Reading Challenge Update: September 2014

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):

E-Book (24/25)
20. Plow the Bones by Douglas F. Warwick
21. The Matchmakers by Ruth J. Hartman
22. The Red Sheet by Mia Kerick
23. The Ghosts of Southwark by O. M. Grey
24. The Serpent Bearer by Frank Say

Audio Book (16/25)
15. Enchanted by Alethea Kontis
16. Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

Graphic Novel (9/12)
9. The Graveyard Book Vol. 1 by Neil Gaiman & P. Craig Russell

100 Books in a Year (82/100)
71. The Boy Who Could See Demons by Carolyn Jess-Cooke
72. Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A. S. King
73. Enchanted by Alethea Kontis
74. Plow the Bones by Douglas F. Warwick
75. The Matchmakers by Ruth J. Hartman
76. The Red Sheet by Mia Kerick
77. Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
78. The Small Hand and Dolly by Susan Hill
79. The Graveyard Book Vol. 1 by Neil Gaiman & P. Craig Russell
80. The Ghosts of Southwark by O. M. Grey
81. The Serpent Bearer by Frank Say
82. The 100 by Kass Morgan

Historical Fiction (10/15)
10. The Matchmakers by Ruth J. Hartman

Dystopia (4/5)
4. The 100 by Kass Morgan

British Books (12/12) - COMPLETED
10. The Matchmakers by Ruth J. Hartman
11. The Small Hand and Dolly by Susan Hill
12. The Graveyard Book Vol. 1 by Neil Gaiman & P. Craig Russell

Free Reads (30/30) - COMPLETED
30. The Boy Who Could See Demons by Carolyn Jess-Cooke

Author Alphabet (19/26)
19. Plow the Bones by Douglas F. Warwick

Elsewhere Online: September 2014

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: The Small Hand and Dolly
Author: Susan Hill

Challenges: British Books, 100 Books in a Year

Title: The Graveyard Book 1

Author: Neil Gaiman & P. Craig Russell

Challenges: Graphic Novels, British Books, 100 Books in a Year

Title: The Ghosts of Southwark

Author: O. M. Grey

Challenges: E-Book, 100 Books in a Year

Title: The Serpent Bearer

Author: Frank Say

Challenges: E-Book, 100 Books in a Year

Title: The 100

Author: Kass Morgan

Challenges: Dystopia, 100 Books in a Year

Ancillary Justice

Title: Ancillary Justice
Author: Ann Leckie

Publisher: Recorded Books
ISBN: n/a

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

Thoughts: I chose the audio book of this because space sci-fi is one of my least favorite genres, and I since I had to read and finish this, I knew I would if I listened while driving to and from work.  Well, I listened to it, but this is definitely the worst audio book I have listened to so far.  The narration had very odd pauses, phrasing, and inflections that at times hurt to listen to.  Leckie's story is interesting enough for the genre, and I did really get into it in parts, but the performance left too much to be desired.

Rating: 2 stars

Stacking the Shelves

For review (on Bookloons):

Being Audrey Hepburn by Mitchell Kriegman

First Reads from Goodreads:

Each Time She Wakes by Katy Tackes

LibraryThing Early Review:

Becoming Zodiak by Craig Jones

The Red Sheet

The Red Sheet

by Mia Kerick

published by Harmony Ink

May 2014

ISBN 978-1-62798-717-2

Why read? Review

Challenges: Ebook, 100 Books in a Year

With The Red Sheet, Mia Kerick has succeeded in writing a contemporary YA novel where the protagonist is gay, but it is not about that.  The Red Sheet is about bullying and the other woes of high school life.

Bryan Dennison is your stereotypical high school jock.  He is in the popular clique, he cares more about his reputation than his grades, he parties on the weekend, and he is not below going along with his buddies when they push around those they deem uncool.  But all of that changes one day when he wakes up one Monday morning with no memory of the weekend and a burning desire to tie a red sheet around his neck and save everyone.  While the total personality transformation is not unwelcomed, it is a little disconcerting to him, especially when he discovers that the weekend involved doing something bad to the new kids at school, Scott Beckett.  Not only does Bryan not remember what happened over the weekend, he does not remember Scott at all.  Once he figures out that he hurt Scott, though, he is determined to make everything right.  He quickly learns, though, that it takes more than a cape to be a hero.

Bryan – at least the new Bryan – is the type of character that you wished more of existed in real life.  He is fun, sweet, is not afraid of who he is and wants to repent for who he was.  Scott, on the other hand, is unfortunately like a lot of kids in real life.  He may be witty, a good student, and a potential great friend, but he is an outcast for whatever reason his school’s social hierarchy deems him so.  Kerick does a wonderful job of making both of these characters relatable and ones the reader will want to root for.

The Red Sheet may have a slightly quirky premise, but Mia Kerick has written a very real story.  She presents real issues that teens face with a style that makes the pages fly by, and that is what makes The Red Sheet a great read.

Rating: 4/5

The Matchmakers

The Matchmakers

by Ruth J. Hartman

published by esKape

2014

ISBN 9781940695167

Why read? Review

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

Ruth J. Hartman is an expert at writing Regency romances and cat-lover romances, so it is no surprise that when she combines the two, it is delightful.  The Matchmakers is an adorable novella about an eccentric, scheming elderly aunt who is determined to see her nephew married off and uses cats as a way for him to meet his match.  It is not a terribly deep story, but the characters are fun and rather well-rounded for such a short work.  The Matchmakers is cute and definitely worth an read to liven up a dull afternoon.

Rating 4/5

Plow the Bones

Title: Plow the Bones
Author: Douglas Warwick

Publisher: Apex
ISBN: 978-1-937009-15-1

Why Read?: Early Review
Challenges: E-Book, Author Alphabet, 100 Books in a Year

Thoughts: This was a rather bizzaro collection, although it was not classified as that exactly.  The two standout stories, at least for my taste, were "Funeral Song for a Ventriloquist" and "Across the Dead Station Dessert, Television Girl".  The rest were just too weird or disturbing or disgusting for me.

Rating: 2 stars