Classic adventure tale. My only other reading of Verne's work was 20,000 Leagues which I had a mixed opinion of. On the whole, I enjoyed this one much more. Less time was spent classifying and more time spent on the human interaction and self-reflection but still managing to be scientific in feeling. Similar stories in some regards, especially in comparing the Professor and the Sea Captain. Dogmatically pursuing their ideals without any real regard for those who get dragged along. Even still, I admired his tenacity while I found the nephew harder to relate to. He whined incessantly and it felt like he was only along to try and show his uncle where he was wrong and thus providing his uncle with the means to show off his superior knowledge.
Still a fascinating read and has me wanting to read more of his work in the future.
Page count: 282p/20,183p
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Saturday, May 26, 2012
110:62 Grave Dance by Kalayna Price
2nd in the Alex Price series. Left foots are being found, some still in shoes but there are no signs of how they were detached nor any other body parts. Eventually Alex is brought in and with the help of a friend, tries to raise a shade with no success. All they can get is the shade of a dancing left foot. Unfortunately it looks like even that is too much information and soul constructs are now coming after Alex from all over the place.
Somehow Finn is involved with this. He disappeared almost immediately after the last case and shows up now on her front door badly wounded. Caleb doesn't trust him, Death doesn't like him, & he's the Queen's Bloody Hands but still Alex feels compelled to help him & he her but it's a dangerous road they must travel through the kingdoms of fairie and beyond.
In all, a good book. Pace was better than the first one and the story was engaging but she still gets a bit repetitive. Some avenues of exploration have been left open that look promising for future books.
Page count: 400p/19,901p ytd
Somehow Finn is involved with this. He disappeared almost immediately after the last case and shows up now on her front door badly wounded. Caleb doesn't trust him, Death doesn't like him, & he's the Queen's Bloody Hands but still Alex feels compelled to help him & he her but it's a dangerous road they must travel through the kingdoms of fairie and beyond.
In all, a good book. Pace was better than the first one and the story was engaging but she still gets a bit repetitive. Some avenues of exploration have been left open that look promising for future books.
Page count: 400p/19,901p ytd
Thursday, May 24, 2012
110:61 Blackout by Mira Grant
The end of the Newsflesh trilogy. Georgia has been brought back as a clone by the CDC in order to try and control Shaun. The EIS wants to get this version (7c who is 97% accurate) out before that happens. Shaun is going more and more insane due to Georgia's death and is working with Dr. Abby to try and find out who created the mosquitoes that are now able to spread a KA outbreak. What's left of his team (Mahir, Maggie, Becks, and Alaric) are still with him off the grid trying to break this story open but Alaric's main concern is his sister who is trapped in FL after the outbreak there...especially since it looks like the government is considering FL a loss and is pulling out but not letting the survivors leave.
So what happens when all these pieces that have been thrown out there finally start coming together? That is the story that is Blackout. Ms Grant does a fine job of weaving it all together using the voices of Georgia and Shaun in the very believable world that she has created. That being said tho, there were a few points that I was disappointed in. First, I HATE when authors bring people they've killed back from the dead. It always seems like a cheat to me and while she did it better than most, I'm still not a fan of it. I think it cheapened the death of Georgia in the first place which was one of the most poignant death scenes I've ever read. Second, I felt the wrap-up of all the conspiracies being easily handed to them by the President and VP on a silver platter was a bit too pat of an answer. I think it would have been more in keeping with the other books to have Shaun finish going crazy because Georgia really was dead but yet he and his team find the information they were seeking and blown the whole thing open. So for me, this book stands out at the weakest of the three. That's not a knock as it is still an absolutely engaging, mesmerizing, and haunting tale of love, government conspiracy, and zombies and better than the majority of tripe being put out and it had a very bar set for it which, imo, it feel just a bit short of.
Still....go read it. Seriously. And then Rise Up!
Page count: 659p/19,501p ytd
So what happens when all these pieces that have been thrown out there finally start coming together? That is the story that is Blackout. Ms Grant does a fine job of weaving it all together using the voices of Georgia and Shaun in the very believable world that she has created. That being said tho, there were a few points that I was disappointed in. First, I HATE when authors bring people they've killed back from the dead. It always seems like a cheat to me and while she did it better than most, I'm still not a fan of it. I think it cheapened the death of Georgia in the first place which was one of the most poignant death scenes I've ever read. Second, I felt the wrap-up of all the conspiracies being easily handed to them by the President and VP on a silver platter was a bit too pat of an answer. I think it would have been more in keeping with the other books to have Shaun finish going crazy because Georgia really was dead but yet he and his team find the information they were seeking and blown the whole thing open. So for me, this book stands out at the weakest of the three. That's not a knock as it is still an absolutely engaging, mesmerizing, and haunting tale of love, government conspiracy, and zombies and better than the majority of tripe being put out and it had a very bar set for it which, imo, it feel just a bit short of.
Still....go read it. Seriously. And then Rise Up!
Page count: 659p/19,501p ytd
Friday, May 18, 2012
110:60 The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting
The sequel to The Story of Doctor Dolittle. In this one, Dolittle is told that another naturalist, Long Arrow, has gone missing so he immediately sets off with his friends to try and find him. It's another lovely and endearing tale of this sweet doctor and the animals who help him with his adventures.
Page count: 350p/18,842p ytd
Page count: 350p/18,842p ytd
110:59 Grave Witch by Kalayna Price
The first book in the Alex Craft series. Alex Craft is a grave witch. She can raise shades and speak to ghosts and is on good terms with Death. She's been asked in to investigate a high-profile murder and gets much more than she bargained for. Much, much more. Dark magic is involved and someone is definitely after her.
A good first novel for the series and really, I would have given it a 3.5 stars if I could have but I ended up rounding down because there were places were it was just a bit too slow paced and I think the writing needing to be a bit tighter. The characters were good and fairly lively. The main protagonist had a lot of good points but did she really have to remind herself every single time not to thank her fae roommate? There were a few points like that which were just unnecessarily repeated but yet she never wondered why the detective is wearing gloves? She wasn't as clueless as some heroines and I liked that even if she couldn't depend on the cavalry to come save her, she wasn't going to go down without a fight and gives it her all.
In all tho, it had some new and interesting twists in a new setting. Intriguing and fresh and I'm already starting the next one.
Page count: 325p/18,492p ytd
A good first novel for the series and really, I would have given it a 3.5 stars if I could have but I ended up rounding down because there were places were it was just a bit too slow paced and I think the writing needing to be a bit tighter. The characters were good and fairly lively. The main protagonist had a lot of good points but did she really have to remind herself every single time not to thank her fae roommate? There were a few points like that which were just unnecessarily repeated but yet she never wondered why the detective is wearing gloves? She wasn't as clueless as some heroines and I liked that even if she couldn't depend on the cavalry to come save her, she wasn't going to go down without a fight and gives it her all.
In all tho, it had some new and interesting twists in a new setting. Intriguing and fresh and I'm already starting the next one.
Page count: 325p/18,492p ytd
Saturday, May 12, 2012
110:58 The Phantom Tollbooth by Norman Juster
Milo is bored. School is boring, home is boring, his toys are boring, everything is boring...even that mysterious box that shows up in his bedroom with a strange tollbooth in it. But what he finds on the other side of that tollbooth is anything but boring. A whole new world opens up before him: one where you eat your own words, can collect sounds in a bottle, a symphony colors the world, and a little boy must rescue Princess Rhyme and Princess Reason from the Castle in the Air with the help of a watchdog named Tock and a Humbug.
One of those timeless children's classics that I somehow never got around to reading when I was actually a child. I decided to rectify that by doing a novel study with Jon. He was reluctant at first but after the first few chapters, we were both hooked. A lovely book that takes so much of what we say figuratively and literally turns it upon itself but in the end you learn that so many things are possible so long as you don't know they are impossible.
Page count: 256p/18,167p ytd
One of those timeless children's classics that I somehow never got around to reading when I was actually a child. I decided to rectify that by doing a novel study with Jon. He was reluctant at first but after the first few chapters, we were both hooked. A lovely book that takes so much of what we say figuratively and literally turns it upon itself but in the end you learn that so many things are possible so long as you don't know they are impossible.
Page count: 256p/18,167p ytd
110:57 Undead and Unwed by MaryJanice Davidson
The first book in the Queen Betsy or Undead series (I've seen it called both). Out of work secretary is hit and killed by a car and wakes up a few days later in the morgue and walks out. It takes a while but Betsy eventually figures out that she's a vampire but when she finally finds more of her kind, it becomes apparent that she is unique in her abilities to handle sunlight, crosses, and her hunger. She is, in fact, the long awaited fulfillment of prophecy for the undead queen. She doesn't want any of this however and wants to just go back to her old life but there are vampire factions that will not allow this and one of them comes bearing designer shoes...
I have to admit, I've seen this series around and heard friends talk about it and had pretty much brushed it off as too chick lit for my tastes. Then I decided I might give it a chance and had started picking up used copies of the books in the series as I found them cheaply but still didn't read them and had actually boxed them up when I had to pare my book shelves down recently. I only bought and read this one for a book challenge as it was the only series I could think of that started with 'U'.
I'm so glad I read it! It was light and funny and it never took itself seriously. It never pretended to be something more than it was which was a light, fun read. I actually find myself looking forward to getting the rest out of storage eventually, filling in the holes and reading through them. I can only hope they are as entertaining as this one was.
Page count: 255p/17,911p ytd
I have to admit, I've seen this series around and heard friends talk about it and had pretty much brushed it off as too chick lit for my tastes. Then I decided I might give it a chance and had started picking up used copies of the books in the series as I found them cheaply but still didn't read them and had actually boxed them up when I had to pare my book shelves down recently. I only bought and read this one for a book challenge as it was the only series I could think of that started with 'U'.
I'm so glad I read it! It was light and funny and it never took itself seriously. It never pretended to be something more than it was which was a light, fun read. I actually find myself looking forward to getting the rest out of storage eventually, filling in the holes and reading through them. I can only hope they are as entertaining as this one was.
Page count: 255p/17,911p ytd
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