Chuckles Cover Love #131-Dinosaurs pt 2

If there is one thing that makes a great book even better, it is when it has a cover that we love! The cover design is what catches the eye as we browse through a bookstore shelf or check out the Amazon or Goodreads recommendations. The right cover makes me look closer at a book, to read the blurb and maybe make a purchase. A poor cover might mean I never look at the blurb at all.

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 I'm continuing with part two of my dinosaurs and extinct deadly creatures books! Don't miss part three next week!

Chuckles Summer Reading List

I've been thinking about putting together a book list for my upcoming summer reading to try and keep me motivated from June until the end of August. The plan is to pick books for challenges I'm doing so I can get ahead in those before we get into autumn and winter, and to pick books from different genres so I don't get fed up with reading and can switch between them as and when I feel like it. 

This list is not a set list of everything I'm going to read. I prefer to think of it as a possibility list to give me options in a lot of genres so I can pick by my mood. It doesn't matter how many I get done as long as I keep reading through the summer!

The Alphabet Challenge 
H-Hope's End (read)
X-X Variant
Y-Yuma

Series Catchup
1) Jaye Wells-Green Eyed Demon (read)
2) Jaye Wells-Silver Tongued Devil
3) Jaye Wells-Blue Blooded Vamp
4) Jaye Wells-Rusted Veins 

1) JR Tate-Tornado Warning (read)
2) JR Tate-Drought Warning
3) JR Tate-Blizzard Warning

Royal Challenge
1) Kate Emerson-The Pleasure Palace
2) Diane Haeger-The Queen's Mistake
3) Laurien Gardner-Plain Jane
4) Margaret Campbell Barnes-My Lady of Cleves

Horror Thrills!
1) Ania Ahlborn-The Shuddering
2) Hunter Shea-The Montauk Monster
3) Jack Kilborn-Origin
4) Seth C Adams-If You Go Down To The Woods Today
5) Paul Mannering-Eat (read)
6) Clayton Dean Edwards-The Hollow Places (DNF)

SF/Dystopian
1) Rebecca Rode-Flicker
2) Jeff VanderMeer-Annihilation (read)
3) Alan David-Starfall Muta
4) PK Hawkins-Recon Marines

Fantasy Fling!
1) Conn Iggulden-Darien
2) Seth Skorkowski-Damoren
3) Justin Somper-Allies & Assassins (read)
4) Donna Galanti-Joshua & The Lightning Road

Apocalypse Angst!
1) Norman Christof-Destination Lost (read)
2) Diana E Anderson-Premonitions 2
3) David Berardelli-And Darkness Fell
4) Andy Bennett-The Line
5) Jack Hunt-Days of Panic
6) Robert Boren-The Plan

Non Fiction
1) Philipp von Boeselager-Valkyrie (read)
2) James Comey-A Higher Loyalty (read)
3) Nick Robinson-Election Notebook (read)
4) Norman Tebbit-Upwardly Mobile

Short Stories/Novellas
1) Logan Keys/Mike Kraus-The Long Fall (DNF)
2) EL Montclair-The Sky Grew Dark (read)
3) Brian McClellan-The Girl of Hrusch Avenue (read)
4) Nazri Noor-Penumbra
5) Patrick Kealan Burke-Sour Candy (read)
6) Ambrose Ibsen-The Lonesome Dead
7) Brian McClellan-Hope's End (read)
8) Catherine Glenn Holsclaw-Bigfoot
9) Jeff Strand-Facial (DNF)
10) Jon Athan-Butcher Road (read)
11) Brian McClellan-Green Eyed Vipers (read) 
12) Brian McClellan-Murder at Kinnen Hotel (read)
13) Brian McClellan-The Face in the Window (read) 
14) Brian McClellan-Ghosts of the Tristan Base (read) 

Zombies!
1) M Van-Ash
2) RL Blalock-Devour (DNF)
3) Lee Dunter-Crowded But Desolate
4) Jeff Favreau-Break Away
5) Rhiannon Frater-Fighting To Survive
6) Damon Hunter-Rot (DNF)

Dinosaurs!
1) Hugo Navikov-The Found World (read)
2) Michael Bray-The Island
3) Jonah Buck-Carrion Shadows
4) Rick Chesler-DMZ
5) Russ Watts-Jurassic Hell
6) Jason Rubis-Terror Birds

Sharks!
1) Chris Jameson-Shark Beach
2) SJ Larsson-Megalodon
3) John Lee Schneider-White Pointer (read)
4) Alan Spencer-Space Sharks
5) Tim Waggoner-Blood Island (read)
6) Charles Pero-Waxing Deadly 

Progress is already being made and I'm in a reading frenzy at the moment! I changed my choice for H as I was reading a few Powder Mage short stories ready for reading the first novel and noticed one was H so Hell Divers has been temporarily bumped. I added those short stories onto my list. I also had to take out Dead Ascent after realising I've already read it, putting Bigfoot in its place. My zombie reads have been disappointing so far but non fiction has gone well. Fingers crossed I get lots of these read this summer!

Tackling The TBR

In 2019 I'm making a big effort to reduce my TBR by buying less, getting stuff read and getting rid of the things that I just don't want to read from my bookshelves and my ereaders Maurice and Myrnin! I'll be doing this regular post to show my progress-what came into the house, what I read and DNFed and what was taken off the TBR.

The TBR total shown is the total number of books I own but have not read yet-wishlist books are NOT in my TBR! Re-reads have already been taken off the TBR when I first read them so don't count in reducing the pile but is just here as a note to help for end of year stats! The re-read total is the running total so far for the year, not what I've read each week.

BOOKS IN

-Books in refers to bought, downloaded or gifted THIS WEEK. 

-Books added are books I bought a while back but haven't yet added to my Goodreads TBR so they aren't newly bought, just newly added. Both of these categories together are my 'in' total. 

BOOKS OUT

-Books read and DNFed are obvious. 

-Deleted from the TBR are books I lost interest in reading, or sequels to DNFed books I no longer want to read and have been removed without starting to read them. These three categories added together are my books 'out'.

Sarah over at https://allthebookblognamesaretaken.blogspot.com/ is also trying to reduce her book pile and we hope to keep each other motivated! I'm posting my progress on the 7th, 14th, 21st and final day of the month and noting what is coming in and out of my house. Anyone else is welcome to join in. No rules, set up your your posts how you want and when you want just reduce the pile!

********************

Jun 1st-7th

TBR Start Total: 1062

BOOKS IN:

New Books In: 

Old Books Added:

BOOKS OUT:

Books Read:

Books DNF:

Others Deleted From TBR:

Rereads this year: 2

New Total: 1062
Nothing to report for week one this month. No book buys or books read.
********************
Jun 8th-14th
TBR Start Total: 1062

BOOKS IN:
New Books In: 16
Old Books Added: 0

BOOKS OUT:
Books Read: 1
Books DNF: 0
Others Deleted From TBR: 0

Rereads this year: 2

New Total: 1077 
********************
Jun 15th-21st
TBR Start Total: 1077

BOOKS IN:
New Books In: 6
Old Books Added: 0

BOOKS OUT:
Books Read: 11
Books DNF: 5
Others Deleted From TBR: 3

Rereads this year: 2

New Total: 1063
This was a very good week and I've repaired most of the damage caused by the holiday book buying! Hurrah! Next week hopefully will get things fully back on track!
********************
Jun 22nd-30th
TBR Start Total: 1063

BOOKS IN:
New Books In: 6
Old Books Added: 0

BOOKS OUT:
Books Read: 10
Books DNF: 0
Others Deleted From TBR: 1

Rereads this year: 2 

New Total: 1058
Total is on the move downwards again after a good reading week. Hopefully I'll keep that going over the summer! 

Chuckles Mini Reviews Catchup

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! So lets catch up with some reviews from May and June!

1) Johnathan Davis-900 Miles 
John is a killer, but that wasn't his day job before the Apocalypse. In a harrowing 900 mile race against time to get to his wife just as the dead begin to rise, John, a business man trapped in New York, soon learns that the zombies are the least of his worries, as he sees first-hand the horror of what man is capable of with no rules, no consequences and death at every turn. Teaming up with an ex-army pilot named Kyle, they escape New York only to stumble across a man who says that he has the key to a rumored underground stronghold called Avalon..... Will they find safety? Will they make it to John's wife before it’s too late?

This was actually a decent zombie adventure but from page one I just hated the two MCs which made it very tough to root for them. They start trapped in an office building together as people die around them, and make their esvcape from the city with the help of armed men who get them out. It is on the road that they help an injured man who claims to have tickets to a mysterious safe compound where they can safely wait out the apocalypse. John thinks a short stay there to get help with a rescue for his pregnant wife sounds ideal.

The problem for me is that John is against anyone who is bald, fat, disabled, female or trying to help their fellow man while Kyle hates rich people. As the apocalypse begins, John thinks up snide nicknames for those around him and sneers at their fate ( ie his dead boss referred to as 'formerly fat b*****d')and sneers at anyone trying to come up with a plan as 'taking over'. Why don't YOU do something, eh John??? Those lazy people on mobility scooters deserve to be eaten, his fat boss who eats a lot in his office deserves to be eaten, the janitors who try to fight the zombies are stupid so they also deserve to be eaten, 'Little Patty' the female trying to organise survivors maybe doesn't deserve it quite as much but she kind of does, and there is the bald man, named Mr Cul-de-sac because his hair meets a dead end. There is a lot of fat shaming going on whioch various descriptions of how fat, ugly and disgusting they are. All rich people are asshats, even as John aspires to promotion in the same company to be a rich guy. Funny how he thinks going on this trip when his pregnant wife begged him to stay with her as she was due soon doesn't view himself badly. I hated John and hoped he'd be eaten.

It's a shame as I liked the Avalon plot and the twists that follow as they find out the secrets of the safe haven. I liked getting the true version of the rich man with the tickets. The twists were interesting and well written, and the fight scenes in Avalon were enjoyable. I didn't like the main characters though a few support characters were interesting, and I really didn't like the ending, though that is personal preference really. I just felt that this book could have been really good with better MCs and I don't want to read the next book with them in it.

Read May 2019
2.5 stars.

2) EL Montclair-The Sky Grew Dark 
The unthinkable has happened. Biological warfare has been unleashed on Americans and it seems their only choice is to flee or die. Struggling to survive, a family takes refuge in a cave by the sea and finds out there might be another option. 

A family have been preparing a cave with supplies in case of a specific attack on their country that they get advanced warning of. When the call comes, they flee to their safe haven and set up a small community in the cave system. The need for supplies and information gradually draws them outside and puts them into new danger.

I liked the idea of this story. Living in a cave for months after a biological attack would probably protect you from some of the dangers, as would staying away from other people. I liked the idea of them depending on each other but needing to do things like gather medicine, plant a veggie patch, breed rabbits and find out information. It was well enough written and I am curious about what happens next. But there is a big glaring issue that ruined the book for me. Most of the book was all tell and little show. We are told by the MC that a warning came, they grabbed supplies and rushed to the cave. We didn't see it happen in real time, which would have been better for character development. I wanted to see the panic and the escape. I also wonder WHY if you knew an attack would be coming, why would you get pregnant?

We don't see or hear of when the actual attacks come as our group are already hidden in the cave when it happens or how they came to know the people who warned them. We don't see any of the planning, which I love in this genre. There is very little conversation in the beginning as the MC tells us what topics were discussed by what people, she tells us who decides to do what, she tells us what happened to her family members on their trips outside. All the characters feel flat because we never see their personality or see events through their eyes-it is all told by the MC. What is going on in Joey's mind for example? The book lacks emotion because of the lack of development so the impact of people dying isn't there for me either. I was also annoyed by the prologue giving away a major plot twist in advance. I HATE that. I want to see a death as it happens not know in advance a few lines in! It ruins it! The frustrating thing is that had the book been show instead of tell, it could have been a little gem. As it was it was a bit flat compared to others in the genre.

Read June 2019
3 stars. 

3) Jon Athan-Butcher Road
Austin and Anna had planned a simple trip. Austin would visit Las Vegas for work and Anna would tag along. The couple, however, were not aware of the terror lurking on Butcher Road – a lonely road plagued by violent murder and human trafficking. When they stumble upon a wrecked station wagon and a bloodied hitchhiker, the pair find themselves trying to survive a terrifying night... 

Anna is bored on the road trip to Vegas until Austin stops the car at the scene of an accident. When he takes a closer look he sees that the two dead people in the car have been brutally murdered. With no phone signal, they continue the journey, hoping to report it soon-and then they see a blood covered man walking at the side of the road. Anna is adamant that he might be the killer but Austin decides to ask if the man needs a ride-a decision he will soon come to regret.

Anna seems like a bit of an airhead to start with but being a horror film fan, she is well aware that picking up blood covered strangers close to the scene of a murder is not a sensible idea! But Austin the idiot refuses to listen and offers Dante a lift. From the start, they can tell that there is something not right with the man and they decide to ditch him at the nearby gas station. However Dante has other ideas about what is going to happen next and it becomes a night from hell for the couple and other people who are out on the same road that night. I don't want to say any more but the book very much reminds me of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which the author readily admits to. It is a bloody and gory story but there is no sexual violence in it. It was another decent story from an author whose work I am enjoying so far.

Read June 2019
3 stars.

4) Norman Christof-Destination Lost
A massive EMP explodes, transforming Garrett and Holly's romantic getaway into a floating death trap. Reviving their troubled marriage in a tropical paradise seemed like a good idea ... until the apocalypse arrived. Now, they have to deal with desperate passengers on a crowded, crippled cruise ship. Unbeknown to them, another disturbance looms menacingly on the horizon. Their daughter Becky finds herself trapped in a half-completed skyscraper fifty-four floors above New York City. Her world comes crashing down. This morning she thought she had her whole life ahead of her. Now she must make alliances in a battle zone littered with people scrambling to survive. Life and death choices lurk around every corner.  

The plot in this was so big you could drive a bus through it. I actually found Becky's adventure a bit more interesting. I liked the helicopter crash into the building, trying to save her boss and find a way down to the ground from a half finished building whose lift stops working. The detail was good and I liked Becky and William. Their journey continues after getting out the building with trying to find police and firemen to rescue Wayne. They manage to get involved in various dangerous situations as they move through the city.

Then it was Garrett and Holly, her estranged parents. Holly seems semi-sensible which explains why she left him in the first place, but he is a total idiot. A kid on the ship tells him about an EMP and some shady people who seem to be plotting something on board. Instead of sensible discussion with the crew where he calmly reports everything, he comes across as a ranting idiot who the crew decide to ignore. Breaking the rules, the couple go belowdecks and witness a man shooting a woman in a struggle for a bag so action man wannabe architect and construction site foreman Garrett decides to start following the man and his friend. Later he decides to confront the man with the gun several times like a total moron. I was getting so annoyed with Mr Hero Complex trying to drag his poor wife into various dangerous situations. We even have a James Bond moment where the bad guy confesses his crimes to Garrett! I got sick of him pulling stupid stunts and lost interest in his exploits. 

The book was ok I guess and I did finish it but as well as Garrett, I was a bit annoyed with Wayne's rescue dominating the book and then being abandoned without resolution at the end. Overall it was a frustrating story for me and I won't be reading on with the series.

Read June 2019
2.5 stars.  

Mid-Year Freak Out Tag

I saw the tag first this year on Erica's blog https://www.ericarobynreads.com/ . This tag was originally created by IsThatChami and Earl Grey Books https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6H3Tx2nh7s 

Is it that time again??? How did it get to halfway through the reading year without me noticing! I'm so far behind!!! *panics* But I'm taking time out to do this fun tag again that looks at my reading year so far. Wanna join in? You're tagged!

1) The best book you've read this year
I totally loved this book! Tyrion is so funny and I loved following Ser Barriston Selmy's plotline. I didn't want to put the book down.

2) The best sequel you've read in 2019
I don't want to choose A Dance With Dragons again so the next best sequel was this one.

3) New release you haven't read yet, but want to
This is a recent buy but I love sharks and want to read this soon!

4) Most anticipated release for the second half of the year
There are a few Game of Thrones releases that I have my eye on but they are expensive. I am looking forward to this though.

5) Biggest disappointment
There have been quite a lot! Out of those I finished, this was pretty disappointing.

6) Biggest surprise
There were quite a few surprises in my reading. I didn't expect to like this one and I really enjoyed it!

 
7) Favourite new-to-you or debut author
I haven't read many new-to-me authors yet but I loved Lady Colin's two royal family books!
 

 
8) Newest fictional crush
I don't obsess over fictional characters in this way. 
 
9) Newest favourite character
Brooks, a Fae who is also known by his Drag Queen alter-ego Pussy Willow.

 
10) Book that made you cry
I had tears in my eyes when a favourite character was in real danger!

 
11) Book that made you happy
This book had quite a few laughs in it and it was fun to look at the political events of 2014 again.

12) Favourite book to film adaptation
I haven't read any that fit into this exactly but this book does cover part of the plot that was made into the film.
 

 
13) Favourite post you have done this year
I don't really look back at my blog posts!

14) Most beautiful book you have bought this year
SM Wilson-Extinction Trials Rebel

 
15) What books do you need to read before the end of the year
About 800 of them??? I'm really keen to get into these books this year.

Wrapping things up:   
I've read a lot of short stories and shorter novellas this year so I need to step up my reading and get more normal sized books read, especially in series I need to catch up with!