Shomeret's Jumbled July 1/3

[Shomeret]

I used the same strategy as I had in June, but the results weren't quite as successful. I guess I really need luck as well as strategy. The library books that I prioritize because I really wanted to read them, don't always turn out to be as good they sound. In June I also got some wonderful books for review, and that definitely was very lucky. So July was a more average month with a jumble of books at varying levels of quality.

1)Smoke and Iron by Rachel Caine (alternate history dystopia) Source: Net Galley Started: 7/1 Finished: 7/4

Why Read: This is the fourth in the Great Library series in which the Library of Alexandria has a stranglehold over reading, ideas and technology. It's a horrifying dystopia, but an interesting one.

Comments: This is the book in which the turning point in the struggle of the MCs against the Library happens. There's lots of action. Rating B.
See my review at http://shomeretmasked.blogspot.com/20...

2)Wise Women of the Dreamtime: Aboriginal Tales of the Ancestral Powers collected by K. Langloh Parker and edited with commentary by Joanna Lambert (folklore anthology) 144 pages. Source: Library Started: 7/5 Finished: 7/8

Why Read: I had no knowledge of Australian aboriginal tales, and I thought this collection of tales told by women would be fascinating.

Comments: I considered neither the collector nor the editor completely trustworthy. I gave it a C+

3)Bridge of Sighs by Laura Morelli (historical short story) Source: Book Funnel (Author provided a download link in her novel The Painter's Apprentice: A Novel of 16th-Century Venice) Started: 7/8 Finished: 7/8

Why Read: It was background on the novel.

Comments: It was related, but it was very short and didn't have much substance. Rated C.

4)The Painter's Apprentice: A Novel of 16th-Century Venice by Laura Morelli (historical fiction) Source: Goodreads giveaway via Book Funnel due to error. (See review) Started: 7/8 Finished: 7/10

Why Read: I'm always interested in novels dealing with art particularly when they have a female MC.

Comments: This was unusual because the MC was a gilder which is different perspective on art. It was also tragic because there was a plague epidemic. Rating B+. See my review at http://wwwbookbabe.blogspot.com/2018/...

To Be Continued...

[Ann]

Interesting first set of books, Shomeret. I wish the narration of The Great Library series was more to my liking on audio; it just doesn't grab me at all though the books do.

[Melodie]

I tried the first book in the Great Library series and it just didn't grab me. I wanted it to, since I loved her Morganville Vampires books.

[Ann]

Melodie: thanks, I won't worry about the audio then. Too many other books anyway!
Melodie wrote: "I tried the first book in the Great Library series and it just didn't grab me. I wanted it to, since I loved her Morganville Vampires books."