So this week I finished a couple of books, one of which left me thinking, “oh… OK. What happened exactly?” and the other received my first five star rating in quite some time. The first of these was Unraveled by Gennifer Albin, the final book in her Crewel World YA dystopian trilogy. I think it would require a second reading to understand fully what Albin was trying to achieve. Unfortunately, I don’t feel strongly enough about it to care about a reread. I loved the first book, second one was so-so and the third. Hmmmm. I probably won’t review this one. The second one was the audiobook of Graeme Simsion’s quirky romance The Rosie Project. I adored this, so expect my full review next week. Other than reading, I’ve been indulging in my new secret obsession; the British quiz show QI, which I discovered recently on UK Netflix. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this, it’s a cross between standup comedy and a quiz show. The quizmaster is the always engaging Stephen Fry with regular panelist Alan Davies. The other panelists are standup comedians generally from the UK. Each episode has a theme, and panelists gain points by…
First of all, happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian readers! An extra day to read! Woohoo! Have a great weekend and safe travels if you’re visiting family. We already have the pumpkin pie ready. As my regular readers may know, this week saw the release of some books that I had been anticipating. See below for details. Unfortunately I was also sick with a nasty headache and ended up taking Wednesday off work. Fortunately, listening to the audiobook of Blood of Olympus was much less taxing than assisting people with their technical support issues – and, let’s face it, a lot more fun. So let’s cut to the chase and talk about this week’s books. Added to my library this week Tribulare by Anne Robillard. This is the sixth book in her contemporary fantasy series. I really look forward to reading this, and I see the next two are due in ebook format at the end of the month! Yay! I have been collecting Robillard’s books in Kobo format. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion. This was rather an impulse buy with my last Audible credit for this month. It’s about a socially inept geek who develops a scientific plan…
Well, I had been going to spend this blog post moaning that I was in a bit of a reading slump anticipating all the new releases coming out this month. I felt I couldn’t really get into any of the books I was reading. However twice this week I managed to miss my bus or metro stop because I was reading! I suppose I was more engrossed in my book than I thought. For those interested among you the guilty book was Awakened, the eighth book in P.C. and Kirsten Cast’s House of Night series. One book I have read this week – I borrowed it from the library – was Opera for Dummies by David Pogue and Scott Speck. Let me give a bit of background here. A very good friend of mine is a keen opera goer and she normally attends several performances of the New York Metropolitan Opera’s Live in Cinemas season. She is so passionate about it that this year I decided to accompany her to three operas. Now, I know very little about opera, so I decided to do some research first of all. I do enjoy the …For Dummies books. They are usually excellent…
This week has been pretty quiet in terms of reading. I’ve pretty much spent all my time this week finishing my reread of Brent Weeks’ The Blinding Knife and following up with the new release The Broken Eye. These books are HUGE. The Broken Eye comes in at 816 pages or 29 hrs and 33 mins in audiobook format. I won’t say too much more – my full review will come out next week, so keep an eye out for it if you want to know my thoughts on it. Coming so close on my reread of Robin Hobb’s Realm of the Elderlings reading challenge I’m rather epic fantasied out. I definitely need to take a break with some cutesy contemporary romance – Rainbow Rowell, Stephanie Perkins, I’m looking at you – or some cozy cat mysteries or some contemporary urban fantasy such as The Dresden Files. I suspect I’ll just flick through my Kindle’s library and see what takes my eye. Next week sees the release of the first in a collaborative contemporary fantasy series by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black, The Iron Magisterium, so that my hit the spot. Added to my library this week The Heir of Fire by…
So, I’m back from my vacation at last! I didn’t read a whole lot – I spent time with family – but I did get through a few things. My review of Robin Hobb’s Fool’s Assassin was published yesterday – go check it out if you like slow burning character driven epic fantasy. I also finished the Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet. It had been on my TBR list for a while, but I found it slow going because I had been watching the YouTube video series in sync with the book. I gave up on that and breezed through the book. I thought it was an excellent companion to the web series, and enjoyed reading it very much. The trouble is, it’s spoiled me now for The Austen Project series of modernisations of Austen’s works. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries and Emma Approved are just so cleverly written and adapted, nothing else can come close. [book-info] One book I picked up this week and breezed though was Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods. This is written from Percy Jackson’s point of view and in it he tells the stories of the Greek gods in his own inimitable style. It was…
This week I have been continuing to work my way through Robin Hobb’s Realm of the Elderlings series. I am just over a third of the way through Assassin’s Quest, the third book in the Farseer Trilogy. I hope to follow that with Ship of Destiny, the final book in the Liveship Traders trilogy before starting on the three books of The Tawny Man trilogy. My aim is to have these all completed by August 12th when Fool’s Assassin is released – or at least by the following Friday when I leave for vacation. Fool’s Assassin is the latest book in Fitz’s story after a publication gap of 13 years. I really can’t wait to see what Hobb has in store next! To read all that in that period of time is a tiny bit of a challenge – they are huge tomes – but I’m aiming for it. I have the Farseer trilogy and Liveship Traders in audiobook format as well, and I see the Tawny Man trilogy is making its way to Audible this month too, so that will help. I find mixing listening with reading is an excellent way to enjoy books. I have read all…
First of all, I’d like to share my thoughts on the Emmy nominations which were announced earlier today – congratulations to all nominees. No Tatiana Maslany for Orphan Black? That is very disappointing. She has done incredible work portraying all these different clones and it would have been great to see her gain some recognition for that. Another name I would very much liked to have seen was Pedro Pascal’s for his work as Red Viper Oberyn Martell in Game of Thrones. His performance was wonderfully nuanced and consistently excellent. Representing Game of Thrones we have Lena Headey and Peter Dinklage and supporting actress/actor roles. Dinklage has been nominated several times and won once, this is Headey’s first I believe. My gut feeling is that Headey will have to wait a year for her win – knowing the books, Cersei has some wonderful material coming up next season, which I think will clinch it for her then. She faces competition from fellow Brits Dame Maggie Smith as Downton Abbey’s Dowager Countess of Grantham and Joanne Froggatt who plays Anna Bates – Anna had some very strong storylines this year, sensitively portrayed by Froggatt, but I’m not certain if that will be…
Here in Canada Tuesday was the national holiday, Canada Day, so I had a day off work. I was particularly pleased it fell on a Tuesday as that’s the day new books are released. I was therefore able to spend a pleasant afternoon listening/reading The Jedi Doth Return, the third and final part in Ian Doescher’s William Shakespeare’s Star Wars. [book-info] As with the other two in the series, Verily a New Hope and The Empire Striketh Back, Random House Audio has done a fantastic job with the audiobook – it is a full cast audio with a talented cast and enhanced with sound effects and John Williams’ iconic music. (Doetscher had the backing of George Lucas for this undertaking). Like the two earlier books, this is one I would recommend in audio format. The cast is superb. Audiobook listeners should remain right to the end for a cameo appearance by the Bard himself! While I really enjoyed The Jedi Doth Return, I wasn’t quite a head over heels in love with it as I was with the previous two books. Perhaps it’s because the novelty had worn off somewhat. I still wish these had been available when I was…
So, I missed last week’s reading roundup because I was on vacation – I had a couple of long coach rides and so I really appreciated my audiobooks – I listened to Ruin and Rising, the final book in Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha trilogy and the audiobook of Piper Kerman’s Orange is the New Black. Reviews have been posted/will be posted soon. Added to my library this week I’ve added a few books to my library over the last couple of weeks. Recently, I have been watching the addictive Orange is the New Black on Netflix and so I had placed a hold on the audiobook. It came in just in time for my trip, so I enjoyed listening to it. Two YA trilogies had their final books published last week – the aforementioned Ruin and Rising and Joelle Charbonneau’s Graduation Day, the final book in The Testing trilogy. I’ve enjoyed these series immensely, and I added both to my library in both Kindle and Audible formats. Given the current dispute between Amazon and Hachette, I wasn’t too certain if my preorder for Robert Galbraith’s (AKA J.K. Rowling’s) The Silkworm would be honoured. I had ordered this in Kindle format rather…
This week I have been switching between three books; Ruth’s Journey by Donald McCaig – this is the story of Scarlett O’Hara’s Mammy. This supporting character in Gone with the Wind gets her own story. So far I’m really enjoying it – a full review will be forthcoming. The second book I’m listening to is Half Bad by Sally Green. It tells the story of 16 year old Nathan Byrn who is the son of a white witch and a black witch, which is not a great legacy to have. So far it’s very good, and again a review will be forthcoming. With the publicity machine ramping up for STARZ’ Outlander, the TV adaptation of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander, I decided to relisten to the first book again to refresh my memory. I am really excited about this adaptation – it’s being helmed by Battlestar Galactica’s Ron D. Moore, and the casting I’ve seen is fantastic. I think Catriona Balfe and Sam Heughan will do excellently as our protagonists Claire and Jamie. Roll on August! I had hoped to attend the signing in Ottawa with Diana Gabaldon, but unfortunately it’s a little too tight with my vacation. Added to my library…