One of the other things I most love to do is read, so here’s some musings on my most recent books. I just finished The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti.
Published in 2008 and the winner of the 2009 Alex Award, The Good Thief introduces a young hero, Ren, that I immediately fell in love with. This is a great book, the link above takes to Goodreads for a review. I also just finished Dan Simmons’ first two Hyperion books. They are science fiction of the far future, sometimes hard-to-grasp type, but I enjoyed them. Probably not the greatest books for someone who’s just starting to read science fiction. But as a sci-fi geek, they were right up my alley.
I also enjoy Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series about werewolves, witches, necromancers, etc. Her latest book is called Living With the Dead and it’s the first one of hers that I really had a hard time finishing. There was just too much hiding/chasing/setting up — not enough plot or character development. I’m still a fan, though.
Another book I had a hard time with is called Marked, by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast. I was intrigued by it because it’s about vampires, and it’s set in Oklahoma. So two marks for it . . . but the authors tried so hard to get the teen vernacular down they ended up sounding ridiculous. And the title character being called Zoey Redbird was just trying too hard to be Cherokee, without seeming authentic. Also, if you’re going to set a story near real places, you have to spell them correctly. It’s Henryetta, not Henrietta. There, I feel better.
Books waiting in the wings: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson; Serena by Ron Rash; Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber; Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale by Holly Black; and Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernieres.
