Wednesday Reading Meme
I've been getting caught up on other things in the mornings, trying to get back onto the Let's Get Healthy track with exercise, and then working into the evenings. Not much time for anything else, but I did manage two more books. Good thing I can read while on the exercise bike!
What I Just Finished Reading: Just two this week: Countdown City by Ben H. Winters and A Dog's Perfect Christmas by W. Bruce Cameron. Reviews below.
What I'm Reading Right Now: I'm about 3/4 of the way done The Bengal Identity, the next book in the Cat Groomer Mysteries.
What I'm Planning to Read Next: Probably book number 3 in Cat Groomers, Feral Attraction. Something light and relaxing.
159. Countdown City by Ben H. Winters
There’s now only 77 days until the asteroid impact, and though there is no longer an investigative unit at Concord PD, rookie former detective Henry Palace can’t say no when a childhood friend asks him to search for her missing husband. Electricity is out, food is scarce, a black market has sprung up for bartered goods, and there is no more gasoline, so Henry treks out on his bike (often accompanied by Houdini, his loyal dog) to see what he can find.
The slow and inevitable deterioration of society is again what Winters does best here. He focuses on the practicalities, like how Henry is regularly calculating how many bags of dog good he has to ensure that Houdini has enough to last him until the end. However, this time around the mystery is a little convoluted. Too much relies on coincidence, like links between the missing man and Henry’s sister, and there’s one event, a locked door mystery type instance, that there is never a satisfactory explanation for. Overall though, this is a fascinating world.
Dates Read: December 06 to 09, 2023
Page Count: 316
4 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 10 - read 10 books that take place in a city [Concord, NH] (09/10)
160. A Dog’s Perfect Christmas by W. Bruce Cameron
I’ve read a few books by Cameron, and they all are told from the POV of the dog. Not so with this one, which has POVs from 4 humans (a married couple, their teen daughter, and a grandpa) and two dogs. The rare dog chapters are as heartwarming as one would expect. The problem here is twofold: all of the human characters are annoying and completely unsympathetic. Dad’s a forgetful workaholic who’s clueless about his own family, mom’s a horrible parent who’s overwhelmed by caring for her 3-year-old terror twins, both of whom run about completely undisciplined, despite the fact that she’s a stay-at-home mom *and* the kids are in preschool *and* she has a 3-day-a-week nanny. The teen is a sullen bully who suddenly finds the shoe on the other foot. I just basically HATED these people. And the story really isn’t at all about a dog’s perfect christmas. The dogs are shoehorned into a story about these horrible people kinda sorta getting redemption? I don’t know. Not impressed.
Dates Read: December 09 to 10, 2023
Page Count: 283
2 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 19 - read 19 books with an outdoor cover (14/19)
.
What I Just Finished Reading: Just two this week: Countdown City by Ben H. Winters and A Dog's Perfect Christmas by W. Bruce Cameron. Reviews below.
What I'm Reading Right Now: I'm about 3/4 of the way done The Bengal Identity, the next book in the Cat Groomer Mysteries.
What I'm Planning to Read Next: Probably book number 3 in Cat Groomers, Feral Attraction. Something light and relaxing.
159. Countdown City by Ben H. Winters
There’s now only 77 days until the asteroid impact, and though there is no longer an investigative unit at Concord PD, rookie former detective Henry Palace can’t say no when a childhood friend asks him to search for her missing husband. Electricity is out, food is scarce, a black market has sprung up for bartered goods, and there is no more gasoline, so Henry treks out on his bike (often accompanied by Houdini, his loyal dog) to see what he can find.
The slow and inevitable deterioration of society is again what Winters does best here. He focuses on the practicalities, like how Henry is regularly calculating how many bags of dog good he has to ensure that Houdini has enough to last him until the end. However, this time around the mystery is a little convoluted. Too much relies on coincidence, like links between the missing man and Henry’s sister, and there’s one event, a locked door mystery type instance, that there is never a satisfactory explanation for. Overall though, this is a fascinating world.
Dates Read: December 06 to 09, 2023
Page Count: 316
4 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 10 - read 10 books that take place in a city [Concord, NH] (09/10)
160. A Dog’s Perfect Christmas by W. Bruce Cameron
I’ve read a few books by Cameron, and they all are told from the POV of the dog. Not so with this one, which has POVs from 4 humans (a married couple, their teen daughter, and a grandpa) and two dogs. The rare dog chapters are as heartwarming as one would expect. The problem here is twofold: all of the human characters are annoying and completely unsympathetic. Dad’s a forgetful workaholic who’s clueless about his own family, mom’s a horrible parent who’s overwhelmed by caring for her 3-year-old terror twins, both of whom run about completely undisciplined, despite the fact that she’s a stay-at-home mom *and* the kids are in preschool *and* she has a 3-day-a-week nanny. The teen is a sullen bully who suddenly finds the shoe on the other foot. I just basically HATED these people. And the story really isn’t at all about a dog’s perfect christmas. The dogs are shoehorned into a story about these horrible people kinda sorta getting redemption? I don’t know. Not impressed.
Dates Read: December 09 to 10, 2023
Page Count: 283
2 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 19 - read 19 books with an outdoor cover (14/19)
.