Gord’s Comments (group member since Apr 06, 2017)

Gord’s comments from the Vampires, Weres and Fae! group.

Is the Book Riot one out yet? I was looking around and I can find the 2022 one but not one for 2023 yet.

I have brazed the frozen waste and the madhouse of stores to get all the supplies I need for the holidays. A stack of junk food and a stack of books. Now to close myself off from the world for the next few days.

Both are great options which I should keep in mind for next time.

So how is everyone doing with them storms that are raging out east? I haven't been paying to much attention to the news lately but I've heard that the cold front that was sitting on over us all week shifted east and is bringing massive storms. Blizzards, rain, freezing rain, etc.

Small update time again

-4 Stars
I'm hooked on this series in a bad way. I read the first book way back in the beginning of the year but decided a reread was needed as it's taken nearly a year to get the second volume from the library. There is something about the simple story telling in this that just jives with me. It's got a lot of the classic tropes. Weakest player gets a unique skill to make them stupid strong. The whole video game logic to describe the fantasy setting. It's all here but it just works for me. Our MC is of course the weakest Hunter in the world. While on a dungeon raid he gets left to die and unlocks a secret skill that allows him to level up (other Hunters are locked into their rank upon awakening). He then goes about making himself into the strongest in the world. A lot of the first two books so far has been him leveling up, unlocking new skills, etc. While this is all happening though there are glimpses at the larger world of Hunters around him. There are a couple of things that keep my hyped for things. There is of course seeing how strong our MC is. By the end of the second novel he is looking to be potentially S rank (highest rank) but we haven't had that confirmed yet. The other thing that is keeping me hooked/hyped are those glimpses into the greater world around our MC. I don't want to get into to much stuff in regards to that but some of the things that are hinted are very exciting. Now I "patiently" have to wait for the third volume from the library. The library at least has this in their inventory and it's just a matter of waiting for my turn in the queue.

-5 Stars
Another unplanned In Death novel but it's one step closer to being caught up on this series next year. This is one of those ones that I would put into a bit of a slower burn. Especially compared to the last one. There is a murder, a monster list of potential suspects, and no definite leads. It's still and enjoyable read with the gang and I have fun with everyone of these books.

As my vacation winds down, 5 days left at this point, I find myself almost caught up on the novels I got from the library. For the next bit I have some manga and comics to catch up on. The one novel I have left is which I'll get to here sometime soon. I also plan to listen to next week now that I have my copy from the library.

My plan is to be caught up next year which should be doable. I've only got 11ish books to get done.

You know a book is a good one when you sit down to read a few pages and suddenly find yourself halfway through the book. I wasn't intending to finish this book tonight but at the rate I'm going it's a very distinct possibility.

Alright, walks are more important than I thought. As I mentioned it's stupid cold so I haven't gone for any walks since last Saturday and I'm starting to feel it. I'm feeling super sluggish and just kind of off feeling. With the weather it's not looking like I'm getting out for a walk until Sunday but next week for sure I am returning to the walks. I needs it.

I'm reading through Echoes in Death currently and it's kind of weird to read Roarke and Eve talking about The Avengers movie. It's not just a throw away line either but a small bit.

Congrats on having to take less meds and getting better over all.

I took my garbage out this morning and it just reminded me why I'm so glad that I am vacation. Inside my apartment it's somewhere around 20-25c/68-77f. Outside, without the windchill, its -34c/-29f and that was such a shock to the system. It was so cold out there. I'm now back inside trying to get the chill out of my bones and curling up with my book.

Time for a bit of an update on my vacation reading.

-4 Stars
This will be a bit of a running statement this update but I snagged this for a challenge. I dug it up out of my TBR and figured I'd continue the series. I don't really remember the first book very much but between my rusty memory and the reminders from the book I got the gist of things soon enough. Our MC has a used bookstore and a mysterious guest shows up. Soon dead bodies start showing up in town and our MC, and her friends, have to insert themselves into the mystery. I know I'm a bit snarky here but it's that cliche cozy mystery flow. That aside I found this to be a real treat to read, especially after finishing The Guest List. The characters were good, the mystery was good, and the twist was good. I really need to continue this series.

-5 Stars
*Insert line here about challenge* This was also something I was meaning to read anyway. This was the conclusion to this duology and another success in my opinion. This series is a bit of an odd one compared to other series in this universe as it's not as action orientated. Our MC is a spy master which is not a character who is normally out on the battlefield fighting with sword and shield. There is a lot of political intrigue and maneuvering which is normally not something I find interesting but this was really engaging and enjoyable. I'm really enjoying this read through of the Tortall universe and I can't wait to get back to it in the new year.

-3 Stars
This was yet another challenge book and I'm rather baffled by this one to be honest. This was an award winning children's book and all that. Now I didn't hate it but I also didn't think it was that great. Honestly my biggest feeling that I got from this book was just confusion. What the heck was the point of this book? The book opens with our MC's father being out to sea when a tremendous storm comes up. The MC's mother grabs her up, drops her off at the neighbors, and sails out into the storm to save her husband. Neither come back and the town mourns their lost. Well, everyone except for the MC who is convinced her parents are still alive. That would initially make one think that it's about a young child processing their grief but it's not. Especially as the parents make it back by the end of the book. The neighbor takes care of her for a while but can't because of the money involved with raising a child. She then gets taken in by her uncle who moves back to the town. Everyone has expectations of her to be this grieving child, she gets bullied by other kids, and eventually finds a friend in the owner of a local restaurant. I just don't know what the point of this book was. Maybe I'm just stupid and can't read some subtle message between the lines but it's just kind of this slice of life feeling novel. I don't know, I'm baffled and ready to move on.

-4 Stars
More manga from this series and it's still good. I really like the budding romance between Komi and Tadano . We are also introduced to a new friend with Manbagi and I think this might be my favorite character so far. Don't ask me why but I just enjoy her character.

-4 Stars
I snagged this because it looked interesting. It was flagged as a spin on the classic Legend of Sleepy Hollow tale. This was surprisingly good. You have this cute LGBT romance, an interesting take on the classic tale, and just an interesting story. If you are interested in these kind of comics I'd give it try.

-4 Stars
I've said this before and I'll say it again, this manga is way better than I ever expected. This was the big finale to the Duelist Kingdom arc so there were a lot battles in this book. You knew the MC was going to win because he was the MC but there felt like there was some legit tension. Especially in the last battle with Pegasus. Then we get some more hints about the biggest mystery of the series, and the thing I am most curious about, which is the Egyptian magic aspect. I have so many questions about this part of the series and it just seems like everyone ignores it.

-3 Stars
I like the concept behind this comic but the art and execution were kind of meh. This was a dual love story. There is a love story in present time and there is a love story in the past. We get to know about the love story in the past because the MC can see ghost because she... drank to much coffee one day. I rolled with this when I was reading the story but now that I'm typing it up I have so many questions and this is never really explained. Apparently the more coffee she drinks the more physical these ghosts become. Again no real explanation and it's just an odd story direction. Any way, the two story lines kind of mirror each other and they both get this big happy ending. Like I said I like the concept of the story but the execution kind of left me wanting more.

As for what is next. I have to read some Yuna of the Dawn for a challenge. After that I've got and a whole bunch other stuff.

This is one of those mornings where I look at the weather and I'm glad I'm on vacation. It's currently sitting at -32c/-26f or -43c/-45f with the windchill. I look out there, take a sip of my peppermint mocha (cold brew), and relax a bit more into my chair.

clues

A little over a week into my vacation and life is pretty good. I won't lie, life is not what most would consider exciting by any means but for me it's perfect. My days consist of basically four things. Eating, sleeping, reading, and the occasional YouTube/anime video tossed in when I need a break. I've gone out for three walks so far. Two were of the hour long variety where I stopped and had something to eat/drink halfway through. Today I only went out for a 20-30 minute walk to the local corner store for some snacks. The cold front from Siberia is rolling in today and it's getting cold out there. It's also why I won't be walking next week.

Anyway I have a couple of videos to watch and a never ending stack of library books that need to read.

I'm just purging this book so I can move on to something else.

-2 Stars
I just did not like this book at all. For me it failed on all levels and I just feel disappointed upon completion. So this book popped up on my radar because of Daisy Darker that I read earlier this month. I was seeing a lot of comparisons and debate about which one was better (Daisy Darker was leagues better in my opinion) and it helped finish a challenge for me. I went into this book with the impression that this was going to be a isolated murder mystery on an island like the classic And Then There Were None. I'm a fan of this sort of set up so I was rather stoked to read this. What we got was not that in the slightest. There is only one murder in the entire book and it doesn't happen until the very end of the book. This is where my issues with this book begin. This entire book is build up to this murder taking place. Throughout the book we get very short chapters hinting to what happens the night of the murder. The bulk of this book is setting up the characters, their motives, etc. I just didn't like this format for a murder mystery. The book is heavily reliant on characters and I just did not like any of the characters at all. This just made the entire reading experience drag even more. The big shocking twists that were revealed were not that shocking as I figured them all out before hand. Including the identity of the killer. Here is the thing, if you have five main characters and then actively hide one character while doing everything possible to make the other four look guilty it's pretty clear who the killer will be. The last 50-100ish pages was truth bombs about what was going on and none of it was really shocking to me. I either didn't care about the reveal or it was something I had already pieced together from the clues presented to me. This book was just a boring read that felt like it dragged on longer then it should have.

From what I understand this was a landmark moment for science but we are a long way from this being used in a practical sense.

Cee wrote: "I remember being pretty annoyed with that book and just wanting to know who had died, which you wouldn’t think would be such a huge secret…."

I have a bad feeling that this book is not going to be what I expected. I expected something in the vein of And Then There Were None where the guest get murdered off one by one. Instead this looks like I get to spend the entire book with the "lovely" characters only to find out who was murdered. We get little teases of the night of the murder and then page after page of people just being the worst. This book suddenly feels 3000x times longer.

I'm working on The Guest List and man is it a slow start. I get that in books like this you need to set up the characters and the motives for each one but this one just feels like its dragging. I think part of it comes down to the characters. These are mostly, for lack of a better term, douche canoes. I just don't like any of these characters and it's more than the usual dislike you're supposed to have for these characters. Most of the male cast are that never grew out of their douche bag frat boy mentality. The female characters are a bit more varied but the main one, the bride, just screams stuck up snooty elite wanna be. I'm just ready for the bodies to start dropping and we can get to the actual mystery.

Texas

Time for another mini update.

-5 Stars
To be perfectly clear I had zero intention of reading this the day that it came out. I was merely looking at the books page here on Goodreads when I noticed the extension I use. It's a library extension that shows if the book is available at the library or not. I saw that Overdrive had the usual 80 million year long queue and then I noticed that Hoopla also had it. Hoopla, the library service that has no queues and that I have still have some borrows left this month on. Needless to say, for some weird reason, I found it downloaded to my computer and I was reading it. Not sure how any of this happened at all.

Joking aside this book was great. I love the way that this world is built where it's some stuff we know, some stuff we know but with a twist, and some weird off the wall ideas. I think the best way to describe this book is you take The Bachelor and instead of the usual "celebrities" you replace them with scheming and conniving politicians on a galactic level. It's an interesting combination full of assassins, pirates, galactic threats, and all of that. I'm not wanting to spoil anything so I'll sum this up with a simple "this was awesome".

-4 Stars
I'll admit it, if I really have to, that this book might have made me grin. Only a little bit though. I'm not a big fan of this time of year, books about this time of year, or even books that are tagged as Christian fiction. For this book to overcome all of that and still make my Scrooge heart grin a little bit says a lot. I couldn't tell you if this book was good in the broader genre this floats in but it made me smile a bit so I guess that counts for something.

-2 Stars
This was read for a challenge and I think I found a new thing to put on the "nope" list. I'm not the biggest fan of reading erotica in general but listening to it on audiobook is just a firm "nope" from me. Take all the cheesy and bad writing one would expect from an erotica novel and then have it read into your ear with a monotone voice. I'd divide this book into two parts. The sex parts and the non-sex parts. The non-sex parts are there to give the book "story" and initially I was kind of interested in the story. Then these parts basically just became the sections to give you a breather from the paragraphs of smut you just read before plunging you back into even more paragraphs of smut. As for the sexy/smutty parts of the novel it's what you would expect. He's packing a WMD in his pants, he is the greatest in bed, etc, etc, etc, etc. Listen if you have ever read smut you know what to expect.

-4 Stars
This might just be the best romance manga I've read in a good long while. First, no angsty teenagers who can't muster up the courage to speak the most basic of sentences. Second, romance doesn't even feel like it's the main point of this series. It's about two coworkers becoming friends and finding out more about themselves. It's not until the end of the second volume where romance really feels like it's even being considered. There were also several relatable moments in this manga. It's been many a years but I remember thinking some of those thoughts or feeling a certain way. I really hope my library hurries up and gets the next couple volumes of this manga because I want to see where this one goes.

-3 Stars
This was an odd and yet wholesome comic book. A witch has created this sentient vegetables to help around the farm and this is the super weird part of the comic especially if you think to hard about it. These sentient vegetables specialize in growing their own vegetables. So Garlic grows garlic, Carrot grows carrot, etc. They then take these vegetables to the local market and sell them. Either as vegetables or as products made of that vegetable. For instance you have Tomato selling tomato sauce. In my head this is incredibly weird and has the potential to spin off into horrible dark places but this is a kids comic so lets shelf those thoughts. One day the local castle shows signs of someone moving back in and the people are worried that it might be the vampire that used to live there who has returned. All the vegetables decided to send Garlic out to investigate because she is garlic. She is terrified and has to find the courage. I won't spoil the ending but yes the vampire is back and there is a wholesome happy ending to the comic.

Up next is some Komi manga and then before tackling something else.