One of the books I read this week was one I was given free to review by the author, State vs. Lassiter by Paul Levine. This is a legal mystery/thriller in which trial lawyer Jake Lassiter sees court from the other side as he is framed for murder. This is the tenth in the Jake Lassiter series, but only the first one I have read. Not having read the others didn’t impact my enjoyment of the book; State vs. Lassiter is quite capable of working as a stand-alone. Legal thrillers is not a genre I read a lot of although I do enjoy it. In this one I particularly appreciated the way Levine, a former trial lawyer himself, was able to express complex legal aspects clearly and succinctly to be easily understood by a layman like myself. The narrative style was fresh and engaging and each chapter ended on a cliffhanger to keep me reading more. One aspect I didn’t appreciate so much was the way women were depicted in the novel. For me a little too much focus was placed on their sexual allure rather than their mental acumen. Despite that, I enjoyed the book and gave it…
As I am moving onto a month of nightshift work this week, I will be primarily listening to audiobooks. I’ve used Amazon’s Matchmaker page to pair up some of the books in my TBR with Audible books so I might be able to get through some of them. This week has been more of a re-reading week in preparation for some upcoming new releases. The first of these was Sapphire Blue from Kerstin Gier’s Gem Trilogy. [book-info] I have read all three books in the Gem Trilogy, although the third one I read in German some while ago – I shared my thoughts in my Emerald Green review. My German is good, but I’m sure I’ll have missed a few things, so I am looking forward to reading Anthea Bell’s translation which is excellent. Having compared the translations of the two earlier books, she has really captured Gwyneth’s spirit and humour. As it’s been a while, I’m rereading Sapphire Blue to refresh my memory before jumping into Emerald Green. I’d forgotten just how adorable Gwyneth is! Insurgent by Veronica Roth Series: Divergent Genres: Dystopian, Young Adult Format: eBook Pages: 544 pages Buy from Amazon • Kobo • iTunes • Audible • Next…
This has been another quiet week in my reading roundup. I really wish I didn’t need to work so that I could concentrate on my TBR list! [book-info] Steelheart is the first in a new series by Brandon Sanderson – sparks, that writer is prolific! It tells the story of David, a young man seeking revenge for the death of his father at the hands of Steelheart, an Epic, one of many super powered humans in this new world. Steelheart has taken over Newcago (a dystopian version of Chicago) and appears all but invincible. But David has a secret; he has seen Steelheart bleed. He teams up with the Reckoners, a group of people attempting to work against the Epics to bring Steelheart down. I have commented on the free five chapter sampler and the full book does not disappoint. I have said it before, and will doubtlessly say it again, Sanderson’s strengths as a writer are in worldbuilding, magic systems and pacing. All of these are top notch in Steelheart. Sanderson takes us through David’s tale at a brisk clip, and the twists and revelations are as well thought out and logical as you would expect from the writer…
I hope you enjoyed last week’s guest post from Azrael, but now it’s back to regular programming. The books I have read in the last few weeks have all been worthy of full reviews, so expect to see them in the next few weeks. This week I started listening to Steelheart of which I have heard the first few chapters a few weeks ago when Audible released them early, free of charge. I do enjoy Sanderson’s writing so I’m really looking forward to this one. I’m also reading an ARC of Paul S. Kemp’s The Godborn. Expect reviews of these two soon. Added to my library this week One series I love listening to on Audible is the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. I used an Audible credit to add book 5, Death Masks, to my library. I’m looking forward to this, but it will likely be a few weeks before I get the chance to listen to it. One of the books on Audible’s daily deals this week was The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. This is a very interesting tale, and I was happy to add it to my library for the couple of dollars that…
This week I read A Cat Called Dog by Jem Vanston which I received free to review from Netgalley. It is a sweet tale of a young cat who was raised by dogs and therefore thinks and acts in a more doglike fashion. He is taken under the wing of a more mature cat named George, and together with George and his friends he must save George’ s mistress from disaster. The book is exactly what it claims to be; a light, fluffy tale which passed a couple of pleasant hours. Cat and dog lovers will certainly recognise some of the behavioural traits mentioned in the book. It is funny and engaging, but classic literature it is not. I gave A Cat Called Dog three and a half stars out of five. The Assassin and the Pirate Lord by Sarah J. Maas Genres: Epic Fantasy Format: eBook Pages: 416Amazon • Kobo • iTunes I was not familiar with Sarah J. Maas’s Throne of Glass series, and this novella seemed an excellent way to get started as it was less than a dollar on Amazon. I really enjoyed what I read, and I will certainly be reading more of her work….
This was my final week of nightshifts, and a public holiday as well, which meant I was primarily listening to audiobooks. Expect full reviews of Clockwork Princess and The Golem and the Jinni in the near future. [book-info]This has been another week in which I gave up on a book. This time it was First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones. It started off excellently; the concept of a private investigator who is also a portal to Heaven and who must help the dead pass over sounded really intriguing and fun. I immediately clicked with the main character Charley. You’ve got a love a girl who, on waking up at 4am to the phone ringing and a strange dead guy standing by her bed asks said dead guy to answer the phone! The narrator, Lorelei King, did a great job bringing the story to life. My biggest issue with the book was that it very quickly veered HEAVILY into paranormal romance territory which was a real turnoff for me. I was more interested in hearing about Charley’s life as a Grim Reaper and far less in hearing about how her mysterious dream lover fires up her loins. Steelheart by…
Something happened this week that doesn’t often happen to me – I gave up on a book. I had been reading Fire by Kristin Cashore, and I just couldn’t get into it at all. Her previous book, Graceling, was one I’d quite enjoyed. The world she’d created with Gracelings was fascinating. For some reason though, I just couldn’t enjoy the slightly different world of Fire with its multicoloured monsters and rather bland heroine. On Amazon though it gets a good 4.2 stars out of five and on GoodReads 4.11 so perhaps it was just me. Upcoming September releases There are a few good books coming out in September that I have on pre-order. First up is The Transfer – a Divergent Story by Veronica Roth. Ms Roth is releasing four short stories in the Divergent world and this first one in which the character of Four is given more screen time. I’m excited for Allegiant, the final book in the trilogy which is due out in October, so I’ll certainly be enjoying this additional material in advance. Despite having been out in the UK and Audible since March, the Kindle version of Luke Scull’s The Grim Company only gets its North American…
It certainly isn’t a good week to be a bookworm in Quebec. Canada’s Globe and Mail is reporting that Quebec’s legislature has opened a hearing on pricing for new books. Being discussed is the question of whether or not to prevent the price of new books being discounted by more than 10% for the first nine months after release. The stated intention behind this is to protect the smaller bookstores, especially smaller Francophone ones, from the big hitters such as Amazon and Walmart. Now, while I can appreciate the sentiment, I’m really not certain that keeping book prices high is really going to help anyone. Smaller bookstores are never going to be able to compete with Amazon on price, so perhaps the government should concentrate on supporting them other ways. For example subsidising author signings in the province, sponsoring book groups, or subsidising the cost of Quebecois francophone books. Most Quebec produced books are still noticeably more expensive than their English counterparts. This week I have been working nightshift. As my job is very reactive – sitting around waiting on servers burping, not many human callers – I find it’s a perfect time to enjoy some audiobooks. The books help to keep…
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…
So far this week I have only finished one book – Republic of Thieves – on which I have already written and posted a review. Short version: I loved it. Added to my library this week: As I mentioned in my last reading roundup, several books were released this week about which I was very excited. Emperor of Thorns, Codex Born and Land of Stories: The Enchantress Returns were added to my library this week in Kindle format. It was disappointing though that Audible didn’t have Emperor of Thorns available on release day. I have been absorbed in the story, and I would have liked the professional narration to help it along. I will, of course, be reviewing these books in due course. I have had Cassandra Clare’s City of Bones, the first book of The Mortal Instruments series, in my Audible library for some time, but I have had difficulty getting into it. However, as soon as I listened to the first few minutes of Jennifer Ehle’s narration of The Clockwork Angel, the first book of the Infernal Devices trilogy, I knew I was hooked. I immediately bought all three books in both Kindle and Audible formats. Sadly, Ms…