Month: May 2016

May 26, 2016

Okay… I get it! The Raven Cycle.

I voiced in my last blog post that I was concerned about whether The Raven Cycle had been too built up for me in the social media bookiverse.  At the release of the final book my Instagram was FLOODED with images upon images of The Raven King.  It’s what got me curious and what got the four books ordered and places in my TBR pile (presumptuous, maybe?)  What if I read and HATED the first book?

Well the verdict is in.  The first book is completed and I loved it.  For the purposes of full disclosure I didn’t know that I loved it until pretty late in the book.  There was a grouping of chapters that sold me (I won’t spoil for those who haven’t read the first book yet – or is – er- was it only me?) toward the middle-end of the book.  Until about page 250 I was fully prepared to write a blog post stating that I flat out did not get the appeal, then proceed to see if Amazon loved me and my Prime account enough to work out a return/buy back option.  But alas that is not necessary.

I am excited to finish the series, and thankful I don’t have to wait for the next three books.  They’re all settled on my bedside table just waiting to be picked up.

Because I don’t read anything in true order and want to give a semblance of having to wait to read a series the plan is to read 3 ebooks before I pick up book 2 of ‘The Raven Cycle’.

As far as recommendations go- bookstagram, 1 – my concern, 0.

You win.  And I thank you for it.

May 23, 2016

I’ve started ‘The Raven Cycle’ and I’m petrified.

You know that feeling when you’ve started something new and you’re excited about the possibilities?  I’m there, but I’m also very much not there.  I fear that Bookstagram as a whole may have ruined this series for me before I even start it and through no fault of its own… really.

It’s just that bookish social media has a tendency to become a breeding ground for high expectations- and when those expectations pan out it’s wonderful.  When they don’t?  Well… it’s upsetting.

This is true of anything, of course.  You have a favorite TV Show but your co-worker doesn’t “get it” and thus forcing you to keep from gushing by the water cooler.

It just so happened that my diving into Bookstagram coincided with the release of the final ‘Raven Cycle’ book.  Everywhere I scrolled there was someone else saying something wonderful about the series.  It quickly got moved from my hefty Amazon wishlist to my Amazon shopping card to my endless TBR book pile.  This week I decided to have that ‘The Raven Boys’ be my next book.

I started it late last week and I do enjoy it, but the fear that I’ll never enjoy it as much as I was lead to believe I would is haunting me during the read.

Sigh…. expectations!

May 19, 2016

Book Review: ‘After Her’ by Joyce Maynard

From Goodreads:

It’s the summer of 1979, and a dry, hot, northern California school vacation stretches ahead for Rachel and her younger sister Patty-the daughters a larger-than-life, irresistibly handsome and chronically unfaithful detective father who loves to make women happy, and the mother whose heart he broke.

Left to their own devices, the inseparable sisters spend their days studying record jackets, concocting elaborate fantasies about the life of the mysterious neighbor who moves in down the street, and playing dangerous games on the mountain that rises up behind their house.

When young women start showing up dead on the mountain, the girls’ father is charged with finding the man responsible, known as The Sunset Strangler. Seeing her father’s life slowly unravel when he fails to stop the murders, Rachel embarks on her most dangerous game yet: setting herself up as bait to catch the killer, with consequences that will destroy her father’s career and alter the lives of everyone she loves.

It is not until thirty years later that Rachel, who has never given up hope of vindicating her father, finally smokes out the killer, bringing her back to the territory of her childhood, and uncovering a long-buried family secret.

As with her novel, Labor Day, Maynard’s newest work is part thriller, part love story, Loosely inspired by the Trailside Killer case that terrorized Marin County in the late seventies, her tale delves deep into the alternately thrilling and terrifying landscape of a young girl’s first explorations of adult sexuality and the loss of innocence, the bond between sisters-and into a daughter’s tender but damaged relationship with her father, and what it is to finally trust a man.

My review:

I gave this book 3/5

You know when you read a book, and although you don’t hate it (not by a long shot) it just doesn’t ever really get to where you feel it should have been able to get to.

The best part of the entire book exists in the nuanced and caring  relationship between the sisters Rachel & Patty.  It also breathes in the relationship between the two girls and their hard at work,  womanizing (but well meaning) but emotionally wrought father.

While the parts of the book dedicated to the girls growing up are substantial, the ending and what is supposed to be the “payoff” seems rushed and doesn’t quite deliver in the way the synopsis promised.  Not that I would want or need this book to be longer, just better balanced.

May 18, 2016

Bookstagram. #mybooklife

I’m a recent subscriber to the world of Bookstagram and I find it invigorating, interesting and confounding all at once.

When I signed up for an Instagram account that I was dedicating specifically to all things books and book adjacent (shameless plug – username booknerdcred) I didn’t really know what I was getting into.  I love looking at artistic pictures of books, I love scrolling through and seeing book recommendations.  My Amazon wish list has grown a crazy amount since deciding about a month ago that I wanted to share my book life with people.

As much as I love to see well thought out, staged, well lit photos.  I also really like the photos that are basically “I was at the park today and this is what I was reading” or “you know I showed you I was reading xyz yesterday – I’m on chapter 23 today!  How great is that!?!?!”  I love to see peoples book lives.  Which isn’t always lovely (and that’s ok).

Recently in NY (where I live) Spring has decided well… not to spring.  Most days have been gloomy, rainy, cloudy or some mixture of the three.  No great lighting here, but I still read and I still love it.  From the comfort of my bed at 7am on a Sunday or 1am on a Tuesday.

I want to see all the great shots of books.  There are so many people who are more artistic than I will ever be – so I’ll leave that to them.

I’ll continue to share #mybooklife – as not glamorous as it is, join me!

May 16, 2016

Making TBR a game…

My TBR list is admittedly ridiculous.  I have about 200 unread physical copies of books and 300+ on the Kindle.  I have started giving my friends number choices.  My Kindle currently has 56 pages of books, 6 books on a page.  I make my friends choose two numbers and the corresponding book is what I read next.  This way my emotions don’t get in the way of it.  I can’t think to myself “oh by I just read a mystery” or “really? A romance?”  I feel like it’s almost foolproof.  Almost.

Under this I read ‘Saving Grace’ (What Doesn’t Kill You, Book #1) by Pamela Fagan Hutchins- which I’d give 2.5 of 5 stars (review below) to and my current read ‘After Her’ by Joyce Maynard which I think might be about to break my heart.

I am focusing on this method to get my TBR list down to manageable.  Wish me luck.

Saving Grace – What Doesn’t Kill You, Book #1

by Pamela Fagan Hutchins

From Goodreads:

Katie Connell is a high-strung attorney whose sloppy drinking habits and stunted love life collide hilariously in a doomed celebrity case in Dallas. When she flees Texas for the Caribbean, Katie escapes professional humiliation, a broken heart, and a wicked Bloody Mary habit, but she trades one set of problems for another when she begins to investigate the suspicious deaths of her parents on the island of St. Marcos. She’s bewitched by the voodoo spirit of an abandoned house in the rainforest and discovers that she’s as much a danger to herself as the island’s bad guys are. As the worst of her worlds collide, Katie drags herself back to the courthouse to defend her new friend Ava, an island local accused of stabbing the senator she’s been sleeping with.

Pamela Fagan Hutchins, a former attorney and native Texan, lived in the U.S. Virgin Islands for nearly ten years. 

There are pieces of this book that made me really really like the main character.  I can appreciate the premise of someone feeling broken and beat down and their need to hit reset on their life.  Who hasn’t had a thought along those lines?  I liked the idea of being enchanted by a house and the spirit within it.  All of these pieces are great parts of a potential story.

I think that there is potential for the characters to pull together (Katie is someone to cheer for) and make this a good series.  It’s debating whether or not the first book gave me enough to go back and revisit this motley crew through two more books and a novella.

To push through or not to push through that is the question.