Tag Archive: read


Review: Rippler


Rippler
Rippler by Cidney Swanson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

From the moment I started reading this book I was hooked. It starts in the middle of the action, a new talent and a new fear. Who wouldn’t want to be invisible? But when there are people out to kill you or trap you for your genes, is anywhere safe?

There were a few things that made me unsuspend disbelieve when the main character’s running mate turns out to be a fellow rippler. What are the chances of that? But the story keeps going, and I was brought in running for my life with the characters.

This is a YA and as such there is a bit of the angst of teens, but not as much as other YA’s contain. And there is a tiny bit of romance but gentle and not quite as quite as squishy as the average YA. Instead it keeps you going wondering what was going to happen.

I was happy that there wasn’t a cliffhanger. But the reason I didn’t write this review when finished was I found that the trilogy was on sale for $.99 so then I started reading book two. Oops. I am enjoying it, too. πŸ™‚

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Review: Dragonsdawn


Cover of "Dragonsdawn (Dragonriders of Pe...

Cover via Amazon

Dragonsdawn
Dragonsdawn by Anne McCaffrey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is my third reading of this book. I still love it. This time I was able to purchase the Audible version to go along with my own hardback book. This particular book includes Chronicles of Pern: The First Fall. But since I am trying to read these in order I didn’t want to read that part yet. Yes, I realized that Moreta should have been the read, but I didn’t have that Audible version yet. So I jumped ahead. I do have Moreta now, so I’ll start it soon.

I loved discovering, again, how humans landed and learned to survive on Pern. I was fascinated by the amount of research that Ms. McCaffrey put into the writing of this book. Not only is this pointed out in her preface, but it is obvious in how the humans proceed in inhabiting this new land. Her characters are so realistic.

Dick Hill’s narration further developed each character. All voices done so well that you know who is talking without the identifying tags in the sentences.

I have mentioned in previous Pern reviews how I love the way Dick Hill reads. He keeps the reader/listener engaged. Even his dragon voices sound convincing.

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The Dragonriders of Pern
The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If it weren’t for Audible I wouldn’t have been able to read this book. The font is so small that I can’t stay with it for long. Having the story narrated to me helped. When I didn’t understand a passage I could check it out in the book for understanding.

I love this series. I read them all a long time ago. It is so fun to get back into Pern and enjoy the dragons and fire lizards. Anne McCaffrey wrote so beautifully. I loved her vocabulary and the extent that she researched the sciences of these books. Her characters are well developed and fallible. In this part of the series the traditions of a male dominated system are challenged. The dragons make those changes happen. A new more equality-base system is about to emerge. I look forward to more in the series.

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The White Dragon
The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wish I would have written this review when I finished reading/listening this book. I have already started another in the Pern series (Dragonsdawn/Dragonriders’s Dawn).

Okay, let’s see. I remember loving The White Dragon more than the others the first time I read it. Maybe that was because I read it after the Menolly stories last time around. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, and Dragondrums. As a music major at the time I was thrilled by the music of Pern. But White Dragon was more mature with a wider vocabulary. It also helped titrated me up to the rest of the books of Pern. This time I was more interested in the trials of the way Pern, herself, demands that traditions be challenged.

The name Ruth, in my life, has been a female name, so it still throws me that the white dragon is Ruth. He named himself. Who would argue with a dragon? Still, I loved the book. Can’t say if it is my favorite this round. We’ll see!

This time I am listening to the Audible versions while reading the paper book (hard back). I love Dick Hall’s voice, especially when he does his rendition of Masterharper Robinton. He keeps the characters individualized. And the voices for the females are not silly. It is a pleasure to listen to his voice.

Oh, the book form for this was Dragonriders of Pern which had the three books: Dragonflight, Dragonquest and The White Dragon.

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Review: The Pickup Pros


The Pickup Pros
The Pickup Pros by Maria-Foteini Alevizou
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a cute little comic book by a young physicist that seems to have had experience in the field she is writing. πŸ˜‰ Though I didn’t find myself rolling on the floor in laughter I can remember what it was like as a young woman. I think this might be even more fun in paper form, but on Kindle Fire or the Tablet it is visually entertaining. Try it, you might like it.

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Terry Treetop and the Lost Egg
Terry Treetop and the Lost Egg by Tali Carmi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a free distraction for me. I liked that the kid was called chubby. Chubby kids need love, too! Though I loved the spirit of the book I found that had I been reading it to my children, way back when, I would have to spend a while explaining why a child shouldn’t talk to reptiles like alligators and crocodiles, or even possible snapping turtles. I’m glad that the child is encouraged to climb trees and roam around, hopefully, at five years old, with an adult or older sibling. The other thing is how do deal with the stray egg. We’ve been taught to not handle the stray egg as the mother may reject it due to human scent. There is a way to do it. I hope Terry Treetop had learned how.

The poetry was sweet and clear. The rhythms felt okay in my head. I think it would be fun to read to little ones, especially with the discussions I listed above.

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Dragonquest
Dragonquest by Anne McCaffrey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a continuation of The Dragonriders of Pern. I didn’t have the money for the Kindle version so I managed to listen to this Audible version while attempting to decypher the book with its tiny font. Because of the narrator’s wonderful voice and character depictions I was able to keep track of where I was in the story even when my eyes refused to read any more.

I loved this book the first time I read it nearly two decades ago and found it equally exciting this time. Other books in this series are about the dragons and their riders and the fight against thread. This books challenged us to look at traditions and even break them to see if there might be a better way to do things. New sciences were discovered or recovered in this book. These kept me involved wondering if our own descendants may run into similar discoveries should we let go of our tightly held concepts. Who know, maybe gravity will cease to be so grave!

Anyway, I am lucky to have the next of the Dragonrider books in Audible form and have already cheated ahead. I remember White Dragon as one of my favorites, so I’m getting back to my ‘reading’ um, listening. πŸ˜‰

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Review: Dragonflight


Dragonflight
Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a second reading for this series. I loved these books so long ago, and find I am excited to be back in Pern. I didn’t change my star rating as they are just as wonderful now as when I read them the first time.

The difference, this time, is I had the Audible version to listen to while keeping track on the Kindle version, and in the huge book version, Dragonriders of Pern, that contains Dragonflight, Dragonquest and White Dragon. My eyes couldn’t stay with the book version at all. The font was too small.

This Audible version had Dick Hill as narrator. His deep voice resonated within me, especially when he did the voice for Robinton. Oh, how I had missed that Masterharper! Mr. Hill was able to keep the characters different while not making the females sound silly. In fact, I think his strength was in drawing out Lessa’s personality.

My soul misses Anne McCaffrey and her wit and imagination. At least we still have all her books to immerse ourselves in.

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Dragon Makes New FRIENDS
Dragon Makes New FRIENDS by Michael Yu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Every now and then I need a break from being an adult reader. Most of the time I read Young Adult because I can fill in the holes of enjoyable reading that wasn’t there when I was a YA. But who can resist an illustrated book about friendly dragons?

My older Kindles are usually my go-to reads as they have text-to-speech and adjustable fonts for my visual needs. These old Kindles do not do justice to picture books. Tablets and the Fire are best for children’s books with colorful pictures. And the illustrations in Dragon Makes New Friends are fun. I did wonder how a child cut the apple in half, and how the boy had two feet, but one leg seemed broken(?). Maybe a child wouldn’t notice these things. They were just things that stopped me.

The little story was in poetry form that sound out well in my head most of the time. Then there was the word that represented the sound of a limb getting ready to break. Hopefully, this is an easy fix, how about ‘creak’ instead of ‘creek’? Even still, this was a delightful story with fun pictures. And the message that we can be friends with others who are not like us, is one all ages of people should learn.

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Proximity
Proximity by M.A. George
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I picked up this book on an author-giveaway-day on Smashwords. Somehow I forgot that I already had it. Then Kindle had a freebie day and I pick it up there, too. Does that ever happen to you? I look at the cover, it does play into how I feel about a book. Then I read the blurb and about the author. This book must have passed those criteria with flying colors!

After a slow start, getting to know the characters, Proximity took off. I was hooked. From about 60% of the book, I couldn’t stop reading. In fact, I was still reading at 5 this morning. Thank goodness for an ending that didn’t leave me hanging. Sure there was a few threads that need to be taken care of, but I was left elated which, of course, made me wakeful, wondering how the next bits will be taken care of. (Non-spoiler enough?)

I can’t wait for payday so I can get the next book. Thank you M.A. George for writing such a different, kind of story. Oh, and I need to mention how I loved that the characters were very well educated with goals and talents, along with a little romance. Very good!

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