Reading roundup – December 4th 2016

December 3, 2016

Hello and here I am again with another reading roundup.

Since my last reading roundup, I’ve read five books and COMPLETED MY GOODREADS CHALLENGE!  Go me!  This year so far I have read/listened to 83 books to beat my goal  of 80.  I was wondering if I’d make the challenge this year given how busy my new role has kept me.

Of the books I’ve read since the last roundup the one I enjoyed most was probably Catalyst: A Rogue One Story by James Luceno, which I listened to in audiobook format.  I almost always listen to Star Wars in audiobook format because the narrators, production and sound effects are invariably excellent.  This really brings something special to the story.  Catalyst: A Rogue One Story is a prequel to Star Wars: Rogue One and tells the story of the construction of the first Death Star.  

I really loved this story despite it being somewhat slow and lacking in action.  The characters were beautifully written and the cat and mouse games between Erso, Krennic and Tarkin were excellent.  Galen Erso is a fascinating character with his passion for knowledge blinding him to political issues.  While I don’t believe it spoils the Rogue One movie, it does certainly give some fascinating background information on it.  I gave Catalyst: A Rogue One Story four and half stars out of five.

A close second in terms of enjoyment was A Million Worlds with You by Claudia Gray.  This is the third and final entry in Gray’s Firebird trilogy, a young adult time travel adventure. A Million Worlds with You was a fitting finale to the series, and solidifies my impression of Gray as an extremely solid and gifted storyteller.  This series is well worth checking out if you’ve an interest in time travel.  I gave A Million Worlds with You four stars out of five.

Another solid series entry I listened to recently was Dead Beat by Jim Butcher, book seven of The Dresden Files.  This is another series I invariably listen to in audiobook format due to the excellence of James Marsters’ narration.  He IS Harry Dresden.  Dead Beat has a fun, fast paced mystery and sets up some interesting developments for future books.  I gave Dead Beat four stars out of five.

After some hesitation I did eventually purchase and read The Morning Star by Marie Lu.  I’d enjoyed The Young Elites, but not necessarily enough to want to continue with the series.  I’d heard good things about the finale, so I did pick it up.  I enjoyed it but didn’t love it.  The theme of mortal enemies having to work together for the greater good and Adelina’s journey were interesting and well done.  I gave The Morning Star three and a half stars out of five.

One book I consigned to my did not finish pile was Carrie Fisher’s The Princess Diarist, written and narrated by Fisher herself.  I bought it somewhat on an impulse because the Audible sample was funny and engaging.  Fisher’s narration was especially on point.  I think my issue with this audiobook was that the focus was not what I anticipated, despite the recent publicity about certain revelations.  I was looking more for behind the scenes insight into the making of Star Wars.  This is the first of Fisher’s autobiographies I have read and perhaps one of the others may have the focus I was hoping for.

Currently, I’m reading and enjoying:  

Scythe by Neal Schusterman.  This is the first in a YA series set in a world in which humanity has conquered death and humans are basically immortal.  In order to prevent overpopulation, a group of people known as scythes are tasked with killing a certain quota of people.  We follow two apprentice scythes, Citra and Rowan as they struggle to learn their trade and navigate the murky waters of scythe politics.  I’m about 70% of the way through it and am really fascinated by the world Shusterman has created.  It’s definitely worth picking up.

I’m also reading/listening to The Fate of the Tearling by Erika Johansen, the final entry in her YA Tearling series.  I had issues with book one, The Queen of the Tearling, and indeed hadn’t planned to continue with the series.  Some positive reviews of book two, The Invasion of the Tearling, convinced me to give it another go.  I still had issues, but it was a significant improvement for me.  I am now about a third of the way through book three, The Fate of the Tearling and heavily invested.

Upcoming releases

In the month of December there are two releases about which I am super excited.

The Pale Dreamer by Samantha Shannon.  This is a prequel to Shannon’s Bone Season series, a series which has grown on me more and more.  By the time On the Merits of Unnaturalness was released I was completely hooked.  I’m very much looking forward to listening to the beginnings of Paige Mahoney’s story before The Song Rising is released in March.

Finally of course on December 16th we have the audiobook of Star Wars Rogue One.  That is an auto buy for me.

That’s all I have for today.  Back soon with my yearly roundup.

No Comments

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this: