Tag Archives: Goodreads

Annihilated

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Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Two stars has the little pop-up ‘it was ok’ and I think that’s fair.


I would place this work squarely into the existential horror category. It’s shades of Lovecraft through and through. IF you’re a fan of that, this book is likely right up your alley. I can’t really call myself a fan of this kind of thing, but I’m not NOT a fan. This is a compelling book, but I just don’t get as worked up about the existential stuff as a lot of fans apparently do. Some things happened, sort of, I think… but I’m not sure. Maybe that’s the point? What did happen? Did it really happen? Wouldn’t a walk on the beach be a good thing to do?

I read and finished this one, but I wasn’t excited about it. I was often just waiting for something to happen. I’m still kind of waiting for something to happen.

This book also (apparently) had a film made of it. I looked at the old trailer and I believe I watched the film. I’m uncertain as not much of it is a clear memory. I didn’t connect the thing I watched to this book at all and had to have it pointed out to me.

I think those two things, no clear memory and waiting for action, amount to a solid summary of my thoughts here.



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Check out the trailer for the Netflix movie too:
https://youtu.be/0m3cPEbwwhg?si=5nFbXdNhcNzOYM37

Six of something

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The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I struggled with this book right from the start. It begins with the “I hate you. I love you.” relationship mix. That has to be my least favorite – ever.

I pushed past that because I was hoping to get into the mystery of this order the six get selected to try out for. I was hoping for something about the magic system or the books they use to overcome something thought to be lost to time.

I hoped.

I got a fat pile of angst and a magicians style big brother house. Maybe that’s too harsh. I did not like it, and the longer that simmered, the more reactive I got to it. I’ve tried to temper my reaction by giving this review some time, but it hasn’t helped. It didn’t work for me and I won’t be picking anything else up from this author.



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Master of Djinn

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A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I have two particular criticisms for this version of the book. They are small things, but worth noting.

First, the publisher put “A Dead Djinn In Cairo” at the back of this book. I know it’s a short story (or novella – I forget how it was classified) but in the time line this story happens before the novel that was just finished. I would highly recommend skipping to this and reading it first.

Second, (SPOILER ALERT)



They save the world. They fight off the biggest and baddest of bad guys and now… what? Where do you go when you save the whole world in the very first book? I don’t know how this character and the rich, wonderful world she lives in moves forward. That is disappointing because I did very much enjoy this story and the characters in it.

I absolutely recommend this book – you should read the novella (Haunting of Tram Car 15) and the short story at the end then definitely dig into this book!



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I usually put up some version of the cover with my reviews, but this fan art was a lot of fun and helped put a picture to these cool characters. Be sure to check out this artists work at their website HERE.

Gone In The Dark

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I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Outside of my normal genre, reading true crime IS a thing I’ve delved into before. I don’t like to read it generally because I see enough true crime in the news. I don’t seem to have the fascination that others do.

I was drawn to this book by the story of the author herself, and the fact that she wasn’t able to finish this work before she died unexpectedly (and far too young). My fears about reading this book stemmed directly from “Confederacy of Dunces” that has garnered so much praise. I was drawn in by the author’s story on that book and hated it.

Gone in the dark is incomplete. The people in the author’s life pulled together the book after her passing, but what I wish we got was the complete work from the author herself. She definitely had her own style and that was not something the others could emulate.

It’s an interesting story, and if you’re into true crime it’s worth digging into. I will also be checking out the documentary series they made about this story. Adding the visuals to this story will probably help me.

Not my thing, but I’m glad I read it.



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Colorful

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I’m glad this Sanderson novel came up on the list of things to be read for WTS.

Fantastic cover art!

Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I am predisposed to liking this authors work, so you should know that up front.

It feels disingenuous to critique the characters or storyline of such a prolific and successful author. I really enjoyed the journey and the growth for the sisters and for the reluctant god of bravery. I thought their interactions and their reveals along the way were just excellent.

What I really enjoyed, and wanted to dig into more was one of the things the author was best known for – the magic system. Breath, magic and awareness of the world around you being tied to color. That capacity for using color and the magic of it was great to see developed through the story.

NO spoilers, but there was one move by one character that in hindsight I should have seen coming and didn’t – and that really made the story that much better for me. Refreshing to have a fantasy story with new magic and actions that weren’t predictable.

IF you’re a fan of fantasy and new magic systems I would recommend this book.



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At the Top?

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I got an email from Goodreads stating that I was in the top 25% of readers for the year last year. I’ve been logging my books on Goodreads for a number of years now and I’ve always had at least a passing interest in the tally for my previous year. When I looked back I was a bit surprised that I’ve been logging books on Goodreads since 2009. I didn’t realize this was year 15 for me.

Recently, as in the past couple of years, I’ve had a great deal of trouble achieving the level of reading I was previously accustomed to. There are a lot of factors involved there, but in the end those factors combined to stop me from reading as much as I really like.

2023 – 23 books

2022 – 9 books

2021 – 17 books

2020 – 39 books – this is actually a peak year for me

Being in the top 25% with less than two dozen books is, not surprising but a little disappointing I think. Not for me, but for the general statement that makes on how much people read (or more correctly, don’t read).

The numbers for 2023 are a good sign for me. I’m trending back up. I’m working hard at mitigating a large number of the factors that slowed or stopped me from reading. I suspect I’ll be able to meet or exceed 2023 with this year’s total. I’m not going to use a goal setting app or whatever – this is supposed to be a pleasurable thing. I should read new and interesting things and tell people about them because I enjoy it, not because some random app or goal is pressuring me to do that. I’m going to keep reading. I’m going to keep reviewing those books and posting up my thoughts and opinions on them. How many will I get to? Who knows? But I will have read a number of good stories in order to get there.

Cozy

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Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I am always leery of stories of the “before times” that are published after the original story was published. It’s not an easy thing to pull off, let alone doing it well. I went into this reading with trepidation, and might have skipped it had a local book group not selected it.

I enjoyed the story well enough. Cozy fantasy stories are a good thing. Having something that isn’t saving the world is a nice change. This book was clearly about saving a book store. It wasn’t about Viv and her healing process. It contained a stack of missed opportunities to make the attachment to various characters deeper and better than what was presented.

There were some neat bits in here. I did really enjoy Satchel, even if it was shaky world building to have him switch sides. He is roughly equivalent to Bob the skull from the Dresden files, albeit better behaved. I liked the book with magical spaces inside the pages, but again, shaky world/magic system building.

Don’t look deep into this one. Just read it and roll with it. If you really want a little story about saving a bookshop, this is the book for you.



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Casting something… to the end

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Deathcaster by Cinda Williams Chima

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I finished the series. I knew I was going to, but the mild distaste from the constantly changing character stories / points of view never faded.

In the end, the protagonist of the series is the story itself. I wanted to have a particular character arc to follow, but the story itself became the focus and the characters were just filling in various portions of the outline. It’s not that it’s a bad story – it’s a good story. I liked it enough to finish, I just think there was a diffusion of character that held the whole thing back for me.



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Stormy

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Stormcaster by Cinda Williams Chima

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book starts with yet another character viewpoint, but I was expecting it this time.

I’ve started to notice little world building things that nag at me because of the character switches. Maybe my brain is looking for something to hold onto when I’m getting a third or fourth story that ties together with the others? One small example of this is the use of French doors. Everyone that reads that understands it based on THIS world. IF there’s no France in your world, how do you have ‘French’ doors?

I know it’s nit-picking. I suspect that’s the underlying irritation in me about switching characters and realigning story stuff in my head.

This story does bring a number of the story lines together, and I am interested to see how the whole story plays out. I’m clearly in for the 4 book series at this point. I will get the next one and see how it all turns out.



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Left handed what now?

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The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


There were a couple of things that caught my attention right away with this story. The first was it didn’t start with the story, the book started with an explanation of the fact that it was slightly alternate history. The next thing was that the wizard was named Merlin.

I almost put the book down right then. Merlin is so deeply, desperately overused I almost stopped.

I pushed on and finished the book. I enjoyed the story once I got past a couple of things, and the world building had some interesting bits. I don’t know that I’ll go any further in the series, but I’m glad to have checked this one off the TBR pile at least.



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Bonus bit for anyone who actually reads my review stuff here rather than directly on Goodreads. Once I got past the fact that the “Merlin” of this book was NOT in fact yet another Arthurian remake, I still couldn’t shake it. I could only picture the actor from the movie remake of the story from 2019 where Angus Imrie plays Merlin as a gangly, hyperactive teenager who uses a lot of hand-wavium and snapping to make things happen. Here’s a clip for you to enjoy:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/D53UhlAAXFw?si=emr3SHNG3__wRmoh