Karsyn's Kickass Jocoserious, Kooky, Jannock book blog: October Reading Log & Monthly Wrap-Up

I had a VERY VERY quiet month (for me), reading wise. Had it not been for Dewey's (a 24 hour Read-a-Thon) I did (during which I started and finished 8 books, and completed one other I had already started), I would have only read 12, perhaps 13, books. That's crazy low for me. Even still, it was a quiet and slow book month, mainly because I wanted to take a break with books (for the most part) before all the challenges start up. I'm in 4, so far, starting the 1st, 4th, 6th & 7th. It's gonna get crazy again, book wise. :)

I also posted this month more than I have in the past 6 months or so. I had Dewey's and I also posted 7 reviews for some of my NetGalley books that I needed to get through. I got through 8 of them (one was a DNF that I didn't get far enough through to really post anything about) so I was pretty glad about that. Of course, I also added 4 new ones (2 of which I reviewed) to my list, so my ratio didn't go up all that much. See below my log for links.

And now, onward with one of my rare few books month.

October Reading Log 2015

From ~ ImzadiRose

1 ★ 1.5 ★ 2 ★ 2.5 ★ <---Bad 3 ★ Great---> 3.5 ★ 4 ★ 4.5 ★ 5 ★

Good

October ~

01 ~ Ender’s Game (Ender’s Quartet 01) by Orson Scott Card

Completed 10/3

2.5 of 5 stars

I read this because my Hubby He wouldn’t read another book (Insignia by S.J. Kincaid) because it was just like Ender’s Game. I loved Insignia, so I decided to try Ender’s Game. They are NOT alike. That’s like saying that both books are just like Harry Potter, because all of them are set in a school. Yes, Ender’s in similar in a way but it’s similar to HP as well. Anyways, I didn’t like it very much. The characters were awful and I hated how they treated Ender. I don’t read depressing books and I really don’t like reading negative books either. I was looking for fun, like Insignia, and just got a darker negative story instead. It wasn’t for me.

02 ~ Earth & Sky (Earth & Sky 01) by Megan Crewe

Completed 10/6

4.25 of 5 stars

This was an interesting book. It’s about Sky who has these feelings that something aren’t right in her world. She finds out that aliens are experimenting with changing things in the past and she’s sensitive enough to know when something is “wrong”. It was a very interesting concept and a very enjoyable book. The characters weren’t the best, but the story was really good.

03 ~ The Clouded Sky (Earth & Sky 02) by Megan Crewe

Completed 10/9

3 of 5 stars

Everything I loved about the first book wasn’t found in this one at all. There was no action at all, there was almost no time travel (which I loved in the first). She was very wishy washy about who she liked and she was pretty insecure with every decision she made. There was too much talking and no action in this one. Disappointed to see the 3^rd book is different in how it’s written (from 1 POV to duel). Going to hold off on reading it for a while.

04 ~ What Lies Behind (Samantha Owens 04) by J.T. Ellison

Completed 10/14

3 of 5 stars

Been reading the Ellison books for a while now. Sam has her own and is in D.C. I really like the characters of this series, but I didn’t care for the storyline of this one. It was really weird and kind of dull. It would pick up here and there, but overall it was on the duller side. It was good, not great.

05 ~ Detached (Rewind Agency 03) by Jill Cooper

Completed 10/17

4 of 5 stars

Love this series, so sad it’s over. Not to be read as a stand-alone, definitely gotta read the series. It’s about Lara who, in the first book, went back in time to prevent her mother’s death. That action caused all kinds of changes in the timeline, and some crazy stuff has continued to happen. It was a great conclusion to the series and I definitely wish there was more. It was wrapped up well though. Great series, if you like time travel stories.

06 ~ The Manticore Ascension (Arena Mode 01.5) by Blake Northcott

Completed 10/17

3 of 5 stars

This was just a really quick short story (74 pages) set in between the first two books of the Arena Mode series. I read both, so decided to read this. It was ok. Nothing great, though it wasn’t what I was expecting it to be, so it was interesting in that way. I need to get onto the 3^rd book soon.

07 ~ Digital Evolution (Game is Life 05) by Terry Schott

Completed 10/17

3.5 of 5 stars

This is the 5^th book in this series. If you are a fan of virtual reality books, I highly recommend this series, it was very very wild, and really enjoyable. I thought this was the last of it, so I was surprised when it ended up ending with some cliffhangers. Guess I gotta wait for another one to be released. This is not meant to be read as a stand-alone, it’s confusing enough as it is even with reading them all. Really good though!

08 ~ The Fugitive (Theodore Boone 05) by John Grisham

Completed 10/17

3 of 5 stars

The last (so far) of the Kid Lawyer series. It was a cute series. They could be read on their own. It’s about Theodore Boone who is the 13 year old son of a pair of lawyers. He wants to be a lawyer someday and knows all about the law. It’s a bet repetitive about some things from book to book but overall it’s a good series. In this one, a murderer from a previous book is found and brought to court again.

09 ~ Protecting Caroline (SEAL of Protection 01) by Susan Stoker

Completed 10/17

3 of 5 stars

For the read-a-thon, I was looking for some short audios and found this series. It’s a typical romantic suspense type book. The main thing I didn’t like about it was the description was about a plane hijacking, and that ended up being a REALLY short part of the book. I would have liked it to have been drawn out more. I liked all of the guys, I didn’t like Caroline all that much.

10 ~ The Map Trap by Andrew Clements

Completed 10/18

2.5 of 5 stars

I like Middle Grade books, but if they aren’t TOO young. This one was way too young for my likes. Good for really young readers. Cute, just very young. Was about a kid who likes to draw maps. He drew some that we’re very flattering about his classmates and they went missing. It was ok, good for kids, not for adults who like MG.

11 ~ Protecting Alabama (SEAL of Protection 02) by Susan Stoker

Completed 10/18

3 of 5 stars

I liked this one until this one part where the MC was a COMPLETE jerk. I was so mad about what he did, I was hoping it wouldn’t end in an HEA, but that’s how it always goes with these things. She forgives him even though he was an ass. I hate drama just for the sake of creating drama to make the book “better” or whatever it is that they think they (authors) are doing. Story was ok beyond that.

12 ~ Surviving the Fall (Walking in the Rain 01) by William Allen

Completed 10/18

2.5 of 5 stars

Didn’t realize when I started this that it being the first book wasn’t a book at all, but the first part of a 3 part book. So, it ended in the middle of things. It was a disaster type book, something happened to the world and a young guy is traveling to try to find his family. I didn’t care enough about the story or the characters to read any more of it.

13 ~ Black is the New Black (Black 03) by Russell Blake

Completed 10/18

3 of 5 stars

I started this one before the read-a-thon but finished up the last 30% during the last hour of the RAT. It’s an ok series. It’s about a PI who is stuck in the golden age. I like him a lot, but most of the rest of the main characters are complete jerks, especially his mother, who I hate, his ex who wasn’t in this one, and his assistant who would be ok if she wasn’t so over the top. In this one he’s investigating suspicious deaths within a modeling agency.

14 ~ Tracks of her Tears (Rogue Winter 01) by Melinda Leigh

Completed 10/20

2.5 of 5 stars

I love Kendra Elliot, so I put up with these books by Melinda Leigh. They do a novella series where they each write a book. The first series had 4 books, this series isn’t released yet and I got them as an ARC, so I don’t know if there will be more than these two or not. But I don’t like Leigh’s characters from the book. I read the books because it all flows together as one bigger story, and if I didn’t read hers, I wouldn’t know half of the stuff going on, but I hate the main character, Carly. It’s just a personal opinion.

15 ~ Beneath the Dark Ice (Alex Hunter 01) by Greig Beck

Completed 10/22

4 of 5 stars

I’ve been looking for action books similar to books I like, and this one was close to what I’m looking for. I would have liked a little more action and a little less talking but overall it was a pretty good story. A plane crashed in the arctic and a team is sent out to locate them. They find a creature they weren’t expecting. The only negative of the book was bouncing around to a few different characters that really didn’t flow with the story as they weren’t there. It was good overall and I look forward to the next one.

16 ~ Dead in her Tracks (Rogue Winter 02) by Kendra Elliott

Completed 10/23

4 of 5 stars

On the other hand, I do like Kendra’s characters, and her story was enjoyable. It was about a murderer on the streets on Christmas and they are trying to figure a few things out. The characters work together and make a good couple. It was an enjoyable story, taking what happened in the first one and continuing with it.

17 ~ The Drafter (Peri Reed 01) by Kim Harrison

Completed 10/26

5 of 5 stars

This is a WONDERFUL time travel book. It’s about Peri who has the ability to change time, just a few moments at a time, but she can’t remember what she’s done. She has to have an anchor to give her the right set of memories and erase what she’s changed. She finds out that she’s on a list of corrupt agents, though she isn’t one, and she wants to clear her name. But so many things happen. It’s all twisty and turny and I LOVED the book, it was really enjoyable, highly recommend for time travel fans.

18 ~ Sideswipped (Peri Reed 00.5) by Kim Harrison

Completed 10/28

3 of 5 stars

A short story in the Peri Reed world. It was enjoyable for what it was, I would have rather had a full book, I’m not a fan of short stories overall. This one was a prequel, but I’m glad that I read it after the first one as it would have spoiled some things in the first book for me, had I read it first. It was good to take a look into their pasts though. I can’t wait for more from this series.

19 ~ Dream Caller (Dream Seeker 02) by Michelle Sharp

Completed 10/31

3 of 5 stars

I liked the first book of this series, this one not as much. The MC was very whiney and insecure in this one and there were just some things I thought were pretty dumb to the story, like the MC has dreams about victims who have been murdered, but when her boyfriend is called to investigate a murder, she doesn’t assume it’s related. Just wasn’t good overall, but wasn’t awful. Was pretty boring.

20 ~ The Great Zoo of China by Matt Reilly ~ 2^nd re-read (of this book) this year, 3^rd total

Completed 10/31

5 of 5 stars

I was talking this book up in one of my groups on GoodReads and one of the members on my team ended up getting it. So with all the talk about it, and her starting to read it, I decided I wanted to go ahead and read it again. I just listened to the audio back in June, but I’m listened to it again. I figured it would be a good book to listen to before all my challenges start up during the first week of Nov. GZOC is a fantastic action book, Jurassic Park-esque about dragons.