Reading Roundup – 16th August 2013

August 16, 2013

Once again, dear readers, here is my weekly update in what I’ve been reading.

The Land of Stories: The Enchantress Returns is the second in Chris Colfer’s children’s book series.  However, it’s not nearly as enjoyable as the first one.  The setting and characters are still enchanting, but the plotline seems a little repetitious.  Once again our hero twins set off on a quest to gather magical objects that will allow them to cast magic to defeat the evil Enchantress.  Additionally, this book suffers from too much of a tendency to show rather than tell; too many stretches where characters explain about something that happened rather than being shown it.  Perhaps the novelty of the setting and characters carried the first book much further, and papered over inadequacies in writing style, but in this second installment it is not enough to cover up the recycled plotlines and the somewhat clunky narration.

I’m not saying it isn’t a fun read to pass a couple of hours – I do love the world Colfer has built – but I do feel that with better editing and perhaps a different emphasis on story lines it could have been so much better.  I gave it 2.5 stars out of five.

I’m not sure if it was the emotional impact of Emperor of Thorns or the fact that Amazon.de sent me an email offering a reduction on Das Gedächtnis des Lichts (A Memory of Light in German) but I was seized with a burning desire to reread (or, more specifically, re-listen to) the Wheel of Time.  I have picked up from Fires of Heaven which is where my pre-Memory of Light reread was interrupted.  I also picked up Leigh Butler’s reread books on Kindle.

Kate Elliott’s Cold Magic is a book I have been meaning to read for some time, so I was very excited when she tweeted that it has just been released in audiobook format.  I listened to the preview and it sounds excellent.  Disappointingly it’s not Whispersync for Voice enabled, but I will certainly purchase it when my new credits arrive. It appears this is the first of her works to be released in this medium, so I hope it is a positive experience for the publisher and will lead to more.

[mp3j track=”http://samples.audible.com/bk/reco/007080/bk_reco_007080_sample.mp3″ volslider=”y” title = “Listen to a sample”]

 

I also read Clockwork Angel and Codex Born, but these will be full reviews.  Watch for them coming soon to a device near you.

Added to my library this week

For all I’ve been trying to keep my out of control TBR list, I ended up adding some more items to my library.

Boomerang Bride by Fiona Lowe seemed an interesting read and it was only $2 on Kindle, which seemed too good a deal to pass up.

As I am about to enter a month of nightshift work, and will need something to listen to in order to stay awake, I’ve used Audible credits to complete my Wheel of Time collection.  I had been missing Path of Daggers and Crown of Swords.

I had been sure I’d bought Golem and the Jinni earlier but a quick call to Audible customer service (excellent as always) clarified my error.  I used another credit to add it to my library.

[mp3j track=”http://samples.audible.com/bk/harp/003349/bk_harp_003349_sample.mp3″ volslider=”y” title = “Listen to a sample”]

What books would you buy with your credits?  Let me know in the comments!

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