Three Books In

Hullo Hullo everyone, hope you are all well this evening. I have the distinctive scratchy throat of a summer cold brewing, but that's nothing that will slow me down.

Thought I would just drop in briefly with a quick reading wrap up. I realise that eleven days into the month is an odd number for such a thing - but whatever. I'm here now. 

As I think I mentioned, I am leaving my goal on good reads at 75 again this year. It's a number that seems far more manageable now that I have surpassed it. And I'm doing good so far. 

Well as far as I can tell with only a couple of weeks as evidence.

Three books have been devoured so far in 2017 - yes, one of them was a novella, but still, it was over 100 pages sounds still feel it's a decent effort. Although decent efforts don't seem as difficult when this is your summer...

Yes, those people are wearing jackets and woolen hats. In January. It's a little bit sad. Just really hoping now that the professional aren't lying to us when they say summer will arrive, just later than usual.

But we are not here to talk about the weather, we are here to talk about books.

My new start for the new year, reading wise, was by a favourite author of mine - why not start on a high after all...

...and it was classic Stephen King. Creepy happenings in a creepy small New England town; great characters that you really feel for; addictive action that keeps you turning page after page. This one had vampires! I gave this one 4.5 stars. I really do love King.

Second up was an ebook.  I'm going to preface this by saying that there are probably going to be a fair few ebooks this year. Mum got me started with BookBub. If you've never heard of BookBub click on the link at your own risk - free and stupidly cheap ebooks lie within its depths. Needless to say I now have a rather large supply of kindle books....

...this being one of them.

Young adult books can be hit or miss for me.  This one was defiantly a hit. It's time travel romance, which if you know me, you know my love for Outlander, so that genre is right up my alley. It takes place in four different periods of time: 18th century England,  19th century Crimea, 2019 and 2039. It follows the same couple through out all of these while they try and piece together the problems surrounding them, as well as memories they have. It was a light read and I very much enjoyed it -enough to give it a 4 star rating and buy the companion straight away....

And while I was buying that I bought two other companion novellas for a series I was reading over Christmas.

The series is the Artifact Hunters series by A W Exley - an author from right here in good old New Zealand. This was another BookBub gem and so far there are four books and the two novellas, but I believe it's a work in progress. A steam punk work in progress. The one that I read this week...

...falls between the second and third novels and follows two of the side characters as the deal with kidnappings and general mayhem to eventually fall in love. I read it in one sitting and it was just as brilliant as the full length stories - none of the fun nor the action was lost, despite only being 100 pages long - I gave this a 4.5 as well.

So all up, that's three for three with 4 star ratings - that's not a bad way to start the year if you ask me.

Let's hope it continues.

I will be back in a day or so with some stitching progress, so until next time...

July Reading Wrap Up

Okay, yes, I realise that it is now September, but in the interest of not making this obscenely long I'm spliting this into months.

So, July, the reading mojo of 2016 continued, but I will try and make this brief.

Demon Seed - Dean Koontz - 3 star

A solid AI taking over sci-fi. A quick compelling read like most of Koontz books. Just a shame I couldn't stop thinking about the Simpsons episode based on this while reading.  

The Guardian Cycle - Julia Grey - overall 4 stars comprised of:

The Dark Moon - 4 stars

The Jasper Forest -  4 stars

The Crystal Desert - 3 stars

The Red Glacier - 4 stars

Alyssa's Ring - 4 stars

I remember picking up the first book in this series years and years ago - it must have been when it first came out because I can't have been much out of primary school and still unaffected by the "readings not cool" taunts of high school.  I finally managed to track the whole series down and while it's not what I remembered (to be honest, I don't know exactly what I thought I remembered), the enjoyment was very definatly still there. The story could easily have fallen prey to classic fantasy clichés of comming of age and saving the world, but it didn't.  The fleshed out characters grew superbly with both the passage of time and experience and the world building was simply wonderful - something I definatly look for in the fantasy genre. I would have liked a map though, I like maps.  

Coma - Robin Cook - 2 stars

I'm convinced that my mum told me I'd love this book, and she's convinced that she didn't.  Either way, wasn't my favourite. I found the mystery predictable, the Suspense, dull and the characters insufferable. I did like the premise of otherwise healthy young people dying in comas, just a shame about the execution.

Insomnia - Stephen King - 4 stars

If I haven't said it yet, I'll say it now. King is fast becoming one of my favourite authors. The depth of the world that he has built in all of his novels is just staggering. I also really enjoyed that this story was told from the perspective of retirees - we don't see that often.  

Mid Year Reading Wrap Up

Hullo hullo

Here I am, back from Auckland, alive and well (just), mostly rested (I had a whole weekend!) and here with a wrap up of the books that have held my attention for the last six months.

So as of today, I have read 48 books towards my yearly goal of 75. 13 of those have been comics or graphic novels, 2 have been non-fiction, 11 have been YA or middle grade and the remaining 22 have for the most part been a mix of science fiction, fantasy, horror, thriller and historical fiction.

All up (as at the 1st of July) I have read 16,903 pages - that's 2,377 more than the entirety of last year. And certainly well on my way to the record breaking (for me at least) 2014 where I hit 27,709.

For my mini reviews (though I don't really like the word review, maybe we should just go with mini opinions?), I will lump series all together. Let's get started.

Jurrasic Park and The Lost World by Michael Crichton

This was a mixed bag for me. The first book I gave four stars while the second I couldn't even finish. I'm not a huge Crichton fan. While I love the idea of so may of his books, there is just something about his writing style that just doesn't mesh with me. I have picked up and put down so many of his books over the years that I'm still just amazed that I finished (and enjoyed) one.

Coffee Obsession by Anette Moldvaer

Read this for work. Was a good in depth reference guide. Gave it five stars.

2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke

This is that age old story of the book being better, even though the movie is stunning and amazing in its own right. The two were written in conjuction with each other and it shows. The book offers far more insight than the movie - even to the point where the crazy ass ending makes perfect and logical sense. I gave it four stars and will definatly be picking up the sequels at some point.

The Wizard of Id (2 volumes) by Johnny Hart and Brant Parker

I don't even remember which two volumes I picked up, let alone what they contained. Found them while tidying the Man's stuff while doing so renovations. Won't be making that mistake again.

The Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan

Defiantly a strong and enjoyable follow up to the Percy Jackson series. I may have even enjoyed this one a little more. With the characters being just that little bit older, I found them far more relatable and the connections formed with them just that little bit stronger. Definatly looking forward to reading more my Riordan.  I gave the series four stars over all.

Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo

Definatly the most movingly real and emotional book I've read so far this year.  I can definatly see why it's not only a classic but has been pulled from publication several times. No words can ever do this boom justice. It was dark and haunting and soul destroying. I loved it. Five stars

The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
I don't really know why I waited till I was nearly 30 to read these classic children's tales. I can see why they have endure through multiple generations. Only you a 3 star rating for the series as a whole though, there were definatly large weaker spots stack along side the whimsy.  And I rally did not like the ending. Just to have it all stop seemed weak some how.

William Shakespeare's The Empire Striketh Back by Ian Doescher
The whole concept is a bit of fun.  Nothing new about the story,but enjoyable none the less. Four stars.

Undone by Paul Jennings
A pure walk done memory lane. When the man walked in with a copy of this...this icon of our childhoods, I knew I had to read it then and there.  It was still delightfully bizarre and uncanny-  just how I remembered.

Ilium by Dan Simmons
This one was odd to the point of uncomfortablness. I'm sure my workmates were beyond pleased when I finished this one.  Three story lines, so seemingly unconectable (aliens and the Trojan war?) all shoved together and forced in to whatbecameaseemless narrative. I surprised even myself when I gave this one fours stars. I couldn't stop reading it, no matter how much I sometimes wanted to. And I'm really glad I didn't.  It was sometime I have never seen before and really did enjoy it in the end.  I don't know that I will pick up these qualities though. It felt almost complete to me. But we shall see how I feel about that in the future.

Atlantis by Dave Gibbins
An archeological adventure story. Not much to say about it really. A three star airport read if nothing else.

The Winds of Darkover by Mario Zimmer Bradley
I've read these out of order and that always frustrates me. I probably would have liked it better if I new the back story

The Redemption of Althalus by David Eddings
A re read for me. Still as good as I remember, but then in my world Eddings can do no wrong. Four stars.

The Taking by Dean Koontz
Another reason read and my favourite Koontz book that I've read so far. Love the pacing and tension ever if it is a little heavier on the biblical themes. Very definatly a strong five stars.

The Return From Troy by Lindsay Clarke
Once again I'm guilty of reading out of order but this time I don't think a prequel would have changed my mind out disliking this one. While a retelling by its own nature is just rehashing an old story,  it would have been nice to have had something new added to the story.  A new approach maybe. But this was just more of the same.i love the Iliad and the Odyssey so this one was a disappointing.

The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz
The other non fiction book on this list. I don't think I should have delved deeper into this story. The idea that these men srivived not only a Russian gulag in northern Siberia, but also walked to India to gain their freedom was just mind blowing to me. Then I did some googling and discovered it may not be true. Don't know how to feel about this one anymore but I did give it four stars.

The Gunslinger by Stephen King
I first read King when I was 9,and while I have always been a mature Reader I think that may have been just a little young. I definatly remember enjoying the few books I read of his but I think the depth and complexity of his work got a little lost on me. Not any more. This short little owner to the Dark Tower series has relaunched a love of King books for me. Four stars.

Gone Girl by Gilian Flynn
Know I have to admit, I wasn't the biggest fan of the movie, but I figured enough time had elapsed that I could read the book without the movie clouding my judgement. And while it had,  and I didn't not enjoy the book, the characters were just hideous. I've never disliked every character in a book before, usually there is one I feel for at least. Not this time.

The Daylight War and The Skull Throne by Peter V. Bretton
Books three and four of the Warded Man series. This series started out so so strong and I find myself struggling with it more and more as it goes on. The characters you care about get relatively little page time while being forced to trudge through chapter after chapter of back story for minor players in the obviously based on Muslim m desert people. I will continue with this series, the story intrigues me, just a shame about the development of it. Four and three stars respectively.

It by Stephen King
A behemoth of a book but definatly well worth it. Creepy and dark and twisty - one of my favourites for this year by far.

The Starlight Crystal by Christopher Pike
This was another one of my childhood favourites that I found again just recently. I remember it being a lot bigger and a lot more complex than it turned out to be. Though I guess I was remembering it thought the eyes of a seven or eight year old. Still perfectly readable however, three stars.

The Book of Lost Things by John Connelly
I couldn't decide if this was a very dark YA book or if it just seemed that way because of the child narrator. I did really enjoy the very dark twists on the fairy tales but the rest of it was just okay, I enjoyed it but I already find myself forgetting. Three stars.

The Bachman Books by Stephen King
This was a collection of four novels that King wrote under the pseudonym Richard Bachman - The Running Man, The Long Walk, Roadwork, and Rage. I can see why King wanted some of these pulled from publication. They are gritty and raw in the way they deal psychological issues surrounding very American issues such as school shooting. I did really enjoy them though, they are wonderfully written. You are in these people's heads.  The Long Walk in particular was a favourite.

And finally...

The Terror by Dan Simmons
History merged with the supernatural. What more could you ask for. This one kept me turning pages - though I know the fate of the Franklin Expedition of 1845, I still needed to know what happened to the men. And the ending.... I was pleasantly surprised with that ending. 

Now I haven't included the comic in this,  because the are both on going series that I keep up with month to month. Sex Criminals by Matt Fraction and Wicked + Divine by Kieron Gillen.

Now that life is calming down a tiny bit, I'm hoping to do these baby reviews once a month so hopefully the don't gets as out of control as this one. If you've made it this far, we'll done and thank you so so much.

Till next time.

PS - I've been stitching again, just a little. I'll try and get a picture in the day light and update that side of things in the next couple of days.