Showing posts with label Veronica Roth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Veronica Roth. Show all posts

Monday, April 7, 2014

What have I read lately? Goblin Kings, Witches, Lords & Virtues

Happy Monday! How's everyone? I've had an unscheduled week off from blogging, but here I am again. I've been busy for the past couple of months and my reading and concentration are shot. There's a bit of "reader's block" going on and I'm having trouble choosing and/or finishing books at the moment, although I've finished a few.

What have I read? Last week I read Shadow Spell (Cousins O'Dwyer #2) by Nora Roberts which turned out to be a pretty average, predictable read for me, as opposed to The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison which was excellent! I will review this book soon, but people, this fantasy is a must read! Maia, Maia, Maia . . . While that was a great reading experience, we all know what happens after we finish an excellent book. Nothing satisfies. I ended up rereading What I Did for a Duke by Julie Anne Long, a historical romance I loved, to see if maybe that would boost my interest in romance? In historical romance? But. . .

What am I reading now? Nothing. Instead I am anxiously awaiting for books due to release on April 8th!

How was my March reading? Well, not fantastic as you'll see below. It is pretty much a list of popular hyped up books of which a couple worked for me. My top reads of the month were Outlander by Diana Gabaldon and Murder of Crows, The Others Book #2 by Anne Bishop, but my FAVORITE was really my reread of Voyager by Diana Gabaldon. I still love that book!

I also ventured into some dystopian YA by reading Divergent by Veronica Roth. That was a really quick read that I found entertaining. I really liked dystopian Chicago as the setting, and the premise along with the young characters kept me interested until the end. I was particularly taken with the idea that a society would come to the conclusion that the best way to function would be to split into factions depending on "virtues" (mind you, only ONE virtue, as if humans would ever be able to eradicate the rest from themselves!)-- intelligence (Erudite), bravery (Dauntless), selflessness (Abnegation), honesty (Candor), and those who believe in peace (Amity). Of course the young protagonist, Beatrice or Tris is a Divergent, someone who possesses more than one virtue (imagine that) and therefore a danger to society as is. I wasn't quite sure what to make of a dystopian world-building where no real back story is given in the first novel of the trilogy about what happened to get society to that point. Who the heck came up with this brilliant idea? How or why did society end that way? I suppose the details are given later in the trilogy, and even though the story is kind of romantic/cute in an extremely violent sort of way, I'm not sure I'm interested enough to find out by reading the other books. I heard the movie was good. :)

Also, following my Gabaldon read and reread last week, I read Lord John and the Private Matter. Lord John Grey is an interesting character to me since he is the one gay character that Gabaldon portrays in sort of a positive light in her Outlander novels -- he is honorable and as straight forward as he can be given the times, laws, and dangers that a homosexual man faced during those times. This book is a sort of military mystery that Lord John solves with help from his brand new valet Tom Byrd and a few military comrades. There are details about Lavender House, an underground club where homosexual men gather, but there is also blackmail, murder, and dangerous liaisons. This is not as great a book as Gabaldon can write. The facts and details are there, but it is missing emotional impact. So this was a good, but not great read for me.
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Total books read: 7
 Contemporary: 2
 Historical Fiction/Romance: 3
 Urban Fantasy: 1
 Fantasy: 1



Top Reads of the Month:
Outlander (Outlander #1) by Diana Gabaldon: B+
Murder of Crows: A Novel of the Others (Book #2) by Anne Bishop: B+
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes: B-
Divergent by Veronica Roth: B-
Lord John and the Private Matter (Lord John Novel) by Diana Gabaldon: C

Re-read:
Voyager (Outlander #3) by Diana Gabaldon

Upcoming Review:
Satisfaction by Sarah Mayberry