What I'm Reading Wednesday
I haven't posted this since March(!?!), so I won't make this insanely long by listing everything that's happened in my book world since then. I'll just go off the last week.
WHAT I FINISHED
1. Fire-Touched by Patricia Briggs: This is the 9th (out of 13) book in the Mercy Thompson series. I've always really enjoyed this series, but it fell by the wayside when I set aside the next book (this one) and lost it. So it's back on the list for me to keep track of now. I liked this one, even though it kind of felt like a filler book, setting up characters and conflicts for future books. But it read extremely quickly, and I enjoyed all of the characters.
2. Brat: An 80s Story by Andrew McCarthy: This was a no-brainer for someone who routinely watches her favorite movies from the 80s, particularly Pretty in Pink. I liked Andrew McCarthy back in the day and thought this would be an interesting look at the era from a different perspective. Not so much. While it's very readable, it's also almost impressively shallow with any real detail. He skims over anything the reader might care about. Some movies only get a few sentences written about them. He doesn't even mention Kim Cattrall from Mannequin, for instance, just an anecdote or two about shooting while very hungover. What I learned from it? He got lucky. He's not particularly bright, ambivalent about way too many things in his life, and frankly a little boring. Don't waste money if you're interested. Check it out from the library.
DID NOT FINISH
1. Fosse by Sam Wasson: I gave up on this in the third chapter. I find Fosse fascinating and wasn't put off at all at how huge and comprehensive this book was. Unfortunately, the authorial bias came through several times and really rubbed me the wrong way. Fosse is known to have worked strip clubs and the like while he was growing up. The author's disdain and disgust with the women who worked there was insanely evident. I let it go the first time he said something. I even let it go the second. By the third, I decided it wasn't worth the time to read if I was just going to spend most of it pissed off at the author.
WHAT I'M READING
1. Hallowed Ground by Lori Armstrong: This is the 2nd book in the Julie Collins mystery series. I finished the first book in June and liked it enough to keep going. It's about a young woman whose half-brother (who happens to be Native American) was murdered and the case left unsolved, and her quest to get some real answers. That's the backstory prior to the first book. In this second, she's gone to work with her PI best friend and has been given a missing child case from the local biker gang president. So far, it's reading much like the first. The prose is easy and quick, and the characters interesting to stick with. My one big issue is that Julie, the main character, is one of those women where it seems like all the men fall in love with her. She's got a weird relationship with her male best friend, she goes through boy toys like water, the biker president has the hots for her, and the list goes on. We'll see if any of this gets addressed as the story progresses.
2. A Million Suns by Beth Revis: Book 2 in a YA space trilogy. It's been a few years since I read the first book, about a teenager who gets woken up early from a cryogenic state while she's on her way to a new planet, but I didn't remember much except that I enjoyed it. Pieces are coming back to me as I get into this second book, but not enough to be of any use. It's definitely not a standalone. But the writing is tight, and I like the characters, so I'm sticking to it for the whole ride.
3. Panacea by F. Paul Wilson: Thriller about two factions who are fighting for a cure-all. It's pure escapist fiction. I'm not very far into it yet, so we'll see how it goes.
WHAT I FINISHED
1. Fire-Touched by Patricia Briggs: This is the 9th (out of 13) book in the Mercy Thompson series. I've always really enjoyed this series, but it fell by the wayside when I set aside the next book (this one) and lost it. So it's back on the list for me to keep track of now. I liked this one, even though it kind of felt like a filler book, setting up characters and conflicts for future books. But it read extremely quickly, and I enjoyed all of the characters.
2. Brat: An 80s Story by Andrew McCarthy: This was a no-brainer for someone who routinely watches her favorite movies from the 80s, particularly Pretty in Pink. I liked Andrew McCarthy back in the day and thought this would be an interesting look at the era from a different perspective. Not so much. While it's very readable, it's also almost impressively shallow with any real detail. He skims over anything the reader might care about. Some movies only get a few sentences written about them. He doesn't even mention Kim Cattrall from Mannequin, for instance, just an anecdote or two about shooting while very hungover. What I learned from it? He got lucky. He's not particularly bright, ambivalent about way too many things in his life, and frankly a little boring. Don't waste money if you're interested. Check it out from the library.
DID NOT FINISH
1. Fosse by Sam Wasson: I gave up on this in the third chapter. I find Fosse fascinating and wasn't put off at all at how huge and comprehensive this book was. Unfortunately, the authorial bias came through several times and really rubbed me the wrong way. Fosse is known to have worked strip clubs and the like while he was growing up. The author's disdain and disgust with the women who worked there was insanely evident. I let it go the first time he said something. I even let it go the second. By the third, I decided it wasn't worth the time to read if I was just going to spend most of it pissed off at the author.
WHAT I'M READING
1. Hallowed Ground by Lori Armstrong: This is the 2nd book in the Julie Collins mystery series. I finished the first book in June and liked it enough to keep going. It's about a young woman whose half-brother (who happens to be Native American) was murdered and the case left unsolved, and her quest to get some real answers. That's the backstory prior to the first book. In this second, she's gone to work with her PI best friend and has been given a missing child case from the local biker gang president. So far, it's reading much like the first. The prose is easy and quick, and the characters interesting to stick with. My one big issue is that Julie, the main character, is one of those women where it seems like all the men fall in love with her. She's got a weird relationship with her male best friend, she goes through boy toys like water, the biker president has the hots for her, and the list goes on. We'll see if any of this gets addressed as the story progresses.
2. A Million Suns by Beth Revis: Book 2 in a YA space trilogy. It's been a few years since I read the first book, about a teenager who gets woken up early from a cryogenic state while she's on her way to a new planet, but I didn't remember much except that I enjoyed it. Pieces are coming back to me as I get into this second book, but not enough to be of any use. It's definitely not a standalone. But the writing is tight, and I like the characters, so I'm sticking to it for the whole ride.
3. Panacea by F. Paul Wilson: Thriller about two factions who are fighting for a cure-all. It's pure escapist fiction. I'm not very far into it yet, so we'll see how it goes.