the Kyree from the Oath trilogy by Mercedes Lackey Emmy from The Redemption of Athalus by David Eddings Smaug from The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien Skandranon from the Mage Wars trilogy by Mercedes Lackey Buckbeak from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling Aslan from The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis Denise Grimalkin from the Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa The Cheshire Cat and two thirds of the rest of the cast from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll The direwolves (particularly Ghost and Summer) from A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin Gaudior from A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeline L'Engle Hedwig from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling Maggie from the Otherworl

In this episode of Bibliophiles Anonymous, Denise and Jess discuss the interview that J.K. Rowling gave regarding her changed views of the Ron/Hermione relationship in the Harry Potter series. This is a fandom that takes its relationships very seriously, and this interview sent it rocking with some people cheering her attitude and some shaking their heads in disbelief. Was it all a lie!?! We also continue the discussion into other authors who have made comments, or out right changes, to their already established stories. Our beloved J.R.R. Tolkien completely rewrote a key chapter in The Hobbit so that he could make it fit better into The Lord of the Rings plot line. David Eddings used prequels, Belgareth the Sorcerer and Polgara the Sorceress to clean up (or add to) inconsistencies within the Belgariad series. George R.R. Martin, while working on the Game of Thrones television show, took a barely existent detail from the Song of Ice and Fire series and blew it wide open.\ What do you think of when authors mak

In this episode of Bibliophiles Anonymous, Denise and Jess review Witchling by Yasmine Galenorn. This is the first book in the Otherworld/Sisters of the Moon series, of which there are currently fifteen books. This first book introduces the D'Artigo sisters - Camille, Delilah and Menolly - who are half-human, half-fae agents for the Otherworld Intelligence Agency, connecting the Otherworld with Earthside. This leads them into a number of mysteries, the first book dealing with the murder of a giant and some demons set on causing havoc. We both enjoyed this book and plan on continuing with the series. There is plenty of paranormal romance (including a love . . . rectangle? pentagon?), mystery, and political intrigue. Good stuff. Check out Yasmine Galenorn's official website - www.galenorn.com. Want to be a part of the show? We are looking for topic suggestions and book recommendations. Email the show at bibliophiles.podcast@gmail.com, find us on Facebook and Twitter, or leave comments here. We'd love to hear f

In this episode of Bibliophiles Anonymous, we premiere a brand new feature for the show - Stump the Host! Each STH episode will be a different host with a different topic. This week, Denise challenges Jess to a round of Tolkien trivia. How did she do? You'll have to listen to find out! Questions selected from FunTrivia.com' s Ultimate Lord of the Rings Quiz, Wikia.com, and the Lord of the Rings Trivial Pursuit game. Whoa! Did you see that question? It was really tough! Glad I didn't get that one! This will become a regular feature for the show. Next up, Jess will challenge Denise at Harry Potter trivia. If you want to submit questions for consideration, email them to bibliophiles.podcast@gmail.com with the subject "Harry Potter Trivia." Denise promises that she won't read those. You didn't know that one? Seriously? Next week's episode will be a review of Witchling by Yasmine Galenorn. Be sure to check it out! If you have any feedback, topic suggestions, or book recommendations, you can email to bibliophiles.

In this episode of Bibliophiles Anonymous, Denise and Jess take a suggestion from the website "I'm Loving Books" and talk about their favorite book covers from last year. This will hopefully become an annual, year-in-review issue. Denise has written reviews of all of hers over at her blog, "Life With No Plot," and we've reviewed all of Jess's picks on the show Denise's favorites: Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake (review here) White Cat by Holly Black (review here) Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham (review here) Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore (review here) Divergent by Veronica Roth (series review here) Jess's favorites: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness (episode here) Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (episode here) Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross (episode here) Graceling by Kristin Cashore (episode here) Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor (episode here) What were some of your favorite covers from last year? Please let us know! You can email us a

In this episode of Bibliophiles Anonymous, Denise and Jess take on another topic from "The Broke and the Bookish," one of our favorite bookish websites. We're talking about our wishlist - the things that we wish certain authors would do for us. Hey, we've been devoted fans! We deserve it! Right? Here are some of the things we really really want: Dear John Flanagan: Why can't you write Ranger's Apprentice books for ever? Dear Mercedes Lackey: please write about the founding of Valdemar! Dear J.K. Rowling: please, for the love of Merlin, give us more Harry Potter! Particularly the Marauders years, but we'll take anything. Dear Chloe Neill: please give us more about the Shifters! Or any of the other supernatural creatures living in the greater Chicago area! Dear Mira Grant: please let us know what happened to those two characters (you know who we're talking about)! Dear Rachel Hawkins: please write more Hex Hall books! And if you do, please be sure that Archer is in them! Dear Papa Tolkien: please come back fro

In this episode of Bibliophiles Anonymous, Denise and Jess review Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor. As you can probably tell, we loved this book. We wish we could have gone into further detail for the review, but due to the HUGE SPOILER/PLOT TWIST/REVEAL, we can't. This is a story that you really need to experience for your self. We've both read book two already, Days of Blood & Starlight, and can't wait for book three's release, Dreams of Gods & Monsters, which comes out April 8th. Or if you can't wait that long, check out Night of Cake & Puppets, a novella detailing Zuzanna and Mik's first date. Have you read these books? Did you love them as much as we did? Did you not like them for some reason? Let us know! We'd love to hear from you! Email us at bibliophiles.podcast@gmail.com, find us on Twitter (@BibAnonPodcast) or Facebook, or leave us a comment at our official website, www.bibliophiles-anonymous.com. We're also in the process of putting together our shows for 2014. Please let u

In this episode of Bibliophiles Anonymous, Denise and Jess review the movie The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Review is probably the wrong word. Geek out comes closer. We go on numerous tangents from connections in The Silmarillion, the changes in Gandalf's staff, and a brief discussion on whether or not the Balrog had wings. We do also get around to reviewing the movie, discussing changes made from the book, which ones were acceptable and which ones were just straight up wrong. Overall, we both enjoyed the movie and recommend that you go see it. Links mentioned in the show: The Great Balrog Wing Debate | The Tolkien Professor Have you seen the movie? Let us know what you thought! Email us at bibliophiles.podcast@gmail.com, find us on Twitter (@BibAnonPodcast) or on Facebook, or leave us comments at our official website, www.bibliophiles-anonymous.com. We're also assembling our 2014 show schedule. Please let us know if there are any topics you would like to hear discussed or books you would like us to rev

In this episode of Bibliophiles Anonymous, Denise and Jess talk about goals - how they did on goals in 2013 and what goals they want to set for 2014. 2013 had mixed success. Jess set out to read 60 books, which she did, but she failed spectacularly at reading her entire bookshelf in order to clean it out. Denise, who is a bit of a list-making wing nut, set five goals for 2013, of which she accomplished 1.5 of them. She reached her goal of reading 70 books for the year, and finished about half of the series that she started in 2013, but read no books off the "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die" list, did not complete any series read from prior years, and did not re-read books already on her bookshelf in order to add them to GoodReads. Here are the goals for 2014: Jess GoodReads challenge - reading 60 books for the year Read 5 books off her TBR bookshelf Denise GoodReads challenge - reading 70 books for the year Finish the series left unfinished in 2013 (Kady Cross's Steampunk Chronicles, Kami Garcia an

In this episode of Bibliophiles Anonymous, Denise and Jess review the much anticipated sequel to The Hunger Games - Catching Fire. As far as book-to-movie adaptations go, we both think that these folks have the right idea. The movie was awesome. We also discuss casting highlights - the always wonderful Jennifer Lawrence, Stanley Tucci,  and Woody Harrelson, as well as brilliant newcomers Sam Claflin, Lynn Cohen, and Jena Malone - what was left out that should have been kept in, and Jess's undying, irrational hatred of the character of Peeta (sorry Josh Hutcherson - it's nothing personal). Have you seen the movie? If so, what did you think? Were you as impressed as we were, or were there things that you thought should have been done completely different? Please let us know your thoughts. You can email us at bibliophiles.podcast@gmail.com, find us on Twitter (@BibAnonPodcast) or on Facebook (www.facebook.com/BibliophilesAnonymousPodcast), or leave comments below. In the way of announcements, there will be no sh

In this episode of Bibliophiles Anonymous, Denise and Jess tackle a number of small questions from the website "Booking Through Thursday." Movies have a rating system to help guide the consumer weed out adult/violent/inappropriate kinds of films. Video games do, too. Do you think BOOKS should have a ratings system? We all know the beauty of reading a really wonderful book for the first time—when everything about the story and the writing and the timing click to make a reader’s perfect storm … but it’s fleeting, because you can never read that book for the first time again. So … if you could magically reset things so that you had the chance to read a favorite book/series again for the first time … which would you choose? And why? How do you organize/store your books? Do you go through them often? Or do you pretty much just shelve them and then leave them alone until you need them? Do you have a preference between “person” in the books you read? Do you prefer third-person to first-person? Or don’t you care?

In this episode of Bibliophiles Anonymous, Denise and Jess talk about their favorite secondary characters of their favorite series. Yes, we have way too many to name, but we gave it a go. Books mentioned: the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, the Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien, the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, the Belgariad, Mallorean, Elenium and Tamuli series by David Eddings, and many, many, many others. This was a tough topic to narrow down, and we know that we missed a whole bunch of awesome characters. If there are any that you would like to mention, please let us know in comments. You can also email us at bibliophiles.podcast@gmail.com, find us on Twitter (@BibAnonPodcast) or on Facebook. As always, thank you so much for listening! Please rate, review and subscribe!

In this episode of Bibliophiles Anonymous, Denise and Jess discuss their growing love for steampunk with their review of The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross. A romp across Victorian London with a group of people with superhero abilities going out in search for a mysterious man called the Machinist who is creating automatons that can kill. We both really like this book, although we're not sure about the title. The steel corset was very cool, but it didn't figure in the story very much. We're hoping that the clockwork collar in The Girl in the Clockwork Collar is more significant. But still, we're both planning on continuing with the series. Have you read any of the Steampunk Chronicles? What are your thoughts? We are also looking for some more topic suggestions and book recommendations, so let us know if you have any of those. You can email us at bibliophiles.podcast@gmail.com, find us on Twitter at @BibAnonPodcast, or leave a comment at our official website, www.bibliophiles-anonymous.com. As always, t

In this episode of Bibliophiles Anonymous, Denise and Jess talk about a serious topic. Inspired by the reactions of fans to Allegiant, the final book in Veronica Roth's Divergent trilogy, we talk about the relationship between readers, books, and the authors we supposedly love. Veronica Roth has received multiple threats from fans who are upset about the ending of this trilogy. Charlaine Harris had a fan who received her book, Dead Ever After, early and posted spoilers all over the Internet in order to ruin the book for other people. The most extreme case we discuss is the reaction of all the craziness that surrounded Mercedes Lackey's Diana Tregarde series. The bottom line, folks. Be nice to people. Don't act like an idiot. Here are the links we promised: Veronica Roth's response to reader reactions to Allegiant (spoilers ahoy): http://veronicarothbooks.blogspot.com/2013/10/about-end-of-allegiant-spoilers.html Bibliofiend's article about the Veronica Roth situation (spoiler free): http://bibliofiend.com/201