Reading Challenge Update: February 2015

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

Graphic Novels (2/12)
2. The Gigantic Beard that Was Evil by Stephen Collins

Author Alphabet (14/26)
10. The Bridge of Dead Things by Michael Gallagher
11. The Orange Eats Creeps by Grace Krilanovich
12. A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear
13. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
14. Stolen by Lucy Christopher

Demons of the Ocean

Title: Demons of the Ocean
Author: Justin Somper

Publisher: Recorded Books
ISBN: 9781449897376

Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges: n/a

Thoughts:  The start to the Vampirates series was super fun, even for someone older than the typical MG reader.  The story was fun and had surprising depth, and a lot of questions were left for futures books.

Rating: 4 stars

Stacking the Shelves: 2/22-2/28

For possible review (on Bookloons):

Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver

First Reads from Goodreads:

Frosted Blood by Larry Pellitteri

Bought from Humble Bundle:

Brayan's Gold by Peter V. Brett

The Top of the Volcano by Harlon Ellison

The Ape's Wife and Other Stories by Caitlin R. Kiernan

Jacaranda by Cherie Priest

Muse of Fire by Dan Simmons

Inside Job by Connie Willis

The Jack Vance Treasury by Jack Vance

Amityville Horrible by Kelley Armstrong

Tortured Souls by Clive Barker

The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate by Ted Chiang

The End of the Sentence by Maria Dahvana Headley & Kat Howard

The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox by Barry Hughart

Nobody's Home by Tim Powers

The Mallet of Loving Correction by John Scalzi

Bleeding Shadows by Joe R. Lansdale

I Travel by Night by Robert McCammon

Salvage and Demolition by Tim Powers

New Amsterdam by Elizabeth Bear

The Agonizing Resurrection of Victor Frankenstein and Other Gothic Tales by Thomas Ligotti

Black Hat Jack by Joe R. Lansdale

The Hunter from the Woods by Robert McCammon

Academic Exercises by K. J. Parker

Elsewhere Online: February 2015

As you know from my Stacking the Shelves posts, I review for another website (bookloons.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: Allies & Assassins
Author: Justin Somper

Challenges: n/a

Title: The Gigantic Beard that Was Evil

Author: Stephen Collins

Challenges: Graphic Novel

Title: Monkey Wars

Author: Richard Kurti

Challenges: n/a

Stacking the Shelves: 2/15-2/21

For possible review (on Bookloons):

The Unlikely Hero of Room 13 B by Teresa Toten

In Search of Lost Time: Swann's Way by Marcel Proust, Stephane Heuet, & Arthur Goldhammer

Requested on Paperback Swap:

Blood Music by Greg Bear

Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke

Bought on Amazon:

Photoplay by Hallie Ephron

A Killing at the Creek by Nancy Allen

The Green Muse by Jessie Prichard Hunter

Stolen

Title: Stolen
Author: Lucy Christopher

Publisher: Recorded Books
ISBN: 9781449838409

Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges: Author Alphabet

Thoughts:  This was actually rather boring to listen to.  There were only a few fast parts; most of it was the narrator trying to understand her kidnapper, but it seems like she took to long to understand him, making the end seems a little rushed.  I do think, though, this would make an excellent two person play...except for the camel.

Rating: 2 stars

The Count of Monte Cristo

Title: The Count of Monte Cristo
Author: Alexandre Dumas

Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: n/a

Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges: Author Alphabet

Thoughts:  This is a highly complex novel of revenge and I understand why it is a classic.  It is, though, just too damn long.

Rating: 3 stars

A Lessons in Secrets

Title: A Lesson in Secrets
Author: Jacqueline Winspear

Publisher: Harper
ISBN: 978-0-06-172767-2

Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges: Author Alphabet

Thoughts:  I have tried a Maisie Dobbs novel before, but really could not get into this.  However, I loved A Lesson in Secrets.  I think part of it had to do with the college setting.  It was a wonderful blend of cozy, police procedural, and historical fiction.

Rating: 5 star

Stacking the Shelves: 2/8-2/14

For possible review (here and on Bookloons):

Due for Discard by Sharon St. George

Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton

First Reads from Goodreads:

Mosquitoland by David Arnold

Darkwalker by E. L. Tettensor

Emissary by Thomas Locke

Requested from Paperback Swap:

1356 by Bernard Cornwell

Bought on Amazon:

The Iron Ring by Auston Habershaw

A Bouquet from M. J. Rose by M. J. Rose

The Orange Eats Creeps

Title: The Orange Eats Creeps
Author: Grace Krilanovich

Publisher: Recorded Books
ISBN: 9781461804796

Why Read?: For Fun
Challenges: Author Alphabet

Thoughts:  I am not sure what genre this really falls into - it has vampires, but that does not seem to really be what it is about, and I am not really sure they are indeed vampires.  The storyline is scattered all over the place and feels like you have to be in an altered state of mind to understand it.

Rating: 1 star

Stacking the Shelves: 2/1-2/7

First Reads from Goodreads:

The Cabinet of Dr. Blessing by Jack Rollins

LibraryThing Early Review:

The Boy from the Burren by Sheila Gilluly

The Bridge of Dead Things

Title: The Bridge of Dead Things
Author: Michael Gallagher

Publisher: Seventh Rainbow
ISBN: 97809575822552

Why Read?: Early Review
Challenges: Author Alphabet

Thoughts:  This MG novel has broad appeal and a very engaging story full of psychics and ghosts and Victorian technology.  I cannot wait to read the next installment of the Lizzie Blaylock series.

Rating: 5 stars