pickle Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 Oh good, that's another one I can chalk off the list - I'd forgotten I'd read that one Ha ha ha they do all merge into one. I finished Bad Luck and Trouble yesterday in one sitting it was ok one where he got together with old comrades from his unit. I think I am going to give him a rest for a bit though. 30. Bad Luck and Trouble - Lee Child Similar vein to the others enjoyable, the omnipotent Jack Reacher strikes agin this time with 3 other equally godlike people from his old unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 I think I am going to give him a rest for a bit though. Probably not a bad idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pickle Posted February 11, 2011 Author Share Posted February 11, 2011 30. The Ice Princess - Camilla Lackberg This for a change was a Scandinavian crime story which doesn't focus solely on the police although there is police involvement. It focussed on the story of Erika Falck returning to her childhood home after the death of her parents becoime embroiled in the tangle web of lies and history which come out after the apparent suicide of a childhood friend. This was a good read not as good as my other fave Scandinavian thrillers but still absorbing and well written it reminded me in parts of early Tess Gerritssen Rizzoli and Isles books certainly not the early less well written Tess Gerritssen's which were more about romance than anything else. Its the first in a series of books which feature Erika Falck although having just read the synopsis of the second book appears to focus more on Patrick Hedstrom as the main protagonist (calloing it Patrick Hedstrom 2) and I will certainly be looking for more of these to read in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pickle Posted February 14, 2011 Author Share Posted February 14, 2011 31. The Little Giant of Aberdeen County -Tiffany Barker This was a lovely little book, it didn't take me very long to read and it was the sort of book you want to finish just to see what happens. The story centres around Truly a freakishly large girl and woman who lives with her father and sister until his death and she moves to a farm seperated from her perfect and lovely sister because she is so big and unwieldy and rejected by the 'good folk' of the town. Her sister marries the town doctor who is a third generation doctor and descended from the town 'witch' but he is a cold and unfeeling man who rejects this side of himself in favour of cold hard science. When her sister mysteriously dissapears he persuades Truly to move in with him to care for his son. Here she grows and grows and he examiones her like an insect. This was a very moving story told very simply it could have been written as if Truly was a vengeful and horrible character because of the way both nature and people treated her but in fact she has a depth of compassion if not understanding for the world around her. She was not however my favourite character this was Marcus a small boy and who grows into a small man, one of the other rejects of the village school despite his intelligence but befriends Truly even though she is not sure how to make friends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pickle Posted February 17, 2011 Author Share Posted February 17, 2011 32. White is for Witching - Helen Oyeyemi Finished this book last night it was a sort of gothic fairytale centred on 3 characters Miranda and her twin brother Eliot and Ore. Thestory focusses in the first part on Miranda and Eliot and their move with their father to a large gothic house in Dover which he is determined to open as a B&B. Their mother a phgotographer has died in Tahiti and they are trying to come to terms with her death and with Miranda's illness, she suffers from Pica (she eats non food materials) in her case its chalk. The second aprt of the book deals with Miranda going to University and meeting Ore. This makes it sound so much like a straight forward story but in fact its not at all, its written in the first person but that can be any of the characters and sometimes it seems the house itself tells part of the story. It swaps between the characters with no warning which makes it difficult to follow until a few sentences in then you realise and have to go back to make it make sense. Its hard not to give anything away and I find it hard to say what I really think as its left me somewhat bemused, but at the same time it was such a different book (especially given my reading this year has focussed so much on thrillers) and I loved the slightly confusing scary parts where it was so surreal. Really if you like gothic and fairytales then you will probably like this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pickle Posted February 17, 2011 Author Share Posted February 17, 2011 33. You Can't Hide - Karen Rose this is my second Karen Rose book and I enjoyed it more than the first, it was a good gripping thriller in a similar vein to Erica Spindler. I did manage to guess the murderer before the end of the book but it didn't really detract from the book itsself, the romance element was also more believeable that the first book I read. Not sure what I am going to read next though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charm Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 33. You Can't Hide - Karen Rose this is my second Karen Rose book and I enjoyed it more than the first, it was a good gripping thriller in a similar vein to Erica Spindler. I did manage to guess the murderer before the end of the book but it didn't really detract from the book itsself, the romance element was also more believeable that the first book I read. Not sure what I am going to read next though. Yay! I am so pleased you liked this one. I quite like the romance element in her books, as long as it runs along side a good thriller storyline of course Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pickle Posted February 20, 2011 Author Share Posted February 20, 2011 34. Iron Council - China Mieville Its so hard to describe this book, I know Vodkafan has just done a review of Perdido Street Station an earlier book in the New Curbuzon series and probably did a better job than I ever can for this book. Its taken a long time for me to read 2-3 weeks which for me is ages I read PSS in about a week mainly because I was on holiday and could concentrate on it, and this is because it does take a lot of concentration. Its a book which deals with the uprising political situation in New Curbuzon. The tension in the city coincides with a war with a mysterious race and the expansion into the west with the construction of a railway. the book is set into a number of different parts, I have to admit it was only in the second part of the book that it really got going for me, as it swaps from time to time and narrator to narrator. One of the things I admire most about China Mieville is the way he writes and describes his characters, they are deeply flawed individuals most fo the time. Its a great read though and complex throughout. 35. The Stonecutter - Camilla Lackberg This is the 3rd book in Camilla Lackberg's series I only managed to read the first and missed the second. The book deals with the death of a small 13 year old girl and the fall out in the small community as a result. It swapped in and out of past events in a small rural village which culminated in the death of this young gorl. I really enjoyed the book it didn't have an altogether suprising ending but it built up well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pickle Posted February 22, 2011 Author Share Posted February 22, 2011 35. Jasmyn - Alex Bell Synopsis: An ancient fairy tale, a contemporary heroine – and cracking good read. One day, without warning, Jasmyn’s husband died of an aneurysm. Since then, everything has been different. Wrapped up in her grief, Jasmyn is trapped in a world without colour, without flavour – without Liam. But even through the haze of misery she begins to notice strange events. Even with Liam gone, things are not as they should be, and eventually Jasmyn begins to explore the mysteries that have sprung up after her husband’s death… and follow their trail back into the events of his life. But the mysteries are deeper than Jasmyn expects, and are leading her in unexpected directions – into fairytales filled with swans, castles and bones; into a tale of a murder committed by a lake and a vicious battle between brothers; into a story of a lost past, and a stolen love. She’s entering a magical story. Jasmyn’s story. I loved this book, it didn't take me very long to read but it was lovely a bit sad and I cried but enchanting at the same time. I love books which are based on fairytales but modern it almost makes you think that they might be real and it could happen to you. On top of this some of the setting was Neuschwanstein one of my favourite castles in the world. I am now going to check to see if there are any more books by this author out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nursenblack Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Wow! Jasmyn sounds really really good. I'm adding it to my wishlist right now. I love the cover too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Wow! Jasmyn sounds really really good. I'm adding it to my wishlist right now. I love the cover too! . In fact I double ditto what nursenblack said! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pickle Posted February 23, 2011 Author Share Posted February 23, 2011 It was a really nice book, nothing profound or deep but fairytale like I picked up Rachel Caine - Club Corpus (book 6) for a bit of in between Truman Capote reading Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pickle Posted February 25, 2011 Author Share Posted February 25, 2011 36. Rachel Caine -Carpe Corpus (Book 6 Morganville vampires) This is the 6th book in the series which I have been following intermittently mainly because its a book I got out of the library rather than own so have to wait for it to come in. I like this series a lot, its written for Y^A's but written well and entertaingly. I won't go into any detail as I know loads of people on here have read this series and done much better reviews than I can. I also got an email from the library today to say my two reservations of Lauren Kate - Fallen and Alex Bell - Lex Trent versus the gods have come in so will pick them up tommrow, very curious to see what the other Alex Bell is like, I hope its as good as Jasmyn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 . In fact I double ditto what nursenblack said! In fact I triple ditto what nursenblack and Chrissy said! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pickle Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 37 - Alex Bell Lex Trent Versus the Gods This was the second Alex Bell book I have read after Jasmyn which I enjoyed immensely, this was a little different as it was obviously aimed at the YA market, saying that it was a good book. The story is set in a woprld which has been divided between the upper world where humand live and the lower world the realm of the gods connected by a number of ladders, it is forbidden for the humand to climb down the ladders. The gods are rather like those you would find in greek and roman mythology gods of justice, trickery and lover etc... the gods hold games in which 3 chose human competitors if you refuse to be a competitor you could be turned into a chess piece to sit in the church or temple of the god who chose you. The story centres on Lex Trent a con artist and trickster who has sligned himself to the goddess of luck, Lex is caught trying to steal a fabulous jewel, he is quick witted and tries to bluff his way out of a jail sentence but in the process of running away gets caught up in the games of the gods as one of the 3 competitors, far from being distraught by this Lex is happier than he has ever been, having been brought up by his grandfather on stories of adventures and daring deeds which his granfather chronicled. So begins Lex's story of the games. This was a fairly short read, it was quite funny in a lot of places, please don't think it has any ofthe deth ad sadness of the Hunger Games Lex trent is a glib, shallow rouge and rascal who would sell out his grandmother to get ahead, he has few redeeming qualities right to the end of the book but in some ways this makes the book worthwile there are few protagonists written so shallowly, Alex Bell doesn't give you a hollywood ending to this there is no moral to the story rather its an adventure book which does exactly what it says on the tin. For younger readers this is a great book. 38 Dream of a Dark Warrior - Kresely Cole This is the 11th Immortals after Dark books by Kresley Cole and they are my guilty pleasure, it is the story of Regin a Valkyrie and her love Aiden a Berserker. its definitely for the older reader and quite graphic in places but funny as well, Kresley Cole uses a lot of slang and her characters although ancient and magical embrace the 20th century wholeheartedly. If you enjoy Gena Showalter and Sheryliyn Kenyon you will probably like this series of books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pickle Posted March 6, 2011 Author Share Posted March 6, 2011 39. Torment - Lauren Kate Hmmmmmmmmmmm not sure what to say about this book, I have the next part to read already and I know there is a 3rd part. Its Ok and thats probably the best I can say about it. The story synopsis is (courtesy of Amazon) There's something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori. Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price's attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He's the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move. Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce--and goes out of his way to make that very clear--she can't let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret . . . even if it kills her. Dangerously exciting and darkly romantic, Fallen is a page turning thriller and the ultimate love story. Its hard to decide why I wasn't enamoured with this book but it just tried too hard...to hard to be mysterious..to hard to be romantic...to hard to be angsty (I made that word up to suit this)....it starts when Luce arrives in a new school which I think is some sort of reform school but its never clear, this is after a mysterious fire which is refered to but never really explained.... and this is a constant throughout the book, trying to hard. I know this is a YA book and I am no longer a YA but an A but I like some of this kind of literature if you want romance then read Shiver and Linger, if you want gut wrenching brilliance read The Hunger Games trilogy...definitely try these before this one. 40. Witches Abroad 41. Lords and Ladies I am having a re-read of Pratchett's witches series at the moment just for a bit of fun when I don't want anything stressed at bed time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Enjoy your Terry Pratchett re~reads pickle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pickle Posted March 7, 2011 Author Share Posted March 7, 2011 Enjoy your Terry Pratchett re~reads pickle I love them they cheer me up everytime 42. Angel Fire East - Terry Brooks This is the third part to the Knight of the Word trilogy, its been probably over 10 years since I read the second of these and I probably should have gone back and re-read them before starting but hey ho I was in the library and it was there and I didn't have many books to get out and was in panic mode. Soooooo hmmmm it was good though, I had forgotten that Terry Brooks wrote something other than the seemingly endless Shannara series which was far more my sister's thing than mine. This was set in 2012 (according to the blurb in Wikepedia) and focuses on two main characters John Ross a knight of the word which is a sort of Knight of good the word being quite a spiritual though not strictly speaking Christian thing as it incorporates shaman, fairies sylvan beings wood sprites and all that stuff, they battle against the demons of the Void (arch enemies sort of thing) John Ross has been a knight for a long time he has had successes and dissapointments he is beset by a vision in which he has a final task before being released as a Knight, he has to capture a wild magical thing called a morph. The second main character is Nest she has encountered John Ross before at least twice in her lifetime and both those times brought about change for her,. Nest lives alone she is an ex Olympic runner but retired to take care of the woods as part of her magical heritage having come to terms years before with both her mothers and her demon fathers side. John Ross brings to her the Morph and he and she try to understand what they have to do to battle against the demon which has been tracking John Ross as either side can possess the creature and it can be used for good or evil but only for a limited time beofre it dissapears. I think you need to read these books in sequence to make sense of the whole story Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Happy reading Pickle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charm Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Hey pickle I totally agree with your thoughts on Fallen, I thought it was a bit 'meh' too. Like you said, it really tried too hard and didn't really live up to the potential that was there to make a really good book. Shame really Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pickle Posted March 11, 2011 Author Share Posted March 11, 2011 43. In The Woods - Tara French Now I will admit that I finished this book far too quickly in my desire to finish the last chapter before going to work. synopsis (courtesy of Eurocrime.co.uk) Adam Ryan has fulfilled his lifelong ambition to become a detective in the Irish police force. But because of a tragic event in his childhood, in which two of his friends vanished, never to be found, he calls himself "Rob" Ryan and does not reveal his past. He's best friends in a platonic way with fellow-detective Cassie, and near the start of the book the partners take on a case of a young girl who has been found murdered at an archaeological site – in the very same woods where Rob's friends had disappeared more than 20 years ago. Rob feels compelled to investigate the case as he's convinced it must have something to do with the earlier tragedy: so he persuades Cassie, who knows his secret, not to confide in their superiors. I really enjoyed it though although the unresolved mystery at the end of the book ultimately let me down, now this has been commented on, on a number of the reviews I read online and there is a second book which might go some way to resolving so I will probably go for a read of it. the only other fault in the book is the character of Adam Ryan he started put really well, but at the end my only opinion was that he was abit of an idiot. The only other niggle I have is once again the description of the archaeological site and the archaeologsts, sometimes I think authors look at an idealised view of archaeology one which is about 20 years out of date, still in the end I have to let this go it won't ever change I think. 44. Torment - Lauren Kate This is the second part to Fallen which I read a couple of weeks ago, and I was so dissapointed in, the only reason I read this was I had ordered it from the library and it was free as it was a YA book. Again I felt as if the book was a let down, it tried far to hard and again nothing really happened. So I think thats it for me and Lauren Kate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pickle Posted March 15, 2011 Author Share Posted March 15, 2011 45. Sourcery - Terry Pratchett I picked this up as it was one of the few I hadn't ever read, and although ok it was not a patch on his later books. I think the problem is his characters which became bigger in the later books are so weak in this, in particular Ventinari who is one of my favourite characters in the Guards books. Still it was an easy read great for the evenings when I want something light to read before bed. Hence I am also reading the Death trilogy again. 46. Hogfather - Terry Pratchett this is a re-read mainly for the reasons stated above I wanted something easy to read before bed. 47. Ghosts in the Snow - Tamara Siler Jones synopsis (from Amazon) This unique debut thriller combines forensics, fantasy, and edge-of-your-seat suspense like never before. In a world where sorcery is illegal, someone is murdering young women in ways that defy all reason—and all detection. Only one man knows how to track such an untraceable killer, a man called to deliver justice by an onslaught of… For Dubric Bryerly, head of security at Castle Faldorrah, saving lives has become a matter of saving his sanity. A silent killer is afoot, savagely mutilating servant girls and leaving behind no clues and no witnesses—except the gruesome ghosts of the victims. Ghosts that only Dubric can see. Caught in the eye of the grisly storm is Nella, a linen maid working to free herself from a dark past—if she can survive an invisible killer’s rampage. But with the death toll rising and Nella under the protective wing of a man who may be a prime suspect, Dubric must resort to unconventional methods. With the future of Faldorrah and countless lives at stake, including his own, he can’t afford to be wrong. And if he’s right, the entire kingdom could be thrust into war. I got this and thought it looked right up my street sounded intersting and fascinating a combination of fantasy and crime, in fact it was far more a run of the mill fantasy book, the whole forensic side of things is very over egged in this summary. I liked it purely for the fantsy part although I have read so many better ones. I might have a read of another one out of the library as I won't pay for it. I am not going to count these as reads as they are audio books but I have listened too recently Phil Rickman - To Dream of the Dead ( I have read this book and the series of books and love them) currently I am listening to a Linda Farsteinand in the car Andre Camilleri Scent of the Night which is truly excellent although I warn you not to listen at lunchtime as it will make you hungry. As before I have read all these books and love them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pickle Posted March 22, 2011 Author Share Posted March 22, 2011 48. Terry Pratchett - Death Omnibus Although this is 3 books I am going to count it as 1, I read Mort, Reaper Man and Soul Music mainly because I wanted to re-read all the Pratchett's I owned and I needed something easy to read whilst the rest of my life is so busy. Death was my favourite character for ages and to a certain extent he still is, although he ties with Sam Vimes and Nanny Ogg now that Pratchett has developed those chartacters far more. I think he was the first well written character of the Disc World books but with the later books the other characters have come into their own. so all done and dusted for the moment with Mr Pratchett and now am thinking either Rivers of London or The Leopard.....I like these kind of decisions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 Rivers of London Ooh, that sounds interesting <<orders Kindle sample>> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pickle Posted March 22, 2011 Author Share Posted March 22, 2011 Ooh, that sounds interesting <<orders Kindle sample>> please don't tell me if its rubbish I am quite looking forward to it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.