Hit List by Laurell K Hamilton

(51) Anita Blake #20

Kraken by China Mieville

(13)

Potential Spoilers — read at your own risk

 

 

Mieville’s The City and the City has been on my TBR list for ages. After this, though, I may pull it. Still trying to make up my mind. It’s my book club book for February and apparently a number of people gave up on it. I’m interested to see what discussion will be like on Sunday.

It was very British. Very dry, and lots of Britspeak, which I know was hard on a lot of our book club members who don’t read a lot of British fiction. I read Jasper Fforde and others so this aspect of the book didn’t bother me.

What DID bug the hell out of me was the pointlessness of it all at the end. All this drama around this particular event, all this attention. And it turns out it was just set-dressing for the real reason the world was going to end. Grrrr.

Also — high ick factor.

2/5

Frankenstein: Prodigal Son by Dean Koontz

(3)

I’ve had a couple of people recommend Koontz’s Frankenstein series to me. If this GN is based on those books then, well, I dunno… It was pretty gross and twisted. And if I read it in a form without pictures I’d invent my own in my head and they might be worse. *shudder*

Good art, good story, but not, I think, for me.

4/5 — yes, I take off points for gross 🙂

Under the Dome by Stephen King

(47)

Okay, I’m willing to admit that there were an extremely limited number of possible explanations for the main premise of this book. BUT, I think King went with the weakest choice.

Or maybe I’m just jealous because I wrote a poem in 8th grade that bore the same underlying concept and, well, I’m not Stephen King. I’ve read enough of his work, though, to be glad I don’t live in that head!

Overall, I liked the hardboiled, on a clock feel and the wonderfully evil town father. Could have done with a little less gore, though, especially at the very beginning–that almost put me off the book altogether; it was a LOT of blood a very few pages in.

Mostly, though, I felt cheated at the end. That was a ~lot~ of book to wade through for a paltry, forced feeling payoff at the end.

Dead Men’s Boots by Mike Carey

( 30 ) Felix Castor, book 3

Changes by Jim Butcher

( 26 ) Dresden Files, book 12

Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

( 24 ) Kate Daniels, book 1

I liked it.  MC reminds me of a female Harry Dresden.  Curious as to what the big secret of her magic is, so will have to read more.

I also liked the nosferatu-style take on vampires–a girl can only handle so many oversexed, model-gorgeous vampire series. The were-characters were a bit one-dimensional and their origin story borrows heavily, and without subtlety, from LKH’s concept for the same.

And, in a happy change of pace from most paranormal stuff with a female MC, there was NO sex.  Zip. Nada.  Nice to see someone can do it without the characters always doing IT.

Staked by J.F. Lewis

( 64 )

I was really surprised by this book.  The MC is such a jerk that I got about 1/3 of the way through the book asking myself why I was still reading.  Then it got interesting. I found myself paying attention to the plot to the exclusion of the characters (a bit flat) and the language (just because you can cuss all the time doesn’t mean you should–especially with characters from an era before it became as prevalent as it is now).

The writing was alright; it read like there was a switch in editors part-way through the book and the second editor was better.

Too many unanswered questions (first-time author hoping for a series?) for me, though the main plot was resolved.  Mostly.

If he gets his book deal I’ll read the next one–the library copy at least.

The Keep by F. Paul Wilson

( 54 )

My book club made me do it.

It wasn’t hideous, since I read vampire fiction like it’s going outta style anyway, even the bad stuff (except Douglas Clegg, I will never subject my brain to that level of moronic ick ever again!), but neither was it particularly good. Truth be told, I was kinda pissed when the bad guy turned out NOT to be a vampire.  And the predictable, “good guy gets girl,” ending was trite.

I read it, and I wonder how the hell we’re gonna talk about it at the meeting since, based on the fact that audio versions are only available on cassette, I’m betting there aren’t any discussion questions.

S chose this book to get us out of our comfort zones; she doesn’t like “book-clubby” books.  Honestly, neither do I.  I read them precisely because they are outside my comfort zone. And the reason we read “book-clubby” books is because they frequently delve into issues that we can discuss.  We’ve had frank discussions of issues that would not normally come up, like the morality of abortion for the married-with-children set, that are fantastic.  These grotesque books (2 Clive Barkers and this book) she chooses do not open up the possibility for that kind of discussion, which is what I like least about them.

PS – Do ~all~ of Barker’s books have rape scenes?  I read “Weaveworld” (that’s the sound of me spitting out the bad taste it left in my mouth) last year and, obviously, found it utterly repugnant and wished I could scrub my brain free of the detritus and images it left there.  I skimmed through “Great and Secret Show” the ‘bonus’ book for my book club for July, and ran into the rape scene in the pond and I was done.  I decided life is too short for extra-credit books I am not gonna like, and waaaay too short for anymore damn Clive Barker in my head!

Blood Noir by Laurell K. Hamilton

( 46 )

An Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter novel

There was a refreshing change in the proportion between plot and sex that I enjoyed.  This and the last Meredith Gentry make a change in the downward spiral of more sex, less plot Hamilton was in for way too many books.

After reading Obsidian Butterfly (~shudder~ that one really horrified in ways none of the others have) I decided to read the library copies, because, frankly, the newer Anita books weren’t good enough to want to own–I’ll read ’em, sure, but they don’t need to live at my house.

So, whatever the reason, I am very glad to see an author I enjoy reading finding her plots again 🙂

A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore

(15)

This is my 3rd CM book, and it was easily the best. While all his books have moments of laugh out loud funny, the general plot of the others I’ve read has turned me off so completely that I keep vowing not to read him anymore. Unfortunately, my book club likes him… lol. Yes, this was a book club book or I never would have picked it up.

My biggest complaint about this book was the cover art. It gave away the “big twist” ending before I even started reading it and I spent the whole time I was reading waiting for poor clueless Charlie Asher to figure out what the art told me.

The Wheel of Darkness by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

(8)

Okay, that’s it.  I am officially sick of Pendergast and his metaphysical whosis, whatsis nonsense!

What happened to when these two got together to write entertaining books like “Riptide” or “Ice Limit” (my 2 faves from this pair)?  Whatever it was, can we undo it and stop putting us through this other dreck?

Fangland by John Marks

(4)

What can I say, I was STILL waiting for this to get good when I finished it. And realized that finishing it was the best part.

Demons are Forever by Julie Kenner

What, you DON’T spend Christmas Eve reading about demon hunting soccer moms?  😉

California Demon by Julie Kenner

a series I read practically for the subtitle alone :)