What I'm Currently Reading...

It's one of those days where I feel like writing a blog post, but I don't really have anything to write about. I haven't got any book reviews ready, it's not a day for any of the weekly memes I have previously participated in, it's not quite the end of the month, and I just did a quarterly update last month... What to do?

 

So I thought I might just let anyone who is reading this know what I am currently reading!

 

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How to Stop Time by Matt Haig

 

I started reading this book at the end of March. It didn't immediately grab my attention, so I set it aside and read a couple others in the meantime, but I am still saying I'm "currently" reading it because I do plan on finishing it soon.

 

The premise intrigued me. It has a sort of The Time Traveler's Wife and The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August vibe to it. I am drawn to stories about time travel, reincarnation, regeneration, so this sounded like the perfect book for me. The story is about Tom Hazard who has a rare condition: he ages at an extremely slow rate. The story alternates between Tom's present and his past as he relives the tragedies and heartaches that brought him to this point.

 

 

 

Death Du Jour by Kathy Reichs

 

This is the second book in the Temperance Brennan series (the inspiration for the TV show Bones). I liked the TV show very much, and decided to collect and read the books which inspired it. I have most of the series (with the exception of some of the newer titles) and read the first book probably five years ago.

 

I remember thinking at the time that the book was not like the TV show, and that it was a bit darker than I had expected, but then years passed and I couldn't remember why I hadn't read more. It's starting to come back to me... At this point in my life, it's not the writing style or the dark content that is a turnoff, it really is just how different the books are from the show. Basically the only similarities are the main character's name (Temperance Brennan), occupation (forensic anthropologist), and her romantic involvement with the detective with whom she works.

 

 

Book Reviews: February Reads!

Checking in with February's reads! So I've finished the Armand Gamache series, except for the most recent book which I do not yet own. So that's The Brutal Telling and Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny. Great reads. I think that The Brutal Telling was my favourite of all the books, although Bury Your Dead continued the story and was also very interesting.


Next I read The Radleys by Matt Haig. It's a story about a family of English non-practicing vampires (meaning they don't drink blood or kill people). The only problem with this is that the 2 children, Rowan and Clara don't actually know that they're vampires, which becomes a problem when Clara decides to be vegan and refuses to eat any animal proteins. She gets really sick. Then the unthinkable happens, and Peter and Helen must tell their children the truth. In the panic of the situation, Peter calls his vampire brother, Will, to come help them. Will is a practicing vampire, and he's very much in love with Helen. Some interesting twists and turns happen resulting in Rowan having to take some drastic actions to save their family and others, but everything, of course, works out in the end.


The next book I read was Cinder by Marissa Meyer, part of a new series called The Lunar Chronicles. This was such a good read, and a fun, futuristic retelling of the old fairy tale (Cinderella). It takes place in the distant future (after World War IV) in New Beijing. Cinder is a 16 year old cyborg mechanic - the best in New Beijing. Cyborgs are outcasts and Cinder's only friends are her android Iko and her step sister Peony. Cinder was adopted at the age of 11 by Linh Garan, who shortly thereafter died of the plague that has been spreading thru the world ever since, leaving Cinder in the care of his wife Adri and their 2 daughters Pearl and Peony. Adri treats Cinder like a slave and property to do with as she pleases. So when Peony ends up with the plague, Adri's first reaction is to "volunteer" Cinder for the cyborg draft to find a cure. It doesn't turn out quite the way she had planned, and when you throw His Imperial Highness Prince Kai into the mix of things... it gets interesting. :) Cinder is not who she - or anybody else - thinks she is...


That's it so far! I'm up to 9 books and we are 8 weeks into the year, so I'm doing really well at this point, with that goal. Check in again next month... happy reading!