So a few months ago I started posting my reviews directly to Goodreads and Amazon when I finished a book, instead of waiting for my slow self to get around to filming a review. There were some that were never going to get the full YouTube treatment, mostly because they were back list titles that don’t really need the reviews.
Anyway, reviews are finally getting around to being filmed again (see the reviews tab for the newest one) and I’m working on coming up with a plan for how to deal with book reviews in the new year. Stay tuned for that, I guess.
In the meantime, let’s at least give you little details on the few backlist ones I worked through in November.
Statistics
- Age Category: 1 YA, 5 A
- Genres: 3 Fantasy, 1 Horror, 1 Nonfiction, 1 Science Fiction
- Indie Authors: 4 N, 2 Y
- Total Pages Read: 2014
- Average Pages per Book: 335
- Ratings: 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5
Notes and Details
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires
- Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55687716-the-southern-book-club-s-guide-to-slaying-vampires
- I listened to this as an audiobook which I borrowed from the library. I do recommend it this way. The narrator does a fantastic job of transporting you right into the south with the accent she applies. It’s not overly done, but it works for the story.
- This had funny moments, it had scary moments, it had gorey moments … really it had everything I wanted and everything it promised.
- The Verdict: 4 Stars. This one was fun and I’d recommend it!
Those We Bury Back
- Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26880931-those-we-bury-back
- This one is an ebook I purchased back in 2019, I think. I honestly just kept forgetting I already owned it! Thanks, again, to the bookwheel for bringing stuff like this back around to my attention. I spun the wheel — landed on horror — ran a search for horror — and this is the one that a random number generator picked!
- Anyway, this book is TERRIFYING, which is the highest compliment I can pay to a horror book. I will haunt my nightmares for a while. The author does an amazing job pairing REAL horror with paranormal horror in a way that is GENIUS. Honestly, a study is symbolism.
- The Verdict: 4 Stars. You have to be ok with horror and then I’d say HIGHLY recommended.
The Innocent Man
- Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5345.The_Innocent_Man
- This one was a physical book I purchased from my favorite independent used bookstore. I honestly only picked it up because there were so many copies and it grabbed my attention. My husband read this one first and has been RAVING about it, waiting to watch the Netflix special until I had read it. So, when nonfiction came up on the wheel it seemed like the perfect time to read this one.
- Anyway, this book is the well researched and terrible true story of five wrongfully convicted men. It’s fascinating how so many things went so wrong in these cases and the story is terrible but, at the same time, well written.
- The Verdict: 4 Stars. If you like true crime, you need to read this one.
Omnihumans
- Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53648384-omnihumans
- I purchased this one because I buy all of Tom’s books, pretty much. But it’s been sitting on my shelf for a bit just sort of waiting for the right moment.
- That right moment came because according to social media Tom has made the sequel to this one his NaNo project in 2021. Guess that meant I was falling behind! So, I jumped in.
- The Verdict: 5 Stars. The action is well written and the science fiction behind the omnihumans themselves is completely fascinating. This will please fans of both genres. If you like X-Men, you’ll love this book!
Mistborn
Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68428.The_Final_Empire
- This was an audiobook from the library.
- This is my second Brandon Sanderson book EVER (also the second one this year). Everyone kept RAVING about Sanderson’s fantasy. I tried The Way of Kings earlier this year and it was my only DNF of the year. After explaining what I didn’t like about that one a lot of Sanderson fans said I should try Mistborn. So … I did.
- The Verdict: I’m underwhelmed (again). Sanderson is very wordy and yet the language is very basic. It felt like we were trying (maybe) for young adults with the tropes but the high fantasy development adults crave. The result was an awkward outside view of a fascinating world with poor dialogue. I wasn’t a fan. 3 stars and one of those is solidly for that twist at the end.
Year of the Cat: The Dream
Goodreads links: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1188054.The_Dream
- I read this one WAY BACK IN THE DAY (probably when it first came out). I have VERY CLEAR memories of borrowing this trilogy from the library multiple times and reading it over and over again. I LOVED it. Anyway, fast forward to now. It’s out of print and INCREDIBLY hard to come by. Even if you do find it, you’ll likely be overcharged. Well, I found it and my husband insisted I order the entire trilogy. This is my first time reading it since acquiring a new copy as an adult. I did my best to put the nostalgia on the back burner and give it a true rating.
- The Verdict: I had no choice but to give this one a 3 star rating. It’s still good, I still enjoyed it, but it’s SO HARD to come by and it’s loaded with tropes that will really only appeal to paranormal fantasy fans. 3 stars and if you like paranormal fantasy books you should absolutely take the change to grab one if it crosses your path.
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