Mary’s Comments (group member since Dec 31, 2014)

Mary’s comments from the The 104 Book Challenge - 2015 group.

Overview: assuming I haven't forgotten anything! I read a lot less Manga this year.

M22, CYA 38, 47

M22. Lumberjanes, Vol. 1: Beware the Kitten Holy Really liked this - very quirky and lots of things not quite explained, which makes it very fun to read. Hope there's more!

43. The Coffin Dancer Well, Deaver is my favorite author, but I bit on this one in the airport thinking it was new when it was only a new cover. But re-read it anyways during the flight and enjoyed it thoroughly. Deaver is a master at redirecting your attention and his characters are very strong.

44. On Immunity: An Inoculation I had heard good things about this book, and I wanted to read it (partially because it fits my bias towards vaccines). I was expecting a straight science text, and while she does reference statistics and studies, it's much more a musing on the history of science and society with tons of metaphors to Dracula (which was surprising, but as it's one of my favorite novels, easy to roll with). Easy read, I'd recommend it.

45-47. A Study in Silks, A Study in Darkness, A Study in Ashes This is not so much a trilogy as a REALLY long novel - it's pretty much straight action (with one one year break). Fantasy - steampunk Victorian England with magic. I liked the characters (main character is Sherlock Holmes' niece) who are real and act accordingly. The romance is realistic, too, and does not drag on horribly. The story is interesting and well developed, but I got a little bored in the end of the third book, and it ends with a cliffhanger ready to bridge to another series which just annoyed me. Having said that, though, I would read the next book (if ever written) to find out what happens.

41. Give Up the Ghost This is my first series of rehabbing houses with ghosts. I enjoy the character, and this book was fine though it felt more like a placeholder in the series than any real advancement. Good enough to keep reading the series.

42. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry I really enjoyed this one, and it was a very quick read. Essentially a retelling of Silas Marner, it has coincidences that don't smack of deus ex machina, fun characters, and lots of talk about books.

34. & 35. Heat Wave, Raging Heat Alright, I enjoy the tv show Castle, and these came up as Nook specials, so I wanted to try them. They're perfectly respectable mysteries, even though they read as tv shows. They also get a little too "meta" as they're fictional characters based on fictional characters based on actors.... Worth a read for free or cheap.

36. & 37. Death's Daughter, Cat's Claw These are the first two books in the Calliope Reaper-Jones series. I enjoyed them - they're fairly fluffy - though it does suffer from the "in order to show growth in the character throughout the series we have to start her off as a near-incompetent / immature / airhead or spoiled brat" syndrome. I assume the growth is coming and the character will be less annoying, and I enjoyed them enough to continue reading them.

38. Night of the Living Deed Hadn't realized that rehabbing houses with ghosts was a sub-genre of mysteries, but apparently so. This was ok - amusing enough, but I spotted the solution in the first quarter of the book which always disappoints me a little.

39. A Ghostly Undertaking And apparently another sub-genre is women with a mess of a life getting hit on the head and being able to see ghosts. This is *very* similar to the Pepper Martin series, but set in the south. Enjoyable though not stellar.

40. The Darwin Elevator Enjoyed this a lot. Liked the first half better because the second half stopped advancing the plot as much as setting up the second book. Interesting concept that looks at post-alien apocalypse America and how things function.

C/YA 37. The Selection Stories: The Prince & The Guard Retells some parts of the Selection trilogy from Maxon and Aspen's POV. Didn't add a whole lot from my viewpoint, but I enjoyed it and found the bonus material family trees interesting.

C/YA 38. Jackaby I loved this. I was expecting a period YA mystery, but not the fantasy elements that made it so enjoyable. Strong female protagonist, who is most likely anachronistic, but done well enough I don't care! Set in 1892 America, and all around pretty fun.

C/YA 33.-35. The Selection, The Elite, The One Rewarded myself after a long week by blowing through these this weekend. Easy reads with some social commentary and the (obligatory) romantic triangle that drags a bit long and sets up a bit of a convenient ending. but I really enjoyed them and will probably read the other two (following next generation) when they drop in price.

C/YA 36. No Child's Game: Reality TV 2083 I think this is now released as Surviving Antarctica. It's a solid middle grade science fiction about a future America that's controlled by television and the bread and circuses that result. Interesting concept, decent characters, and it moved at a good clip. I think middle schoolers would really like this.

C/YA 32. The Sword of Summer Oh- and of course had to read this one to discuss with older child. Actually liked a lot, and I appreciated that the main female character is Muslim and they are friends, not falling in love with each other. To match the myth, I expect Magnus will have to fall in love later in the series, but right now he's got his hands full with enough. Good Norse mythology, right amount of snark.

C/YA 30. Hot Cocoa Hearts
C/YA 31. The Heartbreak Messenger
Two typical teen romances - except the "teens" are in middle school and seem exceptionally self-aware. Both cute and amusing, good middle-of-the-road reads to toss back during lunch.

And all the new ones in my regular manga series

M18-21. Library Wars: Love & War, Vol. 14, Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, Vol. 22, Skip Beat!, Vol. 35, Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 19

So what to do with two kids while waiting two hours for the next movie showing? Why, go to the local book store and read graphic novels! (Did buy some books, too.)

M15. Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas Interesting overview of Leakey's proteges for primate studies of chimpanzee, gorillas, and orangutans. Not particulary deep (ie, skims over Fossey's death), but it'd probably be a good intro to someone who doesn't know much about them.

M16. Friends With Boys Really liked this. Graphic novel with art reminiscent of Scott Pilgrim. Fairly realistic story of girl coming to high school for the first time after being home schooled. Except for, you know, being able to see a ghost. Other than that, the story's pretty realistic and entertaining. Not everything's sewn up neatly at the end, but that's okay.

M17. Haganai: I Don't Have Many Friends - Now With 50% More Fail! Some random stories to round out backstory. Still fairly filthy, but some heart still remains to make it entertaining.

C/YA 28., 29. Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes Again, read for older child. Surprisingly thorough recaps of greek mythology. I thought the Greek Heroes one was better, and not as disjointed.

33. People I Want to Punch in the Throat: Competitive Crafters, Drop-Off Despots, and Other Suburban Scourges Nook special; very quick read and fairly amusing. Apparently she's a blogger, so these show fair amount of skill. Also, I don't think she's as nasty as she fronts to be, which makes her fairly sympathetic.

C/YA 25. George Forgot I read this this June as a proof from Scholastic. It's a book about transgender from the transitioning viewpoint - in this case a 5th grade girl who is in a boy's body. I think the book doesn't go too in depth (and really, she gets pretty much only positive reactions, so I'm not so sure that's realistic), but it's certainly topical and there wasn't anything bad about it.

C/YA 26. The Red Pyramid Read to appease older child, the Rick Riordan freak that she is. (She has a countdown going 'til the release of Magnus Chase). I liked this fine - decent plot, twist at end, good amount of amusing snark. Egyptian mythology in this one.

C/YA 27. The True Meaning of Smekday Read again at behest of older child. Didn't realize until I got into it, that this is Adam Rex's first book (he who wrote Cold Cereal trilogy). I really liked this - loopy sense of humor, funny, and an interesting extended metaphor for European conquerors and American Indians. Oh - also the source novel for the animated movie Home. Sequel is supposed to be out soon, looking forward to it.

32. Drawing of the Dark Another from the box; A very early Tim Powers book. He isn't quite a skilled author here (1979) and it's definitely a 70's book - not everything is wrapped up neatly, explained, and happy (or completely dystopic). This looks at the Siege of Vienna as a cosmic match-up between good and bad. I liked it, but I REALLY like Tim Powers' stuff. Not sure how it would sit with anyone else. Also, the cover's blurb gives away the major plot point - wtf?

oops. can't count, used 24 twice. So...

30. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie Finally got around to reading this prompted by someone's glowing review. I enjoyed it - it's a fun mystery that I figured out some (but not all) of - which is always pleasant. The main character, a pre-teen girl, is a bit of a holy terror which makes things interesting. And the setting of post war Britain makes it entertaining. Overall, very solid and I look forward to more of the series.

31. Lost on a Mountain in Maine Very short (like 80 pages) book recounting the week (in the 30s) a 12 year old spent wandering in Maine once he took off by himself from a mountain top (narrative, so you know he survives). Its language is dated (but kind of fun), and I wavered between fascination/horror for his trials and fury at his stupidity. That said, it kept my interest and I finished it quickly.

C/YA 22.-24. Raven's Gate, Evil Star, Nightrise These are the first three books in a series by Horowitz (the Alex Rider guy). They've been around nearly 10 years, but I waited to start until he published the last book. He tells you at the beginning that this will not have a happy ending, and the books are kinda stark - premise is five children with unique powers will come together to protect the earth from the Old Ones (any Lovecraft reference I tend to love), but there are evil powers who stand in their way. Light on development, heavy on action, they're interesting reads. Could be a little too dark, though, my then 11-year-old (who loves Percy Jackson, etc.) thought it was disturbing - though also engrossing. I'm curious to see where he goes with it, because he continues to surprise me with plot twists.

24.-26. Playing With FireUp In SmokeMe and My Shadow So, had this trilogy hanging out in the box waiting for me. Pleasant read in Macalister's Dragon universe. Read as a binge the writing is a tad repetitive, but still fun and sexytimes are okay. Especially if you like dragons... This follows the Ainsley series and set the stage for the Ysolde (light dragon) trilogy.

C/YA 20. The Year My Life Went Down The Loo But I like Katie Macalister enough to check out her YA series (under Maxwell) about a high-schooler who moves to UK for her dad's job. Overall solid, epistolary story (which I like) about her adjustment with the required fish out of water and bad boy storyline. Plusses are the girl is into science (physics) and takes classes seriously, and has solid friendships. Minuses are the cringe worthy episodes and her denseness about boys. This is the start of the series, so I assume some of the denseness wears of throughout the series. I'd say 8th-9th graders probably would like this best.

C/YA 21. The Avery Shaw Experiment Picked this up as a Nook special and REALLY liked it. Young adult, with the basic broken heart getting healed by least likely person trope, but it was really fun. Read like a movie (though in a good way), and characters were developed. Liked that the girl was into science but has anxiety issues and also has a good best friend. Very cute read. Sequel looks interesting - following her best friend.

27. Singing the Dogstar Blues Interesting sci-fi story (would probably be YA now, but not dystopia enough for modern audience) from my box. In the future, girl attends a time travel university and is first to get an alien roommate. Combination mystery and sci fi story were satisfying though I wish the back cover hadn't given away the plot line of all but the last three chapters. This was an interesting, fast read. I liked it.

28. For Love of Mother-Not This is the start to a fantasy series (again, would now probably be YA) about a boy and his telepathic winged reptile. Because it's the start, it's ALL exposition- how he grows up, who he is - a little draggy in parts, and the narration is 3rd person and so removes you from the characters a bit. I enjoyed it, and will probably read more.

True enough; the book builds up the relationship through five books. They're quick, fun reads, and my 12-year old LOVES them all. Plus a new series starts this fall - centered on Norse gods.

True enough; the book builds up the relationship through five books. They're quick, fun reads, and my 12-year old LOVES them all. Plus a new series starts this fall - centered on Norse gods.

YES! Movie and book bear almost no resemblance to each other. They change things even more in the second movie - just saying. Also, Nashville never shows up in the book; movie totally ruined my road trip surprise for my Jackson-crazed 12 year old. And why can't Annabeth be a blond?

23. Ghost of a Chance Found two full containers of books under my bed while cleaning to move. This is from that. So Kate Marsh (author) is really Katie McAllistar, and I expected this to be a sexytimes romance. Instead, think of it as a fantasy Agatha Christie (and, therefore, no sexytimes). What I thought was sloppy writing and storytelling was actually setting up for the end, so that was a pleasant surprise.

24. The Martian Finally been out long enough for the price to drop. Read on Nook, and it was a very quick, pleasant read. I don't have a strong background in science, so I let most of that wash over my head without worrying too much. I enjoyed this a lot. Good summer read, and I'll be interested in the movie.

24.

Ooh.. so many interesting ideas. My six-year-old loved The Princess in Black. I'm curious about Fish in a Tree because it's on the middle school reading olympics list.

M13. Natsume's Book of Friends , Vol. 18 Still like this series - poignant, and balances small stories with the overall arch.

M14. The Ancient Magus' Bride Vol 1 New manga, but it's kind of interesting - a Victorian era with fairies and magic. I'll try the second volume.

9.-13. Hexes and Hemlines, In a Witch's Wardrobe, Tarnished And Torn, A Vision in Velvet,Spellcasting in Silk So these are the rest of the series - I enjoy the characters and the overall set up, but the main character, Lily, has some inconsistencies in some of the books, and there's plot points brought up and then ignored (which bugs me). The series is definitely building to something, and the romantic triangle has calmed down (which is good) so I'll keep reading - though I don't think the next book will be out until next year.

14.-18 If Walls Could Talk, Dead Bolt, Murder On The House, Home For the Haunting, Keeper of the Castle So this is the other series by Blackwell, dealing with a female contractor who can see ghosts. This is a more prosaic series, and the character is more consistent. It's more cozy mystery than fantasy. I like this series a lot.

19. Christmas Kiss I must have picked this up as a Nook bargain, because NOT what I would normally read - sort of a ghost story, but not quite, billed as a romance, but no sexy times, and all wrapped up in the end, but not quite explained. Nothing bad.... but kind of like craving high end chocolate and only having a drugstore candy bar - not bad, but not fulfilling.

20. The Ghost and the Graveyard Whereas I expected this to be straight fantasy and it had LOTS of sexytimes. Set up for a series where a woman discovers shes a witch and has two hot guys at beck and call - one's a ghost, and one's a cemetary guardian (hence the title). Series will continue as she continues to fight evil in her backyard. It was alright - I expect the author will gain skill as she continues. And, did I mention there were sexytimes?

21. How to Murder a Millionaire Again, picked up cheap for Nook. I've read this one years ago- start of a new series where the main character is a young widow left holding the bag when her parents ditch taxes. Amusing enough mystery, and I like it because of the Philly socialist link.

22. Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism: The Belief System That Enables Us to Eat Some Animals and Not Others Again, bought as a nook bargain and I had high hopes, especially after the first chapter seemed to be an actual examination about how civilizations decide which animals are food, which are pets. Then the second chapter dove into a shrill denunciation of "carnists" - people who choose to eat meat, and the book devolved into poor arguments and name calling. Really lost me when she compared meat eating to Nazism.