(A) means I listened to it.
(BC) means I read it for a book club.
(RR) means I re-read it.
I also put this information into goodreads.com. You can find me there with my gmail address (the.karend).
January 1, 2010 to Now: (latest finished on top)
Wanderlust, Ann Aguirre
I liked seeing Sirantha Jax again, and I liked being surprised by several plot points. This book didn’t wrap up as satisfyingly as the first one did, but at least the third one is already out so I don’t have to wait to see what comes next. I felt the ending was a bit rushed—four planets in eight days with only a handful of sentences to cover them. I get that they’re not important to the plot, but I still would have liked to hear more about them. Maybe those worlds will get their time later.
Sea Witch, Virginia Kantra
It was refreshing to read about selkies—but since they were new to me, I wished for more world-building than I got in this book. I liked the heroine much more in the beginning of the book than the end. I am planning to read the next in the series to see if maybe things don’t turn out the way I think they did based on how this one ended.
Branded by Fire, Nalini Singh
It felt so good to get back to reading this series. I especially loved the beginning of this one.
Fire Someone Today, Bob Pritchett
This was given to all of the development team leaders at work—not exactly a title I want to be seen carrying around the office in this economy. It made me very tired just thinking about trying to do some of the things recommended (read more business publications, take people to lunch, build professional relationships). That’s probably why I don’t have my own business—I’d rather spend my energy doing other things.
The 5 Love Languages, Gary Chapman
I’m completely on board with the idea that people vary in what behaviors by their partners make them feel loved. I am not at all on board with the stereotypes and sexism that came through in the quizzes at the end of the book. There’s one for husbands and one for wives (my first question: why not just one quiz, worded gender neutrally?). Most of the questions are the same on both, with just husband or wife dropped into the wording as appropriate. But, and here’s where I got annoyed, the ones that differed appeared to support the “a good wife is a housewife” theory of marriage. For example, the quiz for husbands says “I feel loved when my wife does my laundry” while the wife’s version of that same question reads “I feel loved when my husband helps with the laundry”. It’s evidently unreasonable to expect a husband to actually do the laundry all by himself. Same with “When my wife cooks a meal for me, I know that she loves me” and “When my husband helps clean up after a meal, I know that he loves me”.
Nurture Shock, Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman
I was hooked by an early chapter when I recognized myself as the child praised for being smart who avoids trying new things for fear of failing at them. I found later chapters just as interesting, and liked the occasional personal anecdotes. I was left wanting more–about 1/4 of the pages are devoted to endnotes, most of which don’t have any additional information in them.
Feed Me, various, edited by Harriet Brown
This was a quick read, and I enjoyed most of the essays. I do wish it weren’t necessary to have so many books about female body image and dieting, but that’s a separate thing, not a reflection on this book.
Beneath the Ashes, Sue Henry, read by Mary Peiffer (A)
I thought the back cover copy gave a bit too much away about the plot. The author seemed to realize that the heroine’s actions in some cases might not seem to make sense to all readers and so there were some explanations made, which I appreciated but did not entirely buy into. I did like the parts about the sled dogs.
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, Cory Doctorow, read by Sean Puckett (A)
A very interesting take on Walt Disney World in the distant future. A few historical details were questionable from the perspective of this Disney parks fan, but that didn’t really detract from the overall experience because so many of the details were spot on, and I enjoyed imagining WDW as transformed in this world.
Lover Avenged, J. R. Ward
I was not going to read this book, having fallen out of love with the series during the last couple of installments, but there it was on the library shelf in the new books area where I had to walk right by it, so I caved and checked it out. I was able to renew it, twice, which means I’m not the only one who’s not as hot on this series as before. And I read it and liked it much better than the last two books. Sure, there is still a ridiculous amount of brand name dropping, and the characters don’t always act true to what I’ve come to understand of them, but there were some sections so good I’ve gone back to re-read, and I’m actually interested in what happens next.
The Other Boleyn Girl, Philippa Gregory
I’ve had this book what feels like forever. I took it on several vacations and brought it back unstarted. My procrastination continued once I did finally start it; it took me a very long time to get through this. I’ve had an affinity for Anne Boleyn since I portrayed her in a school event in 6th grade, so this annoyed me rather more than most historical novels since I’m more familiar with the documented facts than usual. I wish the author had just made up characters and not messed with real people.
A Touch of Dead, Charlaine Harris
I checked this out of the library not realizing I’d already read most of these stories in other collections. The ones that were new to me weren’t any better than the ones I’d already read—I’m afraid Sookie has jumped the shark for me.
Mr. Majestyk, Elmore Leonard, read by Frank Muller (A)
Several of the plot points made me say “o rly?” but this was a good car book—enough happening to keep my interest but nothing too complicated to distract me from driving.
Playing for Pizza, John Grisham, read by Christopher Evan Welch (A)
This was a pleasant enough book, though all the lengthy descriptions of food and tourist sites in Italy made me wonder if this was written just so the author could claim a vacation in Italy as a business expense.
Many Bloody Returns, Charlaine Harris, Jim Butcher, Kelley Armstrong, and Others
This is a collection of short stories written around the theme of vampires and birthdays. Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse story is the headliner here, but it was nowhere near the best one in the book—it felt forced to me, and didn’t really add anything to the mythos of that world. I liked Christopher Golden’s coming of age story the best—maybe because it was different than the typical vampire tale.
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