The Librain……retired

Here is the first Reading Roundup of 2018! After checking on Goodreads, I can see that I read 127 books last year. My record year so far was 145 in 2016, although I wasn’t doing much else, such as writing this blog, that year. Of course, I have no idea how many books I read in year when I was younger as I didn’t write anything down. As I remember books from the past I add them to Goodreads, although I can’t usually recall when I read them.

The Second Sister by Claire Kendal

So, what have I been reading since last Thursday? My first book was The Second Sister by Claire Kendal. Here is the blurb:

A decade ago, Ella Brooke’s older sister, Miranda, vanished without a trace. With every passing year, Ella has come to resemble more closely the sister she lost—the same dark hair, the same piercing blue eyes—and now she’s the same age Miranda was when she disappeared.

Ella has never let go of her sister. She can still feel Miranda’s presence, still hear her voice. She still talks to her. What holds Ella together is her love for her sister’s ten-year-old son and her work as a self-defense expert helping victims.

Ella is certain that Miranda was taken, and that one man is key to her disappearance: Jason Thorne. The tabloids report that a new link has been found connecting Miranda to this sadistic serial killer locked away in a psychiatric hospital. Ignoring warnings from the police and the disapproval of her parents, she seeks Thorne out. Ella will do whatever it takes to uncover the truth—no matter how dangerous…

This is what I wrote on Goodreads, whilst giving the book four stars:

An excellent psychological thriller. Some slight confusion with time issues. Very gripping to read with interesting characters. Very creepy indeed in parts! I am glad that I found this as an ebook and will look for more by this author.

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

My second book was another book about sisters, this time by the wonderful Karin Slaughter: Pretty Girls. This is the blurb:

Sisters. Strangers. Survivors.

More than twenty years ago, Claire and Lydia’s teenaged sister Julia vanished without a trace. The two women have not spoken since, and now their lives could not be more different. Claire is the glamorous trophy wife of an Atlanta millionaire. Lydia, a single mother, dates an ex-con and struggles to make ends meet. But neither has recovered from the horror and heartbreak of their shared loss—a devastating wound that’s cruelly ripped open when Claire’s husband is killed.

The disappearance of a teenage girl and the murder of a middle-aged man, almost a quarter-century apart: what could connect them? Forming a wary truce, the surviving sisters look to the past to find the truth, unearthing the secrets that destroyed their family all those years ago . . . and uncovering the possibility of redemption, and revenge, where they least expect it.

Powerful, poignant, and utterly gripping, packed with indelible characters and unforgettable twists, Pretty Girls is a masterful thriller from one of the finest suspense writers working today.

I usually adore Slaughter’s books and indeed I did enjoy this one up to a point (well, I did give it four stars), but I had some reservations:

I love Karin Slaughter’s work and must say that I did enjoy this book in many ways, but I am awarding it four rather than five stars because it was too gruesome in parts even for me! I can usually take “grue”, after all this is a fictional account and not real, however, when it comes to such a level of evil and violence against women I struggle. The book itself is great and I enjoyed reading the story from different points of view and then seeing how everything was resolved in the end. Recommended to those with very strong stomachs!

A Promise of Fire by Amanda Bouchet

My third book, Amanda Bouchet’s A Promise of Fire, was wholly unsuccessful and only deserved one star! This is the blurb:

KINGDOMS WILL RISE AND FALL FOR HER…
BUT NOT IF SHE CAN HELP IT

Catalia “Cat” Fisa lives disguised as a soothsayer in a traveling circus. She is perfectly content avoiding the danger and destiny the Gods-and her homicidal mother-have saddled her with. That is, until Griffin, an ambitious warlord from the magic-deprived south, fixes her with his steely gaze and upsets her illusion of safety forever.

Griffin knows Cat is the Kingmaker, the woman who divines the truth through lies. He wants her as a powerful weapon for his newly conquered realm-until he realizes he wants her for much more than her magic. Cat fights him at every turn, but Griffin’s fairness, loyalty, and smoldering advances make him increasingly hard to resist and leave her wondering if life really does have to be short, and lived alone.

Of course, with very few exceptions, this book is wildly popular amongst reviewers on Goodreads, it is a romance-fantasy after all. Let’s just say that it definitely was not popular with me! Someone else wrote a brilliant negative review of the book, mine was more succinct (and a lot less brilliant):

Awful book. Such a hackneyed theme, clunky writing and inconsistent world building. The worst part of it is the dreadful main male character who goes way beyond the boundaries of consent. The main female is overridden again and again, but she appears to like this? Awful messages here for young women. Not recommended in any way.

A massive irritant for me was the author’s use of Hoi Polloi for a particular class of people. Except that she often writes “the Hoi Polloi”. In the original Ancient Greek (the book has a lot of elements from this period woven into the writer’s world building) hoi polloi means “the many” or “the majority”. So, writing “the Hoi Polloi” is effectively saying “the The Many” – very grating!

Tracer by Rob Boffard

I still have three library books still in my pile before I have to go and borrow some more. I am currently about halfway through Tracer by Rob Boffard and will let you know my views next time.

Hoping you all enjoy great reads in 2018!

Best wishes,

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I had considered leaving this until next week, but at the rate I am reading the post would have been far too long! Since the last Reading Roundup, I have read some really fabulous books, thanks to our local library service’s ebook and print book collections.

Last Breath by Karin Slaughter

My first book of the week was an ebook prequel to Karin Slaughter’s The Good Daughter called Last Breath. This is the blurb:

Protecting someone always comes at a cost.

At the age of thirteen, Charlie Quinn’s childhood came to an abrupt and devastating end. Two men, with a grudge against her lawyer father, broke into her home – and after that shocking night, Charlie’s world was never the same.

Now a lawyer herself, Charlie has made it her mission to defend those with no one else to turn to. So when Flora Faulkner, a motherless teen, begs for help, Charlie is reminded of her own past, and is powerless to say no.

But honour-student Flora is in far deeper trouble than Charlie could ever have anticipated. Soon she must ask herself: How far should she go to protect her client? And can she truly believe everything she is being told?

This was a very quick read and here is my four star review from Goodreads:

I had just finished The Good Daughter when I found this as an ebook. It was a quick and enjoyable read and gave more insight into some of the characters in the main book. I think it was really meant as a kind of taster for the main course, but I am glad that I read them this way round.

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

The second book of the week was a library request: Nevernight by Jay Kristoff. I had found the sequel, Godsgrave, on the ebook catalogue first so then decided that I should really read the books in order. I am so glad that I found this series!

Destined to destroy empires, Mia Covere is only ten years old when she is given her first lesson in death.

Six years later, the child raised in shadows takes her first steps towards keeping the promise she made on the day that she lost everything.

But the chance to strike against such powerful enemies will be fleeting, so if she is to have her revenge, Mia must become a weapon without equal. She must prove herself against the deadliest of friends and enemies, and survive the tutelage of murderers, liars and demons at the heart of a murder cult.

The Red Church is no Hogwarts, but Mia is no ordinary student.

The shadows love her. And they drink her fear.

Here is my response (I wish I could have given the book 4.5 stars!):

I have never read anything by Kristoff before, but I will now hunt out his other books at the library. In fact, I had already found part two of this series as an ebook and requested this book so that I could read it first. Having had a quick glance through the reviews, I can see that this is a marmite book! One star reviews followed by the full five stars. Well, it fell just short of five for me. The plot was great, the characters varied and interesting, the writing somewhat overblown, but I loved it as I am all about stories and Kristoff certainly weaves a great story here.

Oh, and as a former school librarian I don’t think I would categorise this as YA. Coming of age stories aren’t necessarily aimed at the young and I think this is for an adult reader. Just the thought of a Year 11, or younger, student asking me my opinion on the taste of…… well, I won’t go any further with that thought!

Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff

After reading this, I devoured the sequel in one go on Christmas Day! Here is the blurb for Jay Kristoff’s Godsgrave:

Assassin Mia Corvere has found her place among the Blades of Our Lady of Blessed Murder, but many in the Red Church ministry think she’s far from earned it. Plying her bloody trade in a backwater of the Republic, she’s no closer to ending Consul Scaeva and Cardinal Duomo, or avenging her familia. And after a deadly confrontation with an old enemy, Mia begins to suspect the motives of the Red Church itself.

When it’s announced that Scaeva and Duomo will be making a rare public appearance at the conclusion of the grand games in Godsgrave, Mia defies the Church and sells herself to a gladiatorial collegium for a chance to finally end them. Upon the sands of the arena, Mia finds new allies, bitter rivals, and more questions about her strange affinity for the shadows. But as conspiracies unfold within the collegium walls, and the body count rises, Mia will be forced to choose between loyalty and revenge, and uncover a secret that could change the very face of her world.

I just had to give this five stars and tag it as a “favourite”:

Picture me sitting in bed, on Christmas Day, with my face twisted in a mixture of shock, amazement, admiration, shock and more shock. No, I am not talking about presents, or food or booze or Elf on a bloody Shelf, but this incredible book. I loved the first book in the series, Nevernight, but Godsgrave surpasses it. How can a writer do this? To pull you into a world with characters and a plot like this? I am incoherent and cannot write a review for toffee.

And this writer loves books and libraries and, perhaps, librarians. What more could you ask!

This book helped to rescue me from an unpleasant Christmas Day (ASD and special days or events often don’t mix well). I now cannot wait for the sequel!

As you can see from the above review, Kristoff makes a great deal of libraries, librarians and books in his two novels. I don’t care if he is sucking up to our profession and when he makes a statement like this one… well, I totally agree:

I hope to write the next Reading Roundup next Wednesday, if all goes well. Wishing you all a very Happy New Year and all the best for 2018!

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