Wednesday Reading Meme
Sorry I haven't been around. I've been going through some stress and also trying to work extra hours in order to make up for days that I've missed/will be missing this month. I'll be back to try to catch up on my flist hopefully on the weekend. Hope everyone is well!
What I Just Finished Reading: I had a busy week. I finished five novels: Empty Graves: Tales of the Living Dead by Jonathan Maberry, Quicksilver by Dean Koontz, Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett, Gwendy's Magic Feather by Richard Chizmar, and Gwendy's Final Task by Stephen King & Richard Chizmar. Reviews below.
What I'm Reading Right Now: Technically I'm 10% into The Scorch Trials by Richard Dashner, but I've been on the waiting list at the library for over a month for In The Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune and I just got it today, so I'm pretty sure I'll be setting The Scorch Trials aside and starting the Klune tonight.
What I'm Planning to Read Next: After the two above, I'll be hoping to get Contagion by Erin Bowman from the library.
60. Empty Graves: Tales of the Living Dead by Jonathan Maberry
I loved this collection of (mostly) zombie short stories. The majority of the stories feature the classic zombie we all know and are terrified of - no thinking zombies or tool-holding zombies here. A couple of the stories are based in the same world as Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, even featuring his iconic farmhouse, and a couple more take place in Maberry’s own Rot & Ruin world, a series I’ve avoided because I thought it might be watered down because it’s considered YA, but since my favourite story in this anthology came from that world, I clearly need to revise that opinion. There was really only one clunker in the bunch, which is super impressive. Loved it.
Dates Read: May 29 to 31, 2023
Page Count: 400
5 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 16 - read 16 books from your favourite genre (07/16)
Lost Challenges Coffee, Tea, Sugar Challenge - Prompt 04 - with “ING” in title (15/15) Complete!
Crazy Challenge Connection Aah Walkers - Prompt 05 - book with a zombie character (08/52)
61. Quicksilver by Dean Koontz
I stopped reading Dean Koontz literally at least 30 years ago because I could always guess his endings. I picked this up to see if that had changed. The thing is, I’d forgotten that he’s also a very bad writer.
This is about a 19-year-old kid raised in an orphanage. The prose is that of a 50-year-old man who swallowed a thesaurus and is happy to use 16 words where 3 will suffice, and who was told to write his story in the style of “What I Did On My Summer Vacation.” The main characters all have convenient powers like psychic magnetism that leads them where they need to go, or the ability to open locked doors with the power of the mind or somesuch. In this way Koontz doesn’t need to use any logic to explain their actions or to propel the plot. Everything we learn about their background is told to us by a seer. The final arc against a bad guy comes out of nowhere. Geesh. I’d have given it 1 star but I really liked the dog.
Dates Read: May 31 to June 01, 2023
Page Count: 365
2 out of 5 stars
Around the Year in 52 Books - Prompt 31 - found by inputting an author’s name into Literature Map (52/52) + Complete!
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 14 - read 14 books set in a state [Arizona] (06/14)
Around the Year in 52 Books Summer Reading Challenge - June 2C - set in northern hemisphere (01/12)
Crazy Challenge Connection Aah Walkers - Prompt 15 - has a crazy character/has a henchman (10/52)
62. Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett
A strange, sad yet uplifting story told through the eyes of the town ghosts. They keep watch over the denizens of Everton, New Hampshire, and now they’re focused on 22-year-old Emma, newly returned to town to help her dying father. We watch as Emma tackles her past, takes a job as a teacher, and does a lot of maturing. Her dad is suffering from a problem with his brain, causing him to hallucinate animals and, they think, the ghost of a famous town naturalist who raised wild animals as pets. Watching Emma’s dad navigate the world was fascinating, and I loved her brother Auggie as well.
Dates Read: June 02 to 03, 2023
Page Count: 349
4 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 18 - read 18 books with a red, white or blue cover (06/18)
Lost Challenges A to Z Cover Challenge - X - Fox (26/26) - + Complete!
Challenge Factory Genre Roulette - Tier 4 - book tagged “humour” (02/04) (11/15 total)
Crazy Challenge Connection Aah Walkers - Prompt 12 - character under 13 years of age (11/52)
Around the Year in 52 Books Summer Reading Challenge - July 2B - book with a map (02/12)
63. Gwendy’s Magic Feather by Richard Chizmar
Gwendy is now a best-selling author, the creator and director of an Oscar-winning documentary, and a Congresswoman, all by the age of 37, though the author must point out that she looks 27. Guess eating all those button box chocolates in her youth came in handy. Aaaanyway, the button box mysteriously turns up again just as Gwendy heads home for Christmas in Castle Rock, where a series of teen girls have been kidnapped.
The most difficult aspect for me with this book is that there’s such a disconnect in the prose. It’s a story being told to the reader instead of a story that we get immersed in. It felt like reading a story about a story, if that makes sense. And it just takes forEVER for anything to happen, and when it does everything feels rushed. Most of the secondary characters are sketches more than characters, and the representation of Richard Farris feels totally off. I think I was feeling generous when I graded this one.
Date Read: June 03, 2023
Page Count: 206
3 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 18 - read 18 books with a red, white or blue cover (07/18)
Challenge Factory Finish What You Started - June pick
Lost Challenges Want to Read Bingo - O69 (07/25)
Around the Year in 52 Books Summer Reading Challenge - July 4c - author’s initials found in Guglielmo Marconi (03/12)
Crazy Challenge Connection Aah Walkers - Prompt 27 - with an evil character (12/52)
64. Gwendy’s Final Task by Stephen King & Richard Chizmar
King is back and the quality of the series immediately jumps tenfold. In the final installment, Gwendy is now 64 and she’s one of two special delegates (along with a slimy billionaire) on a special space flight to this world’s space station. Her task is known to only a few - set the button box free in space because its influence has become more and more malignant on its keepers.
The storyline alternates between Gwendy, suffering from early-onset Alzheimers, and the events of the past few years. There’s a return to King’s Dark Tower ‘verse, which I always love. But mostly what gives this book its heart is Gwendy’s struggle to get through her days. It feels intimate and real and heartbreaking.
Dates Read: June 04 to 05, 2023
Page Count: 278
5 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 19 - read 19 books that have an outdoor cover (02/19)
Lost Challenges Want to Read Bingo - O70 (08/25)
Challenge Factory Finish What You Started - June pick
Around the Year in 52 Books Summer Reading Challenge - July 3B - next book in a series (04/12)
Crazy Challenge Connection Aaah Walkers - Prompt 21 - MC who is 50+ (13/52)
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What I Just Finished Reading: I had a busy week. I finished five novels: Empty Graves: Tales of the Living Dead by Jonathan Maberry, Quicksilver by Dean Koontz, Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett, Gwendy's Magic Feather by Richard Chizmar, and Gwendy's Final Task by Stephen King & Richard Chizmar. Reviews below.
What I'm Reading Right Now: Technically I'm 10% into The Scorch Trials by Richard Dashner, but I've been on the waiting list at the library for over a month for In The Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune and I just got it today, so I'm pretty sure I'll be setting The Scorch Trials aside and starting the Klune tonight.
What I'm Planning to Read Next: After the two above, I'll be hoping to get Contagion by Erin Bowman from the library.
60. Empty Graves: Tales of the Living Dead by Jonathan Maberry
I loved this collection of (mostly) zombie short stories. The majority of the stories feature the classic zombie we all know and are terrified of - no thinking zombies or tool-holding zombies here. A couple of the stories are based in the same world as Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, even featuring his iconic farmhouse, and a couple more take place in Maberry’s own Rot & Ruin world, a series I’ve avoided because I thought it might be watered down because it’s considered YA, but since my favourite story in this anthology came from that world, I clearly need to revise that opinion. There was really only one clunker in the bunch, which is super impressive. Loved it.
Dates Read: May 29 to 31, 2023
Page Count: 400
5 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 16 - read 16 books from your favourite genre (07/16)
Lost Challenges Coffee, Tea, Sugar Challenge - Prompt 04 - with “ING” in title (15/15) Complete!
Crazy Challenge Connection Aah Walkers - Prompt 05 - book with a zombie character (08/52)
61. Quicksilver by Dean Koontz
I stopped reading Dean Koontz literally at least 30 years ago because I could always guess his endings. I picked this up to see if that had changed. The thing is, I’d forgotten that he’s also a very bad writer.
This is about a 19-year-old kid raised in an orphanage. The prose is that of a 50-year-old man who swallowed a thesaurus and is happy to use 16 words where 3 will suffice, and who was told to write his story in the style of “What I Did On My Summer Vacation.” The main characters all have convenient powers like psychic magnetism that leads them where they need to go, or the ability to open locked doors with the power of the mind or somesuch. In this way Koontz doesn’t need to use any logic to explain their actions or to propel the plot. Everything we learn about their background is told to us by a seer. The final arc against a bad guy comes out of nowhere. Geesh. I’d have given it 1 star but I really liked the dog.
Dates Read: May 31 to June 01, 2023
Page Count: 365
2 out of 5 stars
Around the Year in 52 Books - Prompt 31 - found by inputting an author’s name into Literature Map (52/52) + Complete!
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 14 - read 14 books set in a state [Arizona] (06/14)
Around the Year in 52 Books Summer Reading Challenge - June 2C - set in northern hemisphere (01/12)
Crazy Challenge Connection Aah Walkers - Prompt 15 - has a crazy character/has a henchman (10/52)
62. Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett
A strange, sad yet uplifting story told through the eyes of the town ghosts. They keep watch over the denizens of Everton, New Hampshire, and now they’re focused on 22-year-old Emma, newly returned to town to help her dying father. We watch as Emma tackles her past, takes a job as a teacher, and does a lot of maturing. Her dad is suffering from a problem with his brain, causing him to hallucinate animals and, they think, the ghost of a famous town naturalist who raised wild animals as pets. Watching Emma’s dad navigate the world was fascinating, and I loved her brother Auggie as well.
Dates Read: June 02 to 03, 2023
Page Count: 349
4 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 18 - read 18 books with a red, white or blue cover (06/18)
Lost Challenges A to Z Cover Challenge - X - Fox (26/26) - + Complete!
Challenge Factory Genre Roulette - Tier 4 - book tagged “humour” (02/04) (11/15 total)
Crazy Challenge Connection Aah Walkers - Prompt 12 - character under 13 years of age (11/52)
Around the Year in 52 Books Summer Reading Challenge - July 2B - book with a map (02/12)
63. Gwendy’s Magic Feather by Richard Chizmar
Gwendy is now a best-selling author, the creator and director of an Oscar-winning documentary, and a Congresswoman, all by the age of 37, though the author must point out that she looks 27. Guess eating all those button box chocolates in her youth came in handy. Aaaanyway, the button box mysteriously turns up again just as Gwendy heads home for Christmas in Castle Rock, where a series of teen girls have been kidnapped.
The most difficult aspect for me with this book is that there’s such a disconnect in the prose. It’s a story being told to the reader instead of a story that we get immersed in. It felt like reading a story about a story, if that makes sense. And it just takes forEVER for anything to happen, and when it does everything feels rushed. Most of the secondary characters are sketches more than characters, and the representation of Richard Farris feels totally off. I think I was feeling generous when I graded this one.
Date Read: June 03, 2023
Page Count: 206
3 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 18 - read 18 books with a red, white or blue cover (07/18)
Challenge Factory Finish What You Started - June pick
Lost Challenges Want to Read Bingo - O69 (07/25)
Around the Year in 52 Books Summer Reading Challenge - July 4c - author’s initials found in Guglielmo Marconi (03/12)
Crazy Challenge Connection Aah Walkers - Prompt 27 - with an evil character (12/52)
64. Gwendy’s Final Task by Stephen King & Richard Chizmar
King is back and the quality of the series immediately jumps tenfold. In the final installment, Gwendy is now 64 and she’s one of two special delegates (along with a slimy billionaire) on a special space flight to this world’s space station. Her task is known to only a few - set the button box free in space because its influence has become more and more malignant on its keepers.
The storyline alternates between Gwendy, suffering from early-onset Alzheimers, and the events of the past few years. There’s a return to King’s Dark Tower ‘verse, which I always love. But mostly what gives this book its heart is Gwendy’s struggle to get through her days. It feels intimate and real and heartbreaking.
Dates Read: June 04 to 05, 2023
Page Count: 278
5 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 19 - read 19 books that have an outdoor cover (02/19)
Lost Challenges Want to Read Bingo - O70 (08/25)
Challenge Factory Finish What You Started - June pick
Around the Year in 52 Books Summer Reading Challenge - July 3B - next book in a series (04/12)
Crazy Challenge Connection Aaah Walkers - Prompt 21 - MC who is 50+ (13/52)
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