83:100 The Incident on Gamma 7 by Stefon Mears

Commander Teague knows that they are coming for him.  It's only a matter of time and his gut is saying it will happen soon.  After all the special ops missions he led to keep the other species at war to try and keep them from turning their attention towards the humans, there is the one that brought his house of cards down.

Short but engaging tale.


Page count: 20p/14,588p ytd/306,604p lifetime

82:100 Holes by Louis Sachar

Review from 2013:

Stanley Yelnats's family has always been unlucky because of a curse placed on them by Madame Zeroni generations back. Now the curse has struck him as he was arrested after some shoes fell out of the sky and landed on his head as he was walking home from school and it just so happens that they were the shoes of a famous baseball player who had donated them to a charity auction. Now Stanley is sentenced to Camp Green Lake where all the kids are forced to dig huge holes every day since "it's good for their character". Obviously the warden is looking for something but no one has any idea what. While at the camp, Stanley meets Zero and they start to become friends but Zero may just hold the key to removing the curse from Stanley's family.

A cute book and I love the weaving of all the different parts of the tale and then how it all comes together neatly at the end.



Page count: 233p/14,801p ytd/306,584p lifetime

81:100 Magic Triumphs by Ilona Andrews

The conclusion of the Kate Daniels series.  The enemy who has been testing the edges of things (seriously, read Iron and Magic before this one to be introduced to them) has declared war on Kate and her allies.  This enemy almost destroyed her family before and the witches' prophecies of blood and fire are only growing stronger. 

Kate knows that this is not a war she can win but she also knows that if she doesn't, everything and everyone that she knows and love will die.  There is no place they can go to escape this.  She will have to ally herself with not only Roland but many others who she formally fought against.  Curran will do anything to keep her and their son safe, even becoming a god to sacrifice himself if needed. Kate will draw on any and all power to keep Curran and their son safe as well but will it be enough?

This is a fast-paced, hit you upside the head multiple times, tale.  Suspense, laughter, war, love, it's got it all and gives it all in spades.  I've loved this series and want to find time to go back and reread it from start to finish again.  I know that the main series is done now but I hope we get spinoffs from time to time so we can watch Conlan grow and see Kate and Curran's future.


Page count: 336p/14,568 ytd/306,584p lifetime

80:100 Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

The Himba people have never left their homeland, much less traveled to the stars, but Binti has been accepted to go to the Oomza University which is offworld.  She knows she cannot tell her family, they will never approve, so she sneaks away one night to board the ship that will take her. 

She is other to everyone.  No one is familiar with the Himba people as they remain isolated and do not travel but Binti hopes that those traveling to the University will learn to treat her as an equal.  On the trip, things are going well and she is even starting to make some friends until the ship is attacked by the Meduse.

Earth and the Meduse have been at war for a long time and this is just the latest strike.  Now the Meduse have killed everyone on board except for Binti for there is something about her that is different.  Now she has the chance to try and be a bridge between the Meduse and Oomza University in order to bring peace. 

This was truly a remarkably crafted tale.  At less than 100p long, it was tightly woven with amazingly detailed characters and universe.  Ms. Okorafor is an incredibly talented wordsmith and worldbuilder and I can't wait to read more of her work.


Page count: 96p/14,232p ytd/306,248p lifetime

79:100 Sloth Wisdom compiled by Talia Levy

A cute little book of quotes on learning how to take it easy and chillax more. You know, channel your inner sloth. 


Page count: 96p/14,136p ytd/306,152p lifetime

78:100 Witches Wild by Yasmine Galenorn

Maddie, Sandy, and Fata Morgana roamed the countryside for decades indulging their whims and destroying vampires.  Then the inevitable falling out and Fata returning to the arms of the ocean.  Now Fata has returned to join up with Maddie and Sandy again with warnings from the waves but her moods shift like the tides and her moods are ever changing as the sea. Maddie and Sandy must learn how to sail them again if they hope to survive not just the latest threat that Fata brings warnings of but Fata herself.

Really enjoying this series and I liked the focus on this one, less on the big bad they need to deal with and more on the conflicted feelings of Fata. 


Page count: 342p/14,040p ytd/306,056p lifetime

77:100 Big Kahuna Plays for His Soul by Stefon Mears

Akela "Big Kahuna" Kapule is a pool wizard who protects the pool halls around Portland, Oregon.  He can see the future in the chalk dust on his cue and it has told him that he is needed in the one of the worst pool halls around tonight and that his soul is in jeopardy.

A tale of demons and wizards battling it out on the pool table.  What could be more fun!


Page count: 23p/13,698p ytd/305,714p lifetime

76:100 The Most Important Sound in Space by Stefon Mears

A long mission in space but still a normal walk outside the craft to do some basic maintenance.  They always told Blaine he was a bit off for constantly listening to the sound of his own breathing but hearing the air flowing always brought him a lot of comfort.  Now though, it may be the only thing that helps keep him alive when things go off the rails.

Short tale, fun read.


Page count: 23p/13,675p ytd/305,691p lifetime

75:100 Siren's Song by Yasmine Galenorn

The third book in the Bewitching Bedlam series.  Sandy, Maddie's best friend, is almost run down at the grocery store. And by almost run down, I mean they tried to hit her with the car several times.  Definitely no accident.  Then her new restaurant is torched just before it opens.  Now she is in a coma and her dreams are coming to life and considering the kind of life she has led and how long it is, there are things of nightmare in her mind that the town is not prepared to try and deal with.  Sandy's boyfriend, the weretiger Max, is beside himself and together with Maddie and Aegis, they are tearing the town apart trying to discover who is attacking her and stop them no matter the cost.

I'm really enjoying this series and the characters and I hope to see much more of them.


Page count: 338p/13,652p ytd/305,668p lifetime

74:100 The Ambitious Ocean by Seanan McGuire

Patrick is upset that Countess Winterrose would interfere and lie to him about Dianda so he goes to confront her on it but the Patrick that comes out after that meeting is not the same one that went in.  He is now cold and callous to those he once treated as friends, the pixies are shooed away and Daffodil actually struck, is dismissive of Carmichael, and now plans to kill Dianda for daring to try and ensnare him. 

And then Dianda and Sylvester figure out that something is very wrong and wrestle him into the sea where the ocean dissolves the spell that the Countess placed on him to make him into her idea of what a Doane Sidhe should behave like.  Thank goodness for that.  Now if he can just keep Dianda from going after the Countess herself...

Love reading about Patrick and Dianda and so glad I know how it will end up before getting stories like these.  LOL


Page count: 20p/13,314p ytd/305,330p lifetime

73:100 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

This is a story of Francie who grew up among the working poor in Brooklyn at the turn of the 19th century.  Frequently hungry, with little heat, and patched clothes, we watch Francie come of age with her brother Neely, and later a little sister as well.  Struggling to get an education, moving as they lose another place due to lack of funds, collecting pennies to have something to eat, Francie still wants to make something of herself, to find a way out, to read every book in the library.  Life is hard and it's not fair but she learns from her mother that you still just keep going.  And she does, even when it's not easy, even when her father dies, even when her mother sends her to work so her brother can keep getting his education.  She just keeps putting one foot in front of the other with a good heart and a good head.

A soft, quiet book that just lays it out how this family lived at that time, in that place. Beautifully descriptive, it's easy to just fall into it and then have to come back out into your own reality after having been so deep into their's.  I do understand why it's a classic and so many people read and reread it. 


Page count: 493p/13,294p ytd/305,310p lifetime