1st Quarter Reading Log -- 2017
I joined a swap on swap-bot called 1st Quarter Reading Log - 2017. For this swap we have to keep track of all the books we read and then do a short review of each book. Last quarter I wrote everything down in a notebook and had a page for each review. I wanted to try things a little different this time around and do an electronic version. I'll still need to print this out and mail it to my partner(s) at the end of the quarter but I also thought that keeping everything here would make things a lot easier for me. I can print this blog post out and also share the link if they want to see the online version. I have two partners for this swap and the quarter goes from January 1st to March 31st and needs mailed by April 3rd. Below you will find which books I read this quarter and my review and rating of each. I also include all forms of books that I read and LISTEN to. I listen to a lot of audiobooks while I am working. It helps me to tune out distractions around me and keeps my mind occupied as I am processing the work I know by rote. I also read a lot of e-books so that is why you will find my list may get a little longish.
Before I start this list I should tell you that I rate on a 1 to 5 method.
♥ - Didn't care for the book.
♥♥ - It was okay but nothing to write home about.
♥♥♥- I liked it but there was something about it that bothered me.
♥♥♥♥- I really liked the book and recommend it.
♥♥♥♥♥- I LOVED the book and you HAVE to read it :)
♥♥♥♥ 4/5 I really thought this was a cute book. It is meant for the age range of somewhere between a tween and a teen. I still enjoyed the book if though it was meant for a much younger person. There are additional books in this series and I think I am going to look into trying to find them at the library.
The premise of this book is that there is another world ELSEWHERE of our own world that you can get to through mirrors. I read this one at the beginning of January so I can't exactly remember all the details but I do remember that it was really interesting.
2. The Creature Department by Robert Weston
ERRR. I totally messed up with this one and forgot to finish it. I started this book and for some reason I thought I was done and I passed it on in my book exchange. I am totally bummed out because I was enjoying it immensely and have no idea why I gave it away. I'll have to go to the library and borrow this book, hopefully they have it. Then I can finish this review.
3. Apprentice in Death by J.D. Robb
♥♥♥♥♥ 5/5 For those that do not know this, JD Robb is actually Nora Roberts. It is a pen name she uses to write this series of books. It is a great series also! I can not recommend this book enough. It is another great cliffhanger and I read it in like 2 days. I could not put it down.
These are set in the year 2059 and are a futuristic crime novel. The main character is Eve Dallas a homicide lieutenant in New York. Something I love about these books is that even though they are set in a future time they are not cheesy AT ALL. You feel like this is how the future could really be. Also the futuristic feel of the books does not distract you from the actually storyline. It's not like hover cars and death rays..lol. It just feels real. Also, you really get INTO the killer's head and see how they are thinking. At times it is a little disturbing but at the same time it really gets you routing for Eve to catch them. Please give these books a try. I think at this time there are 40 in the series plus a few novellas that are interspersed here and there. This book is the latest one published so go back and read them from the beginning. You can read them out of order but there is a behind the scenes story line that follows from story to story. Basically helping you to get involved in the lives of the characters when they aren't part of the murder cases. Here is a link to all the books in order -----> SERIES
4. Grace Sees Red by Julie Hyzy:
♥♥♥♥♥ 5/5 I found this book totally by chance. It was literally right inside the door to the library on the "new" shelf. Normally I would have walked past this but the large print caught my eye. I read the back of the book and it sounded like a interesting story so I decided to give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I loved it. The story line is mystery but it's a light hearted mystery. There are no graphic descriptions of the victims and they don't go into vivid detail of the autopsy. You get the facts and have to use your imagine. I also like that there is no cuss words or foul language. It's nice not to have to read around F-bombs. Also I like that the small bit of romance is low-key.
5.Starcrossed by Josephine Angeline:
♥♥ I couldn't finish this book. I just loved the way it sounded when I read it on the back of the book but when I got into it, I couldn't keep my attention focused.
6. The Search by Nora Roberts:
♥♥♥♥♥ 5/5. I totally loved this story. Once again I am reminded why Nora Roberts is one of my favorite authors. I liked this book so much that I actually got it three times this quarter. First I read the book which I borrowed from the library. Then I liked it so much that I decided to borrow the book on CD version that is pictured here. I loved hearing the story in this format. After I finished it I liked the book even more. Hearing the different character voices and the way they turned what I had read into a movie in my head I went out and purchased an electronic version of this book from Audible.com for my own . I highly recommend this book. Other then the actual story line I learned a lot about how to correctly train dogs and how they learn and "see" things. It was educational and entertaining. Not only did I get a thoroughly enjoyable time from the book but I also got some really great tips that I was able to use immediately with my own three dogs. I guess I should say that this book is about a woman that trains search and rescue dogs. But she is also the sole survivor of a serial killer. The serial killer was arrested and sent to prison because of her. Now even though he is in jail there is another series of murders that have started taking place with the same M.O.
7. Zoo by James Patterson/Michael Ledwidge:
♥♥♥♥♥ 5/5 Another really good book by James Patterson. This is not the first time that I've listened or read this book. I just decided to relisten to it because I was binge watching Zoo on Netflix and I wanted to remember the differences between what I was watching and what the actual book was about. I have to admit that I like the book better then the tv/netflix series. It kind of drives me crazy when they totally change the story line of a book when they move it to a visual format. This book is about a world (our world) when all the mammals start attacking and killing human beings and a team of people trying to figure out why it is happening and if there is a way to stop it. I had totally forgot the ending of this book and was glad that I went back and revisited it. I recommend this book but warn anyone that reads it that that it is very graphic about the animal attacks.
8. Grace Against the Clock by Julie Hyzy:
9. Grace Cries Uncle by Julie Hyzy:
10. The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells:
♥♥♥♥ 4/5. I had never read this classic before. I chose it because my library is having a contest of kids vs adults for the month of March on who will read the most classics. :) I decided that the subject the invisible man has always fascinated me so I thought I would read the original version. I must admit that I was pretty surprised. I enjoyed the book but the ending kind of shocked me. I don't know why really because it totally made sense but I guess I just wasn't expecting it. Another thing that I really liked about the book was the afterward that was added by Scott something or another. Sorry. I forgot to write his name down. It talked about the correlation between the invisibility of the invisible man and how the Internet is like that today. That the anonymity of how the internet works allows people to act other then they would in polite society. They feel that because they are "invisible" that they are accountable for their actions and do and say anything they want. It actually gave me a lot to think about. The only reason that I gave this a 4 and not a 5 was because some of the old English low grammar was really trying and I spent a lot of time having to decipher what some of the characters were saying.
11. Delusion in Death by J.D. Robb:
♥♥♥♥♥ 5/5 Another in the series of In Death books by JD Robb. As always I love these stories. This one is about a person that is causing mass murders. 100s of people are being killed. Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her crew of cops have to solve the case before anymore victims are killed. These books are once again very graphic and intense and get inside the killer's head.
12. New York to Dallas by J.D. Robb:
♥♥♥♥ 4/5. This is an in between book in the In Death series. It has to do with a case that personally affects Lt Eve Dallas. You don't have to read this book to keep up on the series but it helps to understand the background of the main character, Eve. The only reason I am rating this book a 4 instead of a 5 is because the subject matter haunted me a little and I was bothered by it.
13. Spells and Scones by Bailey Cates:
♥♥♥♥ 4/5. This is a new find by me. I've never read this author's books before and stumbled upon it by accident when looking through the library and what was available. Just randomly walking up and down the aisles. This is a pretty good book and I am going to look into finding more of her stories. I like this book because even though it is a magic book the character doesn't go into details of the spells. Sometimes that makes me a little wary to be honest when I see that and I feel like I should skip over those parts in books. This book just says she is doing a "protection spell".. but doesn't give all the chanting bits. Which makes me very much more at ease since I like the actual storyline. I like that the main character, Katie owns a bakery/cafe and I enjoy hearing about her and her employees making different bake goods.
14. From Away by Deke Mackey Jr:
♥♥♥♥♥ 5/5. This is the fith installment of a story that I found on Bookbub. It says it is an arcane horror. Which I have no idea what that means. I know that arcane means understood by few but I'm not having any trouble understanding what it going on. I did find out that Eldritch is an old english word meaning "otherwordly". That is an accurate description. It's kind of twilight zoney feeling. But it is grisly at times. If you don't like fantasy horrors then don't read this book.
15. Zoo by Tara Elizabeth:
♥♥♥♥ 4/5 This is a really good book. I read a sample of this book last quarter and didn't have time to read it. I decided to buy this book and read it this quarter. It was a very good book. It is set in the future and is about a zoo that is filled with humans on exhibit from different eras in history. These are humans that were pulled from death scenes in their time. They were "taken" when they were in the process of dieing and their bodies were replaced by inanimate clones. This story is about the people living in the zoo and what they go through and how they want to escape.
16. The Registry by Shannon Stoker:
♥♥♥ 3/5 I liked this book but it wasn't as good as the sample it made it out to be. The first few chapters really got my interest and I was really into it but the more I got into the book the less I liked the way the story went. It actually went a far different way then I had envisioned. In this book girls are auctioned off as property by their fathers. The money is split between the family and the State.
♥♥♥♥♥ 5/5 I found this book totally by chance. It was literally right inside the door to the library on the "new" shelf. Normally I would have walked past this but the large print caught my eye. I read the back of the book and it sounded like a interesting story so I decided to give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I loved it. The story line is mystery but it's a light hearted mystery. There are no graphic descriptions of the victims and they don't go into vivid detail of the autopsy. You get the facts and have to use your imagine. I also like that there is no cuss words or foul language. It's nice not to have to read around F-bombs. Also I like that the small bit of romance is low-key.
♥♥ I couldn't finish this book. I just loved the way it sounded when I read it on the back of the book but when I got into it, I couldn't keep my attention focused.
♥♥♥♥♥ 5/5. I totally loved this story. Once again I am reminded why Nora Roberts is one of my favorite authors. I liked this book so much that I actually got it three times this quarter. First I read the book which I borrowed from the library. Then I liked it so much that I decided to borrow the book on CD version that is pictured here. I loved hearing the story in this format. After I finished it I liked the book even more. Hearing the different character voices and the way they turned what I had read into a movie in my head I went out and purchased an electronic version of this book from Audible.com for my own . I highly recommend this book. Other then the actual story line I learned a lot about how to correctly train dogs and how they learn and "see" things. It was educational and entertaining. Not only did I get a thoroughly enjoyable time from the book but I also got some really great tips that I was able to use immediately with my own three dogs. I guess I should say that this book is about a woman that trains search and rescue dogs. But she is also the sole survivor of a serial killer. The serial killer was arrested and sent to prison because of her. Now even though he is in jail there is another series of murders that have started taking place with the same M.O.
♥♥♥♥♥ 5/5 Another really good book by James Patterson. This is not the first time that I've listened or read this book. I just decided to relisten to it because I was binge watching Zoo on Netflix and I wanted to remember the differences between what I was watching and what the actual book was about. I have to admit that I like the book better then the tv/netflix series. It kind of drives me crazy when they totally change the story line of a book when they move it to a visual format. This book is about a world (our world) when all the mammals start attacking and killing human beings and a team of people trying to figure out why it is happening and if there is a way to stop it. I had totally forgot the ending of this book and was glad that I went back and revisited it. I recommend this book but warn anyone that reads it that that it is very graphic about the animal attacks.
♥♥♥♥ 4/5. I had never read this classic before. I chose it because my library is having a contest of kids vs adults for the month of March on who will read the most classics. :) I decided that the subject the invisible man has always fascinated me so I thought I would read the original version. I must admit that I was pretty surprised. I enjoyed the book but the ending kind of shocked me. I don't know why really because it totally made sense but I guess I just wasn't expecting it. Another thing that I really liked about the book was the afterward that was added by Scott something or another. Sorry. I forgot to write his name down. It talked about the correlation between the invisibility of the invisible man and how the Internet is like that today. That the anonymity of how the internet works allows people to act other then they would in polite society. They feel that because they are "invisible" that they are accountable for their actions and do and say anything they want. It actually gave me a lot to think about. The only reason that I gave this a 4 and not a 5 was because some of the old English low grammar was really trying and I spent a lot of time having to decipher what some of the characters were saying.
♥♥♥♥♥ 5/5 Another in the series of In Death books by JD Robb. As always I love these stories. This one is about a person that is causing mass murders. 100s of people are being killed. Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her crew of cops have to solve the case before anymore victims are killed. These books are once again very graphic and intense and get inside the killer's head.
♥♥♥♥ 4/5. This is an in between book in the In Death series. It has to do with a case that personally affects Lt Eve Dallas. You don't have to read this book to keep up on the series but it helps to understand the background of the main character, Eve. The only reason I am rating this book a 4 instead of a 5 is because the subject matter haunted me a little and I was bothered by it.13. Spells and Scones by Bailey Cates:
♥♥♥♥ 4/5. This is a new find by me. I've never read this author's books before and stumbled upon it by accident when looking through the library and what was available. Just randomly walking up and down the aisles. This is a pretty good book and I am going to look into finding more of her stories. I like this book because even though it is a magic book the character doesn't go into details of the spells. Sometimes that makes me a little wary to be honest when I see that and I feel like I should skip over those parts in books. This book just says she is doing a "protection spell".. but doesn't give all the chanting bits. Which makes me very much more at ease since I like the actual storyline. I like that the main character, Katie owns a bakery/cafe and I enjoy hearing about her and her employees making different bake goods.
14. From Away by Deke Mackey Jr:
♥♥♥♥♥ 5/5. This is the fith installment of a story that I found on Bookbub. It says it is an arcane horror. Which I have no idea what that means. I know that arcane means understood by few but I'm not having any trouble understanding what it going on. I did find out that Eldritch is an old english word meaning "otherwordly". That is an accurate description. It's kind of twilight zoney feeling. But it is grisly at times. If you don't like fantasy horrors then don't read this book.
♥♥♥♥ 4/5 This is a really good book. I read a sample of this book last quarter and didn't have time to read it. I decided to buy this book and read it this quarter. It was a very good book. It is set in the future and is about a zoo that is filled with humans on exhibit from different eras in history. These are humans that were pulled from death scenes in their time. They were "taken" when they were in the process of dieing and their bodies were replaced by inanimate clones. This story is about the people living in the zoo and what they go through and how they want to escape.
♥♥♥ 3/5 I liked this book but it wasn't as good as the sample it made it out to be. The first few chapters really got my interest and I was really into it but the more I got into the book the less I liked the way the story went. It actually went a far different way then I had envisioned. In this book girls are auctioned off as property by their fathers. The money is split between the family and the State.
sounds like a great swap. i enjoyed your 2 reviews. makes me want to go find the books. hopefully you get the one back and can finish it, or start over and finish.
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