Although I have a “To Read” list on Goodreads and have books and authors scribbled down on the backs of various envelopes and whatnot, I am also a pretty impulsive reader. Especially at my favorite local used book store. It’s a wonderful place where they give you credit for any books you bring in and also offer a 50% discount when you use that trade credit. When I’m there, I completely ignore my scribbles and my “To Read” list and just buy books on impulse. […]
A future past where you become plant, clone, or cyborg when you die
The first few books are fun historical fiction adventure, steampunk; I haven’t read book 3 yet, but 1 and 2 are pretty good. The 4th gets a little dark but remains mostly similar. This one gets dystopic and loses the fun. Nearly every major character is killed off and brought back as a plant, descendant, cyborg, or clone, or a combination of the above. It gets stupid and meaningless. Burton and Spring-heeled Jack are both back and neither one has a clear head. Jack can’t […]
A Finishing School of Covert *itchcraft and Social Wizardry
I had a harder time getting into this book as I have with other series buy the same author. I did eventually start to like the characters once they got to the school and some of the events leading up to the arrival were better explained. The encounter with flywaymen made little sense at first given that I had no idea what they were and the other characters hadn’t been especially well detailed at this early point. The explanation provided during the attack just didn’t […]
Like Shakespeare – but written by someone alive!
I bought this book based on a recommendation at a local independent book store while in pursuit of a local author (Washington DC). Only in reviewing it do I realize it’s the first book in a trilogy, an allergy recently developed from Annihilation. Why did I read another book in a trilogy? It’s not an overly fair complaint, since I eventually enjoyed the book quite a bit. (And that it had nothing to do with Washington DC, but I took the recommendation without even reading the […]