Blindside (Planetside #5) by Michael Mammay

  

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Sci-fi
Content: Strong Language

 

Colonel Carl Butler charges back into the world of military crisis, corporate malfeasance, and intergalactic mystery in the action-packed fifth Planetside novel from science fiction master Michael Mammay.

Carl Butler has returned to his home planet from the moon Taug and is looking forward to some rest and relaxation. But following two mysterious deaths connected with the Taug mission, he realizes that the intruders that recently set off his home’s security system might be looking to add him to the death toll.

Having been Butler’s muscle on numerous missions, Mac is no stranger to getting involved with mysteries that should be none of his business. So when the daughter of one of his gym members goes missing, he offers to help. Mac assumes she’s a simple runaway, but the case turns out not to be so clear-cut. Wondering if these strange occurrences are somehow related, Butler—along with Mac, Ganos, and the rest of his small crew—once again finds himself neck deep in intrigue.

As the clues for the various cases begin to intertwine, Butler sees the hand of an old enemy at work, and…well…he’s never been one to sit back and wait for something to happen. Gathering the team, he heads off across the galaxy to confront his suspects head-on.

But this time, they’re waiting for him. 

I was glued to this book from the very beginning. I thoroughly enjoyed being back in this world with these characters. I can never get enough of Carl Butler, but I enjoyed getting to read Mac's point of view as well. The story was fast paced and kept me on the edge of my seat. I love that the author included recaps of the other books at the beginning so I could refresh my memory. I wish all books had this. One thing I noticed is that all but one of these books has started off with a missing person. I hadn't really thought about until I read the recaps. I hope the author starts the next book off differently. 

This was the first book in the series I didn't listen to on audio and I feel like I enjoyed actually reading this more than listening to the audio. I think I'm going to eye read the rest of the series from now on. 

 

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for providing me with an ARC of this book. 

 

 

 

 

 

Platform Decay (The Murderbot Diaries #8) by Martha Wells

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Sci-Fi, Space Opera
Content: Strong Language

 

Having someone else support your bad decision feels kind of good.

After volunteering to run a rescue mission, Murderbot realizes that it will have to spend significant time with a bunch of humans it doesn't know.

Including human children. Ugh.

This may well call for... eye contact!

(Emotion check: Oh, for f—)

  

I'm so glad that I went back and reread all the books in this series in chronological order before reading this one. I feel like I was able to appreciate this one so much more because of that. Everything was fresh in my mind, and the overall story being told throughout the books made more sense in chronological order. 

This was another fun entry to the series. I particularly enjoyed Murderbot's reactions to the different people it met, and how it was trying to work through its feelings through emotional checks. It seems Murderbot is adjusting.

I've enjoyed all of Murderbot's adventures and I'm looking forward to more. I love that most of these are short novella length and I can listen to them in one sitting. This is one of the few series that I enjoy listening to instead of eye reading. 

 

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Books for providing me with an ARC of this book. 

 

 

 

 

February 2025, March 2025, and April 2025 Book Clubs

 To catch up on my book club posts I'm combining the last three into one. 

February-

 

Summer with the Leprechauns by Tanis Helliwell 

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Supposedly Non-Fiction, but I'm categorizing it as Magical Realism
Content: Clean

 

An astonishing true story about one woman’s journey to Ireland where she lived in a cottage with leprechauns.

These seldom-seen beings taught her about the evolution of elementals—the race to which leprechauns, faeries, elves, trolls belong. They explained the importance of humans and elementals working together for the betterment of both of their races and the Earth. Far more than a faery tale, this book is a classic that has been published in eight languages.

Now the author has re-edited her book so that the reader can hear the leprechaun’s voice in all his mischievous wisdom. You also learn about body elementals that keep you alive from lifetime to lifetime and about the beings in the center of the Earth who are helping our planet. And all this with a great sense of humor as Helliwell captures life in a remote Irish village with an insight into the people that is infectious.

An Irish Jewel, this is a good humored, true account of Tanis’ summer in a cottage in Ireland where the resident leprechaun taught her about the evolution of elementals (fairies, elves, leprechauns).

 

This was such a weird book. It wasn't what any of us were expecting. We thought this was going to be a cute magical realism story about leprechauns, sort of like Darby O'Gill and the Little People, but somehow missed that it's supposedly a woman's real life spiritual journey. We thought the true story claims were going to be tongue in cheek. I can't figure out if the author really believes this crazy stuff happened to her or if that's just a gimmick. This is categorized as non-fiction, but I'm not shelving it as that. Apparently there are sequels, but needless to say, I'll pass.

 

Here are some book themed foods we had-

 

 

 

 

 

Peat fire brownies

 

 

 

Irish Soda Bread

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March-

 

Planetside (Planetside #1) by Michael Mammay 

I had already read and recommended this book to my husband. He liked it so much that when it was his turn to pick books, this one was on the list. 

Here's a copy of my original review:

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Sci-fi, Mystery, Space Opera
Content: Strong language

 

A seasoned military officer uncovers a deadly conspiracy on a distant, war-torn planet…

War heroes aren't usually called out of semi-retirement and sent to the far reaches of the galaxy for a routine investigation. So when Colonel Carl Butler answers the call from an old and powerful friend, he knows it's something big—and he's not being told the whole story. A high councilor's son has gone MIA out of Cappa Base, the space station orbiting a battle-ravaged planet. The young lieutenant had been wounded and evacuated—but there's no record of him having ever arrived at hospital command. 

The colonel quickly finds Cappa Base to be a labyrinth of dead ends and sabotage: the hospital commander stonewalls him, the Special Ops leader won't come off the planet, witnesses go missing, radar data disappears, and that’s before he encounters the alien enemy. Butler has no choice but to drop down onto a hostile planet—because someone is using the war zone as a cover. The answers are there—Butler just has to make it back alive…

 

Military sci-fi can be hit or miss with me, but Planetside was one that I ended up really liking. It felt rather like a space opera at times, so maybe that's why. I loved the mystery in this book. It really kept me guessing as I tried to figure out what in the world was going on! I thought the characters were very well done. The author is a retired Army officer, and I think that made his characters more convincing as military personnel.

One of the things I liked the most about this book, was that the main character is an older retired guy, instead of the usual younger character. He's also married, which can be rare for a main character in books like this. My friend said his personality reminded her a bit of Avasarala, from The Expanse series, and I can see that. She was one of my favorite characters in that series, so maybe that's one reason I liked him so much. I like his no-nonsense personality. He just does what needs to be done with no apologies. It was great!

There are three books and I'm looking forward to reading more.

April-

 

Orconomics (The Dark Profit #1) by J. Zachary Pike

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Fantasy, Satire
Content: Strong Language

 

Professional heroes kill and loot deadly monsters every day, but Gorm Ingerson's latest quest will be anything but business as usual.

Making a Killing in Professional Heroics

The adventuring industry drives the economy of Arth, a world much like our own but with more magic and fewer vowels. Monsters’ hoards are claimed, bought by corporate interests, and sold off to plunder funds long before the beasts are slain. Once the contracts and paperwork are settled, the Heroes’ Guild issues a quest to kill the monster and bring back its treasure for disbursement to shareholders.


Life in The Shadows

Of course, while professional heroics has been a great boon for Humans, Elves, Dwarves, and all the other peoples of light, it's a terrible arrangement for the Shadowkin. Orcs, Goblins, Kobolds, and their ilk must apply for to become Noncombatant Paper Carriers (or NPCs) to avoid being killed and looted by guild heroes. Even after getting their papers, NPCs are treated as second class citizens, driven into the margins of society.


An Insane Quest

Gorm Ingerson, a Dwarven ex-hero with a checkered past, has no idea what he's getting himself into when he stands up for an undocumented Goblin. His act of kindness starts a series of events that ends with Gorm recruited by a prophet of the mad goddess Al'Matra to fulfill a prophecy so crazy that even the Al'Matran temple doesn't believe it.


Money, Magic, and Mayhem

But there’s more to Gorm’s new job than an insane prophecy: powerful corporations and governments, usually indifferent to the affairs of the derelict Al’Matran temple, have shown an unusual interest in the quest. If his party of eccentric misfits can stop fighting each other long enough to recover the Elven Marbles, Gorm might be able to turn a bad deal into a golden opportunity and win back the fame and fortune he lost so long ago.

 

I actually read this book twice in April. The first time I listened to it and my mind kept wandering. There were big holes in what I could recall from the story. I felt like this was a book I could really enjoy but I just didn't enjoy the audio, so I decided to read the ebook after I had finished the audio. A weird choice in a month that I didn't have a lot of reading time, but it was my book club read and I wanted to give it another chance for that reason too. So, after reading the ebook version I bumped what would have been a 3 star rating up to 4 stars. I enjoyed the characters in this story and I loved the satirical nature of it. There were even a few moments where I teared up. 

Here are the book themed foods we had-

 

 

Healing Potions. These were significant in the book.

Rice Krispie Treats made to look like rocks or boulders. The purple sprinkles are the purple treasures given to the troll in the book. He would hide them under rocks, and he could change his shape to look like a boulder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beef Buns. They ate beef buns at the beginning of the book.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Elf Food

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

September 2024 Book Club: A Memory Called Empire (Teixcalaan #1) by Arkady Martine

 

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Sci-fi
Content: Clean

 

Ambassador Mahit Dzmare arrives in the center of the multi-system Teixcalaanli Empire only to discover that her predecessor, the previous ambassador from their small but fiercely independent mining Station, has died. But no one will admit that his death wasn't an accident—or that Mahit might be next to die, during a time of political instability in the highest echelons of the imperial court.

Now, Mahit must discover who is behind the murder, rescue herself, and save her Station from Teixcalaan's unceasing expansion—all while navigating an alien culture that is all too seductive, engaging in intrigues of her own, and hiding a deadly technological secret—one that might spell the end of her Station and her way of life—or rescue it from annihilation.

 

This was our book club read for September and I enjoyed the first half of it more the last half. I tend to like sci-fi books with mystery elements and the mystery is what really kept me reading this, but it ended up not keeping my interest throughout the whole book. Unfortunately, this book was extremely slow and the plot was bogged down by too much politics. I would recommend reading the Foreigner series by C.J. Cherryh over this one, if you like sci-fi with lots of political intrigue.
 

 

 

 

 

Invader (Foreigner #2) by C.J. Cherryh

  

 My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Sci-fi
Content: Mild language

 

The second novel in Cherryh’s  Foreigner space opera series, a groundbreaking tale of first contact and its consequences… Nearly two centuries after the starship Phoenix disappeared into the heavens, leaving an isolated colony of humans on the world of the atevi , it unexpectedly returns to orbit overhead, threatening the stability of both atevi and human governments.

With the situation fast becoming critical, Bren Cameron, the brilliant, young paidhi  to the court of the atevi  is recalled from Mospheira where he has just undergone surgery. But his sudden and premature return to the mainland is cause for more than mere physical discomfort. For during his brief absence, his government has sent his paidhi -successor, Deana Hanks—representative of a dangerous archconservative faction on Mospheira who hate the atevi . And though she should depart when Bren is once again able to fill his post, no recall order comes.

Cut off from his government and haunted by the continuing threat of assassination, Bren realizes his only hope may be to communicate directly with the Phoenix  as the spokesman of the atevi— an action which may cut him off for good from his own species. Yet if he doesn't take this desperate and illegal action, he may be forced to helplessly bear witness to the final destruction of the already precarious balance of world power. 

C.J. Cherryh's writing gets me every time. At first I struggled with this second book. I enjoyed the first book even if I didn't love it. As I said in my review of that book, I got pulled into the story, despite the slow pace and politics. This one was the same. In the beginning I began to get annoyed with the political rants that were going on in Bren's head. He was frustrated, I get it, but I wanted the book to move onto something else. Eventually it did and as I read my enjoyment of this book grew and grew. That's not to say that there weren't lots of political machinations going on. There were, but the story slowly became more and more interesting and the political situation ended up lending to the story instead of just being a rant-like info dump. 

I enjoy the way this series is exploring relationships. Bren is very isolated from other humans because of his position and surrounded by the Atevi, who are very alien to most humans, but he is building bonds and trust with them. At times he seems a bit naive about them with his trust, but his personal growth and change in the face of all this is interesting. There were moments of real tension in this book, stemming from relationship issues, humans being stupid, or different Atevi factions attacking each other. Overall, I liked this book more than the first one. I'm definitely sticking with this series.

Foreigner (Foreigner #1) by C.J. Cherryh

  

 My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Sci-fi
Content: Strong language

 

The first book in C.J.Cherryh's eponymous series, Foreigner begins an epic tale of the survivors of a lost spacecraft who crash-land on a planet inhabited by a hostile, sentient alien race. From its beginnings as a human-alien story of first contact, the Foreigner series has become a true science fiction odyssey, following a civilization from the age of steam through early space flight to confrontations with other alien species in distant sectors of space. It is the masterwork of a truly remarkable author.

 

I was interested in this right from the start, except it was a false start. In all there are two false starts to this book. During the second prologue, I was really into the story about the first contact and then the book switched gears and threw us forward 200 years into the future. I was really wanting to know what happened next with the first contact part of the story, but alas we never get that. 

That being said, once I got into the main part of the book I did end up enjoying the story. It wasn't a book I loved, and I didn't enjoy it as much as Down Below Station or it's two sequels (Merchanter's Luck, and Rim Runners). In fact, I would say the two prologues, or false starts as I've called them are more similar to those books. This book is almost all politics and hardly any action. This results in the story being very slow and it does drag some scenes out for way too long. Normally that wouldn't work for me, but despite the slowness of the story, I did somehow enjoy this. I think there's just something about C.J. Cherryh's writing style that works for me. Plus, I got invested in Bren as a character and I wanted to know what this is all leading up to. 

I do plan on reading the next book because this one felt like the beginning to something greater. However, if the second book is the same pace as this one, and is still mostly all politics, I may not continue on with the series. It will have to be compelling enough for me to continue. We shall see.  

 

 

 

 

The Icarus Twin (The Icarus Saga #2) by Timothy Zahn

 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Sci-fi, Space Opera
Content: Clean

 

For years Gregory Roarke and his Kadolian partner Selene worked as crocketts, combing through the atmospheres of uninhabited worlds for places that might be colonized or hold valuable resources. Now, they quietly work for the Icarus Group, a top-secret government organization hunting for portals created by a long-vanished alien race, portals that can teleport a person hundreds or thousands of light-years in the blink of an eye.

Roarke and Selene are searching one such possibility when they find that someone appears to be stalking them. They evade their pursuers and return to find that a man named Easton Dent has been searching the Spiral’s databases for the names Gregory Roarke and Icarus.

Roarke reluctantly agrees to meet with him. But that first contact is cut short, and hours later Roarke is arrested and accused of Dent’s murder.

More importantly to Roarke’s Icarus Group overseers, that brief meeting also confirms that Dent was in recent contact with a portal.

But the alien Patth are also searching for such portals, and they are also on the trail. It’s now a race . . . and the Patth have resources and ruthlessness far beyond anything Roarke and Selene can match.

 

This is the second book in the Icarus Saga series and I enjoyed it. It started out with a bang and just kept going. I still don't think these are quite as good as The Icarus Hunt was, but I very much enjoy the characters in these books. I like that characters from The Icarus Hunt cross over into these at times as well. I do think that Roarke's "As my father used to say..." shtick is overused, but it's still amusing. One thing I love about Zahn's books is that there are always twists that surprise me, and this one was no exception.

To quote another reviewer on Goodreads, "This book, like the other Icarus Saga novels, follows the Puzzle Box format of storytelling. Not only is there a mystery, but it changes throughout the novel in a more complex way than even the most complex Agatha Christie novels. But like Agatha Christie novels, Zahn lays everything out at the end of the book neatly for the reader and characters to understand." 

This describes why I love Timothy Zahn's books. I hadn't really put the pieces together of why until I read this review. I enjoy the puzzle box type of mystery, and I enjoy sci-fi/space adventure  books. Blended together it makes for great reading. 

A Lost Ship in a Dark Grave (The Lyra Cycle #2) by Rene Astle

  

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Sci-fi, Space Opera
Content: Strong language

 

Rule number 27: Don’t trust the weird Sisters.

Or maybe it’s don’t steal from gangsters. Either way...words to live by.

The Lyra is safe. And so is Alek Wa’s secret. His mission is over, and he can leave the ship. But he’s not sure he wants to. And when the Sisters of Elazir drop them into the Green Zone, Alek’s stomach sinks. The last time he was here, he fled with his life and barely got away.

Rebeka Mino isn’t happy to be in the Green Zone, ruled by gangsters and reprobates. She can survive it though — she’s been there before. But then things go from bad to worse: her ex shows up with a treasure map to a fabled ship.

With the Lyra back in working order, Tink has no desire to chase after mythical treasure ships. She wants life to get back to normal: odd jobs, the occasional salvage and tinkering in her engine room. But with her secret exposed and unwelcome guests, she doubts if things can ever go back to normal...and Alek Wa is still onboard.

When the gangsters start shooting, their only escape might be to find a lost ship in a dark grave. Can Alek outrun his past? Can Rebeka’s ex survive their reunion? Can they uncover the mystery ship and its treasure? Most importantly, can they get out with their lives?

 

I really enjoyed the first book in this series and was looking forward to continuing with this book, but I have to say that this one was not as compelling to me. The story is hampered by too many of the same types of events repeating over and over. In the first book the Lyra is constantly tracked by another ship and they end up showing up everywhere. That continued in this book to the point that it got very old. Then, of course they decide to take on illegal cargo and they end up hiding it, just like the last book. I also wasn't crazy about the plot with the space archeologists and the hidden relics. It just felt very done before. So now I'm on the fence about whether I want to read book three. I'll think about it for a while before I decide. 

A Dead Ship in the Deep Black (The Lyra Cycle Book #1) by Rene Astle

  

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Sci-fi, Space Opera
Content: Strong language

 

Rule number 1: Whatever you do, don't open the box.

Well, that’s rule number two actually. Rule number one is don’t take salvage jobs from people who’ve tried to sell you to an Antillian bug salesman.

Neara “Tink” Bell is used to a life of odd jobs and even odder crewmates, working as the engineer and all-around fixer on the cargo ship Lyra. But when the ship picks up two new crew members and a salvage job on a third-rate space station, things go sideways in a cosmic way.

Alek Wa is on the run. And he’s pretty sure he can hide amongst the motley crew of Lyra . But that’s not the only reason he’s on-board. He has a mission. If only his minders had told him what it was.

Captain Rebeka Mino just wants to retire with a whiskey and a steamy novel. She’d even let the ship’s cat sit on her lap, provided he keeps his claws to himself. Too bad the ship keeps getting shot at.

And when they arrive at the coordinates for the salvage job, they're confronted by a dead ship in the deep black.

Can Tink keep the Lyra running despite unexplained accidents? Can Alek outrun the people hunting him? Can Rebeka prevent their pursuers from blowing them up? Most importantly, can they keep their curiosity in check and not look in the box?

Find out now in this rollercoaster ride of a sci-fi adventure!

 

This was a fun space adventure that in some ways reminded me of Firefly, but it was still it's own unique thing. At first, because of the way some parts were written, I thought this was going to end up being too heavy on the romance, but I was pleasantly surprised when it didn't go that route. There are definitely two hunky men that seem to be interested in the same character, but I also knew that I couldn't trust at least one of them. In the end, I did end up figuring out correctly who could and couldn't be trusted. I thought that part of the story was a little obvious, but it didn't ruin my enjoyment of the book. 

I liked the overall plot of this book and the ending made me want to pick up the next book right away and keep reading. I did restrain myself because I wanted to read other things before the end of the year, but I do plan on reading the second book in January.

This ebook is free on all platforms right now. 

 

November 2023 Book Club: Mutineers' Moon (Dahak, #1) by David Weber

  

My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Sci-fi
Content: Strong language, see review below

 

For Lt. Commander Colin Maclntyre, it began as a routine training flight over the Moon. For Dahak, a self-aware Imperial battleship, it began millennia ago when that powerful artificial intelligence underwent a mutiny in the face of the enemy. The mutiny was never resolved--Dahak was forced to maroon not just the mutineers but the entire crew on prehistoric Earth.
Dahak has been helplessly waiting as the descendants of the loyal crew regressed while the mutineers maintained control of technology that kept them alive as the millennia passed. But now Dahak's sensors indicate that the enemy that devastated the Imperium so long ago has returned--and Earth is in their path. For the sake of the planet, Dahak must mobilize its defenses. And that it cannot do until the mutineers are put down. So Dahak has picked Colin Maclntyre to be its new captain. Now Maclntyre must mobilize humanity to destroy the mutineers once and for all--or Earth will become a cinder in the path of galactic conquest.

 

This book started out pretty enjoyable. I liked the main character and the A.I. ship Dahak was interesting. I was looking forward to some space adventure, but it eventually went a little off track from what I thought it was going to be, and turned into more of a spy-type book with political espionage. My husband said it turned into a Tom Clancy-like book. Also, right off the bat there are some pretty heavy deaths, with a whole family being found murdered. There wasn't too much detail about it though, which helped. 

I think I would have enjoyed the second half of the book a lot more if there had not been so many points of view. While listening to the audio, it was hard to keep everyone straight, and there was no warning that the book was moving onto another character's point of view. No pause, no change in tone of voice, no nothing. I eventually gave up trying to keep up with who was who. There's also a bit of a romance, or the beginnings of one, thrown in there that was very predictable and lackluster.

**A few Minor SPOILERS here** As we discussed this book during our book club meeting, we realized that different elements of this book reminded us of different movies. In the first part of the book the main character gets changed into something of a cyborg, and it reminded me a lot of wolverine. Then there is Dahak, and Dahak got compared to the deathstar from Star Wars. In fact one of our book club members compared several things in the book to Star Wars. Another, said she got some Star Trek vibes from the book, and I thought of Stargate while I was reading it. The Stargate elements were the ancient people who inhabited the bodies of humans, just in a different way from Stargate. **End of Spoilers**

 

A couple of people have already gone on to read the second book in the trilogy and said it was more like what we were expecting the first book to be like and suggested we read the next book. While I thought the book was ok, I didn't really love it enough to keep reading, even if book two might be better.

For refreshments we had Moon Pies and space rocket shaped sandwiches. FYI, these are not my photos. I stupidly forgot to take photos again this month, but I wanted to show you what the Moon Pies and sandwiches looked like that we made. These are very close to our sandwiches that we used a cookie cutter to make.

 

 

Rimrunners (The Company Wars #3) by C. J. Cherryh

  

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Sci-fi, Space Opera
Content: Strong language, Mild sex scenes, Off page sex, Attempted rape

 

Loki is a mercenary ship and bounty hunter. Bet Yeager is a killer elite Earth Company Marine whose side lost. Now she is forced to escape aboard Loki, surrounded by enemies and hunting her old comrades. And the fighting skills she must use to survive may be her death warrant.

 

This is the third book in The Company Wars series and while I wouldn't choose to listen to the Graphic Audio version of most books, I had such a good time listening to the Graphic Audio version of this one. For some reason this series just worked for me in that format. The main character, Bet took a little while to grow on me, but she eventually did. I didn't care for some of the choices she made, but I could appreciate the circumstances she was facing were not great either. Once we got past the bad decisions and into the meat of the story, I was hooked. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the intrigue and the flawed characters in this book. The crew of the ship Bet ends up on are at odds with each other and she ends up in the middle of it. I liked the tension this built. I also liked the detail the author added in of life as a mechanic on the ship and the social interactions with the crew members. I really enjoyed listening to the battle near the end of the book. This is one place I think Graphic Audio really shines. I loved and all the chaotic sounds that came with the battle. I would have liked to have more at the end though, as some things were left unresolved. 

After finishing this, I looked for more of the series on Graphic Audio, only to find out that there are no others there. In fact, the rest of this series hasn't been done in audio at all. They haven't even been published in ebook form. That was disappointing, but I'm hoping they eventually will be.

My Best Reads of 2022

I read a lot of books this year, but these were the ones that I loved the most. As usual, I'm separating them into genres. This year it's fantasy, urban fantasy, mystery, thriller, romance, sci-fi/space opera, and I'm also adding a classic and a horror this year. Yes, there is a horror one on here, a genre I rarely read. This list doesn't include any of the rereads I did this year, because if I did that, I would be repeating some winners from previous years.

 

First up, Fantasy:  

I couldn't choose between The Lost Metal by Brandon Sanderson and Dragonfall by David Estes. I enjoyed them equally, so they are both going on the list. And although I wouldn't say these are the best books in either of those series, they were still really good reads and better than anything else I read this year in the fantasy genre.

I thought The Lost Metal was slower paced than the other second era books in the Mistborn series, and although I enjoyed it, it didn't compel me to pick it up the way the others did. I also think I would have enjoyed it more if there hadn't been such a long wait between books. Still, this is one of my favorite fantasy series and I'm looking forward to reading the third era. I think what really made me enjoy this one the most was the way it ended. It was somewhat bittersweet in a way, but very appropriate. I'm sad that the second era is over, but also looking forward to reading the third era books.

I unexpectedly ended up loving the first book in the Kingfall Histories series. I had no expectations when I started reading it, but after a beginning that seemed a tad bit too dark for me, I was pleasantly surprised. Needless to say I was looking forward to continuing on with the series. Dragonfall didn't disappoint, and although everything didn't go the way I was hoping, it didn't matter, because the book was so good. I especially loved Peony's story line. See my review here.

 

Urban Fantasy: 

 

Soul Taken was a little slow to get going for me, and it didn't really advance the overall plot of the series, but there were still plenty of good things about it. Plus most of the time I'm going to enjoy reading a Patricia Briggs book more than anything else. Her writing always ends up grabbing me, and after a slow start I ended up not being able to put this book down. See my review here.

 

 

Mystery: 

 

I read a lot of mysteries this year, particularly a lot of Hercule Poirot mysteries, and it was a little hard to narrow it down to just one, but I think my very favorite mystery I read this year was The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. It was masterfully done! See my review here.

Thriller:

 

I loved this little unexpected, self published gem, The Fortuna Coin by Karen Ann Hopkins. It made a big impact on me, and after I finished it I thought about it for a long time. See my review here.

 

Sci-fi / Space Opera:

 

The Domino Pattern by Timothy Zahn. I read quite of few books in this genre that I thought were really good, but this series was the one that I loved the most, and although the whole series was good, I immediately knew that this book was the one I had to put as my favorite. See my review here.

  

Romance:

I've been loving The Birch Creek Ranch series by B. E. Baker. She released the first book in the series last year, and it made my best book list last year. This year she ended up releasing three more books in the series, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading each of them. I really can't pick just one of them to feature here, so I'm going to just add all three of them, The Vow, The Ranch, and The Retreat. They go together as one continuous story, so why not?  

See my review for The Vow here.  

See my review for The Ranch here.

See my review for The Retreat here. 

 

 

 

Classic:

 

I read several classics this year, and out of all of them, I loved the completion of Sanditon by Another Lady (AKA Anne Telscombe) the most. While it wasn't perfect, I thought it gave good closure to the story. See my review here.

 

Horror:

Ok I'm shocked that I enjoyed this book so much. It isn't something I would have picked up for myself, but it was one of our book club reads this year, and I was so surprised at how much I liked this book. I was so glued to it! It's a blend of horror and post apocalyptic fiction, two genres that I don't typically care for all that much. If I'm doing creepy, then I like creepy ghost stories the best, but this was creepy in a different, but good way. See my review here.

That's it! I hope you all had a good reading year, and I look forward to 2023 and all the great books I'll get to read.

 

November 2022 Wrap-Up

I had nine books planned for November and I ended up reading all by one of them. I didn't get to Son of Shadows by Juliet Marillier. That one is a buddy read I'm doing with a couple of other ladies on Goodreads, and it got pushed back until January. It's a long and emotional type read, and I think we all realized we didn't have the time to dedicate to it right now.

Here are the books I did get to and my ratings and brief comments for them. I'll post reviews for some of them later, if I haven't already:

 

 

A Steep Price by Robert Dugoni

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery
Content: Strong Language 

A good entry in the series. I liked the relationship stuff in the story with Tracy and Dan and there are a couple of new characters introduced that seem to be staying.

 

Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre by Max Brooks

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

 

Category: Adult

Genre: Horror, Sci-fi, Fantasy

Content: Strong language, Gory deaths

See my review here.

 

Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery
Content: Clean

See my review here.

 

 

Empire of Exiles by Erin M. Evans

This was one from October that I needed to finish up in November. It ended up being a DNF.

See my review here.

 

Spaceside by Michael Mammay

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Space Opera, Sci-fi
Content: Strong Language

This was a good sequel to Planetside. The end had me wanting to start the third book right away!

 

A Wicked Conceit by Anna Lee Huber

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery
Content: Strong Language

For me, this was the weakest book in the series so far. It was slow to get going and I got bored at some parts. It finally picked up after the murder finally happened, well into the book. Also, Kiera's sister annoyed me so much. Thankfully that's finally resolved.

 

 

 Mistborn Secret History by Brandon Sanderson

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Strong Language

See my review here.

 

 

A Cold Trail by Robert Dugoni

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Strong Language

As with all the books in this series, I found this book to be a very engrossing read. I liked that Dan's case plays a big part in this one. The story illustrated how torn Tracy was to go back to work now that she's a mother. There was some needless relationship drama that could have been resolved much sooner if they had just talked. I especially liked the author's note at the end of this one. It tells about the person this book is dedicated to.

 

 

Death at the Falls by Rosemary Simpson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery
Content: Strong Language

See my review here. 

 

The Lost Metal by Brandon Sanderson 

I'm still reading the Lost Metal. I'm reading the hardcover and it takes me a lot longer to get through those because I don't have as much time to just sit and read. I am enjoying this one very much though, and I'm ok with taking my time with it.

I also squeezed in a few other reads this month. I love these spontaneous ones! 

 

 

Colonyside by Michael Mammay

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Space Opera, Sci-fi
Content: Strong Language

I had to read this one after the way Spaceside ended! I've enjoyed all three of these books. I think the author has plans to write more in this series, and when he does, I'll definitely read them.

 

 A Bramble House Christmas by C. J. Carmichael

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Romance
Content: Off page lovemaking

After so much mystery and fantasy, I needed a romance. This one was perfect for the holidays. Plus I had seen the Hallmark movie version of this and wanted to read the book that inspired it. To me this is one of the best Hallmark movies I've ever seen. It wasn't cringe worthy or cheesy like a lot of them are. It had more substance.

 

Alpha and Omega by Patricia Briggs

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Content: Memories of abuse and rape are discussed by one of the characters

I started a reread of this series a couple of months ago. This time reading all the Mercy-verse books in chronological order with the hubby. This novella is the second story in the timeline.

October 2022 Wrap-Up

I had five books on my list for October and I read four of them. 

 

A Stroke of Malice (Lady Darby #8) by Anna Lee Huber

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

 

Category: Adult

Genre: Mystery, Suspense

Content: Strong Language

 

 

Close to Home (Tracy Crosswhite #5) by Robert Dugoni

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

 

Category: Adult

Genre: Mystery, Suspense

Content: Strong Language

 

 

Three Act Tragedy (Hercule Poirot #10) by Agatha Christie

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

 

Category: Adult

Genre: Mystery, Suspense

Content: Clean

See my review here.

 

 

Monster hunter International (Monster Hunter International #1) by Larry Correia 

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

 

Category: Adult

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Content: Strong Language, Off page sex

See my review here.

 

 

I'm still working on the fifth one, Empire of Exiles by Erin M. Evans. I'm having a hard time getting into this book. It's really slow, and there are character names that are annoying to try to pronounce. I think mostly though, that the writing style is just not clicking with me, and that's a shame because I love fantasy and mystery and this book has both. I'm still plugging away at it, but it may end up being a DNF.

 

I didn't include the books I had intended to read for the monthly challenge, but I should have. If you missed my post about the Owned in October Challenge, these are the books that I read for the challenge in October:

The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

 

Category: Adult

Genre: Women's Fiction, Mystery, Contemporary Fiction

Content: Strong language, Off page sex, Infidelity

 

 

 

Sanditon: Jane Austen's Last Novel Completed by Jane Austen, Another Lady (Anne Telscombe)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

 

Category: Adult, Classic

Genre: Fiction, Romance

Content: Clean

 

 

 

 

Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin Mckinley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

 

Category: Adult

Genre: Fairy Tale, Romance, Fantasy

Content: Clean

 

 

 

Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

 

Category: Adult, Classic

Genre: Mystery

Content: Strong Language, Racial Slurs

 

I also ended up reading a few other books that weren't planned at all. 

 

Planetside (Planetside #1) by Micheal Mammay

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

 

Category: Adult

Genre: Sci-fi, Mystery, Space Opera

Content: Strong language

See my review here.

 

Junkyard Cats (Junkyard Cats #1) by Faith Hunter

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult

Genre: Sci-fi, Post Apocalyptic

Content: Strong language

 

The Haunting of Brynn Wilder by Wendy Webb

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult

Genre: Supernatural, Paranormal, Romance

Content: Strong language

 

Review to be posted soon. 

 

Overall, October was a good reading month! I ended up reading more than I planned, and getting to a few books that I've had on my list for a while.