Wednesday Reading Meme
What I Just Finished Reading: Since last Wednesday I've finished four books: The first book in the Rampart Trilogy, The Book of Koli by MR Carey; Spell's Bells by Annabel Chase; A Match Made for Thanksgiving by Jackie Lau; and The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix. Quite a mix, with a 1 star and a 5 star in the group. Reviews below.
What I'm Reading Right Now: I'm almost finished Alan Cumming's second memoir, Baggage.
What I'm Planning to Read Next: I just picked up the next two Rampart Trilogy books from the library, The Trials of Koli and The Fall of Koli, so those are definitely up next. :)
113. The Book of Koli by MR Carey
I was hooked right from the opening page. Taking place hundreds of years after the end of “the Unfinished War”, society has fragmented into insular micro-societies, where the ability to use the rare piece of old tech is considered magical, and a limited gene pool is slowly killing off humanity. The story is told in the first person by Koli, a 15-year-old who discovers the truth about how to use the old technology, and his realization about how, just maybe, some things in his small village can be reversed.
The world building here is so impressive. This feels like a real world, and the characters that populate it are vibrant and multi-faceted. Genetic engineering run amuck has made so many things in the world dangerous, with rats the size of dogs and trees that will crush you and pods that will dig into your skin and spawn inside you in seconds. Koli faces those threats as well as hostile tech left over from the war, but he’s got some amazing companions in Ursala, who’s people did not regress to the medieval-like state of Koli’s, and the sentient AI companion that Koli awakens from an old music player. And honestly, it’s great writing when I felt sorry for a tank. I’m looking very much forward to continuing the series.
Dates Read: November 05 to 09, 2022
Page Count: 376
5 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges A Pyramid of Books - Task 15 - read 15 books in a series (10/15)
Challenge Factory Finish What You Started - November pick
114. Spell’s Bells by Annabell Chase
In this installment, Emma investigates when a dwarf is found under a sleeping curse and her friend is accused of the crime, while she’s also assigned a case involving theft. I enjoyed the twist of the dwarf being under the spell instead of the princess and the conclusion of the theft case, another little unusual twist for the genre. For the first half of the book it was pretty much a standard mystery with people who just happened to be supernaturals. It picked up considerably in the second half, and I super enjoyed Emma’s visits with the older population and the spark of the senior witches and dwarves.
Dates Read: November 09 to 11, 2022
Page Count: 274
4 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 15 - read 15 books in a series (11/15)
Challenge Factory Family Feud - Week 3 - set in another country
115. A Match Made For Thanksgiving by Jackie Lau
Rich playboy Nick and self-professed good girl Lily have a one-night stand that leads to more after Lily is set up on a blind date with Nick’s brother. This is a sketch of an idea with nothing behind it to back it up, because how much depth can you get in 100 pages? (Actually, a lot more than this, to be honest.) There’s a few pretty standard sex scenes and absolutely nothing to indicate why Nick falls so head over heels for Lily. It’s literally like he’s never talked to a woman before. As for Lily, she thinks a whole lot about Nick’s body.
Kids, it’s called LUST. Look it up.
There’s an attempt to give Nick a quirky family, and for Nick and Lily to have a shared “thing” over Nanaimo bars. I bet in the author’s head all of this is rich and detailed, but we can’t see what’s there so we’re just left with the cardboard cutouts.
Dates Read: November 11 to 12, 2022
Page Count: 101
1 out of 5 stars
Prompt-A-Month Challenge: November “Thanksgiving”
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 6 - read 6 books by an author who is new to you (02/06)
116. The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
Imagine those slashes movies of the ‘70s and ‘80s were based on true stories. Now imagine the trauma of being one of those ‘final girls’ that stopped the crazed killer. That’s the premise of this fantastic book, which features six final girls 20+ years on, their shared therapist, and a new killer who just may be going after them all. This is a slick and clever page-turner which looks at the culture of celebrity of survivors and killers while taking the reader on a thrill ride as our protagonist, Lynette, tries to figure out who’s got it in for her this time. It has to be over-the-top because that’s what this genre IS, but I think there were a couple of moments that got away from the author, notably Chrissy & Keith. But the big reveals and final set piece is just as bombastically and ridiculously glorious as the premise promises.
Dates Read: November 12 to 13, 2022
Page Count: 352
4 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 1 - read one book whose title has 5 words or more (01/01)
Four Moon Challenge 03 - chosen by a child (40/40) - this challenge is now complete!
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What I'm Reading Right Now: I'm almost finished Alan Cumming's second memoir, Baggage.
What I'm Planning to Read Next: I just picked up the next two Rampart Trilogy books from the library, The Trials of Koli and The Fall of Koli, so those are definitely up next. :)
113. The Book of Koli by MR Carey
I was hooked right from the opening page. Taking place hundreds of years after the end of “the Unfinished War”, society has fragmented into insular micro-societies, where the ability to use the rare piece of old tech is considered magical, and a limited gene pool is slowly killing off humanity. The story is told in the first person by Koli, a 15-year-old who discovers the truth about how to use the old technology, and his realization about how, just maybe, some things in his small village can be reversed.
The world building here is so impressive. This feels like a real world, and the characters that populate it are vibrant and multi-faceted. Genetic engineering run amuck has made so many things in the world dangerous, with rats the size of dogs and trees that will crush you and pods that will dig into your skin and spawn inside you in seconds. Koli faces those threats as well as hostile tech left over from the war, but he’s got some amazing companions in Ursala, who’s people did not regress to the medieval-like state of Koli’s, and the sentient AI companion that Koli awakens from an old music player. And honestly, it’s great writing when I felt sorry for a tank. I’m looking very much forward to continuing the series.
Dates Read: November 05 to 09, 2022
Page Count: 376
5 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges A Pyramid of Books - Task 15 - read 15 books in a series (10/15)
Challenge Factory Finish What You Started - November pick
114. Spell’s Bells by Annabell Chase
In this installment, Emma investigates when a dwarf is found under a sleeping curse and her friend is accused of the crime, while she’s also assigned a case involving theft. I enjoyed the twist of the dwarf being under the spell instead of the princess and the conclusion of the theft case, another little unusual twist for the genre. For the first half of the book it was pretty much a standard mystery with people who just happened to be supernaturals. It picked up considerably in the second half, and I super enjoyed Emma’s visits with the older population and the spark of the senior witches and dwarves.
Dates Read: November 09 to 11, 2022
Page Count: 274
4 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 15 - read 15 books in a series (11/15)
Challenge Factory Family Feud - Week 3 - set in another country
115. A Match Made For Thanksgiving by Jackie Lau
Rich playboy Nick and self-professed good girl Lily have a one-night stand that leads to more after Lily is set up on a blind date with Nick’s brother. This is a sketch of an idea with nothing behind it to back it up, because how much depth can you get in 100 pages? (Actually, a lot more than this, to be honest.) There’s a few pretty standard sex scenes and absolutely nothing to indicate why Nick falls so head over heels for Lily. It’s literally like he’s never talked to a woman before. As for Lily, she thinks a whole lot about Nick’s body.
Kids, it’s called LUST. Look it up.
There’s an attempt to give Nick a quirky family, and for Nick and Lily to have a shared “thing” over Nanaimo bars. I bet in the author’s head all of this is rich and detailed, but we can’t see what’s there so we’re just left with the cardboard cutouts.
Dates Read: November 11 to 12, 2022
Page Count: 101
1 out of 5 stars
Prompt-A-Month Challenge: November “Thanksgiving”
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 6 - read 6 books by an author who is new to you (02/06)
116. The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
Imagine those slashes movies of the ‘70s and ‘80s were based on true stories. Now imagine the trauma of being one of those ‘final girls’ that stopped the crazed killer. That’s the premise of this fantastic book, which features six final girls 20+ years on, their shared therapist, and a new killer who just may be going after them all. This is a slick and clever page-turner which looks at the culture of celebrity of survivors and killers while taking the reader on a thrill ride as our protagonist, Lynette, tries to figure out who’s got it in for her this time. It has to be over-the-top because that’s what this genre IS, but I think there were a couple of moments that got away from the author, notably Chrissy & Keith. But the big reveals and final set piece is just as bombastically and ridiculously glorious as the premise promises.
Dates Read: November 12 to 13, 2022
Page Count: 352
4 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 1 - read one book whose title has 5 words or more (01/01)
Four Moon Challenge 03 - chosen by a child (40/40) - this challenge is now complete!
.