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Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl invited us to share our ten most recent reads this week. I’m writing this on Wednesday so it will be out of date by the time it posts, but here’s my current list! Links for books that I haven’t reviewed yet go to the Malaprop’s bookstore website.
Welcome to the Jungle (Dresden Files #0.5) by Jim Butcher, illustrated by Ardian Syaf–3.5 Stars–A fun graphic-novel prequel to the series, when life was a bit less complicated for Harry.
The Pretenders (Cemetery Girl Trilogy #1) by Charlaine Harris and Christopher Golden, illustrated by Don Kramer–3 Stars–A decent start to a series but the authors didn’t even begin to answer any questions about who The Cemetery Girl is.
The Twentieth Wife (Taj Mahal Trilogy #1) by Indu Sundaresan, read by Sneha Mathan–4.5 Stars–A fairly slow book but the political intrigue of the Mughul Empire did permeate the text. Beautifully written and beautifully narrated.
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori–4 Stars–A quirky book that won’t be for every reader. It left me wondering why society just can’t let us be happy as we are instead of constantly pushing us to fit into a mold.
Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier, translated by Barbara Harshav–3 Stars–Another beautifully-written book full of philosophical questions. I just read it at the wrong time and it never quite caught my full attention.
Whose Body? (Lord Peter Wimsey #1) by Dorothy L. Sayers, read by Nadia May–2.5 Stars–A decent enough little mystery but the anti-Semitism turned me off. In all fairness, the book was published in 1923.
Boston Jacky: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, Taking Care of Business (Bloody Jack, #11) by L. A. Meyer, read by Katherine Kellgren–2 Stars–I love the Bloody Jack series, especially as read by Ms. Kellgren, but the ending of this book left me so angry, I would stop right here if there were more than one book left.
Cosmic Queries: StarTalk’s Guide to Who We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We’re Going by Neil deGrasse Tyson and James Trefil–3 Stars–A beautiful book that addresses all the big questions but I was in such a hurry to finish it and return it to the library before its due date, I didn’t give it the attention it really required.
The Seeing Stone (Arthur Trilogy #1) by Kevin Crossley-Holland, read by Michael Maloney–4 Stars–A promising start to the series. I wish I had a clearer idea of how Arthur-in-the-past and Arthur-in-the-present-of-the-book were going to eventually overlap (if they do), but I’m sure that will be addressed in future installments.
The Ship of the Dead (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #3) by Rick Riordan, read by Michael Crouch–4 Stars–I always have fun reading Riordan’s books and this one is no exception. I do applaud the author for his amazingly diverse, inclusive cast of characters.
That’s my list! Have you read any of these? What did you think? Link up every Tuesday at That Artsy Reader Girl!
20 Comments
That’s a really varied list! Happy reading!
My TTT: https://bookwyrmknits.com/2021/05/04/top-ten-tuesday-quotes-from-my-ten-most-recent-reads/
I usually like reading a variety but right now I’m flailing around, trying to find what will catch my attention and get me out of this slump! 😀
Oh yeah, that’s definitely one benefit to a wide variety of books. Hopefully one of them helps you pull out of that slump!
I enjoyed Ship of The Dead, though it was my least favourite of the Magnus Chase trilogy.
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2021/05/04/top-ten-tuesday-314/
I honestly think I liked the whole trilogy equally. But I did not realize that it’s only a trilogy. That explains why it felt so neatly tied up at the end! 😀
Yeah!
I love the Bloody Jack series, especially on audio. Bummed to hear that the ending of BOSTON JACKY is no bueno. That’s the next Jacky book for me. Now, I’m worried…
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
I try hard not to look closely at other reviews until after I finish a book so I don’t have any expectations. The GoodReads ratings for Boston Jacky are still great but I did see that a handful of my friends on there had the same complaint I did. Maybe you’ll like it more.
I enjoyed Seeing Stone and Convenience Store Woman very much. I thought the same thing about the character from CSW…why can’t people just let her enjoy what she enjoys?!
Yes! She obviously has a different way of thinking but she’s a happy, healthy adult who supports herself and isn’t hurting anyone. Why should she change because of someone else’s notions?
I’ve seen you talk about these books before, so many of these were familiar. I’m sorry that Boston Jacky ended on a terrible note, I really had high hopes for that one.
I feel bad for my Weekly Update readers because they’ve seen these books recently. Oh well. It was an easy TTT! You might like Boston Jacky more than I did.
Oh, I didn’t mind seeing the books again at all! It was a good way to recap the key points of each one 🙂
Great list! One of these days I need to give one of Rick Riordan’s books a go.
Rick Riordan is my go-to for an action-packed, funny book.
I also often times have the problem of reading a book at the wrong time. Then I put it aside and get myself into a reading funk. Ha! My TTT last ten books
I feel like my insistence on finishing a book that isn’t really grabbing my attention is what got me in this funk in the first place. I just can’t figure out what will grab my attention!
Whose Body? looks good (it’s probably that retro cover calling out to me) but yeah I hate it when I read an older book like that and find objectionable stuff. It’s amazing the things that were acceptable just decades ago! And Convenience store Woman- I often wonder the same thing!
I thought of you every time I looked at that cover! 😀 If you look closely, the dead guy in the bathtub has a definite Frankenstein feel.
Oh my gosh he does! That’s kinda creepy lol!