Brazilian Thursday - Hugo, the Vampire - Gabriel Burani

And let's go to another edition of Brazilian Thursday. This time with an author that's actually a dear friend of mine and we're working on some translation projects together - I'll keep you posted ;)

HUGO, the vampire: Lights at the Dark Age - Gabriel Arruda Burani

If you got here because you read Twilight and started liking vampires, stop. This is not a charming story, with lovely vampires, love stories and people thinking of their lives, good and evil.

Hugo is a young prince living during the Middle Age, he's part of a vampire family and he goes on a quest to search for 5 mystical jewels.

The book is very short, only 126 pages, and still tells a lot of story, no long descriptions or long time passages with no actions - when nothing happens during some time, the author only says "x months or years have gone by", no stolling.

It's a very dinamic book, well written, but very far away from all the "hyped" vampire books.

Actually Hugo, the vampire - Lights at the Dark Ages is the first of a series, so don't expect to hear about the end of every character by the end of the book - many characters are only introduced and barely spoken about, hinting that they'll show up on the future books.

We're introduced to a medieval world, far from the Catholic Church that, despite being a risk to the vampires and influence their decisions, does nothing to help the people, that's left at the mercy of their mean and vengeful rulers. Hugo is a prince who cares for his people, who wishes their respect and not fear, which separates him from his father, Hegon - cruel, cold and violent - and brings him closer to his mother Eglantine, who is also a vampire, but highly instructed and respected by her people.

The book is built around Hugo's search for the jewels while, at the same time, seeking for the approval by his father and his people - two things aparently impossible to happen at the same time. We have a nice mix of battles, moral debates, friendship, love, faith and fidelity.

Don't get fooled by the length of the book (like I did before reading the first page) thinking it would be an easy and quick read - the book is very in-depth, the story is well written and there is no way to use the "skip description paragraphs" trick because there are few of those and they are short and direct!

It's worth reading, it's a brazilian author writing a book from a gender seen not often around here, that are medieval, historical vampires. And I wait, ansious, the sequel!

You can also follow @gaburani on Twitter, he's a very nice guy and he also sells his books signed, although you'd have to read in portuguese heh.

In My Mailbox

Ok, not really. You see, I got these books the past 2 weeks, but I figured I could come and show them all at once, right? Right. :)

 Eras - Stephen Play
A journey through human kind's history, mix with religion, philosophy and sci fi. Couldn't find an oficial summary in English, so that's what I say it's about (based on brazilian summary). It seems to be a brazilian author, even though his name sounds american... Is on the TBR pile.

Genesys Secret - Tom Knox
Summary from Goodreads: In this epic thriller, a secret with shocking consequences is buried deep in the Middle Eastern desert
A debut thriller of spectacular sweep and brilliant turns, The Genesis Secret is sure to keep fans of Douglas Preston, Kate Mosse, and Raymond Khoury reading through the night.
So, a Dan Brown-like Thriller. Lovely differently from my latest reads :D

Receive me Falling - Erika Robuck

I already read this one and it's a LOVELY book, historical fiction of a slave-driven sugar cane plantation. I loved it and read it pretty fast, which is always a good sign hehe

It was signed and the writer is a cutie, she was very nice and answered my emails and all...

Review coming soon :)

Crescendo - Becca Fitzpatrick

I basically ATE that book. From the moment it got here until I was done, I couldn't stop (it was hard to work a whole day without reading it aside from lunch hour).
You know this one, right? Hush, hush's waited sequel, I got an ARC on a giveaway at Kid Lit Frenzy and it got here in 20 days, record time, before  it was released!
Patch is hot, but a jerk. What can I say... But Nora is less stupid on this one - review coming soon too.

And 2 more arrived today and another arriving still this week, but I will show those next week ;)

Brazilian Thursday - Esmera by A. P. Ribeiro

Hihi!
I'm really excited that my Crescendo ARC just got here yesterday and I am already past half of the book, so I will just leave you with a brazilian book review.

ESMERA - A.P. RIBEIRO

It's been a while since I read a fantasy book so passionate, but with no romance. Because romance's been becoming kind of cliche, everyone has a perfect love, a doubtless love, a hurtful passion, it kind of gets in my nerves.

Esmera is about a person's love to their friends and family, both blood family as love family. It's passionate and I almost set out screaming "For Esmera!"

And also... I need a sequel. I cry, ask and beg! We can't leave the story to end like that, that's no ending!

Ok, to the book! Esmera is a book by A. P. Ribeiro, a brazilian author, and it's about an orphan, Annie (Anika) who finds out she's the princess descendant of a kingdom at a parallel universe, ruled by her uncle, an extremelly violent and tyran emperor.

As we go through the pages, we're introduced to this world and the friends Anika makes in that world - and to her enemies  too. The world is fascinating and has the potential to be a Middle-Earth (Tolkien), but it needs, well, many more pages!

The book is short, only 168 pages (by the way, if you're like me and likes to read the final page before starting the book, trust me, DON'T!!), but it's captivating and heartwarming, you laugh and cry every turn of the situation and the author can juggle the point of view os several characters, changing often, so we can understand the whole story and it's consequences.

The characters shift, change and evolve during the book, some emotions blossom, as I said before, there is no specific romantic love, but you can feel the emotion between some of the characters and you know there is some sort of romance there (get it why I need a sequel?)

After all that, do I still have to say I adored it? I loved it! But, I'll say it again - it could be longer. Could be much longer, actually, when I put my hands on a sequel, that's when I'll be calmer. I need more! More Anika, more Erick, more Dante, more Iriard, more Katerine and, above all, more Pietro. Even more Abigor and Ariana - Abigor for something obvious (no spoilers!) and Ariana because, well, because she has an interesting personality and very little was talked about that in the book.

Summing up, it's a wonderful book, by a brazilian author with much pottential to, at least, one sequel. Read it, it's worth it!

Wishlist Monday {3}

Hello friends, let's go for another series of "books I want to buy"?

The Shadow Keepers Series - J. K. Beck


Aparently a trilogy - couldn't find any information to having more there - but really, can we get enough of paranormal creatures? I can't. Vampires, hot, steamy and, geez, THAT cover *drools*... Where was I again? Oh yeah. I want them. All of them. 
**EDIT: According to the cool author who took time to visit this humble blog, there are 3 books as of now (sept/oct/nov launches), with another 3 scheduled. Now come to momma little bokies!**


Summary for When Blood Calls, by Goodreads:

Sara Constantine is one of the country’s most tenacious prosecuting attorneys—and she’s just secured a well-earned promotion. At first she’s thrilled. Then she finds out her new job involves prosecuting vampires and werewolves. And nothing prepares Sara for the shock she receives when she meets the first defendant she’ll be trying to put away: Lucius Dragos, the sexy stranger with whom she recently shared an explosive night of ecstasy. 

When Lucius Dragos kisses the beautiful woman sitting next to him at the bar, he’s only hoping to blend into the crowd and avoid the perceptive gaze of the man he’s following…and planning to kill. But what starts as a simple kiss to secure his cover ignites into a fierce hunger that leads to an all-consuming passion. Charged with murder, Luke knows Sara will do whatever it takes to see him locked away—unless he can convince her that he’s not the monster she thinks he is. And that might mean making the greatest sacrifice a vampire can make.

Cate of the Lost Colony by Lisa M. Klein


After reading Receive me Falling, this period and this story sort of filled an empty spot to me, in hopes this book ends differently and not as sad as Receive me Falling.


Summary from GoodReads:

The greatest unsolved mystery of American history--what happened to all the colonists who landed on Roanoke Island in 1587? This novel traces the fortunes and misfortunes of one Cate Archer, banished to Virginia by a jealous Queen Elizabeth because of her dalliance with Sir Walter Ralegh. What will be her fate in this dangerous New World?

Wicked Lovely Series by Melissa Marr

First time I read about Wicked Lovely Series, I just fell in love with it. It was a lovely Paranormal Romance, but with faeries. And evil ones! And I had just dreamt about it, which was kind of weird and definitly a sign ;)


Summary for Wicked Lovely, from Goodreads:


Rule #3: Don't stare at invisible faeries. 

Aislinn has always seen faeries. Powerful and dangerous, they walk hidden in the mortal world. Aislinn fears their cruelty-especially if they learn of her Sight-and wishes she were as blind to their presence as other teens. 

Rule #2: Don't speak to invisible faeries. 

Now faeries are stalking her. One of them, Keenan, who is equal parts terrifying and alluring, is trying to talk to her, asking questions Aislinn is afraid to answer. 

Rule #1: Don't ever attract their attention. 

But it's too late. Keenan is the Summer King, who has sought his queen for nine centuries. Without her, summer itself will perish. His is determined that Aislinn will become the Summer Queen at any cost-regardless of her plans or desires. 

Suddenly none of the rules that have kept Aislinn safe are working anymore, and everything is on the line: her freedom; her best friend, Seth; everything. 

Faery intrigue, mortal love, and the clash of ancient rules and modern expectations swirl together in Melissa Marr's stunning twenty-first-century faery tale. 

And you, people, any recommendations?

Book Blog Hop (3)

We have a Hop this week! Hosted at Crazy for books.

In honor of Book Blogger Appreciation Week, let's take time this week to honor our favorite book bloggers and why we love them!

Now that is a tricky one! I love MANY MANY blogs. But I have to say Sobre Livros (my fellow brazilians ;) ), All About {n} and Larissa's Bookish Life are 3 of my favorites (see the buttons by the sidebar?).
I do follow way over 100 on Google Reader and I love them all, on a daily basis *giggle* so I won't nominate many, but some Twitter people I follow are also great and I love their blogs, I just happen to get their tweets and access it.

It's a complicated love vs. lazyness relationship here.

Parajunkee View

Melina's Reading Vacation

Book Lover's Inc.

And that's only the ones I COULD remember!

Welcome from the Hop, I'll be hopping tomorrow and sunday :)

Grab a chair, take a book, watch for the bookworms ;)