Books
Has it been a week already? Time is flying by, and I have been very busy here lately. Lots of appointments and running to and fro. We didn't really do much for Memorial weekend but maybe just relaxing was just what we needed. We are also prepping to redo the cabinets in the kitchen. They are from the 70's and a medium wood color, and at this point look very dingy and old. We are going to sand them and paint them white and put new pulls on them. We can't really afford to replace them, so we are instead going to redo the ones we have. We have also picked out new tiles for the backsplash. They are very colorful, and I love them. Once done I will have to show you guys pictures. It will be a lot of work but worth it in the end. Also, my daughter's birthday party is coming up. She wants me to make red velvet cake for her. I have never understood her fascination with red velvet cake. I mean it tastes alright, but I have never craved it. She on the other hand loves it and asks for it a lot. Plus it makes her happy and that makes me happy. Do you guys like it?
This week I read: 1 Classic, 1 Paranormal, 1 Romance, and 1 YA Mystery
Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
This book has been on my shelf since I watched the miniseries in 2008. I had grand plans to read it right away, and it only took 15 years for me to actually get to it. Oops lol. So, in January, when I set goals for myself, one of them was to finally get to this massive tome. Over the last month or so I have been listening to two chapters a day to keep a steady pace going and at the same time give myself enough time to read other books. I listened to the audiobook via LibriVox which is an awesome site where you can listen to public domain books for free. For Little Dorrit I listened to this one. Mil Nicholson, the reader, did an excellent job.
Overall, I have to say I enjoyed this book. Charles Dickens was an amazing writer and does know how to capture an audience and keep them going. It is my understanding that Little Dorrit originally came out in a magazine in monthly installments, and it does feel overly long at times, but the character work is so well done that it is easy to forgive. That in my opinion is where Dickens's talent truly lies. His characters are so well written so that even 150 years later the people who populate Little Dorrit feel like people you could meet today. Amy Dorrit and Arthur Clennam are my favorite characters and I love how their lives became entangled. They go through a lot of heartache but that just makes the resolution of their story especially sweet. The Dorrit family on the other unhand were ungrateful and bafflingly arrogant people whom it was at first easy to dislike but Dickens being the excellent writer that he was made me eventually even sympathize with them. All in all, I am glad I finally got around to reading this book it was very well written and I can see why it's a classic.
Soul Taker by William Massa
This was a good sequel for the most part. I especially liked the fact that Vesper, Simon's assistant played a bigger role in the story. Also, I liked that both know they have feelings for each other they just don't think it is wise to act on them. Soul Taker is under 200 pages and I wish it was longer because the ending has a very to-be-continued feel to it. I have two more in the series on my kindle so I will be continuing on.
The Penalty Box by Odette Stone
I ended up quite liking this book. It is the next book in the Vancouver Wolves Hockey series. I read Home Game another book in the series a few weeks ago and enjoyed it so I decided to continue. We met Mica in the last book. He is a total sweetheart who you can't help but love. In this book, he gets in trouble and his sports agent Krista comes up with the idea that he should get fake married to repair his reputation and get the GM back on his good side. Krista's assistant Charlie needs money to repay her brother's debt to some really bad people. So they decide to help each other out and get married. I liked both Charlie and Mica individually and the way they were together as a couple. The plot was over the top, but I was okay with that because the author was a good writer and made it work. My one quibble was some consent issues that made me like the book a bit less but YMMV. Having said that I would be willing to read more by this author either in this series or one of her others.
The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
I think overall The Final Gambit was a good ending to this story arc. I say "this story arc" because it was my understanding that this was supposed to be a trilogy, but I have recently found out that there will be a fourth book set to be released later this year. But since most of the loose threads were tied up with this book and I really have no interest in continuing on I think I will just consider this series done.
The main character Avery continues to be a fairly compelling character to follow. My other favorite part is all the puzzles and riddles she has to solve. (Even though you seriously have to suspend all your disbelief because there is no way any of this has a basis in reality.) It is still fun to watch Avery slowly but surely solve each one. There were a few of things I didn't like. One, I still maintain that these three books should have been a duology because the middle book felt like filler. Two, the love triangle and both love interests didn't work for me. I mean they were alright, but I wasn't really rooting for either one. I think I would have been much more on board for the author just sticking with the whole found family aspect. Not every YA book series has to have a love triangle but that does seem like the trend for the last decade or so. Three, the author's writing style when the characters are speaking at times comes off as way too dramatic and that would irritate me. Having said all that, I did mostly enjoy the series and would be willing to read one of the author's other series.
Reading Challenges 2023:
Mount TBR: Soul Taker, Little Dorrit
Cloak & Dagger: The Final Gambit
50 State Challenge: N/A
A Pyramid of Books: red cover, series book, blue cover, books set in other countries, England
How's your guys week going?
This week I read: 1 Classic, 1 Paranormal, 1 Romance, and 1 YA Mystery
Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
This book has been on my shelf since I watched the miniseries in 2008. I had grand plans to read it right away, and it only took 15 years for me to actually get to it. Oops lol. So, in January, when I set goals for myself, one of them was to finally get to this massive tome. Over the last month or so I have been listening to two chapters a day to keep a steady pace going and at the same time give myself enough time to read other books. I listened to the audiobook via LibriVox which is an awesome site where you can listen to public domain books for free. For Little Dorrit I listened to this one. Mil Nicholson, the reader, did an excellent job.
Overall, I have to say I enjoyed this book. Charles Dickens was an amazing writer and does know how to capture an audience and keep them going. It is my understanding that Little Dorrit originally came out in a magazine in monthly installments, and it does feel overly long at times, but the character work is so well done that it is easy to forgive. That in my opinion is where Dickens's talent truly lies. His characters are so well written so that even 150 years later the people who populate Little Dorrit feel like people you could meet today. Amy Dorrit and Arthur Clennam are my favorite characters and I love how their lives became entangled. They go through a lot of heartache but that just makes the resolution of their story especially sweet. The Dorrit family on the other unhand were ungrateful and bafflingly arrogant people whom it was at first easy to dislike but Dickens being the excellent writer that he was made me eventually even sympathize with them. All in all, I am glad I finally got around to reading this book it was very well written and I can see why it's a classic.
Soul Taker by William Massa
This was a good sequel for the most part. I especially liked the fact that Vesper, Simon's assistant played a bigger role in the story. Also, I liked that both know they have feelings for each other they just don't think it is wise to act on them. Soul Taker is under 200 pages and I wish it was longer because the ending has a very to-be-continued feel to it. I have two more in the series on my kindle so I will be continuing on.
The Penalty Box by Odette Stone
I ended up quite liking this book. It is the next book in the Vancouver Wolves Hockey series. I read Home Game another book in the series a few weeks ago and enjoyed it so I decided to continue. We met Mica in the last book. He is a total sweetheart who you can't help but love. In this book, he gets in trouble and his sports agent Krista comes up with the idea that he should get fake married to repair his reputation and get the GM back on his good side. Krista's assistant Charlie needs money to repay her brother's debt to some really bad people. So they decide to help each other out and get married. I liked both Charlie and Mica individually and the way they were together as a couple. The plot was over the top, but I was okay with that because the author was a good writer and made it work. My one quibble was some consent issues that made me like the book a bit less but YMMV. Having said that I would be willing to read more by this author either in this series or one of her others.
The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
I think overall The Final Gambit was a good ending to this story arc. I say "this story arc" because it was my understanding that this was supposed to be a trilogy, but I have recently found out that there will be a fourth book set to be released later this year. But since most of the loose threads were tied up with this book and I really have no interest in continuing on I think I will just consider this series done.
The main character Avery continues to be a fairly compelling character to follow. My other favorite part is all the puzzles and riddles she has to solve. (Even though you seriously have to suspend all your disbelief because there is no way any of this has a basis in reality.) It is still fun to watch Avery slowly but surely solve each one. There were a few of things I didn't like. One, I still maintain that these three books should have been a duology because the middle book felt like filler. Two, the love triangle and both love interests didn't work for me. I mean they were alright, but I wasn't really rooting for either one. I think I would have been much more on board for the author just sticking with the whole found family aspect. Not every YA book series has to have a love triangle but that does seem like the trend for the last decade or so. Three, the author's writing style when the characters are speaking at times comes off as way too dramatic and that would irritate me. Having said all that, I did mostly enjoy the series and would be willing to read one of the author's other series.
Reading Challenges 2023:
Mount TBR: Soul Taker, Little Dorrit
Cloak & Dagger: The Final Gambit
50 State Challenge: N/A
A Pyramid of Books: red cover, series book, blue cover, books set in other countries, England
How's your guys week going?