Tally for 2009/11/15
Borrowed: 0
Received: 0
Bought: 7
Total Cost: $32.24

Harry Dresden - Wizard
Lost items found. Paranormal investigations.
Consulting. Advice. Reasonable rates.
No Love Potions, Endless Purses, Parties, or Other Entertainment.
Harry Dresden is the best at what he does. Well, technically, he's the only at what he does. So when the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal creativity or capability, they come to him for answers. For the "everyday" world is actually full of strange and magical things - and most of them don't play too well with humans. That's where Harry comes in. Takes a wizard to catch a - well, whatever.
There's just one problem. Business, to put it mildly, stinks. So when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, Harry's seeing dollar signs. But where there's magic, there's a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry's name. And that's when things start to get...interesting.
Magic. It can get a guy killed.

There was some sort of joke going on between the bookshop guy and my friend about me buying a Butcher book...something about at least I didn't buy Daniel Steels =T
Anyways, I've been wanting to read urban fantasy without the paranormal romance aspect for a while now and the Dresden Files series seem to fit that category.
Bought from used bookstore ($5.50)

Seyonne is a man waiting to die. He has been a slave for sixteen years, almost half his life, and has lost everything of meaning to him: his dignity, the people and homeland he loves, and the Warden's power he used to defend an unsuspecting world from the ravages of demons. Seyonne has made peace with his fate. With strict self-discipline he forces himself to exist only in the present moment and to avoid the pain of hope or caring about anyone. But from the moment he is sold to the arrogant, careless Prince Aleksander, the heir to the Derzhi Empire, Seyonne's uneasy peace begins to crumble. And when he discovers a demon lurking in the Derzhi court, he must find hope and strength in a most unlikely place...

This cover is really hideous, but it's the only one available at any of the stores. I've read reviews about this book that hint at it being the best book in the trilogy, which means I'm kind of apprehensive about reading the rest of the series. However, depending on the developments between Seyonne and Aleksander, I might give the series a try.
Bought from used bookstore ($4.95)

Sadima lives in a world where magic has been banned, leaving poor villagers prey to fakes and charlatans. A "magician" stole her family's few valuables and left Sadima's mother to die on the day Sadima was born. But vestiges of magic are hidden in old rhymes and hearth tales and in people like Sadima, who conceals her silent communication with animals for fear of rejection and ridicule. When rumors of her gift reach Somiss, a young nobleman obsessed with restoring magic, he sends Franklin, his lifelong servant, to find her. Sadima's joy at sharing her secret becomes love for the man she shares it with. But Franklin's irrevocable bond to the brilliant and dangerous Somiss traps her, too, and she faces a heartbreaking decision.
Centuries later magic has been restored, but it is available only to the wealthy and is strictly controlled by wizards within a sequestered academy of magic. Hahp, the expendable second son of a rich merchant, is forced into the academy and finds himself paired with Gerrard, a peasant boy inexplicably admitted with nine sons of privilege and wealth. Only one of the ten students will graduate -- and the first academic requirement is survival.

This is the trade paperback version~ They were also selling an ARC for cheaper Oo;
The cover reminded us a lot of the Death Note theme with apples. The story is apparently told in two timelines that converge in the middle of the book. The past has a theme of banned magic and the present has magic reinstated, so the mystery is about what happened in between. The cover for the second book looks really creepy and so I'm very excited.
Bought from used bookstore ($3.50)

A small number of Muscovites with supernatural powers – those who are Other, owing allegiance either to the Dark or the Light – co-exist in an uneasy truce, each side keeping a close eye on the other’s activities around the city.
Anton, an Other on the side of the Light, is a night-watchman, patrolling the streets and Metro of the city as he protects ordinary people from the vampires of the Dark. On his rounds, Anton comes across a young woman, Svetlana, whom he realizes is under a curse that threatens the entire city, and a boy, Igor, a young Other, as yet unaware of his own enormous power. Partnered by Olga, an Other who is in the form of an owl, he struggles to remove the curse and thereby save the city, while at the same time prevent Igor from falling into the clutches of the Dark.

Been wanting this really badly ever since I heard about it. Though it's been compared to Harry Potter, I'd still love to see an urban fantasy with a more gritty edge, and like the Dresden Files, have minimal romance. Also, I'm quite interested in how the Russian influence would affect the story's developments compared to American urban fantasy.
Bought from used bookstore ($5.50)

A world that exists in the shadows of our own.
A conflict we will never see.
One woman stands between those determined to control history and those who will risk their lives for freedom.
Maya is hiding in plain sight in London. The twenty-six-year-old has abandoned the dangerous obligations pressed upon her by her father, and chosen instead to live a normal life. But Maya comes from a long line of people who call themselves Harlequins - a fierce group of warriors willing to sacrifice their lives to protect a select few known as Travelers.
Gabriel and Michael Corrigan are brothers living in Los Angeles. Since childhood, the young men have been shaped by stories that their late father was a Traveler, one of a small band of prophets who have vastly influenced the course of history. Travelers are able to attain pure enlightenment, and have for centuries ushered change into the world. Gabriel and Michael, who may have inherited their father's gifts, have always protected themselves by living "off the Grid" - that is, invisible to the real-life surveillance networks that monitor people in our modern society.
Summoned by her ailing father, Maya is told of the existence of the brothers. The Corrigans are in severe danger, stalked by powerful men known as the Tabula - ruthless mercenaries who have hunted Travelers for generations. This group is determined to inflict order on the world by controlling it, and they view Travelers as an intolerable threat. As Maya races to California to protect the brothers, she is reluctantly pulled back into the cold and solitary Harlequin existence. A colossal battle looms - one that will reveal not only the identities of Gabriel and Michael Corrigan but also a secret history of our time.

This book has been compared to a modern 1984, a book that I admit to enjoying quite a bit. The surveillance dystopia also has a lot of similarities with our current society and I'm really interested in seeing how it will pan out. Also, there are brothers, which is one aspect I can almost never say no to 8D
Bought from used bookstore ($4.75)

Kevin Bradley and his partners are uniquely qualified to handle cases involving the occult-he and Evan Davis are far more than the mere mortals they appear to be. Kevin is a powerful daemon lord, and Evan is his half-daemon, half-human son. Solving mortal crimes should be a cinch for them. But somehow, they never get the easy, open-and-shut cases.

This is a compilation of the author's two books, Eyes of the Daemon and Eyes of the Empress. What really got me interested was the father-son relationship that this is likely to center on. There haven't been many urban fantasy with father-son on the same side, so I hope this will get me to look for more of the same theme.
Bought from used bookstore ($4.99)

The Raven have fought together for years, six men carving out a living as swords for hire in the war that has torn Balaia apart, loyal only to themselves and their code. But when they agree to escort a Xesteskian mage on a secret mission they are pulled into a world of politics and ancients secrets. For the first time The Raven cannot trust even their own strength and prowess, for the first time their code is in doubt. How is it that they are fighting for one of the most evil colleges of magic known? Searching for the secret location of Dawnthief; a spell that could end the world? Aiming not to destroy it but to cast it...

Umm, is it bad that I picked this book up because it is so overwhelmingly purple? The pages are all lined with purple coloring and it is very pretty. I didn't even notice that this was a series until I had bought it, and it turns out it isn't even the first book strike that, it is book one OTZL (haha 3D-fail)
Still, it is testosterone-fueled and is about a group of warriors aiming to end the world. I bought this on a whim and can only hope it doesn't disappoint.
Bought from used bookstore ($4.99)