August books!
I read nine books this month, which makes the comments a little long. So here's a list, with thoughts and/or rants and/or summaries under the cut should you care to read them. Linked titles are available for download in epub format if you wish to "borrow" them.
1) The Girl who Played with Fire
and
2) The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, by Stieg Larsson.
3) Out of Body, by Stella Cameron.
4) The Secret of Ka, by Christopher Pike.
5) The Summoning, by Kelley Armstrong.
6) A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness.
7) Two for the Dough, by Janet Evanovich.
8) Love Me if You Must, by Nicole Young.
9) Vanished, by Kat Richardson.
1) The Girl who Played with Fire
and
2) The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, by Stieg Larsson. These two are the final two books in the Millennium Trilogy. I still don't know why they became as popular as they did, and finishing them became more a matter of personal pride than a true desire to actually read the stories. I worry about the author's attitude towards women; I get the sense that it's supposed to be a sort of social commentary thing, that violence against women is horrible and yet so tolerated in our society and it shouldn't be, but instead I kept finding myself thinking that he has (had, I guess, since one of the books had a foreword indicating he's since passed away) a deep-seated hatred of the female half of the human race. It's just... yeah. Although the (female) lawyer totally pwns the Bad Guys near the end of the last book, which makes up for a lot; probably the best part of the series. There's a lot of little things that annoyed me, like a useless side plot where one of Millennium magazine's owners quits to be the only woman in a male-dominated newspaper, is stalked, and ultimately comes back to Millennium; the books are long enough without that (if I were editing this series, I would've easily cut a hundred pages or more from the 1200-page total). And there are at least four minor characters with the first name of Anders. Really, do the Swedes only have a certain number of male names available? Plus a main character and secondary character have the names of Birger and Berger. Just, a lot of little things like that drove me nuts. As with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, most definitely not recommended for anyone who has triggers of violence towards women, sexual assault, or stalking. (You see what I mean when I say I worry about the author's state of mind?)
3) Out of Body, by Stella Cameron. Came across this one as I was perusing the local library's new purchases. First of a trilogy but stands on its own. I...can't remember much about it. Main character (I think her name starts with an 'M'?) comes from a family with a long line of supernatural talents. Hers includes astral projection of a sorts, although IIRC it's never referred to as such. She -- or her non-corporeal self -- keeps being drawn to a place where local New Orleans singers are being held captive and killed by an ancient evil creature. M teams up with former police detective-cum-reporter Grey (Gray? I forget) to find these women and Big Bad. Not too bad, if you can get past Grey/Gray as a name. ;) I'd read the sequels (I suspect they're focussed on M's siblings and not her again) if the library picks them up, but I won't be rushing out to buy them myself or anything.
4) The Secret of Ka, by Christopher Pike. Another book found while surfing the library's selection of sci fi ebooks. I adored Christopher Pike as a pre-teen and teen; Remember Me was my favourite book for years. He always has some sort of weird-but-incredibly-cool twist or angle to his stories, quite often on the mystical or even spiritual side, that just draw me in. The Secret of Ka, I'm sad to say, missed the mark. Now, whether this is because I'm older now or because it really isn't as good as many of the books I remember, I really can't say. Sara is someplace in the Middle East (I forget which country!) with her dad for the summer. She finds a magic flying carpet that takes her and her new friend to a mysterious island that's outside of time, where she learns that she's the key to stopping a war between humans and other creatures who want to make us slaves. There are magic genies who grant wishes, but of course there's a price. Has the mostly-but-not-entirely happy ending that is typical of Pike's books.
5) The Summoning, by Kelley Armstrong. Book one of three. This author was at Polaris this year and I figured I'd give her books a try. I didn't realize until I'd started that this is a YA novel, but really, it's as well-written as any adult novel; there's only the odd teenage worry that reminds us that the protagonist is only fifteen. Main Character (forget her name... are we sensing a pattern here?) all of a sudden starts to see dead people (yes, like the movie) and is put in a group home for troubled teens for a few weeks for assessment. She's eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia but of course, she really does see spirits. As it turns out, most of the rest of the so-called troubled teens also have some sort of supernatural ability. Hmm, coincidence or conspiracy? This book also freaked me the heck out when I read a scene shortly before going to bed that included Main Character being bound and gagged and left in a pitch black basement crawlspace with animated corpses clawing at her. SCARY. I want to read the rest of the trilogy but the library only has books one and three, not two. Wassup with that?
6) A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness. This book... I'm not sure what to think of this book. I didn't like it at first, and then I did, and then about 300 pages in (with 200-ish left to go) I was thinking, "Okay, get to the point already", and then I liked it again, and then even though it's 1st person pov there are, like, three chapters that are from someone else's pov, which is just screwy.... and then it didn't have a proper ending. I MUST HAVE A PROPER ENDING. And the thing is, I'm not even sure if this is just the end, or if there will be a sequel. I've not seen any mention of one.... Anyway, Dr. Diane Bishop is the last of a long line of witches but refuses to have anything to do with witchcraft. But one day she somehow calls up an old palimpsest that's overlaid with a magical seal that she inadvertently breaks, letting all the other magical beings (other witches, vampires, and daemons, none of whom get along with each other) know that the book's been found, and they all want it because even though it seems no one knows what the book contains, they all agree it's way powerful. But, not knowing this, she just sends it back into the stacks, and so now all the beings are basically stalking her until she recalls it because she's the only one who can call the book and break the magic seal. What's the book about? Who's friend and who's foe? Why aren't witches, vampires, and daemons allowed to interbreed? Plus, there's a bit of time travel.
7) Two for the Dough, by Janet Evanovich. A colleague lent me this; I'd gone to ask her a question, she had a pile of books on her desk and offerred me this one (I think the others were the sequels?). New bounty hunter Stephanie is on the trail of someone who's jumped bail but winds up in a plot more complicated than she bargained for. Frenemy = childhood friend/ex-boyfriend and now a cop. Detective story + action/adventure + humour. A really quick read. Grandma Mazur = the best. And oh, there's a scene about a penis in the mail that had me literally lol'ing. Just, really. It was freaking hilarious. (And yeah, it probably sounds bizarre out of context, but go with it.)
8) Love Me if You Must, by Nicole Young. Kobo's website was offerring this book for free, so I took it. And, yeah, there's a reason why it's free. *facepalm* I'm not sure the main character has any redeeming values. She jumps and shrieks at every little thing, gets bitchy with near-strangers for no reason, cries at the drop of a hat, and walks into people's homes and starts snooping for no reason. She starts imagining marrying a guy on their first date, even though he's clearly not over his ex (and their divorce papers came through just that same week)... and she decides to accept when said guy proposes to her days later. And somehow it got a sequel? Oh, and Main Character has a Deep, Mysterious Past that only comes out in bits and pieces as the story progresses. I am heartily sick of that trope. So, big pass. I mean, it's there if you want to read it and mock it with me, but I'm certainly not recommending it.
9) Vanished, by Kat Richardson. Fourth book in the author's Greywalker series. This one's not too bad. P.I. Harper Blaine was technically dead for two minutes at the beginning of the first novel, and when she recovered she discovered that she can see ghosts and people's auras and where magic is happening, and walk through the Grey, which is kind of a no-man's-land between the living world and the dead. The first three books were mostly standalones, but with this one the author starts taking a page from The Dresden Files in that the main plot is tied up by the end of the book, but there's an over-arcing subplot developing that starts back when Harper was a child and brings in side points from some of the other books. In this one, she goes to England at the "request" of Big Vampire Boss to find out why his underling/man of business isn't responding, and discovers a war brewing between several different factions of vampires that encompasses not just the England-based vampires but those back home in Seattle, too. Oh, and one of those factions wants Harper for some big, nasty plans. She also meets up with another Greywalker and learns a bit more about what that means. Book 5 is at my library; I'll probably go see if that's available sometime today.
Hey, you know what? Most (at least six) of these books are first person narrative. I have decided that this contributes greatly to my difficulty in remembering character names, because I am exposed to those names much less often than those written in third person pov.
1) The Girl who Played with Fire
and
2) The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, by Stieg Larsson.
3) Out of Body, by Stella Cameron.
4) The Secret of Ka, by Christopher Pike.
5) The Summoning, by Kelley Armstrong.
6) A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness.
7) Two for the Dough, by Janet Evanovich.
8) Love Me if You Must, by Nicole Young.
9) Vanished, by Kat Richardson.
1) The Girl who Played with Fire
and
2) The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, by Stieg Larsson. These two are the final two books in the Millennium Trilogy. I still don't know why they became as popular as they did, and finishing them became more a matter of personal pride than a true desire to actually read the stories. I worry about the author's attitude towards women; I get the sense that it's supposed to be a sort of social commentary thing, that violence against women is horrible and yet so tolerated in our society and it shouldn't be, but instead I kept finding myself thinking that he has (had, I guess, since one of the books had a foreword indicating he's since passed away) a deep-seated hatred of the female half of the human race. It's just... yeah. Although the (female) lawyer totally pwns the Bad Guys near the end of the last book, which makes up for a lot; probably the best part of the series. There's a lot of little things that annoyed me, like a useless side plot where one of Millennium magazine's owners quits to be the only woman in a male-dominated newspaper, is stalked, and ultimately comes back to Millennium; the books are long enough without that (if I were editing this series, I would've easily cut a hundred pages or more from the 1200-page total). And there are at least four minor characters with the first name of Anders. Really, do the Swedes only have a certain number of male names available? Plus a main character and secondary character have the names of Birger and Berger. Just, a lot of little things like that drove me nuts. As with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, most definitely not recommended for anyone who has triggers of violence towards women, sexual assault, or stalking. (You see what I mean when I say I worry about the author's state of mind?)
3) Out of Body, by Stella Cameron. Came across this one as I was perusing the local library's new purchases. First of a trilogy but stands on its own. I...can't remember much about it. Main character (I think her name starts with an 'M'?) comes from a family with a long line of supernatural talents. Hers includes astral projection of a sorts, although IIRC it's never referred to as such. She -- or her non-corporeal self -- keeps being drawn to a place where local New Orleans singers are being held captive and killed by an ancient evil creature. M teams up with former police detective-cum-reporter Grey (Gray? I forget) to find these women and Big Bad. Not too bad, if you can get past Grey/Gray as a name. ;) I'd read the sequels (I suspect they're focussed on M's siblings and not her again) if the library picks them up, but I won't be rushing out to buy them myself or anything.
4) The Secret of Ka, by Christopher Pike. Another book found while surfing the library's selection of sci fi ebooks. I adored Christopher Pike as a pre-teen and teen; Remember Me was my favourite book for years. He always has some sort of weird-but-incredibly-cool twist or angle to his stories, quite often on the mystical or even spiritual side, that just draw me in. The Secret of Ka, I'm sad to say, missed the mark. Now, whether this is because I'm older now or because it really isn't as good as many of the books I remember, I really can't say. Sara is someplace in the Middle East (I forget which country!) with her dad for the summer. She finds a magic flying carpet that takes her and her new friend to a mysterious island that's outside of time, where she learns that she's the key to stopping a war between humans and other creatures who want to make us slaves. There are magic genies who grant wishes, but of course there's a price. Has the mostly-but-not-entirely happy ending that is typical of Pike's books.
5) The Summoning, by Kelley Armstrong. Book one of three. This author was at Polaris this year and I figured I'd give her books a try. I didn't realize until I'd started that this is a YA novel, but really, it's as well-written as any adult novel; there's only the odd teenage worry that reminds us that the protagonist is only fifteen. Main Character (forget her name... are we sensing a pattern here?) all of a sudden starts to see dead people (yes, like the movie) and is put in a group home for troubled teens for a few weeks for assessment. She's eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia but of course, she really does see spirits. As it turns out, most of the rest of the so-called troubled teens also have some sort of supernatural ability. Hmm, coincidence or conspiracy? This book also freaked me the heck out when I read a scene shortly before going to bed that included Main Character being bound and gagged and left in a pitch black basement crawlspace with animated corpses clawing at her. SCARY. I want to read the rest of the trilogy but the library only has books one and three, not two. Wassup with that?
6) A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness. This book... I'm not sure what to think of this book. I didn't like it at first, and then I did, and then about 300 pages in (with 200-ish left to go) I was thinking, "Okay, get to the point already", and then I liked it again, and then even though it's 1st person pov there are, like, three chapters that are from someone else's pov, which is just screwy.... and then it didn't have a proper ending. I MUST HAVE A PROPER ENDING. And the thing is, I'm not even sure if this is just the end, or if there will be a sequel. I've not seen any mention of one.... Anyway, Dr. Diane Bishop is the last of a long line of witches but refuses to have anything to do with witchcraft. But one day she somehow calls up an old palimpsest that's overlaid with a magical seal that she inadvertently breaks, letting all the other magical beings (other witches, vampires, and daemons, none of whom get along with each other) know that the book's been found, and they all want it because even though it seems no one knows what the book contains, they all agree it's way powerful. But, not knowing this, she just sends it back into the stacks, and so now all the beings are basically stalking her until she recalls it because she's the only one who can call the book and break the magic seal. What's the book about? Who's friend and who's foe? Why aren't witches, vampires, and daemons allowed to interbreed? Plus, there's a bit of time travel.
7) Two for the Dough, by Janet Evanovich. A colleague lent me this; I'd gone to ask her a question, she had a pile of books on her desk and offerred me this one (I think the others were the sequels?). New bounty hunter Stephanie is on the trail of someone who's jumped bail but winds up in a plot more complicated than she bargained for. Frenemy = childhood friend/ex-boyfriend and now a cop. Detective story + action/adventure + humour. A really quick read. Grandma Mazur = the best. And oh, there's a scene about a penis in the mail that had me literally lol'ing. Just, really. It was freaking hilarious. (And yeah, it probably sounds bizarre out of context, but go with it.)
8) Love Me if You Must, by Nicole Young. Kobo's website was offerring this book for free, so I took it. And, yeah, there's a reason why it's free. *facepalm* I'm not sure the main character has any redeeming values. She jumps and shrieks at every little thing, gets bitchy with near-strangers for no reason, cries at the drop of a hat, and walks into people's homes and starts snooping for no reason. She starts imagining marrying a guy on their first date, even though he's clearly not over his ex (and their divorce papers came through just that same week)... and she decides to accept when said guy proposes to her days later. And somehow it got a sequel? Oh, and Main Character has a Deep, Mysterious Past that only comes out in bits and pieces as the story progresses. I am heartily sick of that trope. So, big pass. I mean, it's there if you want to read it and mock it with me, but I'm certainly not recommending it.
9) Vanished, by Kat Richardson. Fourth book in the author's Greywalker series. This one's not too bad. P.I. Harper Blaine was technically dead for two minutes at the beginning of the first novel, and when she recovered she discovered that she can see ghosts and people's auras and where magic is happening, and walk through the Grey, which is kind of a no-man's-land between the living world and the dead. The first three books were mostly standalones, but with this one the author starts taking a page from The Dresden Files in that the main plot is tied up by the end of the book, but there's an over-arcing subplot developing that starts back when Harper was a child and brings in side points from some of the other books. In this one, she goes to England at the "request" of Big Vampire Boss to find out why his underling/man of business isn't responding, and discovers a war brewing between several different factions of vampires that encompasses not just the England-based vampires but those back home in Seattle, too. Oh, and one of those factions wants Harper for some big, nasty plans. She also meets up with another Greywalker and learns a bit more about what that means. Book 5 is at my library; I'll probably go see if that's available sometime today.
Hey, you know what? Most (at least six) of these books are first person narrative. I have decided that this contributes greatly to my difficulty in remembering character names, because I am exposed to those names much less often than those written in third person pov.