I think I'm going to put this one aside from now.

 

The writing is gorgeous. It's just a lot to focus on right now. I need something lighter. Less wordy. 

Series: Dr Thomas Silkstone Mystery #2

 

I eagerly dove into this next book because I found the first one so interesting. I didn't find this one nearly so engaging, however, for a variety of reasons. Some of them had to do with the plot being a little too easy to be untangled (the Carrington and Hunter thing) coupled with scenes that didn't entirely make sense when later revelations were made because they were put there just to mislead. Since I listened to the audio version, I couldn't very easily go back and check previous scenes so I may be judging too harshly, but that was my impression, anyway.

 

There were also revelations about Lydia's past that I just found uninteresting and didn't seem to fit with her previous character and my impression of the times, but again, that's my own judgement. It also required a looser interpretation of statements from the first book.

 

I'll probably try the third just to see if the novels pick up again but otherwise this is just another promising series that petered out after the first book.

I'm not sure about this book. I did enjoy it, and some of the writing is sublime. But a significant proportion of it is long winded and for a time when minority groups weren't really treated that well, there seems to be very little by way of any bigotry experienced by Una, giving it near progressive-liberalist fairy tale quality at times. On the other hand, it is set in a time when progressive ideas were percolating into the public consciousness.

I'm also not sure whether Naslund is giving Melville the bird, or trying to salvage his Ahab. It is true that she has taken a very few passages in Moby Dick about this character and fleshed a completely new one for this story, but she has also done the same for Ahab, and as a result he doesn't appear to so remote, unhinged and ruthless as he does in Moby Dick. I think if there were about 200 less pages, this might be easier to discern.

As it is, it is easy to get lost in a morass of very worthy writing. A few less pages and more directness in the characters' voices and the narrative may have given the story a much lighter feel in significant places. Unfortunately, as it is, I found it difficult to find the motivation to give this story the attention it probably warranted. While I as the reader must bear some responsibility for that, the writer also needs to accept their part in that.

So while I feel that the writing deserved four stars at times, at other times I felt like I was being overly generous giving it 3 stars; so 3 stars it is.

 

 

These are the books that I read in different Octobers throughout my reading life and have left an impression on me.

 

2015

Minette Walters became an automatic buy for me right after I had read her for the first time. This novella wasn’t any different even though it was inspired by true events.

 

 

Set in London…good!

Steampunk…good!

Shades of UF…good!

Part of a series…good!

Need I say more?

Okay, so this series has me confused. While I love the Asian culture that is prolific in the books, I keep thinking there is something missing. It could be that it took the lead couple like 3–4 books to even admit their feelings to each other. I don’t want to stop reading this series but I do have to be in the mood for it.

I haven’t read many MM novels but I did read this one and loved it.

My Mini-Review for this book: Everybody loves a good apocalypse and I’m no exception! There was a female lead who, if not exactly capable of kicking ass, was a leading geneticist– brains over brawn any day! The freaky way the vaccine changed them all was amazing-no death causing viruses or flesh-eating zombies, yet horrific in its own way. Prison takeovers are the scariest things ever and the author combined it with a post-apocalyptic scenario! The ever-present threat of the convicts getting to our heroine was sufficient to keep me reading.

I loved the fact that the author didn’t even need to show much violence to keep the readers hooked– she just let us imagine what “could” happen if they got to her.

Irreverence is a personal favorite of mine, which you might have guessed from my binge read of the Preacher graphic novels! This novel was funny but dragged in some places.

“If manta rays are going to be harmless, they should look more harmless, Pardee thought. Fuckers look like aquatic Draculas.”

“He didn’t understand religion. It was like heroin or golf: He knew a lot of people did it, but he didn’t understand why.”

I can’t stop myself once I have read the word, Steampunk, being associated with a book. This was a fun romp of a book and I enjoyed reading it, even if it did get bogged down in certain places.

Read my review here. My favorite stories from this bunch:

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES by Jodi Picoult ★★★★
 How parents deal with the loss of their 7-year-old daughter.

A LIFE IN FICTIONS Kat Howard★★★★
 She was a part of his stories..literally!

THE THERAPIST by Jeffery Deaver★★★★
 Nemes are very real and you may be susceptible to them!

PARALLEL LINES by Tim Powers★★★★
 Twins-one sister dies and decides she wants to come back.

 

2008

The best part about anything written by Ilona & Gordon Andrews is probably that they manage to include important issues, such as rape, abuse, family, in it. But they do it in a way that makes you see why an issue’s important yet

In diplomacy, like in great many other things, the rules of engagement survive only until one remarkable person decides to break them.

 

Which books did you read in October that left their mark on you?

 

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Originally published at midureads.wordpress.com on October 12, 2017.

If you are like most people in dystopic novels like 1984, Brave New World or Fahrenheit 451, this books is for you. On the other hand, if you're learning French, this book is also good since it has simplistic language.