Book Lists 2020 Book • Page 3

It was alright, the first arc was the best so if you read that you're probably fine. You've got better stuff in your queue, lol.

 

Added March to the above post:

1) Sam Stall - Flailing At Life (*****)

Fun little book of advice from the wacky inflatable man.

2) Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff - Aurora Rising (****)

After how downright amazing the Illuminae Files were, I had to dive into this trilogy starter. Not as memorable, but still quite fun. Excited to see where it goes from here.

3) Leigh Bardugo - The Ninth House (****)

This wasn't anything like I expected. I didn't love it, but the world building kept having some tantalizing moments that kept me in it a little more than the plots or characters did.

4) Sally Thorne - The Hating Game (***)

I'm doing research for a potential book project, so I dove into the romance genre for a brief second based on a friend's recommendation. This one checked a lot of the trope boxes I enjoy, but the characters were just a smidge too dumb.

5) Preston Yancey - Out of the House of Bread: Satisfying Your Hunger for God with the Spiritual Disciplines (***)

This was fine. I like the conceit more than the final product--doesn't help that my faith ideals differ strongly from Preston's.

Starting now will be a list of children's books I read at work due to COVID-19 causing a work shortage following a book donation that I won't take the time to review:

6) Aaron Blabey - Thelma the Unicorn (*****)
7) Victoria Kahn - Peterrific (***)
8) Mo Willems - The Pigeon Wants a Puppy! (*****)
9) Andy Cutbill - The Cow That Laid an Egg (****)
10) Caroline Repchuk - The Race (****)
11) Elise Allen - Inside Out: Sadly Ever After? (****)
12) Marion Dane Bauer - A Mama for Owen (***)
13) William Joyce - The Numberlys (****)
14) Tony Johnston - Gopher Up Your Sleeve (*)
15) Patty Lovell - Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon (****)
16) Judi Barrett - Cloud With A Chance of Meatballs (**)

17) Karen M. McManus - One of Us Is Next (****)

This is the sort of YA ear candy I'll always read, enjoy it along the way, then promptly forget about in six months.

18) Scott Lynch - The Lies of Locke Lamora (***)

Fascinating world, but I don't care to return to any of the sequels.

19) Deanna Raybourn - A Murderous Relation (*****)

One of my favorite series running. Loving this historical fiction/sleuth/slow burn romance series more than I could have ever imagined. One of the best recommendations I've ever gotten from a friend.

20) Jonathan Maberry - Rot & Ruin (***)

YA zombie series that eventually intersects with one of my favorite adult thriller series by the same author...and it didn't do much for me. Shame.

 

Your review of One of Us Is Next is my sentiments that I didn't realize until now haha.

Also I'm intrigued by Deanna Raybourn

 

This is the first one: A Curious Beginning (Veronica Speedwell, #1) by Deanna Raybourn

It's "chick lit" or whatever, but that doesn't bother me at all. It's very fun, surprisingly funny, and the romantic plotline is actually painfully good. The narrator in the audiobooks (my friend has all five, and I listen on her account) really imbues it with a lot of pep, too.

 

March update (bolded the books I read this month). I really liked The Dark Forest and I’m reading Death’s End now. There are some truly jaw dropping moments in this series.

 

March was a slooooooooow month. My work is so busy because of what is going on and I simply don't have the time to read as much. Currently reading Tad William's The Dragonbone Chair and, I do like the book, but i'm struggling to keep up.

 

What did you think of Locke & Key????

 

I remember reading Locke & Key a while ago and then watching the TV show got me to go back through and it's a complete different story than I remember. So spooky and deep but also lighthearted at the same time. Really liked it! I'm hopefully gonna pick up and re-read Chew next.

 

Yeah there are definitely some similarities with the show but completely different tone. Really enjoy both though!

Chew is on my list to read in the near future as well!

 

I haven't posted month-end recaps yet this year, so this might be a longish post.

Novels first.
The Greyskull LP was a good little explanation of a weightlifting program I was following successfully until recent events transpired. Hard to give a rating on that, but I'm glad I read it.
Pale Fire, holy crap, that was fantastic and a real journey of a book. This was my first readthrough. I chose to read the commentary in tandem with the poem; next time I might go straight through the poem and then straight through the commentary. Lots to capture from that one still.
The High Druid's Blade was great, I'm a longtime Shannara fan, and it was a neat twist on the conventions of the world, more of a whodunnit/mystery angle mixed in with typical Brooks high fantasy. I'm about halfway through the sequel now, and still on track to get caught up by June when the last chronological book in the world drops.
The Broken Sword is one of the best books I'd never even heard of until recently. All fans of Tolkien, Norse mythology, bloody battles, magic, and heroism should read it. Gonna do a deep dive into Anderson's work sometime soon.
Godsgrave was fantastic, can't wait to read the conclusion, and Kristoff's upcoming vampire fantasy sounds great too.
Now You're One of Us was an interesting choice to read in one sitting, but it was definitely compelling. Very bizarre and a little gross. I liked it.
The Fellowship of the Ring was a nighttime reread with my two-month-old son, so I feel good that we're starting him off on the right foot.
Hyperion, I honestly don't know what to say about this. One of the best stories I've ever read. Mindblowing.
A Simple Favor was good; I liked it for different reasons than I liked the movie, but it was fun and I'll probably read her new book when it comes to the library.
The Wind in the Willows was charming, I'd read the abridged version as a child (and seen the animated Mr. Toad movie, and ridden the ride a bunch) but I didn't know what the real story was like. Very quaint, very fun.
Starsight was awesome, per usual for Sanderson.
Strange Ink was really good. I was expecting more horror, but I wasn't disappointed that I got a political thriller/mystery/soft fantasy instead (with some horror for sure). Apparently there's a sequel, which surprises me, but I'll check it out.
Barefoot Pilgrimage is a memoir by the singer of my favorite band (The Corrs). I would have been pleased with a straightforward autobiography; instead it's a charming, poetic, poignant journey through her life, her family, their joys and triumphs, as well as a meditation on life and love. I loved it.
The Fall of Hyperion, again, I'm without words. Phenomenal.

Now for comics.
Gideon Falls continues to be compelling.
Batman's New 52 epilogue was fun. I guess I should catch up on other New 52 titles before going into Rebirth? Not sure what I'll do there, but I liked this run a lot.
Spectacular Spider-Man got me to the edge of Spider-Geddon; now I just need to catch up on Amazing so I can read the event. Zdarsky had some fun going on in this run, I liked it.
Arslan is good. Not great, but good for sure.
Monstress is still fantastic and one of the best current comics on the market. Definitely going to be purchasing deluxe editions of these books when I have the space for them.
The Hunt for Wolverine was refreshing after the slog of Wolverines. Still not perfect, but moving in the right direction; and now I get to actually read some Wolverine comics again, which will be nice.
Heroes in Crisis was interesting and a fun miniseries to read.
Aero is cute and fun, I'm looking forward to the next volume.

Overall, it's been a great year for reading so far, and the month ahead has some great books on the way for me.

 

The Endymion books blow the Hyperion books out of the water, so have a good time with that. Some of the best books I've ever read.

 

Finished John Gwynnes series, it was pretty awesome, less grimdark and reminded me more of WOT or Shannarah. The next series takes place 100 years later so I'm excited to dig into that after a little break. The Chill was fucking great, that's my rec for horror fans this month. I guess the author is a pen name for Michael Kortye who's books I haven't read but this was a solid, epic ghost story. The Deep was also great, If you're not familiar with Katsu, she writes deeply researched historical horror fiction with a lot of real people as characters. This was about the sinking of the Titanic and the Brittanic and it involves hauntings among a plethora of other creepy things. Loved Song of Achilles, I'll definitely be reading Circe soon. It's basically a romance about Patroclus and Achilles, told from Patroclus' perspective from when they were young all the way through the Illiad and beyond. A great read for anyone who loves the Illiad. I just finished The Vohrr. I have to say it's one of the strangest books I've read. I'm pretty sure I liked it. Very speculative and experimental dark fantasy. Think Roadside Picnic or Annihilation. Definitely going to keep that trilogy going.

And my favorite book of the month was The Armageddon Rag. I've said it before but there is a different world where George R R Martin strictly wrote horror books and I'm not saying it would be a better world but one I'd be interested in sightseeing. I've read books described as "rock horror opera's before, actually quite a few, which sounds sort of weird saying it like that, but this is the best time I was like, well yeah, that's exactly what this is, from start to finish. It's a perfect blend of the death of 60's counterculture, Tolkien, and apocalyptic horror. I also noticed a line where Martin wrote as a metaphor "He sang ice and fire" and that got me a lil giddy.

Batman Europa was pretty damn good. I've been going through some of the weaker Batman titles I'd been holding off so it was nice to have a good one. Oh and speaking of bad Batman comics.... The Dark Knight Strikes Again was absolutely horrible. I enjoyed some aspects of the story but the art was just too fucking terrible. It's not the worst Batman story I've ever read, but it's definitely the worst of something that had every right to be great. I loved the first Dark Knight book, so hopefully the prequel and the third book are a return to form. Leaving Megalopolis ruled. Everything Gail Simone does is perfection.

 

Time to update two months worth of books because I am a Fool and forgot February.

:Children of Blood and Bone" was good, but I'm not sure I'll read the second one (mostly because I've heard nothing but bad things). "The Chill" was a solid first horror novel; I didn't love it as much as @Vivatoto did, but I'm definitely interested in what "Scott Carson" does next. "How to Be an Antiracist" was VERY good and should be required reading.

Though I try to only read books by women during March, I had to read the newest Wayside School book since that was my favorite childhood series and wow, it was a great follow-up. "The Hunting Party" was a fun mystery in the vein of And Then There Were None with just the right amount of twists. "The Toll" was a good southern Gothic horror novel; nothing amazing, but a nice read. I REALLY liked "The Ancestor", and would definitely recommend for Frankenstein fans. I also knocked out "The Other People" in one day (thanks to Gretchen Whitmer for telling us to stay at home; despite a bit in the third act that seemed to make no sense, this is easily my favorite C.J. Tudor novel.

I've also been reading some kids/YA books on Instagram during the stay-at-home order. The first two were "Captain Underpants" and "A Wrinkle In Time", with "The Giver" on deck.

I'm still going through Alma Katsu's "The Deep" and am planning on diving into Grady Hendrix's new novel when that arrives next week. On the non-fiction side, my boss/pastor's wife wrote a book about the history of how women have interpreted the Bible (she's a professor at a seminary in town) and Richard Rohr's "Everything Belongs" is on deck. Any and all recs are welcome!

 

Oh hey, I'm reading George R R Martin's Dreamsongs now and it says in the introduction that The Armageddon Rag being such a commercial failure ended his career as a horror novelist. Guess I know where the watershed moment is now.

 

The Toll keeps getting suggested to me on Amazon, worth a read?

 

That is very cool to hear, I'd heard plenty about Hyperion but little about Endymion so I didn't know what to expect. Suitably pumped for them now.

I've been listening to them on long walks through the woods, too, which is just an added perk in my mind. Probably going to do some Edgar Rice Burroughs for a bit to clear my head and then I'll jump into Endymion.

 

Just read Emily St. John Mandel’s ‘The Glass Hotel’ and wow. Highly, highly recommend. Between this and ‘Station Eleven’ she has written two perfect books for this moment we’re living in.

 

Station Eleven is one of my all time favorite books. Haven’t read anything else by her yet, though.

 

Her new one is phenomenal, imo every bit as great as S11

 

Now I'm curious what the worst Batman story you've read is

 

Something I forgot about in my attempts to read all issues of mainline Batman, Detective, Shadow/Legends of the Dark Knight...etc. Something utterly forgettable which you can find a lot of when bingeing through decades of comic history, lol. If i was asked to name one I'd probably just go with The Dark Knight Strikes Back. Funny enough I just read the prequel, Last Crusade, and it was top notch. Apparently you never know with Frank Miller

 

Did you start Batman from the beginning and go all the way to current? That's daunting af

 

Oh no not even close, it's a long term goal, lol. I jump around a lot, I've read everything starting at Knightfall to current, that's the biggest uninterrupted chunk. I've only read like the first 13 issues of Batman, I have to be in the right mood for those incredibly old comics.

 

Just poking in to let y'all know that I'm halfway through Grady Hendrix's "The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires" and it's VERY good

 

I recently found Hendrix, he's pretty great, definitely has his own thing going which is always nice for horror. I think I'll read the Exorcist book before I read that one but I'm looking forward to it.