Spirit Warrior by Ella J. Smyth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Of the three books in this series so far, this is my favorite. I’m beginning to warm up to the characters and the story. With all there is going on in the world a nice fantasy can help give you a breather. So rather than making this review longer, I say, try the series. You might like it! By the way, I found these on Kindle Unlimited. Not a bad deal, huh?
Spirit Elfen by Ella J. Smyth
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Another fantasy for the end of summer. I breezed right through it and started the next. So last night I tried to read the book I thought I was in, and it turned out to be this one that I already read. I thought maybe it all sounded familiar because it was the intro presented after the first book. No. Even as far as the last chapter it was familiar. But I enjoyed getting the review before realizing I was actually finished and ready for book 3 (in fact, I was 12% into it). I almost think this set is short enough to be one larger book.
I think the above paragraph is my example of the review. It was a fun read with characters from book 1 with the fae. Oh, my favorite part, it was set in Germany. Wish there would have been more of a feeling of the land. Yeah. It won’t go into my favorite books. But a good distraction. Definitely not for preteens or younger teens.
But try it. You might love it!
Spirit Hunger by Ella J. Smyth
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Need a mindless read to get through the rest of summer? This will fill the bill. I was finished with my last book and had a couple of hours before sleep so I found I had downloaded this and the two sequels a while back.
At first, I thought I was reading His Dark Materials with the invisible companion animals. But this is a different story so enjoy the new look.
I wasn’t impressed with the main character Adi. I didn’t understand why a person going through such scary stuff was not open to help. And her helper soon to be love interest, Honi, does his best to get her to listen.
This was a fun little fantasy, certainly for mature teens or New Adults.
My biggest irritation was the Audible download was faulty and didn’t sync up with the Kindle book. I finally just listened without the words to follow. I did like the narrator’s, Alex Knox, reading it to me.
I started the next book already (Kindle Unlimited) and it looks like the hard-headed Adi is still not listening. Still, a way to forget the world for a while.
The Walking Dead, Vol. 13: Too Far Gone by Robert Kirkman
Not fair! I ran out of book money so I didn’t get to buy the next one yet and this one left me on a cliffhanger!
On the other hand, though some things changed on the show from this book, the fight scene was nearly exact. In a way, I like the flipped storyline of the head family of Alexandria. I would have loved this better had I read it before watching the whole series. But I do love that the TV version was even more inclusive than the book.
Once again, I read this on my Kindle Fire because I can enlarge frame by frame. The art and story are fantastic. I think I am getting addicted to Kindle comic books on the Fire!
I can’t wait until payday when I can get back into the story. Meanwhile, I am resisting bingeing The Walking Dead yet one more time. I so miss it!
Seed to Harvest: The Complete Patternist Series by Octavia E. Butler
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I have loved other books by Octavia E. Butler, but this set of four books just didn’t do it for me. I couldn’t figure out the characters, who was who. Maybe it was because I had to listen to it on text-to-speech, though I did try to follow with my eyes. Still, I did stay with it. A lot of times if something doesn’t make sense it comes together in the end. But I didn’t find that. I found four different stories about similar things.
But don’t take my word for it. Others have loved these books so maybe it is just me and this time in my life. Heck, toothache from infection, smoky-hot summer, Covid19, and its craziness could have flavored how I took the books in. So maybe I’ll read them again later. I see that many people read these in publication order rather than chronological and get a lot more out of all of this combo. Ms. Butler writes well and keeps the reader interested, even when the story itself doesn’t go in the flow I think it should.
Try it. You might like it!
This is my second reading of the first book of this box-set Find my first review here.
This reading, I was surprised at how current this dystopian story feels. It was only a year ago that I read the first book. Yet now, this seems so scarily close. The author died in 2009, so it was before all of this. How prescient!
As I mentioned in the previous review, I didn’t know what happened after the end of the first book. The second fills in the holes of what happened with the daughter.
At the same time, I wasn’t happy with how the story goes back and forth in person and times, beginning with that second book. I think it is more noticeable when you listen to your books on text-to-speech. I think my eyes might have noticed subtle changes. But that was such a little thing that it didn’t lower my rating.
I cried at the end of the book. I felt I wanted more. I wanted to be with Lauren and everyone in the story longer. The author was excellent in how she created a religion and gave us the ways it grew. How she drew the reader in to know the main character so profoundly was amazing. Now I want to read all her books! I am a fan!!!!
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Wow! I want to thank my friend Tania for highly recommending this to me. I read it with text-to-speech and I just couldn’t stop reading it. I think it will be even more fun on Audible where Wil Wheaton is the narrator, so I plan to order it next month and reread again soon.
I already miss being in the cyber world with Wade. This book isn’t for my generation. It is for my offspring’s generation. The list of games and early computers, the list of movies and music brings excitement for me vicariously mostly because I remember my children getting so excited about their games. Sure I was lucky to learn as I watched them absorb computereze. Commadore64 and Tandy Sensation were my first chances to go beyond snail mail and long-distance. I wrote to a friend on the BBs. Met many more online friends. My kids played game systems. This book brings the 80s and 90s back with a huge adventure!
If you get the chance read the book!
The Space Between by Diana Gabaldon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
That was fun. But so far from as long as I wanted. I don’t like short stories. I love a chance to get to know characters deeply. And though we met a couple of these earlier I wanted a lot more to their story. Even the newish ones I wanted to know deeper than given here.
Remember the Comte de Saint-Germain and Maitre Raymond? They’re back. I could do without the Comte. Maybe he is redeemable. But Raymond has some surprises.
Jamie’s nephew Michael, and his stepdaughter Joanie (Laoghaire’s daughter) appeared in this story also.
Either way, I would love to see a lot more of their life stories.
The most important concept, to me, was the possibility of time-travel into the future. Please bring this into a Gabaldon-size novel.
I want MORE!
Lord John and the Hand of Devils by Diana Gabaldon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I couldn’t leave the world of Outlander. This little book kept me involved for a couple more nights.
Short stories are not my cup of tea. Still, the three stories included kept my interest until the end.
Jeff Woodman, the narrator, held his own covering the characters and most especially our Lord John.
Diana Gabaldon’s wonderful writing and wit show throughout this book. And it did keep me in the Outlander world, sans time travel.
It is worth the read.
Written in My Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I thought that book 7, Echo In The Bone, was my favorite of the Outlander books. Nope. Written in My Own Heart’s Blood wins. It was fantastic!
Regardless of the time the characters land in they all grow and help us learn the rules of Gabaldon’s Time Travel.
What can I tell you that won’t spoil it for you?
As usual, there is a lot of research evident in the reading and as one supposes, there are instances of poetic license, which Diana Gabaldon admits that she has it framed on her wall.
The most exciting part of the book is as Breanna talks about Doctor Who in a chapter called, Thank You For The Fish. (Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy). Now I really wish I had a TARDIS so I could play in all three universes.
And I wish I could move on to book 9 but my Audible credits don’t come until the middle of the month. A quick note about why I read by Audible most often now. Actual reading is impossible for my eyes. It seems a tracking issue. So I use a lot of Kindle Text-to-Speech. Though TTS works well for most books when there are other languages involved I want to hear the words pronounced correctly. Davina Porter is able to range the language barriers and character ages and sexes with apparent ease. I love listening to her.
If you get the chance, the books are as good if not better than the shows, and the Audible versions are the best of all the worlds. Enjoy!
Congrats! You have completed your goal of reading 100 books for the 2013 Reading Challenge! 115 of 100 (115%)
Congrats! You have completed your goal of reading 225 books for the 2012 Reading Challenge! 225 of 225 (100%)
Congrats! You have completed your goal of reading 200 books for the 2011 Reading Challenge! 204 of 200 (102%)
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