Top 5 Wednesday - Friends Groups

Top 5 Wednesday was created by Gingereadslainey on booktube and can also be found on goodreads.  The link is located here.  This week's topic is Top 5 Futuristic books. This week's topic is the Top 5 Friend Groups I would like to be a part of.  This took some thought but I think I came up with a pretty good list, although they really are in no particular order.

5.  I am sure lots of people will include this choice but who wouldn't want to hang around with Harry, Ron and Hermoine?  Also, all of the side characters and creatures they encounter would be a plus as well. 

4.  I think it would be a blast to hang around the characters from the Veronica Mars books, especially Veronica and Mac. They have such great, snarky personalities.

3.  The group from Kim Harrison's Hollow series.  This might seem like a dangerous pick, as there is always something supernatural going on and someone is always in danger, but there would never be a dull moment with Rachel, Ivy, Jenks, Trent, Algaliarept.

2.  The gang of friends from the Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts books. This really isn't a series, but there are four book who center around the same group of people.  They live in a quaint fictional  Midlands town of Longhampton.  The characters have real life problems but they can always rely on each other and many of them also have a canine companion who is front and center in their lives - I can relate.

1.  And last but not least, I would most like to be friends with the individuals from Anne Bishop's The Others series.  I am reading an eARC of the newest book which comes out on the March 3rd and it only makes me long for more time and stories revolving around this wonderful group of friends.  While Meg is the main character, and she is so new to the world that dealing with her at times would be tricky, she has a wonderful cast of supporting characters - Simon, Nathan, Sam, Skippy, Henry, the Ponies, Merri Lee, Monty, Tess, Erebus and the list goes on and on.  It would be really interesting to have friends who consist of bear, wolf and crow shifters, vampires, humans (who are the minority - thank heavens) and ponies who control the weather.  With winter being what it is, I could definitely use that ability in friends right now!

So who is on your list?

Stacking the Shelves (3)

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!  The original meme was started over at Tynga's Reviews.





Jinn and Juice (The Jinni #1): Nicole Peeler
Shutter: Courtney Alameda
Providence Unveiled (Memory's Wake Trilogy #3): Selina Fenech
Anomoly (Shrodinger's Consortium #1): Tonya Kuper
Hellbender (Fangborn #3): Dana Cameron (From Netgalley - Thanks 47 North!)
Sea of Stars (Kricket #2): Amy A. Bartol (From Netgalley - Thanks 47 North!)
Servants of the Storm: Delilah S. Dawson
The Cat's Maw (The Shadowland Saga Vol. 1) : Brooke Burgess (From Netgalley - Thanks Bookbuzz Net!)

Just a small haul this week, and all of them are digital.  However, I have some holds at the library to pick up Sunday, so next's weeks might be a lot larger.  Thanks for stopping by and maybe you will see something that might tempt you.  Please comment and leave a link so I can observe your haul.

The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man and T's first book comments!

TITLES:The Midnight Dog of the Repo Man (novella) and The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man
AUTHOR: W. Bruce Cameron
PUBLISHER: Forge Books
PUBLISHING DATE: September 20, 2014 and October 28, 2014 (out now)

FROM GOODREADS:
Midnight Dog - This short story introduces former college football star turned repo man Ruddy McCann, star of W. Bruce Cameron’s new novel The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man, and tells how Ruddy met his best friend Jake, a lazy but lovable basset hound, during a repo gone wrong.

Full of laugh-out-loud humor and thrilling adventure, The Midnight Dog of the Repo Man is a page-turning, delightful short story by the author of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling A Dog’s Purpose, A Dog’s Journey, and The Dogs of Christmas that shows us that unconditional love is just a tail wag away and can happen upon us when we least expect it.

Midnight Plan: 
Ruddy McCann, former college football star, has experienced a seismic drop in popularity; he is now Kalkaska, Michigan’s full-time repo man and part-time bar bouncer. His best friend is his low-energy Basset hound Jake, with whom he shares a simple life of stealing cars.

Simple, that is, until Ruddy starts hearing a voice in his head.

The voice introduces himself as Alan Lottner, a dead realtor. Ruddy isn’t sure if Alan is real, or if he’s losing his mind. To complicate matters, it turns out Katie, the girl he’s fallen for, is Alan’s daughter.

When Alan demands Ruddy find his murderers, Ruddy decides a voice in your head seeking vengeance is best ignored.  When Alan also demands he clean up his act, and apartment, Ruddy tells him to back off, but where can a voice in your head go?

With a sweet romance, a murder mystery, a lazy but loyal dog and a town full of cabin-fevered characters you can’t help but love, New York Times bestselling novelist W. Bruce Cameron’s The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man is yet another laugh-out-loud, keep-you-up-late, irresistible read. 

MY THOUGHTS:


You don't have to read the novella first, but it is such a nice lead-in to how Jake came to be in Ruddy's life and it provides a great introduction to Ruddy.  If anything, it actually makes you more excited to start the book.

There were so many things I loved about this book, I really don't know where to start. First of all, the story was great. Ruddy is a down on his luck repo man and part-time bouncer at the family bar. Murphy's Law could use Ruddy as a poster child. Throughout the book, he gets into all kinds of predicaments, including waking one day with the voice of Alan, a man who died 8 years ago, in his head. This books is mainly about solving Alan's murder, and Ruddy spends a large part of the book wondering if he is going to lose his mind, but there are enough side stories going on which make it hard to put the book down.

Next, I loved the characters. Ruddy is so darn likable and even though you are led to believe he has done some wrong things in his past, you can't imagine any of them were done intentionally. He adopted his best friend Jake after finding him in the trunk of one of his repos. A man who loves dogs - way to my heart! Ruddy has a soft spot for his sister Becky, who also drives him crazy, and several other zany characters show up from time to time in the book. However, that is not to say that Ruddy isn't at time irritating himself, and at times I wished someone would just smack him in his head. This doesn't make the book any less enjoyable, it just makes it more real. Cameron created a wonderful world in which these people live, work and interact. I could actually see myself being friends with these people, which may say something about me, but who wouldn't want to get to know a couple constantly trying to get rich quick, an immature guy named Kermit and a goose named Doris.

I own several of Cameron's works and have never read them - I know as dog stories they have to be sad at some point and I have to gear myself up for that. I am so glad I grabbed this book when I saw it at the library. I can see it joining my collection on my bookshelves soon. The very end of the book hinted at another story involving Ruddy, Jake and the rest of the crazy clan and I for one can't wait.

RATING: 5 PAWS

 BOOKER T'S RATING: 4 PAWS

Let me tell you a short story.  When I first came to live at the farm, I lived with my older brother Cooper who is now gone.  He used to have a girlfriend who lived down the street - a Basset named Sadie.  Because of this, I loved Jake.  Cooper would buy Sadie presents and we would visit her on walks and she was as brokenhearted when he left us as our family.  Jake is a great dog.  He is a wonderful character in the book.  Ruddy saved Jake from a stupid owner and quickly made him his best friend.  Jake gets to go on car rides, sleep all day, and even rests in bed (just like me and Cassius).  There is only one issue I can find with Jake and that is that he doesn't like walks.  I can't imagine - I love them and so does Cassius.  I know Jake is a tad older but in my dog opinion, that is not normal.  That is the only reason Jake only received 4 paws instead of 5 paws from me.

 

Book Review - Sweet Unrest

TITLE: Sweet Unrest
AUTHOR: Lisa Maxwell
PUBLISHER: Flux
PUBLISHING DATE: October 8, 2014 (out now)

FROM GOODREADS: Lucy Aimes has always been practical. But try as she might, she can’t come up with a logical explanation for the recurring dreams that have always haunted her. Dark dreams. Dreams of a long-ago place filled with people she shouldn’t know…but does.

When her family moves to a New Orleans plantation, Lucy’s dreams become more intense, and her search for answers draws her reluctantly into the old city’s world of Voodoo and mysticism. There, Lucy finds Alex, a mysterious boy who behaves as if they’ve known each other forever. Lucy knows Alex is hiding something, and her rational side doesn’t want to be drawn to him. But she is.

As she tries to uncover Alex’s secrets, a killer strikes close to home, and Lucy finds herself ensnared in a century-old vendetta. With the lives of everyone she loves in danger, Lucy will have to unravel the mystery of her dreams before it all comes to a deadly finish.

MY THOUGHTS: 
I wanted to like this book, I tried to like this book, and in the end, I liked SOME elements of this book. I think part of the problem is I never really connected with Lucy and Alex. The character I seemed to like the best was Piers, and he was a minor side character at best. The story was interested enough but fell flat for me. I could not stand the insta-love and while there was definitely a backstory to why it occurred, it didn't help me like it.

Now, there were quite a few things I liked about this book. I love books set in New Orleans and this contained all my buzzwords - Voodoo, cemeteries, dark settings, gothic mansions. I really enjoyed these aspects of the book and they were what kept it interesting to me. Also, the book didn't contain the normal, teen-age, happy, wrapped up in a bow, ending. I found the ending was very satisfying, although I have heard some criticisms about it. I am hoping this is a stand alone read. Even if a continuation does come out, I will not be reading it.

It was a decent debut book from the author and it was well written. The concept was fresh and for these reasons, I felt it deserved 3 stars instead of 2...although I had to seriously consider the rating for a while.

RATING: 3 PAWS

Stacking the Shelves (3)

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!  The original meme was started over at Tynga's Reviews.



This was a minimal week at the farm, or at least there are fewer books than last week - I think?  I guess it was a good idea to stay away from the library this week which definitely helped.  I only purchased one physical copy and the rest landed on my Kindle.

Physical copy:

The One and Only Ivan: Katherine Applegate -  I saw this at Walmart and grabbed it because I have always been interested in checking it out.  And I don't know if all Walmarts are like this, but at mine, you can pretty much guarantee that the same things will not be there at your next visit, whether it is the next day, next week, or next month.  Must be a quantum physics theory of Walmart or something in my area. 

On my Kindle:

The Midnight Dog of the Repo Man: W. Bruce Cameron - Stumbled on this novella accidentally and picked it up because I checked out the new novel from the library and read this was a good intro to the characters.  I already read this and can tell I am in for a wonderful ride this weekend when I start The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man.
The Short Life of Sparrows:Emm Cole - Found this one for free and couldn't pass it up.
The Mermaid's Sister: Carrie Anne Noble - Free Kindle First offer for February.
The Dead Key: D.M. Pulley - A second Kindle First free offer for this month.  Don't know if they are offering 2 each month now instead of 1, but it is definitely a nice perk to being a Prime member.

From Netgalley:



Cleo: Lucy Coats
The Blood Dimmed Tide: Anthony Quinn
Claimed (Servants of Fate #2): Sarah Fine
The Infinite: Lori M. Lee

 And from The Books Machine for review (a division of Amazon)

The Forever Girl: Rebecca Hamilton
Embrace: Cherie Colyer

I want to thank both authors for sending these to me.  What did you guys get this past week?  Have you read any of these?  As usual, the title will take you to the Goodreads descriptions.  Have a great weekend everybody.

PS - Booker T and Cassius say hello and are preparing for the new episode of The Walking Dead Sunday!

Book Review - Seconds

TITLE: Seconds - A Graphic Novel
AUTHOR: Bryan Lee O'Malley
PUBLISHER: Ballantine Books
PUBLISHING DATE: July 15, 2014 (Out now!)

FROM GOODREADS: #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

The highly anticipated new standalone full-color graphic novel from Bryan Lee O’Malley, author and artist of the hugely bestselling Scott Pilgrim graphic novel series

Katie’s got it pretty good. She’s a talented young chef, she runs a successful restaurant, and she has big plans to open an even better one. Then, all at once, progress on the new location bogs down, her charming ex-boyfriend pops up, her fling with another chef goes sour, and her best waitress gets badly hurt. And just like that, Katie’s life goes from pretty good to not so much. What she needs is a second chance. Everybody deserves one, after all—but they don’t come easy. Luckily for Katie, a mysterious girl appears in the middle of the night with simple instructions for a do-it-yourself do-over:

1. Write your mistake
2. Ingest one mushroom
3. Go to sleep
4. Wake anew

And just like that, all the bad stuff never happened, and Katie is given another chance to get things right. She’s also got a dresser drawer full of magical mushrooms—and an irresistible urge to make her life not just good, but perfect. Too bad it’s against the rules. But Katie doesn’t care about the rules—and she’s about to discover the unintended consequences of the best intentions.

From the mind and pen behind the acclaimed Scott Pilgrim series comes a madcap new tale of existential angst, everyday obstacles, young love, and ancient spirits that’s sharp-witted and tenderhearted, whimsical and wise.

MY THOUGHTS:
I haven't had a book this year below a 3 star rating and while that is great, it makes me wonder when the ax is going to fall. That being said, Seconds was ax free. I loved this graphic novel and was so glad when I saw it at my local library as it has been popping up all over booktube.

Seconds tells the story of Katie and her messed up life (as she sees it). I believe Katie is a tad young for a mid-life crisis, but what she is going through sort of resembles one. She is in the process of building a new restaurant, getting over a breakup, and making new friends when she stumbles across a "house elf" who lives in her current restaurant/apartment building. Katie learns she can eat a magic mushroom and actually change something in her past, wake up the next morning and start anew. However, Katie can't stop at one magic mushroom do-over, and she has soon created a bunch of chaos along with inviting some evil spirits in. I am sure I heard about these magic mushrooms in college and I am pretty sure they created similar problems, hmmmmm...

Nonetheless, the title "Seconds" says so many things about this book. Katie is looking to open a new, more exciting second restaurant, which is the cause of a lot of her angst. The name of her first restaurant is Seconds. She keeps having seconds (and thirds and fourths and fifths) of the magic mushrooms and she is constantly looking for a second chance with many of her relationships. There is another second analogy I could insert, but as it is a bit spoilerish, I will just say "Read it yourself!"

The art in the graphic novel, while wonderful and appropriate, can best be described as simplistic. The color tones are primarily oranges, reds, yellows and black with a few pages of purple when the evil gets really ramped up. Looking at this, simplistic isn't really being fair. The art is great, but this book seemed less muddied than some more recently read graphic novels. I have never read the Scott Pilgrim books, and I enjoyed this stand alone. I recommend it to anyone who like great art and a great storyline.

RATING: 4 PAWS

Top 5 Wednesdays - Futuristic books

 Top 5 Wednesday was created by Gingereadslainey on booktube and can also be found on goodreads.  The link is located here.  This week's topic is Top 5 Futuristic books.  This was a hard one for me but here it goes!

The Talisman - Stephen King.  Might be a stretch but the main character does travel into the future/another realm.  I really enjoyed this book and am trying to mention some not-so-common reads.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth - Carrie Ryan.  I didn't really care for this book and while it may not actually be in the future, it is sort of dystopian so I guess the reader can interpret whether it all takes place in the past, present or future.  It makes the list because as mentioned before...I am struggling here.

Heart of Stone (Old Races Universe Trilogy #1) - C.E.Murphy This book talks about a new world full of magical beings and since that hasn't happened yet in real life, I am counting it!  By the way, I love this series and if you like urban fantasy, you should really give it a go.

Iced (Fever Series #6) - Karen Marie Moning This book take place 1AWC (After the Wall Crash) which again, hasn't happened so I am counting it as futuristic.  Also, I love to mention this series any way I can.  And can I add, this cover is so much better than the new one Burned.  What's up with the change?  Does any other fan agree?

The Farm (The Farm Trilogy #1) - Emily McKay. "Life was different in the Before: before vampires began devouring humans in a swarm across America; before the surviving young people were rounded up and quarantined."  Sounds like the future to me.  Great series which I really need to continue.





 



  

OK OK, so I know these books are somewhat of a stretch, but I don't read much science fiction (hope to give it a try later this year) so I took some liberties with the interpretation of futuristic.  At least I hope I introduce some of you to some different books you might want to give a try.