73-75

[fiveforsilver]

May

73. *The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Time Capsule by Peter Anghelides
Young Adult, Science Fiction, audiobook, 1h6m

74. *The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Thirteenth Stone by Justin Richards
Young Adult, Science Fiction, audiobook, 1h8m

75. *The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Shadow People by Scott Handcock
Young Adult, Science Fiction, audiobook, 1h5m

75 / 160 books (47%)
41 / 80 *new books (51%)
3 / 7 ^non-fiction (43%)
18079 / 48000 pages. (38%)
Audiobooks: 46h29m

76-77

[fiveforsilver]

(still may)

76. Daja's Book by Tamora Pierce
Circle of Magic, book 3
Young adult, Fantasy, 240p

I much prefer Pierce's Tortall books - I prefer nearly any given Tortall book to any given Circle book. A big part of the problem I have with the Circle books is that there are always too many things going on at once, so none of them quite get the time they need to be developed, and so neither do the characters. In Daja's Book, for instance, there is the drought, there is the fire (admittedly the two are connected), there is Daja's problems being a cast-out from her people (since a group of her people come around), there is yet another prideful mage (I think there is one in every book) and prideful noble (likewise) to cause problems and/or discord, and then Daja's and her friends' magics get away from them (more than once).

And that's not even all of it. It's just too much. The book should be half again as long to encompass it all, and all the Circle books are like that. But this is one of the few Circle books that I specifically reread occasionally despite the problems, because certain parts of the storylines resonate with me and I really like Daja.

77. Sunshine by Robin McKinley
Adult, Fantasy, 405p

Possibly my favorite book ever. Sunshine is a reluctant heroine who would rather bake cinnamon rolls than kill vampires. The world McKinley created for her to live in is so fascinating (and terrifying) that I love reading about it and learning all the snippets of information that come up in the book alongside the story - what different kinds of demons are like (physically and socially), how magic-using can effect the user; details that make the world seem more solid and there.

77 / 160 books (48%)
41 / 80 *new books (51%)
3 / 7 ^non-fiction (43%)
18724 / 48000 pages. (39%)
Audiobooks: 46h29m

78-79

[fiveforsilver]

78. *Fairy Tales for Writers by Lawrence Schimel
Adult, poetry, 30 pages

I was expecting this to be an regular-sized book of short stories, not a very small book of very short poems, but I guess that's my fault for not reading descriptions or reviews more closely.

I particularly liked Cinderella and particularly disliked Hansel and Gretal and Rumpelstiltskin. Some of the stories seemed a bit of a stretch to squeeze them into the fairy tale that they were titled, but generally it was cute a cute book and it took me a total of 10 minutes to read the whole thing.

79. *Un Lun Dun by China Miéville
Young Adult, urban fantasy, 471 pages

Two girls accidentally find their way into an alternate London. Weirdness ensues. And a war.

I loved the world described in Un Lun Dun, all the odd creatures and strange ways things functioned. The pacing seemed off, though, and many of the characters (and there were many characters) were flat and forgettable. It was the world that kept me interested in the book much more than the story or the characters.

79 / 160 books (49%)
43 / 80 *new books (54%)
3 / 7 ^non-fiction (43%)
19225 / 48000 pages. (40%)
Audiobooks: 46h29m

80-82

[fiveforsilver]

80. *Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
The Clockwork Century, book 1
Adult, Science fiction/Steampunk, 414 pages

Seattle is enclosed behind a 200-foot wall, built to keep in a toxic gas coming up from the ground and the rotters it creates when people breathe it in. Briar goes into the city she thought was deserted to find her son, Zeke, who went in looking for answers.

Boneshaker is the third Priest book I've read and was just as good as I was expecting. Priest skates the edge of horror - zombies are clearly horror-monsters, and frankly I was hesitant to read the book because of that - without going over the edge into the gruesome or overly terrifying. The story is well-plotted, the characters have believable motivations and depth, and the world is intriguing enough that I am excited to read the sequels.

81. The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley
Young Adult, Fantasy, 248 pages

82. *Glimmerglass by Jenna Black
Faeriewalker, book 1
Young Adult, Urban Fantasy, 294 pages

ARC from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.

Dana is half-human and half-Fae teenager and when she can no longer stand living with her drunken (human) mother, she runs away to find her Fae father in Avalon, the city connecting the human and faerie worlds. But as soon as she walks through the gate, everything starts going wrong.

Glimmerglass is an exciting story of a girl caught in a world she knows nothing about, forced to trust people she barely knows and being betrayed at every turn. I was concerned toward the end that too much plot would be worked into the last few pages, but it is the first in a series, so things wrapped up this book's story and set up for the next book.

My only complaint is that I am tired of women falling for men who are nasty to them. None of the boys Dana's age are nice to her, and yet she's drooling over them because they're Fae-gorgeous. Those bits were incredibly boring, unlike the rest of the story.

82 / 160 books (51%)
45 / 80 *new books (56%)
3 / 7 ^non-fiction (43%)
20181 / 48000 pages. (42%)
Audiobooks: 46h29m