Tatum’s Comments (group member since Jan 01, 2012)

Tatum’s comments from the Read 100+ Books in 2012 group.

I am also still playing catch-up for February (actually, I am still trying to finish 2 books in these last days) before I settle my March list. I don't know why, since I usually always change a book or two on it anyways!

And yes, thanks Sheila for the categories every month, always a challenge!

7. Let Me Call You Sweetheart by Mary Higgins Clark
Rating: 3/5
Review: I enjoyed this although at times I felt there was too little depth to the characters. Still, Clark managed to keep me guessing right up until the end. She had the requisite amount of suspicious activity and likely suspects and a good deal of suspense to drive the plot. Very short chapters (almost more like scenes) give you a perspective on what many of the different characters are doing or thinking, which builds the suspense of the story and gives insight into parts of the plot. All in all a good, easy to enjoy novel.

Sheila it amazes me how much you manage to read in a month! I am still working through my 7th and 8th books. I hope to have 10 read this month.

6. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Rating: 5/5

I am so glad I finally read this book! It took me the better part of a week to read it, but I enjoyed it so much and will certainly be reading the rest of the trilogy. (Plus now I can see the movie!)

Review: From start to finish this was an excellent read. Part thriller, part mystery, part portrait of people's lives and how actions affect individuals over time, the novel struck just the right tone. Slowly but surely things were revealed, characters gained depth and through it all the threads of the plot were being woven together.

You find yourself with a real interest in the characters and the plot, with wanting to learn more about them and wanting to know how all the pieces of the puzzle are going to come together. And the author manages to keep you guessing right up until the end. Quite brilliant and very highly recommended.

Janie The Double sounds really good. I think I will have to look for that one since you enjoyed it so much. Creepy idea though.

5. Love in the Time of Dragons by Katie MacAlister
Rating: 4/5
Review: I wish I had realized before I was 3/4 of the way through this book that there are two series that come before it (Guardian and Silver Dragons) which are set in the same world and feature a lot of the supporting characters from this book. I upped my rating from 3 to 4 stars based on the fact that now I realize why the author sometimes wrote like I should know what was going on in the world or who certain characters were because if I'd started at the beginning of course I would have!

While I recommend starting with the other two series and while I intend to now go back and do so, this is still an enjoyable read even if you don't. It would have been a very solid 3 stars regardless of my sometimes slight confusion. The story is engaging and interesting, the romantic element is solid and there's even a bit of a mystery to go with the fantasy.

But what really makes this book are the characters. All the characters, even the supporting ones are well drawn. At times they are silly or goofy, but in a good make-you-laugh-out-loud kind of way. MacAlister is quite a clever author and if sometimes I had to suspend belief just a little to go along with what her characters were doing or saying, I must say I was happy to do so.

I also loved her take on dragons, ancient beings who spend most of their time in human form, only occasionally resorting to dragon form. Her dragons and their lifestyle are great.

N.B. There's a couple of tastefully done erotic scenes in this book, not too graphic but still for mature readers.

4. Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke
Rating: 2/5
Review: My copy of this book also has a novella added to the end. It was borrowed from a friend when I noticed she had most of the series on her shelf. Three hundred pages of rather bad dialogue and description of the hammer-you-over-the-head sort later I called her up to try to tactfully ask why she liked them so much. I won't bore you with all the details of our conversation, but it came out that she'd read these not long after giving birth to her daughter, a lovely but extremely colicky baby. In essence, she enjoyed them because "You don't actually have to read the whole thing to get it and the recipes are fantastic!"

Suddenly why she and the many Goodreads readers who voted this one of the best cozy series liked these books made sense. In her case it was because she could half pay attention while pacing the hall with a screaming baby in a Snugglee and then go stave off sleep deprivation with massive doses of sugar from cookie recipes contained within the book.

And in that sense, these books make perfect sense. They are very easy to read. It honestly doesn't matter if you skim a paragraph (or a page), you won't miss much. If you only have a few moments in a grocery checkout line and want to skim the rest of the chapter before it's your turn, you can safely do so (and maybe even would prefer to). And the recipes (though I've yet to make any) do sound fantastic.

Is it really that bad? Yes and no. The writing is pretty darn bad in places, but it was the author's first novel. The mystery itself is pretty cleverly conceived, the investigation not so much so. The characters are sometimes fairly amusing (worth a smile at least) but then are sometimes annoying as well. For everything I like about this book, I can find something I don't like.

Ultimately I will wind up making a couple of recipes from the book. One of these days (though probably not any day soon) I will try reading another one or two in the series to see if the writing gets better. Even if it doesn't, I'll probably get some good recipes out of the deal, so I won't care that much.

Janie I do that kind of thing sometimes. Especially when I get new books and then I want to just "sample" them by reading the first chapter and before I know it I am reading anywhere from 2-5 books!

3. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Rating: 3/5 stars
Review: I think it's going to be hard to review this book without including spoilers, but I'm going to try! I should also start by saying that I thought this was a standalone book and not the first in what is to become a series.

The Good: The pictures. Like everyone else who has read this book I found the strange old photos captivating, like peeking in on a moment in time long past. They added to the ambiance created by the author which brings me to the second good thing: the mood and tone set by the author throughout the first half of the book. The reader doesn't know what to believe, what is fact and what is imagination and the suspense is well played. And the last thing I liked was the author's quite ingenious talent for melding historical fact in with his fictional narrative and the creation of alternate explanations for events to fit his world.

The Bad: The pictures. Yes, I know I said they were good, but they allow the author to become lazy about certain explanations and descriptions. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but I want to know that the author can write those thousand words to convey the picture and I'm not convinced Riggs can. A lot of what was written to go with the pictures seemed to be merely lip service, as though the picture alone was supposed to do the job. Secondly, inconsistencies within the concept the author has created plague the second half of the book. I am all for suspending belief when reading, but then the author must be convincing and follow the rules within the alternate reality he's created. At times it seemed Riggs was making it up as he went along and would have done well to go back and read what he'd written previously. My biggest problem though stemmed from the fact that it was quite obvious by the last couple of chapters that Riggs knew he was writing a sequel. And I feel like he genuinely thought that was a good enough excuse for him to not write a proper ending to this book. Even novels in series should make sense in their own right and while I can't exactly say this one doesn't make sense, it's rushed at the end, things deserving of more explanation simply aren't given it.

Overall though it was an enjoyable read. The first half of the book showed a great deal of promise and it entertained me sufficiently that I do want to read the next installment, which I suppose it ultimately what every author wants, that you are enticed enough to see what they come up with next.

2. Bonus Book: The Anatomist's Apprentice by Tessa Harris
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Review: I enjoyed this book so much. There is something about the language and flow of the passages that is truly enticing, though I can't quite put my finger on it. It's not that it's formal (because it's extremely accessible) but it has a certain class to it I guess you could say.

It's a very plot driven book and what a plot! There were a number of occasions where I was sure I knew what was going on and then something would be done or said and I would need to read just one more chapter to try to figure that bit out. And then it would happen again. Harris manages to include many twists and turns without becoming convoluted. The pace is slower but steady. Each chapter unfolds to reveal just a little bit more, even if at first not all the pieces of the puzzle seem to fit.

If I have one complaint about the book it's that while I was eating up the plot, I thought the characters could have been a little more developed. On the one hand you had very clear descriptions of them and their personalities. But somehow it was difficult to become emotionally invested in them. I am going to put that down to the writing style and the fact that plot obviously was paramount, because I have no real good reason for why that was so. Though having said that, I did quite like the Anatomist of the story, Dr. Thomas Silkstone.

Overall an entertaining, well thought out and constructed book and well worth the time spent reading it.

1. Short Book: Destination Truth: Memoirs of a Monster Hunter by Josh Gates
Rating: 4/5 stars
Review: Well, I suppose I should start by saying that I do love the Destination Truth show and have seen all the episodes, which probably makes me biased when I say I very much enjoyed this book. As I was reading I kept hearing Josh Gates' voice and delivery and I could picture the episodes he was talking about and that did add to my enjoyment.

That said, he does talk about world travel and customs and it's interesting, independently of if you've watched the show or not. He's obviously passionate about getting out and discovering the world and not always following the beaten track and it shows in the descriptive passages.

He also takes an honest look at a number of cryptids and phenomena. Gates might be the host of a show which are trying to find proof of these things, but at the same time he's a realist and a skeptic. Yet he has the greatest respect for those who have told him of their experiences and that comes through in the book as well.

If you are a Destination Truth fan, you should buy this book, no question. If you don't know what Destination Truth is then I still think you may well enjoy it, but it's probably something you want to get from the library or a friend. That said, when you do read it, it may make you want to start watching the show.

Full reviews for my last three books:

1. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Rating: 4/5 (4.5)
Review: I have been meaning to get around to reading this series for a while now and I'm sorry I didn't do it sooner. Young people devour these books and for good reason. Admittedly, I'm something of a mythology buff and fantasy is one of my favourite genres, so I was a natural reader for this book. But I do think it would appeal to a wide range of people, young and older, avid readers and not, those who like fantasy and those who just like a good adventure story or interesting protagonists.

From the first page the book is fast-paced. The action, dialogue and plot flow effortlessly throughout, making you read just one more page, just one more chapter to see what will come next. The style is sophisticated enough to appeal to older readers while still remaining accessible to the younger ones. The characters are well drawn and engaging and the plot (while perhaps slightly predictable) is entertaining.

Had I been a middle school/teenager I could easily see this being a 5 star read. Had I been able to give 4.5 stars I would have done so and the only reason it didn't get 5 stars is because in places future events were forecast a little too clearly and some of the plot was too predictable. I can't recommend this enough for reluctant readers of both genders, but especially boys, which in a market that is heavily geared to young females is a rare thing and should be applauded.

2. The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
Rating: 4/5 (4.5)
Review: The second book in the Percy Jackson series did not disappoint. Featuring the same easy to read style and fast paced plot of the first book it was an excellent second installment with the comfort of seeing familiar characters return and a couple of surprising (and interesting) new characters thrown into the mix. Once again the storyline drew the reader in from the first pages and didn't stop until the very last line of the novel. A sure way to get readers (including me) to pick up Book Three.

3. Undead and Unwed by MaryJanice Davidson
Rating: 2/5
Review: **Let me start by saying that this book has both swearing and graphic sex scenes in it and is not intended for readers under 18 or those who don't like that kind of thing. (Something I failed to realize when I purchased the whole series I might add).**

The Good: It's fast paced, it's entertaining and it's witty. There are parts of the book that elicited a smile or a snicker. If you are looking for a fluffy, sort of mindless book to while away an afternoon, this is a good book to choose.

The Bad: The foul language... now you will rarely see me complain about swearing in a book. I'm a grown woman, I can take it. But I have two issues with the bad language here. One of them would be placement. There are passages where a swear word or two would have seemed logical to use and yet there are none and then you have instances where a four-letter word is thrown in there as though the author just couldn't be bothered to think of a replacement. The second issue would be the use (3 times) of the one word I hate, the c-word. If you don't know what this word is, don't concern yourself, it's not worth knowing. Moving on...

The sex: There are no less than four sex scenes of varying detail in this novel (which is just under 300 pages). I will grant you that two of them make perfect sense and with a certain amount of suspension of belief, so does a third. However, the longest, most drawn out, most graphic of these sex scenes makes little sense to me given the circumstances of what else is going on in the plot at the time. It's just been forcibly interjected for the sake of being there and completely breaks the flow of the story... and it's not even particularly inventively written to make up for it.

So, all things considered, a disappointment and not what I was expecting. A pity considering I really did like the story and the style and the sharp edged humour. I am going to give the second book in the series a shot before I totally make up my mind, but this series might be a write off for me.

Read the first two books in the Percy Jackson series: The Lightning Thief and The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan. Both were very enjoyable reads. I rated them each 4 stars. They are middle school/YA books, but if you don't mind that, well worth reading. If I was a teenager, I could see them being 5 star reads, as it was, they were a little predictable in places. But I do genuinely want to read the rest of the series now. Highly recommended for reluctant readers, especially if they are boys.

I also read Undead and Unwed by MaryJanice Davidson which is the first in the Undead series. I rated it 2 stars, just an okay read. Very fast and a sort of mindless read. Not enough depth for me I don't think, though I will give the second book a shot to see if it improves. Note: This book contains some swearing and also several graphic sex scenes. Definitely an 18+ read and not for people who mind that kind of thing.

Heya Sara :)

Here are my choices for this month's challenge, subject to change of course, but I'm pretty happy with them at the moment!

1. 2nd in a series: Undead and Unemployed by MaryJanice Davidson (I own them all and I want to read another to see if I should continue or what.) Done! 02/25/12

2. Author's name beginning with F: Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke (How can I resist a mystery series that also involves food?!) Done! 02/10/12

3. Short Book: Destination Truth: Memoirs of a Monster Hunter by Josh Gates (It's about 250 pages or so, and DT is one of my favourite TV series.) Done! 02/04/12

4. Love Story: Love in the Time of Dragons by Katie MacAlister (It looks kind of promising, let's hope it's good!) Done! 02/12/12

5. Movie Tie-In: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (Everyone else has read the darn thing! Besides, it's a buddy read in another group, so two birds with one stone.) Done! 02/18/12

6. Cookbook: SMART SCHOOL TIME RECIPES by Alisa Marie Fleming (A bit of a cheat, as I've used some of these already, but I'll pick one I haven't. Not just for kids, good adult recipes too.) Done! 02/26/12 Pear/Apple Crisp

7. Fire: You Slay Me by Katie MacAlister Done! 02/27/12

8. African American Author: Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler (I really didn't know what to pick for this, but it looks good.) Abandoned 02/28/12 I just couldn't bring myself to continue to read this.

9. My Choice: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (Another buddy read, I hope it is as good as it looks!) Done! 02/08/12

Bonus Books:
1. The Anatomist's Apprentice by Tessa Harris Done! 02/04/12
2. Let Me Call You Sweetheart by Mary Higgins Clark Done! 02/22/12


Progress: 8/9 Total Read: 10

Oh Sheila, your Cleopatra book sounds good too! I admit, I've always kind of been a sucker for ancient history, so that may be partly why and Cleopatra is one of the more interesting women historical figures in my opinion.

Well, it's nearly the end of the month and I've read 4/9 books (plus 1 that did not fit any category). Logically I think I can probably get one more read but that's it. However I really enjoyed trying and am looking forward to seeing February's challenge!

4. The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis

Rating: 4/5

Review: This is the first book in the Marcus Didius Falco series. Now normally I have no problem with reading mystery series out of order as they are complete stories in themselves, but if you plan to read this series, I must recommend starting with this one as it has background info I don't think you'll get in subsequent titles.

If you are looking for something steeped in historical fact and detail, this is probably not the book for you. If you are looking for a fun mystery in a rather unique setting that naturally incorporates elements and facts from the Roman Empire, then you'll like this. I think setting a hard boiled private detective type in ancient Rome was quite brilliant and I loved the character of Falco. The supporting characters are also interesting and well drawn.

Thoroughly enjoyable and a quick, easy read, I would have given 4.5 stars if I could. It lost the star for occasional somewhat sloppy writing, not quite enough to detract from the story or enjoyment, but enough to notice it. That said, this was the author's first novel and she's gone on to write 19 more in the series, so I suspect her writing firms up in later volumes. I am definitely on the look out for the rest of the series!

I have a rule about not seeing a movie before I read the book and I hadn't read the book yet, but now I can see The Help!

Oh Kristy, poor you, I hope the power gets sorted soon.

I never read War of the Worlds. I was however fascinated by Orson Welles' broadcast based on that book. Have any of you ever heard it? It was I guess well done for the time, though it surprises me that people would have believed it to be fact.

I also finished #8, favourite author with Paint Your Dragon by Tom Holt on 01/19/12. He's not my all time favourite, but I've read everything by my favourites and I do like his work a lot.

Rating: 4/5
Review: Take Saint George, The Dragon, a feisty female sculptress, a bandit who steals and resells Time, statues that come to life, a group of demons on vacation and a legendary mercenary. Put them all in in modern day England for the rematch of the millennium. Mix well with a healthy dose of humour.

That's what you get with Paint Your Dragon. It's a lighthearted, funny, easy to read book that takes perceptions and turns them upside down. If you don't mind a little irreverence and an occasional swear word, then not only will you enjoy this book, it may make you think a little as well. What if perceptions aren't always what they seem?

Although Tom Holt crafts most of his stories from the basis of myths and legends and sets them in modern times and Terry Pratchett created a whole original world, I always associate these two authors in my mind. Maybe it's because I won't take either of their books on public transport for fear of looking crazy as I smile, snicker and cackle to myself. Maybe it's because despite the different way of going about it, they both have a similar way of making you see familiar concepts differently. Either way, they never disappoint.

This means I have read 4 books so far this month, 3 of which are from the categories. Not great, but I have almost 2 weeks left to kick into gear!

I finished #9, your choice with The Help by Kathryn Stockett on 01/15/12.
Rating: 4/5
Review: It sounds strange to say I gave this book four stars based on the merits of the middle of the book, but that's what I did. If the entire book had the same strength it would have been a 5 star read. If it had been all written like the beginning or the final 100 or so pages, it would have gotten a 3, maybe even a 2.

When I first began the book I wasn't sure if I would like it and that was a feeling that continued till about Chapter 10. I would read some, put it down, not feel compelled to go back to it, even though I didn't actually dislike it. It just wasn't quite interesting enough, quite good enough to make me want to put other things aside.

And then the author hits her stride and the book takes off. Things go unnoticed as I read on, eager for the next chapter and the next. I was completely caught up in the characters, immersed in the plot. I was -finally- seeing what it was that everyone else saw in this novel!

And then once I was all emotionally attached and involved in the story, along came the final nine chapters... I am not sure if the author felt the book was getting too long, if she was operating under a tight deadline or if she was trying to use a literary device to try to create more suspense and a sense of urgency, but it just feels rushed all of a sudden. The pace that had been so successful through the middle of the book is lost as too much information is crammed into too short chapters with less of the detail that made the other part so enjoyable. When I turned the last page of the last chapter I thought to myself that there should have been at least another chapter or two to finish things off, but there wasn't.

And yet, it's still a 4 star book. Because the middle was just that good. I only wish the beginning and end had been as good as the rest.