[media] Wednesday Reading
Nov. 18th, 2015 07:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seeksadventure
I keep seeing this Wednesday Reading meme everywhere, and I really enjoy other people's posts, so I thought I would give it a try myself.
What I've Read
ALL IN by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Naturals series #3): I've loved JLB's work ever since her Raised by Wolves series. While this series didn't start out as my favorite (clearly it needs more werewolves), the characters have really grown on me, and were absolutely heartbreaking and wonderful in this book. Plus in a lot of ways, it's teen!Criminal Minds, and delightful.
FOXGLOVE KILLINGS by Tara Kelly: It was a fun mystery with a lot of potential, but the ending was very disappointing for reasons that are spoilery, and the pacing seemed a little off. I liked it a lot, though, and look forward to her next book.
PARASITE and SYMBIONT by Mira Grant (Parasitology #1 and #2): I reread PARASITE in order to read SYMBIONT because the third book, CHIMERA, will be out shortly. I think I would have liked SYMBIONT a lot more if I hadn't read PARASITE immediately before, because there is a continuity error at the very beginning which annoyed the hell out of me. It's basically used as an excuse to get the characters from one place to another, and without that excuse, a lot of the beginning of the book would be much different, and it was such a weak excuse for plotting that I spent a good half of the book grumbling about it instead of enjoying the story. And there's a lot to enjoy; I loved the characters even more than in the first book, and the plot is really interesting. It definitely feels like the second book of a trilogy, with all the weaknesses that can imply (including not really having a resolution).
JUSTICE CALLING, MURDER OF CROWS, PACK OF LIES, HUNTING SEASON, HEARTACHE, and THICKER THAN BLOOD by Annie Bellet (Twenty-Sided Sorceress #1-6): Someone recommended JUSTICE CALLING to me the other day, and it was either free or only $.99 on Kindle, so I gave it a try, and then ended up marathoning through book five. Book six came out the other day, and I grabbed it immediately. These are novellas, not novels, but the first four are really strong stories with interesting world building, compelling plots, and great characters. They are really appealing and entertaining. And then books five and six happened. Book five ends on a cliff-hanger, but in a way that worked as a shocking ending to a plot that was resolving. Book six is not actually a complete story at all. It should not have been published as is, it feels rushed and pointless, and should have been combined with whatever's coming in book seven.
STRAY, LAB RAT ONE, CASZANDRA, and GRATUITOUS EPILOGUE by Andrea K. Host (Touchstone Trilogy): This is the second time I've reread these books this year. After reading the Twenty-Sided Sorceress series (while waiting for book six), I went back to these because they are super satisfying reads. Very pleasing to the id, much like the TSS series, and I wanted the joy of them again. I have another of Host's books to read, but since it's a very different setting, I haven't yet given it a try.
What I'm Currently Reading:
I just started reading A TRIFLE DEAD by Livia Day (Cafe La Femme #1), which is a super cute "culinary crime novel" set in Hobart, Australia. I'm really enjoying the characters and the mystery, and unless something goes terribly wrong by the end, I'll be picking up the next book.
What I'm Reading Next:
No idea. Maybe THE GHOST DRAGON'S DAUGHTER by Beth Bernobich. Maybe AFTERWORLDS by Scott Westerfeld, which has been sitting around and waiting to be read for a couple months. Maybe I'll unpack another box of books and reread some of those.
What I've Read
ALL IN by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Naturals series #3): I've loved JLB's work ever since her Raised by Wolves series. While this series didn't start out as my favorite (clearly it needs more werewolves), the characters have really grown on me, and were absolutely heartbreaking and wonderful in this book. Plus in a lot of ways, it's teen!Criminal Minds, and delightful.
FOXGLOVE KILLINGS by Tara Kelly: It was a fun mystery with a lot of potential, but the ending was very disappointing for reasons that are spoilery, and the pacing seemed a little off. I liked it a lot, though, and look forward to her next book.
PARASITE and SYMBIONT by Mira Grant (Parasitology #1 and #2): I reread PARASITE in order to read SYMBIONT because the third book, CHIMERA, will be out shortly. I think I would have liked SYMBIONT a lot more if I hadn't read PARASITE immediately before, because there is a continuity error at the very beginning which annoyed the hell out of me. It's basically used as an excuse to get the characters from one place to another, and without that excuse, a lot of the beginning of the book would be much different, and it was such a weak excuse for plotting that I spent a good half of the book grumbling about it instead of enjoying the story. And there's a lot to enjoy; I loved the characters even more than in the first book, and the plot is really interesting. It definitely feels like the second book of a trilogy, with all the weaknesses that can imply (including not really having a resolution).
JUSTICE CALLING, MURDER OF CROWS, PACK OF LIES, HUNTING SEASON, HEARTACHE, and THICKER THAN BLOOD by Annie Bellet (Twenty-Sided Sorceress #1-6): Someone recommended JUSTICE CALLING to me the other day, and it was either free or only $.99 on Kindle, so I gave it a try, and then ended up marathoning through book five. Book six came out the other day, and I grabbed it immediately. These are novellas, not novels, but the first four are really strong stories with interesting world building, compelling plots, and great characters. They are really appealing and entertaining. And then books five and six happened. Book five ends on a cliff-hanger, but in a way that worked as a shocking ending to a plot that was resolving. Book six is not actually a complete story at all. It should not have been published as is, it feels rushed and pointless, and should have been combined with whatever's coming in book seven.
STRAY, LAB RAT ONE, CASZANDRA, and GRATUITOUS EPILOGUE by Andrea K. Host (Touchstone Trilogy): This is the second time I've reread these books this year. After reading the Twenty-Sided Sorceress series (while waiting for book six), I went back to these because they are super satisfying reads. Very pleasing to the id, much like the TSS series, and I wanted the joy of them again. I have another of Host's books to read, but since it's a very different setting, I haven't yet given it a try.
What I'm Currently Reading:
I just started reading A TRIFLE DEAD by Livia Day (Cafe La Femme #1), which is a super cute "culinary crime novel" set in Hobart, Australia. I'm really enjoying the characters and the mystery, and unless something goes terribly wrong by the end, I'll be picking up the next book.
What I'm Reading Next:
No idea. Maybe THE GHOST DRAGON'S DAUGHTER by Beth Bernobich. Maybe AFTERWORLDS by Scott Westerfeld, which has been sitting around and waiting to be read for a couple months. Maybe I'll unpack another box of books and reread some of those.