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review 2020-04-17 20:48
The October Man ★★★☆☆
The October Man - Ben Aaronovitch

Although an interesting diversion in the Rivers of London series, this story suffers from the lack of any Peter Grant at all. I liked his German counterpart, but he just didn't have Peter's sass. 

 

Sam Peter Jackson's narration was excellent, but this might have been better for me in the text version rather than audio. I am unused to hearing German-accented English, so I had to listen more carefully than usual, and my unfamiliarity with German names, geography, and cultural references made me want to stop and linger over the words and look up the places and references. Which, from an audio format, I didn't even know how to spell for a simple Google search. 

 

It got me thinking about how Anglo-centric my reading is. I've tried to broaden my book selections (via Book Riot's We Need Diverse Books campaign) over the last few years, but nearly everything I read is set in primarily English and Spanish speaking countries written by authors from those places. I really need to start seeking out modern/current literature from the rest of the world. 

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text 2020-04-16 15:54
The October Man - 33%
The October Man - Ben Aaronovitch

Although I'm enjoying this quick look at Peter Grant's counterpart in Germany, I am struggling a little with it, because I'm not as accustomed listening to German-accented English on audio, nor am I familiar enough with the language to really catch and understand the place-names and references, as I would with Spanish. I think it would be a little easier for me if I were reading the text instead of listening to the audio, so I could stop and linger over the words, or even take the time to do a little Googling. 

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text 2019-11-02 01:42
October Books

I read 40 books this month with an average score of 3.69. 9 were graphic novels and 25 were YA. My most-read genres were fantasy, romance, and contemporary. Fantasy absolutely dominated my books this month. Over half of my books were fantasy.

 

My favorite books were Rachel Rising: The Shadow of Death - Terry Moore and Not Even Bones  - Rebecca SchaefferRachel Rising was a reread as I plan on finally finishing the series by first rereading the books I did read and then continuing all the way through. Not Even Bones was a dark story with a main character who loved performing dissections on the bodies her mother brought her. I don't think there was a truly good character in the book, and I loved every moment of it. I can't wait to read the sequel.

 

My least favorite book was The Third Wife - Lisa Jewell. I just didn't like the characters at all.

 

 

5 Stars

Rachel Rising: The Shadow of Death - Terry Moore Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style - Benjamin Dreyer Not Even Bones (Market of Monsters) - Rebecca Schaeffer 

 

4.5 Stars

InSEXts Volume 1: Chrysalis - Marguerite Bennett,Mike Marts  Stepsister - Jennifer Donnelly  The Faerie War - Rachel Morgan  The Faerie Prince - Rachel Morgan  A Dream So Dark - L. L. McKinney  

 

4 Stars

A Drunken Dream and Other Stories - Moto Hagio,Matt Thorn The Stars and the Blackness Between Them - Junauda Petrus  The Wize Wize Beasts of the Wizarding Wizdoms - Nagabe,Adrienne Beck  In The Hall With The Knife - Diana Peterfreund The Faerie Guardian - Rachel Morgan 

Lock Every Door - Riley Sager  Finding Audrey - Sophie Kinsella Bloom - Kevin Panetta,Savanna Ganucheau Out of Salem - Hal Schrieve  The Secret of a Heart Note - Stacey Covington-Lee  Find Me - Tahereh Mafi 

Missing, Presumed Dead - Emma Berquist A Little Light Mischief: A Turner Novella - Cat Sebastian 

 

3.5 Stars

Part of Your World - Liz Braswell  Again, But Better - Christine Riccio  Things I'm Seeing Without You - Peter Bognanni  No Judgments - Meg Cabot  The Demon World - Sally Green  Ink and Bone - Rachel Caine  Mistress of All Evil: A Tale of the Dark Fairy - Serena Valentino  

 

3 Stars

Frankly in Love - David Yoon Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee, Volume 1 - Hiroyuki Asada Avatar: The Last Airbender - Team Avatar Tales - Ron Koertge,Michael Heisler,Carla Speed McNeil,Gene Luen Yang,Lark Pien,Faith Erin Hicks,Cris Peter,Jenn Manley Lee,Ryan Hill,Dave Scheidt,Sara Goetter,Natalie Riess,Little Corvus,Kiku Hughes,Coni Yovaniniz  The Near Witch - Victoria Schwab  Catwoman, Vol. 1: Copycats - Laura Allred,Joëlle Jones,Fernando Blanco We Hunt the Flame - Hafsah Faizal 

Romanov - Nadine Brandes Losing Brave - Bailee Madison,Stefne Miller  Dead Reckoning - Charlaine Harris  

 

2.5 Stars

Batman: Damned - Brian Azzarello,Lee Bermejo 

 

2 Stars

The Third Wife - Lisa Jewell Sophia, Princess Among Beasts - James Patterson,Emily Raymond 

 

 

 

 

Books by author gender:

  • Male: 9
  • Female: 28
  • Nonbinary: 1
  • Male/Female Mix: 2

 

Books by format:

  • Physical: 18
  • Audio: 22

 

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text 2019-11-01 13:01
October 2019 Wrap-Up

Welcome to November,

honestly I have no idea where the year has gone. We are entering the holiday season and that seems crazy fast. I can't believe we are here already. 

Reading wise October was a great month and not just for new releases but reading for me in general , I really caught up and read much more then September but let's be honest it is not hard catch up with a one book month lol.

I also caught up on reviews and mostly updates, some I just skipped and posted the reviews.

Oh and I'm happy to report I had the time for my scary/ spooky reads this month and year, both books were awesome.

November looks like another great month for new releases here are just a few I'm really looking forward to.

 

The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black

 

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Blood Heir by Amélie Wen Zhao

 

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The Toll by Neal Shusterman 

 

The Toll (Arc of a Scythe, #3)

 

The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White

 

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Currently I'm reading The Burning Shadow by Jennifer L. Armentrout, the second book in her Origin Series, I'm only on page 100 or around there but so far I enjoy it. 

 

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When Evelyn Dasher crossed paths with Luc, she was thrown headfirst into the world of the Lux—only to discover that she was already far more involved in their world than she ever suspected.

Because the Luxen aren’t the only ones with a hidden past. There’s a gap in Evie’s memory, lost months of her life and a lingering sense that something happened, something she can’t remember and nobody is willing to tell her. She needs to find out the truth about who she is—and who she was. But every answer she finds only brings up more questions.

Her search for the truth brings her ever closer to Luc, the Origin at the center of it all. He’s powerful, arrogant, inhumanly beautiful, extremely dangerous…and possibly in love with her. But even as Evie falls for him, she can’t help but wonder if his attraction is to her, or to the memory of a girl who no longer exists.

And all the while, a new threat looms: reports of a flu-like, fatal virus that the government insists is being spread by Luxen. A horrifying illness that changes whoever it touches, spreading panic across a country already at its breaking point.

 

On Audio I'm listing to Darkdawn by Jay Kristoff, the third and final book in the Nevernight Series, I don't have much audio time right now but the little I got in I'm really loving it.

 

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A ruthless young assassin's journey for revenge comes to a stunning end in the conclusion of this acclaimed epic fantasy trilogy.

The Republic of Itreya is in chaos. Mia Corvere has assassinated Cardinal Duomo and rumors of Consul Scaeva’s death ripple through the street of Godsgrave like wildfire. But buried beneath those same streets, deep in the ancient city’s bones, lies a secret that will change the Republic forever.

Mia and her brother Jonnen must journey through the depths of the ancient metropolis. Their quest will take them through the Godsgrave underdark, across the Sea of Swords, back to the library of the Quiet Mountain and the poisoned blades of Mia’s old mentors, and at last the fabled Crown of the Moon. There, Mia will at last discover the origins of the darkin, and learn the destiny that lies in store for her and her world. But with the three suns now in descent, and Truedark on the horizon, will she survive?

Next, I'm planning on reading the The Guinevere Deception as the I received the ARC yesterday, after that I'm honestly not sure yet, I might actually just do a random number thing to pick a book of my TBR.

That should be all, sometime in November there will be a new giveaway going up, so make sure to keep your eyes out for that. I also will try to get my Massive book haul up sometime, it really is massive and that's why I haven't had the time to do it yet or was not in the mood, hopefully soon, fingers crossed.  

You can find any and all buy links in the reviews that will be linked below. Hope everyone has a warm and comfy November and if you are in the US and celebrating it HAPPY THANKSGIVING !!!

Hopefully see you all in December :) 

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Sapphire Flames by Ilona Andrews

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Ilona Andrews comes an enthralling new trilogy set in the Hidden Legacy world, where magic means power, and family bloodlines are the new currency of society…

In a world where magic is the key to power and wealth, Catalina Baylor is a Prime, the highest rank of magic user, and the Head of her House. Catalina has always been afraid to use her unique powers, but when her friend’s mother and sister are murdered, Catalina risks her reputation and safety to unravel the mystery.

But behind the scenes powerful forces are at work, and one of them is Alessandro Sagredo, the Italian Prime who was once Catalina’s teenage crush. Dangerous and unpredictable, Alessandro’s true motives are unclear, but he’s drawn to Catalina like a moth to a flame.

To help her friend, Catalina must test the limits of her extraordinary powers, but doing so may cost her both her House–and her heart.

4.5★


Red Dragon by Thomas Harris

THE LEGENDARY THRILLER THAT CREATED DR HANNIBAL LECTER

Will Graham was a brilliant profiler of criminals for the FBI – until he suffered terrible injuries in the process of capturing Dr Hannibal ‘the Cannibal’ Lecter.

Years later, a serial killer nicknamed ‘the Tooth Fairy’ is massacring entire families each full moon. With the FBI desperate for progress, Will reluctantly agrees to consult. But he soon realises that he alone can’t crack the case; he needs the help of the only mind even better than his own at understanding the mentalities of psychopaths.

The mind of Hannibal Lecter.

But Hannibal is playing his own twisted game from the asylum for the criminally insane. Will isn’t alone in getting advice from the cannibal. So is the Tooth Fairy – the man haunted by visions of the murderous Red Dragon…

4.5★


Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. By age twenty, in fact, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most elite universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?

Still searching for answers to this herself, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. These eight windowless “tombs” are well-known to be haunts of the future rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street and Hollywood’s biggest players. But their occult activities are revealed to be more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive.

4.5★


The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson

In a society steeped in tradition, Princess Lia’s life follows a preordained course. As First Daughter, she is expected to have the revered gift of sight—but she doesn’t—and she knows her parents are perpetrating a sham when they arrange her marriage to secure an alliance with a neighboring kingdom—to a prince she has never met.

On the morning of her wedding, Lia flees to a distant village. She settles into a new life, hopeful when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deception abounds, and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—even as she finds herself falling in love.

 

3.5★


The Heart of Betrayal by Mary E. Pearson

Held captive in the barbarian kingdom of Venda, Lia and Rafe have little chance of escape. Desperate to save Lia’s life, her erstwhile assassin, Kaden, has told the Vendan Komizar that she has the gift, and the Komizar’s interest in Lia is greater than anyone could have foreseen.

Meanwhile, nothing is straightforward: There’s Rafe, who lied to Lia but has sacrificed his freedom to protect her; Kaden, who meant to assassinate her but has now saved her life; and the Vendans, whom Lia always believed to be savages. Now that she lives among them, however, she realizes that may be far from the truth. Wrestling with her upbringing, her gift, and her sense of self, Lia must make powerful choices that will affect her country… and her own destiny.

   

2.5★


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review 2019-10-25 04:36
Brief Thoughts: The Visitor
The Visitor (Graveyard Queen) - Amanda Stevens

The Visitor

by Amanda Stevens
Book 4 of Graveyard Queen

 

 

My name is Amelia Gray.  I'm the Graveyard Queen.

Restoring lost and abandoned cemeteries is my profession, but I'm starting to believe that my true calling is deciphering the riddles of the dead.  Legend has it that Kroll Cemetery is a puzzle no one has ever been able to solve.  For over half a century, the answer has remained hidden within the strange headstone inscriptions and intricate engravings.  Because uncovering the mystery of that tiny, remote graveyard may come at a terrible price.

Years after their mass death, Ezra Kroll's disciples lie unquiet, their tormented souls trapped within the walls of Kroll Cemetery, waiting to be released by someone strong and clever enough to solve the puzzle.  For whatever reason, I'm being summoned to that graveyard by both the living and the dead.  Every lead I follow, every clue I unravel brings me closer to an unlikely killer and to a destiny that will threaten my sanity, and a future with my love, John Devlin.



If I wanted to be honest, it was truly the writing and the mystery of Kroll Cemetary that drew me into this book.  Amelia's destiny and her hauntings as well as Devlin's mysterious secrets were really second string.

While I've liked Amelia in the past, I'm not entirely sure that I'm feeling a whole lot of character development in her, despite the new twists that her character is taking on in this book.  At the same time, I'm still not really all that enamored of John Devlin either.

The romance between them is even harder for me to relate with, if only because Amelia's obsession with Devlin, as well as their mutual attraction to each other seems to be the only thing linking them together.  They don't talk to each other, they keep secrets, they don't even trust each other.  Their relationship has always felt one-sided.

I enjoyed the moments that Amelia spent at Kroll cemetary with Dr. Shaw, or even discovering little clues left her by the blind ghost who looks like her.  In contrast, I didn't care much for the scenes whenever Devlin was around with her, save for a few moments when they seemed to be able to talk freely with each other.  I feel like the two of them could make a great team if they would just stop keeping secrets or learn to listen to each other.

But the writing is beautiful as usual, and the series' overall conflict continues to be intriguing, and you get drawn into Amelia's world readily.  Just for the writing style and the atmosphere of the book alone, I gave a higher rating.


 

 

 

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