Sci-Fi & Scary

A good read. Nothing spectacular, but quick, interesting, and flowed well.

No spoilers, but Plum Island features and, well, monsters!

I have issues with a couple things in this book (comparing religious indoctrination to sexual abuse, mainly), but overall I'm really glad that I read it. Even more glad that I went back and *re-read* it almost immediately, because it is not the type of book you just breeze through once. There are points that you NEED to re-read.

You need to let this book's words float around in your mind, sink deep into your brain.

You need, in actuality, to let this book make you THINK.

Even if you don't agree with anything he says, you need to read it, and think for yourself.

Still love this! I laughed so many times :)
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Dara Joy is my favorite romance novelist for a reason. High Energy and its sequel, High Intensity, are hilarious, sexy, and delicious.

You need to read them!

Unique characters, silly situations, steamy, uh, adult scenes.

What's not to like?

This book took foreeeeeeeeever to get through. I know its supposedly a classic, but it definitely isn't a book that left an overwhelmingly favorable impression in my mind. Urgh. He's definitely done better work.

The Final Empire is one of the few fantasy novels that I like. I got it on Audible because the narrator’s voice sounded soothing, and it was a really long audio book so I figured it would keep me entertained several nights in a row as I tried to fall asleep. I was right.

This book is definitely the brain-child of a guy who spent a lot of time role-playing in some form. (I can recognize this as someone who used to role-play.) Its got a pretty epic, pardon the pun, set-up, with typical-yet-interesting characters, and a unique magic system that Sanderson puts to very good use. I don’t think the author comes close to breaking any new ground fantasy-wise, but he does the old plots and material very well.

I did like that the book was very simply written. There wasn’t a lot of huge words or flowery language that you had to wade through to get to the meat of the story. He delivers a massive book, but does so in an easy-to-read and understand format. Who doesn’t like that? Also, his action scenes were awesome. I remember at one point, listening to this book in the car on the way home, I cheered and punched the air in happiness/excitement. He is definitely a talented writer.

I went from this book to Mistborn #2 the next month, and liked that one almost as much as the first one. Mistborn #3 has been purchased, and I swear I shall get around to listening to it eventually.


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It took me forever to finish this, because every time I got a new book, it got shoved to the back burner.

This was my first Heinlein book. I can already tell from the others I've recently received that I will probably like them better.

However, the narrator was a good choice. The story was...interesting, if not truly attention grabbing. I was easily able to pick up, even after days of not listening to it.

I will never re-read it, but I don't regret reading it.

No Easy Hope, book 1 in the Surviving the Dead series, is one of my favorite zombie novels and one of my favorite audio books. This book isn’t so much about the zombies as it is a deep friendship between two men from very different backgrounds and hope. Hope and Sorrow are partners in this book, and the story they weave together is sobering, horrible, and beautiful all at the same time. Eric is a good guy. That’s the only way to describe him. It never comes off as false, and he’s definitely not a cardboard cutout character. He’s someone who was raised right, is confident in himself, has strong morals, and follows up on what he says. So when he tells Gabriel, the six-foot plus ex-Marine, that he will meet up with him after TSHTF, he will do so. Getting there might be interesting, though.

A pickup truck full of supplies, a rifle, and common sense are all Eric takes on his journey through this new world to find his friend. Along the way he meets up with characters that leave their own (mostly favorable) impression. James N. Cook does a wonderful job in making you believe that there are still good people left in this world, but also showing you the necessity of putting the bad ones in their place. Great responsibility doesn’t only come with great power, it also comes with being a decent human being. Especially after the zombie apocalypse when the dead no longer stay dead, and it’s too tempting to fall into an every man for himself mindset. Eric isn’t at ease with some of the things he has to end up doing, but he wouldn’t be nearly as likable if he was, so it works out.

There’s plenty of action in No Easy Hope, but it’s the ‘downtime’ that accounts for most of my enjoyment of it. The moments that are more precious because they’re not every day occurrences after the apocalypse. The simple human spirit that shines and grows through basic, kind interactions.

The narrator of the audio book, Guy Williams, does a fairly decent job. He fumbles the voices occasionally – especially when several people are talking, or it’s been a few minutes since one of the more distinct ones has said anything – but overall he’s got a very soothing voice to listen to that makes No Easy Hope one of those books I put on frequently to relax to at night.

No Easy Hope is a comfortable read, and definitely my favorite out of the series, though I must say that not a single one of them sucks. They’re all worth listening to.

RTC

Oh, I liked this one. Lets face it, the werewolf thing is old by now, but Kenyon proves that a talented writer can make you interested in a romance involving a werewolf even if the general idea makes you want to bash your head against the nearest wall.

Bride was fun.

I absolutely loved the first book in the Matrix of Destiny series (Knight of a Trillion Stars). To this day, I will name it as one of my favorite books. I've re-read it countless times.

I liked the second book, Rejar, because...well...Rejar.

However, Mine to Take, the third book in the Matrix of Destiny series, is kind of utterly forgettable. I haven't bothered to buy it, and I have no desire to re-read it.

Read Knight of a Trillion Stars. Read High Energy and High Impact. I think those are her best three books, and they are amazing.

Aiaiaia! The cheese! The cheese! The hormones and bad boy in pain and ...oh my.

My favorite book in this series is always going to be the one with Hollywood and Mary, but I have to admit, just thinking of this one makes me grin.

Short and funny. Molly Harper does a good job in putting you immediately in the story, and perking your interest with a unique twist on an old tale. The narration was perfect, and I found myself wanting to read/listen to more in this series.

James Rollins is one of those writers who is absolutely awesome for the first 3-to-4 books you read from him. Then, you realize that he is just like all those other writers that churn out novels as a ridiculous pace. They’re the same novel, just with different locations, bad guy names, etc. Even realizing that, you can still appreciate – even love – some of the books, but it’s a lot easier to recognize a stinker when you see one from them, too. Occasionally, they try to do things different and it can either succeed wildly or fail miserably. There’s not much in between there.

Deep Fathom is one where Rollins took a chance to do something different, and failed horribly. It’s definitely one of the few stinkers that are bricks in his ink-stained ivory tower. Its so ridiculously far-fetched that even the whole ancient/undiscovered mystery thing can’t save it. The good guys might have been likable enough, but the bad guy deserved a thin waxed mustache he could twirl, he was so over-the-top bad. While it might have read smoothly, it was almost impossible to care enough about any of the characters to root for them, and the action never even quite managed to reach happy summer-blockbuster level. It tried, it just fell a bit flat.

Definitely one of the books from James Rollins that I can’t recommend, though I’d still recommend you check out at least the earliest of his Sigma Force novels. Those are decent.

I need to re-read this book again at some point. As soon as the hankering for a romance read pops up again in me. (It happens. Its rare, but it happens!)

Fantasy Lover was a light piece o' fluff that swept me away for the few hours it took me to read it. I think, being a book lover, the idea of finding prince charming actually trapped in a book enchanted me.

Kenyon's a good writer when you need some fluff'n'stuff. :)

This is not my favorite from the Three Sisters Island Trilogy (probably Fire is mine), but it is a solid, entertaining read from Nora Roberts that I find myself going back to time and time again.