January 2022 Reading Challenge

 

 

I do a lot of book challenges, so I decided to start blogging about some of them. I'm in a group on Goodreads that does challenges every year, and this year we are doing a monthly one where we have a different type of reading challenge for each month. For January the challenge was titled New Year, New Books. We were to read as many books published last year or this year as possible. It's an ongoing challenge so we can add anything later that we want. I posted reviews on here for some of the ones I read already. My list included-

Mickey7

A Far Wilder Magic

The Fortuna Coin

Confessions on the 7:47

Fate's Ransom

To Treasure an Heiress

Shadows of Swanford Abbey 

I also added The Vow  to the list after it was published this month. 

I read a few others that I haven't already posted reviews for. I probably won't get around to writing a review for every one of them, but here are three that I really enjoyed reading.

 

Home: Habitat, Range, Niche Territory (The Murderbot Diaries #4.5) by Martha Wells

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Sci-fi
Content: Nothing I can recall

This was a short story set in the Murderbot series. I love this series and I'll take whatever I can get. I mostly enjoyed this because I got to see from Dr. Mensah's perspective following the events of Exit Strategy.

 

Cast in Firelight (Wickery #1) by Dana Swift

 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Nothing that I can remember  

 

Adraa is the royal heir of Belwar, a talented witch on the cusp of taking her royal ceremony test, and a girl who just wants to prove her worth to her people.

Jatin is the royal heir to Naupure, a competitive wizard who's mastered all nine colors of magic, and a boy anxious to return home for the first time since he was a child.

Together, their arranged marriage will unite two of Wickery's most powerful kingdoms. But after years of rivalry from afar, Adraa and Jatin only agree on one thing: their reunion will be anything but sweet.

Only, destiny has other plans and with the criminal underbelly of Belwar suddenly making a move for control, their paths cross...and neither realizes who the other is, adopting separate secret identities instead.

Between dodging deathly spells and keeping their true selves hidden, the pair must learn to put their trust in the other if either is to uncover the real threat. Now Wickery's fate is in the hands of rivals..? Fiancées..? Partners..? Whatever they are, it's complicated and bound for greatness or destruction.

 

I haven't read much YA lately, mainly because I've had a hard time getting into them after focusing so much on books written for adults. They also have so many of the same themes over and over, that I got bored with them. I would also like to find one that is well written that doesn't feel like it's pushing an agenda. I read to escape, I don't want to have to read something that is hitting me over the head with a message, and that's how I feel about most of the YA stuff I've tried to read lately. Weave the message into the story in a more subtle way and let me come to my own conclusions about it. So when I picked up this book, I wasn't really sure how much I was going to like it. Fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised. 

There really isn't anything new here. It still follows the same old formula that a lot of YA fantasy follows, but I found it to be a fun and entertaining read. Both Adraa and Jatin were easy to like and I enjoyed the way they turned from being enemies to developing love feelings for each other. The ending left me a bit frustrated, but the second book has already been released. Now to see if my library will pick up a copy of it...

 

 

Feathers of Snow (Kingdom of Birds and Beasts #1) by Alice Ivinya

 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult, Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy, Fairy Tale
Content: Some animal cruelty, but nothing is actually shown

 

In Brianna’s new world of ice and snow, the coldest things by far are the eyes of her betrothed...

Brianna bears a deadly secret: she’s not the princess she is pretending to be. If the prince finds out, her life will be forfeit and her country plunged into war.

But there is more to the icy prince than meets the eye, and Brianna slowly unravels the secrets of his dark past while surviving in a strange culture.

However her goodness and wit will only get her so far. Terrifying beasts stalk the border and a murderer is at work in the town. They know the truth of Brianna’s identity and will stop at nothing to destroy all she has fought for.

 

This is a Goose Girl retelling, and that's one fairy tale I honestly have never read, so I can't really say how it compares to the original, but I loved this book. I had already read Queen Avan by this author and loved it, so I was really happy to get to read this one too. I like the easy writing style this author has. She has a way of pulling me right into her stories, and I find them hard to put down. I've already read the second book in the trilogy and will post a review for that one later. I'm looking forward to reading the last book when it's published.

 

Unmissing by Minka Kent

  

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery, Psychological Suspense
Content: Strong language; A woman is kidnapped, raped, and tortured, but no real detail is given

 

A return from the past knocks a family dangerously off-balance in a novel of spiraling suspense by Washington Post and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Minka Kent.

Merritt Coletto and her husband, Luca, have the life they dreamed of: a coastal home, a promising future, and a growing family. That dream ends with a late-night knock on the door.

Weak, broken, and emaciated, it’s Luca’s first wife, Lydia. Missing for ten years, presumed dead, and very much alive, she has quite a story. Her kidnapping. A torturous confinement that should’ve ended with her dead. And finally, escape. Racked with guilt over the beautiful life they’ve built, Merritt and Luca agree to help get Lydia back on her feet—it’s the least they can do.

But the more enmeshed Lydia becomes in Merritt’s family, the more questions Merritt has. What is it about Lydia that’s especially unnerving? Why hasn’t she gone to the police with her harrowing tale? What does she really want of them? The answers, when they come, are terrifying.

Because Lydia isn’t the only one with secrets. 

 

This is the fourth book I've read by this author, and I count her as one of my favorite authors for this genre. I think it's mostly because I really like her writing style, and most of the time I'm able to like her protagonists. Which is something I find very hard to do in this genre. This time I didn't find any of the characters particularly likable, but the writing pulled me in anyway. 

Like all books of this genre, there were twists and turns. I found this one to be pretty predictable, even though the last twist surprised me. I mean I thought it was a possibility early on, but then dismissed it because of the way the book was written. So, by the time I got to the end, I had completely forgotten that theory. I think this actually speaks a lot to how implausible this book is at times. And that's my main issue with it. The characters didn't seem consistent enough throughout the book; meaning there was too big of a personality change at the end for some of them. I think it's incredibly hard to write characters like this when writing them in first person. The goal is to show the reader who the characters are, but without giving too much away, while still having the twists seem believable. Throughout the book, I didn't think the characters acted in ways that real people would have acted in the same situations. And a lot of things the characters did just didn't make sense for the situations they were in. 

While reading other reviews for this book, I came across another reviewer that said a lot of the same things I feel about this book and author in general, and as she put it, this author's writing bolstered a plot that wasn't so great. I completely agree with that. And while I found flaws in this story, I still love reading this author's books. They are entertaining and hard to put down.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for providing me with an ARC of this book.

The Vow (The Birch Creek Ranch #2) by B. E. Baker

  

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Women's Fiction, Romance
Content: Clean

 

Three stubborn women, each of whom made a promise. Who will yield, and who will break?

Abigail made a vow to her husband before he passed, one she could not, would not break. But life hasn’t been easy without him by her side, and her children grow more with each passing day. Sometimes it feels like she’ll be alone forever.

Amanda is tired of being a mess. She wants to achieve, to impress, to excel. If that means changing who she is, even changing her entire life, then so be it.

Donna has learned the truth about the world the hard way. You either attack, or you’re attacked yourself. She doesn’t like being the villain, but she’s done being a patsy. She's determined to carve out a place for herself, no matter what.

These women have all returned to Birch Creek with big plans, but the future loves to surprise us. Can their vows keep them on target? Or will they decide it’s more important to follow their hearts, no matter how bad the fallout?

 

I absolutely loved the first book in this series The Bequest, so I was really looking forward to reading this one. This starts off not too long after the first book ended, with the summer over and the kids starting school. Both moms are still dealing with the challenges of their jobs and living on the ranch. 

I really liked the growth of Amanda in this book, and how she learned to be herself and work off her own strengths, rather than try to be like Abigail. Abigail has lots of great qualities, but there are also things that she needs to learn as well, and I don't think she is as put together as she appears to be. I really connected with Amanda in this book and could see similarities in our personalities. That made me enjoy her character the most this time around.

As for Abigail, she seems so put together on the outside, but is falling apart on the inside. I thought she finally started loosening up and letting go a bit in this book, which was great, but at times I wanted to hit her over the head when it came to her relationship with Steve. The promise Abigail made to her husband before he died, was one that I thought he never had the right to ask her to make, and while I could understand why he felt the way he did about it, that didn't make it ok. Through much of the book, Abigail worried about whether she was making the right decisions because of her children, and I get that, but there is a line there. No parent should have to sacrifice their true happiness for their children's happiness and well-being. Children benefit from having parents who are in happy, healthy relationships. I think they know when we aren't happy, and it affects them. I think Abigail may be coming to see that, and I like that growth for her character. It just took a frustratingly long while to get there. 

The addition of Donna's character was a surprise, but I liked it. I enjoyed reading her journey of growth and learning to stand up for herself. It will be interesting to see if her character continues to have a point of view in the series, and if she will also find love.

While reading these books, I thought a lot about the kids and their behaviors. I may be reading too much into it, but I like the way the book shows the differences in the kids and how they are dealing with things. Amanda's kids have been a bit unruly, especially her oldest daughter. She really cares deep down but seems to put on this front of not caring for her mother. It's her way of acting out because of all they've been through. Her younger daughter chooses to disappear and not be heard. A lot of it is aided by Amanda's personality type and parenting style. 

On the flip-side Abigail's kids seem way too well behaved. It's mentioned they have a fear of disappointing their mother. I also think they want to make things easier on their mom because of what they've all been through. This is also aided by their mother's personality type and parenting style. On the surface this seems good but isn't exactly healthy either. I just like the way the book seems to be showing the different ways not only the grown-ups, but also the kids, can end up acting when they go through something tragic.

Story-wise, I like the self-reflection and feelings these books pull out of me. I can see things that I have in common with both Abigail and Amanda from time to time, although as I said, this time it was mostly Amanda. Plot-wise, I thought this book tied some things up nicely, but also left some threads waiting to be resolved, which is a good way to end a book in the middle of a series. I did think the thing that happens at the end with a certain person driving up and making a big reveal was a little bit too coincidental, but that's a small gripe that I can overlook. I'm looking forward to continuing on when the next book is released.

Thanks to the author for providing me with an ARC of this book.

 

The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike #1), and The Silkworm (Cormoran Strike #2) by Robert Galbraith

I'm way late to the party for reading these books —years too late. I originally didn't intend to ever read them, mainly because I was so disappointed that J. K. Rowling quit writing YA fantasy, and instead started writing adult mysteries. I just wasn't sure how I would feel about them. Well, anyway, a mystery book club I belong to decided to give these a try, and I decided I would try them too. I've posted my ratings and brief comments about the first two books in the series below, along with the book descriptions.

 

  

 My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery
Content: Lots of crude language including the "C" word, Off page sex

 

After losing his leg to a land mine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private investigator. Then John Bristow walks through his door with an amazing story: His sister, the legendary supermodel Lula Landry, famously fell to her death a few months earlier. The police ruled it a suicide, but John refuses to believe that. The case plunges Strike into the world of multimillionaire beauties, rock-star boyfriends, and desperate designers, and it introduces him to every variety of pleasure, enticement, seduction, and delusion known to man.

This book pulled me in right away. The main character, Cormoran and his assistant, Robin were both likable characters. Especially Robin. I had some issues with the amount of crude language in the book though. I'm never a fan of reading the "C" word, and it was said multiple times along with other words in the book. I don't think that it's considered as bad a word in the UK, but that didn't excuse the use of it to me. The mystery was good, but nothing original, and I figured it out pretty easily. What really kept me reading were the characters, Cormoran and Robin.

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery
Content: Strong Language; Off page sex; A gruesome, depraved killing with pretty graphic descriptions of the dead body and its surroundings.

When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, Mrs. Quine just thinks her husband has gone off by himself for a few days—as he has done before—and she wants Strike to find him and bring him home.

But as Strike investigates, it becomes clear that there is more to Quine's disappearance than his wife realizes. The novelist has just completed a manuscript featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows. If the novel were to be published, it would ruin lives—meaning that there are a lot of people who might want him silenced.

When Quine is found brutally murdered under bizarre circumstances, it becomes a race against time to understand the motivation of a ruthless killer, a killer unlike any Strike has encountered before...

I didn't like this one as much as the first. The only parts I really liked were the parts Robin was in. Cormoran annoyed me multiple times as he pined over memories of his ex, used a woman repeatedly, and refused to do what he needed to do to take proper care of his leg that was amputated at the knee. But the biggest problem I had with this book, was that it was far too long. I kept thinking, surely I was nearing the end, and then I would check and, nope, not even close. There were things about the case that did surprise me, but by the time I got to the end, I didn't care anymore. On the plus side, there was less crude language in this one, but in the end I think I've read enough of this series.

A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft

  

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Category: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Strong language; not sure what else since I only read just over 30 percent, but there is rumored to be masturbation and possibly other sexual situations.

When Margaret Welty spots the legendary hala, the last living mythical creature, she knows the Halfmoon Hunt will soon follow. Whoever is able to kill the hala will earn fame and riches, and unlock an ancient magical secret. If Margaret wins the hunt, it may finally bring her mother home. While Margaret is the best sharpshooter in town, only teams of two can register, and she needs an alchemist.

Weston Winters isn’t an alchemist--yet. Fired from every apprenticeship he's landed, his last chance hinges on Master Welty taking him in. But when Wes arrives at Welty Manor, he finds only Margaret and her bloodhound Trouble. Margaret begrudgingly allows him to stay, but on one condition: he must join the hunt with her.

Although they make an unlikely team, Wes is in awe of the girl who has endured alone on the outskirts of a town that doesn’t want her, in this creaking house of ghosts and sorrow. And even though Wes disrupts every aspect of her life, Margaret is drawn to him. He, too, knows what it's like to be an outsider. As the hunt looms closer and tensions rise, Margaret and Wes uncover dark magic that could be the key to winning the hunt - if they survive that long. In A Far Wilder Magic, Allison Saft has written an achingly tender love story set against a deadly hunt in an atmospheric, rich fantasy world that will sweep you away.

 

I really liked Down Comes the Night by this author, so I was hoping I would like this one just as much. After reading over 30 percent of this book, I've come to the decision to set it aside. Unfortunately, the story just hasn't caught my interest, and as much as I wanted to, I haven't made a connection with the characters. Overall, the story feels gloomy, and the parts about alchemy are not interesting to me. 

I can't really tell what time period this is set in. It seems like a historic setting in our world. I think maybe the early 1900s, but there are some modern terms and sentiments thrown in there that I don't really appreciate in a historical fantasy setting. That made the decision to set it aside even easier.

The blurb for this book promised an achingly tender romance, which is one reason I wanted to read it in the first place, but I haven't even seen of hint of that yet. I know that maybe if I read on, I'll get to that, but I just don't like enough about the characters, or the book in general, to care. 

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC of this book.

January 2022 Book Club: Homeland (The Dark Elf, #1; The Legend of Drizzt, #1) by R.A. Salvatore

  

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Category: Young Adult, Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Clean as far as I read

 

Drow ranger Drizzt Do’Urden, first introduced in The Icewind Dale Trilogy, quickly became one of the fantasy genre’s standout characters. With Homeland, Salvatore pulls back the curtain to reveal the startling tale of how this hero came to be—how this one lone drow walked out of the shadowy depths of the Underdark; how he left behind an evil society and a family that wanted him dead.

As the third son of Mother Malice and weaponmaster Zaknafein, Drizzt Do’Urden is meant to be sacrificed to Lolth, the evil Spider Queen, per drow tradition. But with the unexpected death of his older brother, young Drizzt is spared—and, as a result, further ostracized by his family. As Drizzt grows older, developing his swordsmanship skills and studying at the Academy, he begins to realize that his idea of good and evil does not match up with those of his fellow drow. Can Drizzt stay true to himself in a such an unforgiving, unprincipled world?  

 

This was our book club book for January, and unfortunately I've gotten a third of the way through this book, and I don't think I can listen anymore. I've always kind of wanted to try a Drizzt book, as I've heard so much about them, and so many people seem to like them.

I originally thought that people that like role playing games, or D&D specifically, would like this book, but after talking with my husband, who plays role playing games, he said for him and a lot of people he knows, they do not like Drizzt at all. Mainly for the reasons I've listed below, but also because there is no real explanation or reason given for why he can do the things he does, other than he's favored by a god.  

I may have liked this if I had read it as a teen, and I can understand why people might be fond of this if they have read other books in this world. Maybe reading this one first wasn't the best place to start. Here is my list of issues with the story:

-Not compelling.
-Fight scenes feel so matter of fact, and there are so many of them already.
-No real feeling conveyed through the storytelling.
-The world building is good, but the characters are flat and underdeveloped.
-We don't get enough thoughts or feelings from the characters.
-I feel no connection to the characters.
-Not sure if it’s the narrator or the book, but I'm not crazy about the narrator.
-My mind keeps wandering.
-I'm bored!