Wednesday Reading Meme
Sneaking in under the wire...
What I Just Finished Reading: Another very successful week, with only 1 stinker. I read 5 books: Best Tales of the Apocalypse edited by DL Snell; the Awakened trilogy by James S. Murray and Darren Wearmouth, and Cold Snap: A Viking Cat Mystery by Codi Schneider. Reviews below.
For anyone who knows the show Impractical Jokers (I do not), one of the authors of the Awakened series, James S. Murray, is "Murr" on that show. Also, the other author lives in my hometown, which is mentioned in the books.
What I'm Reading Right Now: I just started The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles, which I am enjoying so far.
What I'm Planning to Read Next: I'm doing an odd sort of readathon for Goodreads' Around the Year in 52 Books comm this week, where the goal is to read books based on prompts that didn't make it into the yearly prompt list, and the top 5 prompts that get the most books read for them this week will automatically go into voting for 2025's prompt list.
I want "books with animals on the cover" to make the list, so I'm trying to focus on whatever I've got with that this week. So far Cold Snap and Secret Lives count, and next will probably be Twilight Falls, the next Shady Hollow book, unless I go through my book list and find something else that I don't have to pay for!
56. Best Tales of the Apocalypse edited by DL Snell
Spoiler alert: these are not the best tales.
By assigning each of the 14 short stories a score out of 5 and then using the average, this book scored a dismal 2 stars.
At it’s best is The All Night One-Stop Apocalypse Shop by Derek J. Goodman,, a super fun story where convenience store night clerks Caleb and Gloria deal with ghouls, vampires, zombies and potential end-of-the-world scenarios on the regular while the rest of the world remains oblivious. Loved this one.
Also good was Restore From Backup by JF Gonzalez and Michael Oliveri, where data crunchers are somehow holding worldwide illness at bay… until someone messes with the code. And Pigs and Feaches by Patrice Sarath,, about a new and deadly Alzheimers variant, was sad and poignant and beautifully written.
Unfortunately, those were the exceptions. I rated six of the 14 stories as 1 star. The worst of these was Kelmscott Manor: In the Attic (my note for this says “?? pretentious time machine twattle”) and America is Coming! by Dario Ciriello, in which, get ready for it, America breaks away and floats around the planet, careening into other land masses and destroying them, but two Italian guys manage to maneuver close enough in their rubber boat to jump aboard and I CAN’T MAKE THIS SHIT UP.
So yeah. I’m sorry for those couple of great stories that got buried in this mess.
Dates Read: May 05 to 09, 2024
Page Count: 400
2 out of 5 stars
+ Lost Challenges 74 Letters - December B - item on cover that begins with B [bones] (55/74)
57. Awakened by James S. Murray and Darren Wearmouth
A new subway line opening in New York City unleashes a new race of clawed, powerful and intelligent creatures from the bowels of the Earth, bwahahahahaha!
This is a super fun callback to those crazy ‘70s and ‘80s creature-feature paperbacks, with multiple POVs, that one random government guy who rises to the occasion, the double-crossing agents and mysterious conspiracies, that other one random Average Joe who’s daring action just might say everybody… wait, is it also Independence Day?
Regardless, I really enjoyed it. A couple of things remain unexplained (it’s the first of a trilogy) but there’s a definitive ending and you could leave the series here with the one book if you wished. I mean, this book is simple and the characters are cliches but it’s fun and light and I liked it.
Dates Read: May 10 to 11, 2024
Page Count: 309
4 out of 5 stars
+ Lost Challenges 74 Letters - December E - a thriller (56/74)
58. The Brink by James S. Murray and Darren Wearmouth
Second book in the Awakened trilogy, this one ups the stakes and takes the action to Paris, where villain Van Ness has set up his lair. And yes, it’s totally a supervillain lair, complete with giant lasers and superduper impenetrable glass and creepy laboratories for creature/human experiments.
Of course, Cafferty and his pals are on his tail (though I was sad that Sal was not part of the team.) It turns out that Van Ness is up to some more nastiness with the creatures, this gets serious in the USA, and not everything works out for the better.
This one is very fast-paced but the tone can be a little off considering the nature of Van Ness’s attacks. Still, it was a quick and enjoyable read.
Dates Read: May 11 to 12, 2024
Page Count: 226
4 out of 5 stars
+ Around the Year in 52 Books 38 - two books with similar covers (book one) (49/52)
59. Obliteration by James S. Murray and Darren Wearmouth
The conclusion to the Awakened series sees the subterranean creatures rise up and attack the cities of the world, leading to millions dead and the USA government forced to work with evil genius Van Ness, who’s created a deadly crossbreed soldier to fight against the creatures. But you know he’s got more up his sleeve…
This one features a new mad genius scientist, the aforementioned super soldiers, yet another high tech supervillain lair, Diego Munoz being a badass, Ellen Cafferty continuing to save the day, and a whole lot of cartoon level blood and gore. I embrace these books in all their cheesy glory.
Date Read: May 12, 2024
Page Count: 254
4 out of 5 stars
+ Lost Challenges 74 Letters - October O - title begins with O (57/74)
+ Around the Year in 52 Books 39 - two books with similar covers (book two) (50/52)
60. Cold Snap: A Viking Cat Mystery by Codi Schneider
This clever book is narrated by Bijou the cat. Don’t let the name fool you: he’s a descendant of Viking cats and, armed with his invisible shield and helm (and very visible dewclaw), he sets out to solve the mystery when there’s a murder and his new friend is dognapped.
This one takes a bit to get started but once it gets rolling it’s super fun. Bijou runs a pet hotel with his owner, Spencer. All the animals can communicate (though the humans of course cannot understand them) and it’s great fun as Bijou and his “assistant”, a Pomeranian named Skunk, get to know some new residents (a puppy and a pig) as Spencer falls for their owner, Eddy (which plays out completely in the background because it’s not something Bijou noticed - but as the book goes on, Eddy and his pets simply become part of Bijou’s clan.)
The only reason I gave this a 4 instead of a 5 is because the dognapping mystery leads to some nastiness that I won’t go into because of spoilers, and while it’s certainly not graphic it was still disturbing, as all animal abuse is. I wasn’t really expecting it and I’m not sure it fit into this style of book. Just be forewarned. It’s only a part of a chapter and I still loved the book.
Dates Read: May 13 to 15, 2024
Page Count: 256
4 out of 5 stars
+ Lost Challenges 74 Letters - December D - word ending in “ING” in title (58/74)
+ Around the Year in 52 Books 52 - cozy mystery (51/52)
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What I Just Finished Reading: Another very successful week, with only 1 stinker. I read 5 books: Best Tales of the Apocalypse edited by DL Snell; the Awakened trilogy by James S. Murray and Darren Wearmouth, and Cold Snap: A Viking Cat Mystery by Codi Schneider. Reviews below.
For anyone who knows the show Impractical Jokers (I do not), one of the authors of the Awakened series, James S. Murray, is "Murr" on that show. Also, the other author lives in my hometown, which is mentioned in the books.
What I'm Reading Right Now: I just started The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles, which I am enjoying so far.
What I'm Planning to Read Next: I'm doing an odd sort of readathon for Goodreads' Around the Year in 52 Books comm this week, where the goal is to read books based on prompts that didn't make it into the yearly prompt list, and the top 5 prompts that get the most books read for them this week will automatically go into voting for 2025's prompt list.
I want "books with animals on the cover" to make the list, so I'm trying to focus on whatever I've got with that this week. So far Cold Snap and Secret Lives count, and next will probably be Twilight Falls, the next Shady Hollow book, unless I go through my book list and find something else that I don't have to pay for!
56. Best Tales of the Apocalypse edited by DL Snell
Spoiler alert: these are not the best tales.
By assigning each of the 14 short stories a score out of 5 and then using the average, this book scored a dismal 2 stars.
At it’s best is The All Night One-Stop Apocalypse Shop by Derek J. Goodman,, a super fun story where convenience store night clerks Caleb and Gloria deal with ghouls, vampires, zombies and potential end-of-the-world scenarios on the regular while the rest of the world remains oblivious. Loved this one.
Also good was Restore From Backup by JF Gonzalez and Michael Oliveri, where data crunchers are somehow holding worldwide illness at bay… until someone messes with the code. And Pigs and Feaches by Patrice Sarath,, about a new and deadly Alzheimers variant, was sad and poignant and beautifully written.
Unfortunately, those were the exceptions. I rated six of the 14 stories as 1 star. The worst of these was Kelmscott Manor: In the Attic (my note for this says “?? pretentious time machine twattle”) and America is Coming! by Dario Ciriello, in which, get ready for it, America breaks away and floats around the planet, careening into other land masses and destroying them, but two Italian guys manage to maneuver close enough in their rubber boat to jump aboard and I CAN’T MAKE THIS SHIT UP.
So yeah. I’m sorry for those couple of great stories that got buried in this mess.
Dates Read: May 05 to 09, 2024
Page Count: 400
2 out of 5 stars
+ Lost Challenges 74 Letters - December B - item on cover that begins with B [bones] (55/74)
57. Awakened by James S. Murray and Darren Wearmouth
A new subway line opening in New York City unleashes a new race of clawed, powerful and intelligent creatures from the bowels of the Earth, bwahahahahaha!
This is a super fun callback to those crazy ‘70s and ‘80s creature-feature paperbacks, with multiple POVs, that one random government guy who rises to the occasion, the double-crossing agents and mysterious conspiracies, that other one random Average Joe who’s daring action just might say everybody… wait, is it also Independence Day?
Regardless, I really enjoyed it. A couple of things remain unexplained (it’s the first of a trilogy) but there’s a definitive ending and you could leave the series here with the one book if you wished. I mean, this book is simple and the characters are cliches but it’s fun and light and I liked it.
Dates Read: May 10 to 11, 2024
Page Count: 309
4 out of 5 stars
+ Lost Challenges 74 Letters - December E - a thriller (56/74)
58. The Brink by James S. Murray and Darren Wearmouth
Second book in the Awakened trilogy, this one ups the stakes and takes the action to Paris, where villain Van Ness has set up his lair. And yes, it’s totally a supervillain lair, complete with giant lasers and superduper impenetrable glass and creepy laboratories for creature/human experiments.
Of course, Cafferty and his pals are on his tail (though I was sad that Sal was not part of the team.) It turns out that Van Ness is up to some more nastiness with the creatures, this gets serious in the USA, and not everything works out for the better.
This one is very fast-paced but the tone can be a little off considering the nature of Van Ness’s attacks. Still, it was a quick and enjoyable read.
Dates Read: May 11 to 12, 2024
Page Count: 226
4 out of 5 stars
+ Around the Year in 52 Books 38 - two books with similar covers (book one) (49/52)
59. Obliteration by James S. Murray and Darren Wearmouth
The conclusion to the Awakened series sees the subterranean creatures rise up and attack the cities of the world, leading to millions dead and the USA government forced to work with evil genius Van Ness, who’s created a deadly crossbreed soldier to fight against the creatures. But you know he’s got more up his sleeve…
This one features a new mad genius scientist, the aforementioned super soldiers, yet another high tech supervillain lair, Diego Munoz being a badass, Ellen Cafferty continuing to save the day, and a whole lot of cartoon level blood and gore. I embrace these books in all their cheesy glory.
Date Read: May 12, 2024
Page Count: 254
4 out of 5 stars
+ Lost Challenges 74 Letters - October O - title begins with O (57/74)
+ Around the Year in 52 Books 39 - two books with similar covers (book two) (50/52)
60. Cold Snap: A Viking Cat Mystery by Codi Schneider
This clever book is narrated by Bijou the cat. Don’t let the name fool you: he’s a descendant of Viking cats and, armed with his invisible shield and helm (and very visible dewclaw), he sets out to solve the mystery when there’s a murder and his new friend is dognapped.
This one takes a bit to get started but once it gets rolling it’s super fun. Bijou runs a pet hotel with his owner, Spencer. All the animals can communicate (though the humans of course cannot understand them) and it’s great fun as Bijou and his “assistant”, a Pomeranian named Skunk, get to know some new residents (a puppy and a pig) as Spencer falls for their owner, Eddy (which plays out completely in the background because it’s not something Bijou noticed - but as the book goes on, Eddy and his pets simply become part of Bijou’s clan.)
The only reason I gave this a 4 instead of a 5 is because the dognapping mystery leads to some nastiness that I won’t go into because of spoilers, and while it’s certainly not graphic it was still disturbing, as all animal abuse is. I wasn’t really expecting it and I’m not sure it fit into this style of book. Just be forewarned. It’s only a part of a chapter and I still loved the book.
Dates Read: May 13 to 15, 2024
Page Count: 256
4 out of 5 stars
+ Lost Challenges 74 Letters - December D - word ending in “ING” in title (58/74)
+ Around the Year in 52 Books 52 - cozy mystery (51/52)
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