Holly

Overall Wicked Autumn is a good book with excellent character development. I want to read more about Max Tudor and the village of Nether Monkslip...

Can you hear the “but” coming?

...buuuuuut, compared to her three previous St. Just books (Death of a Cosy Writer, Death and the Lit Chick, Death at the Alma Mater) it fell short in the actual mystery department. The St. Just books rate high on my list of favorite mysteries, and Wicked Autumn is still a fun read. It's just not the same quality, plot-wise, as the other three.

I would highly recommend the St. Just books and save this one for reading a chapter at a time right before bed. Or on a rainy afternoon with tea and scones.

A fast, action-packed, engrossing read. I Finished it with my toast and tea this morning. However, I didn't like it as well as I did Child of Fire, the first Twenty Palaces novel. Fans of the Dresden Files would enjoy these novels, though the character of Ray Lilly isn't as humorous or sarcastic as Harry Dresden and therefore less appealing to me. It would depend on what kind of character you prefer, I suppose.

An engaging read, but Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm comes in a distant second compared to Anne of Green Gables. As I was reading, there were numerous occassions I encountered distinct simlarities between the two characters. In each case I favored Anne over Rebecca.

One of the reasons I found myself preferring Anne is a result of her friendship with Diana vs. Rebecca's friendship with Emma Jane. When the Rebecca character became “bosom friends” with Emma Jane it wasn't out of any real wish to, but rather there weren't any other more appealing options. Wiggins seemed so in love with her character, that everyone else fell short. There was an obvious superiority. As a result I interpreted the character of Rebecca as condescending. She just isn't as loveable, or as fallible, as Anne.

To be fair, it's been several years since I've read Anne of Green Gables. I'm in the process of re-reading it so I can do a better comparison of the two books instead of going strictly from memory.

Surprises and Spoilers Contained Within



It's a story about a ghost.

SURPRISE!

The ghost of Harry Dresden.

SURPRISE!

You thought he would survive the assassin's bullet, didn't you?

SURPRISE!

You thought because he'd beaten the loup-garou and the skinwalker, battled the legions of heaven and hell, walked the paths of the Nevernever, annihilated the entire Red Court with a single spell, backtalked/sassed/gave lip and generally pissed off gods, goddesses, wizards, creepy little girls with vast amounts of knowledge, FBI agents, necromancers, the entire Chicago police department, hellhounds, mob bosses, queens, knights, priests, fairy godmothers, werewolves, medical examiners, wardens, valkyries, tv show hosts, enforcers, ectomancers, pub owners, and homicidal ex-girlfriends that he was somehow invincible?

Yeah. Me too.

Bummer.

“Here Lies Harry Dresden. He Died Doing the Right Thing.”

But a wizard's work is never done, not even after death. Harry couldn't get that lucky. After death, things really start to get interesting. That's part of Harry's curse; he lives (and dies, apparently) in interesting times.

I thought it would be impossible to top Changes, the previous novel in the Dresden Files series; it was just that good. So Jim Butcher didn't try. Instead of throwing punches and fists full of fire (Fuego!) to beat his last book, Butcher bobbed, he weaved, he faded out to the incorporeal. Topping Changes became a non-issue. A moot point. A ghost.

“He dodged it,” as my friend and fellow Dresden fan, Clint, so aptly put it.

He went in a totally different direction.

Awesome.

In order to get the most out of Ghost Story, I highly recommend reading Side Jobs, the collection of Dresden short stories published between Changes and Ghost Story. The last chapter, Aftermath, helps explain the developments since Harry's death and the appearance of the Formor. It's not a must, but it definitely clarifies a few things and sets up Ghost Story nicely. Plus the short stories are good, clean (except for “Love Hurts”, but it's a good kind of naughty) fun.

In Ghost Story, readers learn more about characters introduced in earlier novels, meet a few new characters, and explore the wounded depths of Harry's friends and frenemies after his death. Harry realizes the enormous impact his life, death, and afterlife has had on everyone around him, as well as the city that he calls home.

Harry may be dead, but don't write him off yet. It ain't over ‘til the valkyrie sings.

My blog
http://travelingduewest.blogspot.com

I was surprised by “Hold Me Closer, Necromancer”. Quite frankly, going in, my expectations weren't high. In fact, this book had been teetering mid-way through the stack of TBRs for a while.

When I finally picked it up, I nearly set it down again permenantly when I realized Sam's (main character) full name was Samhain. I sneered in disgust. The author hadn't even done their research. As any good Gael will tell you Samhain is not pronounced “sam-hane”, more along the lines of “sah-win”.

Sorry to be such a pronunciation snob, but that sort of crap bugs me.

Fortunately, before I could throw the book across the room the author redeemed themselves with a plausible explanation in the next paragraph. At that point I gave up the struggle and let myself become completely engrossed.

Sam is a loveable slacker - a skateboarding college dropout working the fast-food career track. That is, until he has a run in with the local necromancer at which point Sam's entire life goes from meh to worse in the space of 48 hours.

One of the other reviewers said they pictured Sam looking like Llyod Dobler from the 80s movie Say Anything, and now I can't get the visual out of my head. Slap a hoody on him, give him a skateboard, put him in Seattle, and pit him against an evil-dead-raising SOB, and you have Sam LaCoix.

I'm looking forward to reading more about Sam and crew. If the first book is anything to judge by, it's going to be an interesting ride.

L.Penny just keeps getting better and better with each book. I blew threw the most recent three books in her Inspector Gamache series when I was snowed in for a few days. (Thank God for the Kindle. I just downloaded the next one right from my cozy bed. No trip to the bookstore in a blizzard, risking life and limb for the next installment. Such a fantastic invention!)

I would recommend these to anyone who is a fan of both the cozy and the police procedural. Somehow L.Penny has managed to concoct the perfect blend of both.

If you do pick these up, they are best read in order to get the full effect of the character development, which is marvelously well-crafted.

There are several interesting plot developments in the 3rd book of the Morganville Vampire series, but (maybe it's because I've read the first three books in less than 3 days) the premise is beginning to pall. Also, the main character is starting sound like an extremely whiney, sixteen year old. Maybe she has been all along, but by the end of the third book it's beginning to bug me.

And SERIOUSLY??!, what the hell do you not understand about NOT GOING OUT OF THE HOUSE AFTER DARK??? REALLY??! Is a run to the convienence store for gum really that important? Especially since by the third book there is definitely a pattern being established; namely, you go out after dark, something horrible happens. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

For a NancyDrewGirlGenius, Claire can be phenomenally stupid at times. It makes me want to smack her and force her to watch 24 hours of horror movies back-to-back so she will get a clue. Anyone who has ever watched an episode of Scooby Doo knows that you never go down to the basement in your underpants, never leave the closet door open when you turn out the bedroom light, never go out into the woods after dark, never open the door to a stranger who's carrying a chainsaw, wearing a mask, or is a leprechaun, and never split up.

Still, I bought the fourth book. We'll see how it goes.

I like the Monster Hunter books so far - all two of them. They're so action-packed that for three days after finishing Vendetta I was driving down the road pretending to shoot at shredded tire “monsters” along the side of the road, complete with pretend machine gun fire.

Eh-eh-eh-eh-eh-eh-eh-eh-eh (machine gun)
Blam-blam-blam (shotgun)
KABOOM!!! (rocket launcher)

My six year old nephew thinks it's hilarious.

Even though I'm not a big fan, every so often I venture into the genre of romance. On a friend's recommendation, I picked up “Nobody's Baby But Mine”. Hey, I'm open minded. I'm willing to give it a shot. You never know, right? People tastes change.

I finished all 350+pages the book to find that... uh... nope. Still don't care for it. I still prefer a plot that has a romantic interest as a subplot. Romance as the entire focus for a book just doesn't carry a story for me.

Even though I received this back in August for my birthday, I'm just starting it. Mainly because my whole attitude was “Uck. ANOTHER teen vampire book. I swear if I have to read another one of these loathesome, brainless, boring books, I'm going to ram a wooden stake in my eye.”

What I said to the gift-giver was “Oh! WOW! Thank you! I've really been wanting to read this one!”

My momma didn't raise no rude girl.

For the most part, anyway.

(Please don't blame her for my momentary lapses. She did her best.)

The gift-giver asked me last weekend if I read it and I guiltily admitted that I hadn't. Rashly I promised it would be next selection in the TBR pile. True to my promise, last night I picked it up and started reading. I was very pleasantly surprised. I haven't gotten far, but I like the characters, I like the premise, I like the voice, I like the writing. We'll see if “like” turns in to “lurve” once I get further in. Or we may decide to break up due to irreconcilable diffs. It remains to be seen.

**

I'm done with Book 1, Glass Houses, and Book 2, The Dead Girls' Dance.

They were very BuffytVS-esque with a touch of Being Human, but that works for me. I am a huge Buffy and Being Human (BBC version) fan. Instead of Sunnydale On The Hellmouth, the setting is Morganville, Texas. The town would've been better named Vampireville, but that might have seemed a little obvious for its purpose.

I liked the characters right from the beginning. Claire is only sixteen, an advanced placement college student attending Morganville U. as a freshmeat... I mean, freshman. With her brainiac skills, she could've attended MIT or CalTech except for overprotective parents who wanted her to attend a college within driving distance of home.

If protecting their only daughter was their goal, count it as an epic fail. It seems the citizens of Morganville are always looking for new blood.

Literally.

Just label her a french fry, coat her in ketchup, and toss her into the middle of an Overeaters Anonymous Meeting.

It's only when she and her three housemates, who are townie natives and currently holding the top three slots on the Most Tasty list, bond together that they stand a chance against the forces at work in Morganville.

I ordered book three, Midnight Alley, on my Kindle today.

Was it really 269 pages? It felt much shorter, and not in a good way. When the book ended it still seemed only partially developed, like a solid second draft. All the elements were there for a great story, but it just never quite came to fruition.

I was prepared to love this book - magic, mystery, love, and barbeque all set against the backdrop of a small southern town - but by the end I was “meh”. Several of the book club crew favored Allen's Garden Magic over this selection and recommended reading it. I might.

For magical realism I prefer Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (Mistress of Spices), Joann Harris (Chocolat), and Angela Carter (Nights at the Circus).

I'm not putting a rating to this book because it's unfair to review a book you didn't finish. The fact I didn't complete it should speak volumes on its own.

I commend Anne McCaffrey's children's efforts in their attempt to continue her work, but it simply isn't, and never will be, the same without her.

Her Inspector Gamache series just keeps getting better. If you are a mystery-lover who enjoys a cozy with more depth, a fascinating, small village (French Canadian) setting, and intriguing, well-developed characters you will want to cuddle up with her books. Be sure to have a hot cup of tea in hand before you start reading.

Still Life is the first in the series of Inspector Gamache novels, but the second one that I had read. I started with book #4 - A Rule Against Murder. If I'd begun reading from the beginning I probably would have rated Still Life 3.5 or 4 stars. Fortunately the series gets better with age and by comparison to the later work I had to rate it a 3.

The good news is, it encouraged me to pick up the second book, A Fatal Grace, to see if they continue to improve.

I so enjoyed the first three Dr. Siri novels that this one threw me for a loop. In this installment the plot wasn't as intriging and the characters seemed flat even though they experience some life-altering changes. I hope that book #5 Curse of the Pogo Stick redeems the series for me. Dr. Siri and pals are some of the most interesting characters I've come across in a long time.

I thoroughly enjoyed Dissolution, though it was darker than some of the historical mysteries I've read. By the end, I was grateful to be living in the time I do now. I appreciate luxuries like regular bathing, warm (deloused, unsoiled) clothing in the winter, fresh, uncontaminated food, and beer free of chicken poop.

Fans of Brother Cadfael and Sister Fidelma could probably appreciate this well-researched and well-written book, though Dissolution takes place later in the historical timeline of the U.K. than either of the others.

Toward the end I guessed who-dun-it. Or I thought I had. The author hid some devious twists and turns in the last few pages that I didn't anticipate.

I would definitely pick up the next book in the Shardlake series, because I want to know how the character progresses after his disillusionment.