This is my monthly reading log for Swap-Bot. Back to a more "me" type month. I was involved in 4 different challenges / games at GoodReads, plus there was Bout of Books. I didn't do as much as I had planned for BoB, as my interest went elsewhere, but I still had a good time and ended up reading 8 books on the week. Sorry for the numbers listed below, with the books, I didn't feel like changing them from my 2nd Quarter Log. If you don't want to do the math, it's 39 books I completed in August. :)
August Reading Log 2015
From ~ ImzadiRose
1 ★ 1.5 ★ 2 ★ 2.5 ★ <---Bad 3 ★ Great---> 3.5 ★ 4 ★ 4.5 ★ 5 ★
Good
25 ~ Mackenzie’s Mountain (Mackenzie’s 01) by Linda Howard
Completed 8/1
3 of 5 stars
I needed a book set in Wyoming for a challenge. Since I read the 4th book in this series years ago, I decided to start the first one. It was a quick read though VERY dated. The running theme seems to be an older (20’s) virgin falling in love with a sexy experienced male. It was OK. In the first one, a school teacher ~ Mary, is concerned about Joe, a 16 year old dropout. She seeks to help him and becomes involved with his father, Wolf.
26 ~ Mackenzie’s Mission (Mackenzie’s 02) by Linda Howard
Completed 8/1
3 of 5 stars
I needed a certain book for a challenge that the NEXT book happens to cover, so I decided to go ahead and read this one. This is Joe’s story. He flies for the Air Force and is testing new planes. Caroline works on the laser aspects of the plane and of course was a sheltered so is, yet again, a virgin, falling for the hot dude.
27 ~ Mackenzie’s Pleasure (Mackenzie’s 03) by Linda Howard
Completed 8/2
2.5 of 5 stars
Needed this book for a challenge and didn’t like it as much. It was the story of Zane, one of Wolf and Mary’s children. This one was even more instalove than the others, and wasn’t as good as the first two. Still an ok quick read.
28 ~ Stormbreaker (Alex Rider 01) by Anthony Horowitz
Completed 8/2
4 of 5 stars
Found a new series I love!! J Alex Rider is a 14 year old boy living with his uncle in London. His uncle is killed and Alex finds out he wasn’t a banker, but a spy. The MI6 recruit Alex for the mission his uncle was on. Completely unbelievable and so much fun. I definitely really liked Alex and the story and I can’t wait to get to more of these books! I’ll be continuing the series, so I’ll probably just do a re-cap each time, rather than my opinion, unless it’s vastly different.
29 ~ Point Blank (Alex Rider 02) by Anthony Horowitz
Completed 8/3
4 of 5 stars
Alex is recruited again, this time to enter a private school where they think something bad might be going on. Another really good story with crazy things happening. The good characters are good, the bad characters are so evil. It’s a really fun and enjoyable series, everything I had hoped 39 Clues would be. This is much better, and can’t wait to read more.... too bad I have to read some other books for challenges first. L
30 ~ Trophy by Steffen Jacobsen
Completed 8/4
3 of 5 stars
An investagator is sent to investigate a video tape that was found in which a man was hunted and killed seemingly for sport. The book was ok, typical of this kind of genre. There were some twists in it, but nothing major. It was enjoyable.
31 ~ The Fire Chronicle (Books of Beginning 02) by John Stephens
Completed 8/4
3 of 5 stars
The 2nd book in this series, not nearly as enjoyable as the first one. This one focused on Michael who can be really annoying at times, though he means well. Going to take a break from reading these before I get back to Emma’s story. There were some good parts, it was ok.
32 ~ Timecaster (Timecaster 01) by Joe Kimball (J.A. Konrath)
Completed 8/5
4 of 5 stars
I’ve read a handful of books by J.A. Konrath. They are definitely crazy and over the top. I’ve loved a few, enjoyed some, and hated some. This one was definitely enjoyable. I starts really nuts and stays nuts. It’s about a future where there is almost no crime because the Timecasters have a device where they can go back and view anything in a 2 week window. Talon is the MC and he arrives at a scene of a missing woman to find that the crime was commited by himself. Weird and enjoyable!
33 ~ Skeleton Key (Alex Rider 03) by Anthony Horowitz
Completed 8/6
3 of 5 stars
Not nearly as good as the first one. This started out with a weird/boring tennis scene that didn’t fit into the story (for me) at all. Once it got past that part, it was a little better, but still not my favorite one. In this one, Alex is teamed up with the CIA and sent to an island to stop a mad man from a castrophic plan.
34 ~ Eagle Strike (Alex Rider 04) by Anthony Horowitz
Completed 8/7
4 of 5 stars
Better than the 3rd and it started off not as good as the first 2 but it ended up being really good. In this one, Alex goes to France with a friend to escape the spy lifestyle but it seems to follow him when where he’s staying is blown up. There was some video game aspects in this one, so I really enjoyed those parts. This book also was my 100th audiobook of the year! J
35 ~ I am Death (Robert Hunter 07) by Chris Carter
Completed 8/8
4.5 of 5 stars
Another great Robert Hunter book. This series is great and I love them. This one was great with all it’s twists and turns and usual craziness. I didn’t rate it a 5 star because I did have a few issues with it that were major plot points, so I won’t share here, but overall it was still really enjoyable.
36 ~ Scorpia (Alex Rider 05) by Anthony Horowitz
Completed 8/9
4 of 5 stars
In this one, Alex starts to get some answers about his father and what happened there, though he’s told many things so he isn’t sure who/what to believe in. All he knows is he isn’t who the bad guys want him to be, but he’s tired of MI6 taking advantage of him as well. It was enjoyable.
37 ~ Ark Angel (Alex Rider 06) by Anthony Horowitz
Completed 8/10
3.5 of 5 stars
Another enjoyable Rider. Some was a little slow, but most was still enjoyable with the typical craziness. I definitely didn’t like the “bad” but of this one, which is typical, but this one was more so. While I was watching this one, I ended up watching the movie for the first book and it was quite a bit different than I was excpecting. Some was good, but additions to it that were cheesy made no sense.
38 ~ Fugitives (Escape from Furnace 04) by Alexander Gordon Smith
Completed 8/10
3 of 5 stars
I started reading this series a while ago, it was about a prison that is sent near the core of the earth. I really enjoyed the first 3 books. In this one, they are finally out of furnace and it definitely wasn’t as enjoyable. I think they should have ended with 3 when they escaped. This one started out really dull and slow. It got better but just ended ok.
39 ~ Alert (Michael Bennett 08) by James Patterson
Completed 8/11
3 of 5 stars
I think I’m winding down on Patterson, even this series which is basically the only series of his left that I’ve still been reading. His stuff is just so predictable and it’s all the same now. It’s starting to bore me. It’s good for a quick read though. In this one, people are doing all kinds of stuff to NY such as blowing up subway stations and having part of the city in a black out. It was ok.
40 ~ The Girl in the Woods by Gregg Olsen
Completed 8/12
3 of 5 stars
A foot is found and the pathologists and the detective must find the killer. It was ok, mainly dull and slow moving. Characters weren’t people you could get behind, I didn’t really like either of them so I really didn’t care about a lot of stuff happening. There were some twists and I didn’t see one of them coming, so that’s always good. It was ok but forgettable.
41 ~ Veiled (Alex Verus 06) by Benedict Jacka
Completed 8/12
4 of 5 stars
I tried, but couldn’t get into, the Dresden series. I tried this series, which is similar, because I love the narrator. I have enjoyed the series and stuck with it. It’s about a mage in London, good for fans of Dresden I think. In this one, he’s aligned with the Keepers to get some allies on his side.
42 ~ Hush (Lodestone 01 / Stark Bros 01) by Cherry Adair
Completed 8/13
4.5 of 5 stars
Zak & Gideon are brothers on a trip who get kidnapped along with a woman they don’t know. Zak and Acadia are seperated from Gideon and have to find a way to get help. There was a lot of craziness going on, including a paranormal ability that Zak ends up with that is different from any other type of ability (that I’ve ever read about). Lots of twists and turns and tons of action. Though Acadia got on my nerves at times, overall I really enjoyed the book!
43 ~ Gideon (Stark Bros 02) by Cherry Adair
Completed 8/14
3 of 5 stars
Didn’t like this one NEARLY as much as the first one. In this one Gideon has lived the past few years as Sin, a cartel leader, and he has no memories of his previous life, though he starts to get flashbacks that make no sense. Riva is T-Flac (authors other series) operative who is sent in undercover to eliminate Sin’s rival. She ends up with Sin instead and together they find out a lot of stuff. It was really crazy but not nearly as enjoyable as the first one and the reunion with Zak and Gideon was WAY WAY WAY too short!!
44 ~ Snakehead (Alex Rider 07) by Anthony Horowitz
Completed 8/14
2 of 5 stars
Least favorite, so far. Getting tired of Alex complaining he doesn’t want to do spy work, whe he clearly does. He just needs to get over it and accept it as his life. He wouldn’t be able to go back to school and just pretend he was normal. But I really didn’t like that he has no one on his side and he was turned on yet again, that’s getting old too! Disappointing!
45 ~ The Leveller by Julia Durango
Completed 8/15
5 of 5 stars
I LOVED this book! Nixy is a Leveller. She goes into virtual reality to retrieve kids who refuse to leave. She’s contacted by the designer of of the game whose son has seemingly gone into VR and refuses to come out. The story was soooooooo cute and so much fun. This was had everything I love about VR in it and it was very comical with a ton of tongue in cheek humor. Nixy was kickass, she was such a great character and so much fun. I can’t wait for more of the series!
46 ~ The Perilous Journey (Mysterious Benedict Society 02) by Trenton Lee Stewart
Completed 8/16
2.5 of 5 stars
I read the first one of this series a while ago and it was cute, I didn’t like this one nearly as much. Something that annoys me in books like these is the back and forth inconsistency of the adults. These kinds of books feature very very young kids doing brace and heroic things, and get into trouble that normal people wouldn’t get out of. They aren’t meant to be “real” books, just to be fun. So the adults let them go off into danger in the first book but they want to shelter them in this book. Too inconsistant. It just wasn’t good.
47 ~ Time’s Mirror (Chronos 02.5) by Rysa Walker
Completed 8/17
3.5 of 5 stars
I LOVE this time travelling series. This one was about one of the “bad” people of the series and it was very interesting to get her story, it was quite different than I imagined it would be. Definitely interesting and I can’t wait for more books in the series!
48 ~ Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge
Completed 8/17
2 of 5 stars
We VERY disappointed in this one, since I enjoyed Cruel Beauty so much. This one wasn’t part of that world and was a red riding hood retelling, but it wasn’t good for me at all. I couldn’t get behind the story or characters which both bored me. I liked Armand some but I hate lies or half baked truths so all the main characters annoyed me at some point or another. Just wasn’t good for me.
49 ~ I am Cowboy (SecondWorld 01.5) by Jeremy Robinson
Completed 8/18
3.5 of 5 stars
I typically always rate novellas 3 stars just cuz I want more, but I liked this book, it was really cute, I just wish it had been a full story. The first book in the series almost saw the destruction of most of the world by depleting the oxygen. This book is about one of the characters, Cowboy, who I really liked. He’s a great character and I just wish it had been a full novel.
50 ~ Lois Lane: Fallout (Lois Lane 01) by Gwenda Bond
Completed 8/20
3 of 5 stars
So this is a different take on the Superhero genre since it focuses on Lois as a teen in Metropolis. I jsut wasn’t impressed. The only thing that had me keeping with Lois is that I kept imagining Lois from Smallville as the MC, otherwise it really could have been any girl in any school in any town. It didn’t wow me, even though it was about a video game, which was the only good aspect of it. It was lame too because she’s never met Clark, but knows him only as “SmallvilleGuy” so it’s lame to not even have her know him but for him to keep popping in and out. I dunno, it was just weird. Will try the next one to see what happens.
51 ~ The Blast by Sarah Perlmutter
Completed 8/20
1 of 5 stars
I hated this book, and it’s rated VERY well for some unknown reason. I explained it as the book read like this ~ a 15 year old girl likes a boy and her parents won’t let her go out with him. So, she gets angry and writes out a badly written story in which everyone ~ except herself, her best friend and the 2 boys they like ~ die horrible deaths. That’s what it read like to me, instead of being written by an adult. It was just bad, but I guess those angry teens out there will like it. I didn’t!
52 ~ The Darkest Minds (Darkest Minds 01) by Alexandra Bracken
Completed 8/21
3.5 of 5 stars
I seem to be in the minority of not really liking this book. It was good, but not great. There were parts I really liked and parts I didn’t like at all, especailly the end. This book is about kids with abilities who get set off to detention centers. It just didn’t have a lot of depth to it, I couldn’t get behind the characters and when I did get behind one, then the MC was stupid. It ws ok, and I might try more, see what happens.
53 ~ The Rise of Renegade X (Renegade X 01) by Chelsea Campbell
Completed 8/22
1.5 of 5 stars
This book about a boy who is trying to decide if he wants to be a villian or a super hero had sooooo much potential and some parts of it was good, but overall the other crap was really bad. It if were just between his choices, it would have been pretty good, but there was this stupid romance crap. He went back and forth between 2 girls, one good and one bad. It just didn’t fit, like the author wanted to try to appeal to female readers. It’s not for kids either, if you are strict on what they read, there was tons of sex talk in it. The narrator was really really awful!
54 ~ Pwned (Lexy Cooper 02) by Christa Charter
Completed 8/23
4 of 5 stars
Lexy works for a video game company and always finds herself finding a dead body. Her “uncle” Malick is a detective and he’s investigating who would have killed another co-worker of Lexy’s. I like Lexy, for the most part. She’s smart, funny, sexy, sassy and doesn’t care what most people think of her. She has one HUGE fault of being in love with a married man and I hate that aspect of the book. But these are shorter fun books and I’m looking forward to reading more.
55 ~ Keep Moving by Dick Van Dyke
Completed 8/24
5 of 5 stars
I became a fan of Dick Van Dyke in his Diagnosis Murder days, so later in his career but I think he’s fantasic. I loved this 2nd book of his and was so glad to get it as an ARC as it’s not out yet. I think he’s great, and I wish I had half of his energy! He’ll be 90 in Dec and he’s still going! Amazing person!
56 ~ Black (Black 01) by Russell Blake
Completed 8/25
2.5 of 5 stars
The good ~ I mostly liked the MC. He’s a PI who is suck in the past. He’s got issues and he’s real. The plot was typical for these kinds of books but kept my attention. Did see who was behind the killings, in one way, not in another. The bad ~ I HATED his mother, with a passion. She was a bitch. His assistant was a little too over the top. I may try the next book just because they are short and I like the narrator. Not sure.
57 ~ Roped In (Bondage Rance 01) by Sindra van Yssel
Completed 8/25
3 of 5 stars
No info because it’s an erotica, but I liked that it was BDSM done the right way, except 2 jerks who got put in their place quickly. I didn’t feel any connection to the characters, but that happens for me with novellas. It was good, not great.
58 ~ Ink & Bone (Great Library 01) by Rachel Caine
Completed 8/26
4 of 5 stars
In this world, the Great Library of Alexandria is in power and it has banned actual books taking all the books to keep within it, though you can get all books on tablet like devices. It’s actually a really difficult book to describe but it was REALLY enjoyable. One of the better books about books out there. I definitely look forward to more.
59 ~ The Lost (Lost 01) by Sarah Beth Durst
Completed 8/27
1st half of book – 2 stars / 2nd half of book 4.5 stars ~ 3.5 overall
The only reason this isn’t a 4 star book was because it took me a REALLY REALLY long time to get into it. It was slow and dull for the first 40% of the book, then it finally started picking up some. Around 60% I really did start liking it and I liked the last part a ton. I just wish it hadn’t been so slow to start out. Lauren finds herself in Lost, a town from which she can’t escape. It was a neat concept and the last half really enjoyable. Looking forward to more.
60 ~ One Night of Sin (After Hours 01) by Elle Kennedy
Completed 8/27
2.5 of 5 stars
Erotica so no details. It was typical with no imagination at all. I read this quickly for a GoodReads game I was doing and won the game for my team with this book, so YAY for that. The book was typical and cookie cutter, same as some of the other boring erotica out there. Already forgettable.
61 ~ Afterglow (Lodestone 02) by Cherry Adair
Completed 8/28
2.5 of 5 stars
Almosted rated a 2. I didn’t like either of the MC. They were both liars who wouldn’t communicate with each other when they were together so now they hate each other, but are still attracted to each other. It was ok, I just really didn’t like the MCs but I liked the story of a crazy drug being out there that they had to stop before it killed more.
62 ~ Huntress Moon (Huntress/FBI 01) by Alexandra Sokoloff
Completed 8/29
4 of 5 stars
Not a lot of female serial killer stories out there, so this one was different. I definitely liked the main characters, they were both engaging and I was definitely into the story. Roarke is smart though a little infatuated by the end with the killer. Definitely looking forward to more of the series. Reminded me of the Chelsea Cain series, which ended up boring the crap out of me by book 4. Hopefully this one can stay interesting.
63 ~ Spiraled (Mason Callahan 03) by Kendra Elliot
Completed 8/31
3 of 5 stars
This series is OK. I did like the story for this one though I thought they were stupid at parts, very unlike them. I saw the “twist” of the story the moment it happened and it took them half the book. UGH! I hate one of the MC’s sister, she really ruins the stories for me, if it weren’t for her in the books these would probably all be 4 & 5 star, instead of 3 & 4 star.
Bout of Books Updates
WOW. I'm floored by your progress for August! Well done!
ReplyDeleteHappy September reading!