Just in case you wondered, I stopped doing mini-reviews here because I started using Goodreads. Goodreads is cool. I love Goodreads now.
Oh, and yes, I recently started watching Doctor Who 🙂
Reminder that I’m not really blogging here any more – I’ve moved over to thebooknut.wordpress.com – RSS me! 🙂
Filed under Uncategorized
Just clearing off the 2010 spreadsheet, so only listing books read in the last days of the year.
Scary Kisses, edited by Liz Grzyb (judging book – presented without comment)
Beautiful Darkness, Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl – This was overlong and just not compelling enough for the story being told. I also found the narrative point of view dull. A disappointing sequel.
Slave to Sensation and Visions of Heat (books 1 and 2 of the Psy-Changeling series), Nalini Singh – Really engaging world building and characterisation – highly recommended paranormal romance that’s got plenty of action and plot to go with it.
A Local Habitation, Seanan McGuire – A bit slow and quite obvious in places, but I love these characters and the world-building a lot!
And now the reading year has begun again! Looking to break some records in 2011 🙂
Filed under Uncategorized
I’m trying to clear some of my TBR shelf in anticipation of a BIG reading load next year! Not sure how well I’m succeeding, given I keep getting new books…
Odd and the Frost Giants, Neil Gaiman – A lovely little book, gorgeously illustrated and very Gaiman.
Managing Death, Trent Jamieson – Great second book. Loved it!
Careful what you wish for, Maureen McCarthy – A good quick read – great for 12+
Reckless, Cornelia Funke – A bit disjointed, but a nice easy fantasy read.
Griffin’s War, KJ Taylor – Found this such hard going. The first book was so good, but the second and this one were just not engaging. The characterisation made no sense to me, and while unlikeable protagonists are in fashion, I simply found nothing to like about this, from start to finish.
Zombies vs Unicorns, Justine Larbalestier & Holly Black (eds) – one of the best anthologies I’ve read in ages – lots of fun but some serious themes too!
Filed under Uncategorized
I feel like I’m not reading as much as usual at the moment. I’ve been doing a lot of proofing and slushing, and work/committee related things, so that might be a reason. Ah, Christmas is coming, so hopefully can ramp up again then! 🙂
Bullet, Laurel K Hamilton – *sigh* Totally a porn book. There’s actually quite a lot of story here, but it’s info dumped and completely second fiddle to the (admittedly quite hot) sex sections.
Red Hood’s Revenge, Jim C Hines – Enjoyed this but felt the character of Roudette was underused, and the switching POV was distracting. Look forward to the final book in this series though, as they are still great reads.
Cyroburn, Lois McMaster Bujold – I love Lois. SO delighted to see a new instalment in the Vorkosigan saga, although it has to be said this isn’t my favourite ever book of the series. There are two main reasons for this – one is that I love seeing Miles in his relationships with family and close friends, and there wasn’t a lot of that here. The second, and biggest, problem for me was the point of view – flipping as it did between Jin, Roic and Miles (although not nearly enough of Miles as I wanted) it got a bit fuzzy who was narrating at times. And as I think Tansy said, there just wasn’t enough purpose or difference in the voices to justify the multiple POV. Having said that, the plot was excellent and I have a love/hate relationship with the ending!
Masques, Patricia Briggs – Fascinating book, rewritten from the original although the author says still not the book she would write now. Liked it a lot though – great characters and I enjoyed the plot.
Wild Seed, Octavia E. Butler – Turns out this is a prequel, but it’s very engaging and powerful. Some amazing exploration of race, gender, fear and love, among other things. I’m definitely reading more.
Indulgence in Death, JD Robb – Once again, a new In Death interrupts all other reading. I liked this, as usual, although I prefer the ones where we don’t know the criminal/s so early on. Some nice quiet time in this one, as well as some action. I like seeing the secondary character development.
Wolfsbane, Patricia Briggs – More polished than Masques, and a totally fun fantasy romp.
Rosemary and Rue, Seanan McGuire – Really enjoyed this fascinating fairy-oriented urban fantasy. Was an interesting read as the plot wasn’t really the main part of the book – there was a lot of establishing backstory and exploring world building, but the plot itself was fairly borderline. However, I anticipate that now all this is established, the following books will be more action packed! Not that this lacked action, exactly, but it wasn’t the main focus, for my mind.
Hunger, Jackie Morse Kessler – Great quick YA urban fantasy read, very cleverly written with some solid and crunchy themes.
Blue Diablo and Hell Fire, Ann Aguirre Urban Fantasy 3.5 Really enjoyed these – got very sucked in and enjoyed premise, characters and storylines. Best UF I’ve read for ages, on a par with Patricia Briggs.
Feed, Mira Grant – A little slow to start but totally compelling after only a few chapters. Thought provoking and fascinating, loved the characters and story both!
Racing the Dark: Book 1 of the Spirit Binders, Alaya Dawn Johnson – Highly readable, although suffering from some quite random POV changes and an over-explained plot at times. Enjoyed this.
JUDGING BOOKS, presented with no comment:
Legends of Australian Fantasy, Jack Dann & Jonathan Strahan (eds)
The Library of Forgotten Books, Rjurik Davidson
Sprawl, Alisa Krasnostein (ed)
Filed under Uncategorized
To the detriment of other things that really should be getting done, I’ve actually managed to get through quite a few books recently, including a few urgent reviews.
Going Bovine, Libba Bray – Gave up on this – skipped the second half and read the last couple of chapters. Yeah, went where I thought.
The Uncrowned King: Book Two of The Chronicles of King Rolen’s Kin, Rowena Cory Daniells – Thoroughly enjoying these books and delighted they’ve been released so close together, because it means the wait is less! Daniells is a nasty, mean author to her characters, but to very good effect. Fairly straightforward plot but the characters jump off the page.
The Usurper: Book Three of The Chronicles of King Rolen’s Kin, Rowena Cory Daniells – Very fast paced final book, but I was very cross at the ending! There’s definitely more to come in this world!
Eight Grade Bites, Heather Brewer – Not a bad read, and a good one for boys to read that beats the more romancey YA stuff!
Ninth Grade Slays, Heather Brewer – Interesting portrayal of vampires as fairly amoral, although it’s a bit conflicted in the characters.
Blue Bloods, Masquerade, Revelations and The Van Alen Legacy, Melissa de la Cruz – Surprised by how much I enjoyed these (very much linked) books. Some interesting ideas and quite compelling characters. Give to the Twilight set!
Need, Carrie Jones – Nothing fancy here, but a solid addition to the YA Paranormal pantheon, this time with pixies and shapeshifters.
Wolfbane, Sue Bursztynski – Thoroughly enjoyed this – could have wished for more detail in characterisation and a bit more plot development, but a great read.
Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins – A bleak but solid end to the trilogy.
Filed under Uncategorized
A conversational life 