69:100 Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Richard is a bland, ordinary person.  He works at a bland, ordinary job and lives in a bland, ordinary flat.  Until the day that a woman falls completely out of nowhere at his feet, bleeding everywhere.  Nevermind that Richard's fiance is furious that he would want to get involved, Richard wraps the mysterious girl up in his coat and takes her to his apartment to see how he can help her.

That's when everything starts getting weird.

Door isn't from London Above and people are out to kill her. She talks to rats who apparently bring her messages, two shady looking men come to Richard's apartment looking for her but when they barge in she is nowhere to be found while they are there but as soon as they leave she emerges as if she had been there all along, and the friend that Richard drops her off with doesn't seem quiet like any person Richard has ever seen before.

But now Richard is ready to get back on with his bland, ordinary life except that now no one can see him.  Cabs don't stop, the subway train doors try to close on him, his apartment is rented out while he's standing in it, his office stuff is packed up while he is asking what is going on.  Even his friends and fiance don't recognize him at all.  Stunned, he goes back to where he left Door to see if she can help him regain his life.

And then things get really weird as he is lead to London Below. An entire city beneath the one he thought he knew with strange people and even stranger creatures and where nothing works the way he thinks it should.  But Door is still in danger and Richard finds the strength and courage he never knew he had in London Below.


Apparently this is one of Mr. Gaiman's early works and there have been a few editions where things have actually been changed to create the one he really wanted to release.  The version I read is from 2001 so I don't think it's that one.  Still, it was a wonderfully fun read although I found the ending a bit too predictable and pat. 


Page count: 370p/18,443p ytd/327,138p lifetime

68:100 War and Marketing by Stefon Mears

Derek has always been shy and quiet but he also has a special gift for finding things.  What that means in practical terms is that he has made a nice living finding paintings or other items that people want and will pay nicely for which makes him a comfortable living.  However, recently Earth has been at war with an alien species and Derek wants it to stop before this planet is destroyed.  So he starts asking himself the question, "what do the aliens want?" and his gift finds him the answer as always.

A fun little story about how things aren't always as they seem.


Page count: 21p/18,073p ytd/326,768p lifetime

67:100 The Ancient American World by William L. Fash & Mary Lyons

My review from 5 years ago (which includes a review from a few years before that:

<i>Middle-School Ancient History.  Here's my review from a few years ago:

<i>This covers the MesoAmerican, Incan, Maya, and other cultures of South and Middle America from 5000BCE to the Spanish conquistadors of the 1400 & 1500s.  There were chapters on several cultures I don't remember having learned of before and it was amazing to see the incredible art and ways they came up with to not only survive but thrive and what rich cultures came and went during that time.  As always, the more I read this series of history books the more impressed I am with them.  Much more detail in these than even my high schoolers World History text.

This time had the added bonus in that a few years ago, my family and I took a trip were we got to see some of the ancient Maya ruins and speak with some of their descendants so that part of the book definitely had a deeper resonance with me this time around in a very wonderful way. </i>


Page count: 176p/18,052p ytd/326,747p lifetime

66:100 Skydiving to the Gods by Stefon Mears

Eric Jarlsson was a thrill seeker.  You name it and if it was dangerous, a chance he may not walk away, he was down for it.  When he met Janice doing base jumping in New York, he thought he had found the perfect woman.  And for three years, it was perfect up until their third anniversary when she came up with the perfect way to kill him in a skydiving accident...the only problem is that there was no way for her to know the secret that might save him since he did not yet know himself...

Fun story playing with old Norse mythology in a modern tale.


Page count: 41p/17,876p ytd/326,571p lifetime

New Releases I'm Looking Forward To: 4th Quarter 2019

My usual disclaimer:

Let me state, this is really based on authors or series that I'm already reading since those are the things I follow.  I'm not paid to write this blog nor do I have any affiliations with any publishers so I don't receive free books or advance notice of things except what I glean off Facebook from people who do have those contacts or what I research on my own (which again, leads back to authors that I'm already reading).  Maybe someday I'll be one of those who has the contacts and gets ARCs but it's not today.

Well, adding school to my already hectic life has definitely been challenging.  I'm still trying to figure out how to balance work, homeschooling, college, housework, all the kid activities (bowling, archery, soccer, and gymnastics currently), family life, social life, and down time for things like reading.  Not gonna lie, it's been hard but there are always books to look forward to that I will some day find the time to read.

Starting this list off with what looks to be an amazing anthology of women writers spinning tales of witches and witchcraft, both the good and the evil with Hex Life.  It caught my attention since it has Kelley Armstrong and Rachel Caine whom I enjoy and of course, opens me up to several new writers as well.  Can't wait!

Release date - October 1

Next up is Sharpest Sting by Jennifer Estep, the 18th book in the Elemental Assassin series.  Gin is still trying to figure out what the heck is up with the Circle and dear old Uncle Mason but as she digs deeper, she will uncover secrets that may have been better left off buried.

Release date - October 8

October is just filled with fun stuff coming out as Kelley Armstrong releases Wolf's Bane which is the first of a YA duology featuring Kate and Logan Danvers.  The twins are now 16 and have been sent off to a supernatural teen leadership conference but of course, something is terribly amiss and the twins are going to get to the bottom of it.  I'm excited to return to this universe.

Release date - October 15

I'm so far behind on the Jane Yellowrock series by Faith Hunter but I'm still looking forward to Shattered Bonds because it lets me know that Jane is still going strong and waiting for me to find time to read her adventures.  The synposis doesn't look good with her going off to the mountains to grieve the loss of friends (please not Molly!) and sick from a disease brought about by her magic though.

Release date - October 29

And the month wraps up with the biggest present ever from Seanan McGuire with Laughter at the Academy.  A collection of tons of her short pieces from all different genres spanning more than a decade. I love her patreon stuff (even if some of it scares the crap out of me) and I'm super excited to read what she has put together.

Release date - October 31

This list ends with the release of Dead Astronauts by Jeff VanderMeer.  This book looks incredibly bizarre with a messianic fox, a huge fish, band of rebels, a homeless woman, and many more unlikely characters trying to save Earth but I'm very intrigued.

Release date - December 3

65:100 The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin

The 2nd book in the Broken Earth Trilogy.  Now we know who Essun was and how her choices have shaped her over her lifetime.  She has come to Castrima and found Alabaster again and he has a task that he cannot complete and will ask her to do for him. He will train her to be his weapon, to return the Moon to Father Earth and end the Seasons and change the world forever in ways they can barely contemplate.

But what of her daughter, Nassun, who was taken by her father after he killed their son?  Essun still longs to find her but fate has had other plans.  Nassun walked in on her father, Jija, as he was standing over the body of her brother, Uriche, and she had almost no time to make a choice and she chose to live.  That meant going off with her father wherever he led, learning to read his moods and how to manipulate him so he wouldn't kill her too for the crime of being as she was made, an orogene.  Their path led them eventually to the Antartics where Jija had heard that there was still a functioning Fulcrum and a cure to make orogenes normal.  What they found instead was a damaged Schaffa, who had been Essun's Guardian, who only partly remembered who he was and what his job as a Guardian was along with a small group of orogenes and few more damaged Guardians working with them.  Now Nassun has a place to belong with people who can accept her for who and what she is, and Schaffa who will love her as she feels her parents should have but didn't.  But this is a Season and everything is changing and there is no staying still and no going back, even to the child that Nassun was before this all began.

Wow!  More compelling than the first one.  Shifting between Nassun and Essun, seeing how alike they are but how time and different choices have shaped them.  Beautifully woven and the characters are so rich and deep that it's hard to put down.  Can't wait to read the next one.


Page count: 410p/17,835p ytd/326,530p lifetime

64:100 Halting State by Charles Stross

An in-game bank robbery in a virtual world with the potential for severe real world consequences.  It's not really what an every day detective is trained to handle.  Nor, for that matter, an every day forensic accountant.  But that's who is trying to solve this mystery along with an out of work gamer and game developer.  Of course, when they start digging into the mystery further and further, they find that it goes much deeper and involves much bigger players than they first imagined and they are in way over their heads.

I thought the premise was interesting but the execution lacked a lot.  It went too far into technical jargon when it wasn't necessary just to try to be geeky but the characters were generally shallow and boring and the plot overly complicated but then everything wrapped up simply with a bow at the end.  I've heard good things about Charles Stross's writing so I'm not sure if this was not a good example or if he's just not my cup of tea.



Page count: 380p/17,425p ytd/326,120 lifetime

63:100 This Man Who Calls Me Brother

Set in the time of slavery in South America by the Portuguese, there are those that do not understand the desire for freedom until a choice is given, taken away, and then given again.  When someone holds their bloody hand out to you, what do you choose?

A simple tale of choices and why we choose.

Page count: 27p/17,045p ytd/325,740p lifetime