(A) means I listened to it.
(RR) means I re-read it.
(K) means I read it on my Kindle.
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I also put this information into goodreads.com. You can find me there with my gmail address (the.karend).
January 1, 2012 to Now: (latest finished on top)
Vintage Craft Workshop, Cathy Callahan
I am not likely to ever do any of the projects in this book, yet I am still so happy to have found it and read it. Like the author, I grew up in a crafty household and it was so fun to see some of the old projects I remember and learn more about the women behind them. I liked the colorful borders for each chapter. I was not a fan of some of the color schemes used for some of the contributor bios; things like orange text on a yellow orange background were too hard on my eyes.
Lover Reborn, J. R. Ward
As with most of the recent books, I felt there was one subplot too many, but the good news is none of the subplots made me want to skip right over them. Some of the things that happened don’t seem to be consistent with what I’ve learned of this world from past books, and I wish there’d been more explanation. I did like the development of the more interesting bad guys who’ve popped up recently and rather hope I get to read books about them one day.
Program or Be Programmed, Douglass Rushkoff
I never quite connected with this book—maybe because I am a programmer? I think it might be better read by someone who hasn’t already thought about most of the “10 commands” this book is structured around. I was most intrigued by the information on how a steady diet of MP3s appears to be reducing the current generation’s ability to distinguish among various sounds; I’d like to follow that thread, so for giving me that start, it was worth reading.
Heart of the Hunter, Lara Adrian writing as Tina St. John (K)
This is historical paranormal and that just doesn’t work as well for me as contemporary paranormal. I liked it well enough to think I’ll probably read the next book in the series, though.
Hark! A Vagrant, Kate Beaton
The whole idea of a book of cartoons with literary and historical themes made me smile, as did many of the cartoons themselves. The author’s notes were charming in a smartassed way and helped me understand some of the cartoons I didn’t quite get (not having the depth of knowledge of literature and history that I probably should).
Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins (K)
Not as engaging to me as the first book, and since it’s the middle of a trilogy of course it lacks a satisfying ending. Still worth reading.
Taste of Midnight, Lara Adrian (K)
The elements of a Midnight Breed novel, distilled to the bare bones. The romance got short shrift in favor of the action adventure; I would have preferred the other way around.
Must Love Hellhounds, Charlaine Harris, Nalini Singh, Ilona Andrews, Meljean Brook (K)
Not as hot as Burning Up, the anthology I read before this one. The Harris story is not set in her familiar Southern Vampire setting and didn’t pull me in. The Singh offering is part of her angels and vampires series, which I have read some of; I liked seeing the backstory to characters I knew from the novels. The Andrews is set in the Kate Daniels world, which I know only from the teasers in the back of the Edge books, but I didn’t feel confused as a result. The Brook is from a series I don’t know at all, but I enjoyed it.
Filming the Undead, Rod Durick
I don’t plan to make my own movie, much less a zombie movie, but picked this up from the library’s new acquisitions section because I was intrigued by the idea that enough people are out there making low budget zombie movies to make a market for this book. I found the sections on makeup the most interesting, probably because it was the most relatable to my life. If I were wanting to make a film, this did seem to lay out the steps and point out the things to be on top of in a clear, understandable way.
The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins (K)
Dystopian fiction is not high of my list of likes but I finally decided I needed to read this series. Now that I’ve finished the first book, I can see why it’s so popular. I had some quibbles with the world-building but often got so caught up in the story that I forgot about those things.
Lothaire, Kresley Cole
I was somewhat reluctant to start this 12th book in the series since the previous installment had not delighted me, and I already knew I was ambivalent at best about the hero in this one. I spent the first part of the book being confused about the heroine—somewhere along the line, I’d decided a different character was Lothaire’s mate so needed to let go of that. Once I’d gotten past that hurdle, I was hooked, and sped through the rest of the story. There were a couple plot points near the end that didn’t make a ton of sense to me; I might have to go back and re-read those sections to see if I misunderstood. I finished reading still ambivalent about the hero: more favorably disposed to him than when I started but still not sure which side he’s on.
Don’t Trade the Baby for a Horse, Wendy McClure (K)
I liked The Wilder Life and this short e-book has more stories and reflections in a similar vein. I read it pretty much in one sitting, but I’ll be revisiting my favorites (like the two “pig parts” vignettes).
Burning Up, Angela Knight, Nalini Singh, Virginia Kantra, and Meljean Brook (K)
This anthology is nice mix of stories. The Nalini Singh story is a human-changeling pairing; I’m not entirely sure where this fits into the Psy-Changeling timeline, but it was good to see some familiar characters in supporting roles here. The Angela Knight nicely pressed some of my hot buttons in a good way. The Virginia Kantra was both historical and paranormal; I thought it was sweet. The Meljean Brook is a new genre for me, steampunk romance, and I liked it a lot and wanted more.
Growing Up Amish, Ira Wagler (K)
I learned some things about the Amish that I didn’t know, but didn’t learn as much about the author as I’d expect from a memoir. At one point, he writes about a discussion he had with church officials, saying “They wanted the juicier details, and I didn’t let them down.” I definitely felt let down, since I read the whole book and have no clear idea what the juicier details were. Based on what is in this book, I feel like many of the people could have benefited greatly from talk therapy and/or antidepressants, but since they were Amish, both of those options seem to be off the table. There’s also a horse in the story that could have benefited greatly from having the vet called early on; why one was not is never really explained. A lot of things aren’t really explained, and that left me unsatisfied.
One Foot in the Grave, Jeaniene Frost
As with the first book in the series, I raced through this because I just wanted to keep reading. I ended up liking it just slightly less than the first one because the heroine does something quite dumb at a certain point and that was very disappointing.
Someone Else’s Twin: The True Story of Babies Switched at Birth, Nancy L. Segal
This took me a long time to get through because there wasn’t enough story here, and what there was didn’t make me feel much of anything. Nonfiction can be engaging; this wasn’t.
The text jumps around between recounting the author’s trip to Spain to conduct interviews with a set of switched twins and their family members and attorneys, dry retellings of the interviews themselves (conducted with a translator, since the author didn’t speak Spanish), and information about other switched twins and twin research projects the author has been involved in.
Darker After Midnight, Lara Adrian
This is one of my favorite series, and I pretty much enjoyed the heck out of most of this 10th installment. I had a couple quibbles with things like why no one who broke into a lab looking for data brought a thumb drive with them, but those were easy enough to skate past. When it came to the climax, though, I felt things got too grandiose. I was glad that the story arc that ran through all the books to date got wrapped up; I just wished it had wrapped up slightly differently.
Halfway to the Grave, Jeaniene Frost
I’m so glad I got over my hesitation that this would be too much urban fantasy and too little romance for me, because I loved this, finished it in a weekend, and have already ordered the next two books in the series.
Bayou Moon, Ilona Andrews
I sped through this pretty quickly. Enjoyed it slightly less than the first installment because the romance didn’t get as much attention as I’d hoped, I felt the hero was cheated out of a resolution he deserved, and there was some stupidness on the part of both hero and heroine at one point that just seemed unnecessary.
Noah, Jacquelyn Frank
On the minus side, there’s a lot of angst in this one and not much forward momentum in the larger story arc. On the plus, the heroine gets to kick a lot of butt and there are plenty of hot scenes.
Deadly Fear, Cynthia Eden
Reading this reality-based romance reminded me why I prefer paranormals: it’s easier to suspend disbelief if the universe of the book isn’t the one I live in. Also, violent acts perpetrated by paranormal/immortal beings in fiction don’t resonate in my brain in the same disturbing way ones done by characters who could be real people do. This book wasn’t a good fit for me.
100 Ideas That Changed Fashion, Harriet Worsley
The pictures are the best part of this; in a few cases, the text refers to images that aren’t included, and that was frustrating. The essays themselves often ended quite abruptly; I go the feeling the author just wanted to wrap up and move on to the next idea.
Dreams of a Dark Warrior, Kresley Cole
This installment of the Immortals After Dark series has so much overlap in time and setting with the previous book that I got confused, more than once feeling I’d already read it since I knew so much about the prison and what would happen. I didn’t much care for the hero, and the torture elements from the last book continued here, so this is far from my favorite in the series.
Following Ezra , Tom Fields-Meyer
This memoir by a Jewish father about his autistic son and the rest of their family wouldn’t seem to be in my wheelhouse, since I’m a non-Jewish non-parent who doesn’t have any relatives with autism, but I loved it. It was entertaining and funny and touching.
Fiction Ruined My Family, Jeanne Darst
There were some funny parts of this memoir but much of it made me angry and sad. Maybe that’s my own lingering issues from childhood coming out; having grown up with alcoholism and mental illness around me, it’s hard to see their charm. That’s not to say this isn’t a good, readable book; it is.
The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry, Jon Ronson
I hadn’t expected that reading about psychopaths would be as enjoyable as I found this book to be.
On the Edge, Ilona Andrews
I loved this, to the point where I carried it around with me and read it at times and in places where I don’t usually read. There’s a strong heroine, a richly developed world, a handsome hero, some drama, some romance, some humor. I don’t know why it took me so long to find this series, but I’m sort of glad it did since now I don’t have to wait for the next book.
Crouching Vampire, Hidden Fang, Katie MacAlister
I had to read this to get the ending that should have been in the previous book in the series (Zen and the Art of Vampires). The tone was still a bit too much on the madcap side for my taste though I did enjoy this more than the earlier book—until the very end, when I plot thread I’d hoped and assumed would get resolved did not. I’m not sure if there’s yet another book I need to read to find out how that turns out. Maybe I’ll just make up my own story for that part.
I’m Feeling Lucky, Douglas Edwards
This made a good companion to In the Plex, which I read at the end of last year; it gave me a personal perspective on some of the stories and events I remembered from the other book. I would have loved it if there were more reflection at the end—was it worth it to sacrifice so much family and personal time for an employer, even if it did make the author rich? I also hope Marissa Mayer writes her side of the story someday.
Play of Passion, Nalini Singh
This far into a series, it’s saying something that I’m still enjoying it as much as I am. The dominance issues rankle me a bit, but since they make sense in the world of the series, I can deal with it.
The Celery Stalks at Midnight, James Howe
Yay, Bunnicula’s back. This didn’t quite have the charm of the first book, but was much more enjoyable than the second one in the series.
Y: The Last Man, Vol. 2: Cycles, Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, and Jose Marzan
Still liking this series, though I’m enough of a wimp that some of the violence shocks me.
Howliday Inn, James Howe
I liked Bunnicula so much that I picked up the next in the series right away. The problem is there’s no Bunnicula in this one. He’s mentioned briefly, but does not appear, and all the action is bunny-free. There’s also a plot point that seems needlessly emotionally manipulative.
Bunnicula, Deborah Howe and James Howe
I never read this as a kid because I was 17 the year it was first published. As an adult, I found it charming. I was slightly disappointed at the lack of female characters—seems like with three animals and four people there could have been more than just the mom, who’s not a major player. The edition I read has an afterword about the writing of the book which was way sadder than I was prepared for (it also had a photo of early notes for the book which mentioned a sister in the list of characters; I wonder what happened to her).
Viking: The Long Cold Fire, Ivan Brandon and Nic Klein
I had trouble getting into this; the dialog is so sparse and the cuts between scenes so frequent that it was hard for me to follow the story or connect with any of the characters. I never quite sorted out who was in who in some cases. Then it just sort of ended, rather than being resolved or cliffhung. There were some interesting images, at least.
Y: The Last Man, Vol. 1: Unmanned, Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra
This one had me at the monkey on the cover. I do wonder how, in a world where food and fuel and other basics are scarce, the main character is able to keep his monkey in fresh diapers, but other than that minor quibble, I really really liked this. The premise is thought provoking, and there is some great art in here. I definitely want to see what happens in Volume 2.
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