Stacking the Shelves: 4/27-5/10

For possible review (on Bookloons):

We Are the Goldens by Dana Reinhardt

The Secrets of Tree Taylor by Dandi Daley Mackall

The Lovely and the Lost by Page Morgan

Bloodwitch by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

First Reads from Goodreads:

Rotten at the Heart by Bartholomew Daniels

Clan Lord by Joel Babbitt

Living Dead Lovers by Jonathan Dunne

LibraryThing Early Review:

Seeing America by Nancy Crocker

Requested from Paperback Swap:

The Good Thief's Guide to Vegas by Chris Ewan

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Reading Challenge Update: April 2014

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

Ebook (15/25)
12. Chasing Prophecy by James Moser
13. Spark by Michael F. Stewart
14. A Stormy Knight by Amy Mullen
15. Written for You by Joseph Cognard

Audio Book (8/25)
7. The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann
8. Because It Is My Blood by Gabrielle Zevin

100 Books in a Year (46/100)
38. Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley
39. Chasing Prophecy by James Moser
40. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
41. The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann
42. Spark by Michael F. Stewart
43. The Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson
44. Because It Is My Blood by Gabrielle Zevin
45. A Stormy Knight by Amy Mullen
46. Written for You by Joseph Cognard

Historical Fiction (6/15)
6. A Stormy Knight by Amy Mullen

British Book (5/12)
5. The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann

Free Reads (18/30)
17. The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann
18. A Stormy Knight by Amy Mullen

Author Alphabet (14/26)
13. The Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson
14. Because It Is My Blood by Gabrielle Zevin

Written for You

Written for You

by Joseph Cognard

published by author

August 2012

ISBN n/a

Why Read?: Review

Challenges:  E-Book, 100 Books in a Year

As the artistic director of a community theatre, I am always eager to read new plays, so I jumped at the chance to read Joseph Cognard’s Written for You, a three-act contemporary drama about an aspiring author just trying to get his book read while going crazy in the process.

Bob took his therapist’s advice and wrote a book, but no one will read it – not his therapist, not any of his coworkers at the publishing agency, not even his family.  Already stressed out from his finance job, this sets Bob on edge and he begins hearing voices.  When people who have actually read his book go missing, Bob is convinced his book is somehow responsible.  On the brink of total madness, Bob discovers that he is not all that far off from the truth.

Cognard’s style of writing slightly absurd realistic situations reminds me of a cross between Christopher Durang and Sam Shepard.  However, there are some parts of the play that point to a first-time playwright – mainly, the minutia in the stage directors, which are normally not seen in a play, or if they are, they are added into the print addition from the stage manager’s book after the initial run.  Also, while the dialogue is strong, the lack of action in many scenes made it feel less like a play and more like pages of conversation in a novel. 

Written for You is not a bad first attempt at a play, and with a little tweaking, I can see it going on well in smaller, experimental theatres.  Joseph Congard has some quirky insight into the writing and publishing industry that really made Written for You an enjoyable read.

Rating: 3/5

A Stormy Knight

Title: A Stormy Knight
Author: Amy Mullen

Publisher: Astraea
ISBN: 978-1-62135-176-4

Why Read?: Book Club
Challenges: E-Book, Historical Fiction, Free Reads, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts:  I loved the mystery and the secret passages, but the romance in this fell a little short for me as the characters seemed to flip flop too much. I did also enjoy the historical aspects as I do not read much set in the Middle Ages.

Rating: 3 stars

Elsewhere Online: April 2014

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 Mark of the Dragonfly
Author: Jaleigh Johnson

Challenges: Author Alphabet, 100 Books in a Year

Title: Because It Is My Blood

Author: Gabrielle Zevin

Challenges: Audio Book, Author Alphabet, 100 Books in a Year

The Terminals: Spark

The Terminals: Spark

by Michael F. Stewart

published by Non Sequitur

April 2014

ISBN n/a

Why Read?: Review

Challenges:  E-Book, 100 Books in a Year

Michael F. Stewart's newest adult series, The Terminals, takes an interesting look at religion and the afterlife.  The first book in the series, Spark, focuses on Gnosticism and the idea that every life contains a spark.

Lieutenant Colonel Christine Kurzow just wants to die.  Because of inaction on her part, her whole unit was killed in an insurgent attack.  The Army, however, will not let her die and sends her to  join a secret unit called the Terminals.  Everyone in this unit is on their deathbed, but until they do die, they are tasked with finding terminal patients will to let their deaths mean something.  Through the use of a psychic, they befriend killers in the afterlife learning their secrets so that those in this life can stop future attacks or rescue prisoners.  The case Christine gets assigned to involves a dead serial killer who has a busload of children held captive somewhere.  The killer was Gnostic and believed that by collecting the sparks of those he killed, he could achieve greatness in the afterlife and be reborn.  Charlie is a terminally ill Gnostic monk who is eager to help Christine, but the afterlife is not at all what he expected, and getting the killer to give up the location of the kids is a very difficult task.  Meanwhile, Christine is still suicidal and the fading hope for this case just makes things worse.

This is the second book by Stewart that I have read that concern Gnosticism, and I would have to say he has a very good handle on the subject and that is why this is the first afterlife he tackles.  the idea of using dying patients to reach those in the afterlife to solve crimes is a very interesting idea which Stewart has obviously thought out well, although there was a point or two where my understanding was a little fuzzy.  Also, this novel is not for the squeamish.  There are some very graphic seasons of torture that had me turning away a points.

Michael F. Stewart has some amazing story ideas and I cannot wait to see where The Terminals series goes next.  Spark was a great introduction to this intriguing world.

Rating: 3/5

Stacking the Shelves: 4/20-4/26

First Reads from Goodreads:

The Science of Shakespeare by Dan Falk

Received for Easter:

Rediscover Catholicism by Matthew Kelly