I've found myself this week thinking about how I'm going to rearrange my books into the new bookcases when they are ready. As both are small, they won't take a lot of these thick big paperbacks so I've changed my mind about putting the historical fiction in them. I don't think they'd all fit. Now I'm thinking it might be the ideal place to get all those pesky mass market paperbacks together and out of the way so I can fit more of the bigger books on the bigger bookcases. Isn't it fun to plan book arranging! It's like therapy!
Today it is Get On With The Darn Book Reviews days. I've been neglecting them for a while so I need to start getting a few done per week again. It's just so time consuming to actually get the things written! Plus I keep forgetting to go on to Twitter to share the links (thanks Mary for all those tweets you do about my blog!) So far I've put three reviews into my mini review post and a full review of another book. I need to press on and get a couple more done ready to post during the week. I'm also working on answers to another four book tags so things are pretty busy at the moment!
My dad and I are preparing for another round of Furniture Removals, now that he is fully recovered from the chest infection. This stage involves emptying the two bookcases and swapping them over. My dad's big bookcase will go into the hall downstairs and then the one in the hall will go upstairs to his room. He also has a cd unit to build for his room, plus the new 'bookcases' for my room. We plan to get that done over the next two weeks. Then he needs to sort out all his cds into his room and that could take weeks! It won't take me long to sort the books and dvds in the bookcase downstairs, and I already know what I'm doing for the ones in my room. We're behind schedule but we'll get there! Anyone else getting new bookcases or doing a bit of book sorting?
There are four reading days to the end of the month and I have three books that I really want to finish so I need to get on with the first one today. It's the first Warlock Holmes book. I've got my planned reading started for January and February as well! January's themes will be three categories Weather Gems, Catchup Gems and Pandemic Gems. February is Lurve Month so it'll be Love in the Tudor Court, Puppy Love if Barb is doing that again, and a free for all of books I'd just love to read. March might need to deal with some non fiction to get some space on the crowded bookshelves! I've been enjoying the planning so here's hoping I also enjoy all the reading!
It’s August in Alaska,
and geology professor Jack Oswald prepares for the new school year. But
when hundreds of huge holes mysteriously appear overnight in the frozen
tundra north of the Arctic Circle, Jack receives an unexpected phone
call. An oil company exec hires Jack to investigate, and he picks his
climatologist wife and two of their graduate students as his team.
Uncharacteristically, Jack also lets Aileen O’Shannon, a bewitchingly
beautiful young photojournalist, talk him into coming along as their
photographer.
When they arrive in the remote oil town of Deadhorse, the
exec and a biologist to protect them from wild animals join the team.
Their task: to assess the risk of more holes opening under the
Trans-Alaska Pipeline and the wells and pipelines that feed it. But they
discover a far worse danger lurks below. When it emerges, it threatens
to shatter Jack’s unshakable faith in science. And destroy us all…
My Review:
Let me get this out of the way first-for some reason when I downloaded the book, I thought it was going to be about Tremors style giant worms underground and coming to eat people. I'm not sure exactly where I got that idea so I was kind of disappointed to see what actually came out of the holes! Now that is purely my fault for getting an idea in my head, not the fault of the book or author for giving a wong impression, because they didn't! Is that all cleared up? Good, then we can move on to the actual review of the book and forget Chuckles stupidity!
Jack is a geologist and he is called to investigate why huge holes are appearing all over Alaska with no warning, threatening the pipelines in the area and the people who live and work there. Jack and his student Mark lower themselves into one of the holes to have a look around but the gas levels are dangerously high and a quick retreat is needed. However, a preventable accident then occurs which blows up the entire area...and from the holes in the ground comes the deadly demonic hellhounds to the shock of the explorers. It is then up to one team member to save them from the hellhounds and explain the danger that the entire world is in from demonic invasion.
OK lets deal with the characters now. Jack annoyed me right at the start with the cliche of man turns into gibbering wreck at the sight of a beautiful woman even when his wife is right there with him. He allows Aileen, a stranger claiming to be a photographer to just tag along on the trip, no doubt because of her looks. When they land in Alaska, Bill the wildlife biologist and expedition organiser Kowalski are fawning over her like slobbering dogs. The fact that the woman has to use her feminine charms to get her way over dumb men with their brains in their pants is a cliche that does really annoy me in books. It made me dislike Aileen straight away.
Luckily, after disaster strikes, Aileen reveals that she is on the trip because she recognises the hell holes for what they are and talked her way onto the trip to get a look at the area to confirm it. She is part of an order that looks for demonic activity and tries to stop it, starting with saving them from the first hell hounds. Aileen explains that this will be followed by deadly imps and gargoyles and a full scale invasion from hell, which of course scares the group to death. Now they have to escape Alaska and all the demons and try to stay alive. By this point I had reformed my opinions of the characters, including Aileen and the idiot that is Kowalski. For someone who works around pipelines his gross stupidity for safety issues was quite shocking. The group dynamic actually becomes quite good after we learn what is lurking under the ground.
It did take a bit of time for it to get in to the main point of the story. It was 30% of the way in when the men started to explore the hole. I wouldn't say that it was slow, more that I was impatient for it to get going. I'll be honest-if it had taken any longer for the exploration to start, then I might not have continued to read. However it did start then, and after that, the story certainly kept me interested. It was a bit technical in the early part of the book with details about methane, climate change, permafrost and pingos(?) that I could personally have done without but I guess the author was trying to give some background information to the reader. I thought pingos were the nickname for those black and white winter birds with long beaks but who knew!
Once the story got going, I found it very interesting. I've always liked demons in my horror and urban fantasy reads so the actual story about demonic invasion was interesting. The tension was built up nicely as they tried to hide from the first wave of demons, creeping through a dark building where they could pounce at any time. I grew to care about the characters and not want anything to happen to them. It was also nice to see the men not knowing what to do and looking for the female expert to come up with the plans. I liked the different dangers that each type of demon brings as their dangerous journey continued. After the initial scientific info dump, i didn't find it over descriptive. The story flowed along nicely and there were plenty of demons to keep things interesting.
For those who are interested, there was no real sexual content other than men drooling. I can't really comment fully on bad language as I have nothing specific in my notes about it but I'm sure there was some. There are of course scenes of injuries and death. The monsters are a bit scary for younger readers so I recommend this to adults and older teenagers if they like the genre. There is a pretty big cliffhanger at the end and you will need to read the second book to resolve that. I do intend to read on when I get the chance.
Read May 2018.
3 stars.
I review everything I read, on my blog and
on Goodreads. Most reviews are of a decent length but sometimes you
don't have much to say about the book because of its length or you DNFed
it or various other reasons. In cases like that it makes sense to write
a few mini reviews in one post and clear them out your way! Time to catch up with a few books read between April and August!
1) Alan Watkins-A Conservative Coup
Those who follow my blog know that I enjoy my politics so I thought this one would be great, charting the events that led to the downfall of Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister and the tense leadership contest that followed. Sadly this book was not what I expected. I understand that there needs to be background but in this case we got way to much of it. We know the Tories are in-fighting over Europe but we didn't need the entire history of the European Union and ERM, a lot of which was very technical and dull. I get that we needed a background to the Poll Tax and other reasons that she fell out with key ministers over and some of it was interesting, but there seemed to be too much padding rather than just the information we needed.
I did like finding out the ministers on both sides who stood against the Poll Tax though, including Leon Brittan, Nigel Lawson, George Young, Ted Heath, Jack Straw and Tim Yeo. I just felt there was no tension to the whole downfall and contest, and the author bugged me by jumping about the timeframe which was confusion so the whole thing lacked cohesion. It was much more interesting to read about in Ken Clark's memoirs.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8123404-a-conservative-coup
Read April 2018.
2 stars.
2) Brian McClellan-Forsworn (Powder Mage #0.1)
Erika ja Leora is a
powder mage in northern Kez, a place where that particular sorcery is
punishable by death. She is only protected by her family name and her
position as heir to a duchy. When she decides to help a young
commoner—a powder mage marked for death, fugitive from the law—she puts
her life and family reputation at risk and sets off to deliver her new
ward to the safety of Adro while playing cat and mouse with the king’s
own mage hunters and their captain, Duke Nikslaus. Occurs 35 years before the events in Promise of Blood.
I decided to try a couple of short stories from the world to see what I thought before tackling the full novel and I enjoyed this. The blurb describes the plot so no need to repeat it. I liked Erika, having to hide her gift and her reasons for helping Norrine escape death for being the same but without the protection of a powerful family. I loved Santiole, the mistress-at-arms responsible for training Erika. I loved the idea of what a powder mage was, able to control powder ie gunpowder with magic. There was a lot of action for a short story-the events in the woods, the search for Norrine and the dangerous journey to Adro where they will be safe. I liked the way the story was told and it has intrigued me to read more about this world, maybe even the novels themselves!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20614529-forsworn
Read June 2018.
3.5 stars
3) John D Randall-The Yellowstone Conundrum
The blurb is so long that I'll give it a miss but there is a link if you want to see it. Basically, the Yellowstone Caldera has erupted, an earthquake under Puget Sound triggers a tsunami onto Seattle, dams fail and the power grid goes down. This is exactly the kind of apocalypse drama that I love to read. I can't get enough of them! I was looking forward to reading it until I saw some online reviews of it and I then approached it warily. And I did not like it one bit.
The writing style and the way he uses language is just weird. ie 'Still by the end of February there should have been more promise, if not the future, then at least for today.' Huh? This came right after we are told that the MC doesn't actually know if it is February or December as he can't tell the difference. I'm not sure what planet the MC lives on but I can tell the difference! We then switch to his personal POV then a page later we go back to talking about him. It's followed by a random rant about doctors and pharmaceutical companies. There seems to be random inane character thoughts put in the middle of info dumps about boats, building descriptions and scientific details that make my head throb. It all combines to disrupt any chance of the story flowing, there is no cohesion to what we are being told, with random subject changes going on constantly. There was no tension to the events due to this weird writing style that seemed to have no purpose. The spelling and lack of editing was really poor as well. And just before I DNFed it, here is the 'climax' to the sex scene!
'Jimmy James hit the runaway just as her plane landed and the pair started to glide down the runway to the exit ramp.' WTF?????????
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18137265-the-yellowstone-conundrum
Read August 2018.
DNF 1 star.
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish
in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of
2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to
bring bookish friends together. http://www.thatartsyreadergirl.com/top-ten-tuesday/
NB: I don't follow or leave comments on blogs run by
Google Plus, or DISQUS as I refuse to join something just to leave
comments, and I won't allow them to follow new people, update my
profile or post tweets 'on my behalf'. I won't comment on any blog that makes me sign in using another account.
This week is Back To School. I'm looking at my ten favourite childhood books and series!
1) Stan Berenstein-Bears in the Night
I could never resist this brilliant book where a group of bears sneak out of their house to investigate a strange noise. It isn't about Brother and Sister Bear who feature in a lot of books by the author.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/900067.Bears_in_the_Night
2) Walter Farley-The Black Stallion
It was years after getting it from a book club before I finally read it but I really fell in love with the series. I loved the horse races in it though the sport doesn't interest me to watch!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1288462.The_Black_Stallion
3) Elyne Mitchell-Silver Brumby
My horse obsession continued with the story of generations of wild Australian horses and their loves and lives. I was addicted to this.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10870732-the-silver-brumby
4) Eunice Walkup-The Race
For two years I continually took this book out of my school library to read. It wasn't aimed at children but I loved the racing and intrigue. In the last few years I got a copy of it but haven't reread it as an adult.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10870732-the-silver-brumby
5) Enid Blyton-various
I loved the author and so many of her series like Famous Five, Secret Seven, Five Find-Outers, Naughtiest Girl, Wishing Chair, St Clare's, Malory Towers, Adventure series and so many more! Hard to pick out my favourites!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20330954-the-mystery-of-the-burnt-cottage
6) Judy Blume-various
This was the first author I saw as a kid that dealt with real issues for YA-bullying, religion, divorce, first sexual relationship, physical disability, first love etc. Everyone I knew loved her work and it led the way for future teen authors.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17278767-forever
7) Francine Pascal-Sweet Valley High
For someone who hates romance, it's beyond me why I loved this series so much but I did! I was fascinated by the sheer amount of guys Jessica goes through and how dangerous that town was for kidnappings and accidents!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/529252.Double_Love
8) Roald Dahl-Fantastic Mr Fox
I loved the adventures of Mr Fox and hated the farmers for what they were doing to his family! I've loved foxes since I first read this book. Also loved James and the Giant Peach. I don't think I read all of his books though.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1272765.Fantastic_Mr_Fox
9) CS Lewis-The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe
I was obsessed with getting through my gran's old wardrobe and into Narnia as a kid but it never happened. I wanted to meet Aslan! Funny thing is, I never read the rest of the series which does seem strange!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1551102.The_Lion_the_Witch_and_the_Wardrobe
10) JRR Tolkien-Fellowship of the Ring
This was always the book I read most in the trilogy!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1451516.The_Fellowship_of_the_Ring
