Thursday, March 30, 2017

Maps and Legends

Title: Maps and Legends: Reading and Writing Along the Borderlands
Author: Michael Chabon
Publisher: Open Road
ISBN: n/a
Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: Chabon's essays on writing - both his and others' - shows a deep fascination with golems and comic books

Rating: 3/5

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

The Legend of the Dwarf: The Beginning

The Legend of the Dwarf: The Beginning
by Kate Bloom
published by self
2016
ISBN 978-1540574176

The fantasy genre is so full of subgenres these days that it is hard to find a good old-fashioned epic fantasy.  That is exactly what Kate Bloom delivers in her first installment of The Legend of the Dwarf, The Beginning.

Not even born yet when her home was destroyed by the evil Terrisino, Ever Trollkiller is the youngest dwarf left in the Earth of Eald.  As what is left of her people try to survive and repopulate, Ever cannot help but wonder what her home was like.  When she meets an elf while hunting, Ever makes a rash decision - she will enlist his help in journeying to her homeland and then stopping Terrisino once and for all.  Along the way, their ragtag crew grows.  The more people they meet, the more Ever learns about herself and the secret that she is.

The Beginning is by no means perfect, with some stilted exposition popping up here and there and easy to spot twists, but by and large, Bloom's writing is highly engaging and wholly fun.  It is easy to fall right into the story and let the pages fly by, something that does not always happen with lengthier epic fantasies.

The Beginning is truly just the beginning of The Legend of the Dwarf.  While still stopping in what feels like an appropriate spot, Kate Bloom leaves many questions unanswered and a subplot open, making the reader eagerly anticipate the next installment, The Birth.

Rating: 4/5

Monday, March 27, 2017

To the Sky Kingdom

Title: To the Sky Kingdom
Author: Tang Qi
Publisher: AmazonCrossing
ISBN: n/a
Why Read?: First Reads

Thoughts: This takes a little to get into, but once things start becoming clearer, it is a deep and rich romantic fantasy.

Rating: 4/5

Saturday, March 25, 2017

Stacking the Shelves: 3/19-3/25

For possible review (on Bookloons):
Missing by Kelly Armstrong

First Reads from Goodreads:
The Idea of You by Amanda Prowse

Friday, March 24, 2017

The Outsiders

Title: The Outsiders
Author: S. E. Hinton
Publisher: Top Shelf
ISBN: 9780739339015
Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: I cannot tell if the structural problems where ingenious because the story is actually Ponyboy's theme paper, or if they are just indicative of the author's immaturity.

Rating: 3/5

Suspended

Title: Suspsended
Author: Sarah Noffke
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781523285440
Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: Too much head-hopping and too many secrets kept from even the reader weighed down what otherwise could have been a very good YA fantasy.

Rating: 2/5

Thursday, March 23, 2017

Super Spy

Title: Super Spy
Author: Matt Kindt
Publisher: Top Shelf
ISBN: 9781891830969
Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: A dark "slice-of-life" collection of interrelated graphic stories concerning WWII spies.

Rating: 3/5

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Operation Tenley

Title: Operation Tenley
Author: Jennifer Gooch Hummer
Publisher: Month9books
ISBN: 9781945107153
Why Read?: Early Review

Thoughts: Kinda cute story but with a few storytelling bumps that middle-graders with most likely speed through.

Rating: 3/5

Blood Debt

Title: Blood Debt
Author: Nancy Straight
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781476203416
Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: If V. C. Andrews wrote about Centaurs, this would be the result.

Rating: 3/5

Saturday, March 18, 2017

Stacking the Shelves:3/12-3/18

For possible review (on Bookloons):
Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel
Little Monsters by Kara Thomas
One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

First Reads from Goodreads:
The Bloom Girls by Emily Cavanagh
The Man in the Lighthouse by Erik Valeur

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Sea Hearts

Title: Sea Hearts
Author: Margo Lanagan
Publisher: Bolinda
ISBN: n/a
Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: A very interesting and heart-breaking tale about an island the affect of selkies (although, they are never referred to as selkies but rather mermaids).

Rating: 4/5

Saturday, March 4, 2017

Stacking the Shelves: 2/26-3/4

For review (on Bookloons):
Confessions of a High School Disaster by Emma Chastain

LibraryThing Early Review:
Winter Thrillz Vol. 1 by TL Katt
Heir to the Lamp by Michelle Lowery Combs
Solomon's Bell by Michelle Lowery Combs

Thursday, March 2, 2017

The Ring and the Crown

Title: The Ring and the Crown
Author: Melissa de la Cruz
Publisher: Recorded Books
ISBN: n/a
Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: De la Cruz takes everything you expect from a YA romantic fantasy and completely turns them on their head making for an amazing read.

Rating: 5/5

Deck the Halls

Title: Deck the Halls
Author: Mary Higgins Clark & Carol Higgins Clark
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 9780743212007
Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: Easy-reading mystery/suspense combining characters from each author's individual works.

Rating: 3/5