Toil & Tomes

Welcome back fellow bibliophiles!

It has been incredibly nice to devote so much time to reading in the last few weeks. Even if I haven’t had the mental capacity to do much else. It has helped improve my mood as we stare down month nine of social isolation. While I go into the office daily, being able to sit and read has felt like such a luxury.

One a side note, it was wonderful seeing my local library back up and running. Even if it doesn’t look the same, libraries are such a central part of a community, and seeing people checking out books is a little spark of joy in the current climate. As much as I hate that my state will again go into protracted lock down, for that brief moment there was a light at the end of the tunnel.

I’ve been on an heroine kick lately; desperately seeking authors and adventures as I wander in escapist mode. Not all adventures are created equal however.

Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

I impatiently waited for this book through my library for months. With the recommendation of numerous friends, I caved and simply bought the series instead. I devoured the first four books of this series in less than a week. To be fair, I had some time off work, and not a whole lot of plans.

I found the primary characters rich and vibrant, but Maas also does not sugarcoat their flaws. Of which, there were a fair few. But, characters without any flaws are boring anyway. Even secondary characters had a surprising amount of depth, or hints of depth, and fit into the general world like puzzle pieces.

Maas did a great job building a world that was fun, mysterious and continually moving forward. The narrative was evenly paced and I didn’t find myself longing to skip paragraphs. (Which is always a plus when you have splurged on a new series, sight unseen). While I would not describe the story arc as surprising, I enjoyed it from one moment to the next. That being said, Maas like many YA authors, naturally fell into the trap of archetypes that have become standard in the last few years. The heroine goes through a mini existential crisis in the second and third books, where she tried to “disappear” into her own melancholy. There was also the inevitable love triangle (or love-square) with its own emotional trials and eye rolls. I am thrilled to report that the oh-so-familiar tropes do not last too long.

Do to the short amount of time that I finished four books, I have decided to take a short break before starting the fifth novel. I eagerly look forward to diving back into the world after the new year though!

The Rowan by Anne McCaffrey

Full disclosure, this was a reread. I have read the Tower and Hive series multiple times, although its been at least ten years since I picked up this volume last. I am very picky about my Anne McCaffrey. Many of her novels hold little interest for me. I enjoy the Dragonrider’s of Pern series, but can only handing diving into the world in small doses.

The Rowan is the first novel in this series, although there are two prequels in the series now as well. I found a sense of relief in the nostalgia provided in a familiar world. McCaffrey has a distinct writing style, one that is extended throughout many of her novels. Unfortunately, this writing style also includes widely fluctuating narratives that transition between action and description frequently. Luckily, these transitions are very smooth, although periods where the author world-builds and includes descriptions can feel very long. I find her descriptive stages similar to Tolkien.

The prequels Pegasus to Ride and Pegasus in Flight provide a great deal of background information for the reader. If it is your first experience with this world, it is beneficial to start with the prequels but not necessary.

The Secret Chapter by Genevieve Cogman

If you have read previous reviews on this blog, you will find yourself familiar with some aspects of the Invisible Library story line. My last foray into this series was the Mortal World. While I continue to enjoy the books, my review was unfortunately not all sunshine and rainbows. With this installment, I felt that Cogman had managed to steer her world-ship back on course.

By now, the toll of previous adventures is beginning to show on some of the more established characters. While still witty and entertaining, the characters have begun to take on the scarred, more pragmatic tones of more experience. As more world details are revealed, I find that I am enjoying delving into the personal histories of different characters as the series continues.  The narrative felt more in tune with the first and second novels. The focus balanced the narrative with a deep dive into the character’s personal histories.  It answered questions but also left a plethora of breadcrumbs to explore in the next novel.

Pirate Women: The Princesses, Prostitutes, and Privateers Who Ruled the Seven Seas by Laura Sook Duncombe

The attempted introduction of a non-fiction book into my heroine reading list. While I appreciate the sentiment exhibited by Duncombe in writing this book, weeks later all I can remember is “meh”. Resources on female pirates is beyond spotty and there is a tenuous relationship between historians and pirates in general.

Basically, if you have never read research or other works on female pirates, give this book a shot. Duncombe hits on all the big figures, and a few lesser known individuals. But, there are no surprises and personally I wouldn’t consider the book a primary source. Duncombes narrative just sits on the surface of resources that are available on the topic. In addition, her personal bias is clearly indicated throughout her narrative. I found it distracting enough that I gave up on the book a few times in frustration.

Treat the book like Wikipedia. Read the information, make a few notes that jump out at you, and then search for other legitimate sources.

That’s all for this post fellow readers!  Up next for Toil and Tomes: 

The Brotherband Chronicles: Return of the Temujai by John Flanagan

Court of Thorn and Roses by Sarah J Maas

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs

Sherlock Holmes and the Shadwell Chronicles by James Lovegrove

Hello fellow bibliophiles!

In what seems to be a common occurrence these last few months, events once again sidelined my book reviews. I am happy to note that I have managed to stay ahead of my 2020 reading goal. Slowly and surely approaching 37 out of the 45 book commitment for this year.

Life has decided to reach a calm stage for the moment. So, who am I to squander this opportunity to put my thoughts to blog post?  Read on for the trials and opinions of the summer’s first selection.

Library of the Unwritten

This novel has four stars on Goodreads, and has been positively reviewed by my own friends.  An event which I am still struggling to understand. The bottom line, I couldn’t finish it. I wish I could say I made it half way through, but the truth is I gave up at about the 1/3 mark.

I enjoyed some of the supporting characters, but the heroine was a disaster.  She was unlikable, annoying, and her personality was a complete turn-off for me.  I was rooting for her to disappear within the first few chapters.

It was clear that Hackwith spent a lot of time designing the world and was trying to give this information to the reader.  However, this made the narrative rather distracting. It toggled back and forth between quick events/decisions made by the characters with dense world-building and background information.  This transition continually interrupted the pacing of the story.

I can understand why this might appeal to some readers (and those friends who wrote reviews). For me, the story fits very well into a fantasy world, and reminded me of tv shows like Supernatural. (Which I love!) I truly appreciate the story premise and I think that the narrative had great potential. As the wife of a writer, I enjoyed the details and juxtaposition around storytelling and how narratives are brought to life by their authors. Sadly, right now this novel was not for me.

The Royal Ranger: Red Fox Clan and Duel at Araluen

I am reviewing these books together as the story arc spans both installments of the Royal Ranger series.

Previously, I have been on the fence about this offshoot of the Ranger Apprentice world. I adore the original series, as well as the Brotherband Chronicles. The worlds and characters are well-written and engaging. As I read each new novel, I find that I am constantly invested in the success of their adventures.

For the Royal Ranger, while I continued to enjoy the world, I felt as if there was something missing. I wish I could easily pinpoint what that “something” was, but so far I have had little luck. Knowing me, it could have been something as simple as transitioning to a new series.  That being said, with these two novels, I once again found myself diving directly into the world with familiarity and excitement.  I enjoyed the interplay between the characters and the reintroduction of beloved ones from other books.

I loved that you learn just how much the Ranger Corps has continued to challenge and encourage Maddie’s growth. It is clearly shown in how her character carries herself and interacts with others within the narrative.  It was fun to see Maddie rise into the role of a lead heroine.  By the time I began Duel at Araluen, I was firmly in her corner.

If you have never explored the Ranger Apprentice series, I would highly recommend starting with the first novel Ruins of Gorlan. A lot of world-building is completed within the first series, and sets the reader up to understand the background of recurring characters and scenes.

Honey Badger Chronicles

I have been reading Laurenston’s shifter series for years. For the most part, I have had positive experiences with her work, and I enjoy reading them from an escapist standpoint. They require absolutely no forethought and provide an easy, stress-free read.

Unfortunately, the Honey Badger Chronicles were not my favorite stories.  The characters were just there. Historically, I feel that Laurenston has done a better job of building characters in previous novels, and this narrative fell short.  Each of the three novels felt very rushed. The story was on fast-forward and a lot of detail was missed. I did not find myself laughing out loud as I have done with other books.  While the sisters behaviors were understandable given their history, it was also extremely distracting.  Laurenston really dove into the tropes and archetypes present in the sister’s personalities, which ultimately failed to make them as interesting. The changes in temperament, narrative pace, and dialogue left me with a whiplash effect from one event to another.

I would not discourage Laurenston fans from reading this series. But, for new readers, I would suggest starting with a different book first. These novels lacked details when secondary characters were woven in and out. Background knowledge on world-building and character personalities help a lot when understanding the Honey Badger Chronicles story line.

That’s all for this post fellow readers! Stay tuned for the next reviews where all the female heroines will come out of the woodwork!

Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

The Rowan by Anne McCaffrey

The Secret Chapter by Genevieve Cogman

Madness is right. Life has been all sorts of topsy turvy for the last year or so (hence falling WAY behind on my blog posts…like 12 months behind). I’ve got to tell you, from the middle of 2019 onwards, I did not have the best luck with reading choices. I lost count of how many books I started, and then refused to finish.  So much so, that I gave up on new material for a few months, and consoled myself in the familiarity of some favorites (mostly The Belgariad and The Mallorean by David Eddings).

Be that as it may, the reviews must go on! So read on my fellow bibliophiles, and let me know what you think in the comments! I’d love to chat!

*Warning: There may be spoilers ahead!*

The Mortal World by Genevieve Cogman

Ahh Cogman, I have been thoroughly impressed with her Library series so far, and was excited to get my copy of The Mortal World – which I preordered by the way.

Unfortunately, I found this installment to be the weak link in the series. At times, I really wanted to yell “shut up! move on already!” The middle of the book just dragged on, while the main character, Irene, ran around like she was looking for her lost car keys. There were long periods where the only information we were given was whatever popped into Irene’s narration of events. It didn’t always feel true to character for the heroine. In addition, the baddie was forgettable… Seriously, I can’t even remember as I’m writing this review.

That being said, the book still contains the intelligent humor and hijinks that made the first four such entertaining stories. While I wish the characters of Vale and Silver played larger roles in this story given the premise, I did enjoy most of Silver’s character development. The author is very good at hinting that each character has depths that haven’t been explored in the series thus far. In a way, it does make me want to read further installments just to see what happens to them! I also enjoyed the dichotomy between the Dragons and the Fae, as it demonstrated the numerous ways in which the Library attempts to remain neutral, and the difficulty in doing so.

While my negative feelings make this installment less enjoyable for me, I am still eagerly looking forward to the next story Cogman releases.

Mrs. Sherlock Holmes by Brad Ricca

Mrs. Sherlock Holmes is the story of Grace Huminston: a lawyer, activist, and very first female Special Assistant US Attorney. In an era where women couldn’t even vote, and immigrants were at the mercy of slumlords and indentured servitude, I was intrigued to learn about this woman compared so frequently to Sherlock Holmes.

First and foremost, the timeline was extremely difficult to follow.  I felt that the book jumped back in forth during Grace’s career numerous times and had to reread passages to make sure I understood how the narrative fell into place.

At its core, I found most of the details surrounding the ending more interesting than Grace’s involvement in the larger historical context. I felt that at times, the author was trying to showcase more about his knowledge of the era than presenting a biography of Huminston.

The book suffered from a huge lack of focus, cohesive timeline, and consistent narrative.  While I believe the author made a sincere attempt to write a biography of Huminston, at times the narration style was more fiction than non-fiction.  It was both too austere and too fantastical at the same time. All in all, I’d be interested in reading other biographies of Grace Huminston, but probably wouldn’t recommend this book to a friend.

Warlock Holmes: My Grave Ritual by G.S Denning

As I’m sure readers know by now, I’m a sucker for Sherlock Holmes everything.  I thoroughly enjoyed the other adventures of Warlock Holmes written by G.S. Denning. The same witticism is present in this volume, and I freely admit to laughing out loud during numerous parts. It is also made clearer in this volume how the relationship between Watson and Holmes continues to grow, even with magical events cropping up. I also continue to enjoy the character developments of secondary characters like Lestrade and Grogson.

The biggest downside to this book was that the narrative  was more disjointed than you would find in the other three of the series.  Unfortunately, at times this meant that it was hard to follow along as perspectives shifted, and there was an ever present “so what happened?” question while I was reading certain chapters.  Despite the fact that the Woman is an background character to most of the narrative, she just wasn’t strong enough to connect the stories.

I do still love the book and continue to recommend it to almost everyone I know (including my coworkers).  I would caution new readers to read the series in order however, as I do not believe this is the strongest installment.

That’s all for this post readers! Stay tuned for the next reviews, coming to a blog near you!

Pirate Women: The Princesses, Prostitutes, and Privateers Who Ruled the Seven Seas by Laura Sook Duncombe

Hexing the Patriarchy by Ariel Gore

The Brotherband Chronicles: Return of the Temujai by John Flanagan

HELLO HELLO!

Another year is upon us, and as I’ve done every year since 2016, I have another reading goal. I also make an effort to read new material, as its very easy for me to get into a genre zone.  Springing forward hasn’t worked out well for me, at least where sleeping is concerned, but at least I’m awake enough to read. Right?! I’m sure some of you understand 🙂

And off we go for our new round of reviews! Happy Reading and I hope you’ll let me know your thoughts in the comments!

*Warning. May contain spoilers*

The Pharaoh’s Treasure: The Origin of Paper and the Rise of Western Civilization – John Gaudet

SKIP IT.

I would love to write something positive about this particular book, but I was completely unimpressed by the author’s take on the subject. The premise of the book is what caught my eye in the first place, and I should have stopped there.  Gaudet claims to be providing a historical study of how writing impacted the growth/evolution of Western culture.  While the historical context he provides isn’t uninteresting, his writing style is monotonous and barely scratches the depth of research available.  It wasn’t so much a “rise” of civilization as a “guide to how papyrus was cultivated.”  Again, might be interesting, except upon learning that the author basically wrote the same book twice. He has another non-fiction work studying papyrus and its impact on culture in Papyrus: The Plant That Changed the World.”  Insert epic sigh of disappointment here.

There was a major disconnect between what the book was trying to be, and where it was actually successful (a word I use loosely).  A major negative for me was that Gaudet is not only PhD-trained Ecologist but also a Fulbright scholar, and none of this is reflected in his choice of material.  Throughout his narrative, he utilized Wikipedia as a credible source for quotes, data and images. No! Just no! Red flags everywhere!  For a trained scholar and scientist, using Wikipedia as a constantly quoted source shows a lack of research, a lack of foresight and depth into his topic, and a lack of ethics.  The author was lazy and couldn’t be bothered to write a “new” book let alone provide the breadth of research that should have been included.

Very disappointing and not an author I will be pursuing in the future.

Witches of East End – Melissa de la Cruz

I did check out the TV show first, and only learned it was a book after the fact.  If you are pursuing the novel based on your interest in the show itself, you should that the amount of similarities are minimal, at least in my opinion. While most readers have come to expect a little fiction license when it comes to Hollywood translations of books, I’d say this one was extreme.

For starters, I detested the characters in the novel.  Freya was an emotional firecracker with absolutely no common sense.  Flitting like a drunken, emotional stunted butterfly from one situation to the next and ignoring direction or advice, even when she seeks it out. Ingrid has the nickname “frigid” for a reason, but the author forgot to add whiny. The list could go on, but I feel like I would be wasting good prose.  The characters were riddled with ridiculous tropes mixed with mythology. The author’s narrative was droning and I continually wished for the book to end far sooner than it did.  Big reveals lacked a good punch, especially at the end which was thrown into the last twenty or so pages at a break-neck speed.

Reviews seem to be polarized for the most part, especially on sites like Goodreads. However, I really would skip this book if you don’t want to feel like your brain is dying.

A Kiss Before the Apocalypse- Tom E. Sniegoski

Sniegoski deliberately sets up the adventure as a noir-type fiction, even going so far as having the main character take his name from a thriller/detective fiction writer. While I won’t be singing praises from the rooftop, I did enjoy the general feel of the book. It had a good pace and was a decent Sunday-afternoon read.  I wouldn’t call it difficult or a go so far as a “page turner,” but it was enjoyable enough for me to consider continuing with the series in general.

There were two relatively minor issues I had with the first of Remy Chandler’s adventures.  The first was that A LOT of characters were introduced in a short amount of time. Many of them were flat, one-dimensional introductions. While most of the characters popped up time and again in the novel, it wasn’t super impressive and some of the connections were low on depth. The second issue was the introduction of Remy’s personal history into the narrative.  The constant back and forth between explaining Remy’s supernatural history and his mystery-solving dialogue was a little much.  I freely admit, I at times skipped a page or two of narrative…

Final verdict: Don’t expect earth shattering greatness, but I am going to give the second book of the series a try before deciding further.

Wisteria Witches – Angela Pepper

In a way, this series was very Gilmore Girls meets Charmed.  A mother and daughter team full of sarcasms and witticisms, who both find out after moving to new town that they are in fact supernaturally inclined.  I immensely enjoyed the dialogue of the book, especially between the mother/daughter duo. It showed a healthy relationship between a single mom and her teenage daughter, but didn’t sugar-coat the negatives either.  I really enjoyed the juxtaposition of a mother/daughter duo learning their powers together, and navigating the differences in how they learn.  It would have been highly disappointing if both the mother/daughter just naturally jumped into a supernatural existence without any bumps in the road.

The plot is not a deep thinker. Its quick, quirky and fun, and makes for a great afternoon read.  No real surprises jump out at you, but the book has enough detail and wit to keep your interest . The only paranormal trope I found unnecessary within the plot was that of the love interest. In addition to moving to a new city, starting a new career, finding out about their powers, naturally the mother MUST have a love interest in the form of her next door neighbor. I found it, uninspiring, to be honest.  The only interest in the character’s relationship was in Ms. Pepper’s mind and didn’t truly translate to paper. I’m hopeful this may change in the second book of the series.

I will be pursuing the next book in the series, but I’m not expecting a masterpiece.

That’s all for this round folks!  Stay tuned for the next reviews. The Mortal World by Genevieve Cogman, Mrs. Sherlock Holmes by Brad Ricca and Warlock Holmes: My Grave Ritual by G.S Denning.

Happy Reading!