Micro Reviews: Finishing Up 2013, Part 2

Part 2 of the last of my 2013 books (see Part 1 here).  Enjoy!


The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margot Lanagan
Disturbing, depressing, horribly sad, but gorgeously written and so believable I wanted to visit Rollrock Island. Sort of.


Transparent by Natalie Whipple
I distinctly remember enjoying this book and the different "powers" people have in it.  But for the life of me, I can't remember much of what actually happened :)

Earthbound by Aprilynne Pike
This book made me think "what is going on?" a few too many times.  I'm pretty sure I ended up skimming the last half.  Now I don't remember a thing about it.


Hero by Alethea Kontis
Love, love, love Saturday.  She's such a cool heroine.  Also, I love the fairy-tale mash-ups going on in this series.


Just One Day by Gayle Forman
Fascinating story, though I wanted to smack Lulu upside the head a number of times.  The plot was a bit difficult for me to swallow, because it's something I'd NEVER do, but I have to give Forman props for wonderful writing and characters that kept me reading.


Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Despite many angry responses, I found the surprise ending rather believable for Tris. The rest of the story, however, I had some trouble swallowing.  End of the Divergent series.


Blackout by Robison Wells

Another crazy adventure story, complete with x-men powers and cliff-hanger ending. 

The Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson

A wonderful and satisfying ending to one of my favorite fantasy series (and heroines) ever. Can we get more Elisa please?

The Eye of Minds by James Dashner

Completely insane virtual reality plot with a surprising twist I never saw coming. Some parts a little too unbelievable with some writing that grated my nerves, but intriguing enough that I want more. 

Just One Year by Gayle Forman

An interesting look at what happened to Willem over the course of a year. Made me dislike him slightly less :)

I Am Half-Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley

Flavia de Luce up to more antics at home, always with mad crime-solving skills up her sleeve. 

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

Intense, interesting, and extremely well-written story about a serious lack of heroes in a world of superpowers. While I guessed some twists, others caught me by surprise. 

Blackmoore by Julianne Donaldson

Wonderful story of friendship and romance, with a heroine who sticks to her guns and seizes what she wants in a time when women didn't get to do that much.

Whew! I'm so relieved to be done with 2013 books!

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Books Read in 2014

So, just for me to keep track...

1. Speaking from Among the Bones by Alan Bradley
2. The Dead in their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley
3. Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
4. Roar and Liv by Veronica Rossi
5. The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani
6. The Runaway King by Jennifer A. Nielsen
7. Cress by Marissa Meyer
8. Unstrung by Neal Shusterman
9. Untold by Sarah Rees Brennan
10. Vortex by S.J. Kincaid
11. Evertrue by Brodi Ashton
12. Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi
13. The Demon's Surrender by Sarah Rees Brennan
14. Lady Thief by A.C. Gaughen
15. Brooke by Veronica Rossi
16. Dangerous by Shannon Hale
17. War Brides by Helen Bryan
18. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
19. Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
20. The Actual and Truthful Adventures of Becky Thatcher by Jessica Lawson
21. Isolation by Dan Wells
22. UnSouled by Neal Shusterman
23. Inheritance by Christopher Paolini
24. Ruins by Dan Wells
25. Mitosis by Brandon Sanderson
26. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
27. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien (part 1, part 2)
28. Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor
29. The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
30. The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien (part 3, part 4)
31. United We Spy by Ally Carter (Karissa's review)
32. Son of Neptune by Rick Riorden
33. Second Star by Alyssa B. Scheinmel
34. Chasing the Prophecy by Brandon Mull
35. The Opal Deception by Eoin Colfer
36. The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien (part 5, part 6)
37. The Selection by Kiera Cass
38. The Vault of Dreamers by Caragh M. O'Brien
39. Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White
40. The Hero's Guide to Being an Outlaw by Christopher Healy
41. Clariel by Nix Garth
42. Switched by Amanda Hocking
43. In the Shadows by Kiersten White and Jim DiBartolo
44. House of Secrets by Chris Columbus and Ned Vizzini
45. What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
46. Matilda by Roald Dahl
47. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
48. The Elite by Kiera Cass
49. The Caller by Juliet Marillier
50. The One by Kiera Cass
51. Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
52. Don't Turn Around by Michelle Gagnon
53. Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
54. Unmade by Sarah Rees Brennan
55. Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter
56. Peter and Wendy by J.M. Barrie
57. Sparrow Road by Sheila O'Connor
58. Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins
59. Atlantia by Ally Condie
60. The Heiress of Winterwood by Sarah E. Ladd
61. Entwined by Heather Dixon (reread)
62. Death Cloud by Andrew Lane
63. Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater
64. Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodges
65. Four: A Divergent Collection by Veronica Roth (four stories)
66. Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James
67. Salt and Storm by Kendall Kulper
68. Curtsies and Conspiracies by Gail Carriger
69. The Shadow Throne by Jennifer A. Nielsen
70. In the Dark Streets Shineth by David A. McCullough
71. Chime by Franny Billingsley
72. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Davis

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Micro Reviews: Finishing Up 2013, Part 1

This is annoyingly painful and rather insane, but I'm just posting the rest of my 2013 books so I can forget worrying about reviewing them (um, 20+ of them, so this is only part 1). Feel free to skip it or laugh at my attempts to recall what it is I read about...


The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
Intense, fast-paced, alien invasion story.  Couldn't put it down, but maybe a bit too gory for me to adore it.


Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Seriously geeked-out virtual reality world, complete with quest (of course).  Could have done without all the cussing, but enjoyed lots of the 80s references.


A Soldier's Secret: The Incredible True Story of Sarah Edmonds, a Civil War Hero by Marissa Moss
A real-life woman-disguised-as-a-man during the Civil War.  Seemed rather like a bunch of episodes cobbled together like vignettes, but was still intriguing enough to keep me reading.

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
So much creepier than the retelling I read, The Turning.  And the ending totally leaves it up in the air as to what really happened.


The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White
Love the humor in this book, but found the story a bit dull in places.  Also, Egyptian mythology, like most ancient mythologies, is suuuuuuper weird.


Yesterday by C.K. Kelly Martin
Crazy convoluted and strange plot.  I had a hard time following (and thus buying) what happened.  Also, I seem to recall spotting some big plot holes, but since it's been so long, I don't remember a single one :)


Black Hole Sun by David Macinnis Gill
Interesting futuristic tale, but lacking in details to really flesh out that world.  I had a hard time jumping into the story because of all the crazy lingo too.


Ironskin by Tina Connolly
Definitely one of the oddest Jane Eyre retellings I've read, but with an interesting fairy aspect that made it unique.  Nowhere near as moving as the original, though.


Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein
It's absolutely painful, the every-day brutal reality so many people experienced in concentration camps.  Moving and heart-rending.


The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle by Christopher Healy
A lot of light-hearted Prince Charming humor, as entertaining and funny as the first one.


Across a Star-Swept Sea by Diana Peterfreund
A fun and thoughtful retelling of The Scarlet Pimpernel.  Not as wonderful as For Darkness Shows the Stars, but still entertaining.


Raven Flight by Juliet Marillier
Complete with Marillier's gorgeous writing and complex world-building, this fairy story kept me entertained, despite a rather too-good-to-be-true heroine. Second in the Shadowfell series.


Fox Forever by Mary Pearson
More of Pearson's thoughtful medical ethics complete with full-scale rebellion.  I love how believable this future seems!  Last of the Jenna Fox Chronicles (I think).

Bravo to you if you read this!  Anything on here you loved/hated?

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Classic Double Challenge Link-Up for April

Sign up for the Classic Double Challenge.

Link up with any reviews/thought posts you've done or will do in April (or really any time, it doesn't matter)!  I'm happy to report that I've made progress.  I read both Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Actual and Truthful Adventures of Becky Thatcher!  Now it's a matter of actually getting the reviewing done.  I've got to do a better job of that :)  How are you all doing?

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage

Classic Double Challenge Link-Up for March

Sign up for the Classic Double Challenge.

Link up with any reviews/thought posts you've done (or will do) in March!  Sorry I'm slacking on remembering to post about the challenge.  I know Jessica of Books: A True Story is doing great with the challenge so far!  Check out her comparisons of The Scarlet Pimpernell with Across a Star-Swept Sea and Life After Theft.  I finally started Adventures of Tom Sawyer to pair with The Actual and Truthful Adventures of Becky Thatcher that the lovely Jessica Lawson was so kind as to send to me!  So there's that :)  How are you all doing?

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage

Mini Reviews 11: The Last of the Pre-Baby Books!

So, I'm FINALLY finishing up the reviews for books I read before I had the baby.  That's stuff I read last spring pretty much.  Ugh, I will probably never catch up, but hey, one step at a time. Also, gratuitous photo of my adorable baby.  You're welcome!

The Way We Fall by Megan Crewe
Publisher: Recorded Books
Publication date: January 2012
Length: 7 hrs, 15 min
Source: Audiobook from Library
For: Fun
Series: Fallen World, Book 1

Kaelyn's world is turned upside down when a new deadly virus hits her island home.  As people all around her fall prey to its effects, the government closes the borders of the island in an attempt to contain the infection.  As supplies dwindle and hope seems to fade with it, Kaelyn must fight for supplies and her life as she desperately tries to find a cure.

My Thoughts:
I thought the book shows a fairly balanced view of what an epidemic might look like.  I think we see a lot of this in the real world - people who help out after natural disasters, but also the violence and looting.  I thought it was a bit unrealistic that they ended up with zero communication from outside their island.  Also it seemed like the research of the virus was brushed over lightly.  I would have liked to see more of that.  And the ending left a lot of things ambivalent.  I wanted to have a few more answers.  (I just found out it's a series, of course.)  However, a lot of futuristic books tend to look at only the bleak and horrible.  It was kind of a nicer, lighter look at it.  Also, I thought it was interesting to watch it unfold in such an isolated area.  It would have been a much different book if it took place in an urban setting.  I enjoyed the audiobook, with narrator Sisi Aisha Johnson doing a decent job of the teen girl voice.
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Will Sparrow's Road by Karen Cushman
Publisher: Listening Library
Publication date: November 2012
Length: 5 hrs, 9 min
Source: Audiobook from Library
For: Fun

When Will runs away, he must survive on his thieving skills to get him by.  But after a series of cons in which he is the loser, he becomes more wary of trusting anyone.  When he falls in with a traveling troupe filled with unusual characters, he must decide if he can trust true friends.

My Thoughts:
I adore Cushman's historical novels.  They are always so well-researched and realistic.  The details!  The Quirky characters!  Didn't hurt that I listened to the audio narrated by my favorite, Katherine Kellgren.  The story was a bit hard to follow as it seemed to meander a lot.  It made it harder for me to care about Will.  But when he hooks up with the oddities and prodigies, it gets much better.  It was so interesting to see what life might have been like for people who were different back then.
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The Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer
Publisher: Listening Library
Publication date: 2004 (audio version)
Length: 6 hrs, 10 min
Source: Audiobook from Library
For: Fun
Series: Artemis Fowl, Book 2

   

When Artemis receives an urgent message from his father, who's been kidnapped by the Russian Mafiya, he sets off to rescue him.  But he must enlist the aid of the fairy folk, including Captain Holly Short, if he wants to return alive.

My Thoughts:
These books are so entertaining!  I adore the audio versions too, because the narrator, Nathaniel Parker, is fantastic with voices and characterization.  Although sometimes because it was on audio, I felt like I got lost when they'd use weird terms, especially for their technology.  However, I love the quirky and completely off the wall stuff that happens.  Artemis is sufficiently genius and annoying, as well as endearing.  I just love the fun plots, the great characters, and the fabulous fantasy elements.  It totally reminds me of a tech-oriented Harry Potter, but less dark and more entertaining.
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The Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer
Publisher: Listening Library
Publication date: 2004 (audio version)
Length: 6 hrs, 58 min
Source: Audiobook from Library
For: Fun
Series: Artemis Fowl, Book 3

When Artemis creates a supercomputer with the aid of some illegal fairy technology, he finds himself at the mercy of a ruthless business man, determined to gain access to this technology.  In order to save himself and the fairies, Artemis must once again enlist the aid of Holly Short and her friends.

My Thoughts:
I love the quirky characters and the world that Eoin Colfer has created for these characters.  I was entertained by Artemis' schemes and by how he and the fairy people had to work together.  I love the sarcasm and the wit, particularly from Holly.  Butler and his sister are also fun to listen to with fantastic accents (I love the audio, thanks again Nathaniel Parker).  It was a clever plot too, with plenty of twists I never saw coming, though at times it seemed to be trying a bit too hard to be clever or surprising.  There were a few places where I thought some things lacked a good explanation.  Overall, though, lots of fun and it captured my attention, which is a huge bonus while I'm driving.
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Spies and Prejudice by Talia Vance
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Publication date: June 2013
Pages: 304
Source: ARC from publisher
For: Review

Berry Fields is busy being a PI and accumulating evidence of affairs that seem the norm for all men.  But when Tanner Halston storms her life, at once being uninterested and then seeming to show up all the time, she's a bit thrown.  Until all of them are drawn into a deadly investigation that may leave more questions than answers.

My Thoughts:
While I was not completely enamoured of this book, I have to admit I kind of got sucked into it.  I wanted to know what happened to Berry's mom and what role each of the boys played in it. Honestly, I thought there wasn't much point to adding in the Pride and Prejudice story line.  It didn't fit quite right, though I did enjoy some nods to the original.  I thought it would have been stronger if it was just more of a spy/espionage/mystery than trying to be a retelling too.  I'm not that clever at figuring things out, but I did actually guess a part of what happened to her mom. Despite some boring parts and a few ridiculous mistakes on Berry's part, not to mention the implausibility of the entire story, it was quick and entertaining.

Any thoughts on any of these books?

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