Wednesday Reading Meme
What I Just Finished Reading: Since last week I read five books, though one was just a short story. Still, it was a separate book so... my rules. :D They were: Dust & Decay by Jonathan Maberry, Call The Midwife by Jennifer Worth, The Harvest and The Wind Has Teeth Tonight by Chuck Wendig, and Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson. Reviews below.
I've now got the first series of Call The Midwife from my local library on DVD as well. Eager to watch!
What I'm Reading Right Now: I just started the autobiography of tennis great Jimmy Connors, The Outsider. I was a huuuuuuge tennis fan in my younger days and Jimmy was my favourite player. I got into it just as he was struggling to stay in the game against the new powerhouses of McEnroe and Borg. I loved that he was a scrapper who never gave up. I'm also a fan of long volleys so him playing from the baseline was just what I loved. I've already learned things about him and I've barely started the book, so I'm excited about this one.
What I'm Planning to Read Next: I've got two more library books out. Next up with be the next book in the Rot & Ruin zombie series, Flesh & Bone.
85. Dust & Decay by Jonathan Maberry
Picking up six months after the first book, this one finds Benny and his friends determined to leave the stifling and repressive town of Mountainside and venture into the rot & ruin. They’ve spent the time being trained by Tom, but they certainly get more than they bargained for.
I loved this one! It was chock full of really intense zombie action and quite a few surprises. I also really enjoyed Tom’s calming presence and the (mostly) realistic interactions of the teens. Their banter is natural and relaxed, and the way they act makes sense for kids brought up in the apocalypse. Also fun in this one: meeting more of the bounty hunters (I loved the surfer dudes), Chong, who I completely and totally can relate to (the apocalypse is scary, dude) and more callbacks to Romero’s classic Night of the Living Dead. Eager to get to the next book.
Dates Read: July 16 to 19, 2023
Page Count: 384
5 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 16 - read 16 books from your favourite genre (09/16)
CCC Aah Walkers - Prompt 39 - book with an explosion scene (34/52)
Challenge Factory Give Me 5 pick
86. Call The Midwife by Jennifer Worth
I’ve never seen the TV series but I’ve been wanting to pick this book up for a while now, and I can say that I was not disappointed. The author has a way of describing the squalor and heartbreak of 1950s East End London while still showcasing the love and resiliency of its people. She doesn’t shy away from sharing her feelings, even when they’re not the most patient or altruistic, and grows and learns from errors in judgment that she makes, often due to class bias. It’s refreshing to find an author who readily admits her weaknesses and mistakes and can happily point out where she remedied them.
Dates Read: July 19 to 21, 2023
Page Count: 354
4 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 10 - read 10 books that take place in a city [London] (03/10)
CCC Aah Walkers - Prompt 23 - character is a midwife (35/52)
Lost Challenges Want to Read Bingo - O61 (13/25)
ATY Summer Reading Challenge - June 1c - history non fiction (12/12) + Complete!
87. The Harvest by Chuck Wendig
The final book in the Heartland series jumps the action ahead one year. There’s been many changes since we last saw Cael and his friends. Lane is now running the grounded flotilla and trying to get it airborne; Wanda makes some big choices in order to stay close to Cael, and Rigo is struggling at a far off outpost. Some old faces make a reappearance, and the struggle between Heartlanders and the Empyrean comes to a head.I really enjoyed this one, with a nice mix of action and character development and/or redemption. I’m not exactly happy with everyone’s fate, but when you’re turning your world on its head it’s simply not going to work out for everyone. I did especially love that a minor character got his chance to shine in the end.
Dates Read: July 21 to 22, 2023
Page Count: 450
5 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 17 - read 17 books with E in the title (16/17)
CCC Aah Walkers - Prompt 52 - helpful character
88. The Wind Has Teeth Tonight by Chuck Wendig
Short story prequel to the Heartland trilogy, fleshing out a moment mentioned briefly in the series. There’s a much longer story here struggling to get out. I feel like this would have been much better served as a novella. Maybe then some of the ideas would have felt more solidly defined. I appreciate that Mr. Wendig wants to show Gwennie as a young, strong woman with bodily autonomy, but this execution is just chunky and the situation he uses to make his point makes no sense, IMO.
Date Read: July 23, 2023
Page Count: 23
3 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - read 17 books with E in the title (17/17) - This subtask complete!
CCC Aah Walkers - Prompt 42 - character find something unexpected/terrifying (37/52)
89. Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson
I really wanted to love this, hoping it would be along the lines of C. Robert Cargill’s amazing Sea of Rust series. (Speaking of, I cannot recommend Sea of Rust and especially Day Zero enough.) Instead, it’s a clunky series of vignettes told similarly to the style of Max Brooks’ World War Z. Over the course of four years we jump back and forth between a few different human survivors of the robot uprising. These read more like notes about what the story could be, because nothing is fleshed out. Not only does the reader not care about these cardboard cutout characters, but we don’t get enough info to fully comprehend the things they’re facing… or why. And every chapter ends with a hint of what’s to come for that character, which grows super annoying and destroys any tension the author is trying to create.
Dates Read: July 23 to 25, 2023
Page Count: 370
3 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 16 - read 16 books from your favourite genre (10/16)
CCC Aah Walkers - Prompt 30 - takes place partially at campsite (38/52)
.
I've now got the first series of Call The Midwife from my local library on DVD as well. Eager to watch!
What I'm Reading Right Now: I just started the autobiography of tennis great Jimmy Connors, The Outsider. I was a huuuuuuge tennis fan in my younger days and Jimmy was my favourite player. I got into it just as he was struggling to stay in the game against the new powerhouses of McEnroe and Borg. I loved that he was a scrapper who never gave up. I'm also a fan of long volleys so him playing from the baseline was just what I loved. I've already learned things about him and I've barely started the book, so I'm excited about this one.
What I'm Planning to Read Next: I've got two more library books out. Next up with be the next book in the Rot & Ruin zombie series, Flesh & Bone.
85. Dust & Decay by Jonathan Maberry
Picking up six months after the first book, this one finds Benny and his friends determined to leave the stifling and repressive town of Mountainside and venture into the rot & ruin. They’ve spent the time being trained by Tom, but they certainly get more than they bargained for.
I loved this one! It was chock full of really intense zombie action and quite a few surprises. I also really enjoyed Tom’s calming presence and the (mostly) realistic interactions of the teens. Their banter is natural and relaxed, and the way they act makes sense for kids brought up in the apocalypse. Also fun in this one: meeting more of the bounty hunters (I loved the surfer dudes), Chong, who I completely and totally can relate to (the apocalypse is scary, dude) and more callbacks to Romero’s classic Night of the Living Dead. Eager to get to the next book.
Dates Read: July 16 to 19, 2023
Page Count: 384
5 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 16 - read 16 books from your favourite genre (09/16)
CCC Aah Walkers - Prompt 39 - book with an explosion scene (34/52)
Challenge Factory Give Me 5 pick
86. Call The Midwife by Jennifer Worth
I’ve never seen the TV series but I’ve been wanting to pick this book up for a while now, and I can say that I was not disappointed. The author has a way of describing the squalor and heartbreak of 1950s East End London while still showcasing the love and resiliency of its people. She doesn’t shy away from sharing her feelings, even when they’re not the most patient or altruistic, and grows and learns from errors in judgment that she makes, often due to class bias. It’s refreshing to find an author who readily admits her weaknesses and mistakes and can happily point out where she remedied them.
Dates Read: July 19 to 21, 2023
Page Count: 354
4 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 10 - read 10 books that take place in a city [London] (03/10)
CCC Aah Walkers - Prompt 23 - character is a midwife (35/52)
Lost Challenges Want to Read Bingo - O61 (13/25)
ATY Summer Reading Challenge - June 1c - history non fiction (12/12) + Complete!
87. The Harvest by Chuck Wendig
The final book in the Heartland series jumps the action ahead one year. There’s been many changes since we last saw Cael and his friends. Lane is now running the grounded flotilla and trying to get it airborne; Wanda makes some big choices in order to stay close to Cael, and Rigo is struggling at a far off outpost. Some old faces make a reappearance, and the struggle between Heartlanders and the Empyrean comes to a head.I really enjoyed this one, with a nice mix of action and character development and/or redemption. I’m not exactly happy with everyone’s fate, but when you’re turning your world on its head it’s simply not going to work out for everyone. I did especially love that a minor character got his chance to shine in the end.
Dates Read: July 21 to 22, 2023
Page Count: 450
5 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 17 - read 17 books with E in the title (16/17)
CCC Aah Walkers - Prompt 52 - helpful character
88. The Wind Has Teeth Tonight by Chuck Wendig
Short story prequel to the Heartland trilogy, fleshing out a moment mentioned briefly in the series. There’s a much longer story here struggling to get out. I feel like this would have been much better served as a novella. Maybe then some of the ideas would have felt more solidly defined. I appreciate that Mr. Wendig wants to show Gwennie as a young, strong woman with bodily autonomy, but this execution is just chunky and the situation he uses to make his point makes no sense, IMO.
Date Read: July 23, 2023
Page Count: 23
3 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - read 17 books with E in the title (17/17) - This subtask complete!
CCC Aah Walkers - Prompt 42 - character find something unexpected/terrifying (37/52)
89. Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson
I really wanted to love this, hoping it would be along the lines of C. Robert Cargill’s amazing Sea of Rust series. (Speaking of, I cannot recommend Sea of Rust and especially Day Zero enough.) Instead, it’s a clunky series of vignettes told similarly to the style of Max Brooks’ World War Z. Over the course of four years we jump back and forth between a few different human survivors of the robot uprising. These read more like notes about what the story could be, because nothing is fleshed out. Not only does the reader not care about these cardboard cutout characters, but we don’t get enough info to fully comprehend the things they’re facing… or why. And every chapter ends with a hint of what’s to come for that character, which grows super annoying and destroys any tension the author is trying to create.
Dates Read: July 23 to 25, 2023
Page Count: 370
3 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 16 - read 16 books from your favourite genre (10/16)
CCC Aah Walkers - Prompt 30 - takes place partially at campsite (38/52)
.