Tobey’s Comments (group member since Nov 02, 2010)

Tobey’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

Rebekah wrote:
If it was ever on your TBR list at all, then it will fit the Freebies task because the deadline of Sept 15 has yet to occur

And this occurred to me too after I posted this question and actually looked at the date! :-)

Task 10.6 Fall Freebies - Lost Souls by Dean Koontz

While I’ve been enjoying this Frankenstein series immensely, I’d have to say that this fourth installment is the least enjoyable one for me so far. When the third one ended, you knew there was a continuing story just waiting to be told and while I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy it, it just wasn’t as good as the previous 3. I found some of the new characters to be highly irritating while I found other parts hilariously funny. I couldn’t seem to quite get a good balance between being slightly annoyed and entertained. But still, Koontz did a good enough job with the story to grab me and look forward to the next one.

+10 Task
+10 Review

Task Total=20
Grand Total=75

Question about Fall Freebies. Because I read Task 10.5 wrong, the book I was going to use for it I cannot. Once I read a book, how can I tell when I added it to my GR TBR shelf once I've read it so I can use it as a Freebie? If that makes any sense whatsoever...

Task 10.2 - Highly Rated

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Help is all over the place - tv, movies, blogs and now I understand why! Wow, what a riveting, amazing book. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started out and being Canadian, sometimes these kinds of subjects just floor me and I can’t really believe that this goes on in the world and yet I know that it does. The characters were so real, they were brought to life amazingly well and the story flowed like a well established river, although the very end sort of dropped off like the author didn’t quite know how to end it. I can see why many have given this 5 stars. It is well deserved and I highly recommend it.

+10 Task
+10 Review
+5 (Combo 20.5)

Task Total=25
Grand Total=55

Rebekah wrote: "Tobey wrote: "Task 20.5 - They Read

Your review caused me to add this to my Wishlist!

I hope you enjoy it! Let us know how you like it. Or it may be the last review of mine you ever listen too! :-)

Task 20.5 - They Read

The Gap Year by Sarah Bird

When picking my most recent book, I picked this one up and read the inside jacket cover and bam, knew that it was my next book and all because it fit into a task category in this current Fall Challenge. It’s the story of a Mother and a Daughter told from two different points of view at different times of the storyline.

I have a lot to say about this book and most of it is emotional. I think all Mother’s feel at one time that they will lose their little girl’s “ear”. This plotline really affected me. It's one of those things that frightens me the most as a Mother whose Daughter currently shares a lot with her. I love how the author takes us on the journey of these two women through each of their eyes and experience their feelings about the same events that take place. An emotional roller coaster for me by an author I will read again!

+20 Task
+10 Review

Task Total=30
Grand Total=30

I'm using The Gap Year for this one. It's told from the pov of 2 different characters. I just started it, so far it's interesting.

Dead and Alive by Dean Koontz

While I have been enjoying this series immensely, I’d have to honestly say that this one was a bit less than I expected. Koontz had the reader going in a couple of different directions with storylines that diverged and for most of it I was wondering where they were going. In they end, he tied them up nicely with a few surprises that I really wasn’t expecting. I thought parts of the ending were very anti-climactic. I guess I was expecting more, something different, I’m not sure. All in all, a very entertaining series. Too bad it’s done….or is it?

+10 Task
+5 Review

Task Total=15
Grand Total=280

Unless I can finish my current book today, this is my last post for this challenge! Loved it!

A Highlander's Destiny by Melissa Mayhue

I’m not sure what to say about this book. I’ve read the first few in this series and sometimes I’m not sure why I continue to keep them on my TBR. They are just okay, in my books!

I found this one to have taken place over such a short period of time that in all actuality, some of the plot is just not believable for me and I know that’s saying a lot. I didn’t feel there was enough time to get a real feel for the main characters to grow attached to them. What I do like about this series is the recurring characters but unfortunately we don’t see enough of them to grow to love them. Sort of how I feel about this book – I just didn’t grow to love it!

+10 Task
+5 Review

Task Total=15
Grand Total=265

City of Night by Dean Koontz

Um, wow! I’m really glad I had the second installment in this series on hand so I could dive right into it and dive, I did. I was totally riveted in a creepy, yet fascinated way. Koontz really brings the reality of this story to life for me and let’s face it, if you can write about it, why can’t it be true? (Oh, lord let’s hope not in this case)

I love how our two protagonists still keep some levity in their lives while involved in this horrifying situation which may very well be apocalyptic as it is referred to in the story.

I loved it and want more which made choosing my next book so hard because I want more Frankenstein!

+10 Task
+5 Review

Task Total=15
Grand Total=250

Prodigal Son by Dean Koontz

I’m not sure why I waited so long to read this book since I’d have it on my TBR shelf for at least a year if not more. I’m a huge Koontz fan but never found the desire to pick this book up for some reason. Perhaps I was scared of comparing it to the original classic by Mary Shelley which I read quite a few years ago and remember loving it.

But Koontz’s version is a totally different take on the Frankenstein story. He brings it to modern day and weaves a tale so creepy, scary and freaky that you can’t help but get sucked into the story. It’s not just about the “monster” but it is so much more and I found myself wondering about the ethics surrounding this storyline. I don’t want to say much more than than else I give too much away.

Prodigal Son is the first in the series and I'm not totally sure where he's going with the whole series aspect. Needless to say, I’m glad I had the second one waiting for me to dive into…

+10 Task
+5 Review

Task total=15
Grand Total=235

Persuader by Lee Child

While I enjoyed this Reacher novels, I felt that The Persuader was different somehow than all the previous ones I have read. The storyline was different somehow, perhaps it was in how Reacher was involved in the storyline or perhaps it was that I was reading it while in the car, at the cabin – in dribs and drabs. I felt sort of disjointed from it somehow and I felt this one was more in your face than other Reacher novels. Reacher is never going to give you a lighthearted feeling but it definitely entertains and engages you. I always want more Reacher.

+10 Task
+ 5 Review
Total=15

The Devil Colony by James Rollins

The newest and highly anticipated Sigma Force novel, The Devil’s Colony was well worth waiting for. If you have not read any Rollins novels and like a Dan Brown kind of novel, Sigma Force is for you – I highly recommend them and find them better than the Dan Brown novels. Rollins has created action packed novels with believable and likeable characters that you grow to love as if they were friends of your own. The Devil’s Colony’s storyline is set closer to home than other Sigma novels and that brings a different kind of feel to it making it a very enjoyable read.

+10 Task
+5 Review
Total=15

Tribute by Nora Roberts

Maybe it’s the sap in me, but I always seem to enjoy a Nora Roberts novel. I know a lot of people will say it’s drivel and always has a happy ending and blah, blah but when I compare it to the recent Debbie Macomber novel I just read, well Nora wins hands down – for me, maybe not for others. In Tribute like in most of her novel’s, there is some sort of sub-plot going on which doesn’t focus on just the romance and that’s what makes her better than Macomber. I’m intrigued and entertained all at the same time which is just what I want out of a lighthearted fun read!

+10 Task
+5 Review
Total=15

Nightingale's Lament by Simon R. Green

I always feel sort of discombobulated when I read a Nightside novel but I guess that’s how it is, in the Nightside. In the Nightside it’s always 3 am and there are things you don’t even want to imagine exist. Our hero, John Taylor, take you somewhere new each time we visit and I can’t seem to figure out if he has any real friends at all or if everybody just really wants him dead. The Nightside is spooky, creepy, gross – any kind of bad word you can imagine but you can’t help going back because it’s simple and fun too! You want to find out about John’s mother and who all these freaky things are that live in the Nightside. I’ll be visiting again soon – you should too!

+10 Task
+5 Review
Total=15

Task Total=60
Grand Total=220

The Shop on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber

My first Debbie Macomber book and I’d heard a lot about her. Right of the bad, I wasn’t thrilled. The characters were highly irritating, especially Jacqueline and I just couldn’t connect with them. Perhaps they weren’t 3 dimensional for me. I could see where she was going with them, but the depth just wasn’t there for me. I wanted to be pulled into the story and feel something for these characters but I just never did. Good thing it was a quick read and didn’t go on and on else I might have given up on it. I most likely won’t read the next in the series, that’s how disappointed I was.

+10 Task
+5 Review

Task Total=15
Grand Total=160

One Shot by Lee Child

One Shot is the ninth book in the ongoing Jack Reacher series. Reacher, as almost everybody calls him, is an ex Army officer drifiting across America. Reacher never looks for trouble, but he seems to come across it wherever he may be. But Reacher is not your average Joe. He’s 6’5 and you don’t want to mess with him – he knows how to get things done. If I’m ever in a bar fight, I want Reacher on my side.
This novel was as entertaining as the other Reacher novels I have read. Fast paced, lots of action, lots or Reacher lines! A highly enjoyable comfort read which leaves me wanting more!


+10 Task
+5 Review

Task Total=15
Grand Total=145

Rapture in Death by J.D. Robb

While I’ve enjoyed all of the In Death series books I’ve read so far, I think I enjoyed this one just a little bit more. While there wasn’t any more death going on than in any of the other books per se, the “topics” or trains of thought that Robb touched on I found to be very intriguing. I won’t say exactly what else I’d be giving it away. I really like how Eve’s character is continuing to build along with her relationship to Roarke and how we are seeing different sides to each of them as this series progresses.

+10 Task
+5 Review

Task Total=15
Grand Total=130

Angels Fall by Nora Roberts

When I need a good comfort read, something that I don’t have to put a lot of thought into, I turn to a few authors, one being Nora Roberts who is always able to quickly whisk me away and catch me up n her stories. Angels Fall was no exception to this. Who doesn’t like a good romantic suspense novel with fairly good character development? The only mention on characters I would say is that I thought her male lead was a bit different from her usual male characters. A bit more abrasive and gruff than many of her other male leads in her other books I’ve read. A quick, enjoyable summer read.

+10 Task
+ 5 Review

Task Total=15
Grand Total=115

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

I’d heard such good things about this book from many different sources and I wanted to love it. I really wanted to love it..but I just didn’t. It was a struggle to read right from the start and I don’t know why because there were some good things about it. The humor had me laughing right out loud on more than one occasion. And I enjoyed the different time/plotlines too but something was missing. It reminded me so much of The Blade Itself in how I felt about it, and how disjointed it was to me. In the end though, I’m not sure yet if I will read the second book. I might just because I need to find out what happens to the main character. For all my meh of the book, he really grew on me.

+10 Task
+5 Review
+5 Jumbo (my copy has 530 pgs)

Task Total=20
Grand Total=100

Agents of Light and Darkness by Simon R. Green

The Nightside is a place in London where things you don’t want to know about exist. In Green’s second Nightside novel, which does not take place immediately after the first one, you meet some of these things in the Nightside and its enough to scare the living wits out of you…if there wasn’t plenty of humor to temper that. This is probably a good thing because as I’m reading through this short book, I’m thinking to myself that I should be totally grossed out but I’m not, I’m just eager to find out what’s going to happen. If you’re looking for a magical, fun read that you don’t have to invest too much of yourself into, the Nightside books are for you.

+10 Task
+5 Review
Total=15

The Thirteen by Susie Moloney

Until a few weeks ago, I had never heard of Susie Moloney and she’s a local Winnipeg author. She was featured in the paper’s book section and then I’d seen her books mentioned here on GR. Her newest, The Thirteen, was one I’d seen mentioned around here a few times and a friend had picked it up, saying her other books are hard to locate. I usually like these types of stories with a bit of mystery and intrigue and this one didn’t dissapoint. While I didn’t find a couple of the relationships totally believeable and a couple of things I just didn’t like to read about, the characters were well written and believable in their own right. I’d say more but I’d give too much away. Go and read it and find out for yourself.

+10 Task
+5 Review
Total=15

Task Total=30
Grand Total=80 pts

The Sentimentalists by Johanna Shively Skibsrud

Winner of the Giller Prize, The Sentimentalists is a story of….something that I’m not quite sure of. I found it quite confusing to follow at first but then it levelled out…only to be more confusing once again. Perhaps this was intended by the author to bring the story of the relationship between the two main characters alive and more in focus? I’m not sure but for me, it took away from the relationships that I was trying to understand and just when I thought I had a grasp on it, I was lost again. A fairly quick read with its own struggles.

+10 Task
+5 Review

Task=15
Grand Total = 50pts

Erin wrote: "The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

+10 Task

Grand Total= 45"

Ooh, Erin, how did you like this one? I just got it and have heard good thngs about it.