Behind Blue Eyes

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah My rating: 4 of 5 stars I received a free audio copy of this book from Audible and the publisher through Goodreads ...and I had an entire review written, only to have complete computer random shutdown. Ugh. Basically I said that I took a long time to listen to this, but it was a personal reading funk and not any fault of the author, or the excellent narrator, Polly Stone . I do like historical fiction, but I'm not a huge fan of the World War II era stories. Still, I did find myself pulled in by Hannah's writing, and the phenomenal story of two sisters, Isabelle and Vianne. We saw their journey through the war in occupied France, and it was intriguing and powerful at the same time. There were even times....well... ...let's just say I was moved, and very impressed with Ms. Hannah's style. View all my reviews

Half the World by Joe Abercrombie My rating: 5 of 5 stars I received an ARC copy of this book from Good Reads in the First Reads giveaway program. I also received an eARC from NetGalley. The middle book of a trilogy that doesn't have that middle book drag we often see. No, this was an improvement to the first book, and at the same time building for the climax in the third. Say one thing about Joe Abercrombie, say the man can weave a good yarn. If any hesitate to pick up this Shattered Sea trilogy based on word that it's "YA" and toned down from his usual Lord Grimdark fare, hesitate no more! This works as YA, while at the same time doesn't feel like its trying to be YA. Abercrombie pulls no punches. There is plenty of grit and dirt and blood and wicked tough bastards and badass women to go around. This is a story where they're not afraid to blow snot right on the sand in front of Mother War and Father Peace and everyone else. And that ending? Freakin' ...

A Christmas Carol: A Signature Performance by Tim Curry by Charles Dickens My rating: 5 of 5 stars Brilliant! Here we have the wonderful prose of Charles Dickens, read by one of the best voices out there, Tim Curry. I love Dickens for language and humor, and Curry captured that perfectly here. He really brought Scrooge to life. A great story to begin with really comes home for Christmas with this audiobook. View all my reviews

The Magician's Land by Lev Grossman My rating: 3 of 5 stars I received a free copy of this book through the First Reads program on Goodreads. 3.5 stars, and this is more an average of my feelings than anything. I was all over the map here. It took me a loooonnnnng time to get through this book. At times I was so bored I chose to watch paint dry rather than read. And at other times I was really impressed with the story and characters. The ending was more of the same. Not bored with it, but there were things that made me go "eh, wtf?" and there was satisfaction with some of the elements. All in all, it was a good conclusion to the trilogy. At the same time, I'm glad it is over. It was a good trilogy, but I'm feeling somewhat burned out. I think that has to do with my re-read of the first two books than anything with this one, but there it is. But truth is, if I had to muddle through 10 of these at four times the length each, I'd probably run for the hills. Bu...

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng My rating: 4 of 5 stars That wasn't normally something I'd read, but thanks to Audible and the Ford Audiobook Club on Goodreads, I scored a free download and gave it a try. I'm glad I did too. This was an engaging study of a mixed race Chinese-American family in the 1970s, and their way of dealing with the prejudices of the time. More than that, in their coping with outside sources, it's a study of this family and their relationships with each other. It's a study of the ways they deal with a tragedy, as well as the people they became leading up to the tragedy. The five members of the Lee family are all sympathetic characters, each in their own way. While I certainly wouldn't agree with many of their choices, it was very touching to see how they became the way they were. View all my reviews

California: A Novel by Edan Lepucki My rating: 4 of 5 stars I received a free audiobook download from the Ford Audiobook Club on Good Reads. Dystopia post-apolyptic novels seem to be the rage lately, and through it all I've been seeing one particular title (this one) standing out from the others. So I was surprised and pleased when I got an email from Good Reads inviting me to join the Ford Audiobook Club and participate in a free Audible download group discussion. I really liked this. I wasn't sure at first that I would, as it is rather slow moving. But the more I read (listened), the more intrigued I became with the society of this near-future California. I wasn't crazy about the main protagonists of Cal and Frida, but I found the supporting characters to be very intriguing, and as we got to know them, I kept waiting for that other shoe to drop. All in all a satisfying read, and Edan Lepucki is definitely on the author map for me now. Review of the book itself aside, I...

The Word Exchange by Alena Graedon I received a free copy of this book through the First Reads program at Good Reads. I also was given an eARC by NetGalley. While I appreciate these freebies, I shouldn't have clicked those buttons to put myself in the running for them. I started this book tonight, and was quickly going, "eh..wtf?" It's just...no... Earlier this year I read a book called The Book. It was a dystopian near-future tale about electronic reading devices replacing real books and eventually controlling what we think, etc. I don't want to compare this to that (I'll get to that in a minute), but some of that basic plot is here again. Or so it would seem, if I could understand the plot. I also don't want to compare them because this is well written. I mean, I can't understand it, with all the big words and gimmicky language, but I can at least see that this author knew what she was doing. She had genuine fun crafting a story of language with l...

The Wrong Quarry by Max Allan Collins My rating: 4 of 5 stars I received a free copy of this book through the First Reads program on Good Reads. Wow, that kicked ass! 4.5 stars, easily. I've read Max Allan Collins before, and enjoyed his work, but this really hit the mark more than I expected. This is the 11th Quarry novel (though the 5th published by Hard Case Crime), but it was the first one I've read. It looked like I could jump right in with this and not be confused by missing the previous books, and it seems this was right. Collins provided a nice summary of Quarry's career before this book, and I didn't feel lost or confused at all. Needless to say, I'll be reading more of Collins, specifically more of the Quarry books. This is definitely a series I can get behind.... View all my reviews

One Was Stubborn by L. Ron Hubbard My rating: 3 of 5 stars I received a free copy of this book by winning a First Reads giveaway on Goodreads. So I've been reading several of these L. Ron Hubbard "Golden Age" story reprints over the last year or so. All in all, they're enjoyable reads. Nothing to make me look back and wonder why he didn't win any literary awards or anything, but the man could spin a yarn. This one is no different, except that it was the first of these little books that was Sci-Fi. The previous ones were mystery, adventure, western, or pirate stories. It's good to see a range of Hubbard's stuff, because until these things started coming out, I always thought of him as a writer of Sci-Fi. But he was much more diverse than that. Then to pick this up and read some of his early sci-fi work was interesting. It had a similar tone to the other Golden Age stories, with cheesy 1940s adventure dialogue and plot. A far...

Arctic Wings by L. Ron Hubbard My rating: 3 of 5 stars I won a copy of this audiobook in the First Reads program on Good Reads. Here's another Golden Age action/adventure from L. Ron Hubbard, this one set in the Canadian wilderness. This time, our hero is an aviator, but like the other Hubbard heroes, he gets into one tough situation after another and finds a way to handle himself. While I did enjoy the fast pace typical to Hubbard's early work, I didn't care for the overall story as much as others I've read. The narrators and sound effects were very good, keeping me interested for the couple of hours it took to listen. I don't think I would have been as compelled to push through if I'd been reading a physical or ebook copy of this one. It's a well told story, but the characters just fell a bit flat. Hubbard's pulp era characters tend to be a bit stereotypical as it is, but usually he's got one or two that I can root for. Here, not so much. My fav...

The Green God by L. Ron Hubbard My rating: 3 of 5 stars I received an eARC copy of this through NetGalley. I really enjoy these reissued Golden Age stories from L. Ron Hubbard, published by Galaxy Press. The presentation is great. This is the first that I've tried in ebook form though. This one is actually two stories: "The Green God" and "Five Mex for a Million". Both deal with American military guys in China, during the 1930's. And both of these protagonists immediately get into a crap ton of mischief, using their wits and there general badass-ity to get out of trouble. We get the expected mild sexism and racism typical to the pulp style and the time period. Nothing too out there. But we also get some fast paced action from start to finish. It keeps the reader's attention and serves as an escape in a single sitting (or two if you like to take the stories one at a time). And who said pulp fiction couldn't teach you any...

Conquest by John Connolly My rating: 2 of 5 stars I won a copy of this from the First Reads program on GoodReads. I love free books. Thank you to the publisher for this advanced reading copy. I wish I liked it more, but here we are. I gave up 80 pages in. I mean, it took me 8 days to get through 80 pages of a YA novel. Seriously? I feel there's a good story in here. The writing just doesn't grab me. It doesn't even paw at me. It falls as flat as a cartoon character that a boulder dropped on. Not bad, just extremely non-engaging. I just have too much on my plate to invest more time in this. View all my reviews

Orders is Orders by L. Ron Hubbard My rating: 4 of 5 stars I won a free copy of this book through a GoodReads First Reads giveaway. Thanks also to the publisher (Galaxy Press) for providing this copy. 3.5 stars. I think that this is now my favorite of the Golden Age stories that I've read from L. Ron Hubbard. This one is about a couple of Marines that are trying to get some essential supplies into a besieged town in China, but they have Japanese forces in their way. It's a great glimpse into history, to a time where tensions between the Americans and Japanese were building. A great afternoon read. View all my reviews

Black Towers to Danger by L. Ron Hubbard My rating: 3 of 5 stars I won a free copy of this audiobook through a GoodReads First Reads giveaway. Thanks also to the publisher (Galaxy Press) for providing this copy. Another fun pulp-era story from L. Ron Hubbard. This is the third of these that I've read over the last year, and the second one on audio. I'd have to say that this was my favorite of the three. This has a western feel, though the setting is actually in Venezuela, where rival oil drillers are competing. Guns and great escapes and brawls and a feisty young lady are the things that make Bill Murphy's life interesting. Plenty of action and some humorous side characters add to the flavor of it all. Sure, the dialogue is a bit dated, but this was written in the 1930s. For that, it isn't bad. It's actually not as out of place as it was in those other two stories I'd read. Overall, not a bad way to spend 2 hours, as the audio has a great cast of actors to pl...

The Secret Lives of Married Women by Elissa Wald My rating: 4 of 5 stars Disclaimer: I won a free copy of this book on GoodReads as a part of the First Reads giveaway program. I’d like to extend my thanks to GoodReads, the author, and the publisher. That was different. That is, while I didn't know whether to expect a "hard case crime" noir type story or a story about repressed sexuality, I didn't get either. Or I got both. Sorta. Anyway, it wasn't what I would have expected had I any expectations. It was good, however. I did find there was more "hard" than "crime", but then again....well. I don't want to spoil anything. What I can say is that it was intriguing, and that the prose was excellent. Wald's flow and style bumped this thing a whole star by itself. It was very comfortable to read, even during uncomfortable moments. Yes, I'm being vague. There is so much to explore here that it just needs to be...

What Doesn't Kill Her: A Thriller by Max Allan Collins My rating: 4 of 5 stars Disclaimer: I won a free copy of this book on GoodReads as a part of the First Reads giveaway program. I’d like to extend my thanks to GoodReads, the author, and the publisher. Wow. That was a thrill-ride. It is so great to pick up a book that does that, jumps right into it and hooks you from the first words. Then carries a story across the years and pages, building a great story surrounding the action. Then it throws you back into the action and doesn't let up. There were probably a few minor issues with the structure of the plot and some of the character relationships, but I say that vaguely because it was easily overlooked as I rode along with the progress of the story. So yeah, it was a lot of fun and kept my interest start to finish. What more could I ask for? View all my reviews

The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, 2013 Edition by Paula Guran My rating: 3 of 5 stars The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, 2013 Edition Disclaimer: I won a free copy of this book on GoodReads as a part of the First Reads giveaway program. I’d like to extend my thanks to GoodReads, the editor, and the publisher. “No Ghosts in London” by Helen Marshall. Eh. While it had some cool concepts of ghost traditions, I wasn’t wowed. The sometimes shift to second person was strange here. It was short though, so I didn’t feel bogged down. 2 stars. “Fake Plastic Trees” by Caitlin R. Kiernan. A post apocalyptic diary-type short where a girl remembers a particular incident. The ideas behind the “EVENT” and the moved-on world 12 years later were very cool. I’d be interested in a novel set in this world. 4 stars. “The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury” by Neil Gaiman. Intriguing little story. I jumped ahead to read this one because it was Gaiman, and beca...

Under the Black Ensign by L. Ron Hubbard My rating: 3 of 5 stars I won a free copy of this book on GoodReads, so thanks to them and to the publisher (Galaxy Press). That was fun. I've read L. Ron Hubbard before, but mainly the Battlefield Earth and Mission Earth books. While those were epic and sprawling, this book is an example of Hubbard's early work, his many pulp adventures. This one is a pirate tale. It was quickly paced and enjoyable, with lots of action and even a bit of intrigue. A damsel (not always in distress) is also included. View all my reviews

The Bank of Fear by David Ignatius My rating: 3 of 5 stars This was a First Reads win on Goodreads, so thanks go out to Goodreads and to the publisher (Norton). I had some serious mixed feelings here, and had to remember that 3-stars = "liked it". And I'd say that I liked it more than, I didn't like it. There were some issues that I didn't care for along the way, but for the most part I enjoyed the experience. It was a bit slow going early on. As I was introduced to the characters, I wasn't impressed. Book smart they might be, but they couldn't distribute an ounce of common sense to the lot of them. They were so stupid, it was unrealistic. Unrealistic that they could BE that dumb, and unrealistic that they didn't die from their stupidity. Especially the main character, Sam Hoffman. How a financial investigator could move along at his steady pace of gaffes and blunders made it difficult for me to suspend belief. And I read...

Sons of Zeus by Noble Smith My rating: 4 of 5 stars I received a free copy of this audiobook through the First Reads program here on Goodreads. Thanks to the author, publisher, and Goodreads for the opportunity to read and review this book. Now that was a pleasant surprise. Well, I did expect to like this book as the idea seemed really interesting, but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. An interesting premise became an engaging story. I listened to the audiobook of this, which I received as a GoodReads First Reads Giveaway. I was pleased with that, as a lot of the audios I listen to are historical fiction, and this seemed to fit the niche just right. And while it had lots of what I enjoy about historical fiction from the time period (ancient Greece), it also improved on some. The battles. Sometimes I find that battles are too drawn out in historical fiction. Too detailed, they often drag on and lose my interest in the telling. But what I liked abo...