B&N had a sale on Marvel and DC comics, buy 2 get the 3rd one free. So, I got this one, the latest collection of Black Panther and Vol. 1 of A Force. Super excited to read about new and different heroes!
Kate and I have given updates on our Challenges and well we are not doing as well as both of would like. We want to know, dear readers, how many of you attempted our Diverse Stack, Diverse Lives Reading Challenge? With only 31 days left how many books have you read and how many more do you need to complete yours? We are thinking of doing this again next year but changing the focus to only on sub-challenge instead of three. We are open to suggestions. What should we add to next years challenge? What should we leave off? Let us know how we can make next year’s challenge more accessible while still helping us all reach our goals of diversifying our reading lists.
With only 32 days left I’ve pretty much conceded that I will not finish my Diverse Stacks, Diverse Lives Challenge. Sigh. I will obviously have to work harder next year but I am only 3 books away from my Goodreads Challenge of reading 65 books this year. I’ve actually read more then 65 books this year but since Goodreads only counts you are reading for the first time and not books you’ve read before. That’s kind of a bummer but whatever. It is what it is. I’ve been doing the Goodreads Challenge since 2011 and every year I’ve read a little less every year. In 2012 I read 94 books and last year only read 68. I’m a little sad that I don’t read as much as I used too. I don’t read at home as much as I have in the past. I mostly only read on the ride too and from work. I think that explains why my book totals have lowered in the last couple of years. That being said, reading an average of 77 books a year for the last 5 years is pretty good. And the whole point of the challenge is to set a goal and try to complete it and I am 3 books away from this year goal and only 32 days to finish it. So this a long ranting post and round about way to ask how close are you to any of your reading goals or challenges? Have you finished any of yours yet? Give us a shout at let us know.
I knew this before but my Mom has good taste because this book was delightful. Charley Davidson is not just a Private Investigator, she’s also a Grim Reaper. Sorry, not just a Grim Reaper, she’s THE Grim Reaper. Which isn’t such a terrible job one might imagine. She just helps the departed cross over to the other side. Also being the Grim Reaper and a PI, she is also her detective uncle’s secret weapon when it comes to solving crimes since she can see the dead and you know, ask them who killed them. It sort of cheating but whatever. When we meet Charley, she’s been called by her Uncle Bob to help her with a new homicide. It soon develops into more then just a simple triple homicide but something all together. Too complicate things even more, Charley has been having these super realistic dreams that may not be something more supernatural. Charley now in a race of time to solve a mysterious deaths of her dead clients, figure out her dreams and stop people from trying to kill her over and over again. Charley is smart, funny and sarcastic. My kind of person. The cast of characters are fun and fill out the story but Charley is the real star of the story. She is strong and independent but still carries the scars of years people thinking she was crazy but it doesn’t stop her from keep trying to help people, dead or alive. There is one case in here that is truly sad and heartbreaking and you really feel for not only Charley who truly felt she was helping but for her client as well. Sadly, just like in real life not everything turns out the way we want them too. That said, I’m really looking forward to the next book. If anyone is on the fence about this one, I say just jump in! Especially fans of Sookie Stackhouse. There may not be Vampires, Werewolves and such but fill of supernatural beings, colorful cast of characters and wonderful female protagonist.
Thank you Bloomsbury USA for an advance reader! I’m super excited for this one.
I’m a fan of both Holly Black and Cassandra Clare’s work so I was pretty stoked about their collaboration. I just wish it was better. It’s fine but not great. Someone pointed out to me that it’s a book meant for middle schoolers so I’m not the targeted audience but Rick Riordan writes for the middle schoolers and those are fantastic. Holly Black’s Spindlewick Series are also great. So I don’t think it’s the genre, I think maybe it’s the story itself. We are now in the third book and Call, Aaron and Tamara are now being honored for killing the Enemy of Death, even though they know the Enemy of Death’s soul is in Call’s body. Things get complicated when someone tries to kill Call and successfully kill a fellow student. There’s all the typical kid lit traits. The adults are clueless. True, they don’t know Call’s secret but pretty much every time they tell Call he’s going to be safe, he’s attacked. They allready have had one student and one teacher end up in cahoots with the big bad and they didn’t know it. Is it any surprise that there would be someone else also in cahoots living right under their noses? No, of course not. Typically, the kids feel they have do things on their own and typically it gets them in more trouble and typically when the real culprit is revealed the adults aren’t there so they get blamed for everything. At moments I really enjoy this book but at most times I think “is something going to happen soon?” I felt like there was a lot going on of nothing really happening until you get to the ending and then there’s yet another big cliffhanger. I will say this about this series in general, the cliffhangers have been first class. Too bad the rest of the book don’t live up to them.
Recommended by Mommy!
It’s the universal truth that being an adult sucks. Even though today is my day off, I should be working. I have staff reviews to write, sales data to analyze and what am I doing? Flipping through Sarah Scribbles tumblr because as I said, being an adult sucks. You have probably seen Sarah’s work on Facebook because I’m sure one of your friends has shared it. It seems like Sarah has taped into all the stress, anxiety, and fears of what it’s like to be an adult right now and probably ever. How we all rather sleep or read then go to work or go outside. That it would be so much easier if we just didn’t have deal with things but we do. At Book Riot Live this past weekend, Sarah was there to play a little game of Pictionary and since her publisher was a sponser they gave out her book for free. It was a wonderful surprise. Before the game started I sat in my seat giggling at all the comics and thinking this is all too real. Some of the comics I have read before but there was a couple of new ones. They were all great and wonderful and another reminder that I’m not alone. There are so many others out there that feel the same way as I do. It just makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Adulting is hard but at lease with Sarah Scribbles we can all laugh at it.
This series was different in that it billed itself as having the villain as the protagonist. I argued in my review of the last book, The Rose Society that Adelina wasn’t really the true villain of the story. While she does commit several villainous acts on her way to power she is just as much a victim as anyone else. I also argued that Teren, in his religious fervor was the character to be most feared then any of them. After finishing The Midnight Star, I feel a little justified and also not. It starts out with Adelina and her Roses conquering another country by fear. She is merciless in her rule. She has taken all the power away from the un-marked and given it to the marked. She kills anyone who speaks out against her and punishes her family. She is by no means a heroine to be worshiped. She is also a young girl who has been bullied, abused and marginalized her whole life. In her mind she is righting the wrongs. Taken power and given it back to the powerless. I’m not saying it’s justified or what she did was right but I can also understand her too. A crisis bigger then her own fears aligns her once again with the daggers and gives her a path of redemption. Raffalle has figured out the origin of the blood fever that lead to the Young Elites powers. They was a rift in the mortal and the immortal world that allowed the powers of the Gods to effect the mortal world. It’s now poisoning them. Their powers are turning against them. Lucent, who could fly, bones are hallowing out. Violetta’s power to block others including her own is not overcoming her. Adelina’s voices in her head are her own illusions overtaking her. The only way to save them and the world is to go to where the rift occurred and offer to give their powers back. Now these enemies will have to work together but how can there when there has been so much blood already spilled and the body count in this book is pretty high as well. I wouldn’t say it had a happy ending but really the only ending that it could have. It was bittersweet. I will miss the lush atmosphere of this book. Stylized after a medieval society, Marie Lu gave her settings life and beauty. It was a good series and enjoyable read but year not going to lift you up.
Because sometimes you have to read about magic because dystopian novels just got too real.
