Wednesday Reading Meme
What I Just Finished Reading: I had a very successful work week and then spent the weekend putting up my tree and wrapping presents, so I didn't have much reading time. Two (horrible) books this week: Allergic to Death by Peg Cochran (prompt) and Tales of Old Earth by Michael Swanwick. (also prompt. Not so much with the alternating this week. LOL) Reviews below.
What I'm Reading Right Now: About halfway through a library book, Aurora by David Koepp, about a natural sun event that wipes out all power across most of the world. Really enjoying this one.
What I'm Planning to Read Next: I think I'll read my other library book next, just so I can get them back next week. One of the reasons I've been trying to clear all my "due" books (for prompts and such) is because my library has a really big "Christmas book" section, and I want to read at least a couple light, relaxing, hopefully animal-centric Christmas books in December. So I'll go next week to get those.
Where was I? Yes, so I'll read my next library book, Cold Storage, also by David Koepp, so I can return my books. Then will be the last prompt book, The Rising by Heather Graham, and the first of two Finish What You Started books, Fire & Ash by Jonathan Maberry. Fingers crossed I can get to all three in the next 7 days. :)
134. Allergic to Death by Peg Cochran
When the client of a woman running a diet meal delivery service dies because of her peanut allergy, company owner Gigi is blamed and begins searching for the real killer.
All cozy mysteries have this same basic plot (amateur sleuth who runs own business, soon-to-be-romantic interest cop, quirky bestie) but somehow I expected more of this because it was actually not self-published. And then it was actually worse than most of the self-pubbed ones I’ve read.
And it was a bunch of stupid, annoying things. Gigi’s business model didn’t make sense. The two love interests flopped about like dead fish. Everyone spoke with the same cadence, and contractions were few and far between. The big confrontation with the killer ends with Gigi literally running away, and people are more interested in the town play than the fact that one of them is a murderer.
It took me ages to get through this. I only continued on because I was filling a reading prompt with it.
Dates Read: November 11 to 16, 2024
Page Count: 264
2 out of 5 stars
+ Challenge Factory Save The Bees - 7C - character has allergies (7/7) Complete!
135. Tales of Old Earth by Michael Swanwick
I read the first few stories in this science-fiction/fantasy anthology and really thought I had lucked out. Five stars across the board. Hallucinations (or not) in space, dinosaur time travel, zombie workers - all interesting, well-written, and with depth.
Then I hit story 4, which I rated 2 stars. A few more and I was into the 1-star stories, where my notes consisted of “WTF?” A race that exists on the giant body of a grasshopper (they live on the “eye-lands” *groan*) where one traveler spreads life and death while traveling with a woman who ages a lifetime in a week?
Though there were a couple more basic and interesting stories, most of this felt like it was punching above its weight, trying to be intellectual when many of the ideas were either just too far “out there” or not as original as the author believed. Or maybe I just don’t “get” it.*shrugs*
I assigned every story a rating and the average is the overall rating for the book.
Dates Read: November 16 to 18, 2024
Page Count: 278
2 out of 5 stars
+ Lost Challenges BINGO - G56 (24/25)
.
What I'm Reading Right Now: About halfway through a library book, Aurora by David Koepp, about a natural sun event that wipes out all power across most of the world. Really enjoying this one.
What I'm Planning to Read Next: I think I'll read my other library book next, just so I can get them back next week. One of the reasons I've been trying to clear all my "due" books (for prompts and such) is because my library has a really big "Christmas book" section, and I want to read at least a couple light, relaxing, hopefully animal-centric Christmas books in December. So I'll go next week to get those.
Where was I? Yes, so I'll read my next library book, Cold Storage, also by David Koepp, so I can return my books. Then will be the last prompt book, The Rising by Heather Graham, and the first of two Finish What You Started books, Fire & Ash by Jonathan Maberry. Fingers crossed I can get to all three in the next 7 days. :)
134. Allergic to Death by Peg Cochran
When the client of a woman running a diet meal delivery service dies because of her peanut allergy, company owner Gigi is blamed and begins searching for the real killer.
All cozy mysteries have this same basic plot (amateur sleuth who runs own business, soon-to-be-romantic interest cop, quirky bestie) but somehow I expected more of this because it was actually not self-published. And then it was actually worse than most of the self-pubbed ones I’ve read.
And it was a bunch of stupid, annoying things. Gigi’s business model didn’t make sense. The two love interests flopped about like dead fish. Everyone spoke with the same cadence, and contractions were few and far between. The big confrontation with the killer ends with Gigi literally running away, and people are more interested in the town play than the fact that one of them is a murderer.
It took me ages to get through this. I only continued on because I was filling a reading prompt with it.
Dates Read: November 11 to 16, 2024
Page Count: 264
2 out of 5 stars
+ Challenge Factory Save The Bees - 7C - character has allergies (7/7) Complete!
135. Tales of Old Earth by Michael Swanwick
I read the first few stories in this science-fiction/fantasy anthology and really thought I had lucked out. Five stars across the board. Hallucinations (or not) in space, dinosaur time travel, zombie workers - all interesting, well-written, and with depth.
Then I hit story 4, which I rated 2 stars. A few more and I was into the 1-star stories, where my notes consisted of “WTF?” A race that exists on the giant body of a grasshopper (they live on the “eye-lands” *groan*) where one traveler spreads life and death while traveling with a woman who ages a lifetime in a week?
Though there were a couple more basic and interesting stories, most of this felt like it was punching above its weight, trying to be intellectual when many of the ideas were either just too far “out there” or not as original as the author believed. Or maybe I just don’t “get” it.*shrugs*
I assigned every story a rating and the average is the overall rating for the book.
Dates Read: November 16 to 18, 2024
Page Count: 278
2 out of 5 stars
+ Lost Challenges BINGO - G56 (24/25)
.