Monthly Musings – February 2017

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.

February is now done and gone, and I already feel behind for the year. Ah well. At least I didn’t get further behind in January, but haven’t made up for my slow month of January yet. I have so many great books in hand right now, it is really hard to pick what to read. I have started Assassin’s Fate, and as much as I love this series, I think I’m going to have to set it aside to catch up on some of February and March releases.

Highlighted Read

Review Summary 

• [13 Feb] The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden ★★★½
• [16 Feb] Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough ★★★★½
• [20 Feb] Firebrand by Kristen Britain ★★★★
• [23 Feb] Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty ★★★★
• [24 Feb] Murder of Crows by Anne Bishop ★★★½
• [27 Feb] With Blood Upon the Sand by Bradley P. Beaulieu ★★★★

What I Read

• Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty – Interesting execution of clones, bringing up many ethical dilemmas with them. May have been a been a bit heavier on the “solve the murder mystery” than I personally prefer, but over all a really good read.
• Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough – I loved this one. I listened to the audiobook, and it was an excellent production for it. I don’t want to say much about the plot because I think its one of those that’s fun to go into blind. Most of the book is spent trying to puzzle together both what is currently happening as well as the past. There are two POVs and flashback chapters, but never once in the audiobook did I ever experience confusion over timeline or POV. I was quite surprised by at least one reveal, but then it also made total sense after the fact (it wasn’t one of those twists that comes completely out of left field that the reader would have no way of predicting.) Highly recommend.
• With Blood Upon the Sand by Bradley P. Beaulieu – I love this series, and Ceda, and this book did not change that. I will say it seemed to have some pacing issues, but overall, still a great story/series. Really looking forward to the third book.
• The Holver Alley Crew by Marshall Ryan Maresca – This is the start of a third series in the same world/city as his other two current series. All of his series can be read completely independently, in any order. They really stand well on their own. That said, this may be my favorite so far. It has criminals, a heist and all sorts of fun stuff.
• The Prometheus Man – This was an intriguing book, particularly for fans of thrillers. It features a rogue human experiment that is an efficient killing machine. It also has a protagonist out for vengeance, posing as a CIA agent. There were a few laugh out loud moments in this, which is rare for me.
• The Spirit Thief by Rachel Aaron – I chose this one for my Swords and Sorcery square. I have to confess, I didn’t love it. Some of may have been the audiobook production, the main character is funny, but I think I would prefer a bit less overt delivery of the jokes. The emphasis made it feel a bit more over the top type of humor. But over all it was a good book, just maybe not my favorite.

Backlist Burndown

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Looking Forward to