OK, there's lots of good sounding books coming out today, but most of them I can't really say anything about, having not read them. But you can look at today's posts by Jim Hines, Jackie Kessler, and Mark Henry, among others, I'm sure, to get some good reading ideas. 

One book whose awesomeness I can talk about, however, is Storm Born by Richelle Mead (blue_succubus).  I will admit,  I started this book with high expectations, and  they were met, possibly exceeded.  Eugenie is a fun new character. A shaman with more to her history than even she knows. And boy does that history come back to haunt her. All the characters come walking off the page, and I liked them, even if I wasn't sure if I should or not. And of course the dialog is some of the most fun to be had.

If I just saw the title of this book on the shelf, I probably would have passed it over.  Looking at the cover, I would have picked it up to check it out.  Having read the prior two in the series, I had it on pre-order.  And I finally got a chance to read it over the weekend.
Jim C Hines (jimhines) has put together another very fun read, closing the trilogy in a way that left me satisfied, while the world and characters have plenty of room left for more when he (hopefully) returns to them.
If you've heard Jim say anything about this book, you've probably about his riff on The Giving Tree.  All I can say is Thank You :)
The characters were all very engaging, and I want to read more about several of them.  In a good way, that is.  Part of the time I was reading in the same room as my wife was working on something, and I started to feel bad that I kept disturbing her with my laughter.  But I figure she'll get me back by reading it in bed while I try to sleep, so I didn't worry about it too much.
For the third book in a series, I think he did a great job keeping it open for new readers.  Although after you read this, you'll want the first two anyways, so you might as well get them all and go in order to get the full enjoyment.

In Richelle Mead's ( blue_succubus ) first novel, Succubus Blues (Amazon) Georgina reads her favorite book 5 pages at a time to make it last.  I was hoping to stretch out the second book in the series, Succubus on Top (Amazon), in a similar manner, but was too caught up in the story to count pages until I was done.  The relationships are wonderful to watch, and the dialog is sharp and engaging.  Very much a character book, but great characters that are fun to read about, and enough plot to keep things moving. My feelings toward Bastien, Georgina's long-time friend and incubus, were back and forth through the book, but by the end they were all straightened out.  And once again I'm stuck waiting for the next book to come out.

Funny thing about deadlines, whether they're met or get pushed out, there's suddenly time to breath.  And to read.
In this case, it was Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead ( aka  blue_succubus ).Put blunty, I enjoyed the book.  The vampires have a well worked out culture and world just sitting there hidden amongst humans.  Well, pretty much anything would be hidden in the middle of nowhere past the middle of nowhere Montana, which makes it a perfect place for a school.  I found the main characters very well realized and believable.  I keep wanting to say it's a young adult book that happens to have vampires, because the parts that made me squirm were definitely the teen parts, but it's not that. The vampire culture and who they are permeates the whole thing.  Now excuse me while I go make sure I have the next book in the series on pre-order.

Time for another mini review to say I really enjoyed Goblin Hero by Jim C Hines ( jimhines )  This one took me a little longer to fit into my schedule than the first in the series, Goblin Quest, but I blame that more on day job craziness than the book.  (And we don't need to mention any extra long breaks during the day while reading Goblin Quest that might have added to that craziness).
So in this book, Jig is back, and having to deal with the repercussions of his adventures in the first one.  In particular, as the goblin hero, he gets sent to help when an ogre from deep inside the mountain comes looking for assistance.  While he does have "help" on this adventure, he still has to rely mainly on that uncommon thing among goblins, common sense.  A fun, fun read, with the quotes that begin each chapter providing icing on the cake.

Once again I found time to start a book that I then made time to finish.  This time it's Goblin Quest, by Jim C Hines (jimhines).  And luckily enough, through an accident and Amazon ambiguity, I already have the second book in the series on my shelf and ready to go. 
I'll have to call this a very fun book.  You start with your standard fantasy role-playing type milieu, then do a major shift into the viewpoint of one those little runts you wouldn't even gain any experience points for.  Of course, this particular one has a little more going on inside his head than even he would believe.  Enough to raise the questions that are usually ignored, and then, with a little help from the author, to answer them in often effective, and always amusing, ways.  I can imagine trying to game with Jim Hines and never making it through a dungeon, with all the laughter breaks that would be required.