Tiny update... and Wednesday Reading Meme
Fully intended to get so much done this week. Instead, I came down with something on the 23rd and have been sick since then. Luckily was through puking by Christmas to still be able to spend the afternoon with my family, but I still don't feel great. Lethargic, hot, crampy. This has not been fun. Crossing fingers that by the weekend the lingering effects are gone.
Meanwhile...
What I Just Finished Reading: Since last week I read two good books: Sphere by Michael Crichton and Rovers by Richard Lange. Reviews below.
What I'm Reading Right Now: So far I'm enjoying Take Your Breath Away by Linwood Barclay.
What I'm Planning to Read Next: I have a book called The Drop by Dennis Lehane that I hope I can get to before the year ends.
164. Sphere by Michael Crichton
When a spacecraft is discovered on the ocean floor, a psychologist who’d previously written a first contact manual for the government (he was just trying to fund a house, damnit) finds himself scooped up with a team and sent to investigate. Crichton does a great job of explaining things like the concept of space-time in layman’s terms, and uses his great pacing and suspense to move the story along. The entity discovered by the team is supremely creepy, the action scenes were great, and I was kept guessing in this page-turner. It shows its age in the writing of the main female character, who comes across as a caricature of a feminist and whose emotions are all over the place. But she was the only sour note in an otherwise enjoyable tale.
Dates Read: December 20 to 23, 2023
Page Count: 499
4 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 20 - read 20 books set on water/water on cover/coastal town (11/20)
165. Rovers by Richard Lange
It’s 1976, and vampires - called rovers - live an itinerant lifestyle on the edges of society, killing monthly when they need to feed. But this isn’t your normal vampire novel. There are no sharpened canines or descending fangs. The tone is gritty and realistic, and these vampires are more like serial killers, remorseless and uncaring. But we still manage to care about them: Jesse, stuck in an endless cycle of blood and longing for his lost humanity, and Edgar, Jesse’s simple-minded brother who didn’t ask for this life with a ‘little devil’ chewing up his insides. Then there is Charles, searching for his son’s killer, who could easily become a different kind of monster. I loved everything about this, and the ending was perfection.
Dates Read: December 23 to 24, 2023
Page Count: 304
5 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 19 - read 19 books with an outdoor cover (15/19)
**
I hope everyone who celebrates had a lovely holiday.
.
Meanwhile...
What I Just Finished Reading: Since last week I read two good books: Sphere by Michael Crichton and Rovers by Richard Lange. Reviews below.
What I'm Reading Right Now: So far I'm enjoying Take Your Breath Away by Linwood Barclay.
What I'm Planning to Read Next: I have a book called The Drop by Dennis Lehane that I hope I can get to before the year ends.
164. Sphere by Michael Crichton
When a spacecraft is discovered on the ocean floor, a psychologist who’d previously written a first contact manual for the government (he was just trying to fund a house, damnit) finds himself scooped up with a team and sent to investigate. Crichton does a great job of explaining things like the concept of space-time in layman’s terms, and uses his great pacing and suspense to move the story along. The entity discovered by the team is supremely creepy, the action scenes were great, and I was kept guessing in this page-turner. It shows its age in the writing of the main female character, who comes across as a caricature of a feminist and whose emotions are all over the place. But she was the only sour note in an otherwise enjoyable tale.
Dates Read: December 20 to 23, 2023
Page Count: 499
4 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 20 - read 20 books set on water/water on cover/coastal town (11/20)
165. Rovers by Richard Lange
It’s 1976, and vampires - called rovers - live an itinerant lifestyle on the edges of society, killing monthly when they need to feed. But this isn’t your normal vampire novel. There are no sharpened canines or descending fangs. The tone is gritty and realistic, and these vampires are more like serial killers, remorseless and uncaring. But we still manage to care about them: Jesse, stuck in an endless cycle of blood and longing for his lost humanity, and Edgar, Jesse’s simple-minded brother who didn’t ask for this life with a ‘little devil’ chewing up his insides. Then there is Charles, searching for his son’s killer, who could easily become a different kind of monster. I loved everything about this, and the ending was perfection.
Dates Read: December 23 to 24, 2023
Page Count: 304
5 out of 5 stars
Lost Challenges Pyramid of Books - Task 19 - read 19 books with an outdoor cover (15/19)
**
I hope everyone who celebrates had a lovely holiday.
.