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Oh my, that was wonderful! I spent the last hundred pages or so both wanting to get to the end, and being reluctant to finish because I didn't want it to be over.

Don't start this series without having all the books on hand, or you will kick yourself. They are simply so engaging that you will find it necessary to know what happens next. The plot is simply incredible.

Royce and Hadrian are wonderful. I couldn't stand Arista at first, but she certainly grew on me. Molina is a little two-dimensional, but that makes sense in some respects.

Now I have to go find the prequels and read them, because I don't want to leave Sullivan's world just yet.
  
American Gods
American Gods
Neil Gaiman | 2005 | Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy
The cast of characters (0 more)
A little confusing, sometimes (0 more)
We have always wondered, Neil tells us the answer.
I love a good epic book, I love a good story which has the various Gods in. Neil Gaiman gives us Godsand Godesses from all different cultures, they are friends and enemies, and they are not doing much now.
What a fantastic idea, Gaiman pulls it off superbly. His weird style of writing is a great fit to follow the journey of Shadow and Wednesday. It's a journey well worth telling and well worth reading.
Gaiman is not everyone's cup of tea, even if he is not yours you will enjoy this. If he is yours, why have you not read it yet?
  
Me and Mr. Darcy
Me and Mr. Darcy
Alexandra Potter | 2007 | Fiction & Poetry
4
6.7 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
This was quite a light, fluffy read, but it did have it's problems - not just the occasionally Typos! For a 29 year old New Yorker, Emily could be really naive - I could understand she might not know what Black pudding was made from, but not knowing what a full English Breakfast was or the words 'snogging' and 'bloke'? Now really!

There also seemed to be some confussion over the places the tour was visiting - it sounded like Jane Austen's House in Chawton, but then there were other references to Chawton Manor house - which is something different.

Also not sure about driving from Bath to Chesshire for a day visit in the depths of Winter.

OK, but nothing much to write home about overall.
  
Biggles Learns to Fly
Biggles Learns to Fly
W.E. Johns | 1935 | Children
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I was going to start this by saying this was the earliest set of the Biggles stories, back in The First World War.

Then I did a bit of research, and discovered that it depends upon how (and what) you are counting as a Biggles story/book - see http://www.biggles.info/

Perhaps, then, it would be better to say that this is the earliest set of any I have read.

Published in 1935, this is (apparently) a collection of 12 separate short stories, all of which are loosely linked together and follows some of Biggles earlier exploits.

I realise I'm not the target audience for these (I'm now too old). I don't care: sometimes it's nice just to re-live your childhood!
  
Doctor who star beast
Doctor who star beast
2023 | Sci-Fi
10
8.0 (3 Ratings)
TV Show Rating
David Tennant (1 more)
Catherine tate
Yes the doctor is back and it's been awhile with an old face in David Tennant why they haven't explained that yet and Catherine tate as donna noble even Russell t davies back as head writer it doesn't get better than that any doctor who fan may have heard about the story of star beast that ran back in the 80s in the doctor who weekly now magazine and yes as a ten year old I read it simple cute alien on the run from the scary monsters but who or what is the star beast won't say spoliers hard yo believe this story predates ET by 2 years overall good start happy 60th birthday doctor who
  
Paper Towns
Paper Towns
John Green | 2013 | Children
6
7.8 (36 Ratings)
Book Rating
"I suppose I never found boredom very boring"

Quentin is a senior in high school. Graduation is right around the corner and then he's off to Duke. When his next door neighbor, Margo knocks on his bedroom window late one night, he's reminded of a time when they were younger and used to truly be friends. Margo is extremely upset about the current status of her relationship with her boyfriend and is looking for someone to help her pull of the ultimate revenge. When Margo goes "missing" the next day, Quentin will stop at nothing to use her breadcrumbs and find her.

I decided to read this book for two reasons. Reason 1: It was coming on HBO and of course I had to read the book before I could watch the movie. Reason 2: I loved The Fault in Our Stars and when I enjoy a book by a particular author, I like to read everything they have written. Now I'm looking forward to watching the movie.

This whole book is based around a group of high school seniors who are out searching for their quirky friend, Margo. I liked the book because it was a quick easy read. It kept my attention throughout and I had to know how it was going to end. The book brought me back to my high school years(especially with my 20 year reunion coming up) with the references to poetry and prose I read during that time. During my 11th grade year we read a lot of poetry and classic literature. Interpreting poetry either as the author intended or by your own life experiences. Also this book made me thing about how far I would go to help someone else. Quentin and Margo are neighbors, but as time has gone on and their lives have changed, they aren't close friends, more like acquaintances. So when she disappears for yet another time, why does he feel it's his duty to be the one to find her?

This is a good YA book that may make some more interested in the poetry and classic literature featured in this and other John Green books.
  
Magic Always Sings (Magic Series #2)
Magic Always Sings (Magic Series #2)
Erin M. Leaf | 2023 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
loved what the magic did!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

I wrote in a review for the first book I read of this author: First I've read of this author, I'd like to read a longer book, with more to get my teeth into. And this book delivers, big time!

This is the second book in the Magic Sings series, and I have not read book one, Magic Never Lies. I didn't feel I was missing anything, and I will go back, at some point, and read that book. Not because I need to, but because I want to.

Rowan is a rock star who cannot write songs, hasn't for some time. He NEEDS to, or he will be in trouble. Having someone else's songs shoved at him, and his magic goes haywire. Rowan loves these songs. Meeting Jesse sends him into a tailspin: he knows Jesse but can't recall from when. Once the penny drops, Rowan goes all out to settle his magic. But Rowan isn't out, and doesn't want to come out, not yet. Can they make this work?

What this is, right, is a wonderful tale of being true to yourself. Jesse has loved Rowan for a long time, and he will take him anyway he can get him, but Jesse knows Rowan is not being true to himself, regardless of what he said all those years ago. It's quite difficult reading, when Rowan tells Jesse why he won't come out, but the magic inside Rowan will not be denied.

I loved the magic thing, I really did. It just is, you know? You don't need a long winded explanation about it. Some people have it, and some don't, and I loved what the magic did to them both. Makes them kinda face their feelings, really!

I didn't think it overly explicit, but I liked that here, for these two. It's more about admitting your feelings, and letting them all out. Fairly low on the angst scale too.

A thoroughly enjoyable longer book by this author, and my to-read list is somewhat longer now too!

4 very VERY good stars

*same worded review will appear elsewhere
  
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Joe Goodhart (27 KP) rated X-Necrosha in Books

Nov 30, 2020  
X-Necrosha
X-Necrosha
Craig Kyle | 2010 | Comics & Graphic Novels
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
So, it looks like I have come to the end of my X-Force reading tour. One more book to go, SECOND COMING, but it's an X-Men book, not specifically an X-Force one. And, while I am sad to see it come to an end, it also feels like a good time to get off this train.

This volume left feeling very unsatisfied at it's conclusion. I skipped over everything else, as I wanted to read the X-Force parts, as it was essential to the story. The other stuff, like NEW MUTANTS and X-MEN: LEGACY, were kinda meh, a lot of fluff, but not nutrients within.

As for the main story itself, it was okay. There were some genuinely creepy parts, but overall, by the end, it felt like there should have more to it. Instead, we had *a lot* of X-characters (living and deceased/reanimated), and after a while, it become hard to keep track of them all.

Laura Kinney/X-23 was one of the pluses to this volume, as Clayton Crain appeared to do a good job of not over-sexualizing her form. And dialogue? So good. She had some of the most fun dialogue ever (well, at least since her ANW issues).

Selene, on the other hand, looked ridiculous. I remembered her appearances from issues past, and while she wore a black leather bikini (bra and panties?), it was still not as "in yer face" as she was in NECROSHA. My wife is not a comic reader by any means, but I asked her opinion, as I wanted to know what she thought. You know what she said? She asked me who the slutty dominatrix character was. Yup.

I dunno. Now that I read it, I think I could have done without reading. And you can, too. There are better options. Promise.
  
C(
Crewel (Crewel World, #1)
4
7.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
I haven't read and enjoyed a dystopian book in years but as this was a bargain £1, I decided to buy it.

It didn't immediately grab me but I kept reading hoping that something would pull me in. I started reading this towards the end of March and it's taken me until now to finish it..

The storyline was original with talented females - Spinsters - being able to weave the world around them with the best of them, the Creweler, getting raw materials that the Spinsters then use. We hear how Adelice, one of those talented females, was supposed to purposely fail her spinster test but instead aced it and now knows that the Guild will come to take her to the Coventry where she will begin training on how to weave.

The romance in this didn't grab me at all. I wasn't that bothered which guy she ended up with out of Erik and Jost. Neither really did it for me, though there was a surprising little twist at the end.

I just wanted to know what was happening in the higher up areas of the Guild and what everything was leading up to with Adelice. I wasn't all that surprised by how this book ended and I won't be reading the other two books in this series.