For the past couple of days Jaeger and I have been at Megafest 5.0. To make sure I could keep occupied at all times, I brought along 27 books. Don’t worry, I don’t/didn’t intend to read all the books. I just wanted to make sure I had an adequate reading selection regardless of what mood I was in. So far, I’ve been relatively pleased with the books I brought along.

I started reading Owls Well that Ends Well by Donna Andrews. I’ve found the Meg Langslow series to be quite amusing. However, I didn’t get more than a chapter or two in because I could only get my hands on the large print version. Ironically, I have a hard time reading large print books, all the words seem to swim together. When I get back home, I’m going to have to put the normal print version on hold at the library.

The next book I tackled was The Little Lady Agency by Hester Browne. It’s chick-lit but I found it fairly amusing. I liked Melissa’s practicality and lack of obsession with shoes. However, the romance completely failed for me. For more fun fluff, I read Second Sight by Amanda Quick (one of Jayne Ann Krentz’s pseudonyms). Amanda Quick’s books were one of the first romance novels I ever read. However, they don’t really inspire me. They are usually set in either the Regency or Victorian time period but Quick adds a paranormal aspect to her books that often seems a tad silly to me. While I enjoy romance novels, I’ve noticed that I prefer fantasy novels with romance in them more than romance novels with drops of fantasy. I’m also exasperated that the second chapter in each of her books always seems to includes a “proper” young lady having sex. Could we not wait until at least the middle of the book?

Feeling in need of a different genre, I switched to fantasy with Elantris by Brandon Sanderson. This novel begins with one of the best opening lines I’ve read, “Prince Raoden of Arelon awoke early that morning, completely unaware that he had been damned for all eternity” (no, this is not another vampire novel). The novel is written in the third person point of view following three main characters: Prince Arelon, Sarene and Hrathen. I especially enjoyed reading the sections dedicated to Sarene’s point of view. Sarene is a princess who agrees to marry the prince of Arelon. She arrives in Arelon to find that her fiance is “dead” and because of the way the marriage contract was written, she is now the prince’s widow. The story was very intriguing.

No Man’s Mistress by Mary Balogh was next. I think I’ve enjoyed every Balogh novel I’ve picked up. Even if it’s a similar plot to another book I’ve read, Balogh makes it feel original again.

If I’m lucky, I may get through another book or two before the fest is over. However, I’m not sure how likely that is since it ends tomorrow.