This is the final update on the Bout of Books, the book challenge I set myself last Monday — with the help of Bout of Books! It’s been an interesting challenge, and I definitely did better this time around in terms of getting reviews done during the week. Naturally, I didn’t complete them all… I must leave something for me to work toward *eye roll & a grin*.
Goals
- Robin Hobb’s
Fool’s Assassins - George Hagen’s
Gabriel Finley and the Raven’s Riddle - Jill Shalvis’
It’s in His Kiss - Steve LeBel’s
Bernie and the Putty - T.S. Krupa’s
Safe & Sound - Shana Festa’s Induction
- Jennifer L. Holmes’
The Fourteenth Goldfish - Courtney Mann’s
I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You - Philippa Carr’s
The Changeling - Elmore Leonard’s
Rum Punch - Thaddeus Russell’s A Renegade History of the US
- Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child’s
Relic - Åsa Larsson’s
Blood Spilt - Lee Child’s
Personal - A.J. Betts’ Zac & Mia
- R.C. Lewis’
Stitching Snow - Taylor Anderson’s Deadly Shores
- Erin McCarthy’s
Shatter
Updates
Tuesday
Number of pages read: 1,064
Number of books read: 3
George Hagen’s Gabriel Finley and the Raven’s Riddle had me of two minds. It’s a great twist and quite original, but there were a couple of really stupid moves that dragged its rating down. Read my review. Jill Shalvis’ It’s in His Kiss wasn’t kidding. Read more about what I think of this sweet romance with growth required of both protagonists and typical of Shalvis’ Lucky Harbor series. T.S. Krupa’s Safe & Sound was so sad and so sweet. I wanted to turn around and read it all over again. Check out my review on it.
Wednesday
Number of pages read: 594
Number of books read: 2
Steve LeBel’s Bernie and the Putty has a great concept aaannnddd needs more work. I think he’s confused about the audience he’s writing for and the primary conflict needs to be more believable. Read my review. I had a difficult time sleeping Monday night and felt the need of a fluffy romance, so I dipped into Taming the Bachelor by M.J. Carnal (hmmm, think she’s trying to tell us something?) and was appalled. The story idea had promise but had development problems, NObody proofread this — omigod! it was SO distracting! And there were some really weird inconsistencies. For a list of what to be aware of in your own work…or should I say beware of?
Thursday’s report on what I read Wednesday
Number of pages read: 1,227
Number of books read: 3
Omigod, what a red letter day Wednesday was! I loved Robin Hobb’s Fool’s Assassins and am stressfully trying to keep from clicking over and over to find out when book 2 will be translated! Yeah, it had issues for me, but still I want, I want, I want! (Read my review that will be posted August 27.) And I’ve learned that I’m on the seventh book, the seventh!, in the overall series: Realms of the Elderlings. So that ought to keep me out of mischief. Then there was Courtney Mann’s I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You. I didn’t want to read and yet I did want to. I heard good things about it, but I don’t like the whole cheating on a significant other thing. What pulled me over to the “read me” side was the fact that the protagonist is an artist. And so worth it — read my review. Then I read Jennifer L. Holmes’ The Fourteenth Goldfish. Oh. My. God. If you have children. If you exist. Get this book. Don’t question it. Just get it. It is so incredibly good. And funny. Did I mention funny? Heck, read my review for yourself!
Friday’s report on what I read Thursday
Number of pages read: 518
Number of books read: 1.5
Lee Child’s Personal is part of his Jack Reacher series and will be released September 2. It was a more laidback story than I was expecting. At least until the end. Hmmm, I’m spending way too much time writing book reviews when I could be… gasp… reading! Anyway, I’m about halfway through Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child’s Relic, and I’m not overwhelmed with excitement. It feels like too many I’ve read in this same vein and nothing is standing out for me. A statement that probably isn’t fair of me, for it may be Preston/Child who were at the forefront of this type of horror-thriller. It is the first in the Pendergast series, and I AM adoring this character!! so…
Saturday’s report on what I read Friday
Number of pages read: 556
Number of books read: 1.5
I finished Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child’s Relic, which caught my interest about 2/3 of the way through. I’ll try the next in the series for Pendergast’s sake, it certainly won’t be for the sloppy writing. See what I really think in my review. After all the intensity and writing all those reviews, I needed a romance break and read Tawny Weber’s Christmas with a SEAL. Sweet and sad all at the same time while Frankie being an artist definitely appealed! It will be published by October 21.
Sunday’s report on what I read Saturday
Number of pages read: 338
Number of books read: 1
Oh, wow, R.C. Lewis’ Stitching Snow was an amazing fantasy that incorporated a fairytale, outer space, romance, a tyrant, a poisoner, oh, my…
Monday’s report on what I read Sunday
Total number of pages read: 1,415
Total number of books read: 4.33
Erin McCarthy’s Shatter continues to provide what I’ve come to expect from McCarthy. A good read, well-written, with tears and love in this New Adult romance. It will be released September 1. I dove into the underworld with Elmore Leonard’s Rum Punch. Clean, terse, and I suspect he’s more tell than show, although you get too absorbed to tell the difference. Philippa Carr’s The Changeling was a disappointment with its too obvious tropes including the stupid trope that simply enrages me. I also read a bit into Thaddeus Russell’s A Renegade History of the US, and wow. Russell certainly has some interesting points to make, although I’m not sure I’d agree — yet — that they made the U.S. what she is today. Åsa Larsson’s Blood Spilt was another pip. She does have a way of creating cozy and tense. In some ways, I’m angry that I read the fifth book already because it keeps me wondering how she go to that point. When does she and Mån get together? How? What’s the deal with her doing the prosecutor thing? Larsson has set the hook for it in this story…
The Week’s Wrap-Up
I was curious as to the total numbers for the week, so… Makes an average of 350 pages per book.
Total number of pages read: 5,712
Total number of books read: 16.33