radlilim | Entries tagged with books

Finished The Culling by Steven dos Santos, a YA post-apocalyptic with a gay twist.

A lot of Hunger Games influences here (though I'm not sure which one came first). But it had a lot more psychological torture inflicted upon the teens than Hunger Games. And the protagonist is gay, which is why I started it. But, it's nice to see another book where being gay isn't his "thing". It's just an aspect of his character. The relationship could have easily been straight, meaning it was handled as just like a hetro relationship, which is how I like to see it.

Ended with a feeling of retribution and revenge will be part of book two, but not happily. Which is also refreshing.

Overall good story, pretty intense with the horror and violence, well defined world.

Rating: B+

Current Mood: tired

I have a huge need to research bees to see if any or all of this has any basis in fact. Great story, I absolutely loved the library and the different types and levels of communication. Lovely look at a class system as well. Kept me reading as fast as I could.

rating: A+

Loved this one. I has planned to read it before the announcement of the movie, and seeing that was going to happen moved it up my list.

I really enjoyed Mark's voice and commentary in the journal logs. The science was able to be followed, at least conceptually. While I was pretty sure he'd make it, I was nervous a few times. And the over all message was uplifting. Looking forward to the movie even more now.

Rating: A+

I've only read a few King novels now, but he really likes telling the past by having flashbacks in flashbacks. The events and characters were all a bit too abstract and purposefully mysterious for me. I might continue the series later, but I see no rush.

Rating: C

Current Mood: busy

I re-read both books by Patrick Rothfuss, so I haven't been reviewing much lately. But after those I read the next Dresden book.

There was a lot going on in this one, almost too many plots to keep track of. Also felt some of them could have been expanded on. But seeing both Dresden and a lot of the supporting characters gain some more depth and backstory was good. And I'm enjoying how many characters are drifting between ally and enemy.

Rating: A-

With the new book coming soon I thought it might be good for me to finally read To Kill a Mockingbird. It wasn't required in high school so I never got around to it. Plus I'm expecting a few questions about it at Barnes & Nobel, so being up to date on it would help.

It was pretty good. I'm not a fan of historical fiction like this. Too real, makes me think about society too much, not what I want from my books. But, it was good. Very engaging, good plot, good characters, and the unreliable narrator POV is always interesting.

rating: B+

Current Mood: accomplished

I'm trying to split up my genres so that I don't get burnt out on any one style. I did fantasy with Dance with Dragons, then semi-sci-fi with Ready Player One, so now is modern day gothic horror with the next Dresden Book.

I enjoyed this one. It brought in more of the farie world, showed that even though the wizards and vampires are powerful, in comparison to Farie, not so much.

More backstory for Harry is good as well, and we got to meet more people from his past. And we got more detail in how "normal" wizards act and work. I also enjoyed the continuation of the werewolves from previous books, it's nice to see background characters continue on in later books. I hope that continues.

I'm also eventually Harry stops his personal downward spiral and becomes a better person again.

Rating: B+

I had heard a lot of hype about this one, and with the announcement it might be a movie with Spielberg directing I decided to bump it up on the reading list. Plus I needed a fantasy break, so this fit the bill. It was pretty good, not spectacular writing, but good. I do wish if the author wanted to make statements about gender and race stereotypes he would have made the main character something else than a white male though. A movie would be cool, but getting the rights too all of that content will be a nighmare, I bet. It was nice to be reminded of all the stuff from my youth though.

Rating: B

Finally finished book four of the Song of Ice and Fire series. I had a hard time starting it, because Feast of Crows was very slow at some points and caused me to almost dread starting book 4. But Dance actually went really quickly, kept my interest and I wanted to keep reading it. It followed a lot of my favorites, so that was nice. Though I do want to see more of Littlefinger and Catlin. As usual, people who you don't think will die do, the usual from Martin. But it keeps me guessing, that's for sure.

rating: A

Current Mood: exhausted

Since we started up a 5e D&D game, which takes place in the Forgotten Realms I got to remembering the D&D novels I had read in high school (such a geek). Looking through the list, I realized how many Dizzrt books were written and how few of them I've read. So I decided to start over and try and read them all. The stories are good, in a world I'm familiar with. Plots and writing are pretty straight forward, they do seem geared towards high schoolers. But I enjoy them, not too taxing to read and maybe they'll help influence me to play D&D better.

On to The Silver Streams...

Rating: B+

This is a great story, good characters, good plot, interesting plot twist. Worth the money for the ebook and especially for the audio book, Rish dose the voices justice, like always. I would love to see more of Ben Parks and his future exploits.

rating: A

Late on posting this review, finished it back in mid-February.

After two books of seeing tidbits of the girl Locke let get away, getting an entire book dedicated to an adventure with/against Beth was great. I was nice to see once again how Lynch could start the guys off low, bring them high along the tale, and then drop them in the gutter again. I enjoyed following the two plot lines, both the current one and the flash back one. And getting back to the city dwelling with more subterfuge and less swashbuckling made me very happy.

The lead into the next story (when, oh when will it be out!?!?!) was good, and is setting up the fourth book for a different feel again. But Lynch seems to like to shift the focus for every book, so I'm not surprised.

Another top recommendation from me. I hope he keeps 'em coming.

Rating: A+

Second completed book of 2015 was the 2nd from Scott Lynch in his awesome Gentleman Bastards series. I'm still amazed he can turn the typical antagonist and make the reader invested in him/them. Cause they do very bad things. I guess it's cause worse things are often done to them. I had wondered how Locke and Co. would fare after the end of the first book. And generally... well. But it skipped a lot of post-book one events depression on Locke's part. That was shown later as flashbacks, which is a way of story telling Lynch dose well. And it included more flash backs to Locke's early training, as well. The world also got a lot bigger, and set up more hooks for more books.

I've already started book 3, and will be sad when I'm done and the 4th isn't out yet.

rating: A+

Maplecroft (The Borden Dispatches #1) by Cherie Priest lived up to the hype I was seeing online by friends and by other authors I enjoy. It's very classic Lovecraft, with a slow build, a bunch on confusing events, a complicated ending with the characters and reader only being aware of a small part and a good solid wrap up (with the possibility of more to come). There were a lot more survivors than I expected, and a surprising number of them were mostly sane as well. And the esoteric terms were lessen than anything from Lovecraft, which made for an easier read. Good solid horror.

Rating: A

They have posted the Reading Bingo card for 2015. I really enjoyed using it in 2014 to drive my reading, but the reason I wanted to do it was to help pick what book on my TBR list I should read next. This year's card is very... Canadian.

Nothing wrong with that, but that dose not help me work down my TBR pile.

I've looked at a few reading challenges and some goodreads groups, but haven't found anything interesting. And there's been some talk among friends we could create our own card. But it's less random and challenging... and takes work.

So I might just skip the challenge this time. I have a decent list of things I want to read next anyway. And as long as I get about 2 books done a month, I'll feel I'm reading enough.

On my docket:
- Finish Maplecorft by C. Priest
- Read more Locke Lamora (thanks Heidi)
- Read the 4th JRR Martin book
- Continue rereading the Pern series
- Work on more of the Ender series by Card
- Reread the Drizzrt books, it's been since high school and now that we will start D&D 5th I'm craving that again, plus a) I'm sure they are quick reads and b) I never actually finished them all
- Read more of the books by Jim Butcher
- Maybe the 2nd Maze Runner book?

That should get me through 2015, plus a few add ins. And I'll keep reviewing them, here and on Goodreads, because the one thing I feel I can do for authors I love is review.

Not a 2015 Reading Bingo review, as they haven't posted the new card yet. I pre-ordered The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss, but had to sit on it until I finished my card and got some other things read.

As he warns you in the preface, it's a weird book. And I loved it. Looking at reviews, they are all 5 stars, or 1 star. No middle ground.

It was beautiful. Even if nothing really happens (except washing and making soap), I was really invested in Auri. It added to his lovely world and gave a glimpse of this really deep and broken character. When things broke or didn't work, my heart broke with Auri's. When things clicked, I cheered. I can't wait to see her again. I think the assumption is that she is planning for Kvothe's visit, but who knows, maybe she is expecting someone else. You never really find out.

And that's it! I'm impressed I actually finished before the end of the year, with how November and December went, life wise. I'm happy I accomplished this, I really feel it made me search out and read books I never normally would, and it helped me prioritize my TBR list. Doing it again in 2015, as soon as they post a new list.

A Book Based on a True Story: And Then I Thought I was a Fish by Peter Welch

IDENTIFYING INFORMATION: Peter Hunt Welch is a 20-year-old single Caucasian male who was residing in Bar Harbor, Maine this summer. He is a University of Maine at Orono student with no prior psychiatric history, who was admitted to the Acadia Hospital on an involuntary basis due to an acute level of confusion and disorganization, both behaviorally and cognitively. He was evaluated at MDI and was transferred from that facility due to psychosis, impulse thoughts, delusions, and disorientation. He was felt to be a risk to himself and others due to his high level of disorganization and disorientation and impulsivity. He did not know where he was. He believed that he had murdered his friend by sucking out his soul. The patient was also reporting, upon admission, that he could see, smell, hear and touch God. She as an acid smoky smell. Patient is an unreliable historian. He initially denied any alcohol or drug use, but later on admitted to having had LSD on several occasions. He also acknowledged the use of heroin, crack, cocaine, mushrooms, ecstasy, speed, etc. Just prior to his admission to Acadia Hospital, he had been displaying markedly abnormal behavior with confusion, illogical statements, and appearing disoriented, and as if walking in a daze.

This is the story of why someone wrote that.

I'm not sure what I expected, but an explanation on what being on hard drugs was like isn't it. Many, many tangents along the way, and it took the author a while to get to any sort of point, but that is a lot like talking to someone who is high, so it set the right mood. I got lost/bored with some of the explanation on the more advanced research and theories about drug use. I was very interested in the narrator's decent in madness. There were interesting and humorous footnotes, but the eBook I read didn't have back links, so it was hard to read them. Which is a shame, I'm pretty sure I missed a good portion of the story. Seeing how the drug use and break down moved into full out madness was really interesting, not a topic I've ever looked into. The narrator's father was hilarious, I enjoyed his parts--which is another interesting thing the author did, had various people give their thoughts and memories of certain events. The conclusion got both a bit abstract and preachy, not that I didn't agree with most of his conclusions, I just don't like being told how to think or how to experience the world.

Rating: B

2014 Reading Bingo

A book with more than 500 Pages Storm of Swords	A Forgotten Classic Dragonflight	A Book that Became a Movie The Maze Runner	A Book Published this Year Battle of Will	A Book with a Number in the Title Thirteen
A Book Written by Someone Under Thirty The Lies of Locke Lamora	A Book with Non-Human Characters Shards of Time	A Funny Book Let's Pretend This Never Happened	A Book by a Female Author Highfell Grimoires	A Book with a Mystery Carnal Sacraments
A Book with a One-Word Title Coraline	A Book of Short Stories Carniepunk	Free Square The Wise Man's Fear	A Book Set on a Different Continent Shattered	A Book of Non Fiction The Definitive Guide to Order Fulfillment and Customer Service
The First Book by a Favorite Author If We Shadows	A book you Heard About Online Meeting on Mars	A Best-Selling Book A Feast for Crows	A Book Based on a True Story And Then I Thought I was a Fish	A Book at the Bottom of your To Be Read Pile A Light In The Dark
A Book Your Friend Loves The Graveyard Book	A Book that Scares You IT	A Book that is More Than 10 Years Old Ender's Game	The Second Book in a Series Ghost Train to New Orleans	A Book with a Blue Cover The Name of the Wind

Links in the table go to the reviews for that book. The cover links to the Amazon page. Link to the original post for the challenge is here.

Current Mood: accomplished

A Book that Scares You: It by Stephen King

Welcome to Derry, Maine...

It’s a small city, a place as hauntingly familiar as your own hometown. Only in Derry the haunting is real….

They were seven teenagers when they first stumbled upon the horror. Now they are grown-up men and women who have gone out into the big world to gain success and happiness. But none of them can withstand the force that has drawn them back to Derry to face the nightmare without an end, and the evil without a name.

I have actually never read anything by King, so this is also sort of a bucket list thing. I've seen a few movies, but never got around to his books. Generally I'm not a horror fan, so that is probably why. I didn't know there would be any anti-gay attitudes in it, but parts of it take place during that back lash. Not that King is anti-gay, just that some of the characters are. The build up of all the early deaths was creepy for sure. It did seem like these people were haunted by their home town a lot more than most people are. Their feelings seem a bit extreme. The slow reveal of the summer it all happened was very intriguing. The way that one story would lead to another event at a different time was a bit hard to follow, sometimes. There was a very clear feeling, half way through, of hopelessness for the protagonists. I very much felt like quitting the book, unsure if I will like the ending at all. I think part of the problem is I really don't like any of the characters. Finding out the origin of It was a bit of a let down. I realize that wasn't the purpose of the tale, but I think a better reason could have been found. Having the climatic ending from both times of the story overlap in the end was a fun way to discover the ending. The wrap up seemed to take longer than necessary. All in all, a good story. Not sure I'm going to read a ton more of King, but I'm happy I read this. Not sure it actually frightened me, but there were some gross out moments.

Rating: B-

2014 Reading Bingo

A book with more than 500 Pages Storm of Swords	A Forgotten Classic Dragonflight	A Book that Became a Movie The Maze Runner	A Book Published this Year Battle of Will	A Book with a Number in the Title Thirteen
A Book Written by Someone Under Thirty The Lies of Locke Lamora	A Book with Non-Human Characters Shards of Time	A Funny Book Let's Pretend This Never Happened	A Book by a Female Author Highfell Grimoires	A Book with a Mystery Carnal Sacraments
A Book with a One-Word Title Coraline	A Book of Short Stories Carniepunk	Free Square The Wise Man's Fear	A Book Set on a Different Continent Shattered	A Book of Non Fiction The Definitive Guide to Order Fulfillment and Customer Service
The First Book by a Favorite Author If We Shadows	A book you Heard About Online Meeting on Mars	A Best-Selling Book A Feast for Crows	A Book Based on a True Story	A Book at the Bottom of your To Be Read Pile A Light In The Dark
A Book Your Friend Loves The Graveyard Book	A Book that Scares You IT	A Book that is More Than 10 Years Old Ender's Game	The Second Book in a Series Ghost Train to New Orleans	A Book with a Blue Cover The Name of the Wind

Links in the table go to the reviews for that book. The cover links to the Amazon page. Link to the original post for the challenge is here.

I actually finished this one back in early October, but forgot to post the review, I guess.

A Book Written by Someone Under Thirty: The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard, #1) by Scott Lynch

An orphan’s life is harsh—and often short—in the mysterious island city of Camorr. But young Locke Lamora dodges death and slavery, becoming a thief under the tutelage of a gifted con artist. As leader of the band of light-fingered brothers known as the Gentleman Bastards, Locke is soon infamous, fooling even the underworld’s most feared ruler. But in the shadows lurks someone still more ambitious and deadly. Faced with a bloody coup that threatens to destroy everyone and everything that holds meaning in his mercenary life, Locke vows to beat the enemy at his own brutal game—or die trying.

It's not often the story of a crook, thief and murderer is as riveting as that of Locke Lamora. The world shown was complex and fantastical. The political depths and twists kept me guessing. And above all, the love between the main characters, the thieves, was epic. I am really looking forward to the next tale of this character and world. I can't wait to see how he starts a new life. The time jumps every chapter were hard to follow at first, it kept pulling me out of story, but I grew to enjoy it.

Rating: A+

2014 Reading Bingo

A book with more than 500 Pages Storm of Swords	A Forgotten Classic Dragonflight	A Book that Became a Movie The Maze Runner	A Book Published this Year Battle of Will	A Book with a Number in the Title Thirteen
A Book Written by Someone Under Thirty The Lies of Locke Lamora	A Book with Non-Human Characters Shards of Time	A Funny Book Let's Pretend This Never Happened	A Book by a Female Author Highfell Grimoires	A Book with a Mystery Carnal Sacraments
A Book with a One-Word Title Coraline	A Book of Short Stories Carniepunk	Free Square The Wise Man's Fear	A Book Set on a Different Continent Shattered	A Book of Non Fiction The Definitive Guide to Order Fulfillment and Customer Service
The First Book by a Favorite Author If We Shadows	A book you Heard About Online Meeting on Mars	A Best-Selling Book A Feast for Crows	A Book Based on a True Story	A Book at the Bottom of your To Be Read Pile A Light In The Dark
A Book Your Friend Loves The Graveyard Book	A Book that Scares You	A Book that is More Than 10 Years Old Ender's Game	The Second Book in a Series Ghost Train to New Orleans	A Book with a Blue Cover The Name of the Wind

Links in the table go to the reviews for that book. The cover links to the Amazon page. Link to the original post for the challenge is here.

Got a promotion at work again. No more money, yet, but my last raise wasn't too long ago, and I'd expect another one in a few months.

But now I'm the Fulfillment Manager. No longer just in charge of the systems, now I work on the whole ware house, including process improvements, layout and staff. That's right, I am now in charge of people. A bit scary, as I've never managed people before. Our management has tons of faith in me, and the people now reporting to me all seem OK with it. And the company is sending me to a leadership/management class in February at the UW.

So we will see how this goes.

Not sure I'll get my reading bingo done for this year. I'm a little over half way done with It. It's good, just long, and I'm pretty busy and can't read for long periods of time. And I still have 1 more book after that. Will probably sign up for it again next year though (and will try and finish out this year's plan, even if I don't make the deadline).

Holiday working at B&N is rough, but I'm doing more receiving now, which is a) interesting (and relevant to current job) and b) means I don't have to deal with customers as much.

We are pretty much set in the new place. Some of our furniture/stuff doesn't fit. So as we have money we'll have to replace some things.

And my car was broke for like 4 weeks. Finally fixed, and it feels so good to be independently mobile again.

Current Mood: tired

Review of the audio version of Crossroads: Short Stories from Panamindorah, Volume 1 by Abbie Hilton.

“A Cat Prince Distinguishes Himself" - Dave Robison, the new narrator for this version has a great, smoky voice. The perfect tone for the topic. The story gives great insight into a popular and pivotal character in Hilton’s Panamindora story. Learning about the motives and backgrounds of protagonists is one of my favorite things in epics, and Abbie is great at doing that.

"On the Edge" - I enjoy listening to Abbie’s voice, she has a great tone, usually very calm, but she can convey tension and emotion very easily as well. This story has more Panamindora back story for some of the secondary characters, and gives great insight into the lives of the wolflings. Sevn’s struggle with how his life is changing is very interesting and engaging.

"Distraction" - Another great narrator, Ryan Stevenson, gives this Panamindora backstory perfect tension. Even if the listener doesn't like the main character, due to knowledge of the main trilogy, the story is written so that the listener can relate and sympathize with him.

"Hualien" - The rat shelt is one of the oddest characters in Panamindora, in my opinion. Getting more insight into him fills in a few gaps in understanding the larger Panamindora story. I did enjoy the voice modification that was done to achieve some of the voices, it’s a nice touch.

"Night in the Crystal City" - A coda for one of the more interesting characters from the Panimindora trilogy, this is the first non-backstory piece in this collection. It’s interesting, erotic and shows hope for a character most readers/listeners would have thought lost. I have always enjoyed how thought for the possible physiology of the shelts is taken into consideration in Abbie’s stories, even in sex.

"Professionals” - Silveo is one of the most popular characters from the Guild of the Cowry Catchers series, and one of my favorites as well. Seeing where this deep and complex character came from is a fan’s dream.

Rating: A+

Current Mood: apathetic

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This is where I bitch.

Entries tagged with books

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Review: Ready Player One

Review: A Dance with Dragons

Review: The Crystal Shard

Review: Birth of a Sidekick

Review: The Republic of Thieves

Review: Red Seas Under Red Skies

Review: Maplecroft

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Review: The Slow Regard of Silent Things

Review: And Then I Thought I was a Fish

2014 Reading Bingo

Review: IT

2014 Reading Bingo

Review: The Lies of Locke Lamora

2014 Reading Bingo

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Review: Crossroads: Short Stories from Panamindorah, Volume 1

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July 2015

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