R15: Team #12 ~ Random Readers

[Steph, Serious series addict]

Art, I’m sorry for the loss of your friend and my thoughts go out to you and Garland’s daughter.

[Becky ♡The Bookworm♡]

Becky's Completion Post For...
WEEK 10: Science Fiction Shelf
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Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger
How it fits: Shelved 300 X's as Science Fiction
Series: Finishing School #1
Pages: 320
Finished on: Oct 14, 2017
My Rating: ★★★★

My Review :

I really enjoy the fact that Carriger's books hold my attention without fail. Etiquette & Espionage is no exception. It was fast-paced, witty, and easy to follow. The steampunk elements are exceptionally well done.

The "finishing" school itself is completely contained aboard a massive dirigible. Talk about a "WOW" factor! It also gave the author an opportunity to add a couple more characters into the story, i.e., the "sooties" who run the boiler room and maintain the mechanical aspects of the ship. I also thought the "mechanicals" ... robotic maids, butlers, and security guards ... were pretty interesting, too. Especially when they went "off the rails" due to sabotage.

I would've rated this book five stars, but I felt that the students all came across as too mature for the stated age, which is fourteen. To me, they acted, talked, and behaved more like seventeen and eighteen-year-olds, However, It didn't affect my enjoyment factor a bit.

The overall plot was great and I'm excited to discover more about these characters and any secrets they are keeping! I'll be moving on to book two!

[Becky ♡The Bookworm♡]

Art (Posting elsewhere as Whistler Reads) wrote: "On Saturday, as I busily touched up our "stats", and smuggly posted our stamp request, our boarder and beloved friend, Garland Byrum, quietly passed away in the next room, He was staying with us wh..."

((((ART))))) I'm so sorry to hear this. The Hubster and I send our thoughts and prayers to all who were touched by his life.

[Becky ♡The Bookworm♡]

❖ ❖ ❖ Shelf Announcement - Week 11 ❖ ❖ ❖
:

Shelf #11 ~ 10/18/17: Published 2015
DIRECT LINK - https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...

[Becky ♡The Bookworm♡]

Becky's Selection Post For...
WEEK 11: Published-2015
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The Wrath and the Dawn
How it fits: Shelved 16x
Series: The Wrath and the Dawn #1
Pages: 416

[Art (aka Whistler Reads)]

Completion Post for Shelf 10 ... Science Fiction


~176 pgs~~~~~~~212 pgs~~~~~~236 pgs
The Dragon Lensman~Lensman from Rigel~Z-Lensman by David A. Kyle
shelved 20x, Reading three (180+) to satisfy page requirements
Read: 10/15 thru 10/19
Rated: ★★★★★

Review:
This series of three books is an obvious loving homage to the groundbreaking works of EE Doc Smith, and was authorized by his estate.
I gathered them together from three different sellers in mass-market form for use in the last round, as they have not been made available in Kindle format, but Science fiction was never called.
I'm ever so glad I scrounged them. These stories fit between the last two books of the Lensman series, fleshing out the characters of the three other Second Stage lensmen, Worsel, Tregonsee, and Nadrek. David A Kyle does an Excellent job of recalling most of the main characters from the first five volumes, poses at least five major problems that are eventually solved, with leads into "The Children of the Lens". The first of those Children of the Lens is born, and it is revealed that there will be other female lensmen beyond the penultimate Red lensman, Clarissa Samms Kinnisson.
Kyle's only (very slight) weakness was in the description of space battles, and the smaller fights, (individual and ship-to-ship) were "spot-on".

I now have a collection that I will pass on "free" at my expense in return for a solemn pledge to do the same for another aficionado of the genre, Space Opera.

[K~Terror]

Selection Post for #11: Published 2015
======================================

Book: More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera
How it fits: Page 1 | Published-2015 Shelf | shelved 12x
Pages: 304

[Art (aka Whistler Reads)]

Sorry, Ladies, I've been struggling with a UTI while reading these books, with little sleep due to hallucinations. (Clue #1: Cranberry juice doesn't work, get help!) Whenever I closed my eyes, a different book appeared, running parallel and with the same characters as the one I was reading. That seems to have been fading, and after trying to get some sleep, I'll resume housekeeping chores.

By the way, does this category complete anyone else?

See you in the morning.....................

[K~Terror]

Twist wrote: "Art (Posting elsewhere as Whistler Reads) wrote: "Sorry, Ladies, I've been struggling with a UTI while reading these books, with little sleep due to hallucinations. (Clue #1: Cranberry juice doesn'..."

Rats!!!

Hope you feel better soon, Art!

[K~Terror]

Completion Post for #11: Published 2015
======================================

Book: More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera
How it fits: Page 1 | Published-2015 Shelf | shelved 12x
Pages: 304
Read: 10/21
Rating: 3.5 stars
Review: This was a very captivating coming-of-age GLBT story of a confused boy with quite a bit of family drama to overcome as he struggles to find himself and happiness. Aaron is an easy character to connect with and care about so it was one of those books that I found hard to put down. What seemed to make this book different than a lot of other coming-of-age stories is an option of being able to undergo a "memory relief" procedure where you can have bad memories wiped away. I found this an interesting concept! This was my first book by Adam Silvera and I definitely plan to read more.

[Art (aka Whistler Reads)]

Selection Post for Week Eleven Published-2015


The Diabolical Miss Hyde by Viola Carr
Shelved 4 times, 464 pages

[Art (aka Whistler Reads)]

...let me read & review, and I'll clean up the mess I've left for Sandra"s round stats...

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Sounds good to me Art :)

[Art (aka Whistler Reads)]

Completion Post for Week Eleven Published-2015


The Diabolical Miss Hyde by Viola Carr
Shelved 4 times, 464 pages
Read: 10/23
Rated: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Review:
I wish I knew how to add @Becky's little shouter guy into this review ... I haven't learned how yet.
Dr. Eliza Jekyll is a crime scene investigator in a steampunk Victorian England, four years after the assassination of the Prince-Consort. Yeah, her dad was that guy. It was a hard times for Britain, and the rest of the world as well. Ms Carr does an exquisite job of world building, piling on gritty details one after another. As the number of bodies continues to grow, possible suspects have to be eliminated, and things get complicated.
I highly recommend this volume, and am headed for Amazon for the rest of the series. There are 3 so far, in the 32 months since Feb 2015

[Art (aka Whistler Reads)]

Becky ♡The Bookworm♡ wrote: "
Becky's Selection Post For...
WEEK 11: Published-2015

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The Wrath and the Dawn
How it fits: Shelved 16x..."

@Becky, ... ¿¿¿Gonna finish???

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

By the way Art I found your Second Lensman trilogy was published as a hardcover, so I've added it the GR database & I'll be using the cover for that in the stats.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

[Becky ♡The Bookworm♡]

Hey Teamies!

Yes, I'm finished with my book, just need to get my review up, which I'm working on right now. I'm so sorry that I've been late with this week.

How are you feeling, Art? I hope you're well on the way back to health and are at least comfortable. UTI's are so miserable!

I'll post my book in a few minutes!

[Art (aka Whistler Reads)]

My gratitude goes out to all my Team Mates for the huge amount of help I've received this Round. Your Co-Captaining skills achieved "first to the stamp request" for many weeks. That first "3 in a row" in the second week was exciting, and the wait for a new shelf became ever more FRUSTRATING, when it took Nine More Weeks for our first 4-in-a-row, which ended the round . . . . .

I guess that all that can be said is

-0- SHELF shelf SHELF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! -0-

💤💤💤

[Becky ♡The Bookworm♡]

You've been a fantastic Captain, Art! I've really enjoyed this round of Bingo and all of my teammates! So, I take it another team has already achieved their bingo from Wednesday's call or is it still just like...impending DOOM 😧

[Becky ♡The Bookworm♡]

Becky's Completion Post For...
WEEK 11: Published-2015
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The Wrath and the Dawn
How it fits: Shelved 16x
Series: The Wrath and the Dawn #1
Pages: 416
Finished on: Oct 24, 2017
My Rating: ★★★

My Review :

Growing up, I loved the Disney version of A Thousand and One Nights and later enjoyed the classic fairy tale. I was very excited about this book, but unfortunately, it didn't live up to my expectations.

The story begins well enough and establishes the goal of the main character, Shahrzad. She has volunteered to marry Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, the "monster" responsible for the death of her dearest friend and many other "brides" that came before her. Shahrzad does not plan to be his next victim. She is out for revenge and has a plan.

Most of us know how this part of the story goes ... Shahrzad tells Khalid a story each night to ensure her survival, etc. This book differs from the fairy-tale with an expanded cast of characters. Shahrazad develops trusted friendships with her handmaid, one of the guards, and has an uneasy dialogue with Khalid's father. The conflict becomes more political in nature, with much more at stake than Shahrzad's future. There are at least three plotlines intertwined, including a love triangle (which I'm not a fan of) with Shahrzad at the center. Many of the characters just pop up with very little explanation or background. I struggled to keep everyone straight as scenes change very quickly.

In fact, I had to turn off the audiobook while I read the story. The narrator never changes her tone of voice and it's impossible to tell which character is speaking, or when a scene change has taken place. If I had been listening only to the audio, I would have been completely lost!

The action and excitement picked up around the middle of the book and held my attention much better, but then we reach a fascinating crisis and the book ended on a cliff-hanger, which is another one of my pet-peeves. Argh!! I was so frustrated!

Every time I've thought about the book over the last two days, or considered my review, I felt frustration. While the story is well written, it's poorly executed and the world building is lacking. It fell far short of the exciting and new perspective on the old fairy tale that I hoped for. Instead, it became an exercise in patience as I struggled to keep up with names and motives.

Perhaps the answers I'm looking for will be found in the sequel? I do plan to read book two, in time.

[K~Terror]

Thanks so much for an awesome round, Teamies!!
So close... and yet so far away...

Art, You're an awesome captain ~ thanks for keeping us in line!

[Steph, Serious series addict]

CONGRATULATIONS, Random Readers!
You now have an updated BINGO card with a stamp on 'published in 2015' and 'science fiction'.

[Your updated BINGO card can be viewed on page 1]

Good Job!! :D

[Sandra, Kindle Operator Licence Required]

Congrats on the stamps Randoms!