Wednesday Reading Meme
What I Just Finished Reading: A better week this time, with four books. A Darker Shade of Magic by VE Schwab, Edin and The Rycke by Lily Mayne, and The Christmas Cat by Melody Carlson. Reviews below.
What I'm Reading Right Now: I'm about halfway through One Extra Corpse by Barbara Hambly. I needed a book with corpse in the title for a challenge, and was thrilled to find this one because Barbara Hambly is the writer of my favourite all time fantasy series, The Darwath Trilogy. In more recent years though she's turned to writing historical fiction, and this takes place in 1920s Hollywood. I wish I loved it more.
What I'm Planning to Read Next: I have two library books up next: So This Is Ever After is already on my Kobo ready to go, and The Day The World Came To Town is in transit.
111. A Darker Shade of Magic by VE Schwab
This one was solidly in the middle of the road, average read, heading for a three-star rating until the last quarter of the book when suddenly the action took off, the characters grew a little more complex, and I found myself enjoying it immensely. Until then it felt a little flat, with all the stock characters of the genre and nothing that made it stand out. There is a revelation towards the end about one of the characters that comes a little out of left field but also hints at much more fun to come. In the end I did enjoy it so I bumped it up a star.
Dates Read: September 10 to 14, 2023
Page Count: 400
4 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 18 - read 18 books with a red, white or blue cover (13/18)
Lost Challenge Want to Read Bingo - O74 (18/25)
112. Edin by Lily Mayne
The second book in the Monstrous series features the big purple alien who was a secondary character in the first book. Good-natured Edin comes across a soldier in the Wastes and volunteers to help him find his friend, who has been kidnapped by some other monsters. It takes a while for this one to take off, mostly because human Hunter is kind of obnoxious. It’s a bit perplexing why Edin is taken with him. By the halfway point the action picks up and I quite enjoyed the last half of the book. Ms. Mayne did a good job of fleshing out her world, giving us glimpses of other monsters and potential future plot points that I really hope she follows through on. I could do without seeing Wyn and Danny again though - I found them a little creepy in this one. And I once again skimmed the sex scenes but the first couple at least had a nice mix of emotion and physicality.
Dates Read: September 15 to 16, 2023
Page Count: 410
4 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 8 - read 8 books written by a woman (08/08)
Challenge Factory Finish What You Started - September pick
Challenge Factory Hallowe’en Roundup - Task 2 - FRANKENSTEIN Leg 1: Prompt: Monstrous character
113. The Rycke by Lily Mayne
I really enjoyed this one! The author mixes it up a bit by having the rycke, Aury, be a truly passive, kind-hearted creature who is essentially very timid and shy. She also did a really good job in allowing the human, Ghost aka Gage, and Aury slowly get to know each other in a natural way. There’s a really good cast of characters here. Gage’s BFF Rig is sweet and funny, and the enigmatic Lilac who I reallllly want to know more about. Great job expanding on the universe as well and showing a little of the raider lifestyle. I just skimmed the sex scenes, of which there are quite a few.
Dates Read: September 16 to 17, 2023
Page Count: 330
4 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 14 - read 14 books that take place in a state [Nebraska] (08/14)
Challenge Factory Finish What You Started - September pick
Challenge Factory Hallowe’en Roundup - Task 2 - FRANKENSTEIN Leg 2: Prompt: black cover
114. The Christmas Cat by Melody Carlson
I thought this would be a quick, light and enjoyable read. Well, the first two were accurate.
It’s not that there’s anything horrible about this completely unoriginal and by-the-numbers tale. I can’t even tell you why I found it so ridiculous. Or maybe I can. Is it because our hero Garrison, who has spent the last nine years digging wells with a Christian non-profit in Uganda (which is only mentioned about 87 times) has decided that he wants to open a halfway house for troubled young men despite having no experience or training or even having MET a “troubled young man” before? Is it because he laments not having been able to see his gramma despite being back in the States for months because he’s allergic to her cats? Ever heard of taking gramma OUT, Garrison? Treat her to lunch, take her to the movies, hell, go for a walk around the block. *sigh* It feels like the author went out of her way to write a very Christian-oriented tale about finding homes for cats for Christmas, and forgot to actually make her main characters interesting or endearing or charming or pleasant or or or… And then the book just ends with an unsatisfying and empty conclusion.
Ah well. The cats seemed nice.
Date Read: September 18, 2023
Page Count: 177
2 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 9 - read a book with a cover you like (08/09)
Challenge Factory Hallowe’en Roundup - Task 2 - FRANKENSTEIN Arm 1 Prompt: Common word in title (CAT)
.
What I'm Reading Right Now: I'm about halfway through One Extra Corpse by Barbara Hambly. I needed a book with corpse in the title for a challenge, and was thrilled to find this one because Barbara Hambly is the writer of my favourite all time fantasy series, The Darwath Trilogy. In more recent years though she's turned to writing historical fiction, and this takes place in 1920s Hollywood. I wish I loved it more.
What I'm Planning to Read Next: I have two library books up next: So This Is Ever After is already on my Kobo ready to go, and The Day The World Came To Town is in transit.
111. A Darker Shade of Magic by VE Schwab
This one was solidly in the middle of the road, average read, heading for a three-star rating until the last quarter of the book when suddenly the action took off, the characters grew a little more complex, and I found myself enjoying it immensely. Until then it felt a little flat, with all the stock characters of the genre and nothing that made it stand out. There is a revelation towards the end about one of the characters that comes a little out of left field but also hints at much more fun to come. In the end I did enjoy it so I bumped it up a star.
Dates Read: September 10 to 14, 2023
Page Count: 400
4 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 18 - read 18 books with a red, white or blue cover (13/18)
Lost Challenge Want to Read Bingo - O74 (18/25)
112. Edin by Lily Mayne
The second book in the Monstrous series features the big purple alien who was a secondary character in the first book. Good-natured Edin comes across a soldier in the Wastes and volunteers to help him find his friend, who has been kidnapped by some other monsters. It takes a while for this one to take off, mostly because human Hunter is kind of obnoxious. It’s a bit perplexing why Edin is taken with him. By the halfway point the action picks up and I quite enjoyed the last half of the book. Ms. Mayne did a good job of fleshing out her world, giving us glimpses of other monsters and potential future plot points that I really hope she follows through on. I could do without seeing Wyn and Danny again though - I found them a little creepy in this one. And I once again skimmed the sex scenes but the first couple at least had a nice mix of emotion and physicality.
Dates Read: September 15 to 16, 2023
Page Count: 410
4 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 8 - read 8 books written by a woman (08/08)
Challenge Factory Finish What You Started - September pick
Challenge Factory Hallowe’en Roundup - Task 2 - FRANKENSTEIN Leg 1: Prompt: Monstrous character
113. The Rycke by Lily Mayne
I really enjoyed this one! The author mixes it up a bit by having the rycke, Aury, be a truly passive, kind-hearted creature who is essentially very timid and shy. She also did a really good job in allowing the human, Ghost aka Gage, and Aury slowly get to know each other in a natural way. There’s a really good cast of characters here. Gage’s BFF Rig is sweet and funny, and the enigmatic Lilac who I reallllly want to know more about. Great job expanding on the universe as well and showing a little of the raider lifestyle. I just skimmed the sex scenes, of which there are quite a few.
Dates Read: September 16 to 17, 2023
Page Count: 330
4 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 14 - read 14 books that take place in a state [Nebraska] (08/14)
Challenge Factory Finish What You Started - September pick
Challenge Factory Hallowe’en Roundup - Task 2 - FRANKENSTEIN Leg 2: Prompt: black cover
114. The Christmas Cat by Melody Carlson
I thought this would be a quick, light and enjoyable read. Well, the first two were accurate.
It’s not that there’s anything horrible about this completely unoriginal and by-the-numbers tale. I can’t even tell you why I found it so ridiculous. Or maybe I can. Is it because our hero Garrison, who has spent the last nine years digging wells with a Christian non-profit in Uganda (which is only mentioned about 87 times) has decided that he wants to open a halfway house for troubled young men despite having no experience or training or even having MET a “troubled young man” before? Is it because he laments not having been able to see his gramma despite being back in the States for months because he’s allergic to her cats? Ever heard of taking gramma OUT, Garrison? Treat her to lunch, take her to the movies, hell, go for a walk around the block. *sigh* It feels like the author went out of her way to write a very Christian-oriented tale about finding homes for cats for Christmas, and forgot to actually make her main characters interesting or endearing or charming or pleasant or or or… And then the book just ends with an unsatisfying and empty conclusion.
Ah well. The cats seemed nice.
Date Read: September 18, 2023
Page Count: 177
2 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 9 - read a book with a cover you like (08/09)
Challenge Factory Hallowe’en Roundup - Task 2 - FRANKENSTEIN Arm 1 Prompt: Common word in title (CAT)
.