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1. Please visit and comment with both of your hosts, Jana & me
2. Please display the button or link back to us on your blog post
2. Please visit a few other blogs who've linked up and get some book talk going!
Now for the nitty gritty - what I read since the last linkup. The library screwed me and didn't deliver on a lot of my holds so I actually used my kindle Lori passed down to me. I know, shocker. I need to assimilate myself to it anyway given that I cannot haul books throughout the National Parks later this month and overseas to Africa and Europe next year. Well, let's be honest - I will take one or two actual books, but I will need more than that.
Engrossing Reads
Bad Blood (Virgil Flowers #4) by John Sandford - I'm really enjoying these. I mean, Sandford has this guy referred to as "that fucking Flowers" throughout the novels. That is totally something I'd do and say. This was probably the most fucked up of the four books so of course it was the most engrossing thus far. I read it in a day.
The Lies We Tell by Meg Carter - I got a free copy of this book from netgalley for a review. This does its job as a thriller - I really wanted to know what the heck was going on. There were a lot of good threads to this story - maybe too many as a few times I had to stop and go back to re-read, which doesn't happen to me often. And it wasn't because I wasn't paying attention. It was a little sloppy but I can overlook that. I was driven to finish by my need to know how far the lunacy will go. Which is a good indication of a book that is more than passable for me.
X (Kinsey Millhone #24) by Sue Grafton - The Millhone series is one of my favorite of all time. Between this and the Stephanie Plum series, I go back so many years with these strong female characters. I feel like we're old friends. The latest by Grafton does not disappoint. I was so excited when I realized it was released that I bought it immediately on Amazon and started reading it on the kindle. I don't buy many books at opening prices.
Passed the Time Just Fine
Loyalty (Fina Ludlow #1) by Ingrid Thoft - This is going to be a series (obviously) and I liked Fina and her friend and I'll read more of these. Fina kicks ass.
Kiss Me First by Lottie Moggach - This was interesting for a while, then it sort of fizzled in a hurry. There were so many other places to take this. Moggach did real work to subtly point out the issues and unreliability of the narrator without shoving it in the reader's face. Then she played it safe and buttoned it up. Tsk tsk.
Everything I Left Unsaid by M. O'Keefe - I got this for free from netgalley in return for a review. I'm not typically a mommy porn reader, and being that this was really heavily centered around phone sex, that's what this is. If I had to say something to the author, I would say that I actually like Annie's character and how she comes out of her shell. The Dylan character wasn't fleshed out as much. There's great potential in the trailer park characters too that isn't tapped into. You can keep your sexy times and add some more substance, it won't hurt! I am annoyed because the cliff hanger is such that I feel compelled to read the next one...that's the mark of a good cliff hanger though, no? It is totally sex heavy and not for prudish readers!
Shock Wave (Virgil Flowers #5) by John Sandford - That fuckin' Flowers again. Another good one in a series of good ones from John Sandford. I really enjoy series I can rely on to deliver.
Love May Fail by Matthew Quick - There were a lot of things I could crap on about this book, but something about it just got me so I won't. It felt a little fly by the seat of your pants and leap of faith-ish, but I truly loved Chuck Bass (for more reasons than that he shares the awesome name of The Chuck Bass) and his part of the book, although last, was my favorite. It made me feel a little yearn-y and a little hopeful and a little believe in miracles-ish and I guess it hit me at the right time. I really enjoyed it.
Hard No
In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume - This is not a hard no but I wasn't adding a category. This pains me because I've read and loved every single thing Judy Blume has ever written.. But I couldn't get through this. I think it's a case of reading it at the wrong time. I'm going to try it again over the winter.
The Red House by Mark Haddon - I really like Mark Haddon's turn of phrase. I basically subsisted through this book on the beauty of some imagery and how he strung together words. The story was weird and too scattered.
Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith - I picked this up at the library and thought oh good, a weird one. This will be interesting. It wasn't. It was straight up torture. Save yourselves. I couldn't finish.
The Lies We Tell by Meg Carter - I got a free copy of this book from netgalley for a review. This does its job as a thriller - I really wanted to know what the heck was going on. There were a lot of good threads to this story - maybe too many as a few times I had to stop and go back to re-read, which doesn't happen to me often. And it wasn't because I wasn't paying attention. It was a little sloppy but I can overlook that. I was driven to finish by my need to know how far the lunacy will go. Which is a good indication of a book that is more than passable for me.
X (Kinsey Millhone #24) by Sue Grafton - The Millhone series is one of my favorite of all time. Between this and the Stephanie Plum series, I go back so many years with these strong female characters. I feel like we're old friends. The latest by Grafton does not disappoint. I was so excited when I realized it was released that I bought it immediately on Amazon and started reading it on the kindle. I don't buy many books at opening prices.
Passed the Time Just Fine
Loyalty (Fina Ludlow #1) by Ingrid Thoft - This is going to be a series (obviously) and I liked Fina and her friend and I'll read more of these. Fina kicks ass.
Kiss Me First by Lottie Moggach - This was interesting for a while, then it sort of fizzled in a hurry. There were so many other places to take this. Moggach did real work to subtly point out the issues and unreliability of the narrator without shoving it in the reader's face. Then she played it safe and buttoned it up. Tsk tsk.
Everything I Left Unsaid by M. O'Keefe - I got this for free from netgalley in return for a review. I'm not typically a mommy porn reader, and being that this was really heavily centered around phone sex, that's what this is. If I had to say something to the author, I would say that I actually like Annie's character and how she comes out of her shell. The Dylan character wasn't fleshed out as much. There's great potential in the trailer park characters too that isn't tapped into. You can keep your sexy times and add some more substance, it won't hurt! I am annoyed because the cliff hanger is such that I feel compelled to read the next one...that's the mark of a good cliff hanger though, no? It is totally sex heavy and not for prudish readers!
Shock Wave (Virgil Flowers #5) by John Sandford - That fuckin' Flowers again. Another good one in a series of good ones from John Sandford. I really enjoy series I can rely on to deliver.
Love May Fail by Matthew Quick - There were a lot of things I could crap on about this book, but something about it just got me so I won't. It felt a little fly by the seat of your pants and leap of faith-ish, but I truly loved Chuck Bass (for more reasons than that he shares the awesome name of The Chuck Bass) and his part of the book, although last, was my favorite. It made me feel a little yearn-y and a little hopeful and a little believe in miracles-ish and I guess it hit me at the right time. I really enjoyed it.
Hard No
In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume - This is not a hard no but I wasn't adding a category. This pains me because I've read and loved every single thing Judy Blume has ever written.. But I couldn't get through this. I think it's a case of reading it at the wrong time. I'm going to try it again over the winter.
The Red House by Mark Haddon - I really like Mark Haddon's turn of phrase. I basically subsisted through this book on the beauty of some imagery and how he strung together words. The story was weird and too scattered.
Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith - I picked this up at the library and thought oh good, a weird one. This will be interesting. It wasn't. It was straight up torture. Save yourselves. I couldn't finish.
This link up happens the second Tuesday of every month. The next one is Tuesday, October 13.
Non-bloggers, what have you read recently? Let me know what you recommend and what to stay away from. Bloggers, link up your posts below.
An InLinkz Link-up
And one more thing! Sara was kind enough to share a Philly love post of mine over at Journey of Doing today - please check it out!
And one more thing! Sara was kind enough to share a Philly love post of mine over at Journey of Doing today - please check it out!
