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text 2019-11-05 17:21
Christmas/holiday reading library binge
Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas - Stephanie Barron
Holiday Grind - Cleo Coyle
A Highland Christmas - M.C. Beaton
Duck the Halls - Donna Andrews
Christmas: A Biography - Judith Flanders

I went on a bit of a Christmas binge yesterday, and put a bunch of books on hold at the library for the season! 

 

If I don't like 'em, I can just return 'em. Libraries are awesome!

 

 

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review 2019-06-12 21:39
Lifeformed: Cleo Makes Contact
Lifeformed: Cleo Makes Contact - Matt Mair Lowery,Cassie Anderson

[I received a copy of this book through Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.]

This comic reads quickly: the story flows from page to page, and there's no lagging behind. After the first few pages of Cleo’s life at school and with her father, with a short insight of what’s been happening behind the scenes, Invasion Day is here, and they both have to run for their lives. All the while, they to maintain a semblance of normalcy, such as when they find shelter at abandoned houses, living in the remnants of another family now gone or dead, or meet other survivors and have to make a quick choice between driving them away or being simply human and welcoming them.

The relationship between Cleo and Alex was a touching one. Very early on, it is obvious that her father won’t be who we met in the first chapter, and Cleo has to fight her distrust while not really having many other choices than either going with him or being all alone. Gradually, she learns to accept this new balance in her life, learn to follow at first, then fight a little, then fight more. And while she is obviously sad and has her small breaking points, she also keeps her smile and courage up, and doesn’t give up.

The downside of this fast pace is that it goes a little too quickly at times—especially when there are several panels without dialogues—and as a result, there isn’t that much room for character development. The latter is partly left to the reader to imagine, by filling in the blanks, but this is a somewhat uneventful process, and leaves a slight feeling of blankness at times.

Nevertheless, I did like this first volume, as well as its ending (both positive and at the same time highlighting the protagonists’ fight as “one against the world”, so to speak). 3 to 3.5 stars.

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text 2019-03-22 19:28
Reading progress update: I've listened 479 out of 479 minutes.
On What Grounds - Cleo Coyle

Finished! I have no intention of continuing on with this series. The coffee-making aspect should have been fascinating, and instead I felt like I was repeatedly being lectured at by someone who'd declare my usual coffee drinking habits to be uncultured garbage. The love triangle that I disliked was left at a point where it could (and probably would) rear its ugly head yet again in the next book, and the mystery aspect did nothing for me.

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text 2019-03-20 20:33
Reading progress update: I've listened 316 out of 479 minutes.
On What Grounds - Cleo Coyle

I don't really like these characters and am not particularly attached to the narrator, so I increased the narration speed.

 

There's a bit of a love triangle going on, and I dislike it. It involves Clare, who has been divorced for a number of years, and either her ex-husband or the cop who's helping her with the "accident" at her coffee house (the cops are no longer officially investigating, because there's no evidence of foul play).

 

The ex-husband: At some point before or after their marriage collapsed, he was addicted to cocaine. He's supposedly clean now, and trying to worm his way back into Clare's life. He's a charmer, and it doesn't hurt that his mother, who is also Clare's boss and coffee idol, is on his side.

 

The cop: He's married and has at least one child. He's been pretty closed-mouthed, but it seems like his marriage is having problems, and he seems potentially as interested in Clare as she is in him.

 

Of the two options, I prefer the ex-husband because he seems to have genuinely grown up a bit from however he was when he and Clare were together. Still, he is only the lesser of two evils. These options suck.

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text 2019-03-19 21:54
Reading progress update: I've listened 158 out of 479 minutes.
On What Grounds - Cleo Coyle

I imagine this particular part would be like a gut punch for anyone directly affected by 9/11. It's relatively brief, but there are a few mentions of deaths.

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