Guys, I fear my actual reading of books may be at an end! Lol. That's totally an exaggeration, but I feel like the only sitting and reading time I have is for my own books/writing or beta reading other people's work. Sigh. I'm so so SO glad audiobooks exist! Maybe I just need to save my actual book reading for the summer by the pool.
I'm changing up the format of Book Chat a little to just talk about what I read, not what I'm reading, and I plan to do one at the end of every month. So let's go!
This one had a very slow start and she didn't even meet the other main character until the 30% mark. I think, if I hadn't been into all the Japanese mythological elements, it would've been a hard sell. But I did love all the quiet moments and the adventure! I recommend this one if you love Japan, the stories of their mythological creatures, and an interesting take on destiny.
AN UNWELCOME QUEST by Scott Meyer
I actually listened to this one in January but forgot to include it! It was one of the ones I rushed to listen to before I canceled my KU membership. It was funny and quirky, just like the other books in the series. The story made me laugh out loud while emptying the dishwasher. Lol. Such great narration! Luke Daniels has become a favorite narrator at this point. I want to listen to more by him.
This was so, so good, and so heart-breaking too. I loved that we got to see all of the characters from Alice in Wonderland before they were the way they were. The Madhatter before he was mad. The White Rabbit. The tiny king. And especially Catherine before she became the Queen of Hearts. The narration on this was PERFECTION. Rebecca Soler is a master of voices! She did them all so perfectly, and in the way you would hear them from the Disney movie too. I was so charmed. I listened to this one feverishly, setting aside podcasts so I could concentrate on this alone. It was marvelous. Marissa Meyer strikes again! She's becoming one of my favorite YA authors. I can't wait for my kids to read her books someday.
I'm making it a point to read all the successful authors in sci-fi and Daniel Arenson is right at the top. Military sci-fi has become enormously popular over the last two years, indies filling in the gaps traditional publishing has left behind. I'm friends with Daniel on FB and his posts are so inspiring and thought-provoking. I knew I'd have to read his books! This series is a steal if you buy the ebook and get the audio via WhisperSync which I've been doing. The story is quite thrilling and brutal at the same time, aliens like giant centipedes called The Scum have torn Earth to pieces and we follow Marco through this basic training in the military. I loved all the characters that surrounded him. My favorite was Beast, who couldn't help but compare everything to Russia. Lol. I did laugh out loud listening as I walked through the park. The narrator had the Russian accent down pat. Hahahaha. Anyway, the ending was heart-breaking but realistic. The setting was rough too. I felt like I was at boot camp, sweating and suffering! But I knew what I was in for when I decided to pick up the series. I've read John Scalzi's OLD MAN'S WAR books and this was somewhat similar. Not for the faint of heart! But my heart is made of coal anyway, so I loved it. ;)
And that's it! I'll be back at the end of March for more chatting about books!
