2014 Booklist (Part 2)

March 2014

Harry Potter and the Pure-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

See my full discussion here.

A nostalgic 6 out of 10

Summon the Keeper by Tanya Huff

This book is not as good as my review will have it. The main character is the least fun character in the book, and the plot meanders more than a little. The writer head-jumps and scene transitions are rampant.

Despite breaking so many of my rules, I love this book.

This was a reread from my bookshelf, to determine whether or not it got to stay. I’ve read this book maybe four or five times already, and it never fails to make me laugh. Out loud. Unexpectedly.

From the no-nonsense talking cat to the schizophrenic portal to Hell in the basement to the neat-freak Newfie employee, I cannot lie. I loved it. (And I’m pretty sure, upon this reread, that it was the reason I wanted to write Blue Moon in the first place).

A snort-out-loud 9 out of 10

Red Seas Under Red Skies (Gentlemen Bastards Book 2) by Scott Lynch

I adored the first book. The second book was more of the same, but not quiiiiite as cohesive in my mind. Well worth reading, but I don’t think I’ll buy it (whereas there’s a good chance I might get a hardcover of the first one).

Also, there’s a widowed middle-aged black woman with two kids who is the captain of a badass pirate ship. And here’s a super-entertaining article wherein the author scathingly responds to a reader who disapproves of that fact.

SPOILER ALERT Can we please stop killing female characters to provide motivation and angst for male characters? Pretty pretty please? END SPOILERS

A yo-ho-me-hearty 7 out of 10

April 2014

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

A satisfied 6 out of 10

The Republic of Thieves (Gentlemen Bastards Book 3) by Scott Lynch

This was the book I was dreading. We have seen that the main character, Locke Lamora, has an unpleasant and odd relationship history with a lady ex-Bastard. This was the book where we find out about her story and meet her again.

I was expecting to hate her character and by the end I admittedly kind of did, but not as much as I was afraid I was going to. If you’ve read her, you probably know why I find her behavior so repulsive, and if you haven’t then I can’t really explain it to you. She’s a lot like Denna from Name of the Wind, who I also despised.

This book was actually two plots — the history and the now — which didn’t intertwine as well as the plots from the previous books, and it suffered just a little for it because both plots had to be only half-a-book-long. Both plots were entertaining, but the overall result was a good book instead of an excellent one.

I will continue reading more in this series for now, but I am having reservations about whether I’ll enjoy any of them as much as the first one.

An entertaining 6 out of 10

Blue Blazes by Chuck Wendig

I love Chuck Wendig’s blog. Period. He’s foul-mouthed, but not shy about it, and reading his articles on writing makes me want to be a better writer. Man can light a fire with his words, and it’s incredible.

Unfortunately, I think his fiction is just not for me. Not because it’s bad — far from it! In some ways, I think his writing is similar to Chuck Palahniuk, albeit less lyrical and more plotty (which should have me written all over it).

The Blue Blazes is the story of Mookie Pearl, a heavy grunt of a man whose daughter is up to her neck in danger. In that world, the veil between the magical and horrible underworld can be pierced only through the use of an incredibly addictive magical substance known as the Blue Blazes. Apply it to your temples for a rush of power, the ability to see the horrifying things that go bump in the night, and a dry itch in the back of your brain every time you come down from a high.

By all rights, this book should have SHONE for me, especially since the writing is so tight. There’s something very gritty and grim about the whole thing, though, that kept me from enjoying it (even as I appreciated the wordplay and the worldbuilding).

This is the second book of Chuck’s that I’ve tried, and I had the same taste in the back of my throat each time. I have a copy of his Blackbirds waiting on my bookshelf, but I’m pretty sure I’m not his target audience.

An unfinished 7 out of 10

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

So. Um. Once upon a time, a great many of you recommended this book to me.

I got the book from the library, read the first chapter, and chucked it against the wall. (metaphorically. I’d never treat a book that way).

It turns out the book I THOUGHT was Mistborn? Very much wasn’t. And I’ve held a horribly unfounded opinion of the thing ever since.

I was so. incredibly. wrong.

All of you who recommended it? Please feel free to smirk knowingly at me in the comments and say “I told you so” because you’ve earned it.

FANTASTIC book. A little slow getting started, not going to lie. It wasn’t until the magic system was getting explained that I started to like the characters or care about the story.

Awesome magic system, VERY well explained in bite-sized pieces so my eyes didn’t go all blurry and grumpy. Fun, fun characters. A slow-build to a fascinating world (and a larger problem). An incredibly exciting finale.

Good, good stuff.

A stupified 9.5 out of 10

Related posts:

2013 Reading List (as of March 2014)
Book Review : Shotgun Gravy
Cut The Fluff!