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Butterfly child (6 KP) rated Killing Floor: (Jack Reacher 1) in Books
Feb 26, 2018
OK characterisation (1 more)
Good mystery build up
Intriguiging lead character.
I wasn't sure about this book when I first started it. I had heard great things about it, but I like to make my own mind up. Although it had some action from the start, it was still quite slow but once I got into it, I really enjoyed it. A really good read, I passed onto my mum to read too! We quite like reading the same books sometimes so we can discuss it after reading. Its quite a nice mum/daughter activity.
I know the Jack Reacher series is quite old, and now has to movies but I guess I was quite late to the party. I have managed to avoid hearing much about the series, other than lots of positive comments about the books. So I was quite excited to get started.
The debut Jack Reacher novel kicks off with a good mystery and an intriguing character. I did find it was quite slow, and even though Jack is meant to be a bit of a mystery, I finished the book still not really feeling connected to the character, and for me, when reading its about feeling connected to the characters and the books which makes me carry on reading a series.
Although, I didn't fully connected with Jack Reacher, I did like the story and some of the background characters.
I like fiction, and I am a fan of Harry Potter and sci-fi and lots of things that dispel belief, but I like it in that context when you are expecting magic and some things to not make sense. The idea of why Jack was in Margate, Georgia and his connection the dead body felt a little strange. It added a level of something to the story but I am not sure why. This was my only issue with it, and I have only read the first book, so maybe more will be explained as the series goes on. I am giving it the benefit of the doubt, as overall I did really enjoy the book.
It's an 'ok' start to a series, and Jack Reachers mysterious life kept me intrigued enough to want to carry on with the series and pass it onto my mum. I am excited to move onto book 2.
I know the Jack Reacher series is quite old, and now has to movies but I guess I was quite late to the party. I have managed to avoid hearing much about the series, other than lots of positive comments about the books. So I was quite excited to get started.
The debut Jack Reacher novel kicks off with a good mystery and an intriguing character. I did find it was quite slow, and even though Jack is meant to be a bit of a mystery, I finished the book still not really feeling connected to the character, and for me, when reading its about feeling connected to the characters and the books which makes me carry on reading a series.
Although, I didn't fully connected with Jack Reacher, I did like the story and some of the background characters.
I like fiction, and I am a fan of Harry Potter and sci-fi and lots of things that dispel belief, but I like it in that context when you are expecting magic and some things to not make sense. The idea of why Jack was in Margate, Georgia and his connection the dead body felt a little strange. It added a level of something to the story but I am not sure why. This was my only issue with it, and I have only read the first book, so maybe more will be explained as the series goes on. I am giving it the benefit of the doubt, as overall I did really enjoy the book.
It's an 'ok' start to a series, and Jack Reachers mysterious life kept me intrigued enough to want to carry on with the series and pass it onto my mum. I am excited to move onto book 2.
K.L. Shandwick (3 KP) created a post
Nov 20, 2017
Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated I Hate You, Kelly Donahue in Books
Apr 27, 2018
Mark hates Kelly Donahue. He is going to fight her to the death. and kill her. physically. This journal contains his research, data, death plans, and detailed drawings (well, or not so detailed, but still entertaining) of what she will look like when she is dead.
After finishing this book—and while I was reading it, for that matter—I really wasn't sure what to think of it. Was Mark in love with Kelly, but in denial? was he literally insane? Who knows! Either way it was hilarious.
I can't tell you much about it, because it's pretty short, and if I give you any more details than I have, reading it won't be as much fun. I recommend if you like humor, graphic novel-styled books, or journal-esque novels, grab this one next chance you get!
I'm going to have to keep this one on my "I'm bored out of my mind and I need a good laugh at someone's obnoxiously violent sense of humor" shelf.
Yes I totally have a collection of books like that.
Content/recommendation: A little bit of strong language, some (not explicit) sexual content, and drawings of… body parts. Ages 18+
After finishing this book—and while I was reading it, for that matter—I really wasn't sure what to think of it. Was Mark in love with Kelly, but in denial? was he literally insane? Who knows! Either way it was hilarious.
I can't tell you much about it, because it's pretty short, and if I give you any more details than I have, reading it won't be as much fun. I recommend if you like humor, graphic novel-styled books, or journal-esque novels, grab this one next chance you get!
I'm going to have to keep this one on my "I'm bored out of my mind and I need a good laugh at someone's obnoxiously violent sense of humor" shelf.
Yes I totally have a collection of books like that.
Content/recommendation: A little bit of strong language, some (not explicit) sexual content, and drawings of… body parts. Ages 18+
Whatchareadin (174 KP) rated Two for the Dough (Stephanie Plum, #2) in Books
Apr 9, 2019
Stephanie Plum is at it again. This time she is on the hunt for Kenny Manusco. Kenny shot one of his best friends in the knee and then, he ends up dead. Kenny missed his court appearance for the knee shooting and Stephanie is going to hunt him down. For this case she has a little extra help, some she wants and some not so much. Some of the same characters from One for the Money are back in this second edition. My favorite by far though is Grandma Mazur. She plays quite a big role is this book.
I laughed out loud several times during this book. I'm sure people were looking at my strangely. I really hope that Grandma Mazur is going to keep making her appearances. She adds a great variety to Stephanie's cases. You never know what she is going to do.
So, I'm three books down for my Janet Evanovich challenge. My goal is to read everything she has ever written. She has written over 50 books so I guess this should take me about a year or more to complete.
I laughed out loud several times during this book. I'm sure people were looking at my strangely. I really hope that Grandma Mazur is going to keep making her appearances. She adds a great variety to Stephanie's cases. You never know what she is going to do.
So, I'm three books down for my Janet Evanovich challenge. My goal is to read everything she has ever written. She has written over 50 books so I guess this should take me about a year or more to complete.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2355 KP) rated Banana Cream Pie Murder (Hannah Swensen, #21) in Books
Mar 9, 2018
The latest murder in Lake Eden doesn’t even wait for Hannah to return from her honeymoon. In fact, Hannah’s mom discovers the body when she hears screaming and gun shots from her neighbor’s condo. Tori, the mayor’s sister, was a Broadway actress before she retired to Lake Eden. She doesn’t have many friends in the area, but she doesn’t have many enemies either. Hannah can’t seem to find anyone with a motive to kill the woman. What is she missing?
Fans of the series will be delighted to find that this book is more of the same. All the characters we love are back. Food talk slows down the mystery early on, but the plot gains momentum as we go along. In fact, I thought it was one of the better mysteries of recent books in the series. Of course, there are lots of recipes. The ending left me intrigued for the next in the series but also very fearful that what I’ve feared for a couple of books now is about to happen.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2017/05/book-review-banana-cream-pie-murder-by.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
Fans of the series will be delighted to find that this book is more of the same. All the characters we love are back. Food talk slows down the mystery early on, but the plot gains momentum as we go along. In fact, I thought it was one of the better mysteries of recent books in the series. Of course, there are lots of recipes. The ending left me intrigued for the next in the series but also very fearful that what I’ve feared for a couple of books now is about to happen.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2017/05/book-review-banana-cream-pie-murder-by.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
Gail (4 KP) rated Only (Alex Conner Chronicles, #3) in Books
Jun 4, 2018
Only: The Alex Connor Chronicles book 3
Four stars
This was an interesting read. Different in a good way. I was confused some what when the scenes changed. But it didn’t take too much away from my enjoyment of this book. I recommend reading the first two books first. I didn’t think about that when I started reading this book. So I was a little lost in the beginning. It’s a lot at first when you just jump right in but I liked it without the knowing the back story. The author offered US something unique and compelling. If you’re interested in other world reading and magic this is a good series for that. Alex is a strong character who is scared to be soft and scared at times. But when it was needed her back was made of steel. I will go back to read the first two books because I would like to know what happened to Justin. Her relationship with Valant is intriguing also. Then there is Ryan. Can you say oh la la. Definitely a series worth picking up to give a try. The authors style was smooth and had a very good dialogue.
Four stars
This was an interesting read. Different in a good way. I was confused some what when the scenes changed. But it didn’t take too much away from my enjoyment of this book. I recommend reading the first two books first. I didn’t think about that when I started reading this book. So I was a little lost in the beginning. It’s a lot at first when you just jump right in but I liked it without the knowing the back story. The author offered US something unique and compelling. If you’re interested in other world reading and magic this is a good series for that. Alex is a strong character who is scared to be soft and scared at times. But when it was needed her back was made of steel. I will go back to read the first two books because I would like to know what happened to Justin. Her relationship with Valant is intriguing also. Then there is Ryan. Can you say oh la la. Definitely a series worth picking up to give a try. The authors style was smooth and had a very good dialogue.
Sarah (7800 KP) rated Salem's Lot in Books
Sep 14, 2018
King's fantastic take on vampires
Despite being a massive King fan, I've never read Salem's Lot. Its just one of his books that it never occurred to me to read, until i started to collect his entire works and read everything I hadn't read before.
I never knew that this book was about vampires, and whilst this becomes fairly obvious quite early into the book, it was a pleasant surprise. As with most of King's books, this is extremely well written, and has his usual mix of varied and interesting characters, with the writing style split between all of them. There are some good and obvious references to Dracula in this, but its a fantastic modern(ish - 1970s) take on a classic vampire story. And unusually for King, this story isn't an epic novel like some of his others. It doesn't seem to go into as much detail either storywise and characterwise as some of his other bigger novels (The Stand, Needful Things etc), and this is really my only criticism. The story is still detailed and a very good, it just isn't what I'd come to expect from a King novel especially with a plot like this.
I never knew that this book was about vampires, and whilst this becomes fairly obvious quite early into the book, it was a pleasant surprise. As with most of King's books, this is extremely well written, and has his usual mix of varied and interesting characters, with the writing style split between all of them. There are some good and obvious references to Dracula in this, but its a fantastic modern(ish - 1970s) take on a classic vampire story. And unusually for King, this story isn't an epic novel like some of his others. It doesn't seem to go into as much detail either storywise and characterwise as some of his other bigger novels (The Stand, Needful Things etc), and this is really my only criticism. The story is still detailed and a very good, it just isn't what I'd come to expect from a King novel especially with a plot like this.
Cori June (3033 KP) rated Black Unicorn in Books
Dec 3, 2018 (Updated Dec 4, 2018)
I read this book last, of the three unicorn books this one (for me) was the hardest to find. I actually started with the second book purchased at a school's book fair at about age 12 and found the third book somewhere in high school then after a decade found this one in a used books store. My first thought was this is a children’s book? This chaotic crazy story, that called the main character a slut when something goes bad that is put in situations that could go extremely wrong. An anger that has occasionally levity of the peeve (one of the best characters ever). This is a book for preteens? But it just shows that with age perspective changes. Because rereading it the story changed.
Tanith Lee is a great story teller and the ending of the book it worth the trouble of the beginning. How Tanaquil grows and how less self centered and selfish she becomes is subtle. I don’t know if I would recommend reading the second unicorn book first or this one. Either way, it is a journey of discovery.
Tanith Lee is a great story teller and the ending of the book it worth the trouble of the beginning. How Tanaquil grows and how less self centered and selfish she becomes is subtle. I don’t know if I would recommend reading the second unicorn book first or this one. Either way, it is a journey of discovery.
David McK (3562 KP) rated Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? in Books
Jan 28, 2019
Hmmmm ... how best to describe this?
Perhaps the foreword puts it best: released back in the mid-80s, this is (now) effectivel a 'what-if', with the central conceit being that this was a story told by Lois to a Daily Planet reporter about Superman's Last Days.
I say a 'What-if' as, obviously, the Man of Steel is still around today: at the time this was released, however, DC was going through a major 'cleaning of the house'; retconning and throwing out over 50 years worth of backstory for their various properties in an attempt to reset the switch; to go back to basics (as it were). As such, it was possible (just) that this very well could have been the last Superman story ever written.
Unlike some of Moore's other works ([b:Batman: The Dark Knight Returns|59960|Batman The Dark Knight Returns (The Dark Knight Saga, #1)|Frank Miller|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327892039s/59960.jpg|1104159]The Dark Knight Returns, for example, or even [b:Watchmen|472331|Watchmen|Alan Moore|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1442239711s/472331.jpg|4358649]Watchmen), this does show it's age somewhat; very much having a 'Silver Age' feel to it.
Perhaps the foreword puts it best: released back in the mid-80s, this is (now) effectivel a 'what-if', with the central conceit being that this was a story told by Lois to a Daily Planet reporter about Superman's Last Days.
I say a 'What-if' as, obviously, the Man of Steel is still around today: at the time this was released, however, DC was going through a major 'cleaning of the house'; retconning and throwing out over 50 years worth of backstory for their various properties in an attempt to reset the switch; to go back to basics (as it were). As such, it was possible (just) that this very well could have been the last Superman story ever written.
Unlike some of Moore's other works ([b:Batman: The Dark Knight Returns|59960|Batman The Dark Knight Returns (The Dark Knight Saga, #1)|Frank Miller|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327892039s/59960.jpg|1104159]The Dark Knight Returns, for example, or even [b:Watchmen|472331|Watchmen|Alan Moore|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1442239711s/472331.jpg|4358649]Watchmen), this does show it's age somewhat; very much having a 'Silver Age' feel to it.
Sarah (7800 KP) rated Desperation in Books
Aug 16, 2019
Rather creepy
Stephen King is known for his scary and horror filled stories, but it isnt often that I find them to be like this. Desperation however is the first story I've actually found to be rather unsettling and really quite creepy.
This is one of King's good multiple character driven books, told from the point of view of each of the well developed yet flawed characters. You can say what you like about King, but he knows how to write to keep you reading. The plot is bonkers but full of unsettling creepiness and gore that you can't help but imagine. It may be slightly too long and drawn out in parts, and I'm not a big fan of the religious aspects. However it's still a very enjoyable tale. I had worried I wouldn't like this as much having already read The Regulators, but both books have their own merits and whilst related, still stand distinctly separate. The character names might be the same, but fortunately as the personalities and appearances were changed so drastically in The Regulators, it makes it much easier for Desperation to stand apart as the original story.
This is one of King's good multiple character driven books, told from the point of view of each of the well developed yet flawed characters. You can say what you like about King, but he knows how to write to keep you reading. The plot is bonkers but full of unsettling creepiness and gore that you can't help but imagine. It may be slightly too long and drawn out in parts, and I'm not a big fan of the religious aspects. However it's still a very enjoyable tale. I had worried I wouldn't like this as much having already read The Regulators, but both books have their own merits and whilst related, still stand distinctly separate. The character names might be the same, but fortunately as the personalities and appearances were changed so drastically in The Regulators, it makes it much easier for Desperation to stand apart as the original story.