October is Here!

Hi Book-Sniffers and Librocubicularists,

At this point, managing work and reading has been an ordeal. I managed to read four books in September. Two adult, one young adult, and one reread children's.

My best friend and I are reading Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events, one per month. This month is "The Wide Window". I forgot how wonderfully delightful they are. Hilarious with their side narrator tangents, ridiculous bit of information, and the terrible things that keep happening.

"Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein is ...  incredible. I shall try and form words together for a review.

The realization has dawned on me that I cannot, in no way, at this point in time, complete my reading wish list for this year. So now, is knocking off those that I can find time for. It'll be a struggle. I'll do it!

~Happy Autumn Reading~

Iron, Steam, and Monsters

The Iron Thorn
By Caitlin Kittredge

In an alternate history, where the cities are driven by Engines and the streets are protected by Proctors, there is a girl named Aoife (Ee-fay). Her mother is mad - the crazy kind - and her brother became mad on his 16th birthday. Aoife is days away from her 16th birthday and she fears this same madness will consume her. The Proctors hunt down mad people and throw them into mad houses.

Aoife wants to escape. She can escape from the city but can she escape from genetics?


Let me preface my review with this: I was so very unattached to all characters, uninterested in the story, and it pained me to finish this whole book. If my review is skewed, this is why. The story might be wonderful and I was not in the mood.

Mainly I found myself uninterested because the book felt like it still needed some serious cutting. It was 492 pages. For what really happened, that is too many. There were scenes that were superflous and much of the nattering inside Aoife's head was unneeded.

The world is cool. It's steampunk basically. Aether glows in lights much like electricity, but blue. An Engine located underneath the city constantly churns and keeps the Aether going. Typical steampunk things make appearances: goggles, dirigibles, machines with gears and cogs.

The best part of the world was not the steampunk aspect, but the insertion of Lovecraftian monsters. The monsters are THE best part of the book. There's creepy undead things, skittering humanoid creatures that lurk in the night, and faeries (were they faeries?) so dark you shiver at night thinking about the descriptions Kittredge gave.

Aoife (apart from having a ridiculously difficult name to pronounce) is a believable character. She studied engineering and machinery - yay intelligence - and, for the most part, she barrels through events without needing much of anyone's help. She is anything but helpless. Instead she needs her friends for moral support. I liked this apsect of her character. Not dependant on the boys around her.

Yes, there's boys. Of course. It's young adult. First, there's Conrad her mad brother who's disappearance takes her away from the city in the first place. Then there's Cal, her best friend. He's an incredible annoying character, with a chip off his shoulder, and he's there for her through thick and thin. And finally, Dean. With a name like that, you're sure shootin' he's the romantic interest. Oh, he's a rebel, a dark mystery about him, and he's totally into Aoife.

The story. At the core, it's a great story. A great set up for a trilogy I will not read. There was too much side stuff. Cut about 150 or 200 pages from this book and you've got a story that's action-packed and moves at a clip. Looking at the second and third book, looks like the publishers, or the author, realized  that the story needed to be more compact - the last book being 304 pages.


This book was NOT for me. Every time I sat down to read it, my mind wandered elsewhere. I found myself skimming half the time. After all that skimming, I lost nothing. I still took in the details of the world and the twists and turns of the characters' journey.

Venture into this dark, steampunk world and try not to have nightmares about the monsters. I know I am happy to have left it, never to return.


2/5 STARS

Gah, that cover is gross.

September Update

Hi Book-Sniffers and Librocubicularists,

Having received excellent news of a new job, my September suddenly looks full and my reading opportunities lessening. I've a series of adult books that need reading. The most recent YA I read was more than disappointing and I need that break.

Never fear though. I shall return in form, probably sooner than I thought.

~ Happy reading! ~

Mid-Year FreakOUT

Hi Book-Sniffers and Librocubicularists,

The middle of year was actually the first week of July... who cares?! *dances around room* Let's do this.

Total Books Read: 58
Total Pages Read: 21,014
Go here to see my 'Ultimate Reading Challenge' status

Rereads: 5
YA: 35
Adult:23

Best Book so far...
YA - either The Summer Prince (Alaya Dawn Johnson) or The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender (Lelye Walton)
Adult - The Red Knight (Miles Cameron)

Best Sequel
Of Triton (Anna Banks)

New Release Haven't Read
End of Days (Susan Ee)

Most Anticipated Book in the 2nd half of 2015
Queen of Shadows (Sarah J. Maas)

Biggest Disappointment
YA - Summer & Bird (Katherine Catmull)
Adult - The Lies of Locke Lamora (Scott Lynch)

Biggest Surprise
172 Hours on the Moon (Johan Harstad)

New Favourite Author
YA - Leslye Walton
Adult - Miles Cameron

Newest Fictional Crush
Enki from The Summer Prince (Alaya Dawn Johnson) or Tamlin from A Court of Thorns and Roses (Sarah J Maas)

Newest Favourite Character
YA - Enki from The Summer Prince (Alaya Dawn Johnson)
Adult - Laren from Song in the Silence (Elizabeth Kerner)

What book made you cry?
The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender - both happy and melancholy tears

What book made you happy?
YA - A Court of Thorns and Roses (Sarah J Maas)
Adult - Song in the Silence (Elizabeth Kerner)

Best Book to Film Adaptation
Admitting, I have yet to see any this year - I do plan on watching Far from the Madding Crowd and The Martian.

Favourite Review
Here, There Be Dragons (James A. Owen)

Most Beautiful Book Acquired
Either The Assassin's Blade (Sarah J Maas) or End of Days (Susan Ee)

What books need to be read by the end of this year?
For a full answer see my Books To Read tab. But the Top 5 I need to read are:
1. The Wise Man's Fear (Patrick Rothfuss)
2. Sheepfarmer's Daughter (Elizabeth Moon)
3. Bitter Greens (Kate Forsyth)
4. Drams of Gods and Monsters (Laini Taylor)
5. Hild (Nicola Griffith)

We Are Not Alone

Earth & Sky
By Megan Crewe

Skylar, 17, is bothered by passing feelings that parts of the world around her are wrong. When it happens, she has panic attacks. Then she meets Win. Suddenly her whole life is explained to her and the answer is both cool and terrifying at the same time.

ALIENS!

No seriously. Aliens. And time travel. This book was such a happy surprise!


Ok, clarification - generic without spoilers, I promise. Our planet is the subject of alien experimentation. Whenever Skylar feels something wrong, that's because they have been interfering. They mess with time.

Win is a part of the rebels who want to end this interference. So yes, he is alien. Having fun yet?

Crewe took this really cool idea and turned it into this crazy, time hopping chase between the rebels, the human Skylar, and the alien scientists. So neat!

How did she manage to create this story and keep it from being off-the wall cheesy? Her characters are believable and very flawed, details of the world are explained slowly (apart from one possible info-dumping section that I'm going to ignore because I loved this book so much), and her world is created with real science. In order to get the reader's mind around the complexities of time travel, Crewe was able to explain it in such a way that felt neither dumbed down nor overly unnecessary.

For the most part, the book focuses on the interactions between Win and Skylar. There's conflict - believeable conflict - between them, but also a mutual push to save the world.

My ooooone complaint. At the beginning of the book, I was pleased to be reading about a girl with anxiety issues. I was loving the way it was explained. Her coping mechanism was real and carried throughout the book. My complaint is that part of her anxiety is explained away by the alien interference. On one hand, wouldn't it be cool if all those with anxiety be given a logical (loosely logical... because aliens) reason as to their paralyzing panic attacks. On the other, it's a real issue that cannot be fixed that easily. The redeeming factor of this thread is that she continues to feel panic, even though now she knows what causes it and she retains her coping mechanism. In the grand scheme of things though, it's a minor complaint.

I'm a sucker for anything time travel related... so this book was right up my ally. AND, Megan Crewe is Canadian. Whoo Canadian writers!!!

Highly recommend for the young adult, sci-fi enthusiast.

4.5/5 STARS