February Wrap-up

I was actually very good in the month of February. I finished all the books planned! Well...maybe not all the books. As anticipated, I didn't complete A Dance with Dragons, but I'm okay with this just hanging out in my TBR pile for another few months. Let's just say that if I finish ADWD before 2016 I'll call that a win. I mean, it's not as though we can expect the next in the series to come out anytime soon...right?

Maybe I'll just have to start watching the show again in the meantime.  Darn HBO costing extra money...wah wah waaaah.

Aaaanyway...on to the wrap-up.

1. 

First off, I finished Gathering Darkness by Morgan Rhodes. This was...hmm...well, I did enjoy this novel. However, I felt a little bored toward the end. I know there are still, what (?), three more books to come out, but I think this series would be better as just a trilogy. I'm getting to the point where I just want this story to wrap up. I'm still invested in all of the characters--particularly Magnus--but it seems that the story is running a little thin by attempting to stretch it out into 6 books. Perhaps it was just this book and I will once again love the series after book 4. I will certainly be picking up all of the books, unless some unspeakable awful-ness happens, though I really doubt it could get to that point.

2. 

Next on the list was The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.  This was a lovely story.  I feel that when I say lovely it sounds condescending, but I can think of no better way to describe this.  It was an excellent MG novel with such fun elements of darkness.

3. & 4. 

When I picked up Cinder by Marissa Meyer, I never anticipated how much I would desperately LOVE these books.  I can't even remember the last time I read a book that made me want to simultaneously fangirl scream and stay up late into the night reading and cover my face with a pillow to avoid the angst.  I wasn't planning on continuing on to Scarlet last month, but I could NOT wait any longer.  I told myself I could hold out until the fall when Winter comes out, but there was just no chance of that happening after I read Cinder.  Marissa Meyer is a genius and has quickly Lunar-hopped her way to a spot as one of my favorite authors.  I am so mad I waited so long to read these.  Based on a recommendation from a former co-worker, I've had this in my TBR pile for over a year.

5. 

The Keeper of the Wind by Mark Shaw was the book chosen for the Goodreads Indie Book Club for February.  Shaw is actually the founder of the #indiebooksbeseen movement and a great motivator for all things Indie.  Sadly, I didn't care for this novel as much as I'd hoped I would.  The story is interesting and the Native American history is fascinating, but I felt the execution was a little underdeveloped.  The dialogue felt a bit too awkward for a novel setting (Too much "Hi, how are you?" "Good, how are you?" and so on.), and there was a decent amount of story that didn't seem to have anything to do with the main plot-line.  Based on the reviews on Goodreads and Amazon, I am clearly in the minority here, but I guess this one just wasn't for me.

6. 

I had mixed feelings about The Nethergrim by Matthew Jobin.  The story was certainly entertaining and I will most definitely be picking up book 2 whenever it comes out, but the build up to the story dragged a bit and even when the "exciting" moment happened, there were still lulls in between that had me skimming until the next burst.  As I said, mixed feelings, however I would give this 3.5 stars, leaning closer to 4.

7. 

And finally, I completed The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney.  This is a great example of a novel with a long build up and larger breaks in between "exciting moments" done well.  Each chapter may not have had nail-biting scenes, but learning along with Thomas what it means to be the Spook is dark and terrifying and stomach-churning.






That's all there is for my February Wrap-up.  Hopefully, I can be just as good in March.

Until next time...I'm Looking Forward to finding another favorite author.