Women Shall Inherit the Earth
ANNIHILATION (The Southern Reach Trilogy) by Jeff Vandermeer
Women have long held an important place in the Sci-Fi genre. Since Mary Shelly created a living corpse, women have dominated despite what critics would have you believe. It is still a rare treasure to find a Sci-Fi novel that not only has a Female MC, but an all Female ensemble! And another shocker about ANNIHILATION by Jeff Vandermeer is that the Female characters are actually written well. Believable even, which is a surprise coming from a Male author.
When The Third Policeman Tells You About a Bicycle
The Third Policeman: A Novel by Flann O’Brien
There are books that exist to confuse and bemuse and I find it a treat whenever I encounter just such a book. The Third Policeman by Flann O’Brien was not at all what I had expected and I mean that in a good way…I think.
The Sandman My Old Friend, Darkness Comes Again
The Sandman Vol 1: Preludes & Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman, Illustrated by Sam Keith & Mike Dringenberg
There is an endless love in my soul for Neil Gaiman. He is everything I would love to be as a writer. Even still, I have never once picked up a copy of The Sandman – until now. Though I’ll admit picking up a graphic novel is covered in the shadow of bad graphic novels of the past. What I love about Gaiman is his ability to make a dark story seem light. There is always an element of darkness, but never fear and I appreciate that this is a feeling unique to his stories. Vol 1 of The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes did not differ from this.
February BoTM & Gallifrey One Haul (Book Mail #4)
It is such a cliche to say that it’s been a rough two weeks, but for me it has been a rough two weeks.
Two weeks ago I attended the Doctor Who convention Gallifrey One in Los Angeles and if you are a Doctor Who fan and have never been to this amazing experience I would suggest re-evaluating your priorities and try to attend next year. It truly is the place to be for all American fans of the beloved BBC show.
Following that terrific weekend I was put out with a hard case of Con Crud (the cold that proceeds a non-stop nerd convention). To be honest I am still not completely over it, coughs linger. This is the main reason that the last two weeks have been rough, that and other personal reasons that I won’t go into here.
The point I am trying to make is that during this two week time period I have acquired a stack of books and I now have the energy to post and share them with you.
January Book of the Month! (Book mail #3)
It was at the end of the Month of December that I finally decided that I was going to join a book subscription service, just to see what I would get out of it besides a pile of books. This was of course before the Marie Kondo “30 books” controversy, but I don’t think I’ll let this get too out of hand…I hope.
The premise of Book of the Month is, each month they give you a selection of books and each month you get 1 credit towards any of the books you want. You then can add on additional books either from the current month’s selection or from previous months. They then pack those beauties in a box and ship them to you! It’s like my dream service to be honest.
One of the best things though is that they give you a selection of books that are about to be released. It’s like you get dibs on books before everyone else (though I think the difference in receiving them is roughly a couple of days).
I had been going to their website for a while, but never was quite ready to take that next step and sign up for the service. That changed in January when I had to announce my GoodReads reading goal and decided in order to meet and potentially surpass that goal, I needed many books to choose from. (This is a straight up excuse, I have unread books currently on my shelf, just waiting for me).
The Shadow Kingdom (The Shadow Curse Series #1) by C.J. Inkson
***Huge thank you goes out to Net Galley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review***
Happy first book review of 2019! How is it that I already feel behind in accomplishing my book reading goals for this year? But at the very least I get to kick off this reading season with not only a fantasy novel, but one I actually enjoyed!
No, The Shadow Kingdom by C.J. Inskon isn’t perfect, but what it gets right is pretty spectacular. The synopsis and idea behind the story is what draws many in. Heck it’s what drew me in and though the details are murky and jumbled especially when it comes to the magic system, had these things been addressed I think the book would have been even greater. From here I think the only thing the author can do is push forward with the series and hopefully fill in those details and small plot holes in order for the series to end on a high note.
Book Mail (par deux)
Okay, I swear this was not how I planned it. I mean I knew that I would be getting book mail fairly quickly as I ordered the next book to read for my book club, but even I did not anticipate having two book mail posts in a row.
So picking up on the wave of excitement from my last book mail arrival we now can now add two more books and boy am I excited!
Into the Wilds of 2019
We are quickly rounding the corner on the last lap of 2018 and boy was it a dozy of a year. Though I can’t be too critical as there were some grand moments. Namely the list of books I set out to read and did in fact finish. The plan is to keep that momentum going into the new year along with some added flourishes!
The Skylark’s Song (The Skylark Saga #1) by J.M. Frey
**A HUGE shout out and thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review**
I am so thankful for this book, truly. It wasn’t the best I’ve ever read, but it did something for me that I will be forever thankful for. It pulled me out of a most dreadful reading rut; specifically when it came to reading young adult fantasy. I can’t deny that the last few fantasy books I’ve read have not been anything but less than stellar and that has been so heartbreaking for me. I want my fellow authors to succeed, but as a reader I want unbelievably good content as well. While it has its flaws, The Skylark’s Song by J.M. Frey was the hero I needed.
White Noise by Don DeLillo
Beige, flavorless oatmeal, boring, these were the words that spun circles in my brain as I read White Noise by Don DeLillo. I went in with no expectations having never heard of him or any of his work, though through some research I discovered that he is considered a literary genius of the 20th century. I honestly don’t see it. Nothing could have prepared me for the level of eye droopage I would suffer in reading this book over the course of a week and half. My sole motivation in finishing was really to have it read by the time my book club meeting came around, that was it. Nothing sustained me, nothing about this story kept me going. It was through sheer force of will that I managed to finish at all.
