2013 - Majkia's Magical Mystery Tour - Site 1

 

All Aboard!

Books Read

45. Every Dead Thing - John Connolly
44. The Engines of God - Jack McDevitt
43. Raven Black - Ann Cleeves
42. The Rook - Daniel O'Malley
41. Hamlet, Revenge! - Michael Innes
40. Grand Conspiracy - Janny Wurts
39. Night Soldiers - Alan Furst
38. Redshirts - John Scalzi
37. A Fatal Grace- Louise Penny
36. The Keeper of Lost Causes - Jussi Adler-Olsen
35. Sandstorm - James Rollins
34. The Damnation Affair - Lilith SaintCrow
33. The Poet - Michael Connolly
32. The Devil You Know - Mike Carey
31. Darwin's Radio - Greg Bear
30. Wolfhound Century - Peter Higgins
29. Hounded - Kevin Hearne
28. Crime at Black Dudley - Margery Allingham
27. Killing Floor - Lee Child
26. Outsider in Amsterdam - Janwillem van de Wetering
25. Doctor Thorne - Anthony Trollope
24. The Cater Street Hangman - Anne Perry
23. No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith
22. Ragtime in Simla - Barbara Cleverly
21. Death of a Cozy Writer - G.M. Malliet
20. Fugitive Prince - Janny Wurts
19. Relic - Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
18. Bruno, Chief of Police - Martin Walker
17. Death in the Stocks - Georgette Heyer
16. The Map of Time - Felix J. Palma
15. The Cardinal's Blades - Pierre Pevel
14. Cold Granite - Stuart MacBride
13. The Neon Rain - James Lee Burke
12. A Cast of Stones - Patrick W Carr
11. Vale of Stars - Sean O'Brien
10. The Arctic Incident - Eoin Colfer
9. And Only to Deceive - Tash Alexander
8. A Talent for War - Jack McDevitt
7. A Call for the Dead - John le Carre
6. Moon Over Soho - Ben Aaronovitch
5. Case Histories - Kate Atkinson
4. After the Armistice Ball - Catriona McPherson
3. Montmorency - Gentleman, Liar, Thief - Eleanor Updale
2. When Christ and His Saints Slept - Sharon Kay Penman
1. The Amulet of Samarkand - Jonathan Stroud

2013 Category Challenge




ROOT




Planned Group Reads

January : When Christ and His Saints Slept - Sharon Kay Penman - COMPLETED

February: The Magus - John Fowles - Did Not Read Zoo City - Lauren Beukes Pearl-ruled about halfway through it

March: Dr Thorne - Anthony Trollope COMPLETED

April: Time and Chance - Sharon Kay Penman

June: Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller

July: The Long Ships - Frans Bengtesson

August: Devil's Brood - Sharon Kay Penman

October: Lionheart - Sharon K Penman

Year Long: Anne Perry

The Cater Street Hangman - Pitt #1 COMPLETED

Wishing you the best reading in 2013!

Thanks Lee! Same back atcha.

Currently Reading:

Time and Chance - Sharon Kay Penman

On deck:

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs (ROOT) TIOLI
The Keeper of Lost Causes - Jussi Adler-Olsen (ROOT) TIOLI

Nothing like posting to a thread hard on the heels of a spammer. I've got you as a starred thread, majkia. Your planned group reads look wonderful.

Starred!

I loved the Bartimaeus books!

Looking forward to following you on your tour this year!

I too love the Bartimaeus books.

I'm on.

I'm always up for a field trip.

Watching...I remember reading The Magus in high school--it was kind of trippy reading for a 17 yr old. Maybe a reread is in order.

Here! (Too.)

I feel like such a slacker! So many folks have finished a book or more already and I'm still plodding through When Christ and His Saints Slept. Good book, but 900 pages take time!

I will say, that I can't imagine why all the commoners don't grab pitchforks and go stab every damn titled person and kill them stone dead. All they appear to be good for is burning towns and turning their armies loose for rape and rapine.

On a brighter note, listening to The Amulet of Samarkand which is a good contrast with the misery of the Penman book.

I'm not done with my first book either (and that only have 629 pages), and I started on it last year...

Same here. And my book is even slimmer - it's still that Dracula haunting me... ;-)

I HAVE finished reading a short story but mainly I have been watching telly, to escape the Count.

Well, mine was slim and I had started it on Christmas day. In fact I was hoping to count it for 2012, but it didn't happen.

I haven't finished one either, but I'm putting aside When Christ and His Saints Slept for a few days to read Captain Vorpatril's Alliance which is a much quicker read.

Hurrah! Huzzah! I finished a book!

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud, first in the Bartimaeus trilogy.

This is an audio book and I really enjoyed the narrator. He fully took advantage of the djinn's sardonic wit.

I do love a smartass and Bartimaeus definitely fits the bill.

I'll be reading onward. :)

I loved this book too, and hate that I haven't managed to finish the series. Maybe I will tag along with you, majkia. :o)

I loved the whole Bartimaeus trilogy; I must get around to finding the prequel that was published a couple of years ago.
Glad your reading year has started with a winner!

good! It is a cute series.

I wasn't impressed by The Amulet of Samarkand. The kid really annoyed me. The writing was good enough though that eventually I'll try the next in the series.

yeah, the kid was rather annoying, Morphy, but I thought Bartimaeus made up for it.

Oh good, another book to look for ;-) Looking forward to seeing more of your reports.

Boarding the bus carefully... is there a driver on the top?

And another book goes on my wishlist.

I have The Amulet of Samarkand as a potential read for this year. Glad to see you enjoyed it and the subsequent, mostly, positive comments.

I read Amulet because I gave it to one of my kids, and I enjoyed it, but I never got to the rest of the series. Must get from the library.

Eyeballing the Bartimaeus trilogy because I'm intrigued by the recommendations, but I just don't have the patience for trilogies any more. Just give me a good story in one volume, please?

On the other hand, I'll be looking forward to your encounter with Dr. Thorne in March! I am a big fan of Trollope

Good to see some Amulet love. :) And yes, I'm looking forward to Dr Thorne. I'm a Trollope fan too, but this is one I haven't read.

And, I finally downloaded them uploaded some photos I took on the last RV trip. Here are our two babies:

Such sweet faces!

OHHHHH!
:o)
Puddies!

Those soulful eyes!

I like their faces

How beautiful they are!

Oh, wow. What sweeties.

Beautiful!

Awww. They need hugs.

The girls say send doggie cookies! Hugs are good, cookies better!

2. When Christ and His Saints Slept by Sharon Kay Penman

A long painful journey through the 12th century, with constantly warring families, burning pillaging and raping towns across England and northern France.

The first half of the book is almost unremittingly grim. A few people stand out, but mostly it is the tale of the war and its horrors for the common people, and the justifications of the powerful.

I didn't/couldn't pick a side, as both sides were stubborn and cared little (although they whinged about it) regarding the horrors they were doing - only mostly complaining about what the other side was doing, even as they did the same things themselves. I don't see why any commoner would love any of them.

The second half was much better, as it got down to personalities and we got to see Henry and Eleanor and pay more attention to the bastard Ranulf who seemed one of the few decent fellows in the first half.

Worth the read, despite all of that, and I'll definitely continue on with the series.

This book fits a 75ers TIOLI, a 2013 Random CAT, a 2013 Category Group Read, and a ROOT.

3. Gentleman, Liar, Thief by Eleanor Updale. An audiobook read by Stephen Fry, who as usual is great.

A weird book, about a prisoner who is used as a guinea pig, but who learns a LOT while its going on and who plots to become.... a gentleman.

Today is my 6th Thingaversary, so I was FORCED (that's my story and I'm sticking to it!) to buy books:

Grand Conspiracy - Janny Wurts
Peril's Gate - Janny Wurts
Traitor's Knot - Janny Wurts
Stormed Fortress - Janny Wurts

This means I now have the entire series up to the latest Initiate's Trial which I won as an Early Reviewer (but will not read until I reach the proper place.

Also:

Time and Chance by Sharon Kay Penman for the Penman group read
The Lost - Caridad Pineiro - I think I lost my mind here, but that cover caught me.

And to grow on:

Wings of Fire - Charles Todd

Wow, heavy on the ladies today, eh?

I'm reading my first Charles Todd book now. It's very enjoyable and I haven't figured out who done it, or even exactly what was done. Been a long time since I've had that experience.

I really enjoyed A Test of Wills. The detective is complex and deep and not portrayed as some superman who can figure out anything. Thus buying the second book.

I'm currently reading After the Armistice Ball which I found a bit difficult at first. Something about the way it was written. I kept having trouble following the sentences, and the thinking. But now that I'm about halfway through, it is fine, and I'm really enjoying it. I'm wondering if my reaction to it wasn't merely that I'd just finished When Christ and His Saints Slept and the style was so different I just had to readjust my perceptions or something.

After the Armistice Ball - Catriona McPherson



Dandy is a woman of privilege who appears rather ditzy. A friend of hers asks her to use her ability to appear innocuous to investigate an acquaintance who is attempting to extort some money from the woman's husband. Dandy is on the case.

I found getting used to the book a bit diffuclt, the writing giving me some problems at first. But After a few Chapters that problem disappeared and I enjoyed the characterizations and Dandy a lot.

Light cozy and fun.

46 - I liked that one too. It was a little more serious than I expected at first, but I'm looking forward to reading another one in this series.

5. Case Histories by Kate Atkinson

Jackson Brodie attracts all the weird cases. He's not sure why but he's got more than his fair share at the moment. He feels like he's Lost and Found, rather than a private detective, and he seems to be doing badly on the finding part. He's searching for a little girl who disappeared 20 some years ago, a killer who killed a teenager some 10 years ago, a missing niece (daughter of an ax murderer), not to mention the cats.

He's got more than his fair share of personal problems too. He dreams about retiring to France. He also dreams about his dead sister.

A different sort of mystery story, with seemingly unrelated stories told separately, and in personal detail, which eventually sort of come together. Some he solves, others he never understands.

I really liked how deeply we get to see into the victim's minds and lives. A very different approach for a mystery, being told from the victim's POV.

I absolutely agree with your assessment of After the Armistice Ball -- very light, frivolous and cosy. But a good read. I think I found Dandy to be a bit on the ditzy side for my tastes in the subsequent books, but I enjoyed it as well.

>48 majkia:: There was a TV adaptation of this on PBS about 18 months ago. I thought it was well done.

#50 - yes, I watched it actually. but it was different enough from the book I didn't feel like it was much of a spoiler. And yes, I thought it was pretty good, which was why I went looking for the book. :)

Jill, I'll read a few about Dandy. But I do get tired of ditzy women, so we'll see how long I keep up with the series.

6. Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch

  

For a terrifying moment I thought he was going to hug me, but fortunately we both remembered we were English just in time. Still, it was a close call.

Peter Grant, London cop and apprentice magician finds himself drawn into the world of music with a jazz beat. There seems to be a Jazz vampire on the loose. His mentor and master, Nightingale, is laid up from wounds received earlier, so Peter manages to lurch from crisis to crisis mostly on his own.

I really enjoy this series. I want to learn more about the Folly, and Nightingale, and Molly. I’m hoping some of that mystery will be revealed sooner rather than later.

I enjoy the humor and the action and the hits of a hidden world Peter is only now beginning to suspect.

I really like the Peter Grant books - there's a new one due out later this year and I'm really looking forward to it.

I'm looking forward to getting to the third book in that series soon. Glad you're liking it also.

7. Call for the Dead - John le Carre

Category 7: Spies and Espionage in 13 in 13 challenge



The beginnings of le Carre's spy series. A basic, unadorned story of espionage and how someone who was your colleague might today be your opposition. Questionable loyalties, questionable lives, and living with lots of suspicion and mistrust.

Certainly true on the mistrust and suspicion which I experienced myself when I was in the Air Force during the cold war.

My dad was such a big fan of John le Carre.

My only complaint about this book was I would have liked more atmosphere and more description of the times. But this was his first, I believe, so I'm hoping the others will become more descriptive and evocative. I believe, somewhere in the depths of time, I read one of his and enjoyed it, but it was a very long time ago, and I have no idea which one it was.

7. A Talent for War - Jack McDevitt



A great fun romp through the universe with puzzles to solve, complete with a very satisfying conclusion.

Alex Benedict upon the sudden death of his uncle is offered a chance to track down a lost artifact. He's sucked into the mystery at once and flits across the known universe in search of the artifact and the mysteries he uncovers as he discovers more and more about what his uncle was up to.

I'll definitely be continuing on with this series.

9. And Only to Deceive Tasha Alexander



A period mystery, set in late Victorian times. Lady Emily marries, and her new husband hies off to Africa where he dies. Left a widow, in control of her own money and her own decisions, she dives into life, where she discovers that perhaps her husband was not a bit as she believed him to be, and that the men she is attracted to, are possibly villains.

I really enjoyed this book until about midway through when the main character suddenly lost her mind. I understand it was a plot device, but after seeing a very bright and intelligent woman in that character, her sudden departure into romantic idiocy irritated me no end. Still, I enjoyed the book regardless and will probably read at least one more of the series.

This fits into my 13 in 13 category 11 - Ferdinand Magellan's Astrolabe - Mysteries, is a Random CAT and an Alpha CAT in the 2013 Category Challenge Group.

Our local library (we have a county system that isn't very well supported as we're a small county) just recently began having Overdrive. Our ebook selection is exceedingly limited, as is the audiobooks through Overdrive. I've been watching it for about six months and finally found something to download to actually try it.

So listening to The Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer.

Irritated at first, as I'd downloaded Overdrive's media console for Windows 8 which promptly told me it didn't work for the type of audiobook I had (WMA) so then had to download the regular Windows media console.

Other than that, things are working fine. Just hope the offerings grow soon!

Or county library system is small, too, and it's hard to find the books I want in print, let alone in audio or ebook. I do manage to find the odd thing to download, however. Overdrive has been working well for me on iPhone and iPad. My main problem with borrowing audiobooks is that I seldom have time to finish them in the two weeks before they go poof.

Majkia - I think it was in your thread that I saw the recomendation for the Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner. I've just read and enjoyed the first two, thanks! I have a few more library books I need to finish before I get the last two.

So glad you are enjoying them! I tend to avoid YA or children's books. I was so astonished when I read them given the children's literature labels on them.

There are supposedly two more books being written. I'll be waiting impatiently for them!

We have a large library system and have the opposite problem. There are plenty of ebooks to check out but there are so many people doing so that there are huge wait lists.

10. The Arctic Incident - Eoin Colfer



The second book in the Artemis Fowl series, Artemis is once again reunited with the fairies, this time to rescue his father, who is being held for ransom by the Russian mafia. Well, he hopes it’s his father but then who can trust the mafia?

This was an audiobook, narrated by Nathaniel Parker, who did a wonderful job of it.

I enjoyed reading them all! Great series though I think book 4 or 5 was not as good as the rest (IMO) I'd need to check which.

11. Vale of Stars - Sean O'Brien



A story of generations and change and exploration and discovery.

A generation ship sets out to found a colony in another star system. What they find there, and how they adapt to it is the main concerns of the story. All of this is set to a background of socialist political division and distrust.

I enjoyed the story, and thought the concept intriguing. I had some problems with the writing, however. For one thing, the politics was heavy handed. Dwelt on in far too obvious a way. Secondly, there was far too much 'telling'. The author had done a fair job of having characters act and speak in ways that made their thoughts and intentions clear, but then went on to detail those same thoughts and explain the actions and thoughts to us. I found that annoying as heck. Trust your readers! We got it! We don't need to be hit over the head with it!

Glad I read it though, as the concepts and ideas were quite compelling.

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I received this book through the Library Thing Early Reviewer program.

Firstly, I can't quite believe I've read or listened to a total of 11 books in one month. What's wrong with me? Scary!

February planned reads (at the moment at least) are as follows:

An Early Reviewer Book: A Cast of Stones - Patrick W. Carr - Fantasy February, 13 in 13, ROOT

Cold Granite - Stuart MacBride - 13 in 13, RandomCAT, ROOT
No Mark Upon Her - Deborah Crombie - 13 in 13, AlphaCAT, ROOT
The Map of Time - Felix J Palma - 13 in 13, Fantasy Feb, ROOT
The Cardinal's Blades - Pierre Pevel - 13 in 13, Fantasy Feb, ROOT
The Fugitive Prince - Janny Wurts - 13 in 13, Fantasy Feb, ROOT

Group Read : The Magus - John Fowles - 13 in 13, ROOT
Group Read : Zoo City - Lauren Beukes - 13 in 13,AlphaCAT, ROOT

I thought the A Cast of Stones was pretty awesome. I hope the author can keep on producing at that quality!

I've not read any Deborah Crombie mysteries, so I'll be interested in hearing what you think of her No Mark Upon Her

Is 11 high or low for you?

Morphy, 11 is very high for me. last year I read 79 books. Year before about 57. So I'm still in awe of last year and can't quite believe I read that many to start out this year.

January Recap:

11 books read! WooHoo! Fabulous for me!

10 were off my shelves: one bought this year, the others older books.

1 library audiobook.

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3 were audiobooks
9 were ebooks

6 male authors
5 female authors

1 historical fiction
3 historical mystery
1 contemporary mystery
3 fantasy
2 sci fi

1 historical spy novel

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2 category 3's : Albert Einstein's Time Bridge : sci fi
1 category 5: Beatrix Potter's Tea Set: Fantasy
1 category 6:H.G. Well's Time Machine: Ancient Times
1 category 7: The Amber Sphere and the Pearls of Wisdom: spies, espionage
1 category 8: Timothy Leary's Glasses: Altered States
1 category 9: Lenape Cave Artifacts: Magic and Magic Wielders
3 category 11: Ferdinand Magellan's Astrolabe: mysteries
1 category 12: Abby Normal's Brain: Weird and Wild

I am very impressed, and jealous, too. Keep it up!

BTW, I adored Case Histories and keep meaning to get my hands on more Kate Atkinson books. I bought the 3rd in that series for $1, but haven't seen the second anywhere.

I'm looking forward to book two as well, Claire. Hopefully you'll find it at a reasonable price soon.

12. A Cast of Stones - Patrick W Carr




Errol, a young boy whose ale addiction has made him the laughingstock of the town, in order to earn money for more ale, offers to take a message to the hermit who lives outside of town. From that moment on, his life changes, as someone tries to kill him, first with arrows, and then with poison. He has no idea why.

The hermit and his friend insist on him leaving with them, as all three flee the assassins.

A fast paced and interesting tale. The magic system is different enough to intrigue, and the characters are well drawn and believable.

Hope the author can keep up the good work for the rest of the series.

I received this book through the Library Thing Early Reviewer Program

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This is a TIOLI, a ROOT, part of Fantasy February, and placed in category 13 of my category challenge: Pandora's Box: Early Review books and gifts.

Over the weekend I Pearl Ruled Zoo City. Really wanted to like it but I was avoiding reading it and that is always a sign I should just stop a book. I really didn't care about any of the characters.

So now I am reading Cold Granite and WANTING to read it, so happy about that.

Also listening to The Neon Rain which, thankfully, has a great narrator, who is not overdoing the accent, which is generally what makes me nuts about Southern movies and audiobooks.

Pearl Ruled?

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=1388#m11451

Essentially give a book 50 pages and then if it hasn't grabbed you, move on. I gave Zoo City 76, so I'm not feeling guilty at all :)

Ah, thanks. My rule is about 30-35 pages, though I'll sometimes give a dubious book a little more.

I never heard of the Pearl Rule. Interesting.

Although I firmly believe in putting aside a book that doesn't hold my attention, I don't follow any rule about it. In general I'll give something a fighting chance until the midpoint, but there are books I'll ditch on page 2. In the latter cases, it's most apt to be something stylistic (an addiction to comma splices, for instance) or something as idiosyncratic as my disliking the name of the main character. I never feel guilty about it.

I've also fought my way to the end of some books that I hated, perhaps out of a perverse urge to hate them completely and not just partially. Do you ever do that?

I have never fought through to the end of a book I truly hated. I will try my best to give an author the benefit of the doubt so I don't usually follow the Pearl Rule. Some people just take longer to make their point but, if allowed to do so, you can find that they are telling you something phenomenal, something amazing, something worthwhile. I do abandon books, but usually only when I realize that I just am not in a place where I'm ever going to *hear* the other person. (Sometimes, I will just circle back around at a later time to see if the book and I click when I'm in a different mood and mindset.)

I know for sure there are books I've abandoned that are 'good' books, in many ways. Yes, sometimes I'm just not in a place were I'm mentally prepared for it.

Sometimes it's my background (I've worked for 25 years with women and children who were abused and/or raped, I've been close with people who were tortured, so I'm super sensitive if a book deals with those issues as 'romantic' in some way or acceptable. I'm not going to have nightmares from my reading if I can avoid it. I have enough of those from real life.

I generally try to read 100 pages of a book before I decide to abandon it. But as with above if a trigger is involved then all bets are off. Zoo City was getting close to pushing one of my triggers given some of the actions of the characters.

Jill, I definitely agree. Some books can be amazing if you stick with them to the end. But then I have a lot of books in my TBR and I'm getting older so, I'm getting crockety :)

Meredy, yeah, I hear you. Sometimes the trainwreck makes me sit there reading with my mouth hanging open and I keep reading because, I dunno, maybe it is a perverse sense of self-torture? LOL.

Sometimes if a book is making me hate reading, but it's something I think I should know or at least see if the author had anything up their sleeve that's worth reading, I will skim and skip. Read one page by skimming, turning about 10 pages or more, skim another page and so on until I get to the last paragraph and if the beginning of that one doesn't move me in any way to turn back and read, I'll skip to the last page, read it to confirm my opinion, then hate it.

13. The Neon Rain by James Lee Burke



Davve Robicheaux is a New Orleans homicide cop. When he fishes a dead prostitute out of a near by bayou, he determines to find out who killed her and why, despite the fact no one else seems to care.

Lots of atmosphere, very much true to New Orleans and its environs, Dave is gritty and not quite straight much like his city. He’s determined and stubborn and willing to do what he thinks needs to be done, even if it isn’t legal.

This was an audio version of the book, and I especially liked the narrator. He ddin’t overdo the accent, as so many people do for southern stories.

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Placing this in Category 11. Ferdinand Magellan's Astrolabe - Mysteries

It is also a ROOT, and fits into the AlphaCAT for the 2013 Category Challenge

14. Cold Granite - Stuart MacBride



Aberdeen is not a pleasant place to spend the winter. DS Logan McRae, just back from a year off due to a serial killer trying to cut his stomach out with a knife, is still not fully healed. He’s to take it easy. That goes as well as the rest of the book, when a 4 year old boy is found dead and mutilated. Logan’s world goes downhill from there.

Excellently atmospheric, grim, action-packed Tartan Noir. I’ll definitely be reading the rest of this series.

"Tartan Noir" -- I love it!

I keep promising that I'll get around to Stuart MacBride's series at some point. I have the first couple of books sitting on the tbr shelves and I will get to them one day.

Is Cold Granite really grim, as police procedurals go? I don't mind the grittiness in police procedurals, but when they add in the blood and guts and alcoholism and divorce and so forth, it's a little hard not to cringe.

It is more the types of crimes and the fact that things keep going wrong going from bad to worse for much of the book.

I loved that myself. Fallible folks doing the best they can.

Watching as the winter storm winds up. We had the tail end of it this morning, with heavy rains and a bit of wind. Moved through now thankfully, since we are RVing at the beach. Sunshine is coming back out and it is 69F. Still humid but hopefully that will ease up as the front gets further past us.

15.

The Cardinal's Blades - Pierre Pevel



The Three Musketeers with dragons. Well, sort of dragons. Dragons in human form, and half-bloods. And the dragons, or some of them, want to gain a foothold in France. So Cardinal Richelieu reactivates his best group of spies, his Blades, who had been dismissed in disgrace 5 years ago.

But it’s clear Richelieu is holding back on the Blades, and they’re a bit less trusting after being betrayed by one of their own. And they have a few secrets of their own. Just who can you trust?

I really love the concept. The start is a bit slow, as there is too much getting the band back together, with cuts from one person to another as they all receive their summons back to the Blades.

Still, I’m eager to read the next book.

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For my 2013 Category challenge placed in category 8 Timothy Leary's Glasses - Altered States

Also a ROOT, a TIOLI and part of Fantasy February.

Okay, you sold me on The Cardinal's Blades! Downloading to bring on vacation next week. :)

Hope you enjoy it!

We're camping at Topsail Preserve State Park, near Sandestin FL (about 30 miles from home)



That's our RV, a Bounder.

Isn't it nice to find a wonderful getaway spot without having to travel very far?

I love the name of your RV - the Bounder. Bouncy, bouncy!

#89 - I found them a lot grimmer than most of the other police procedurals. The first one wasn't too bad, but some off the next get quite graphic in places. Well written though.

Burke's been on my wishlist for a while; and now I've had to add cardinal's blades. Although I don't like historical fantasy, that sounds like a lot of fun.

Lovely spot, majkia. Looks like a great place for reading, too.

We had a lovely time camping, even if the weather wasn't as great as we'd hoped for.

16. The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma



have mixed emotions about this book. I found it tedious at time, and seriously thought about Pearl ruling it, but was stubborn enough to stay with it. The last third of the book was great, the first 2/3 annoying. The author often went on too long with some times, I thought.

Not sure I’ll continue this series. Even though I thought the writing quite good and the concept interesting.

This is a ROOT, a TIOLI, a 13 in 13 ( 2. Edgar Allan Poe's Quill Pen - Alternate History )
and part of Fantasy February.

I saw this at the bookstore a few days ago. The cover really jumped out and grabbed me, as did the the one for the next in the series. Sounds like a good thing I didn't grab them. I haven't had a lot of patience lately so if it takes a book too long to interest me it's lost me.

101: I found that one enjoyable enough to stay with and finish, but not especially memorable. I didn't think it warranted the enthusiastic reviews I'd read. It tried my patience in places. So it sounds like I pretty much agree with your assessment. I wasn't moved to look for a sequel.

17 for the year, 21 for my 2013 Category Challenge:

Death in the Stocks - Georgette Heyer



What a fun, interesting mystery. Although I'd guessed fairly early on who must have dunnit, still, the characterization of the suspects was truly deep and intriguing, and often quite funny. Dialogue was witty  and sparkling. I appreciate suspects fully fleshed out and multilayered.

I'll definitely continue this series.

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Category 11: Ferdinand Magellan's Astrolabe: Mysteries.

Also my 17th ROOT.

18. Bruno, Chief of Police - Martin Walker



Bruno is the chief of police in a small French tourist town. He fits the town and it fits him. He’s happy and contented and has no dreams of moving upward in police ranks or back to the cities. He’s a former soldier who survived the horrors of Bosnia, so he’s had enough of misery.

But when an Arab man is found stabbed to death in his home in Bruno's beloved St Denis with a swastika carved into his stomach, Bruno must work with the city police to find the murderer.

This is a delightful cozy, despite the sound of the murder. I found it very French in that it pays as much attention to wine, cheese and pate as it does to the solving of the murder.

But if you like pat answers and clearly evil villains, perhaps you should give this a pass.

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This is a ROOT, an AlphaCAT, and I'm putting it in Category 11, Ferdinand Magellan's Astrolabe - Mysteries

19. Relic - Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child



When two children are found brutally murdered inside the Natural History Museum in New York, a rather mysterious fellow shows up who claims to have been working on similar murders in New Orleans.

More deaths, all equally grisly, bring on high-profile interest and contending interests turn the whole episode into a major disaster. Is it a maniac who is killing these people, or some sort of creature stalking the deep hidden areas of the museum?

Lots of science and tech talk throughout this which I really enjoyed. Especially that science was the true hero of the piece. Also liked the surprise ending!

I listened to the audio version and found it an exciting thriller, despite having seen the rather less fascinating movie. Definitely going to continue this series.

That one sounds good...

106: I've just bought that one and haven't started it yet. I have hopes for the series, so it was good to read your review. Thanks for not including any spoilers!

February Stats, since I doubt I'll manage to finish the books I'm working on now:

A Cast of Stones - Patrick W. Carr an ER book (yay!), 13 in 13, ROOT, TIOLI, Fantasy February, Dead Tree

Neon Rain - James Lee Burke - Book 1 of a series, 13 in 13, ROOT, AlphaCAT, TIOLI, Audio Book

Cold Granite - Stuart MacBride - Book 1 of a Series, 13 in 13, ROOT, AlphaCAT, TIOLI, ebook

The Cardinal's Blades - Pierre Pavel - Book 1 of a series, 13 in 13, ROOT, Fantasy February, ebook

The Map of Time - Felix J. Palma - Book 1 of a series, 13 in 13, ROOT, TIOLI, Fantasy February, ebook

Death in the Stocks - Georgette Heyer - Book 1 of a series, 13 in 13, ROOT, ebook

Bruno, Chief of Police - Martin Walker - Book 1 of a series, 13 in 13, ROOT, AlphaCAT, audio book

Relic - Preston/Child - Book 1 of a series, 13 in 13 ROOT, audio book.

Zoo City Lauren Beukes - I abandoned this so it only counts as a ROOT. The writing was fine, the ideas interesting, but I really couldn't give a damn about any of the characters and didn't really care what happened to them. Nor did I find the mystery, such as it was, intriguing enough to want to resolve.
-----

9 ROOTS, 8 13 in 13, and 5 TIOLI

2 fantasy
4 mystery
1 sci fi
1 thriller

7 males, 2 female (an odd month for me)

1 Dead Tree
3 Audio Books
5 Ebooks

1 Abandoned

----------------
I'm still reading two books, but won't finish either before the end of the month:

Fugitive Prince - Janny Wurts
White Mountain - Sophie Tallis

Loving Fugitive Prince of course, but struggling with White Mountain which is an ER book I really should try harder to read.

I really really need to dredge up some discipline and concentrate on a few series to complete them rather than jumping into brand new ones!

March Reading Plans:

Fugitive Prince - Janny Wurts - TIOLI 4, ROOT, 13 in 13

Doctor Thorne - Anthony Trollope - Group Read, TIOLI 2, 13 in 13, ROOT

No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith - Green Dragon Group Read, Mystery March, TIOLI 3, ROOT, 13 in 13

Outsider in Amsterdam - Janwillem van de Wetering - Mystery March, TIOLI 1, 13 in 13, AlphaCAT, ROOT

Death of a Cozy Writer - G. M. Malliet - ROOT, AwardsCAT, 13 in 13, Mystery March

The Lost (Sin Hunters) - Caridad Pineiro - RandomCAT, 13 in 13

Cater Street Hangman - Anne Perry - TOLI 3, 13 in 13, ROOT, AlphaCAT, Mystery March

AUDIO: Ragtime at Simla - Barbara Cleverly - Mystery March, TIOLI 1, ROOT, 13 in 13

AUDIO: The Killing Floor - Lee Child - TIOLI 18, 13 in 13, AlphaCAT, ROOT, Mystery March

I'll try to finish White Mountain - Sophie E Tallis, an ER book, but I'm not excited about it.

Thoroughly enjoyed Doctor Thorne, but was less enthusiastic about Death of a Cozy Writer so will be interested in your take on both.

Hi Jill. Looking forward to both. They'll be a relief after Fugitive Prince. I want desperately to strangle Janny Wurts.

20. Fugitive Prince - Janny Wurts



The War of Light and Shadow Book 4.

Epic fantasy with a wide cast of characters in a sprawling landscape filled with pitfalls and betrayals and hopeless plights. Two half-brothers, both poisoned by their encounter with the Mistwraith, their gifts twisted and turned to destruction of everything they care about. Arithon, trained as a mage, at least knows what’s happening and has training enough to fight against it. Lysaer has no such protection and is totally under the Mistwraith’s spell.

By book 4, the spell has nearly consumed Lysaer. His natural sense of justice is so twisted he no longer seems himself, and is consumed with destroying Arithon.

Arithon is so harried and pursued across the world, he has no safe haven. All his allies are in deadly danger and under constant pressure from Lysaer armies of nearly fanatical believers. Only his natural bent toward brilliant tactics and subtle planning have given him any hope at all of surviving and of keeping his allies alive. He hopes to find a refuge for his people, where he can protect them from the Alliance of Light.

Intense emotions, depths of character, twisty plots and seemingly hopeless odds. All combine to make this book, as were the rest, compelling.

As most of you can probably tell, I no longer want to strangle Janny. It was a momentary thing. Honestly.... LOL

Trying not to read your review too closely in case there are spoilers, yet I can't look away. LOL
Oy... nothing seems to have been solved since book one!

Well, Clam, it's true. I want to seriously kick the sorcerers into doing more. There are a lot of changes between book one and book four, but the main elements are still in play.

21. Death of a Cozy Writer - G.M.Malliet



Obnoxious, wealthy father brings his clan together as he plans to marry again. Of course someone ends up dead.

Interesting characterizations, pretty good mystery. Nice setting. Nice debut book, so probably will continue the series.

I'd have liked a bit more about the detective, but I did like the care taken with all the suspects. They were all multilayered and interesting.

--------------

This is another ROOT, a part of my 2013 Category Challenge and an AwardCat

22. Ragtime in Simla - Barbara Cleverly



The second book in the Joe Sandilands series, set, as was the first, in India, although this time in Simla, the summer capital of the British Raj. Set in 1922, shortly after the war, and with the backdrop of Indian independence just raising its head.

Joe is driving to Simla in a friend’s car. He offers a famous opera star a ride up the mountain, only to have the opera singer shot by a sniper before they can arrive. Joe takes it rather personally and determines to find the sniper and figure out why anyone would lie in wait for an opera singer. Or was he the target?

I loved the locale and the exotic backdrop. Characterizations were quite well developed and the mystery was convoluted enough that even if you figured out a part of it, there was more to the whole of the story to discover, up to the very end.

I adore stuff set during the British Raj so I was doubly pleased with this book.

This is a ROOT, part of my 2013 Category Challenge, an AlphaCAT, Mystery March, and a TIOLI.

23. No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith



I sooo wanted to like this book more than I did. I love the setting, I love the way the characters take care of one another, I love the love of their country, but the main character, Precious, was way too precious for me. Not a single flaw, never a bad thought, never a step wrong, drove me a bit batty.

And it was also a bit sappy.

Okay, granted, I’m a gal who likes noir, so I’m probably prejudiced against one hundred percent good heroes, but still….. Glad I read it, glad I’m done with it, and it’s off my virtual shelf.

majikia - The books do stay good, but Precious gains depth in the next few in the series. I won't say she turns into an ax murderer ;) but she doesn't have a trouble-free life, and she doesn't always handle it well.

24. The Cater Street Hangman - Anne Perry




First in the Thomas Pitt series, it begins with a look at a well to do family living in the midst of violence and fear brought on by a killer of local women, both servants and their mistresses.

I like the atmosphere she invokes and the mystery is complex with a lot of red herrings thrown around.

This was a re-read for me, but from so long ago I’d forgotten most of it. Also I’d conflated it with a movie version I saw some time ago, the movie having altered major bits (to its detriment, I thought).

Re-reading so I can continue the series.

This is a ROOT, a TIOLI, a 13 in 13, an AlphaCAT, and a Mystery March.

I haven't read it in years, but I thought it was a good beginning to a series that held up well for the first half dozen or so titles.

>120 MrsLee: Agreed on Precious. I've continued to enjoy the series, and she does develop, and experience setbacks.

25. Doctor Thorne - Anthony Trollope





The third book of the Barsetshire chornicles, Trollope shows off his skills at poking fun at everyone: the gentry, the smug, the proud, the fools and even a time or two the angels.

It’s the 1850s with all its conventions and assumptions on full display.

I adore Trollope for his humor and his eye for absurdity.

-----------------

A ROOT, 2013 Category Challenge, A Group Read, and a TIOLI

My infamous white wisteria is blooming. Don't ask me why it's white. It just is. It was grafted off the usual blue wisteria. It's a heretic like me, I guess. :)

Or a very special (but by no means unknown) white cultivar. There still may be similarities ;-)

Just looking at your photo makes me feel warm! (It's a very grey day here in London.)

It makes my nose itch! Heh.

Yes, it is definitely (achoo!) spring here in Florida. My Candy Cane Amaryllis is blooming too.

Outsider in Amsterdam - Janwillem van de Wetering




A man is found hung in his rooms. Is it murder, or is it suicide? Two Amsterdam cops investigate the possibilities and run into a lot of red herrings.

Told with utilitarian simplicity, and not a lot of psychologizing or depth of meaning, it’s strictly ‘the job.'

The style is quite different and gives the tale a totally different slant, which has pros and cons. I'm also not sure how much of what bothered me was due to translation issues (words badly selected).

But a pretty good tale over all.

------------------
I received this as part of my Santa Thing gift package :)

It's a ROOT, a 2013 Cat challenge, an AlphaCAT, Mystery March, and a TIOLI

Abandoned: The Lost: Sin Hunters by Caridad Pineiro

23 pages and I couldn't stand it any more. One guy obsessing about making a kid, one semi-violent sex scene and next a woman pleasuring herself in the shower. In 23 pages.

Ugh. What a waste of good paper.

I loved Relic when I read it oh, so many years ago. :) In fact, it got me started reading a lot of Preston&Child books, but I think I grew a bit tired of them after a while. Maybe I should try one out again. :)

27. Killing Floor - Lee Child





Jack Reacher, just out of the military, just wants to enjoy his freedom and wander across the US, going where his whimsy takes him. On a whim, he gets off a bus at a small town in Georgia, where he is nearly immediately arrested for murder. They chose the wrong drifter to hang the charge on.

Fast paced, complex mystery, and believable action, first of the Jack Reacher series. Will definitely continue this series.

And I now understand why so many people are complaining about the choice of actors for the movie.

28. Crime at Black Dudley -Margery Allingham



The typical English Manor murder mystery complete with secret passages, a curse, and a weekend house party.  The surprising thing, since it is the first Albert Campion mystery, was that Albert plays only a bit part! He doesn’t really solve much, and we don’t learn what the heck he’s really up to.

This was an audio book and the reader really made Campion sound a complete ass.

-------------

A 13 in 13, an AlphaCAT and Mystery March.

29. Hounded - Kevin Hearne






Goddesses, a wolfhound who likes bangers and mash, the Tempe werewolf clan, and a troublesome coven of witches all make the life of one lone Druid interesting.

When his nemesis turns up to demand a Fae sword be returned, the same god who’s hounded him for millennia, and goes after his friends, well, this time Atticus decides to stand and fight and not to run.

Great series. Lots of humor, a joke cracking wolfhound and a bookselling Druid. What's not to like?

Oberon is a hoot, and Atticus is a pretty cool Druid. And the widow down the street is pretty neat too.

April reading planning:

**Group Read: Time and Chance - Sharon Kay Penman - TIOLI

AlphaCATS:

The Devil You Know - Felix Castor TIOLI
Death at La Fenice - Donna Leon (ROOT) TIOLI
Audio: Darwin's Radio (ROOT)
Audio: The Poet (ROOT)
The Damnation Affair - Lilith Saintcrow - (ROOT) TIOLI
Phoenix Rising- (ROOT) TIOLI
Dragonsbane - Barbara Hambly TIOLI

AwardCATS:
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs (ROOT) TIOLI
The Keeper of Lost Causes - Jussi Adler-Olsen (ROOT) TIOLI

RandomCATS:
Thriller: Sandstorm - James Rollins TIOLI (ROOT)
Fantasy: The Element of Fire - Martha Wells (ROOT)
Winds of Khalakovo - Bradley Beaulieu (ROOT)

Reading thru Time (Heroes&Vagabonds) - Sandstorm, Phoenix Rising, The Damnation Affair

Shooting for: 9 TIOLI, 10 ROOTS, 2 Audio

Overly ambitious, I'm sure...

March Statistics:

Books read in March: 11 Total

Group Read: Doctor Thorne - Trollope TIOLI 2, 13 in 13, ROOT, Classic

Fugitive Prince - Janny Wurts - TIOLI 4, ROOT, 13 in 13, Fantasy
No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith - Green Dragon, Mystery March, TIOLI 3, ROOT, 13 in 13
Outsider in Amsterdam - Janwillem van de Wetering - Mystery March - TIOLI 1, 13 in 13, AlphaCAT, ROOT, Mystery March
Death of a Cozy Writer - G. M Malliet - ROOT, AwardsCAT, 13 in 13, Mystery March
The Cater Street Hangman - Anne Perry - TIOLI 3, 13 in 13, ROOT, AlphaCAT, Mystery March
Killing Floor - Lee Child - TIOLI, AlphaCAT, Mystery March, 13 in 13
Hounded - Kevin Hearne - 13 in 13, Fantasy

Audio: Ragtime in Simla - Barbara Cleverly - AlphaCAT Mystery March - TIOLI 1
The Crime at Black Dudley - Margery Allingham - Mystery March, AlphaCAT

Early Reviewer: Wolfhound Century - Peter Higgins - 13 in 13, Alt History/SciFi

Abandoned with relish: The Lost : Sin Hunter - UGH!!!!!!

-------------------

2 audio books, 1 Early Reviewer dead tree, 8 ebooks

7 TIOLIs, 6 ROOTS, 6 Mystery March, 1 AwardsCAT, 5 AlphaCAT

1 Historical Fiction
2 Fantasy
6 Mystery
1 Thriller
1 Alternate History/ Science Fiction

5 Female authors
6 Male authors

30. Wolfhound Century - Peter Higgins







I received this as an Early Reviewer Book.

My major complaint about the book: It ends on a cliff hanger. Hate that in any book, and dinged the rating I gave it accordingly.

The above said, I did enjoy the book, although the first 50 or so pages were very confusing. Having a Glossary for all the Russian (?) and made up words would have been immensely helpful. A lot of my confusion was not knowing exactly what the heck so many words meant/signified/hinted.

The story is based on Russian fairy tales which I don't know so that made it a bit harder. But the main thrust of the story is that a police investigator is sent to the major city of this country (Vast) to do some secretive investigations.  We don't know anything about his background and he himself knows very little. He arrives in the city and immediately finds out there are plots within the police and that he can trust no one. He searches out an old friend he grew up with for assistance. The more he learns, the less he knows.

One thing he does learn is that while everyone thinks that all the 'angels' who fell to earth died, there is in fact one who is alive and is trying to take control of people, things, groups, to change the world the way he wants it.

31. Darwin's Radio - Greg Bear





If the next evolutionary step happened, would we recognize it? Or would we think it a disease to destroy?

When a part of our genetic code suddenly activates, and women's pregnancies start go go wrong, it's a race to find the cause and cure it. Or is something else, entirely, happening?

Exciting and thought provoking look at how we react to change and what we might do to keep the status quo rather than take a step into the unknown. It's science vs politics and fear.

I listened to the audible edition narrated by George Guidall and thought it was an excellent narration especially given all the genetic and biological information in the text.
-----

A 2013 Category Challenge (Cat 8 - Altered States), an AlphaCAT, ROOT, and TIOLI

32. The Devil You Know - Mike Carey





Felix (Fix) Castor is an exorcist. A not very happy one. He has no idea where he sends the ghosts he exorcises to, nor does he spend much time worrying about it. But he’s been avoiding his prime calling for awhile now for personal reasons, when he gets a call to exorcise the ghost from a business. He could use the money and it sounds like a simple enough job so he takes it. Well, naturally, he couldn’t have been more wrong.

It’s dark and noir, and Fix’s world isn’t for the faint of heart. Still, the story was interesting and the mystery surrounding the ghost is confusing enough so that even when you know a bit about what happened to her, you can’t quite figure it all out until the end.

I’ll be definitely continuing this series..

A ROOT, a 13 in 13 (#10 - Lovecraft's Silver Key - creepy), a TIOLI.

33. The Poet - Michael Connolly





Jack McAvoy, a reporter with the Rocky, finds it hard to believe that his twin, Sean, committed suicide. A detective, he’d seemed happy and although he was troubled by a child’s murder case, still, suicide seemed hard to take.

Jack begins looking into things when he decides to write an article about cops who suicide. What he finds leads him to a serial killer.

Fast paced, intricate, police procedural that keeps you guessing up to the very end. Great read!

----------------

A ROOT, a 13 in 13 (category 1 - Minoan Trident - Thrillers), a TIOLI, and an AlphaCAT.

I thought Darwin's Radio was pretty good. I have the sequel sitting on my self (along with 170 others) waiting to be read.

34. The Damnation Affair - Lilith SaintCrow





Steampunk!

A Boston miss accepts a teaching post out in the Westron frontier in order to find out what’s happened to her brother. She lands in Damnation, the last place she’s heard from him. He’s not in town and she’s reluctant to ask about him given what she finds there. What she finds there is a bit unsettling for someone raised in civilization. Not to mention zombies, a Chinois sorcerer, and a Sheriff who is definitely more than he pretends to be.

I found Cat to be annoying because she’s depicted as so timid but she learns fast, as is necessary. Not much in the way of steampunk in town but lots of strange ‘mancy. Not to mention all those walking dead.

---------------

A 13 in 13 (Cat 3 - Albert Einstein's Time Bridge), a ROOT, a TIOLI, and an AlphaCAT.

I've just picked up The Devil You Know and I have to say, even though I am only a few chapters in, I'm really loving it! It's one of those books that really grabs me right from the word go and pulls me into its world!

#144 by @Stillman> Glad to hear that. It grabbed me too.

I'm Jean and I admit to being a light-weight. Well, at reading anyway. I've been trying my best to read Time and Chance by Sharon Kay Penman, and admit to enjoying it, but at the same time I keep being seduced by funner books: The Damnation Affair, The Poet, The Devil You Know and now Sandstorm.

Maybe I can blame being on vacation? We're RVing at the beach at the moment, so... Yeah, that sounds like a good excuse to me!

I don't think of it as being lightweight. I think I just go through phases. I know I really like good quality, well written, clever books... but sometimes my brain just wants to read about wizards/ghosts/zombies/crime fighting monks etc etc. It's not so much holiday reading as a holiday for my brain -and I don't know that I'd always say funner is less worthy...

35. Sandstorm - James Rollins




When a mysterious explosion rips apart a wing of the British Museum, a special force of scientist/soldiers is dispatched to the site. If their fears prove true, this explosion could be only a hint of what might happen if the forces that brought this about are triggered again.

Thriller that keeps you guessing from start to finish. Lots of archaeology and physics and a storm of action accompany the small group of scientists who race the clock to head off a possible disaster. Their task though, is complicated when it becomes apparent, they have not one, but two mysterious organizations also in pursuit of a scientific breakthrough of enormous potential.

And the women are just as kick-ass as the men.

Characterization, settings and plot combine to create a great read. I’ll definitely be continuing this series.

--------------------

Category Challenge (Category 1 Thrillers), a RandomCAT, a TIOLI, and a ROOT.

36. The Keeper of Lost Causes - Jussi Adler-Olsen (Scandi Noir)





Carl Morck is just back to work with the detective bureau in Copenhagen. He was shot, one partner killed and another paralyzed from the neck down. To say he’s depressed and feeling guilty is no stretch of the imagination. He’s burned out, tired, and just wants out. Instead he finds himself promoted to head up a new division. He’s locked away in the basement, away from everyone and left to stew alone, with a pile of old unsolved cases.

His only employee, a naturalized citizen from Syria, who is supposed to have been hired to clean, ends up pushing Carl into picking up one of the cases, that of a missing female politician. Carl reluctantly begins to look at the case, but is drawn into it, more by the cleaners plan than by his own, until he begins to think he might have found out where the first investigation went wrong.

Very very noir mystery. Grim situation, horrible bad guys, and a detective who’s barely hanging on to his own sanity, all come together for a nail-biting conclusion.

Great characterization and a fascinating slow but steady build to the finale.

------------

A 2013 Category Challenge (#10 - Monsters), an AwardCAT, and a ROOT

The Rollins sounds interesting. That's good, because my TBR pile was in danger of falling under 200.

lol. We certainly can't have that!

37. A Fatal Grace - Louise Penny (Gamache 2)





Poor little Three Pines. A tiny village is once again the scene of a murder. This one very odd indeed. But Armand Gamache and his team are on the case, despite cold and snowstorms and Christmas.

Penny does create some intriguing characters, I’ll give her that. Although I knew who the murderer was immediately, still how the whole thing played out was interesting.

She’s also very good at setting and describing a scene. And Three Pines is admittedly a great little town. But really, I hope there are no more murders set there. It’s definitely stretching credulity to see even two there.

Too bad the b**** was back again.

“Be Calm.”

------------

A 2013 Category Challenge (11 - Contemporary Mysteries), an AlphaCAT and a TIOLI.

April Summary:

Books read in April: 7 Completed, One partial.

Group Read: Time and Chance Sharon Kay Penmen - NOT YET COMPLETE.

The Devil You Know - Mike Carey
The Damnation Affair - Lilith Saintcrow
Sandstorm - James Rollins
The Keeper of Lost Causes - Jussi Adler-Olsen
A Fatal Grace - Louise Penny

Audio:
Darwin's Radio - Greg Bear
The Poet - Michael Connolly

-------------------

2 audio books, 5 ebooks

7 TIOLIs, 6 ROOTS, 1 AwardsCAT, 5 AlphaCAT, 1 RandomCAT

1 Historical Fiction - unfinished
1 Fantasy
2 Mystery
2 Thriller
1 Alternate History/ Steampunk
1 Sci Fi

2 Female authors
5 Male authors

Pages Read (or Listened To): 3328

Interesting totals and stats, majkia.
(Especially the authors' genders.)

yeah, I try to check the genders out every month. This month was an odd month for me, usually genders are almost even, which usually surprises me.

MAY, the merry merry month of May plans

1930s (Reading through Time):
Night Soldiers - Alan Furst - AUDIO - ROOT, 13 in 13
Behold Here's Poison - Georgette Heyer - ROOT, 13 in 13
Hamlet, Revenge! - H Innes - TIOLI 9, ROOT, 13 in 13

AwardsCAT
I got nothin'

RandomCAT
Raven Black - Anne Cleeves (and AlphaCAT) TIOLI 7, ROOT, 13 in 13

Women of Fantasy:
Grand Conspiracy - Janny Wurts TIOLI 3, 13 in 13
Transformation - Carol Berg TIOLI 3, 13 in 13
Garden Spells - Sarah Addison Allen - AUDIO - 13 in 13

AlphaCAT
Ratking- Michael Dibdin - ROOT, 13 in 13
Every Dead Thing - John Connolly - ROOT, 13 in 13
The Rook - O'Malley - TIOLI 3, ROOT, 13 in 13
Redshirts - John Scalzi - AUDIO - TIOLI 12, ROOT, 13 in 13

"I try to check the genders out every month."

I confess I sniggered when I read that. :)

LOL. I can see why!

*chuckle*

37 - I just finished A Fatal Grace this past weekend and really enjoyed the setting and the Three Pines characters. I don't think it would bother me if there were more murders set there or not, just as long as we get to read more about Clara, Gabri, Ruth, Myrna and the rest of the gang.

It's the bloodthirstiest little town this side of Miller's Kill.

#160 by @sandragon> Oh, I adore hearing more about everyone in Three Pines... But who'll be left if everyone is always getting killed off??? As Jim says, bloodthirstiest town ever! :)

OTOH : perhaps I'm looking at this all wrong. Maybe Louise Penny is Stephen King in disguise and it's all about the horror house on the hill?

38. Redshirts - John Scalzi

img src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/P/0765316994.01._SX450_SY635_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg" width="208" height="310">



John Scalzi has written a paean to the original Star Trek series in Redshirts. It’s going to be far more meaningful to geeks and nerds who remember the surprise and fun on Star Trek when it delighted us as youngsters.

Away teams were almost always deadly for some anonymous extra wearing a red shirt. This story is about what happens when the guys and gals wearing those red shirts begin to realize that they are nearly always destined to die, or at least be horribly hurt during those away missions. And it’s about what they decide to do to stop the madness.

Great fun, but not so much laugh out loud funny, as smiling and remembering and cheering for the expendable ones who decide to take their fate in their own hands.

P.S. I listened to the audio version narrated by Wil Wheaton which just adds to the nerdly value of the book!

------------------

This is a ROOT, a 13 in 13 (Category 3), a TIOLI, and an AlphaCAT

I'm having horrible allergy problems this year. My eyes were burning all day yesterday, despite eyedrops and allergy pills. Way to ruin an otherwise beautiful spring, Mother Nature!

And it's not helping my reading!

Ah, yes. That can be hellish. What kind of eyedrops? And which pills? If you're willing to spray stuff up your nose one year I got some steroidal spray that worked beautifully. I stopped usuing it because it made me a little cranky. I've also gotten some relief from putting local (well, local-ish) raw honey in my tea daily. It makes little sense but only one eye bothers me.

Good luck, majkia.

I'm on Claritin D and my eyedrops are two different brands of allergy relief drops. Today was better than yesterday, my eyes only feeling gritty and not burning, thankfully. I'm thinking I'm going to double up on the Claritin today.

39. Night Soldiers - Alan Furst





I won a book by Alan Furst from Library Thing and found it compelling so decided I’d read the entire series in the proper order. Night Soldiers is the first of the series. It takes place in the 1930s and follows the lives of a few young men who end up, by accident mostly, rather than design, as spies for different sides first in the Spanish Civil War, and then in Paris and Eastern Europe during the run-up and planning for World War II, and then during the war itself.

I love the style this book is written in. Frank, calm, plainly told, no dwelling on the horrors, just calm explanation of them.

You get an excellent sense of how these men’s lives are entirely at the mercy of the grand forces conspiring on all sides, and these men tricked or blackmailed or just accidentally ending up where they are. Also, how easily their lives are turned on end, or suddenly placed at risk because of suspicion or outright plotting by their ‘masters’ regarding their loyalties or competencies.

This is a far cry from 007. Gritty and suspenseful.

-------------

Reading Thru Time (1930s), May Suspense etc, TIOLI, 2013 Category Challenge and a ROOT.

A couple of general comments regarding e-readers:

My Nook with Glo-Light has developed the dreaded hole at the end of the universe where all the light comes through. I can still read on it but without the glo-light on only, as the hole is very annoying. I didn't drop it or scratch it. I see from general comments on Nook community sites that this is something that happens sometimes for no apparent reason.

So I was going to buy a new Nook with Glo-light when they released a new version. I find it a lot easier to read with the light on than off except for outside.

Anyway, then came mother's day with a terrific deal on the Nook HD and HD+. Now I already have a tablet that I read on, the Nexus 7. I like it a lot. But the price was so low for the Nook HD that I couldn't resist, so I now have two tablets.

Comparing the two tablets:

The Nexus 7 has access to Google Play. You can do anything on it, and load all the reader store apps from any company. It is fairly light and you can adjust the view to 'night' for reading at night which is white letters on black and is less tiring for eyes.

The Nook HD - I got the 7 because I know for me holding a bigger tablet is painful. It is supposed to get to Google Play and seemed to do so for a little time, but now doesn't. I'm going to contact B&N and see what the heck is up with that.

Also, the Nook HD - I can still sideload all my books (using Calibre to strip DRM and reformat to epub) so not having all the reader apps is no problem.

And, the Nook HD is easier to hold than the Nexus 7. This surprised me and delighted me. It is made of less slick material on the bezel and the back which is what makes the difference. And the Nook HD is a tad bit lighter than the Nexus 7.

At first I did not like that the charging cable for the Nook HD is an 8 pin and not a standard micro USB connector, but now that I've been using it, it makes the charing of the device soooo much faster I'm no longer unhappy about that.

For those who love e-readers, just some notes from me. YMMV of course. I'll also admit I'm tired of Amazon's lock on everything, so wanted to stay away from a Fire. I do own a cheapie Amazon reader (the basic one) but do not use it for reading much. Since it isn't touch, I find it annoying to have to input letters or even to turn a page.

Very useful write-up, majkia!

Wow, I did not know about the glo-light hole issue. How old was your Nook, if you don't mind me asking? Good luck with the Nook HD!!! I just installed Calibre a couple of weeks ago, but I haven't used it yet.

40. Grand Conspiracy - Janny Wurts





The fifth book in the overall arc The Wars of Light and Shadow, does not fail to deliver. Utilizing the magic of music and the music of language, the tale of how the Mistwraith twists Paravia, and its peoples continues.

Her characterization continues to delight. And layers that make up the world of Paravia continue to be revealed as plots within plots are unstrung against not only the Master of Shadow, but against the sorcerers sworn to protect Paravia and against the protective spells guarding the world itself.

Great epic fantasy, with depth and color and music.

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A 13 in 13, TIOLI and Women in SFF book.

41. Hamlet, Revenge! - Michael Innes





“Marry, this is miching mallecho; it means mischief.” – Shakespeare.

And so it was. And Inspector Appleby arrives to find a man dead on the stage of a private production of Hamlet. What does it mean? Why? Why in those circumstances. Is it spies or a very private sort of revenge?

I loved this book. It starts slow, and I wish I’d re-read Hamlet before hand, but when Appleby arrives en scene, the book becomes compelling.

This is my sort of mystery. Very cerebral, very puzzle driven, a smart, calculating, inventive bad guy, where the clues are scarce on the ground and the only way to solve it is by deep thinking.

Definitely continuing this series!

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A ROOT, a TIOLI, a 2013 Category Challenge, a May Mystery and Mayhem.

173: I'm with you in enjoying this book and continuing with the series.

Curiously enough, my very next title turns out to be Shakespeare-based as well: The Tragedy of Arthur. I feel as if this fresh exposure to Hamlet had kind of put me in the mood.

After carefully not reading Meredy's review or yours, I have ordered this on my Kindle and will be reading it soon. I am such a sucker for anything of Hamlet or Macbeth.

#175 by @MrsLee> Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

#174 by @Meredy> sigh, another BB. ;)

I finally succumbed to buying an ereader a few months ago and got the Nook HD. My only issue is sometimes it will flicker - not turn on or off - just flicker. So I'll have to turn it on and off several times before it works.

I have a Nook HD and mine doesn't do anything like that Morphy. I'd check with BN.

Ugh, I've already had to exchange it once for another issue. I don't want to exchange another one.

oh too bad...

I should read this thread more often! Although I suspect it will do terrible things to my book buying. We've been reading many of the same books this year!

42. The Rook - Daniel O'Malley





A young woman awakes and has no memory of who she is or what has happened to her. Then she finds a note in her pocket: ‘Dear You.” Thus begins her quest to find out who she is, what’s happened to her, and, along the way, to save the world.

What a fun read. Great feisty heroine with no sense of fashion, a secret spy agency charged with policing the supernatural, and pet bunny.

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A 2013 Category Challenge (Fantasy), a ROOT, a TIOLI, and great fun.

Wasn't it delightful? This was one of my favorite books of the year.

And another thumbs up for The Rook. I loved it. I look forward to more books from O'Malley, whether they're about the Chequey or not.

Oh good, another series to start. Looks like fun.

I must stop reading - threads - I can't possible ever read all the books I put on my list. The Rook sounds great, what am I to do!

#187 by @mysterymax> Well, at least it's only one book - at the moment anyway!

hmmm. Likely story.

43. Raven Black Ann Cleeves

First of the Shetland Island Trilogy





When a young woman is found dead in the snow, suspicion immediately focuses on the recluse and outsider of the island, a man suspected of killing a child many years before. In an effort to not jump to conclusions the local cops and the murder squad flown in to assist keep investigating. And the more they look into the locals, the less they know.

Nice use of atmosphere and geography, a varying and well drawn pool of suspects and twists and turns that keep you guessing as to just who did what to whom.

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A ROOT, a TIOLI, a 2013 Category Challenge (Category 1 Thriller), an AlphaCAT and a RandomCAT

I heard Ann Cleeves speak at Malice Domestic and she seemed like an interesting person. If you can vouch for the first in her Shetlands trilogy, then I may well move it up in my list for the township library mystery discussion group.

well, I certainly enjoyed Raven Black. and I live quite far away from you. so I suppose it is fairly safe for me to vouch for the book.

seriously, I did enjoy it. and I was unsure of the murderer right up to the end.

44. The Engines of God - Jack McDevitt





Earth is set to terriform a world where The Academy is working to extract the remains of alien artifacts before they are lost. Just before the deadline, a new find is made that changes everything.

What a fun read. Just the sort of book I like. No laser wars, no crazy manic madmen, just scientists trying to figure out the strangeness of what they find.

Definitely continuing this series.

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A TIOLI, a 2013 Category Challenge (Category 3, Sci Fi - High Tech), an AlphaCAT

45. Every Dead Thing - John Connolly





Charlie Parker is an alcoholic and a cop. But when he comes home from the bar to find his wife and child brutally murdered, everything in his life changes. He’s driven to find out who killed them and why, and along the way confront the monsters among us.

Very well written, intelligent background to the murders, complex characters. Setting and mood are very compelling and his depiction of Louisiana is terrific.

Definitely continuing on reading this author. This is the second satisfying book I’ve read of his.

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A TIOLI, 2013 Category Challenge (Cat 10 - monsters), and an AlphaCAT

May Stats:

8 books total:

4 audio, 4 ebooks

2 female authors, 6 males

2 sci fi, 2 fantasy, 2 murder mysteries, 1 spy thriller, 1 regular thriller

3557 pages read/listened to.

5 ROOTS dug up

I'm at 45/75 for the year, 38/40 ROOTS

2013 Cat Challenges: YTD

1. Thrillers: 4
2. Period Mysteries: 6
3. Sci Fi/High Tech: 5
4. Epic Tales: 2
5. Fantasy: 3
6.Ancient Times: 4
7. Spies: 3
8. Altered States: 3
9. Magic Wielders: 3
10. Monsters: 4
11. Contemporary Mysteries: 7
12. Weird and Wild: 3
13. Pandora's Box; 2

June planned reads:

Well, we'll see how far I get into this, given I just began Peril's Gate by Janny Wurts yesterday and it is 950 pages long. It's TIOLI 8.

Group Read:Framley Parsonage - Anthony Trollope TIOLI 3, ROOT, AlphaCat

Audiobooks:
The Kill Artist - Daniel Silva -AlphaCat, TIOLI 5
Scoundrels - Timothy Zahn - AlphaCat, TIOLI 5

Sci Fi: Flashforward - Robert J Sawyer - ROOT, AlphaCat, TIOLI 6
Foreigner - C.J. Cherryh - ROOT, TIOLI 8, AlphaCat

Fantasy: The Spiritualist - Megan Chance - ROOT, AlphaCat, TIOLI 2


If I can get to them:
Don't Look Back - Karen Fossum - ROOT, AlphaCat, TIOLI 6
Still Life with Murder - P. J. Ryan - ROOT, AlphaCat, TIOLI 6
The September Society - Charles Finch - AlphaCat, TIOLI 12
The Silent Tower - Barbara Hambly - AlphaCat, TIOLI 8
A Spy in the House - Y. S. Lee - ROOT, AlphaCat, TIOLI 3
In the Woods - Tana French - ROOT, AlphaCat, TIOLI 5?

196: I really liked In the Woods. Have you read anything else by Tana French? One thing about her mysteries is that some questions remain unanswered.

#197 by @Meredy> No I haven't read her before so looking forward to it.

Oh, gods old and new, I'm afraid to look. Dare I keep reading? Is it possible??? Something might go right for a change?????

(The perils of reading Peril's Gate)

I can't believe it's June already. We are scheduled for a month of RVing beginning the 26th. We hope. But Mr Majkia has a medical issue we can't get looked at until the 24th... So we'll see....

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