Talk about shades of gray! The whole book just drifts around in this nebulous area that left me unsure as to what the right thing to do and the best thing to do really were. I don't think they were ever the same thing. Why should these girls be left in a system that rarely seems to turn out well for anyone when they have a [...]
It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. Posted: Review: City of Thieves by David Benioff, read by Ron Perlman Read: City of Thieves by David Benioff, read by Ron Perlman The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson Currently Reading: A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines by Thomas C. Foster Up Next: I'm not making any real progress on anything. I do need to choose a new book to read on my nook though. I usually need something pretty fast-paced to keep me moving while I read on it at the gym. We'll see what I choose. What are you reading this week? I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop's, my local independent bookstore located in beautiful downtown Asheville, NC; and Better World Books. I will receive a small commission at no cost to you if you purchase books through links on my site. My opinions are completely my own.
During the siege of Leningrad in World War II, Lev and Kolya find themselves in jail at the same time. After a sleepless night in which they expect to be executed the next morning, they instead find themselves facing a Colonel in the Red Army. He will let them go free if they agree to find a dozen eggs for his daughter's wedding cake. Leningrad is surrounded by Germans and people are starving to death in the streets. They don't know how they're going to do it but they undertake the task. I really think I would have enjoyed this more in print. There was nothing really wrong with Ron Perlman's narration, but the tone of his voice is just so low that it was pretty easy for me to unintentionally tune him out as I was driving. That said, I did enjoy it. Poor young, serious Lev, to be stuck with Kolya! But I loved Kolya. He's like that one person that you really like even though you're uncomfortable around him more often than not because of the things that he says. He has no idea when to shut up but he's so charming that he generally gets away with saying whatever he's thinking. He thinks a lot about girls and how much he hates the Germans and a book named The Courtyard Hound. He quotes it all the time! I would have been more of a Lev in their situation, terrified of everything, but Kolya kept young Lev going. He kept me laughing and shaking my head. The novel felt a bit like The Odyssey, with the young man drifting from one insane adventure to the next. While their journey only lasts a week, so much happens that it felt like much longer. Cannibals, sadists, epic chess games,…
It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. Posted: Review: Sweet Nothings by Janis Thomas--4 Stars Review: Seraphina by Rachel Hartman--4 Stars Review: Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan, read by Ari Fliakos--4 Stars Review: Dark Fire by C. J. Sansom--4 Stars My sign-up post for the Off the Shelf Challenge 2014, hosted at Bookish Ardour Read: This Dark Road to Mercy by Wiley Cash--4 Stars Currently Reading: A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin--I decided I've put this one off long enough How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines by Thomas C. Foster City of Thieves by David Benioff, read by Ron Perlman The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson--My nook book at the gym Up Next: Probably the only new book for several weeks will be an audio book. Any suggestions? What are you reading this week? I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop's, my local independent bookstore located in beautiful downtown Asheville, NC; and Better World Books. I will receive a small commission at no cost to you if you purchase books through links on my site. My opinions are completely my own.
Matthew Shardlake has been asked to defend a young woman accused of the terrible murder of a child. The problem is that the girl refuses to speak in her own defense and time is running out. Luckily, Thomas Cromwell intervenes and gains Shardlake two more weeks to prepare a defense. In exchange, Matthew must find the secret to the recently rediscovered Greek Fire, a technology that promises to place England firmly in control of her own destiny. For me, this was really as enjoyable a read as Dissolution. Shardlake is perhaps even more full of melancholy, doubt, and loneliness, but he hasn't quite lost his faith in either God or humanity. He sees innocence in the eyes of the accused murderess and sets out to prove it, despite the unpopularity of her case. She has already been tried and hanged in the court of public opinion, but Shardlake desperately wants to see justice done. The one weakness for me was in the two plotlines. This could easily have been two separate books, but instead one book had the two stories jammed together. The deadline given for both adds to the urgency of the story, but that felt a bit like an artificial device added by the author for that very reason. Overall, though, Sansom has created a great character in Matthew Shardlake and surrounded him with a few other characters that are more complex than meets the eye. Jack Barak is introduced in this book, and at first he appears to be a beautiful bully, but he quickly shows that he is much more than that. In reading the author's notes at the end, it sounds like he has stayed as true to the period and history as possible. At the same time, he has taken something that was a…
After the recession hits, Clay Jannon finds himself out of a job. He spends hours walking the streets of San Francisco, trying to find something, anything. He wanders into Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore and finds himself working as a bookstore clerk. But there aren't really very many customers. Well, there are a few impassioned, odd people who come in and request books from what Clay refers to as the "Wayback List," books he's not supposed to look at. He likes Mr. Penumbra and when it starts to look like Mr. Penumbra might be in some kind of trouble, Clay calls in his friends to help the owner out. Oh. My. Gosh. I enjoyed the heck out of this audio book! I described it to my husband as "The Da Vinci Code for tech-savvy bibliophiles." (I enjoyed The Da Vinci Code so that's a compliment.) People in robes, secret messages, clues, and only one man to tie them together. What's not to love? I loved the characters. Clay is pretty funny and I loved listening to his internal monologues. I loved Mr. Penumbra's willingness to do whatever he felt needed to be done. And that he was willing to listen to Clay's crazy ideas without being an old codger. He embraced the technology Clay introduced him to! Clay's friends were all pretty funny and talented in their own unique ways too. I wouldn't describe myself as "tech-savvy," so I have no idea how much of the technology described in here is real and how much is made up. Some of it was pretty cool. And some of it was a little...not so cool. There were some ideas I wouldn't mind discussing in a book group or something. Like how one character who works at Google seems to think that all information…
Seraphina is working at the royal court when a prince is murdered. Even though her country has been at peace with the dragons for decades, many people believe a dragon killed the prince. Tensions start rising in the city just as the dragon ruler is due for a state visit to celebrate the signing of the peace treaty. Seraphina starts investigating what happened to the prince and following up on rumors of a rogue dragon in the countryside. But can she hide her own secrets while ferreting out someone else's? I honestly hadn't heard of this until my husband decided to buy it for me for my birthday last year. He's a brave man; choosing books that I haven't asked for can go terribly wrong but he picked a winner! I really liked Seraphina. She's trying so hard to do the right thing for everyone and the secrets that she's keeping are some big ones. She feels bad for lying all the time but she doesn't see any way around it. In her shoes, I wouldn't either. She's a smart girl though and she's much braver than she gives herself credit for. She might not decide to be brave on her own behalf but she's a lion when it comes to looking out for the underdog. I love that about her. Of course there's a love interest. I'll keep his name to myself. But I loved him too. He's also brave and curious and trying to do the right thing. He has some major twists and turns to deal with and I found his reactions to be pitch perfect. Not immediately accepting but not close-minded either. I like him a lot. I did not see the ending coming at all! I'm so happy nowadays when I can say that! There's…
Ruby McMillan's husband announces out of the blue that he's leaving one morning. She has her initial meltdown, of course, but then she starts getting on with her life. Walter has left their finances in a shambles and Ruby has to scramble to hold everything together as he sails off into the sunset with his new lover. I had a blast reading this book. Even as I knew I should be feeling bad for Ruby, I would have to laugh as her neighbors kept her apprised of Walter's latest exploits via his Facebook poetry. Oh, it was bad. I wanted to slap his face just for the poetry! She tries her best, finds her new groove as a single woman, and has some encounters with some seriously steamy men. What's not to love? While I felt that Ruby moved on awfully fast, the author explains that by saying that Rational Ruby rationally chose Walter as her husband; she was never head-over-heels for him. It was still a little hard to buy. That aside, I enjoyed watching Ruby expand her limits and learn to believe in love. The one thing I felt was really missing from the book was a recipe section. Ruby is a fabulous baker and it's just not fair to describe all her mouth-watering creations without giving me a chance to try them for myself! If you're looking for a bit of escapism, Ruby and her kids and friends definitely fit the bill. Give this a try when you need a pick-me-up. Thanks to the publicist for sending me a copy for review. Read an excerpt. Find author Janis Thomas on her website, her blog, and Twitter. Buy Sweet Nothings at Malaprop’s | Better World Books I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop's, my local independent bookstore located…
I'm signing up for the Off the Shelf Reading Challenge hosted at Bookish Ardour again this year. From Bookish Ardour: About: The Off the Shelf Reading Challenge is probably the most popular challenge there is on BA. The goal? To read books on your shelves that have gone unread for far too long. Selecting books from the year before (in this case, 2013 and before), read as many of the unread ones as you can. It’s up to you if you want to keep them or give them away afterwards, the main goal is to turn those unread books into read ones. The Main Rule: Do not include books acquired during 2014, it defeats the purpose, read those books from before 2014 started. Running dates for all 2013 challenges: 1st of January – 31st of December 2014 I'm signing up again at the "Trying" level--read 15 of my own books. I'll track my progress here. Seraphina by Rachel Hartman A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines by Thomas C. Foster The Sunday Wife by Cassandra King The Lady in the Tower by Jean Plaidy Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt More Than You Know by Beth Gutcheon The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley The Fugitive Wife by Peter C. Brown The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde Birdman by Mo Hayder Jane by April Lindner The Last Days of Dogtown by Anita Diamant The Beastly Bride: Tales of the Animal People, edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling Timeless by Gail Carriger Liar's Moon by Philip Kimball Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris Good Harbor by Anita Diamant Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees The…
It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. It was another slow week around here. I only posted about challenges again. Posted: Books in Translation Challenge sign-up post--It's hosted here! I hope you'll join me! My sign-up post for the Immigrant Stories Challenge hosted at Books in the City I posted about these last week but I'll mention them again: I'm also hosting the Nonfiction Reading Challenge and the Southern Literature Reading Challenge. I hope you'll check them out while you're here! Read: Seraphina by Rachel Hartman Currently Reading: This Dark Road to Mercy by Wiley Cash City of Thieves by David Benioff, read by Ron Perlman The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson--My nook book at the gym Up Next: Right now I'm feeling like a big epic fantasy but we'll see what I have the nerve to tackle once I finish the Wiley Cash. What are you reading this week? I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop's, my local independent bookstore located in beautiful downtown Asheville, NC; and Better World Books. I will receive a small commission at no cost to you if you purchase books through links on my site. My opinions are completely my own.