The Dragon Behind the Glass by Emily Voigt

A True Story of Power, Obsession, and the World’s Most Coveted Fish

3 stars

nonfiction

Reader's Choice

Meh.

Interesting, but while she kept trying to tell me that she'd become obsessed and it was out of hand.

And yet...

I didn't feel it.

No passion came through.

I found the historical aspects far more interesting than the actual memoir/journalistic aspects.

Louisiana Saves the Library by Emily Beck Cogburn

3.5 stars
R-2
reader's choice

This just fell flat for me.

I'm not sure if I was just in a bad mood for the recent round of Reader's Choice or what, but so many just aren't working for me.

Anyway, this one is a cute enough story.

And I did end up enjoying it.

But the main character just didn't feel very fully developed to me.

If you're looking for a cute light fun read, give it a try.

Mary Green by Melanie Kerr

3.5 stars
R-1?
reader's choice

Basically, this is Jane Austen fan-fic.  As far as I can tell it was after reading Mansfield Park and thinking "That's not at ALL what SHOULD have happened!"

lol

Seriously though, if Mansfield Park and Cinderella had some sort of weird literary love child, this might be it.

Not a bad read but I can't help wondering what awesome book the author could come up with getting away from the "let's pick this from the Jane Austen... and this from that one...." model that this book seemed built on.

The Bachelor Girl's Guide to Murder by Rachel McMillan

1.5 stars
R- 1?
reader's choice

Yikes.

I should have loved this.  I mean, really.

I fully expected to come away from this with a new must-follow series.

But no. Just no.

The plot didn't work for me.  The characters didn't work for me.

Really just none of it worked for me.

I can't actually quite put my finger on why.  It just didn't work.

The Widow by Fiona Barton

4 stars
R- 2-3 (pornography and pedophiles)
Reader's Choice

This wasn't really what I expected.

It was more subtle.... with fewer twists maybe?

But it was engrossing.... compelling.

The timeline was a little hard to follow... lots of jumping here and there and somewhere in the middle either I lost the thread of it or the author did.

Or both.

But as much as that was kind of a pain, the rotating viewpoints worked for me.  I liked it.

Overall, don't go in expecting a major action thriller.  This is quieter than you think.

But quiet isn't a bad thing.

And just so you know-- at least one character carries over to Fiona Barton's second novel The Child, which comes out in a couple of months.

Collecting the Dead by Spencer Kope

Special Tracking Unit book 1

4 stars

R- 1

Reader's Choice

So if Criminal Minds.... and the X-Files..... had some sort of love child....

It would maybe be this.  

But without the 90s cheese.

Let's call it a police procedural thriller with paranormal overtones.

Anyway.

Cool premise, good story.

One detail that snagged my brain, dragged me out of the story, and made me crazy for days:  there is an ENTIRE PAGE dedicated to cursing the Nevada heat.

In June.

In NORTHERN Nevada.

I got news for you, folks.  I grew up in Northern Nevada and there ain't nothing to curse.

Sure it gets hot.... and it's not completely outside the realm of possibility for it to have been 94 in June... but that would be a crazy hot day.

They were at Washoe Lake, and I checked-- the average high in June is around 80.

The character does feel grateful that he's at a higher elevation and therefore it's cooler than Reno to the north or Las Vegas to the south.

Let me tell you how many things are wrong with this statement.

Reno (average June high temp is 83, by the way) is 30 miles north of Washoe Lake.

Las Vegas is FOUR HUNDRED THIRTY SEVEN miles south.

Not all of Nevada is Vegas, my friends.  (Which was annoying growing up in Nevada.... people ask where you're from and you say Nevada and they assume Vegas... it's a big state guys.)

This is like comparing DC to Baltimore in the north and Myrtle Beach, SC in the south.  It's just slightly ridiculous.  (Note that my husband pulled out that comparison without checking and was within like 6 miles.  He's a freak that way.)

Anyway, it's a dumb detail and has no bearing whatsoever on the actual story, but it made me nuts.  A passing reference to the heat would have been one thing, but if you're going to spend so much time on it maybe check to ensure that you're believable first.

Other than that (sorry about the long rant, lol) I did enjoy it.  It's the kind of story I maybe prefer to have all wrapped up in a 45-minute episode, but I'll definitely be on the watch for book 2.

A Robot in the Garden by Deborah Install

4 stars
Reader's Choice

I wasn't quite sure what to expect with this one.

I mean, it sounded cute, but what was it really going to be about?

Turns out, it was a sort of adult version of a coming-of-age story.  A journey of finding self and learning to care for someone else in a different way.

Ultimately, I really liked it.

Recommended.

What the Waves Know by Tamara Valentine

4 stars
Language
Reader's Choice

This story, which I absolutely enjoyed you understand, had a bit of an identity crisis.

Told in first person by a 14-year-old, it felt oh so much like a young YA coming of age novel.

Except that every so often there were 6 or more f-words on a single page.

It was jarring to me, not just because I'd prefer not to have the profanity there at all, but because it didn't feel like it fit the story.

Strip out all the profanity and I'd have handed this book to Boo the second I finished it.

And given it 5 stars.

Also, and I could be wrong here because it was definitively before I was born, but was there really that much throwing around of the f-word in the early 1970s?

Seems like the casual use of "higher caliber" swear words has increased over time... which would lead me to believe that there wasn't so much of it in the 70s as in the 80s and less in the 80s than the 90s etc.

But what do I know?

Well, I know that it didn't feel like it fit, not to me at least, and that jarred me out of the narrative.

All that aside, I found it to be a beautiful, if subtle, treatment of how mental illness affects those "left behind" so to speak.  And specifically how the illness of a parent can affect a child.

Also how trauma can have lasting effects.

Overall, if you can get past the profanity give this one a try.

The Age of Treachery by Gavin Scott

4 stars
R- 1.5
Reader's Choice

This one was fun.  Post WWII espionage, academia, mythology, a hint of the occult.....

Good times.

The mystery is the focus, though it veers a bit into the espionage/thriller.  Not much, just a touch.

My only complaint (and this is so much a "I'm cranky on this subject this week" thing) is the ubiquitous "the hero must meet a women and instantly (and mutually) be in love".  I'm just over it.

Thankfully, though, this doesn't seem like it's going to be a "new love in every book" kind of series-- the same woman is in the next book.

So it's got that going for it.

Plus-- bonus points: Tolkien, CS Lewis, and Ian Fleming are all characters.  How can you not love that?

Overall, read it.

Nine Women, One Dress by Jane L Rosen

3.5 stars
R-2
Reader's Choice

I cannot tell you how hard this one was to rate.

I enjoyed it.... but there was a level of disjointed and a lack of resolution that I'm not sure about.

There's substance, but it's still a pretty light read.

It's not really my thing, but it was fun...

Sigh.

At the end of the day, I'm glad I read it, so I guess that's that.

If you're looking for a fun read to lighten your early spring, or something to put on your list for beach reads this summer, this is a pretty good fit.

Give it a try and see if you have an easier time rating it. :)

The Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum by Kirsten Weiss

4 stars
R- 1
Reader's Choice

A fun cozy mystery.  And you know how I love cozy mysteries. :)

The tone felt... off somehow in places, and Maddie was sometimes annoying, but the story was entertaining enough of overlook most of that.

Overall, I found it enjoyable and will read the next one.  From there we'll see if the fun still carries them.

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

3 stars
R- 3-4
Language
Reader's Choice

Sigh.

This gets 3 stars instead of 2 because A) it did get better (thankfully) and B) if I'd seen a movie version and gotten through the whole story line in under 2 hours with a minimum of internal monologue... it would have been a decent chick-flick.

This is most definitely a case of "it's not you, it's me".  Mostly anyway.  The typos/editing issues were definitely you, book.

I simply cannot suspend disbelief enough to believe that professional adults would behave this way.

And then there's the whole "romances like this make me roll my eyes hard enough to knock me out" thing.

I just find these kind of stories ridiculous.

But that's me.

If contemporary romance is your thing, you may want to try this.

Overall.... I'm balancing somewhere between "I don't regret finishing it" and "Boy, I'm a glutton for punishment". ;)

Behind the Throne by K B Wagers

3 stars
R-1 (no actual sex, but blunt about sex in terms of conception and gay/lesbian relationships)
Language (with a capital L, holy cow)

Good voice-- there were things about the voice that reminded me of Lisa Shearin, and you know I love Raine, but it wasn't maybe as fully developed as would be nice.

World building.... sigh.  It wanted to be better.  I couldn't decide if it just wasn't fully developed or if the author's desire to stick with the "it's INDIA but in SPACE" hampered the development.

Honestly, overall it kind of felt like the writing got better and more mature (to some extent) as the book went along, but then the earlier parts didn't get fixed to match. (If that makes sense... it's getting late as I type this, lol)

Ultimately, though, it was the language that determined the rating here.  There was no way this book was getting more than 3 stars from me.

There were so many F-words in the first 10 pages I almost didn't keep reading.

Now please, no lectures on how it's realistic.  I'm not naive enough to think there aren't people that speak that way in the world, but in my life there aren't.  At least not that speak that way around me.

And at the end of the day, I could maybe forgive the level of language if it hadn't felt like such a forced affectation.

It was ridiculous.

Which is sad, because the book could almost have been a 4.5 star story by the end.

But just no.

The profanity tapered, gratefully, so I'll probably give book 2 a try, but we'll see.

(For the record, this was a Reader's Choice title that I grabbed more for my husband, because it's far more his thing genre-wise.  The development issues bugged him even more than they bugged me, lol.  And even though he DOES know people who talk like that, the profanity irritated the living daylights out of him.)

The Winter Witch by Paula Brackston

3 stars
R-2 ish
received for review (forever ago)

Interesting characters, setting, and concept.... but the writing style was awkward. The first person pov worked fine (possibly a little wordy, but that was an interesting contrast to Morgana's inability to speak) but the third person just... didn't.  I was jarred out of the narrative over and over by the clunkiness.


There was a lot of drawing things out too-- the villain is going to kill everyone but let's spend a few days not trying to do anything about it.... just because.... no real reason.  Just for fun?  I don't know, but the last quarter or so felt like a lot of waiting for... I really don't know what.  The villain to just go away?  It seemed like there was a lot of "We'll have to do this soon" and then spending the next several days very much NOT DOING THIS.

Meh.

Anyway-- Alyson (over at Eat, Read, and Be Mommy) and I decided to read "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" because, well, the idea amused us.  This is my something blue.  It really is a gorgeous cover... if only the book had lived up to it.

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald

4 stars
R- 2-3 (nothing graphic, but general discussion of sexuality)

Yet another "not really what I expected".  Though perhaps if I'd read the back cover more carefully I'd have had a better idea what to expect, lol.  I'm not very good about that sometimes.

The general discussion of sexuality was possibly a little odd, to me at least.  I actually wonder, though, if that's more about the difference between American and European sensibilities.

I've read complaints about the translation, but honestly I don't see why.  I didn't even realize it was a translation and that's generally the kind of thing I notice pretty quickly.

I enjoyed the characters and while much of the romance was a little predictable and/or annoying it did have an interesting twist in the long run.

This is a book about books, but not necessarily in the way you might think.  I enjoyed Sara's arranging and rearranging of the book store shelves as she grouped books differently.

I'm not doing a very good job of capturing this novel in this review....

Ultimately, I enjoyed it; I found it charming.

Go read it.

Last Chance Llama Ranch by Hilary Fields

3 stars
R- 3
language

Reader's Choice

A fun, cute story about finding your place.

Main reason it doesn't get 4 stars? Language.  Holy cow.  If you took out the profanity it could have been shorter than 474 pages.  Seriously.

And yes, I get that there are people who talk that way, but there aren't any in my life and I'm happy with that.

Overall, if language doesn't bother you (there is also risqueity) then this really is a good story and you should give it a try.

Bonus for those who've read Fields' other book (Bliss), Serafina makes an appearance in this one, handing out treats and sage advice.

Clammed Up by Barbara Ross

3 stars
R- 1?
Maine Clambake Mystery #1
Reader's Choice (Feb-May 2015)

Meh.

I don't know if I'm getting jaded or what, but it seems like there have been a lot of cozy mysteries lately that I SHOULD love.... but don't.

This one was fine.  It wasn't terrible... it wasn't amazing.  I might read more.... I might not.

Glowing review, I know.  Maybe it's just me... maybe I just wasn't in the mood.

Maybe I'd better try the 2nd book just to make sure. ;)

Montana by Gwen Florio

3 stars
r- 2? (can't remember)
Reader's Choice (Feb-May 2015)

Meh.

This mystery just didn't work for me.  I found the main character off-putting and I just kind of couldn't care.

Has some definite "first novel" issues too.

Overall.... yeah, I probably don't care enough to read the next one.

While Beauty Slept by Elizabeth Blackwell

5 stars
r- 2? (honestly... I can't remember, lol.)
Reader's Choice (Feb-May 2015)

I need to own this one.

To say I loved it is possibly an understatement.

It was dark.  It was haunting.  It was lyrical.  It was beautiful.

And in stripping the fantasy out of the fairy tale, Blackwell actually created a story that was all the more powerful.

There is power in the ordinary.

Really the only other thing I can say about this book is GO READ IT.

The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

5 stars
R-2
Language
Reader's Choice nominee Feb- May 2015

Oh my.

Let me start by saying I don't know that this book actually deserves 5 stars, objectively.  I don't know that I would have given this book 5 stars at another point in my life.

But, as AJ knows, sometimes books come to us at exactly the right time.

Why is this exactly the right book at exactly the right time? I honestly don't even know.

Reading this didn't actually start out well.  I didn't like AJ.  I didn't like the supporting characters much more.  I didn't know that I cared much either way for what was going on.

So then, even as I was reading, I was thinking "Great.  This is going to be another review to write in the 'it's not you, it's me' vein" because I could tell I SHOULD be liking it.  I mean, it's a book about BOOKS.  What's not to love?

AJ.  AJ is what's not to love.

Let me say something else about AJ-- the AJ at the beginning of this book would have HATED being a cliche.

In the end, that's what this book is.  It's a cliche.  It's almost formulaic.  It's possibly even trite.

But you know what?  It's the right kind of cliche.

Because, as AJ learns, cliches are cliches for a reason and life is made up of a series of beautiful little cliches.

This is ultimately what I got from this book-- the beauty of the ordinary.  And the fact that I saw what was coming and felt a bit like "yeah... this story's been done before" felt intentional... it felt like part of the point.

Ultimately, for me, right now, this was a 5 star book.  In one word, I found it delightful.