Tag: books

Monthly summary

September Summary

Book Chick1 Comment

monthlysummery2

Oh what a month. Started of kind of rocky with The witness and out of total boredom I bought the first book to a series I have been avoiding and it turned out I totally loved it. So I ended up reading the three books under just a week.

Been little all over when it comes to genre but it looks like mystery/crime and romance has been the ones I have been in mood for.

Now October is here and that is seriously my favorite reading/movie month and I cant wait to pull out all my horror books I have been saving for just this month. Have you read my Top 5 + 1 books To be read in October list? If not you can do it here.

Favorite book this month: A court of mist and fury bu Sarah J. Maas without a doubt.
Least favorite book this month: The witness by Simon Kernick.

Number of physical books: 6.
Number of e-books: 5.
Number of audiobooks: 2.
Total pages: 5423 pages.
Female authors: 7.
Male authors: 4.

26631703The Witness – Simon Kernick
Settings: England Pages: 384 Published: 2016
Genres: Mystery, crime, thriller.
My rating: 2/5
Links: Review
Book 1 in The Ray Mason series.
36357979Edison – Jessica Gadziala
Settings: Navesink Bank, New Jersey, USA (Fictional)
Pages: 246 Published: 2017
Genres: Contemporary, romance.
My rating: 5/5
Links: Review
Book 10 in The Henchmen MC series.
28963772Four letter word – J. Daniels
Settings: USA Pages: 416 Published: 2016
Genres: Contemporary, romance, new adult.
My rating: 3/5
Links: Review
Book 1 in The Dirty Deeds series.
22839894A court of thorns and roses – Sarah J. Maas
Settings: Fantasy world Pages: 419 Published: 2015
Genres: Fantasy, young adult, romance
My rating: 4/5
Links: Review
Book 1 in The A court of thorns and roses series.
17927395A court of mist and fury – Sarah J. Maas
Settings: Fantasy world Pages: 626 Published: 2016
Genres: Fantasy, young adult, romance
My rating: 5/5
Links: Review
Book 2 in The A court of thorns and roses series.
23766634A court of wings and ruin – Sarah J. Mass
Settings: Fantasy world Pages: 699 Published: 2017
Genres: Fantasy, young adult, romance.
My rating: 4/5
Links: Review
Book 3 in The A court of thorns and roses series.
2213661The graveyard book – Neil Gaiman
Settings: England Pages: 307 Published: 2008
Genres: Young adult, fiction, horror, fantasy.
My rating: 3/5
Links: Review
15793091Extinction machine – Jonathan Maberry
Settings: USA Pages: 433 Published: 2013
Genres: Thriller, horror, science fiction.
My rating: 3/5
Links: Review
Book 5 in The Joe Ledger series.
32263The surgeon – Tess Gerritsen
Settings: Boston, Massachusetts, USA Pages: 416 Published: 2001
Genres: Mystery, crime, thriller, suspense.
My rating: 4/5
Links: Review
Book 1 in The Rizzoli & Isles series.
24422342Liar Liar – M. J. Arlidge
Settings: Southampton, England Pages: 440 Published: 2015
Genres: Crime, mystery, fiction, thriller, suspense
My rating: 3/5
Links: Review
Book 4 in The Helen Grace series.
37683751From Lukov with Love – Mariana Zapata
Settings: USA Pages: 493 Published: 2018
Genres: Contemporary, romance, sports.
My rating: 4/5
Links: Review
23131087Nimona – Noelle Stevens
Settings: Fantasy Pages: 266 Published: 2015
Genres: Graphic novels, comics, fantasy, young adult.
My rating: 3/5
Links: Review
25391400In the company of wolves – Paige Tyler
Settings: Dallas, Texas USA Pages: 278 Published: 2015
Genres: Fantasy, romance, paranormal.
My rating: 3/5
Links: Review
Book 3 in The SWAT: Special Wolf Alpha Team series.
TBR

My October TBR top 5 + 1

Book Chick1 Comment

October is one of my favorite reading months of the year. It is getting dark earlier in the day, the summer is officially over and my consumption’s of tea and candlelight is tripling. My reading genre tends to be for the most part horror but I never plan a TBR. So I thought that this year I should. I have accumulated several horror books this year and what a perfect time it is to get some of them read. This is my top 5 + 1 bonus, planned To Be Read now in the month of October.

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  • Sleeping Beauty by Stephen King and Owen King.
    Come on. Off course I need to push in some Horror King in the long list of books to read. I’m excited to read this new gem by the father and son. It is highly acclaimed and I do hope I don’t have to high expectations.
  • Hocus Pocus & the all new sequel by A.W Jantha
    My favorite Halloween movie, which I have watched every year since 1993 has come as a book. Disney had a limited release earlier this year and I was lucky enough to snag myself a copy. It was so popular that they started printing more of the book right away and it is now available everywhere. I have waited for months for October so that I can start reading this one and I’m so excited to read the New sequel, included after the story of Hocus Pocus.
  • Blood Cruise by Mats Sandberg
    Sometime I feel translators just butcher books when they are translated. I mean “Blood Cruise” for a title! Can it be more cringe? Anyway, I have had this book since last spring and it is by an Swedish author I have read a couple of books by before. I got it for a dime and sure, let’s try and see how he is in the horror genre.
  • A monster calls – Patrick Ness
    I have had the book in my TBR pile for soon a year and it is time to get this one read. It is a short, young adult, horror story by Ness, who I never have read anything by before.
  • Lazarus by Lars Kepler (not yet translated to English. Synopsis on Swedish.)
    The seventh book about Joona Linna is finally, after such long wait, getting released. Planed publication date is 19th October and I’m counting down the days.

Bonus

17837762.jpgI do have one more book I wish to tell you about and I see this as a bonus on my TBR since it is a graphic novel. Uzumaki by Junji Ito is a Japanese graphic horror novel and the edition I have includes volume 1-3. As you may know I’m trying out the comics genre and I got fascinated by this deluxe edition and just had to buy it. Since it is horror I feel it fits perfect in October.

What are you going to read in October?

Fantasy/Paranormal · Romance

In the company of wolves – Paige Tyler

Book Chick1 Comment

25391400.jpg| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: He opened his mouth to order her to drop the MP5 she had aimed at him, but nothing would come out. It was like she’d robbed him of the ability to speak. Shooting her wasn’t an option, though. And the idea of arresting her didn’t make him feel any better.

There’s a new gang of criminals in town who are organized and ruthless in the extreme. When Eric Becker, along with the rest of the Dallas SWAT team, ends up in the middle of a shootout, he immediately senses werewolves-a lot of them. Turns out, the new bad guys are a pack of wolf shifters.

In a spray of gunfire, Becker comes face-to-face with the most gorgeous woman he’s ever seen. Becker does the logical thing. He hides her and leaves the scene with the rest of his team.

Jayna Winston has no idea why that SWAT guy helped her, but she’s glad he did. Ever since she and her pack mates got mixed up with those Eastern European mobsters, everything had pretty much fallen apart.

So what’s a street-savvy thief like Jayna going to do with a hot alpha-male wolf who’s a police officer?

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My thoughts: With a truly fantastic start we are once again thrown into this action packed story with clean cut and deep characters that are introduced in a way I really enjoyed. It was nice to once again meet some of the characters from the earlier books but still the focus was mostly on Becker and the new pack in town. It did however dropped off for me after approximately half way through and I did find the storyline somewhat thin. It did not keep up the heat and did not in the end deliver that punch I had expected and learned to associate with Paige Tyler.

It is not a bad book by far but it is not the best one either. A solid 3 star rating and I do like it. And the best part is actually that Tyler have put more energy on the werewolf mythology and we are introduced to other parts and aspects of the history. Beside Alphas we are also introduced to Betas and Omegas and there was some exciting twists. So I’m satisfied by that read and can recommend it.

 

 

Fantasy/Paranormal · Fiction/Science Fiction · Graphic Novels/Comics · Young, New adult/College

Nimona – Noelle Stevenson

Book Chick1 Comment

23131087.jpg| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Nemeses! Dragons! Science! Symbolism!

Nimona is an impulsive young shapeshifter with a knack for villainy. Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain with a vendetta. As sidekick and supervillain, Nimona and Lord Blackheart are about to wreak some serious havoc. Their mission: prove to the kingdom that Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and his buddies at the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics aren’t the heroes everyone thinks they are.

But as small acts of mischief escalate into a vicious battle, Lord Blackheart realizes that Nimona’s powers are as murky and mysterious as her past. And her unpredictable wild side might be more dangerous than he is willing to admit.

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My thoughts: It was a cute story. I do however not feel that I’m experienced enough in the genre to give an equitable review. I do not know what is common among comics and what is not. So I will instead write about how I perceived it. Just my point of view as an graphic novel/comics virgin.

comics.JPGFirst off, it was a great art work. I love how simple, yet elaborate the drawings are. She really choose her colors perfectly and I must say that I enjoyed the color shifts that were depending on who of the characters you were following at the time. I took a picture of a page where you clearly can see the differences and since I had a little trouble with the fast shift in subjects, characters and environment, it did really help me.

I think however I missed the point of the story. Or there is no point. Or there is a hiding meaning, but I’m just too dense to understand it. Either way, I do not fully understand the ending and it felt somewhat undone. Like it will come more books about Nimona, but still it was so satisfying that I do not feel the need to read more.

Either way, I’m happy that I have read it. Will probably do it again in the future after I have gain some more experience to see what my thoughts will be then. That is always interesting.

Contemporary · Romance · Sports/Games · Young, New adult/College

From Lukov with love – Mariana Zapata

Book Chick2 Comments

37683751| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: If someone were to ask Jasmine Santos to describe the last few years of her life with a single word, it would definitely be a four-letter one.

After seventeen years—and countless broken bones and broken promises—she knows her window to compete in figure skating is coming to a close.

But when the offer of a lifetime comes in from an arrogant idiot she’s spent the last decade dreaming about pushing in the way of a moving bus, Jasmine might have to reconsider everything.

Including Ivan Lukov.

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My thoughts: I want so badly to give this book a five star rating. It was so good, I’m serious. It was! But there was a couple of things that totally ticked me off and no matter how much I tried, I can’t ignore it. But first, lest talk about the positive things.

God I Love Jasmine and Ivan. They are such funny characters and their constant banter toward each other is never to much or excessive. And it certainly makes the sport part of the book a lot more fun to read. Sport books can often be tedious due to all the technical talk. But that never happened here. I love the side stories and how much deeper characters Jasmine and Ivan are. Nothing is as you first think it is and it is a wonderful story to follow. I don’t know what it is but Zapata is a queen when it comes to writing books. They are complex and deep which just makes your heart warm, fuzzy and you feel so good after ending the book.

The two things I did not like however is how slow start it was and that it was a lot of writing between the characters talk and somewhat repetitive. But when the story finally kicked off, that was no longer a problem. The second thing is the romantic aspect of the story. You, who follows my reviews, knows that I love slow burn romance but come on, here you could have kicked it up a notch at least 100 pages earlier in my opinion. I would have liked to seen more of it and due to the slowness off it, the book ended to fast.

But still, god damn this is a good book. Perfect middle of the week read when everything else feels dull and boring.

Fiction/Science Fiction · Mystery/Crime · Thriller/Horror

Liar Liar – M.J. Arlidge

Book Chick1 Comment

24422342| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Detective Helen Grace has never seen such destruction. Six fires in twenty-four hours. Two people dead. Several more injured. It’s as if someone wants to burn the city to the ground…

With the whole town on high alert, Helen and her team must sift through the rubble to find the arsonist, someone whose thirst for fire—and control—is reducing entire lives to ashes.

One misstep could mean Helen’s career—and more lives lost. And as the pressure mounts and more buildings burn, Helen’s own dark impulses threaten to consume her…

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My thoughts: I’m thinking I’m done with this series. I do not feel the enthusiasm anymore and I’m quite sick of the whole “all against Helen” mentality that have such a big part in the books. And there is something suspect with the a new character since him/her (not going to tell you) are not on the “I hate Helen Grace” bandwagon. It is just starting to get to much and nothing of it is intriguing or challenging. I do see how Arlidge is building up to this huge explosion of happenings in a future book but the road forward is just boring me out.

The crime story however is fascinating as always and especially disturbing this time around. I felt it more authentic than usual which left me with a sense of unease and discomfort in my own home. Fire is so destructive and I think it is easy to forget how fire shows nothing or no one mercy while it ravaging over everything you hold dear. There is a high pace and small development in the story with some neat twists and a satisfying ending and if you are looking for something easy for the brain, this is a good alternative for you.

Fiction/Science Fiction · Mystery/Crime · Suspense · Thriller/Horror

The surgeon – Tess Gerritsen

Book Chick1 Comment

32263.jpg| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: IN BOSTON, THERE’S A KILLER ON THE LOOSE…

A killer who targets lone women, who breaks into their apartments and performs terrifying ritualistic acts of torture on them before finishing them off. His surgical skills lead police to suspect he is a physician – a physician who, instead of saving lives, takes them.

But as homicide detective Thomas Moore and his partner Jane Rizzoli begin their investigation, they make a startling discovery. Closely linked to these killings is Catherine Cordell, a beautiful doctor with a mysterious past. Two years ago she was subjected to a horrifying rape and shot her attacker dead.

Now the man she believes she killed seems to be stalking her once again, and this time he knows exactly where to find her…

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My thoughts:This is a reread and I read this book for the first time back in 2002 (somewhere) and remembered it as one of my favourites back then. So of course I had to read it again when I got the chance. Now as an adult I did actually find it as good as I remembered. I did not however remembered it to be as disgusting and graphic as it was, especially when they were talking about the rapes. Or maybe I’m more sensitive to those things now as an adult woman than  I was as a young teenager.

Anyhow, it was really good. I liked the suspense and the story’s development, the characters and the writing. I did however missed Isles. I have of course seen the TV-series based on the book series and I actually thought Maura Isles was in the book series from the start. But she is not in this one. And according to my survey, she doesn’t  appear until book three (except for a small sneak peek in book two). And then it seems like she doesn’t have a roll in every book. How can you then call this A Rizzoli and Isles series when Isles not even makes an appearance in every book. Maybe I’m overreacting but she is my favourite character and I would like to know if she is as funny and lovable as she is in the TV series. Did get an awakening when it comes to Rizzoli to be honest. Did not like her as much but I do think there is more to the character that will be revealed later on in the series. I have not read more than this first book. But I certainly plan to.

Fiction/Science Fiction · Thriller/Horror

Extinction machine – Jonathan Maberry

Book Chick3 Comments

15793091.jpg| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: The President of the United States vanishes from the White House.

A top-secret prototype stealth fighter is destroyed during a test flight. Witnesses on the ground say that it was shot down by a craft that immediately vanished at impossible speeds.

All over the world reports of UFOs are increasing at an alarming rate.

And in a remote fossil dig in China dinosaur hunters have found something that is definitely not of this earth. There are rumors of alien-human hybrids living among us.

Joe Ledger and the Department of Military Sciences rush headlong into the heat of the world’s strangest and deadliest arms race, because the global race to recover and retro-engineer alien technologies has just hit a snag. Someone—or something–wants that technology back.

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My thoughts: This is probably the book I like least of the five in the series I have read so far. I love the Joe Ledger character and I love how action packed the books usually are  and I love Maberrys talent with building characters and plots. This time however it just didn’t work for me. There was no less action and I did really like the UFO and Alien twist, but there was so much talk and explanations and scientific facts that it totally lost me. I got bored to put it simple and then it was hard for me to come back.  If this not was a Ledger book, written by one of my favourite authors, I would probably have ended it long before the last page. It was dull between the fights and no real suspense. The Alien twist was accepted to easy and made the story seem unreal. Almost like a dream and I felt detached from the characters and the story itself.

One of the things I did like is how more “mushy” it is than normal. If you have read this far in the series you know of all the bad sh*t that has happened to Joe, his team, his family and all of DMS. After book two I actually thought that there never would be more happiness. And quite happy with that thought since Maberry totally crushed my heart in the end of book two. And beware, Maberry can do it again. Please don’t. But now it feels lighter and even a little funny and I did like it. I hope it stays in the series.

So over all I give this a week three star rating. Probably deserves two due to my lack of interest in the science mumble jumble, but I give it a three since it is Ledger and Maberry and I did like some of it.

Fantasy/Paranormal · Fiction/Science Fiction · Thriller/Horror · Young, New adult/College

The graveyard book – Neil Gaiman

Book Chick1 Comment

2213661.jpg| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: After the grisly murder of his entire family, a toddler wanders into a graveyard where the ghosts and other supernatural residents agree to raise him as one of their own.

Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn’t live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod’s family…

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My thoughts: Cute story but maybe a little too easy for me. It is a young adult book but had maybe not expected it to be that young in all aspects. Cute characters, interesting plot and I like the way Gaiman have written it. There is some aspects of the story that you do not get a full explanation about but you do get a lot of clues to make your own thoughts and mind about it. It wakes the desire to discuss the book, its meaning, its plot and all that around. I can see how this would be a perfect book in discussion classes in school and such.

I really liked Nobody. He has this charming, naivete that puts him in situations where he certainly not should be and he resolves those situations either by himself or help from those who tries to protect him. It is funny and light if you do not think too much or try to analyse more than that.

I don’t have so much more to say. I really liked the beginning and the end was satisfying yet sad, but didn’t care to much about the middle to be honest.

Fantasy/Paranormal · Romance · Young, New adult/College

A court of wings and ruin – Sarah J. Maas

Book Chick2 Comments

23766634.jpg| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin’s maneuverings and the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit – and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well.

As war bears down upon them all, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and lethal High Lords – and hunt for allies in unexpected places.

In this thrilling third book in the #1 New York Times bestselling series from Sarah J. Maas, the earth will be painted red as mighty armies grapple for power over the one thing that could destroy them all.

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My thoughts: I have gone on a total Sarah J. Maas binge and did finish the third book last Friday. This was such a great series. I still have A court of frost and starlight to read and there is rumoured to be released at least 3 more books but I don’t have much more information than that to give. I do believe that the next books to come is about some of the biggest characters around the main ones, judging by how this one ended. And it did end in a satisfying way in my opinion.

I didn’t find it to be just as good as the second one and a little lower than the first one. Still a solid four in rating. I think it is the wars fault. The book is a lot darker in every aspect than the first two books and there was some long patches with not that much happening. The war was a huge and overwhelming plot which frustrated and didn’t quite make sense some of the times. The worst part was that after 300 + pages about the war, it was just boring. Well, at least until I had like 100 pages left of the book. Then the shit hit the fan and I constantly worried that it would end badly. But what a ride.

I really like Maas way or writing. It is easy on the eyes, simple to understand and doesn’t make a book on 700 pages seem long and overwhelming. However I do have to say that I did find her way of using the words this time somewhat repetitive. Like the words mate and dream kept being mentioned all the time. I actually read a review where a reader had counted how many times the word “mate” is mentioned in the book and if I do recall correctly it is over 200 times. I do agree that, that is to excessive use of the word. But other than that, the writing is as I’m now associates with a book by Maas.

To judge this book and this series in one way I would have to say that this is the best series I have read so far this year and would highly recommend for everyone who has not yet read it.