Book: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 8 - A Parade of Horribles

 Book: A Parade of Horribles

Author: Matt Dinniman

Pages: 704

This is my 201st read for the year

What Amazon Says:

As chaoe and mass panic spread outside the dungeon in the wake of Faction Wars, Carl and Donut find themselves on the tenth floor, where they're forced to compete in a surprisingly normal set of tasks.  Well, normal for the dungeon.  Races.  Get from point A to point B, and don't come in last.  After each race, they pick an upgrade for their vehicle and the track gets more challenging.  It all seems a little too normal, a little too simple.  Ignore those strange glitches that are occuring with increaing frequency.  Don't listen to those whispers about what's happening on the mysterious eleventh floor, something the system AI calls A Parade of Horribles.  Nobody, not even the showrunners, knows what that means.  Just that the AI has ominously dubbed it "a coming-out party for the ages".Everthing is fine, Crawler.  I repeat, evertyhing is fine.  Carl hates that it's business as usual.  The rules of this floor have taken away his agency.  That just will not do.  So Carl is planning a party of his own.  It's a plan so dangerous, so insance, he can't even consult his friends lest the AI put a stop to it.  Because if it goes wrong, it's not just the end of Carl and Donut.  No.  The stakes are higher than they have ever been. 

Another great installment in the Crawler world.  Dinniman continues to build this incredible world, adding some new characters, but keeping faithful to old favorites.  Happy to see the reappearance of Uzi Jesus.  I continue to take in these books in audio form and I continue to believe this is the best way to consume them.  Jeff the narrator is phenomenal.  So talented.  What a pair he and Dinniman make!  If you are into incredible world building, humor, high stakes, and quite the game, these books are for you.  I am sad I have reached the end of the released series.  Going to be an impatient wait for book 9.

Stars: 5 

Book: Good Joy, Bad Joy

Book: Good Joy, Bad Joy

Author: Mikki Brammer

Pages: 304

This is my 200th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

For over 80 years, Joy Bridport has played by the rules"  She's been a devoted wife and mother, contributing to the community in her small Hudson Valley town.  But her quiet existence is jolted when she learns that her best friend, Hazel, only has months left to live.  Hazel has always been the more adventurous one of their due, and she seems at peace with all that she's squeezed out of her long life.  Yet Joy realizes she can't say the same.  Determined to live boldly and make the most of the time that she and Hazel have left togehter, Joy steps outside of her comfort zone - and into a bit of trouble.  But as her foray into rule-breaking escalates into committing petty crime, Joy must consider what kind of legacy she wants to leave behind, and whether there's a way for her to embrace the liberation that "Bad Joy" offers without losing all that she holds dear.  Is it ever too late to become who we're meant to be?  

Stars:3 

Book: Ten Nights of Dreams

 Book: Ten Nights of Dreams

Author: Natsume Soseki

Pages: 220

This is my 199th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

This collection of 10 connected stories or dreams has a surrealistic atmosphere.  Some are weird, others are grotesquely funny.  Among the 10 nights, the first, second, third and fifth night start with the same sentence.  "This is the dream I dreamed".  Whether Soseki actually had these dreams or whether they were complete fictions is not known.

Stars: 3 

Book: Mostly Human Resources

 Book: Mostly Human Resources

Author: Grace Viall

Pages: 352

This is my 198th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Working in human resources was not what Alexys had in mind when she joined Entity, the private company that categorizes and manages the world's cryptids.  But after her dad was killed on the job as a Warden in the Appalachian Mountains, she was filled with noble ideas of carrying on his legacy - from a safety of a desk.  Alexys dreams of climbing the corporate ladder while managing the Appalachian Wardens and sparring with Nic, the frustrating (and annoyingly attractive) Director of Research and Cataloging.  When one of Alexy's new Wardens goes missing after inquiring about a mysterious and highly dangerous monster, her chances of promotion disappear along with him.  Determined to save her career - and to shield the Warden's family from the trauma she experienced after losing her father on the job - she marches off into the monster - infested wilderness to find him herself.  Meanwhile, Nic, with ambitions of becoming the youngest Entity employee to discover a new monster, follows Alexys on her hunt.  But the work nemeses are about to discover why the Appalachian Mountains are the last place you want to find yourself after dark.  Among mountains older than bones, the jackalopes and ghouls are the least of their worries.

Stars: 3 

Book: All My Mothers

 Book: All My Mothers

Author: Joanna Glen

Pages: 480

This is my 197th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Story of one girl's journey to find her birth mother, and her realisation that mothers - and family - can be discovered in the most unexpected of places.  London, 1980s.  Though she has a comfortable, privileged life, Eva Martinez-Green is deeply unhappy.  The only child of an emotionally absent mother and a physically absent father, Eva has grown up in a cold, unloving house.  But Eva is convinced that all is notas it seems.  Why are there no baby pictures of her?  Why do her parents avoid all questions about her early years?  When her parent's relationship crumbles, Eva begins looking for a different, better life: a proper family, a perfect mother, and importantly, real love.  Her desire to find where she belongs leads Eva on a journey spanning years and continents - and, along the way, she meets women who challenge her idea of what a mother should be, and who will change her life forever.  

This was a good book.  I wasn't sure about it at first - the main character is obsessive about her past, but it smooths out and starts to flow well.  I like the pace of the book.  This was a complaint by a few people in the comments on Amazon, but honestly - I felt like it spanned a lot of years at a really good pace.  No overwiting just to make the book longer felt right for this one.

Stars: 4

Book: Something is killing the children

Book: Something is Killing The Children

Author: James Tynion

Pages: 512

This is my 196th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

When the children in a sleepy Wisconsin town begin to go missing, all hope seems lost.  Most children never return, and those that do have terrible stories of terrifying creatures that live in the shadows.  But even monsters fear the mysterious stranger that arrives shortly after.  She believes the chidlren and claims to be the only who sees what they can see.  Her name is Erica Slaughter.  She kills monsters.  This is all she does, and she bears the cost because it must be done.

This was a good series.  I have been wanting to read it for a year, and after I read another of Tynion's graphic novels, I decided to take the leap.  Well written.  Very bloody.  Looking forward to the second omnibus.

Stars: 4.5

Book: Old Man's War

 Book: Old Man's War

Author: John Scalzi

Pages: 320

This is my 195th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

John Perry did 2 things on his 75th birthday.  First he visited his wife's grave.  Then he joined the army.  The good news is that humanity finally made it to the stars.  The bad news is that, out there, planets fit to live on are scare - and alien races willing to fight us for them are common.  So: we fight.  Far from Earth, the war has been going on for decades: brutal, bloody, unyielding.  Responsible for protecting humanity, the Colonial Defense force doesn't want young people; they want people who carry the knowledge and skills of decades of living.  You'll be taken off Earth, never to return.  You'll serve 2 years in combat.  And if you survive, you'll be given a homestead of your own on a hard-won planet light years from home.  John Perry is taking that deal.  He thinks he knows what to expect.  But the actual fight is far, far harder than he can imagine - and what he will become is far stranger.

This was a pretty good book.  I have read all of John Scalzi's recent books, and do not know how I missed this Old Man's War series.  So far it is a 7 books series.  It was well written and the story flowed well, but you could tell this was a first book.  He is a very talented author, and was from the start, but missing was the Scalzi semi-humor to all of his books that I have come to love.  This one ends on a cliff hanger - not sure I will continue this series, but we shall see.  I am interested in where it is going.

Stars: 4 

Book: How to Kill a Guy in 10 Dates

 Book: How to Kill a Guy in 10 Dates

Author: Shaliee Thompson

Pages: 368

This is my 194th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

When Jamie Prescott and her best friend Laurie attend a speed-dating event, Jamie expects to meet a roster of mediocre men and indulge in some street food afterwards.  She doesn't expect one of her dates to have his throat slit at their table during a blackout.  After the lights come back on, and there are more bodies on the floor, it becomes clear that dating can be a very dnagerous pastime.  Armed with makeshift weapons and Jamie's extensive knowledge of what NOT to do in a slasher, the remaining speed daters try to find an exit while the killer adds to their body count.  As the night progresses and Jamie comes face-to-mask with the murderer, she begins to suspect they are committing the slayings to woo one of the daters and turn them into a real-life Final Girl.  But Jamie has other plans, and as she fights for her life, she can't help but find herself ensconced in a love triangle with 2 of the other survivors.  Will she make it through the bloodshed to find her Happily Ever After?  Or does this machete-wielding psychopath have another ending in mind?

Stars:3 

Book: I See You've Called In Dead

 Book: I See You've Called In Dead

Author: John Kenney

Pages: 320

This is my 193rd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Obituary writer Bud Stanley isn't really living his best life.  He's fallen into a funk after a divorce.  (She left him for another man, who, in fairness,was far more interesting.  He's not doing his job well. He's given up on dating.  And he's about to be fired for accidentally publishing his own obituary one mildly drunken night (thought technically the company can't legally fire a dead person).  As Bud awaits his fate at work, he does the only logical thing: He goes to te wakes and funerals of total strangers to learn how to live again.

This was a pretty good book.  I liked the main character.  At first I thought it was going to be mostly humor, but in the end it was a feel good story.  Glad I read this one.

Stars: 4.

Book: Is This A Cry For Help

 Book: Is This A Cry For Help

Author: Emily Austin

Pages: 304

This is my 192nd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Darcy's life turned out better than she could have ever imagined.  She is a librarian at the local branch, whileher wife Joy runs a book binding service.  Between the 2 of them, there is no more room on their shelves with their ample book collections, various knickknacks and boobles, and dried bouquets. Rounding out thier ideal life is 2 cats and a sun-soaked house by the lake.   But when Darcy receives the news that her ex-boyfriend, Ben, has passed away, she spirals into a pit of guilt and regret, resulting in a mental breakdown and medical leave from the library.  When she returns to work, she is met by unrest in her community and protests surrounding intellectual freedom, resulting in a call for book bans and a second look at the branch's upcoming DEI programs.  Through the support of her community, colleagues, and the personal growth that results from examining her previous relationships, Darcy comes into her own agency and the truest version of herself.  

I almost DNF this book.  I forgot I read this author's other book - Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead.  This book was not good.  And prechy.  Skip.

Stars: 2 

Book: The Nice House On The Lake Deluxe Edition

 Book: The Nice House on the Lake

Author: James Tynion

Pages: 424

This is my 191st read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Everyone who was invited to the house knows Walter - well, they know him a little, anyway.  Some met him in chidhood; some met him months ago.  And Walter's always been a little off.  But after the hardest year of their lives, nobody was going to turn down Walter's invitation to an astonishingly beautiful house in the woods, overlooking an enormous sylvan lake.  It's beautiful, it's opulent, it's private - so a week of putting up with Walter's weird little schemes and nicknames in exchange for the vacation of a lifetime?  Why not? All of them were at the moment in their lives when they could feel themselves pulling away from their other friends; wouldn't a chance to reconnect be nice?  The overriding anxieties of the 21st century gets a terrifying new face - and it might just be the face of the person you onc etrusted most.

This was a great graphic novel.  It is well written and a well laid out story.  It is an interesting concept for a post apocolytic world.  It does end on a cliff hanger, so I will have to be on the lookout for the next book in the series.  I read the delux edition which was 2 volumes in one.

Stars: 4

Book: Martyr!

 Book: Martyr!

Author: Kaveh Akbar

Pages: 352

This is my 190th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Cyrus Shams is a young man grappling with an inheritance of violence and loss.  His mother's plane was shot down over the skies of he Persian Gulf in a senseless accident; and his father's life in America was circumscribed by his work killing chickens at a factory farm in the Midwest.  Cyrus is a drunk, an addict, and a poet, whose obsession with martyrs leads him to examine the mysteries of his past - toward an uncle who rode through Iranian battlefields dressed as the angel of death to inspire and comfort the dying, and toward his mother, through a painting discovered in a Brooklyn art gallergy that suggests she may not have been who or what she seemed.

This book was weird.  I wanted to like it - it has been on my list a long time.  But I just could not follow what a lot of people like about this one.  It was disjointed and the "bombshell" of the book just made me mad.

Stars: 3

Book: This Little Life

 Book: A Little Life   

Author: Hanya Yanagihara

Pages: 832

This is my 189th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

This story follows 4 college classmates - broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition as they move to NY in search of fame and fortune.  While their relationships, which are tinged by addiction, success, and pride, deepend over the decades, the men are held together by their devotion to the brillian, enigmatic Jude, a man scarred by an unspeakable childhood trauma.  A hymn to brotherly bonds and a masterful depiction of love in the 21st century.

I wanted to like this book so much more than I did.  It did start out strong - with the 4 friends and learning about their lives and how they came to be friends.  And then it became a Jude central story and it got tediuous.  It started to feel like a very very long way to the end of this book where we finally got a wrap up of the 4 friends.  So much "I'm sorry" in this book that it drove me crazy.

Stars: 3 

Book: Dungeon Crawler Carl #7 - The Inevitable Ruin

 Book: Dungeon Crawler Carl  - The Inevitable Ruin

Author: Matt Dinniman

Pages: 880

This is my 188th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

The 9th floor.  Faction Wars.  Nine armies enter, led by rich and powerful aliens from across the galaxy.  The winning team must capture and hold the castle at the very center of the battlefield.  Strategy, alliances, pitched battles, betrayal - it all makes for great fun and even great television.  But thanks to Carl, Donut, and Katia, this season is different.  For the first time ever, the crawlers have their own army.  The NPCs who are normally used as nothing but cannot fodder, have become fully self-aware and have formed an unprecedented team of their own.  And it's not just the crawlers who are at risk this Faction Wars.  Any combatant who dies on the battlefield stays in the ground.  For Donut and Katia, the stakes are even higher.  No matter who wins the war, only one of them will be allowed to leave this level.  If they all want to survive, they're going to need a little help from a veteran or two.  This is it.  This is what they've been fighting toward.  This is war.

Another terrific installment in the Dungeon Crawler world.  These books are just so fun.  Audiobooks continue to be my favorite way to consume these books.  Laugh out loud funny in so many places and well as clever writing, great story telling and world building.  There is one more book currently out and I am going to be so sad waiting for the next one!  These books are not to be missed.

Stars: 5 

Book: Lucifer's Hammer

 Book: Lucifer's Hammer

Author: Larry Niven

Pages: 640

This is my 187th read for the year

What Amazon says:

The gigantic comet had slammed into Earth, forging earthquakes a thousand times too powerful to measure on the Richter scale, tidal waves thousands of feet high.  Cities were turned into oceans; oceans turned into steam.  It was the beginning of a new Ice Age and the end of civilization.  But for the terrified men and women chance have saved, it was also the danw of a new struggle for survival - a struggle more dangerous and challenging than any they had ever known.

This was an interesting book.  It was really long, and honestly - it didn't really merit that in my opionion.  It got a bit tedious after awhile and I had a hard time picking it back up to read.  But overall, an interesting story.

Stars: 3.5 

Book: The Summer Guest

 Book: The Summer Guest

Author: Justin Cronin

Pages: 369

This is my 186th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

On an evening in late summer, the great financier Harry Wainwrigth, nearing the end of his life, arrives at a rustic fishing camp in a remote area of Maine.  He comes bearing 2 things: his wish for a day of fishing in a place that has brought him solace for 30 years, and an astonishing bequest that will forever change the lives of those around him.  From the battle fields of Italy to the turbulence of the Vietnam era, to the private battlse of love and family, this story reveals the full history of this final pilgrimage and its meaning for 4 people: Jordan Patterson, the haunted youg man who will guide Harry on his last voyage out; the camp's owner Joe Crosby, a Vietnam draft evader ho has spent a lifetime "trying to learn what it means to be brave", Joe's wife, Lucy, the woman Harry has loved for 3 decades; and Joe and Lucy's daughter Kate - the spirited you woman who holds the key to the last unopened door to the past.  As their stories unfold, secrets are revealed, courage is tested, and the bonds of love are strengthened.  And always center stage is the place itself - a magical, forgotten corner of New England where the longings of the human heart are mirrored in the wild beauty of the landscape.

Stars: 4 

Book: Before and After

 Book: Before and After

Author: Andrew Shanahan

Pages: 245

This is my 186th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Ben Stone is terrified.  He's terrified because he weights 601 pounds and needs hisright leg amputated.  He's terrified because a crane will shortly life him from his 4th floor flat and lower him 44 feet to an ambulance waiting below.  He's terrified because he hasn't been outside in 9 years and he doesn't know who will look after his dog.  He needn't worry though, becasue the world is about to end.

Couldn't get into it.

Stars: 2

Book: Atmosphere

 Book: Atmosphere

Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid

Pages: 368

This is my 185th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Joan Goodwin has been obsessed with the stars for as long as she can remember.  Thoughtful and reserved, Joan is content with her life as a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University and as aunt to her precocious niece, Frances.  That is, until she comes across an advertisement seeking the first women scientists to join NASA's space shuttle program.  Suddenly, Joan burns to be one of the few people to go to space.  Selected from a pool of thousands of applicatns in the summer of 1980, Joan begins training at Houston's Johnson Space Center, alongside an exceptional group of fellow candidates: Top Gun pilot Hank Redmond and scientist John Griffin, ho are kind and easy going even when the stakes are highest; mission specialist Lydia Danes, who has worked too hard to play nice; warmhearted Donna Fitzgerald, who is navigating her own secrets; and Vanessa Ford, the magnetic and mysterious aeronautical engeinner, who can fix any engine and fly any plane.  As the new astronauts become unlikely friends and prepare for their first fights, Joan finds a passion and a love she never imagined.  In this new light, Joan begins to question everyting she thinks she knows about her place in the observable universe.  Then, in December of 1984, on mission STS-LR9, it all changes in an instant.  

This book was okay.  I liked it overall, but honestly wish it would have focused more on the astronauts, and getting into space.  This was almost all love story and family story.  Which is fine, but that is not why I picked it up.  Not enough about women astronauts, and the general mission to make this worth reading in my opinion.

Stars: 3

Book: Diavola

 Book: Diavola

Author: Jennifer Thorne

Pages: 304

This is my 184th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Anna has 2 rules for the annual Pace family destination vacations: Tread lightly and survive.  It isn't easy when she's the only one in the family who doesn't quite fit in.  Her twin brother, Benny, goes with the flow so much he's practically dissolved, and her older sister, Nicole, is so used to everyone - including her blandly docile husband and 2 kids - falling in line that Anna often ends up in trouble for simply asking a question.  Mom seizes every opportunity to question her life choices, and Dad, when not reminding everyone who paid for this vacation, just wants some peace and quiet.  The gorgous, remote villa in tiny Monteperso seems like a perfect place to endure so much family togetherness, until things start going off the rails - the strange noises at night, the unsettling warnings from the local villagers, and the dark violetn past of the villa itself.

Could not get into this book.  Hated all the characters.

Stars: 2

Book: The Last Song of Penelope

 Book: The Last Song of Penelope

Author: Claire North

Pages: 416

This is my 183rd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Many years ago, Odysseus sailed to war and never returned.  For 20 years his wife Penelope and the women of Ithaca have guarded the isle against suitors and rival kings.  But peace cannot be kept forever, and the balance of power is about to break.  A beggar has arrived at the Palace.  Salt-crusted and ocean-battered, he is scorned by the suitors - but Penelope recongises in hi something terrible: her husband, Odysseus, returned at last.  Yet this Odysseus is no hero.  By returning to the island is disguise, he is not merely plotting his revenge against the suitors - vengeance that will spark a civil war - but he's testing the loyalty of his queen.  Has she been faithful to him all these years?  And how much blood is Odyssus willing to shed to be sure?  The song of Penelope is ending, and the song of Odysseus must ring through Ithaca's halls. But first, Penelop must use all her cunning to win a war for the fate of the island and keep her familyalive, whatever the cost.

This is the last book in the Song of Penelope series, and it did not disappoint.  I am so excited to see the upcoming Odyssey movie to see all of this played out.  While these books are told from the women's point of view, I am anxious to see a lot of these great characters on the screen.   This book was well written, and the women powerful througout.  I am glad I found this series.

Stars: 4.5

Book: Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow

 Book: Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow    

Author: Tom King

Pages: 216

This is my 182nd read for the year

What Amazon Says: 

Kara Zor-El has seen some epic adventures over the years, but she now finds her life without meaning or purpose.  Here she is, a young woman who saw her planet destroyed and was sent to Earth to protet a baby cousin who ended up not needing her.  What was it all for?  Wherever she goes, people only see her through the lens of Superman's fame.  Just when Supergirl things she's had enough, everything changes.  An Alien girl seeks her out for a vicious mission.  Her world has been destroyed, and the bad guys responsible are still out there.  She wants revenge, and if Supergirl doesn't help her, she'll do it herself, whever the cost.  Now a Kryptonian, a dog, and an angry, heartbroken child head out into space on a journey that will shake them to their very core.

This was a pretty good graphic novel.  My husband bought it for me because it is what the recent Supergirl movie was based on.  I did see the movie first, and it short of follows it, but the book has a lot more detail (of course).

Stars: 4 

Book: The Masterpiece

 Book: The Masterpiece

Author: Fiona Davis

Pages: 384

This is my 181st read for the year

What Amazon Says:

For most New Yorkers, Grand Central Terminal is a crown jewel, a masterpiece of design.  But for Clara Darden and Virginia Clay, it represents something quite different.  For Clara, the terminal is the stepping stone to her future.  It is 1928, and Clara is teaching at the lauded Grand Central Scool of Art.  Though not even the prestige of the school can override the public's disdain for a "woman artist", fiery Clara is single-minded in her quest to achieve every creative success - even while juggling the affections of 2 very different men.  But she and her boheian friends have no idea that they'll soon be blindsided by the looing Great Depression - and that even poverty and hunger will do little to prepare Clara for the greater tragedy yet to come.  By 1974, the terminal has declined almost as sharply as Virginia Clay's life.  Dilapidated and dnagerous, Grand Central is at the center of a fierce lawsuit: Is the once-grand building a landmark to be preserved, or a cancer to be demolished?  For Virginia, it is simply her last resport.  Recently divorced, she has just accepted a job in the information booth in order to support herself and her college-age daughter, Ruby.  But when Virginia stumbles upon an abandoned art school within the terminal and discovers a striking watercolor, her eyes are opened to the elegances beneath the decay.  She embarks on a quest to find the artist of the unsigned masterpiece - an impassioned chase the draws Virginia not only into the battle to save Grand Central but deep into the mystery of Clara Darden, the famed 1920s illustrato who disappeared from history in 1931.

This was a really good book.  I do like Fiona Davis' historical fiction books.  I enjoyed both timelines in the book - and loved when they finally came together.  Good character development and like how she weaved in the truth of Grand Central station with her fictitious characters.  

Stars: 4.5

Book: A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor

 Book: A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor

Author: Hank Green

Pages: 480

This is my 180th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

The Carls disappeared the same way they appeared, in an instant.  While the robots were on Earth, they caused confusion and destriction with only their presence.  Part of their maelstrom was the sudden viral fame and untimely death of April May: a young woman who stumbled into Carl's parth, giving them their name, becoming their advocate, and putting herself in the middle of an avalance of conspiracy theories.  Months later, April's friends are trying to find their footing in a post-Carl world.  Andy has picked up April's mantle of fame, speaking at conferences and online; Maya ravaged by grief, begins to follow a string o fmysteries that she is convinced will lead her to April; and Miranda is contemplating defying her friend's advice and pursuing a new scientific operation - one tha tmight have repercusions beyond anyone's comprehension.  Just as it is starting ot seem like the gang may never learn the real story behind the events that changed their lives forever, a series of clues arrive - kysterious books that seem to predict the future and control the actions of their readers - all of which seems to suggest that April could be very much alive.  In the midst of the search for the truth and the search for April is a growing force, something that wants to capture our consciousness and even control our reality. This is a fast-paced adventure that is also a biting social commentary, asking hard, urgent questions about the way we live, our freedoms, our future, and how we handle the unknown.

Not as good as the first book, but still glad I read it.

Stars: 3

Book: Marathon Man

 Book: Marathon Man

Author: Bill Rogers

Pages: 336

This is my 179th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Within a span of 2 hours and 9 minutes, Bill Rogers went from obscurity to legend, from Bill Rodgers to "Boston Billy".  In doing so, he instantly became the people's champ and the poster boy for the soulful 1970s distance runner.  Having won the Boston Marathon and NY Marathon 4 times each, he remains the only marathoner to have appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated twice.  Winning the Holy Grail of marathons in an unthinkable record time changed Bill's life forever.  But his dramatic breakthough in Boston also changed the lives of countless others, instilling in other American runners the belief that they could follow in his footsteps, and inspiring thousands of regular people to lace up thier shoes and chase down their own dreams.  In the year before Rodger's victory at the 1975 Boston Marathon, 20,000 people had completed a marathon in the US.  By 2009, participants reached nearly half a million.  32 years later Bill Rodgers still possess the same warm, endearing, and whimsical spirit that turned him into one of America's most beloved athletes.

Not well written, but interesting story.

Stars: 3

Book: Where The Library Hides

 Book: Where The Library Hides

Author: Isabel Ibanez

Pages: 400

This is my 178th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

A lush immersive hustorical fantasy set in Egypt filled with adventure, and a rivals-to-lovers romance like no other.  Inex Olivera traveled across the world to Egypt, seekin answers into her parents recent and mysterious deaths.  But all her seaching led her down a perilous road, filled with heartache, betrayal, and a dangerous magic that pulled her deep into the past.  When Tio Ricardo issues an ultimatum about her inheritance, she's left with only one option to consider.  Marriage to Whitford Hayes.  Former British soldier, her uncle's aide de camp, and one time nemesis, Whit has his own mysterious reasons for staying in Egypt.  With her heart on the line, Inex might have to bind her fate to the one person whose secet plans could ruin her.

Didn't like it as well as the first one.  What Whit did to her should have been unforgivable.

Stars: 3

Book: Here Be Dragons

 Book: Here Be Dragons

Author: Ralph Whitlock

Pages: 222

This is my 177th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Dragons are deeply embedded in the folklore of the British countryside, their presence echoing through the history of countless hamlets and villages.  These mythical creatures snarl from church carvings, linger in the traditions of mumming plays and pageants, and live on in the stories passed down through generations.  Tracing their remnats - whether in art, legend, ro ritual - offers more than just a fascinating pursuit; it provides a window into their lives, beliefs, and practices of our rural ancestors.  To them, dragons symbolized evil and destruction, embodying the fears and challenges of their time.  

Stars: 4 

Book: The London Seance Society

 Book: The London Seance Society

Author: Sarah Penner

Pages: 352

This is my 177th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

1873.  At an abandoned chateau on the outskirts of Paris, a dark seance is about to take place, led by acclaimed spiritualist Vaudeline D'Allaire.  Known worldwide for her talentin conjuring the spirits of murder victimes to ascertain the identities of the people who killed them, she is highly sought after by windows and investigators alike.  Lenna Wickes has come to Paris to find answers about her sister's death, but to do so, she must embrace the unknown and overcome her own logic-driven bias against the occult. When Vaudeline is beckoned to England to solve a high-profile murder, Lenna accompanies her as an understudy.  With shared determination, the women find companionship that perhaps borders on something more.  And as they team up with the powerful men of London's exclusive Seance Society to solve the mystery, they begin to suspect that they are not merely out to solve a crime, but perhaps entangled in one themselves.

Stars: 3 

Book: Games Untold

 Book: Games Untold

Author: Jennifer Barnes

Pages: 448

This is my 176th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

An amnesiac playboy and the woman with every reason to hate him.  A daredevil, his favroite heiress, and 3 nights in Prague.  An unlikely pairing between a cowboy and a goth.  4 brothers with an inescapable bond, strengthened by the family they chose, in a house of wonders that promises to always deliver one more secret.  

This was an okay book.  I read the 4 books in the Inheritence games and thought this was a next book, and it kind of is.  Mostly it is a recap of the stories over the last 4 books - untold stories of when the characters were younger, side character stories, etc.  It was fine.

Stars: 3 

Book: Beatrice and Virgil

 Book: Beatric and Virgil

Author: Yann Martel

Pages: 224

This is my 175th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Fate takes many forms.  When Henry receives a letter from an elderly taxidermist, it poses a puzzle that he cannot resist.  As he is pulled further into the world of this strage and calculting man, Henry becomes increasingly involved with the lives of a donkey and a howler monkey - named Beatrice and Virgil - and the epic journey they undertake together

Stars: 3

Book: The Memory Collectors

 Book: The Memory Collectors

Author: Dete Meserve

Pages: 336

This is my 174th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

What would you do if you could spend an hour in your past?  4 stragers in the beach town of Ventura, California are about to find out.  Elizabeth aches for one more precious hour with her son who died in a senseless accident.  Any is desperate to find his first love who vanished after a whirlwind romance.  Logan craves the rush of surfing and mountain climbing, yearning to reclaim the freedom he lost after a misstep landed him in a wheelchair.  Brooke is looking for an hour of relief from the guilt of an unforgivable mistake.  Enter Aeon Expeditions, the groundbreakingime travel invention of Mark Saunders - which allows some lucky clients the chance to spend an hour in their past.  Even though Aeon's technology ensures time travel can't alter the furture, all 4 clients, including MArk's ex-wife Elizabeth, yearn to revisit the hour that changed their lives forever.  But when their hour extends beyond 60 minutes, they find themselves stranded in the past.  As their paths intertwine unexpectedly, they unreath shocking secrets hidden in the shadows of their shared history: All their lives were shattered the same night on a secluded highway by the beach.  As they delve into the hidden truths of thatpivotal hour, a startling revelation emerges.  They were not alone.  Someone else was present, harboring dealy intentions.

This book was infurating.  I liked the idea of it, but the characters made we crazy.  Once they decided they were going to change their fate, and then couldn't because fate is inevitable, the book lost me.  Did not make any sense.  The people all knew what they were trying to change what happened, and yet they all did the exact same thing they did in the future.  Just no.  

Stars: 2 

Book: Sorry I Missed You

 Book: Sorry I Missed You

Author: Suzy Krause

Pages: 335

This is my 173rd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

When Mackenzie, Sunna, and Maude move into a converted rental house, they are strangers with only one thing in common - important people in their lives have "ghosted" them.  Mackenzie's sister, Sunna's best friend, and Maude's fiance - all gone with no explanation.  So when a mangled, near-indecipherable letter arrives in their shaed mailbox - hinting at long-awaited answers - each tenant assumes it's for her.  The mistmatched trio decides to stake out the coffee shop named in the letter - the only clue they have - and in the process, a bizarre kinship forms.  But the more they learn about each other, the more questions(and suspeicions) they begin to have.  All the while, creepy sounds and strange happenings around the property suggest that they ghosts from their pasts might not be all that's haunting them.  Will any of the housemates find the closure they are looking for?  Or are some doors meant to remain closed?

Stars: 3 

Book: The Burning Side

 Book: The Burning Side

Author: Sarah Damhoff

Pages: 336

This is my 172nd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

When April and Leo's house burns in the middle of the night, they escape with their 2 young children and the quiet knowledge that the fire is not the only thing threatening their family.  They retreat to April's childhood home in Dallas, where her spirited parents and siblings provide both comfort and complication.  As the family reckons with the aftermath - grief, guilt, logistics, and memories scorched and intact - the fire exposes the cracks already forming in April and Leo's marriage.  Te Novel unfolds in alternating perspectives: from April, who feels the crushing weight of motherhood, marriage, and sel-blame; from Leo, a high school history teacher shaped by a lonely, fractured childhood; from Deb, April's generous and no-nonsense mother who has to contend with her husband's recent Alzheimer's diagnosis; and from flashbacks that trace April and Leo's relationship from its earliest days of connection to the devastating decisions that led them here.  A family sage suffused with humor, longing, and heartbreak, this book is about what we inherit and what we choose, about forgiveness and the ache of being known.  It is about the meaning of home and the costs of long love.

stars: 3 

Book: Breathless

 Book: Breathless

Author: David Quammen

Pages: 416

This is the 171st read for the year

What Amazon Says:

This is an analysis of SARs-CoV-2 and its fierce journey through the human population, as seen by the scientist who study its origin, its ever-chagning nature, and its capacity to kill us.  David Quammen expertly shows how strange new viruses emerge from animals into humans as we disrupt wild ecosystems and how those viruses adapt to their human hosts, sometimes causing global catastrophe.  He explains why this coronavirus will probably be a "forever virus" destined to circulate among humans and bedevil us endlessly, in one variant form or another.  As scientists labor to catch it, comprehend it, and control it, with their high-tech tools and methods, the virus finds ways of escape.  Based on interviews with nearly one hundre scientists, including leading virologists in China and around the world, Quammen explains that infection disease experts saw this pandemic coming.  Also the precise origins of this virus may not be known for years, but some clues are compelling and some suppositions can be dismissed.

Stars: 4

Book: The Left Hand of Darkness

 Book: The Left Hand of Darkness

Author: Usula Le Guin

Pages: 336

This is my 170th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

On Gethen, human envoy Genly Ai has been sent to convince the planet's leaders to join the Ekumen, a loose confederation of planets who do not rule one another, but who cooperate in matters of interest to all Ekumen members.  Barriers to Ai' success include Gethenian pride, antipathy and discord between that world's rval nation-states and Ai's lack of understanding in a global culture fueled by the ambisexual nature of Gethenians.  The only native who believe sthe Ekumen can save Gethen is Estraven, a native whom Ai regards with suspicion. But when politics casts Estraven in a criminal light, Ai is dragged into a fierce powerplay and finds himself imprisoned, beaten, and left for dead.  Only by abandoning his prejudice - and learning to trust the Otherness of his savior - can he survive his ordeal.

Stars: 4 

Book: Caller Unknown

 Book: Caller Unknown

Author: Gillian McAllister

Pages: 352

This is my 169th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

There is nothing that Simone won't do for her daughter, Lucyt.  The 2 have always been close, and with Lucy about to leave home for university, they depart the UK for a vacation to Texas to spend some quality time together.  But when Simone awakens on their first morning in the desert, Lucy is gone, missing from their retnal cabin.  In her place is a cell phone, and a voice on the other line issues a shocking ransom demand.  Don't tell the police.  Come to this location.  And be prepared to do a deal.  Though Simone's husband urgest her to bring in the authorities for help, she knows she can't take any chances.  The kidnappers might kill Lucy if she tells anyone.  No mother would take that risk.  Instead, that night, she drives to the isolated meet-up.  What she finds there changes everything.  The mysterious kidnapper doesn't want money.  They want Simone to do something.  The unthinkable.  A catastrophic chain of events is set in motion, with chiling consequences that extend beyond simone and her family.  What follows is a heart-pounding jouney through the small towns and punishing desert of remote Texas, in which Simone's courage - and morality - is pushed to the brink as she discovers what it truly means to be a mother.

This book was just okay.  I have read a few other books by this author and liked them, but this one missed the mark.  Did not really care about the characters.  There was a lot of over writing (saying the same thing 3 different times in a row for page filler is something I really dislike).  The execution got repetitive.  And it did drag a bit.  The ending was okay.

Stars: 3

Book: The Beauty of the End

 Book: The Beauty Of The End

Author: Debbie Howells

Pages: 320

This is my 168th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

"I was 14 when I fell in love with a goddess".  So begins the testimony of Noah Calaway, an ex-lawyer with a sideline in armchair criminal psychology.  Now living an aimless life in a inherited cottage in the English Countryside, Noah is haunted by the memory of the beguilling young woman who left him at the altar sixteen years earlier.  Then one day he receives a troubling phone call.  April, the woman he once loved, lies in a coma, the victim of an apparent overdose - and the lead suspect in a brutal murder.  Deep in his bones, Noah believes that April is innocent.  Then again, he also believed they would spend the rest of their lives together.  While Noah searches for evidence that will clear April's name, a teenager named Ella begins to sift through the secrets of her own painful family history.  The same age as April was when Noah first met her, Ella harbors a revelation that could be the key to solving the murder.  As the 2 stories converage, there are shocking consequences when at last, the truth emerges.  Or so everyone believes.  

Stars: 3 

Book: Dungeon Crawler Carl #6 - The Eye of the Bedlam Bride

 Book: The Eye of the Bedlam Bridge

Author: Matt Dinniman

Pages: 832

This is my 167th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Coast Guard vet Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat, Princess Donut, have survived longer and leveld up highter than anyone ever thought they could in the galaxy's most popular reality show, but after the shocking conclusion of the 7th level, it's now anyone's game.  Coast Guard vet Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat, Princess Donut, have survived longer and leveled up higher than anyone ever thought they could in the galaxy's most popular reality show, but after the shocking conclusion of the 7th level, it's now anyone's game.  A pantheon of forgotten gods.  An old grudge between a talk show host, an heiress, and the man they shattered along they way.  A rapidly deteriorating AI system.  An inconvenient tiara upon the head of a friend.  It is bedlam on the 8th floor.  The crawlers are given a new taks: Find and capture 6 monsters, each of which will be turned into a card.  The stronger, the dealier, the better.  At the end of the floor, the bad guys will also have decks, made of some of the most powerful cards available.  So it's crucial for crawlers to assemble the toughest squad possible.  But, like always, there is a catch.  There's always a catch.  If Carl and Donu want a winning hand, they'll have to capture the most lethal and terrifying moster of them all: Shi Maria.  She was once married to a now-missing god.  Her special attack is known to drive one insane.  They call her the Bedlam Bride.  But even if Carl and Donut can capture her, they know all to weel that just because someone has been captured, it doesn't mean they have been tamed.  Welcome, Crawlers.  Welcome to the 8th floor of the dungeon.

Yet another amazin installment in the Dungeon Crawler world.  Book 6 - with only 2 more to go at this point - and I am going to be so sad when I get to the end!  I love, love, love listening to this book series.  It is by far the best audiobook reader I have ever come across.  The voices are amazing.  This book - like all the others - was fast paced with humor, and incredible world building.  Amazin characters.  There is a new one in this book - Uzi Jesus.  Perfection.  I cannot get enough of this series, and I cannot wait for the next one.

Stars: 5