The 9th book in the Elemental Assassin series. Gin is finally taking Jo-Jo up on her offer of a spa day at Jo-Jo's salon, along with her baby sister, Bria, and friend Roselyn. It's a nice break for an assassin but Gin's life is never that relaxing for long. As soon as her nails are done, Jo-Jo's sister and Gin's friend, Sophia, barges in suffering from gunshot wounds and telling them to run. The warning comes too late tho as Grimes, the man who had captured and tortured Sophia years ago, has come back for Sophia now that he has found out Fletcher, Gin's mentor and the assassin known as TinMan, is dead. Grimes is now a a gun dealer and a truly nasty piece of work in all sorts of ways. He and his sister are also deadly fire elementals and delight in torturing people using their power. Now he has Sophia and Jo-Jo is on the brink of death from being shot as well and Gin will not let anyone abuse her family in that manner. Grimes has just made the biggest mistake of his life...
I enjoyed this one as a nice quick read and a nice diversion from all the school stuff and it did that job admirably. It wasn't nearly as repetitious as previous ones (although the constant internal monologing does get a bit tiresome at times). I was glad to see Owen back and Gin getting some help and back-up instead of being a one-woman army taking out tons of people by herself but again, the story takes place over just a few days which doesn't allow for much character or over-arching story line development. I'd like to see a bit more of that with books taking place over a maybe a month or two instead of the recent trend towards we just see Gin right as a big bad thing happens and then it takes 1-2 days for her to kill everyone and story is over. The next one is supposed to be her background story so I'm hopeful.
Page count: 354p/26,947p ytd/171,347p lifetime
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
100:120 Ninja Meerkats: Clan of the Scorpion by Gareth P. Jones
A special tiger has been stolen from the Hong Kong Zoo, one who knows the Roar of Victory, and the Ninja Meerkats are pretty sure that their arch nemisis, The Ringmaster, is behind her disappearance. Can they get to Hong Kong and free her in time or will The Ringmaster finally have the world at his feet?
Yep, another book my 7yr old insisted I read because he loved it. It was kinda cute and good for the 6-9yr old set. I'm going to try desperately to get out of reading the rest of the series tho. Just not engaging for me.
Page count: 105p/26,593p ytd/170,993p lifetime
Yep, another book my 7yr old insisted I read because he loved it. It was kinda cute and good for the 6-9yr old set. I'm going to try desperately to get out of reading the rest of the series tho. Just not engaging for me.
Page count: 105p/26,593p ytd/170,993p lifetime
99:120 A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Read for 10th grade English which means I get to read it a total of four times. Here is my review from September 2009:
A story of growing up in a boys school during WWII, we follow Gene and his struggles with his friendship with Finny. We find in Finny, an intense character who seems to have little insight but is long on charisma and energy. His perceptions of the world are shallow but at the end we see that it was only by making things fit in his perception that kept him from fearing the unknown. Gene finds it impossible to have his own will when in the presence of Finny and much of the story is Gene's figuring out how to deal with his relationship with Finny, trying to categorize it and create reasons for Finny's behavior that are mostly only in his own head. When at last he breaks free of Finny, albeit unconsciously, it is with dramatic consequences.
I liked the pace of the book in that it was neither too slow to be plodding nor too quick so that it lost it's believability. An easy read on the surface with a lot of deeper undertones.
Page count: 204p/26,488p ytd/170,888p lifetime
A story of growing up in a boys school during WWII, we follow Gene and his struggles with his friendship with Finny. We find in Finny, an intense character who seems to have little insight but is long on charisma and energy. His perceptions of the world are shallow but at the end we see that it was only by making things fit in his perception that kept him from fearing the unknown. Gene finds it impossible to have his own will when in the presence of Finny and much of the story is Gene's figuring out how to deal with his relationship with Finny, trying to categorize it and create reasons for Finny's behavior that are mostly only in his own head. When at last he breaks free of Finny, albeit unconsciously, it is with dramatic consequences.
I liked the pace of the book in that it was neither too slow to be plodding nor too quick so that it lost it's believability. An easy read on the surface with a lot of deeper undertones.
Page count: 204p/26,488p ytd/170,888p lifetime
98:120 The Haunting of Derek Stone: City of the Dead by Tony Abbott
The first in another series by Tony Abbott (which is my 7yr old's favorite author). Derek Stone was on a train ride home with his father and brother when the bridge broke and their train car plummeted into a ravine. Derek survived but there has been no sign of his father and brother and they are presumed dead. Derek had some head trauma and is now hearing things in his left ear, the one that has been damaged most of his life. It sounds like whispering or voices but there is never anyone there. Weeks pass and then Derek's brother is found in an abandoned house near the ravine but after the first rush of happiness over having his brother back passes, Derek realizes that something is wrong with Ronny. As he is trying to figure out what is going on with his brother, he starts noticing that there are other people that were missing after the train wreck around here and they are all acting strangely and seem to be way too interested in him...
It's a pretty dark and spooky book, completely unlike Mr. Abbott's other series (Goofballs, Secrets of Droon, and Underworld) but he keeps it just light enough that there were no nightmares following my little guy's reading of it. In fact, we had to track down the 2nd book in the series which is apparently now out of print although it's only a few years old and he can't wait to read it. Tony Abbott, I don't know if you'll ever read this (or any of my reviews on your books) but thank you for creating books that my little one loves to read and can't put down. He continually states that you are his favorite author and he devours anything by you he can get his hands on.
Page count: 134p/26,284p ytd/170,684p lifetime
It's a pretty dark and spooky book, completely unlike Mr. Abbott's other series (Goofballs, Secrets of Droon, and Underworld) but he keeps it just light enough that there were no nightmares following my little guy's reading of it. In fact, we had to track down the 2nd book in the series which is apparently now out of print although it's only a few years old and he can't wait to read it. Tony Abbott, I don't know if you'll ever read this (or any of my reviews on your books) but thank you for creating books that my little one loves to read and can't put down. He continually states that you are his favorite author and he devours anything by you he can get his hands on.
Page count: 134p/26,284p ytd/170,684p lifetime
97:120 A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
The third book in the Song of Fire and Ice series. Joffrey Baratheon still sits on the Iron Throne, Robb Stark is now King of the North and battling the Lannisters and those that are backing Joffrey. Renly Baratheon is dead but Stannis Baratheon is in the favor of the priestess of the Lord of Light and while he lost the major offensive he is still alive to keep fighting for the throne that he feels is rightfully his. Daenerys is still far distant but continues in her quest to round up support for her claim as the last Targaryn and the Mistress of Dragons. While all of these people plot and war and deceive, there is another enemy coming down from the North with the winter and the wildlings will remind all those in the South why the Great Wall was built.
There is so much going on in this book. There are many different threads all being woven together and then apart and then brought together again in ways you hadn't imagined. It's a rich and complex world and I give props to GRRM for keeping it all straight and managing it in such a way that I'm able to keep it straight as well (for the most part LOL). I do have to say that I now completely hate Arya Stark and several other characters because I'm convinced that GRRM only writes likable characters in order for their deaths to hit you harder while the vile characters seem to go on forever and ever and if they do die, their death is in no way a worth punishment for the horrid things we've had to read about. If you've watched the show I can only say that yes the Red Wedding was horrible but this man obviously has issues with weddings in general. Any more would be a serious spoiler.
At this point, I'm now ahead of the show and am taking a brief break from the series to catch up on a few other series that have had books come out recently as well as some school reading. I do hope to finish the series by the end of the year tho as it really is fascinating but then again, I love good political intrigue and this has that in spades in a fantasy setting. Now if only someone I like could survive GRRM....
Page count: 924p/26,150p ytd/170,550p lifetime
There is so much going on in this book. There are many different threads all being woven together and then apart and then brought together again in ways you hadn't imagined. It's a rich and complex world and I give props to GRRM for keeping it all straight and managing it in such a way that I'm able to keep it straight as well (for the most part LOL). I do have to say that I now completely hate Arya Stark and several other characters because I'm convinced that GRRM only writes likable characters in order for their deaths to hit you harder while the vile characters seem to go on forever and ever and if they do die, their death is in no way a worth punishment for the horrid things we've had to read about. If you've watched the show I can only say that yes the Red Wedding was horrible but this man obviously has issues with weddings in general. Any more would be a serious spoiler.
At this point, I'm now ahead of the show and am taking a brief break from the series to catch up on a few other series that have had books come out recently as well as some school reading. I do hope to finish the series by the end of the year tho as it really is fascinating but then again, I love good political intrigue and this has that in spades in a fantasy setting. Now if only someone I like could survive GRRM....
Page count: 924p/26,150p ytd/170,550p lifetime
Saturday, September 14, 2013
96:120 Miss Buncle's Book by D.E. Stevenson
Miss Barbara Buncle lived a little life in the little village of Silverstream. It was a perfectly pleasant village, everything you would imagine in a small English country village until Miss Buncle wrote a book. It was a small thing that she was really hoping to sell for a modest amount, if at all possible, because she needed some money. Admitting to having no imagination, she observed all the people of her town and created a fictional town peopled with them under different names. After a bit, the story turned and the imagination she proposed not to have came into play in the form of the "golden boy". But what happens when the things the people in her book do start being done by the people in her sleepy little village? And all of Silverstream is in an uproar about the book having figured out they are the ones that are being told about, and now it's a bestseller, so what will they do when they figure out who "John Smith" is?
A book club read. I found it to be a fairly relaxed, light read that made me shake my head at some of the seemingly absurd situations that come about.
Page count: 304p/25,226p ytd/169,626p lifetime
95:120 Doctor Who: The Many Hands by Dale Smith
With the 10th Doctor as played by David Tennant and Marth Smith as played by Freema Agyeman.
It's Edinburgh, 1759, and there is a dead man climbing aboard the carriage of Benjamin Franklin. The dead start walking up out of the Loch and the preacher 12 years dead is trying to return to his flock and is bringing most of the cemetery with him. What they have in common is a strange hand attached to their chest but how is that causing the dead to walk again?
This one was slow and while I found the Doctor to be written fairly true, I thought Martha came off as much weaker with little personality and overall the story just wasn't very gripping.
Page count: 244p/24,922p ytd/169,322p lifetime
It's Edinburgh, 1759, and there is a dead man climbing aboard the carriage of Benjamin Franklin. The dead start walking up out of the Loch and the preacher 12 years dead is trying to return to his flock and is bringing most of the cemetery with him. What they have in common is a strange hand attached to their chest but how is that causing the dead to walk again?
This one was slow and while I found the Doctor to be written fairly true, I thought Martha came off as much weaker with little personality and overall the story just wasn't very gripping.
Page count: 244p/24,922p ytd/169,322p lifetime
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