booksdanilikes

Medievalathon Wrap-Up

Medievalathon ran from Jan 10-Feb 10. In that time, I read 4 books that fit the 5 prompts, and started the fifth.

Prompts:

Level 1: Read an underrated book

I read Once & Future Vol. 2. It only has 421 total ratings on Goodreads.

Level 2: A book about books

I read The Lost Fairytales by Anna James for this prompt.

Level 3: A book with a person on the cover

I read If I Disappear by Eliza Jane Brazier.

Level 4: A book with the chosen one trope

I read Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth. This was the book that I had only started when the read-a-thon came to an end.

Level 5: Read whatever you want

I read Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb for this prompt.

While I didn’t technically complete the challenge, I really enjoyed the more laid-back nature of the challenge. Having a month to get the reading done meant that I didn’t have to drop anything else that I had planned to read, even if it didn’t fit a prompt.

2/15-2/21 Week in Reading

Hello Readers!

Goals for the week: Read and review The Burning Girls by C.J. Tudor and The Future is Yours by Dan Frey.

Mon 2/15: I finished The Burning Girls this evening. I can’t say that I was really hooked until about 60% of the way through, but then it just barreled on to the ending, which was really good.

Tue 2/16: I got to the 16% mark in The Future is Yours today. It’s a sci-fi revolving around time travel…sort of. It takes a modern spin on it and is told primarily through texts, emails, and Congressional hearing notes. I’m really liking it so far and it’s a quick read.

Wed 2/17: I finished The Future is Yours. It was such a quick read even though Goodreads has it as 352 pages. I really liked where the story went and how it dealt with the ethical questions of time travel. I think some people will be unhappy with the ending, but I liked it. I’ll definitely read more from this author if he writes anything in the future.

Minor spoiler: I like books that are thought experiments, as so many sci-fi novels are.

Thu 2/18: I didn’t do any reading today.

Fri 2/19: I started The Ravens by Kass Morgan and Danielle Paige. I only read about a chapter before I fell asleep, so no thoughts for now.

Sat 2/20: No reading today. Just a lazy Saturday.

Sun 2/21: I got to around page 300 in The Ravens today. I really wanted to finish it but I just couldn’t get it done today. It’s a really interesting story about a coven at a college in Savannah that is using a sorority as its cover. I love pretty much anything to do with witchcraft and this one has been a winner so far.

2/8-2/14 Week in Reading

Goals for the week: Finish The Burning Girls by C.J. Tudor and The Future is Yours by Dan Frey.

I had a slight breakdown in record-keeping this week, so some days don’t have much or anything recorded. No worries, I’ve got a less hectic week planned for next week and should return to the regularly scheduled updates.

For now, here’s what I remember:

I made some progress throughout the week on The Burning Girls. This is the third book that I’ve read by C.J. Tudor in the last 12 months and I feel like each one of them has had a really awkward scene involving an attempted sexual assault that doesn’t quite jive with the rest of the book. It makes me view the book differently when it comes to recommendations and I don’t feel like it’s pivotal to the development of the story. At least it hasn’t been so far…

I also broke my book buying ban this week. I picked up the complete Themis Files series by Sylvain Neuvel. I read the first book a few weeks ago and really loved it. I feel like it is a good investment in the series in the long haul. I also picked up 2 cozy mysteries from Jenn McKinlay, another author whom I have read from and enjoyed before. I might be willing to change the parameters of the book buying ban to include only works that I have read or authors that I have read from before. I still want to support authors and their work even though I do want to reign in the number of unread books on my TBR.

On Sunday I finished Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth. I wasn’t sure what to expect from my first return to this author post-Divergent series, but this book really delivered. There are some parallels to her writing in the Divergent series, and despite the fact that this book is in the New Adult category, I still think it reads pretty YA. Yes, the characters are in the early twenties, but they’re still dealing with the same things developmentally that teens would and we spend a lot of time in the book looking back at the main character’s childhood and teenager-hood. That being said, I enjoyed this book. I gave it 3 stars and felt that it ended well. Goodreads seems to indicate that it might be the start of a series, and I’m not sure that I think that is necessary. The first book ties up loose ends and I don’t know that we need a continuation to this story.

Technically, I only finished one book this week, which is a little off, but it’s been an emotionally tough week for a couple of different reasons. As is true with everything, some weeks will be better than others.

The Survivors by Jane Harper

Hello Readers! I’ve got a new title from a favorite author to share with you today. This book came out recently and is the latest stand-alone from Australian mystery writer Jane Harper. She is an auto-read author for me and her work has been getting more and more attention over the years. Her first novel was even made into a movie recently starring Eric Bana (no clue when we might be able to see it stateside, but I’ll definitely be doing a re-read once we do have a date).

Title: The Survivors

Author: Jane Harper

Author website: https://janeharper.com.au/

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Publish date: February 2, 2021

ISBN: 9781760981051

Buy the Book: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Bookshop.org

Summary:

Kieran and his wife return to their small town after years away to find that life in a small town never really changes much. When they were young a brutal storm moved through that resulted in the death of Kieran’s older brother, the death of his brother’s business partner, and the disappearance of a young girl. Everyone in town thinks that they know what happened that day and that at least part of the blame for the two confirmed deaths that day falls at Kieran’s feet. Kieran and his family have tried to cope with their guilt about everything that happened for years.

When a young woman is found murdered on the beach during their stay, old feelings and suspicions come boiling to the surface. Small towns are excellent for proliferating gossip and holding old grudges. As the investigation stalls and tensions in the town mount, Kieran has to confront his feelings about what happened years ago while also grappling with questions about what is happening in the current day and how his family may or may not be involved.

There are plenty of suspects and even more suspicions in this fourth novel from Jane Harper. Harper gives the traditional mystery a fresh spin with her richly detailed settings and her emotionally complex characters. The character work in this story is excellent, and each character is revealed to have their own secrets and motivations related to past and present day events. Whatever the reader may think about what happened back then, I feel pretty sure that few will be able to guess this ending or the motivations for it.

Why I liked it:

Harper writes mysteries in a way that feels fresh because of her unique settings that still read as something familiar. Yes, it’s set in Australia, but small-town life is inherently a familiar concept and Harper writes those dynamics very well. I also appreciate that each character is developed fully. There are almost no throwaway characters in this story. It is a bit of a slow burn, but the writing is so rich that I truly didn’t mind.

What I would like to change:

The characters that we get to know the least in these stories are the victims, and I would have loved to have gotten a few chapters from their perspectives. While the story was really good on its own, I think I would have enjoyed a deeper insight into those characters because, as it was, our only impressions of them are what other people knew.

Disclaimer: I received my copy early from Book of the Month (a pretty neat and reasonably priced subscription service that lets you pause or skip a month if the books don’t appeal to you.) I also had a digital copy from the publisher via NetGalley which I received with the expectation of an honest review.

My library rating: I’m giving this one 4 glasses of lemonade, primarily because there’s language and a few tough scenes with assault. Overall, this is a highly recommendable book to most groups.

lemonade_icon 4 glasses of lemonade= a book you could recommend to a book group or anybody who reads. You might find controversial subject matter, but it is handled delicately.

My personal preference rating: I gave this title 4.5 stars. It was pretty close to perfect, but I had to deduct a little because I didn’t get an overwhelming feeling to re-read the story as soon as I was done. My absolute favorite mysteries make me want to re-read them right away to try and go back to find the things that I missed the first time around. I didn’t get the feeling that I had missed that much in the first reading, even though I really enjoyed this read.

2/1-2/7 Week in Reading

Hello Readers! I can’t believe we’re already starting a new month! At this point, I’m just hanging in here and wishing for a snow day soon. February tends to be our best chance for snow where I’m from, but we’ve gone a few years without anything significant. Here’s hoping!

Goals for the week: Finish The Project by Courtney Summers. Start and finish The Future is Yours by Dan Frey and The Burning Girls by C.J. Tudor.

Mon 2/1: No reading got done today. I don’t even have an audiobook picked out right now. Most unusual for me,

Tue 2/2: I started reading The Lost Fairytales by Anna James today. The writing puts me in a nostalgic state of mind, which is funny because I haven’t read the majority of the books that this series talks about. Maybe I should go back and read some of the classics like Anne of Green Gables and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Wed 2/3: I made it to the 37% mark in The Project today. It isn’t gripping me as quickly as Sadie did, despite the fact that it includes a cult, which is one of my favorite true crime things to read about.

Thu 2/4: I made it to the 67% mark in The Project. I’m really seeing the psychological aspects of the story come into play. This main character is a deeply flawed personality but she is definitely engaging at this point. The pace is picking up but the mystery is as clouded as ever. I can’t get a handle on what is really going on, but knowing how Summers writes, it’s definitely not going to be whatever I think it is.

Fri 2/5: Spent today prepping a report and just getting through the day. No reading whatsoever.

Sat 2/6: I finished The Project today in an unexpected burst of reading. It was really good. The twists are unpredictable and they really pile on at the end. I appreciate that we didn’t get the ambiguous ending that we did with Sadie (even though I liked that too). The closure was real, as was the deep impact of everything on the remaining characters.

I started reading this month’s Cozy Mystery Book Club pick: Crime and Punctuation by Kaitlyn Dunnett. I had never heard of this author before but she actually has well over 40 books to her name (including her other pen names). This is the first entry in her Deadly Edits series and I really like it so far. It reads a little more literary than most cozies do, like the story is being more carefully plotted. I also appreciate that we have an older character who is dealing with modern issues, like having to take on side work when her retirement income doesn’t cover her needs. She doesn’t come across as helpless or out of touch with the times either, even though she has certain preferences that may put her slightly off the modern mark.

I also started reading C.J. Tudor’s newest, The Burning Girls but had to take a break before I got too far into it in order to charge my Kindle. All I can tell thus far is that maybe there’s a hint of possession/exorcism vibes? I barely got started before I had to put it on the charger. For now, I think it’s a safe bet that I won’t be finishing this one this weekend or The Future is Yours for that matter.

Sun 2/7: I finished Crime and Punctuation today. It’s an easy read to get through and my opinion of the quality of the writing has not changed. It seems more elevated than a traditionally cozy mystery and I am a fan! I’ll definitely be continuing with the series.

I also finished The Lost Fairytales by Anna James. It slowed down a little in the middle for me, and having Tilly fight with her grandparents put me off a little. It really is starting to put me more in mind of the Series of Unfortunate Events series, where adults are sinister and largely making unfortunate decisions that have consequences for the children. Basically every time we meet a new adult character in this series, I become suspicious that they are up to no good.