What I've Been Reading

OK, so I got a bit behind on making my blog posts. So what have I been reading since my last post? Quite a bit actually. This is what I've finished up:

Explosive Eighteen

Author:  Janet Evanovich

Year: 2011

Narrator:  Lorelei King

I listened to this one on audiobook. As always, Lorelei King was a terrific narrator. She ranks right up there with my favorite narrators. The book wasn't as terrific. Yes, it was still good and it was classic Stephanie Plum but that's just it, it was the same old story. I think it's time that Evanovich changed things up for Stephanie.

Sweet Venom

Author: Tera Lynn Childs

Year: 2011

Grace, Gretchen and Greer are three teenage triplets who had no idea that the others existed until they run into each other in the streets of San Francisco. What's more, Grace and Greer have no clue that they're descendants of Medusa. I liked this book a lot. It was a fun easy read and it was a new take on some of the Greek myths. OK, so it was a little reminiscent of Percy Jackson but, hey, Childs is shining a good light on Medusa.

World War Z: An Oral History of the  Zombie War

Author: Max Brooks

Year:  2006

This book is a collection of the stories, or histories, of the survivors of the Zombie War that are collected by an unknown reporter and put together in the book. Each chapter is a different story with a different person or historian telling their story. Some of the stories are absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking. And the book is very well written but there's no driving force or story line. It's really just a bunch of short stories with a common thread put together in one book. And while I thought it was well written and some of the stories were very beautiful, I had a hard time reading it - or finishing it. 

We the Animals

Author: Justine Torres

Year: 2011

This is the story of three brothers growing up poor in a family of mixed race (they have a Puerto Rican father and a white mother). It's very interesting because for the most part it's told in a plural first person narrative but Torres pulls it off. He tells the story in a collection of short stories with each chapter being a defining moment or part of the brothers' lives. It's odd, harsh and beautiful all at the same time. It's a quick read and I recommend it.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Author: Laini Taylor

Year: 2011

This is by far my favorite book of the year. The writing was beautiful. I could feel myself in the streets of Prague. I could see everything the author was writing about. I could feel the main character's feelings. It was just terrific. There were places in this book where I was laughing out loud and my family thought I was losing my mind. I sat in the bathtub so long one night reading it that I was past the prune stage. I'm not going to say anything about the actual storyline because it's best to go into this book blind. But it's a definite read.