In Pursuit of My Own Library

I have apparently hit a slump in the Discworld.  The satire has become on the most obvious of topics.  They built this city on music with rocks in it, everyone.  The largest downside to this topic are the references.  I grew up listening to music from bygone days for my age group, but this novel stretched my knowledge of rock history.  It was distracting. The disasters of fame and fortune are the meat of the satire, but I couldn't get passed trying to figure out which rock stars were being used for cultural reference.  This is entirely a personal problem and may not bother many other readers.  I just have to put the imagery together in my mind.  If you don't have to waste your brain on connecting fiction with fact, then this could be a very entertaining book for you.

Gonnes don't kill people; people kill people.  Well if that isn't the most cliche thing I have ever read.  Except this is Discworld, where the gonnes can do the killing for themselves, thank you very much.  While the story of Men at Arms  is an incredibly fun read from a character development viewpoint, it disappointed after Lords and Ladies .  I guess that is the hazard of reading the series in publication order. Captain Vimes is about to retire from the City Watch and marry one of the richest women in Ankh-Morpork.  He will turn his badge in for gentlemanly leisure.  He is looking down the barrel of -- okay, okay, I won't finish that cliche pun.  He faces the vacuum that every person who has dedicated their lives to their career faces with complete denial.  It helps that the largest crime spree Ankh-Morpork has seen is occurring. There was plenty of humor.  Terry Pratchett has never failed me on that.  I'm just too exhausted o...

This was recommended by the woman who ran the children's department at the independent bookstore I worked at three years ago.  It got buried in the move, and I'm just now  getting around to reading it.   This book was compared to the "Chronicles of Narnia" and "His Dark Materials" series.  Those are some big footprints to follow behind.   I think the comparison is a bit too lofty for the outcome.   Sylas Tate woke up as a normal boy running errands for an oppressive uncle when he comes across the Shop of Things and his whole world is upended.  He must find his mother.  He enters upon the journey of his life. The novel is a trope and was a little hard to push passed my expectations.  Most of the time I felt like I was reading any number of other middle grade novels where the protagonist flees the evil overlord to come out the other side as a hero.   The story felt forced, but the  concept of the Glimmer My...

I had stacked up a rather large Netgalley pile again, so despite having pre-ordered this novel, I felt it was only right to plow through my ARCs first.  The only problem was some of them were harder reading than I anticipated, and I was put off from reading this for quite awhile.  I missed the release day I had so hoped to help promote.  Que sera, sera. I pre-ordered this because 1) it was written by Charlie Holmberg and 2) it is about humans being vessels to spirits.  (I feel this could be turned into a really awesome anime.)  Sandis lives in an incredibly sheltered life as the favorite vessel to a criminally insane master.  Rone is a 25 year old parkour ninja.  How could I not pre-order? Sandis's character development as an 18 year old runaway is fantastic.  You can feel her naivety from having been sheltered most of her adolescence, but her street smarts from her childhood lie under the surface.  As she flexes her atrophied skills, the...

Today is the release day for Immoral Code  by Lillian Clark.  I have a love-hate relationship with this novel.   I received an e-mail for the advanced copy at the beginning of the year.  I was instantly drawn in by their tagline: " Ocean's 8  meets The Breakfast Club  in this fast-paced, multi-perspective story about five teens determined to hack into one billionaire absentee father's company to steal tuition money."  Should have been suspicious at the 8 instead of 11, but I was completely focused on The Breakfast Club-- easily one of my favorite movies.   I didn't read the synopsis much further than that when I clicked the request button.  It took awhile for the request to be approved, and I mostly forgot what the story was all about by the time the ARC hit my inbox.   I really need to read synopses in much further detail before I request books.  It bites me in the butt when I don't.  Hence the love-h...

Husband and I want to live in an efficient home.   A floor plan that is less than 1,000 square feet, which apparently went the way of the dodo in the late '90s.   Making our dreams a reality has alluded us, and it's built some frustration. Then this ARC came through my Netgalley.  The Lord must have heard my quandary and provided some much needed guidance.  I didn't waste any time requesting a copy.  Now I'm itching even worse to get out of here, but at least I now have some ideas on how to make our dreams a reality.  Megan Edwards's home caught on fire back when the internet was nothing but a fledgling idea.  With nothing to their name, she and her husband decided to buy an R.V. and hit the road.  They didn't want the stereotypical experience of campers hauling themselves from state park to state park.  They wanted to work while exploring the United States. Megan recounts their adventures as they struck out on a road less tr...

I saw a movie, and then I read a book.  If you are a follower of mine, this should now be sending off loud and dangerous warning bells.   I do not like movies based on novels.  They too often want to press artistic license via dramatic visuals or gender bending on to a beautifully written work.  They think the visualization can expand the imagination.  I despise these actions.  Quit spackling literature with artistic license. Now for Cloud Atlas .  I saw the movie based on the premise depicted in the trailer.  One story that spans six generations and proves that events span time and space.  Rather unusual and sci-fi, I'm interested. The movie made zero  sense.  We bounce from one generation to another with little discourse and comprehension as to how A got to B.  There are these people with comet birthmarks.  Are they a gang, a secret society, relatives?  What? Then I read the book.   We start...