Monthly Musings – August 2014

This is a where I look back at what I read (or tried to read) during the past month. I also plan on highlighting my experiences in any book club reads I from the month as well. I will always start with any books I would label as a surprise find/under-read books so if anyone missed my reviews for them, and don’t make it to the end of this post, they’ll be easy to find.

Surprise Find/Underrated/Underread Book

Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix – I know I’ve mentioned this book a fair bit on my blog already, but I can’t help it. It’s just such a fun little horror/ghost story set in a put together mass market furniture chain. ★★★★★

Book Club Reviews

This month was similar to last month. Both book clubs are reading books that I read at least 8 months ago. Makes it hard to participate. But it is still fun to revisit since both books are ones I enjoyed, so that helps. Interesting thing now, is there is starting to be more overlap between what the two book clubs have read. So, this month Fantasy Faction read Promise of Blood. r/fantasy read this one earlier in the year. Next month, r/fantasy is reading Red Rising, which Fantasy Faction read earlier in the year. r/fantasy’s book this month was Way of Kings. I didn’t really add much, its been too long since I read it.

Next month Fantasy Faction is reading The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North. I’ve not read this one, and it looks like it could be a good change of pace for me.

Reading Highlights

Sword of the Bright Lady by M. C. Plank – A fun change of pace where someone from our world wind up in a typical medieval fantasy setting. I think this was a pretty strong debut. I really enjoyed the premise and the way magic and status is handled. Magic with a real cost! At times things seemed a bit easy for our protagonist, but, hey, I liked the rest of it enough I can easily overlook that. ★★★½

The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley – Another book win. This book was one of the most innovative, imaginative and memorable books I have read in a while. The world, magic, characters and politics are all strengths. ★★★★★

The Martian by Andy Weir – If Bill Nye the Science Guy and McGyver could devise a way to create a love child (and keep in mind, it Bill Nye the SCIENCE GUY AND McGYVER!! They would totally find away), well then that love child would be Mark Watney. Really fun read as his journal entries chronicle his life alone on Mars and the ways he manages to stay alive as the planet tries to kill him. ★★★★

Tough Traveling with the Tough Guide Tour

• [7 Aug] Tough Traveling – Quest Objects
• [14 Aug] Tough Traveling – Save the World!
• [21 Aug] Tough Traveling – Shapeshifting
• [28 Aug] Tough Traveling – Towers

Review Summary

• [4 Aug] The String Diaries by Stephen Lloyd Jones ★★★½
• [11 Aug] Sword of the Bright Lady by M.C. Planck ★★★½
• [12 Aug] Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix ★★★★★
• [17 Aug] Horns by Joe Hill ★★★★★
• [18 Aug] Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley ★★★★★
• [24 Aug] The Martian by Andy Weir ★★★★

Looking Forward

• Falcon Throne  by Karen Miller – I’m still waiting for an ARC of this that I won from LibraryThing’s June giveaway. I’m sure it will get here eventually, and really look forward to reading it when it does.
• Dark Defiles by Richard K. Morgan – I love Morgan’s beautiful, yet dark and disturbing prose. I just finished Cold Commands and am really looking forward to finishing the series!

I didn’t get to a large number of my books for the past month, so here’s my carry over. Still really looking forward to these books as well

• The League of Seven by Alan Gratz – Still trying to see if my son will read this before I read/review it by myself.
• Golden Princess by S. M. Sterling – I won an ARC of this from a Roc flash giveaway on Twitter. I’ve not read any of the other Emberverse books, and I’ve not heard much about this one, but it sounds like it could be quite good, so Why Not??
• City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett – I’ve been wanting to read a book by Bennett for awhile. Everything I have heard about his books and recommendations that have been made to me really lead me to believe I will love his stories. So, I am quite excited to finally have one in my hands.
• Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes – This is another author that I have heard great things about. Really looking forward to this one

Random Cute Puppy

Her name is Stormy because she looks like a Storm Trooper with the black around her eyes. We just got her Saturday, and I decided to share. Because I can. 🙂