Writing my Own Story

This book gets its own entry because it's the best book I've read this year. I know it's early in the year, but I've read a lot of books so far and this one is AMAZING.

( The Ruin of Delicate Things by Beverley Lee )

This a true dark fairytale. The grief and pain is in every word of the story. There is also a deep rage and a need for revenge. The descriptions in this book are fantastic, evoking visceral feelings. Some quotes for examples:
"Dan laughs, punching his best friend on the shoulder as they run home through the tail end of the thunderstorm, the scent of wet earth, like a freshly dug grave, crawling in their footsteps."

"The real world had teeth and claws and wasn't afraid to use them to grind you down into a minced-up version of who you had once been."

"Dan knew she was lying. Faye knew she was lying. The uncomfortable wedge slid between them like a thorn through flesh."

TW: death, torture, child death, drowning

( A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas ) I read this as an audio book. It played as background noise for the most part as I found the beginning of the book a bit boring. Once the story itself got going, it was interesting. I enjoyed the idea of Sherlock being female and the ways the author went about hiding the fact from the other characters. I think if I were to read more in this series, I would do it in print form so I can skip over any parts that I feel are not necessary.

I'm still working through my backlog of series to finish using my unlimited free trial. I finished one more series and started on the last one before I can read books that were recommended to me by a friend.

Magic Bound Saga
( The Time Traveler's Vampire by Anna Applegate )

( The Time Traveler's Fate by Anna Applegate ) I really enjoyed the first book in this series (Time Traveler's Magic), somehow these two didn't feel like they lived up to the story that was built in the first book. Things went off the rails a bit and I felt like adding in the Fae as an extra conflict was odd. It really felt like two stories.

I'm now working on finishing the Darkness of the Living Forest series. I'm on book 2 of 3.

( Ascent of Darkness and Ruin by Meg Cowley ) I'm about halfway through this. So far it lives up to the first book, though I'm sorely missing one of the characters from book 1 that has yet to make an appearance.

I recently got a free 2 months of Kindle Unlimited to go with my free trial of Audible, so I've been reading a bit more to get as many books out of these trials as I can. Although, I find I'm not as much a fan of the audio books. I thought I would enjoy them more as I enjoy listening to podcast productions, but it's not really the same.

( Seductive Silence by Larissa Lyons ) I almost put this down after the first chapter. It stumbles around a bit and the main character isn't very like-able. I pushed through and ended up enjoying it by the end. I think it may just be the author's attempt at getting the reader to follow the MC on their journey to becoming a better person. It's done rather clumsily.

When I got the free trial, I immediately grabbed the rest of the God of Secrets series that I had just started.

( Empire of Secrets by LRW Lee )

( Empire of Glass by LRW Lee )

( Empire of Darkness by LRW Lee ) Overall, I enjoyed this series. The way the body image issues were handled felt a bit off, but that may just be me. The world building was well done and the character relationships felt true.

( The Bone Farm by Dean Koontz ) I did not like this much at all. I usually enjoy Dean Koontz, there's usually some weird sci-fi going on and a random golden retriever saves the day. But not this one. There were small bits of magic/voodoo, but nothing substantial. Also, the downside I've found to audio books is not being able to skim over parts. I can skip, but it isn't the same as skimming the page.

I also grabbed the rest of the Lost Clan series. I'm working my way through it, the series is 5 books and I just finished book 3.

( Rowan Wood Legends by Olivia Wildenstein )

( Rising Silver Mist by Olivia Wildenstein ) This series manages to keep the reader in the dark about who the "good guys" are. We don't learn anything more about any of the characters than what the MC knows and find out at the same time. Book 3 seems to be the climax, so we'll see what the next two books are about.

I back dated this as I never got around to entering them before the year ended.

I read ( Rose Petal Graves by Olivia Wildenstein ) I really enjoyed the story and the characters. The lore is woven into the story, we only learn it as the main character does.

I also read ( Batman: The Black Mirror ) I went into this thinking it was going to be an extremely dark story and it was not what I expected. It was dark in the sense that it was deeply personal to some of the characters, but the story itself was no darker than any other Batman books I've read.

I took a break from reading for a bit, I was spending too much time in fictional worlds and not enough in the real one. But I've mostly figured out a balance again.

I read ( Dead Right by Benda Novak ). It was ok. It's the third of a trilogy, but I didn't feel lost at at while reading it. It was fairly predictable and not a very good subject matter. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. It was a well written book, structure wise. The characters were handled well, I just didn't like the subject. The way it was written, you weren't really supposed to either, so I'm not really sure how to review it.

After that, I went to my Kindle and found ( The Nocere by Heather Carson ). I liked this one much better. Dystopian future and depressing, but it was interesting. Using the paranormal in a magical way. And the main character had hope/desire for a better future, so it made it less depressing.

I just started ( A Perfect Evil by Alex Kava ). I've read one of his books before and thought I liked it, so I figured I would like this one too, but less than 100 pages in and I'm not sure I want to finish it. It feels predictable and just too heavy for me. I could just be in the wrong mind set for it at the moment.

( King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo )Came in just as I left town. Thankfully my library still had it when I got back! I really enjoyed this book, it felt more in line with the first three books of the series. I could've skipped the other two and only been lost in a couple spots. I put a hold on the next book, which is the last of the series. I've also decided to not watch the Netflix series. I've talked with my friend about it and for some reason the show decided to add racism. It's completely unnecessary and unwanted.

I had started ( The Society of S by Susan Hubbard ) while waiting for King of Scars, but put it aside when it arrived. I finished it yesterday. I really enjoyed the story, though the character did not act like a 13 year old. She came off more like 16 or 17 and that would have been a better age to fit her actions and the story. Parts of the story take place in Savannah and it was fun to know what they were talking about.

I started ( Wanderer's Odyssey: Books 1-3 by Simon Goodman ) while I was out of town and it is FANTASTIC! Sentient space ship, check. Found family, check. Rescuing prisoners from terrible people, check. Action, double check. A bit of romance, check. It smacks a bit of Star Wars, but not enough to detract from the greatness of it. I've finished the first book and started the second.

I swear one of these days I'll get back to posting regularly...

I went on a bit of a Mary Higgins Clark spree. They were quick and easy reads that took my mind off of other things.

( I've Got You Under My Skin ) This was ok, I don't know if I'd call it gripping. The plot wanders a bit and the motive for the killer is very weak. Honestly I liked the plot within the plot better.

( My Gal Sunday ) This was just a collection of short stories about a former president and his new wife. She gets kidnapped/in trouble in various ways and he saves her.

( Loves Music, Loves to Dance ) This one was actually pretty good. MHC is formulaic enough that I figured out the killer pretty early, but it was still an enjoyable read.

Then I read ( Batman: The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale ) Going in I didn't know it was the origin story of Two-Face, so it was a happy surprise to discover as Two-Face is my favorite Batman villain. The story is well done and I enjoyed the art. I may check out the movie when it's out.

After discussing with my friend, she is no longer interested in the series we were reading (she didn't like the ending of the last book), so I found books four and five at the library and am currently waiting for book six to arrive.

( Six of Crows by Leigh Bargudo ) I struggled a bit with this one. I was comparing it with the first three and was disappointed that there wasn't more magic and it was a completely new cast of characters and it took place in a different country. It also broke the flow of the story a bit that the author kept focusing on the ages of the characters. I'm not sure why, but it was distracting. I probably wouldn't have continued the series if this hadn't ended on a cliff hanger with the one character I really liked in danger.

( Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo ) I am glad I decided to continue to this book. I enjoyed this one much more than the one before it. The story flows much better, the characters are more fully developed and we got a few characters from the first three books with a little more magic thrown in.

While I wait for the next book to arrive from the library, I've been reading ( The Treatment by Mo Hayder ) All the acronyms are tricky and sometimes unnecessary, but the overall story is engaging. For some reason I picture the main character as John Constantine (as played by Matt Ryan) there's no magic or occult, but something about the heart of the character is very similar to me.

These questions were written by dimity-blue on dreamwidth.

1) What is the best book you've read?
My all time favorite book is American Gods by Neil Gaimen. I remember finding it at the library, reading it twice before returning it and then immediately buying it and reading it again. I now have the original copy I bought, the 10th anniversary author's preferred text, and the audio book. I love that every time I read it, I find something new.

2) What is the worst book you've read?
Oh man, there are a few that were pretty bad. Misery by Stephen King is usually the one I think of first. I don't think I finished it, it was so bad. I generally really like his books, but Misery felt like I was the one being tortured.

3) What is a favourite book from childhood?
My favorite childhood book has to be Dangerous Spaces by Margaret Mahy. I'm pretty sure it was one of the first books I read with a supernatural element. I really loved the idea that dreams could be real. I reread it a few years ago to see if it still held up and while I had forgotten a few things, the feelings the book evoked were the same.

4) What is a favourite book from adulthood?
The best book I've read in the last few years is Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts. Its a beautiful historical fiction story about the wife of L. Frank Baum.

5) What is a book you've read a number of times?
The one I've read the most is probably American Gods, but I also love to pick up The Princess Bride by William Goldman and just flip to a page and start reading.

I really enjoyed Once Upon A Dream. Its Sleeping Beauty (Disney version) told from the point of view of Aurora/Briar Rose. The best thing about it is that she saves herself and the whole kingdom. I also loved that her relationship with Philip was given time to grow and she didn't love him right away. Overall, it was a great book.

After that I finished my Batman introductory reading list, so I'm free to read whatever Batman books I want now.
( No Man's Land Vol. 2 )
( No Man's Land Vol. 3 )(I swear they are different books)
( No Man's Land Vol. 4 )
( No Man's Land Vol. 5 ) I was very glad to finally finish NML, the whole story line was extremely depressing. It ended with hope though.
( The Killing Joke ) This was honestly a let down. I expected more from the origin story of Bataman's greatest nemesis.
( Court of Owls Vol.1 )
( Court of Owls Vol. 2 ) This was a good set! I enjoyed watching Batman figure it all out.

Most recently I flipped through my Kindle and read ( Ashes and Blood ) and ( Below Dark Waters ) by Katie Zaber. This is the start of a great series! I'm anxiously awaiting book 3, sadly it's still being written, so it's going to be a while :(

I FINALLY finished Chessmen of Mars. I found myself avoiding it for various reasons, sometimes I just wasn't in the mood, but I think a lot of it stems from being unhappy with the way Tara was written. The story itself was good, on the same level as the other books in the series. From the other books I've come to expect strong females that save themselves. Tara was too damsel in distress for me, which was unexpected because she's John Carter's daughter. I also don't understand why she didn't inherit her father's ability to jump high and increased strength. Her brother has it, so why doesn't she? It just doesn't sit right with me. Overall, it's a good story, I was just expecting more from the character.