Storeetllr Mary's Reading Adventures in 2016

Happy New Year! I didn't visit The Green Dragon nearly enough last year and I realize I missed so much, so I'm starting a thread here to remind myself to spend more time at the pub.

January Reads:

1. The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher by Hilary Mantel. 3.5 stars. Audio. Short stories by the author of Wolf Hall. Dark tales told by depressing people. Apparently my version didn't include the best short story of the collection that I heard about from a reviewer. Maybe I'll search that one out. Maybe. Excellent writing, thorough character analyses, and interesting concepts, but these stories ~ more like vignettes ~ didn't resonate with me. With most of them, I just didn't see the point.

2. Fables, Volume 3: Storybook Love by Bill Willingham. 4 stars. GN. Continuing the story of the folk from Fairyland who have been exiled to our mundane world by an evil emperor. In this episode, Little Red Riding Hood escapes from Fairyland, and chaos ensues.

3. Johannes Cabal and the Blustery Day by Jonathan L. Howard. 4.5 stars. Audio. Short stories. The title story, which introduces the infamous necromancer, Johannes Cabal, was fun. I especially enjoyed the premise of a band of "louche pixies" that live behind the baseboards and plot to get rid of Cabal so they can turn his house into a condominium complex (each ceiling about 12" high) for their kind. I particularly liked the last one, A Long Spoon, which introduces the Devil ("don't call me a demon") Zarenyia ~ part-woman, part-spider, all predator ~ whom Cabal "summons" to guide him through Hell to the Pit of Despair where lays Pandæmonium, Satan's biggest mistake in judgment (after, you know, The Fall), but all the stories were fun. If you enjoy the Cabal series, you will enjoy these stories. If you haven't read Cabal yet, this might be a good year to do start with this collection of short stories or with the first novel of the series, Johannes Cabal, Necromancer.

4. The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins. 4 stars. Audio, read by Hillary Huber. Well. Hmm. Not sure exactly ~ that is to say ~ *sigh* It's not often I'm at a loss for words when reviewing a book, but looks like this one is going to be harder than most. Anyway, this is one of those books that starts out with an intriguing premise, gets weird (not always in a good way) and sometimes a bit bogged down through the middle, gets even weirder, then ends with a loud whimper. Okay, wait. Let me start over, and I'll try to be more precise. The Library at Mount Char is horror fantasy on the order of Lovecraft and King with a little Poe stuck in there for good measure (think Poe's Telltale Heart or The Cask of Amontillado), any zombie apocalyptic story out there, and parts of the Bible. There are a lot of powerful and otherworldly beings running around, some of whom we only know by name. There is a lot of gruesome and sometimes unpleasantly graphic horror, some of which was troubling for me (and I'm usually cool with the darker more violent stuff), and though the fantasy element is interesting, there were a few plot holes that were, as one reviewer put it, "big enough to drive a truck through." Still, though I stopped at one point for a week when it got a bit bogged down in the middle, I enjoyed it overall. I did like the parts with the lions, though. Well, most of the parts. I also enjoyed some of the snarky and, at points, humorous dialogue, and I thought the fantastic (in the sense of being otherworldly rather than "great") vision of the author was brilliant.

5. Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith aka J.K. Rowling. 4 stars. Third (?) in the Cormoran Strike mystery series. In this one, Robin has a leading role: first, she is set to marry Matthew in a few short months - or is she? Second, Strike calls her his "partner" when talking to a police detective, then immediately seems to revert to thinking of her as his assistant. Their relationship is complicated. Third, she's the focus of a serial killer who sends her the leg of a murdered woman. Fourth, we find out why she left university without graduating. As far as the mystery goes, I sort of had the villain pegged from early on, though I wasn't 100% sure. The serial killer could have been any of three evil men. But a rather clever twist regarding his identity did throw me, so that was gratifying. The killings were brutal and bloody, though not too much for me. I like this series a lot and am looking forward to the next to find out what happens between Strike and Robin after the cliffhanger of an ending.

6. Fledgling by Sharon Lee. 4 stars. Book Whatever in the Liaden Universe series. Although I'm not a fan of coming-of-age stories generally, I really enjoyed this story about Theo Waitley. Yeah, the "clumsiness" b.s. got a little trying after awhile, but I liked how it was handled at the end. I was wishing in a way that I had read this one first, before Agent of Change, because it comes at Liad circuitously, as an outsider learns about it and thinks about it, without just dropping you in the middle of the Scout/mercenary action with little or no explanation, but it's certainly not a huge deal. I thought I'd miss the Val Con/Miri-Shan/Priscilla stories, but nope. Love the new characters. This series just keeps getting better and better!

7. Saltation by Sharon Lee. 4.5 stars. The Theo Waitley story continues, with her sojourn at a piloting academy. Again, the way she was treated so hatefully by many of her fellow students because of her dedication got a bit overdone, but no matter. It worked out great. Love it and her and can't wait to get to the next in the story about Theo, Win Ton and, maybe most of all, Bechimo!

8. Fairest: The Return of the Maharaja by Sean Williams. 4 stars. GN. Fairest series #3, a spinoff of the Fables series. So, I didn't notice that this is the third in the series until I finished it. I should have looked, but it wasn't on the cover, only at the bottom of the spine in small font. I enjoyed it and want to read from the beginning but am going to have to wait awhile so the story will fade from memory. Anyway, I enjoyed it, especially the artwork and the story, which is one of transformation and, in a way, redemption.

9. The Promise by Robert Crais. 4.5 stars. Latest in the Elvis Cole/Joe Pike mystery series. Set in L.A. Elvis Cole gets mixed up in a murder involving possible terrorists when he accepts a job of finding a woman who has disappeared. Joe Pike and Jon Stone help him out. Another good one!

10. Written in Red by Anne Bishop. 4.5 stars. Audio. First in the novel of The Others series. I want to give this a 5 star rating and may come back to do that, though I feel funny giving such a high rating to a fantasy novel. Still, I enjoyed it so very much, even more the second time around than the first. The world of The Others is one where The Others, supernatural beings ~ the Terra Indigene ~ rule, and humans, aka monkeys and "clever meat," are allotted strictly delineated areas where they live in on sufferance, depending on their behavior. It's a dangerous world for humans, because the Terra Indigene don't think like humans do. The story is told in part from the viewpoint of the Terra Indigene through the voice of Simon Wolfgard, leader of The Others at the Lakeside Courtyard; in part from the viewpoint of humans through the voice of Monty, a disgraced police detective who was transferred because he saved a young Terra Indigene from a human predator, has been assigned the task of keeping peace between the humans and The Others in Lakeside; and in part from the viewpoint of Meg, the human liaison for The Lakeside Courtyard and who is a cassandra sangue, a human with the power of prophesy, who has run away from those that would control her for her use as a prophet. I love the way Meg makes a place for herself among the Terra Indigene, the way Simon struggles to deal with the human who is different from humans, the way Monty shows courage in the face of tremendous fear induced by the violent tendencies of The Others toward anyone who betrays them or tries to harm them or those under their protection. When I read it the first time, I was a bit taken aback by Meg's childlike behavior and the way Simon and his young, troubled nephew thought of Meg as a squeaky toy, but this second time around the details behind these things made more sense to me. Anyway, I'm going to try to hold off until tomorrow to start the second in the series for Fantasy February. And to finish Beastly Bones and write a review of it for Early Reviewers.

Well, hi, there. Think I'll follow along.

Oh, hey! My first visitor! Hi, Meredy! Thanks! I'm honored to have you follow along. I just went over and starred your thread and will be following your reading adventures for this year too.

Nice to see you here. I'll add your thread to the GD Reading Journal list.

Happy New Year, may you find lots of wonderful books to enjoy this year.

>1 Storeetllr: I should try and get back to the Johannes Cabal series. Love the first two but haven't got around to picking up the next as yet. Glad to see the shorties are fun too!

>6 AHS-Wolfy: I enjoyed the first two as well, and then tried to find the third. It wasn't at my library (a respectably comprehensive city library that also incorporates a university library), and it was available online only from independent sellers at outrageous prices. After several attempts, I gave up and stopped looking.

>4 SylviaC: Thanks, Sylvia! I appreciate it!

>5 Peace2: Thank you! Happy New Year to you too, and warmest wishes for the same book joy to you!

>6 AHS-Wolfy: The short stories were fun, Dave, some more than others, of course, as is the way with collections. I hope you do get back to the series this year, and that you can find them at your library.

>7 Meredy: That's a shame, Meredy. Does your library give you access to Hoopla? It has books 3 and 4 and the short story collection as eAudio books here. I think I saw at least some of the books on OverDrive or OneClick as eBooks too, but I haven't checked lately.

Happy new year! I look forward to following your reading this year, and hope it brings you many good books. I've read enough about The library at Mount Char to be intrigued by it, but will wait for the paperback to be released, given your comments.

Happy New Year to you too, Claire! Thanks, I'll be checking out your reading this year too. Looks like we have a lot of books in common and like a lot of the same kind of books. Mount Char had its problems, I admit, but it is intriguing and parts of it were great, and I am not sorry I read it. If you get a chance to read it before it comes out in paperback, I wouldn't hesitate to pick it up.

Catching up!

February Reads:

11. Murder of Crows by Anne Bishop. 4 stars. Audio. Second in The Others series. More about the cassandra sangue, their lives in The Compound, and their mysterious Controller; more about the Terra Indigene who live in the Lakeside Courtyard and those from other regions of the continent; more about the HFL (Humans First and Last) movement. Lots of graphic violence, but it didn't bother me. What did bother me were little insignificant things, such as: possible Simon has a cellphone, and, while on a train trip, he listens to a voicemail message from Meg, but he has to wait until he gets to a station stop to make a phone call? I just didn't understand, it wasn't explained, and it just didn't make sense. I mean, if there wasn't any cell service or if he didn't want his human companions to hear what he was saying, that would work. But there was no explanation at all. And it bothered me.

12. Beastly Bones by William Ritter. 3 stars. Audio. Second in the Jackaby series. LTER. I was a little disappointed in this, the second book in the Jackaby series, after having loved the first ("Jackaby"). The plot was all over the place, it got a little bogged down at times, which bored me, and I wasn't thrilled with the narrator. Having said that, I like the premise of the series ~ supernatural detective Jackaby, along with his assistant Abigail Rook (the viewpoint character), Jennie the troubled ghost of the manor, and Jackaby's former assistant, cursed and living happily as a drake in the lakeside meadow on the second floor. Also, maybe because I am a bird-lady, I loved new "character" Rosie the mythical Stympahalide. I think I'll be reading a print or eBook version of the third in the series, because, even though this one let me down, it's still a series I am going to follow.

13. Vision in Silver by Anne Bishop. 4 stars. Audio. Third in The Others series. The series just gets better and better. Looking forward to March's release of the fourth in the series!

14. Postal, Volume 1 by Matt Hawkins. 3.75 stars. GN. First in series. Gory, gruesome, gritty noir about a strange town and the stranger people who call it home. To give you an idea, the main character who has Asperger's is the most sane and normal person in town. Wonderful illustrations, if dark. I liked it! Thanks Mark for the reccie.

15. Carousel Tides by Sharon Lee. 3.75 stars. First in urban fantasy series. I enjoyed it, though the ending left me going "Huh?" It's possible I was so tired when I finished it last night that I missed something, so I may go back and reread the last chapter, but even with that, and a time in the middle where I got a little tired of Kate's angst, I thought it was good. Not on the order of Liaden good, but a worthy read.

16. The Last Temptation by Val McDermid. 2 stars. Third in the Tony Hill/Carol Jorden mystery thriller series. No. Just no. So I'm reading along, enjoying the thrill ride, when Tony and Carol do something so stupid, so uncharacteristic, that if I'd been reading a print book instead of on my Kindle, I'd have thrown it ~ hard ~ against the wall. It was toward the end, so next day ~ or it might have been two days later, not sure how long it took me to get over my fury ~ I skipped ahead to the last chapter and finished it. Now, I'm not going to make my 2 star rating official, because I did skip over at least 3 chapters, and really 3/4 of the book would have garnered 4 stars, but I am still annoyed enough to take away 2 of those potential stars for ruining it for me. Now I'm debating whether to go on with the series, though I have the latest book to read as part of the Early Reviewer program, so I have to read at least one more book in the series. Aargh. I hate it when this kind of thing happens.

17. Small Victories by Anne Lamott. 4.5 stars. Audio. Nonfiction. Thank goodness I had this audiobook to listen to between the fiasco that was my last book and a few personal issues I'm dealing with right now. Anne Lamott is a woman of faith, the kind of Christian I respect and admire. She doesn't shout her beliefs or shove them in your face. She doesn't berate you for not being good enough or try to convert you to her beliefs. In fact, she tells her stories with an open honesty and sometimes self-deprecating humor that is disarming and charming, in equal measure, whether she's writing about her falling-down adventures on a ski slope or the death from cancer of her best friend, about her relationship with her dead mother's ashes or her reaction to an unpleasant encounter with a nonfangirl in a movie theater ticket line. I loved her Bird by Bird and Traveling Mercies, and it turns out I loved this one just as much.

Edited to fix touchstones.

>11 Storeetllr: I'm looking forward to Vision in silver when I can get hold of the paperback. It really is a good series so far. I love Meg and the different Others.

I also enjoyed Carousel tides, although I found it slowed in the middle and I would put it aside for days at a time. The setting and otherworldliness of it all kept me intrigued though. I did sometimes find the writing to be unclear, so I would have a mental picture of something then have it contradicted later in the book when new information was given. I do want to read the sequels, but they haven't been published in mass market paperback like the first book. I'd rather not pay more for a trade paperback that doesn't fit on the shelf!

It looks like you read a nice combination of material! I've starred your thread and I'll be lurking about!

I may have to keep an eye out for Postal. Looks like something that I would enjoy reading.