Behind Blue Eyes

Dragons at Crumbling Castle by Terry Pratchett My rating: 3 of 5 stars This was a fun little collection of early Pratchett stories for kids all ages. They were told as if they were children's tales, but there is always an undercurrent of humor that's a treat to adults. Kinda like his later work in that respect. This book was chosen as a March 2015 book selection in a Good Reads group that I'm in, Flights of Fantasy . Little did we know when we nominated it and voted it in, that it would appear on our group shelf in the very month that Sir Pratchett passed away. That's a sad coincidence, but at the same time I'm glad we had the book on hand to read. Those of us that have read Sir Terry and those that haven't but have felt his influence can take this moment to celebrate his life, and his body of work. I've also been working on some of the early Discworld novels, and this was a nice sidetrack in that pursuit. So delve in here and meet the Carpet People, and

Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson My rating: 3 of 5 stars Here's a well crafted mystery/thriller in the vein of Gillian Flynn, only not as sinister. The plus is that while it's not as nail biting as Flynn's, the characters are more likable. On its own, it's a pretty good mystery with some nice twists and turns, just paced a little slowly. View all my reviews

Heir to the Jedi: Star Wars by Kevin Hearne My rating: 3 of 5 stars I received an eARC copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. 3.5 stars. To be honest, I was a bit underwhelmed for the majority of the time I spent reading this book. Once again, a big name author was chosen to write a Star Wars novel, and like with the previous few, it didn't capture my attention the way I'd hoped. It was a good story, but not real exciting or engaging. But then the last couple of chapters brought it home and was enough to bump my rating by a half star. I finished the book feeling satisfied with the read, though not compelled to run out and buy books by Kevin Hearne or other Star Wars novels. This book does take an interesting perspective that I haven't seen in the others I've read. That is, a first person narrative from the perspective of Luke Skywalker. It was intriguing to get into his head and see how he felt about events in the Star Wars: A New Hope film, after

The Gun Fight by Richard Matheson My rating: 5 of 5 stars Matheson was amazing, that's all there is to it. He was brilliant at capturing the human spirit and conveying it to readers, regardless to what genre he was writing in. This Western is no exception. It really deserves more, but I'm still feeling sucker punched from the amount of emotion Matheson put into this. View all my reviews

Sourcery by Terry Pratchett My rating: 2 of 5 stars 2.5 stars. I hate rating this low, but I have to be honest. I spent more time counting off pages to completion than I did on reading it. There were some really funny parts and snippets of awesome. But in the end, it just wasn't connecting with me. It took me a month to finish. Ugh... Still, I certainly didn't dislike it. I'm just hoping to get more hooked on the series before too much longer.... View all my reviews

The Price of Spring by Daniel Abraham My rating: 4 of 5 stars Wow, great ending to a great series. This one was almost a letdown after the last two, but it turned into more of a slow build with yet another great payoff. That's a trademark of this series, the endings. I'm a bit sad that I've finished this. While I didn't ever love it enough to quite give it 5-stars, it came damn close, and it held that 4-4.5 star range beginning to end. The characters were a strong point too, many of them coming to full resolution here in the last book. It really makes me look forward to Abraham's other fantasy series that starts with The Dragon's Path , as well as getting back with the series he co-authored as James S.A. Corey, The Expanse . View all my reviews