Reading Challenge Update: April 2013

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):

Audio Book (4/12)
4. Eve & Adam by Katherine Applegate & Michael Grant

100 Books in a Year (44/100)
39. Ill Met by Moonlight by Sarah A. Hoyt
40. Many Bloody Returns by Charlaine Harris & Toni L. P. Kelner, eds.
41. Eve & Adam by Katherine Applegate & Michael Grant
42. Spontaneous Performance by Marsh Cassady
43. The Grace Painter by Mark Romang
44. Olivia's Journey by B. G. Lashbrooks
45. Deep Betrayal by Anne Greenwood Brown
46. Revenge of a Not-So-Pretty Girl by Carolita Blythe
47. The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma
48. The Darwin Elevator by Jason M. Hough

Historical Fiction (9/10)
7. Ill Met by Moonlight by Sarah A. Hoyt
8. Olivia's Journey by B. G. Lashbrooks
9. The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma

Aussie Authors (1/3)
1.  The Darwin Elevator by Jason M. Hough

Chunkster (2/6)
1. The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma
2. The Darwin Elevator by Jason M. Hough

Sophomore (2/10)
1. Deep Betrayal by Anne Greenwood Brown
2. Revenge of a Not-So-Pretty Girl by Carolita Blythe

YA Mythology (2/10)
2. Deep Betrayal by Anne Greenwood Brown

Standalone (3/15)
3. Revenge of a Not-So-Pretty Girl by Carolita Blythe

YA/MG Fantasy (7/10)
7. Deep Betrayal by Anne Greenwood Brown

Immortal (5/12)
4. Ill Met by Moonlight by Sarah A. Hoyt
5. Many Bloody Returns by Charlaine Harris & Toni L. P. Kelner, eds.

British Books (4/12)
3. Ill Met by Moonlight by Sarah A. Hoyt
4. The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma

Free Reads (11/12)
9. Eve & Adam by Katherine Applegate & Michael Grant
10. Spontaneous Performance by Marsh Cassady
11. Olivia's Journey by B. G. Lashbrooks

A to Z (21/26)
20. Many Bloody Returns by Charlaine Harris & Toni L. P. Kelner, eds.
21. The Darwin Elevator by Jason H. Hough

Self-Published (4/10)
4. The Grace Painter by Mark Romang

The Darwin Elevator

The Darwin Elevator

by Jason M. Hough

published by Del Rey

July 2013

ISBN 978-0-345-53712-6

Why Read?: Net Galley, Book Club

Challenges: Aussie Authors, Chunkster, A to Z, 100 Books in a Year

Jason M. Hough takes an interesting spin on the sci-fi genre in The Darwin Elevator.  While firmly a dystopian novel, it also contains elements of space opera and zombie fiction, making it more accessible across genres and a truly entertaining read.

Skyler Luiken makes a decent living as a scavenger since he is immune to the animalistic disease that has affected everyone living outside of the aura of the space elevator that landed in Darwin, Australia.  No one really knows why the elevator is there or where the disease came from, but they know the Builders will be back…although only one man has an idea as to when.  Neil Platz is the richest man in Darwin, and his company leads all research into the Builders’ works.  Working for him is Tania Sharma, a brilliant researcher and daughter of his former partner.  When the elevator begins failing and the disease gets stronger, Platz hires Skyler’s crew to retriever some data cubes to aid in Tania’s research into the return of the Builders.  What they all discover is something that not even Platz could have predicted.

Hough presents some really great ideas in The Darwin Elevator.  The dystopian world he has created is raw and gritty, and the disease that turns humans into animalistic zombies is truly terrifying.  The characters are all very well-formed as we meet quite a few of the major players in Darwin – both on the ground and in space.  The one flaw was that a future date was actually given.  What made this harmful was that while research technology seemed to be realistically advanced for 250 years in the future, weaponry seems to have not aged a day, and this often would throw me out of the story.

Even though I am not the biggest fan of some of the subgenres that Jason M. Hough drew from, I really enjoyed The Darwin Elevator.  It is a fast-paced read that really pulls the reader in.  And the ending definitely left me eagerly anticipating the next installment.

Rating 4/5

Elsewhere Online: April 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: Deep Betrayal
Author: Anne Greenwood Brown

Challenges: Sophomore, YA Mythology, YA/MG Fantasy, 100 Books in a Year

Title: Revenge of a Not-So-Pretty Girl

Author: Carolita Blythe

Challenges: Sophomore, Standalone, 100 Books in a Year

Title: The Map of Time

Author: Felix J. Palma

Challenges: Historical Fiction, Chunkster, British, 100 Books in a Year

Assured Destruction

Assured Destruction

by Michael F. Stewart

published by author

2013

No ISBN

Why Read?: Review

Challenges: 100 Books in a Year

If you are looking for a unique YA mystery, Michael F. Stewart’s Assured Destruction definitely fits the bill.

High schooler Jan Rose is an expert at computers.  Working long hours at Assured Destruction for her wheelchair-bound mom, Jan does not have much of a social life outside of school, so she creates her own friends based off of information she recovers off of hard-drives dropped off for shredding.  While Jan knows it is not right to pry into personal files – much less not shred the drives, which is what the customers are paying for – she does not see the harm in creating her Shadownet of online profiles…until very personal files from those stolen hard drives end up leaking out and causing serious problems for the very real former owners.  Determine to clear her name, Jan must delve even deeper into the world of hacking, risking her own life in the process.

While Jan is not the most upstanding protagonist for a YA novel, she is incredibly likeable, despite her numerous faults.  She also has some very admirable spunk to her, which helps to make her story fast and engaging.  While Jan herself is unique, what really makes Assured Destruction stand out is the multimedia aspect Stewart has woven in.  Various words are hotlinked to the characters’ online accounts adding another dimension to the story that can only be found with an ebook.  The story itself, though, is just as enticing without these Easter eggs.

Assured Destruction is a wonderful start to what promises to be a fun and fast-paced YA mystery series.  Michael F. Stewart has definitely found a way to stand out in the genre.

Rating 4/5

Stacking the Shelves: 4/14-4/20

Requested from Paperbackswap:

Perdido Street Station by China Mieville

Diary of a Provincial Lady by E. M. Delafield

The Charlatan's Boy by Jonathan Rogers

The Age of Desire by Jennie Fields

Criminal by Karin Slaughter

Olivia's Journey

Title: Olivia's Journey
Author:  B. G. Lashbrooks

Publisher: Astraea
ISBN: 978-1-936852-24-6

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

Thoughts: I was not really sure what to expect with Olivia's Journey because I am not the biggest fan of Civil War fiction, but I absolutely loved it.  Lashbrooks pulls the reader in immediately and writes an excellent story of love and survival during the war.

Rating: 5 stars

The Grace Painter

The Grace Painter

by Mark Romang

published by author

2012

No ISBN

Why Read?: Review

Challenges: Self-Published, 100 Books in a Year

Mark Romang’s The Grace Painter is unlike anything the title could imply.  What sounds like a gentle, character-driven story of redemption is actually a high-speed thriller about redemption.

After discovering that his partner shot and killed his family, Matthew London leaves the NYPD and moves to Louisiana where he lives as Jon Rafter, a quiet fisherman and painter.  After living this peaceful existence for eight years, his life is turned upside when during a hurricane, he finds injured FBI agent Annie Crawford on the side of the road.  It seems she is on a mission to recover a kidnapped child from a family of known drug dealers who has kidnapped another child decades ago.  As the storm rages, the fight to rescue the child and take down a major drug cartel escalates as Jon gets dragged back into the sort of life he thought he has left well behind him.

Romang starts out with intense action that never lets up for long the whole way through the novel.  Even though the plot is mostly action-driven, Romang makes sure to also develop the characters along the way.  And while there is a Christian undertone to the whole story, the message is easily accessible to people of any faith.

Mark Romang does a wonderful job with the suspense in The Grace Painter.  I just wish the title gave more sense of the thrilling plot contained within.

Rating 3/5