Given my complete and total inability to update this site in anything resembling a timely fashion, my first post of 2012 books is going to cover 10 books. If I can keep up this pace, I'll read 60 books this year and have 10 posts!
1. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Steig Larsson
The dragon tattoo books were amazing. Its really a tragedy that such an accomplished author had to meet an untimely end and not get to see the fruits of his labor grow. The characters that Steig Larsson created were deeply crafted and a joy to read about. Selfishly, I hate that there will be no more series about them.
I read the first two books in the series at the end of 2011. I kept hearing how good they were, but never got around to reading them. One evening when my nook needed to be recharged I picked up the paperback of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo that we had purchased many months before. It did not take me long to get into it. All three books were written exquisitely. The pacing and character development was superb and the story was dark and gripping, yet sublimely intellectual. This trilogy makes my list of best reads.
2, 3, & 4. The Maze Runner trilogy by James Dashner - The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials, & The Death Cure
I picked up this book after my wife got me back on a Hunger Games kick. I wanted to ready more in the "dystopian society" genre and had heard pretty good things about this series. While James Dashner is no where near as accomplished of an author as Suzanne Collins, I actually enjoyed this story idea more than the Hunger Games. This book has more mystery elements surrounding the storyline in that you don't know much of the "why" the situation is what it is until into the second book, and all your questions aren't answered until the end. The All in all the trilogy is an enjoyable and quick read.
5, 6, & 7 - The Heir Series by Cinda Williams Chima - The Warrior Heir, The Wizard Heir, & The Dragon Heir
I wanted to pick up a new fantasy series, and had heard good things about this author. Unfortunately, the things I heard were not to be true. The series is just good enough to keep you reading, but no good enough to feel good about spending the time on it. Its a shame because the story was a really interesting idea, and different than a lot of the books in the fantasy genre. This is one of those series thats in the "teen" section, and defintely feels like its written for teens. I couldn't really get into many of the characters or the writing style. If this were a blog about recommending books, i would not be recommending these.
8. Variant by Robison Wells
This book was FANTASTIC. Continuing my kick about sci-fi, dystopian society books, I downloaded this at the suggestion of another book blogger. Incredible story line, and thoroughly enjoying. The concept of the book is about an orphaned teenager that bounces from foster familly to foster family finding his way into a boarding school. He thinks his life is finally turning around only to find out that the school is not what it seems. The kids at the school are pretty much prisoners there and left to live on their own and govern themselves. Of course they are monitored and there are "rules" that they have to follow by the unknown people that are watching them.
Here are my gripes with this book tough: 1) the story is soo good that it could have been a lot more to the book. It could have been longer with more character development. I would have thought it was a more complete read. 2) to say it ends with a cliffhanger is an understatement. Its obviously setting up for the next book in the series, but this book literally just ends. VERY frustrating.
9. The Eleventh Plague
Another book in the dystopian society genre about the survivors of a plague that all but wiped out human existence in the United States. Interesting story, nothing too original. All in all, it was an OK read.
10. The Sacred Band by David Anthony Durham
This was the conclusion to the Acacia series by David Anthony Durham. I started the series a few years ago. Its very much an epic fantasy series, which I love. The first two books in the series were great, but it was one of those stories where the author introduces you to so many overlapping plot lines, that I was really concerned about how it would all tie up in the third book. Fortunately Durham manages to do it, and in a way that I thought was very befitting the series. I thoroughly enjoyed it. There was a lot to enjoy from a fantasy lovers perspective, but it was also a great story about allure of using power for what was considered to be "good" only to realize the evilness that we are all capable of, and the subsequent redemption that we can all find. Its also a great story of the human condition, and how at the end of the day we all just want to live.
No comments:
Post a Comment