Nomad Scry

The characterizations are even stronger in this one, and I laughed out loud close to a dozen times at the various witty things Ish said or thought. Considering the level of improvement from Quarter Share to Half Share, I can't wait to start the next book. Eee!

Deliciously vile. I don't normally enjoy zombie novels, but Dead Mech is so disgusting and screwed up that it transcends its genre and becomes the same sort of mesmerizing glorification of filth that the True Blood tv show excels at.

After a long, slow start, The Hunger Games really pays off. I had some niggling issues with the oversimplification of the various districts, though the big creepy thing that happen at the end of the book show that the tech sophistication is high enough to force an unnatural focus onto the districts. I really liked the strength of the various characterizations.

I can't say this without some story specific spoilers, so... forewarned.

I didn't like the pretend love triangle angle to the story. When one of the boys is first introduced, it seemed pretty clear to me that he was in the big brother role. Either Kat displayed no romantic feelings toward Gale or I just completely missed it. Either way, I feel like story of Kat and Gale is boring and that Kat and Peeta make a much more interesting and emotionally charged story. I mean that in the sense that, if these characters were actual real life people, I expect that the two hunters would fall together naturally. They are already too compatible to push each other to new levels of growth, while Peeta is SO different from Kat, his source of strength comes from a totally different font, that the two of them would really be intense.

One last thing, and I'm not sure if this is a good thing, a bad thing, or just a thing. When I finished the book, I was done. I'm not left with a feeling of itching longing to find out what happens next to Kat. The story is done and I am satisfied. I don't know if I am ever going to make the effort to continue the rest of the trilogy because I am all set. That can't be a good thing for the first book, right?

My 8 month old likes the pictures, but prefers the “eating factor” of several of her other books.

I only picked up Feed because I found out that it was written pseudononymously by a fantasy author whose short stories I've found very stirring. I should have known that my personal apathy towards zombie tales would overcome good writing and good storytelling. I think it's because I somehow consider zombies to be comedic fodder.

The only other thing that I could possibly complain about in Feed was the idea that bloggers would still be some newfangled illegitimate newsies thirty years in the future. I know I'm ahead of the curve, but blogs are old-hat to me. I get 99% of my news from Twitter and blogs, so how could bloggers fail to be mainstream that far into the future? Maybe that's one of the problems of writing near future fiction. By the time the book reaches the masses, your predictions for the future are actually already old news.

But, enough about me and my foibles.

If it weren't for me getting in the way of my own enjoyment, Feed was a neat story with a pretty cool take on the zombie origins. I think my favorite parts were the sections in between chapters where George and the other “After the End Times” crew had mini-articles. The tone and musings were really cool. And the twist that isn't a twist, that was great. I am not spoiling a damn thing, but that was great. I probably should have seen it coming, but I didn't and it got me but good.

Basically, if you like zombie stuff, this is one of the better zombie stories I've read. That said, I don't read much zombie fiction, so my opinion is probably useless. Sorry.

(I'd read some discussion of an incestuous relationship between the siblings, and I gotta say I didn't see that at all. George, especially, struck me as “merely” asexual.)

I read this as a child, so while I recall enjoying the book, I have basically no memory for the characters or plot.

This was a great read by a great reader. I keep hearing Dresden's voice in my head, hours after I finished listening. My three favorite things were [no spoilers] the smoking gentleman, the concept of what Dresden initially thought the big bad was, and the ambiguity of the last line of the book. My only real complaint goes back to the “Hey, wait a minute” way I felt about Micheal just showing up. I think I understand why, given how much more enjoyable I found this book compared to the first two. Dresden, wearily and sneakily, doing the right thing and being contrasted sharply against Micheal, also doing the right thing, albeit in a righteous and upright manner, really made the book for me.

I'm looking forward to reading (okay, listening to) the next one, and I don't think I'm going to wait a year in between.

A children's bedtime story book... for parents. This is a perfect book for that night when your teething toddler or colicky infant won't stop fussing, won't stop crying, won't go to sleep.

I'm reluctant to rate this one. There were some rather confusing typos and word omissions in the version I read, and the overall story failed to grab my interest. That said, I think that the story was well told, and if I can get an updated file, I'll share the story with my son. I think he may appreciate it a lot more than I did.

One of the few, if not the only, books that has actually scared me.

I really enjoyed both the story and the reading.

I read this as a young teen. There is a scene, involving a cave, that has stuck with me ever since. For me, that scene is what elevates this story over the earlier Three Musketeers.

Another good one from Gamblin. I have a feeling that, like Tumbler, I will like it even more after it's settled into me for a while.

I'm not sure what to say about this one. I had a really hard time getting into the story for perhaps the first hour and half. Part of that was the odd narrative structure and part of it was the recording. The narration itself was fine, but the recording was too close, too bass-y, too ... soft? I could hear but not understand what was being said, unless I raised the volume considerably. Eventually I started listening at double speed and found that made my comprehension a lot easier.

As for the story itself, without giving anything away, once I'd raced to the end, if felt like a short story. Blindsight is a full and complete story and yet it is just a snapshot of a time and place. I was pretty satisfied with the way everything was wrapped up until the narrator started putting a fable-ish ending on things... and suddenly I was wondering what the point was. Did anything that just happened actually have any real impact on the universe?

So, I liked Blindsight but it sure wasn't an easy read by any stretch.

While there was a lot to like about Geist, I think the best thing I can say about it is that it is an absolute page-turner. I expected a good story from Ballantine, and I sure got it.

I had a lot of fun with this story and am looking forward to reading the sequel.

It's been nearly twenty years since I read Moby Dick so I really don't remember much. Just two main things, really.

1. The tattoo guy? Pretty freakin' cool.
2. Entire chapters of blah blah blah... I'm sorry, what where we talking about?

I'm pretty sure that if I had read some children's abridged version of Moby Dick, I would have enjoyed the storytelling a lot more. As it is, the story is derailed entirely by the insertion of essays throughout.

I will not be purchasing a copy to share with my children.

Horror just isn't my thing. I think Rossi did a good job of telling a Clive Barker-esque tale that was disturbing and creepy and wonderful, but when I express my dissatisfaction with the way the ending wrapped up... I think it has less to do with the quality of the story told and more to do with the kind stories that I enjoy. Because I really didn't like the ending. It left me annoyed.That said, I was definitely reminded of [b:Weaveworld 52640 Weaveworld Clive Barker http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31XY3DV297L.SL75.jpg 942564] (Barker) and [b:Shade of the Tree 15471 Shade of the Tree Piers Anthony http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166672987s/15471.jpg 17339] (Anthony), both of which I enjoyed.

The text is entertaining (in a pompous “1337er than thou” way) but the code examples seriously needed an editor; they are wrong more often than not.

One of my favorite strange fantasy novels.

I giggled through at least half of the book. Sadly, my ten year old most merely amused by it.

Scattered thoughts: I didn't realize this was a second book and while I normally prefer to jump in cold, I was a bit overwhelmed with the number of characters and story threads going on.

There is a sex scene that doesn't fit the tone of the book and really feels like a stopgap measure to make the book fit in more with the Urban Fantasy genre.

I think that the main problem with this book, and the reason that I found it in the bin at an “Odd Lot” store, is the cover. The cover is wretched. If I had not already read this author, I would never have picked up the book. The cover screams cheap and confused, which is surprising considering that the publisher is Tor.

This is the reason that I read Pratchett. Everything else is good, but this is, in the words of Tony the Tiger, G-G-G-GREAT!!!

Despite some initial suspicions because the story felt like a second book, not a first, I was pleasantly surprised by just how nicely the end ended.

A fast and pleasant read with lots of room to allow for future stories, though I'm not certain I will make the effort to find those stories when they come.

Overly simplified, the core idea of this book is silly. So I prefer not to simplify or spoil this one and simply say, “Read it.”