Reading Challenges Update: September 2013

Here is where I stand with the challenges I have joined after the month of September (only challenges that I read books for this month are featured here):

Audio Book (8/12)
8. Dead Men Kill by L. Ron Hubbard

100 Books in a Year (92/100)
80. Chasing Memories by Tia Silverthorne Bach
81. The House at the End of Hope Street by Meena van Praag
82. Dead Men Kill by L. Ron Hubbard
83. Redshirts by John Scalzi
84. Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures by Emma Straub
85. The Ruins of Lace by Iris Anthony
86. A Bright Particular Star by Elizabeth Hanbury
87. Script Kiddie by Michael F. Stewart
88. The Thinking Woman's Guide to Magic by Emily Croy Barker
89. Frozen by Melissa De La Cruz & Michael Johnston
90. Raising My Rainbow by Lori Duron
91. ParaNorman by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
92. Star of the Morning by Lynn Kurland

Historical Fiction (10/10) - COMPLETED
10. The Ruins of Lace by Iris Anthony

Chunkster (3/6)
3. The Thinking Woman's Guide to Magic by Emily Croy Barker

Sophomore (4/10)
4. Script Kiddie by Michael F. Stewart

Dystopia (5/15)
5. Frozen by Melissa De La Cruz & Michael Johnston

YA/MG Fantasy (10/10) - COMPLETED
10. Chasing Memories by Tia Silverthorne Bach

Immortal (7/12)
6. The Thinking Woman's Guide to Magic by Emily Croy Barker
7. Frozen by Melissa De La Cruz & Michael Johnston

British (10/12)
9. The House at the End of Hope Street by Meena van Praag
10. A Bright Particular Star by Elizabeth Hanbury

Self-Published (7/10)
7. Chasing Memories by Tia Silverthorne Bach

Witches & Witchcraft (3/10)
2. The Thinking Woman's Guide to Magic by Emily Croy Barker
3. ParaNorman by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel

Paranormal Fiction (5/6)

5. ParaNorman by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel

Elsewhere Online: September 2013

As you know from my Stacking the Shelves posts, I review for two other websites (bookloons.com and bittenbybooks.com). As I cannot post my reviews there and here, but I would still like to count the books I read for the challenges, I am going to have a post like this at the end of the every month listing the books I reviewed and what challenges the went towards.

Title: The Thinking Woman's Guide to Magic
Author: Emily Croy Barker

Challenges: Chunkster, Immortal, British, Witches and Witchcraft, 100 Books in a Year

Title: Frozen

Author: Melissa De La Cruz & Michael Johnston

Challenges: Immortal, 100 Books in a Year

Title: Raising My Rainbow

Author: Lori Duron

Challenges: 100 Books in a Year

Title: ParaNorman

Author: Elizabeth Cody Kimmel

Challenges: Witches & Witchcraft, Paranormal Fiction, 100 Books in a Year

Title: Star of the Morning

Author: Lynn Kurland

Challenges: 100 Books in a Year

Stacking the Shelves: 9/22-9/28

For possible review (here and on Bookloons):

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

The Howling Heart by April Bostic

The Heavens Rise by Christopher Rice

Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl by David Barnett

Script Kiddie

Script Kiddie

by Michael F. Stewart

published by Non Sequitur

August 2013

ISBN 9780981269979

Why Read?: Review

Challenges: Sophomore, 100 Books in a Year

Michael Stewart is back with his spunky heroine, Janus Rose in the second Assured Destruction novel, Script Kiddie.  Still recovering from the events at the end of Assured Destruction, Janus also has to serve 2000 hours of community service.  Because Detective Williams sees more to Janus than just a juvenile delinquent, she gets Janus assigned to help in the cyber crimes division for her community service.  Janus's first case involves someone stealing account numbers from a bank - the bank that is about to take back the mortgage on her mom's store.  Mrs. Rose's MS is getting worse, leaving Janus to run Assured Destruction alone...with some unwanted help from her mom's new boyfriend, Pete.  As if Janus does not already have enough on her plate, her friend Hannah asks for her help to stop an older guy she met online from stalking her.  Janus is feeling pretty good about herself, until she ventures onto an hacker forum and is called a script kiddie.  Now Janus must prove to the police, Hannah, Pete, and herself that she has what it takes to truly be a good hacker.

Script Kiddie was go, go, go from the first page.  Stewart really knows how to keep the action moving with an intriguing and compelling plot and a lovable heroine - even if her methods are somewhat unethical.  Stewart does a good job weaving together multiple storylines but some of the situations are rather unrealistic.  I'm not talking about Janus's actions, but those regarding her school and what seems like a wavering truancy policy.  This is just a small thing, though, and does not hinder the story in any way.

Script Kiddie is a very fun read - but anything with Janus Rose as a main character is bound to be a thrill ride.  Michael Stewart has a winner in his Assured Destruction series, which is unlike any other YA on the market today.

Rating 4/5

A Bright Particular Star

Title: A Bright Particular Star
Author:  Elizabeth Hanbury

Publisher: Astraea
ISBN: 978-1-62135-023-1

Why Read?: Book Club
Challenges: British, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: I liked that Hanbury wove some intrigue into what would otherwise be a typical Regency.  This elevated the book to a new level, and really kept the plot moving.  I also enjoyed how everything was wrapped up at the end - even though it was obviously what would happen, at some points it was unclear how it would all wind up right, and that was great.

Rating: 4 stars

Stacking the Shelves: 9/15-9/21

For possible review (on Bookloons):

The Heavens Rise by Christopher Rice

The Dark Between by Sonia Gensler

Chasing Shadows by Swati Avasthi

Task Force by Brian Falkner

Untold by Sarah Rees Brennan

The Ruins of Lace

Title: The Ruins of Lace
Author:  Iris Anthony

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
ISBN: n/a

Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges: Historical Fiction, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: I knew nothing about this period of history, so The Ruins of Lace was a real eye-opener. Anthony did a great job weaving so many strong characters together into a story, although the dog was my favorite (but the monstrosities he described did make me sick).

Rating: 4 stars

Stacking the Shelves: 9/8-9/14

For possible review (here and on Bookloons):

Dead Dreams by Emma Right

Overpowered by Mark K. Kruger

Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures

Title: Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures
Author:  Emma Straub

Publisher: Riverhead
ISBN: 978--1-59448-845-0

Why Read?: Early Reviews
Challenges: 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: The first chapter really pulled me in, but once Elsa got to Hollywood and became Laura Lamont, I honestly got bored.  I would have preferred to have more family genre than a look at all of her life, which included some characters that seemed to serve no purpose - I know real life is like that, but I prefer fiction to have more cohesion.

Rating: 2 stars

Stacking the Shelves: 8/25-9/7

For possible review (here and on Bookloons):

The Morning Star by Robin Bridges

The Lonely Lake Monster by Suzanne Selfors

Raising My Rainbow by Lori Duron

Love Birds of Regent's Park by Ruth J. Hartman

Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield

First Reads from Goodreads:

Dead Men Kill by L. Ron Hubbard

Emma's Secret by Steena Holmes

LibraryThing Early Review:

Branded Outlaw by L. Ron Hubbard

The Sky Devil by L. Ron Hubbard

Mameluke Bath by Andrew Asibong

Selection for Astraea Press Book Club:

A Bright Particular Star by Elizabeth Hanbury

Redshirts

Title: Redshirts
Author:  John Scalzi

Publisher: Tor
ISBN: 978-0-7653-3479-4

Why Read?: Book Club
Challenges: 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: I am not a Star Trek fan, but I loved this!  It is funny and fast-paced - definitely a light read - but it really makes you think, too.  I am not sure what I thought of the three Codas, but the main story without them is 5 stars.

Rating: 4 stars

Dead Men Kill

Title: Dead Men Kill
Author:  L. Ron Hubbard

Publisher: Galaxy Audio
ISBN: 978-1-59212-350-6

Why Read?: First Reads
Challenges: Audio, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: This had zombies! And not your modern day apocalypse type but good, old-fashioned voodoo zombies (which makes sense considering when the story was originally written). While I am not really a fan of the style of works from the so called Golden Age, I love the radio drama treatment that Galaxy Audio has given Hubbard's stories. This story was pretty good, too, as the mystery and suspense was very engaging as Detective Lane knew zombies were not real, yet there was no other logical explanation.

Rating: 4 stars

The House at the End of Hope Street

Title: The House at the End of Hope Street
Author:  Meena van Praag

Publisher: Viking
ISBN: n/a

Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges: British, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: This novel about lost women is the perfect book to get lost in.  The literary references are fun, as in getting to know the current residents of the house at the end of Hope Street.  The story meandered with a fluidity that shouldn't have worked as well as it did.  This is a wonderful example of magical realism.

Rating: 4 stars

Chasing Memories

Chasing Memories

by Tia Silvertorne Bach

published by author

April 2013

ISBN 978-1484820544

Why Read?: Review

Challenges: YA/MG Fantasy, Self-Published, 100 Books in a Year

Shifter fans will enjoy Tia Silverbranche Bach’s new series, Tala Prophecy.  The first book, Chasing Memories, sets the stage for a solid YA paranormal series.

Reagan Cooper seemed to have the perfect life.  Almost a senior in high school, she was on the cheerleading squad, had two best friends, and a coveted boyfriend.  However, one camping trip changes all of that when the tent she is sharing with her younger brother is attacked by some wild animal and her brother disappears, presumably dead.  Reagan only has foggy memories of that night, coming back to her in bits and pieces.  Oddly enough, her grandmother seems to know something, but she only gets chances to talk to Reagan cryptically.  She does give Reagan a candle and a special amulet that seems to make Reagan feel better – well, except when the new boy, Rafe, is around.  Rafe may be new in town, but she seems to have his eyes set on Reagan, but why?  And what secrets is he hiding?  Could everything strange in Reagan’s life somehow be tied to the attack?

Bach does a great job with keeping the plot moving and portraying Reagan as a popular and real teen.  The storyline is engaging and everything a good YA paranormal needs to be.   However, some of the interaction between the characters, transitions between scenes, and information dropping seems stilted.  Despite these issues, which will probably be corrected as Bach grows with her craft, this is an entertaining novel.  Some scenes are highly polished and really deliver that “wow” factor.

I enjoyed Chasing Memories and look forward to what Tia Silverbranche Bach has in store nest in the Tala Prophecy series. 

Rating 3/5