January Reading Wrap Up

 

Woohoo! January was a great reading month and I stuck to reading only physical books from my shelves. I read 8 books for a total of 3450 pages not including my in progress sip read. 

1. Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome: #1 of the 12 book series. The story brought back memories of my three older sisters and I putting on plays in our carport when we were about the same age as the Walker kids, for our parents and neighbors.  And days spent playing and romping through the neighborhood with all the kids on our block, until dusk and dinner. ****

2. The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin:  I'm not particularly fond of Le Guin's writing, and I don't know what it is about it but it always turns me off.  However, reading one chapter at a time before bed, helped me get through it. All I can say about it is that a perfect society is hard to find. No matter how hard one tries, not everyone will agree.  ***

3.  The Emperor's Tomb by Steve Berry: #8 in the Cotton Malone series.   Little did I know when started reading the story that we would get a history lesson on the birth of China, what happened to Mao's body, whether oil was biotic or abiotic, and more. It was fascinating, although there were a lot deaths.  ****

4.   The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty:  #2 in the Daevabad trilogy. Politics, racism, oppression, infighting, back stabbing, assassination attempts, and magical entities all make for an riveting and thought provoking tale.  By the end of this book I wasn't too terribly fond of Dara. I wonder if he'll redeem himself in the 3rd and final book. Good riddance to Ghassan. My gosh, he was horrible. ****

5. At the Coffee Shop of Curiosities by Heather Webber.  While Driftwood is a charming, magical, little town, set by the ocean, and the place is full of love, and helps draw Ava out of her comfort zone, all the characters go through the wringer, ironing out their issues and relationship, until they find their happily ever after.   ****

6.  Icerigger by Alan Dean Foster: #1 in the Icerigger series. Aliens, ice beasts, pirates, nutty monks. Lots and lots of ice. Always cold. Battles, beasts, crazy sail boats, even a volcano. Our characters are tested against the elements as well as against the pirates, and ice beasts. Fast, fun, furious, ferocious, crazy story.  ****

7:  The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami: My disappointment knows no bounds. Thankfully I can go back and read his other stories which I enjoyed more.  **

8. Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros:  #3 in the Empyrean series. Long story short, without giving away any spoilers, the tale is full of battles. The dark wielders Venin, politically, with authority, in attempts to win over other islands leaders to fight with Navarre, as well as her battle to keep hidden Xaden's infection by the venin.   In the process of trying to find Andarna's kin, we learn more about Violet's history with her dad. Plus throw in the life of a cadet as she trains and bonds more with Tairn and Andarna, and her fellow classmates, and it makes for one hell of a story.  *****

My rating system is a mishmash of Goodreads and others.  

5 star - The writing was compelling, the world building was outstanding and the story flowed. Couldn't put it down. Evoked an emotional response and made me feel my feelings. Unique.   As a series opener, would make me want to read the whole series.  As a new to me author, would make me want to read more of their stories. Would reread again in the future. 

4 star - The writing, world building, and characters were excellent. Enjoyed the story. Would read this series or author again. Willing to give it a second read.

3 star - It was good, but...

2 star - I read the whole thing or may have skipped to the end to see what happened. May have had morally grey characters without any redeeming qualities, or something about the story turned me off, or it failed to live up to my expectations.   

1 star - Did not get page 50 or 100 depending on length of the book as it wasn't my cup of tea.  

Reading Log as of January 12th

 

I finished Ursula LeGuin’s The Dispossessed in which no society is perfect and someone will always try to take charge. They aimed for utopia and got dystopia, no matter where they went. I'm not going to write a review because her stories are always so complex and ambiguous and I never quite know what to say.  

Completed Steve Berry’s The Emperor’s Tomb (spoilery review) which was a great story, but I think I was more enamored with the Chinese history and politics , the philosophy, legalism vs  confucianism and whether oil was biotic vs abiotic than the chaos created by the two politicians vying for control of China. There were so many twists and turns which kept me fascinated until the end.  Next up in the series is The Jefferson's Key. 

Dove back into S.A. Chakraborty's The Kingdom of Copper, the 2nd book in the Daevebad Trilogy.  Oppression and control seems to be the big theme as the 3 main characters - Ali, Nahri, and Dava - forced to do things they didn't want to do. 

As for my great Les Miserable reading project, I decided to keep a journal and write a summary of each chapter.  It will help me keep track of the story and remember details since it's such a huge book. I may post weekly updates, chapter summaries and thoughts, but haven't decided yet. 

Started The City and Its Uncertain Walls and annotating as I go. Strange story so far as I think the characters are all dreaming or existing in a shadow world. 

With my bedtime read, IceRiggers by Alan Dean Foster, the characters are being drawn into the native's war. 

Alternating between New Testament journal bible and Thomas Merton's Dialogues with Silence which has pen and ink drawings by Merton with are absolutely powerful in their simplicity.   

The Emperor's Tomb - Steve Berry (spoilery version)

 

"History is a maiden and you can dress her however you like, the Premier said."

First lines:  "A bullet zipped past Cotton Malone. He dove to the rocky ground and sought what cover the sparse poplars offered. Cassiopeia Vitt did the same and they belly crawled across sharp gravel, finding a boulder large enough to prove the two of them protection."

Little did I know when I started reading The Emperor's Tomb, #8 in the Cotton Malone series, would I get a history lesson on the birth of China, what happened to Mao's body, whether oil was biotic or abiotic, and more.  The author verified in the author note's in the back of the book that much of the history, science, and other events mentioned were true. 

Cotton is forced to help Cassiopeia when she is kidnapped while trying to find the son of friend Sokolov, and she tells the bad guys Cotton has what they want and will bring it to them.  Cotton and Cass find themselves in a battle between two factions - two men who are vying to be the emperor's replacement. The battle field takes them through old museums and new, all the while never knowing if an arch nemesis Viktor can be trusted. He was a triple threat, playing all sides. 

What amazed me was each Chinese Emperor had no problem destroying any historical records that didn't support his beliefs, his rule.  

"The fate of China, as has happened many times through the centuries, that's what made our culture so special. It is what set us apart from all the others. No emperor even ruled solely because of his bloodline. Instead it was the emperor's responsibility to set a moral example for both his government and his people.  If he grew corrupt, or incompetent, rebellion has always been regarded as a legitimate recourse. Any peasant who could gather an army could found a new dynasty.  And that happened many times.  If prosperity came from his rule, then he was deemed to have gained the 'Mandate of Heaven.'  His male heirs were expected to succeed him, but they too could be overthrown if judged unfit. The Mandate of Heaven must not only be maintained, but must be earned."  Pau to Ni, pg 400

Getting back to the story, Cassiopeia was trying to find the son as well as the father who'd been taken by Kang, one of the men who wanted to rule.  Tang was the bad guy, and just wanted power, any way he could get it. Ni was the Emperor's choice and the good guy, one who wanted a sort of democracy, a more people friendly rule. Now, throw in the ancient brotherhood of the Ba and Pau who is the leader of a group of Eunuchs and it all makes for a rather convoluted story. 

Oil played a part and there were many discussions on whether it was biotic - fossil fuel which is limited supply or abiotic - naturally occurring and in unlimited supply. If they could prove it was abiotic, China could supply one hundred percent of their own oil and not rely on other countries.  The father knew the truth and his son was being withheld until he could test the ancient oil found in the tombs and prove the theory. At which point, Kang would have him killed.  

Long story short, the good guys won, but there was death and destruction everywhere they went.  The father and son were reunited, Ni was chosen as the emperor's replacement,   The secret of the oil was that is was truly abiotic but people preferred to continue believing in fossil fuels.  Viktor was killed and no longer a threat. And in the end, Cotton and Cass decided to quit playing games, and be together. 

Ballantine Books, 2011
471 Pages
Cotton Malone, # 8 out of 19 
Historical Thriller 

Reading Log for the week of January 4th

January 4:  I have bookmarks in multiple books right now, reading something different during breakfast, lunch, after dinner, and at bedtime, plus whenever I have a free moment. 

I'm halfway through my current breakfast time read -  Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome during breakfast about four siblings who, with permission from the father and mother, camp out on a island across from the mainland, by themselves, pretending to be pirates. Full of sailing adventures as well as parlaying with two amazons (two local sisters who live nearby). Totally enjoying this super sweet adventure story.  

Lunch time, it's Steve Berry's The Emperor's Tomb in which while Cotton helps his lady friend help find a kidnapped boy, their adventure takes them to China and the story is full of fascinating Chinese history, most of it true according to the author.  At the halfway point as well.  

Bedtime, it's Ursula Le Guin's The Dispossessed in which the alternating chapters between past and present are sort of driving me crazy so alternating with Alan Dean Foster's IceRiggers in which September and Foster (love their names) have just shipwrecked on a frozen planet and it's a battle between stupid kidnappers and the elements. 

I'm immersed in the ebook version of The Advent of Winter:  A Fantasy Anthology  - edited by Dom McDermott which was originally a kickstarter project a couple years ago and includes authors from all over the world writing fantasy short stories about winter. The first few stories are fantastic and I'm adding more new to me authors to my want list.  Now I want to get the physical copy of the book. 

I'll be diving into Les Miserables any minute now..... Plus Haruki Murakami's The City and It's Uncertain Walls. 

Nonfiction wise, I've almost filled a journal with notes from Louise DeSalvo's Art of Slow Writing. Also highlighting sage bits in Haruki Murakami's What I Talk About When I Talk about Running. 

I was halfway through Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty, when I set it aside as it isn't quite keeping my attention like the first book The City of Brass which I couldn't put down.  I may go back to it later. 

I'm waiting patiently for Onyx Storm, the 3rd book in Rebecca Yarros's Empyrean series to be released January 21st.  It's also my January Dragon Bookology read. This is one series I will enjoy rereading again at a later date. 

 I think my reading for the month is set.  

September Reading Log:

 

September 1:  I currently have Steve Berry’s 4th book in his Cotton Malone series up next – Thc Charlemagne Pursuit.

“As a child, former Justice Department agent Cotton Malone was told that his father died in a submarine disaster in the North Atlantic. But what he now learns stuns him: His father’s sub was a secret nuclear vessel lost on a highly classified mission beneath the ice shelves of Antarctica.

Twin sisters Dorothea Lindauer and Christl Falk are also determined to find out what became of their father, who died on the same submarine–and they know something Malone doesn’t: Inspired by strange clues discovered in Charlemagne’s tomb, the Nazis explored Antarctica before the Americans. Now Malone discovers that cryptic journals penned in “the language of heaven,” conundrums posed by an ancient historian, and his father’s ill-fated voyage are all tied to a revelation of immense consequence for humankind. As Malone embarks on a dangerous quest with the sisters, he will finally confront the shocking truth of his father’s death and the distinct possibility of his own.”

My Q book is The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn which I’m slowly reading right before bed.

Continuing my reread of Patricia Briggs Mercedes Thompson and currently on Smoke Bitten.

Saturday Night Movie:  Watched Oppenheimer tonight which has left me totally exhausted with all the machinations involved.  Enjoyed Fat Man and Little Boy more so than this.

September 4:  #59 in J.D. Robb’s Passion in Death arrived today!

September 8:   I’m currently reading Passion in Death by J.D. Robb which is another pen name for Nora Roberts.  I just stumbled upon Rules of Engagement written by Selene Montgomery which happens to be the pen name for Stacey Abrams who previously served as a state representative for Georgia. Dean Koontz is another favorite author who wrote under several pen names including David Axton, K. R. Dwyer, Richard Paige, and others. Stephen King used Richard Bachman as another pen name while Anne Rice used A.N. Roquelaure or Anne Rampling.   Fantasy author Charles De Lint wrote dark fantasy novels aka horror under the name of Samuel Key which were scary good.

It’s always fun to search out books written under a different pen name by authors because you’ll never know what amazing stories you’ll find.

I finished my reread of the Mercedes Thompson series and picked up on so many things I missed on the last read of each book.  I’m sad to be leaving Mercy’s world, but now I’ve got the urge to delve into Charles and Anna’s world in Alpha and Omega.

Passions in Death was very convoluted.  I couldn’t keep the characters straight, and the story seemed to go on forever and the ending was a bit anticlimactic. Not one I’d read again.  Started Cry Wolf last night and I was tempted to set In Death aside and get back to it later, but decided to finish it as they are always quick reads for me.  Disappointed.

September 12:  The next In Death will be out in Feb 2025.  I watched a youtube discussion yesterday between book tuber Merphy Napier and another book reviewer and she said something that I think I’ll adopt.   The story didn’t vibe with me or it just wasn’t my vibe.  Not very often one of the In Death stories doesn’t vibe for me. I think there are three or four I would never read again just because of the subject matter. Squicky! 

September 13:  My brother just offered to preorder a copy of Jason Pargin's newest book The Black Box of Doom – for me when he ordered his copy.  I had no idea who he was or what he writes. Went online and looked intriguing enough to order John dies at the End while waiting for the new book to come in – . Sounds like a good Spooktacular read.

September 15:  In the midst of my Patricia Brigg’s Alpha and Omega reread. Waiting in the wings is Steve Berry’s Charlemagne Pursuit, Calvino’s Complete Cosmicomics, as well as Japanese author Satoshi Yagisawa’s Days at the Morisaki Bookshop.  Plus I’ll be putting together my plans for our October Spooktacular next month.  Think I have my eyes are bigger than my stomach syndrome.  LOL!

Saturday Night Movie: Watched the 2nd movie in the legacy planet of the apes movies – Beneath  the Planet of the Apes.

September 20:  I’m not sure where I stand with my a to z. I’ll have to go through and see what’s missing.  Probably q and z.  Hee hee.  I’ve just about decided I need to go back on my buying ban for the rest of the year, at least until Christmas, and concentrate on the trilogies I started, for which I have the next two books, and finish those. Plus work through my TBR. Have all these great books, some pretty chunky ones I have been ignoring.  So revising my reading plan. Now I just need to stop downloading all Kindle Unlimited Books and read the ones I have. I keep rotating, adding a new one and deleting odd the oldest whether read it or not,  Slap myself on the hand, Stop that.  

 I just finished The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn. 4.5 stars.  Too much happened to confine to a simple review, with multifaceted characters, from children to grownups, that took place during the tumultuous years of the 1920s through wwII.  I’ll have to ponder for a while as I have a book hangover.

September 21: I’m in the middle of Steven Berry’s 4th book in his Cotton Malone series – The Charlemagne Pursuit which is quite interesting.  Waiting in the wings is Samantha Shannon chunky book – A Day of Fallen Night (Play on the word fall plus fall colors on the cover) which is from the Roots of Chaos duology.

“Tunuva Melim is a sister of the Priory. For fifty years, she has trained to slay wyrms – but none have appeared since the Nameless One, and the younger generation is starting to question the Priory’s purpose.

To the north, in the Queendom of Inys, Sabran the Ambitious has married the new King of Hróth, narrowly saving both realms from ruin. Their daughter, Glorian, trails in their shadow – exactly where she wants to be.

The dragons of the East have slept for centuries. Dumai has spent her life in a Seiikinese mountain temple, trying to wake the gods from their long slumber. Now someone from her mother’s past is coming to upend her fate.

When the Dreadmount erupts, bringing with it an age of terror and violence, these women must find the strength to protect humankind from a devastating threat.”

I'm rereading something from my past for my bedtime book – The Ancient One by T.A. Barron with a lot of trees, both on the cover and in the story. (52 books task of the week) 🙂

“When Kate travels to Blade, Oregon, for a quiet week at Aunt Melanie’s cottage, her plans are dashed by the discovery of a grove of giant redwood trees in nearby Lost Crater. For thousands of years, no humans have entered the fog-filled crater–except possibly the Halami people, who lived in the region centuries ago before vanishing without a trace. Long a source of deep mystery, the crater is now a source of conflict, pitting those who see it as the dying mill town’s last hope against those who see it as a rare sanctuary that should be protected.

Caught up in this struggle, Kate follows an old Halami trail into the crater, and suddenly is thrown back in time five hundred years. Accompanied by the trickster Kandeldandel, the loyal Laioni, and the young logger Jody, she meets strange and enigmatic creatures, none more frightening than the volcanic Gashra, bent on destroying everything he cannot control. To defeat him, Kate must find the answer to an ancient riddle–and the courage to make the most difficult choice of her life.”

Saturday Night Movie: Inkheart with Brendan Fraser!

September 24:  I finished #4 in Steve Berry’s Cotton Malone series – The Charlemagne pursuit.  Cotton wants to know what happened to his father who supposedly died in a military submarine accident. His request and receipt of the classified files leads to everyone getting involved from the President on down. Secrets are revealed and an assassin tries to keep those who know the most from talking. And revelations about Charlemagne, cryptic journals about “the language of heaven” and ancient history. All fascinating.  Berry reminds me of James Rollins whose books I really enjoy, so will be working my way through the rest of the Cotton Malone series.

Clearing my reading palate with paperback Amanda Quick’s When She Dreams which is #6 in the Burning Cove series and ebook Ben Aaronovitch’s #6 in his Rivers of London with The Hanging tree.

Then I’ll attack Samantha Shannon’s A Day of Fallen Night.

I’ve been watching videos on annotating my books and now I want to mark up all my books as I read.

September 28:  Reading Pargin’s dark comedy thriller I’m Starting to Worry about This Big Box of Doom right now. Have quite a few ebooks that I’m perusing to see which ones I want to read for October. I know I’ll read only one or two because I’m more of mood reader.  Maybe Karin Slaughter’s Pretty Girls or perhaps Ward’s The Last House on Needless Street.  Physical bookwise have a few Dean Koontz to select from.

Debating  between Dean Koontz 77 Shadow Street and Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves.  I think House of Leaves is winning.

Currently working my way slowly through Louise DeSalvo’s The Art of Slow Writing.

Lied about not adding more books to my shelves.  Scrolling through Instagram and following way too many book bloggers has caused my TBR to grow exponentially.

Saturday Night Movie:  Despicable me 4!!!