Waiting on Wednesday 04/20/22

Posted on April 20, 2022 18 Comments

Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme that first originated at Breaking the Spine but has since linked up with “Can’t Wait Wednesday” at Wishful Endings now that the original creator is unable to host it anymore. Either way, this fun feature is a chance to showcase the upcoming releases that we can’t wait to get our hands on!

Mogsy’s Pick

Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson (September 20, 2022 by Starscape)

Something a little different today, but I make it no secret that I’m a huge Brandon Sanderson fan and that I would read anything he writes. That includes his Middle Grade series, Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians, which is actually AWESOME and HILARIOUS and I highly recommend anyone give it a try, whether you’re a kid or an adult. In true Sanderson fashion, we’d left off on quite a doozy of a cliffhanger the last time we were with Alcatraz and Co., so I’ve actually been waiting on this one for years to find out what happens next.

“From #1 New York Times bestselling authors Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson comes Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians, the thrilling conclusion to the Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians saga.

As a Knight of Crystallia, I, Bastille, swore to protect the Smedry clan from the Evil Librarians. (And believe me, screwups like them constantly need protecting.) But when Alcatraz Smedry got strapped to an altar of outdated encyclopedias to be sacrificed to the dark gods, I arrived too late―and instead his father took his place.

Now Alcatraz is a blubbering mess, so it’s up to me lead the charge against his father’s killer: Biblioden, founder of the Evil Librarians―I was sure he died centuries ago!―who’s back to complete his goal of world domination. Now he’s going to use the dark powers he gained from that sacrifice against everyone not under Evil Librarian control. Being burned up from the inside is not how I plan to die, so I’d better figure out some way to stop him or we’re toast!

I know Alcatraz is wrong when he swears he’s no hero. But when a hero falls short, that’s the time for everyone else to step up and do what needs to be done.”

Book Review: The City of Dusk by Tara Sim

Posted on April 18, 2022 19 Comments

I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

The City of Dusk by Tara Sim

Mogsy’s Rating: 2 of 5 stars

Genre: Fantasy

Series: Book 1 of The Dark Gods

Publisher: Orbit Books (March 22, 2022)

Length: 512 pages

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Well, I tried, I really did. After all the glowing praise I’ve heard for The City of Dusk by Tara Sim, all I really wanted was to love this book, but unfortunately it was just not meant to be. Despite the lush magic and vivid descriptions that made the world-building stand out, there were a number of other reasons which made it difficult for me to connect with the story.

At the heart of it are four heirs of the noble houses of Nexus—Mordova, Vakara, Lastrider, and Cyr. Each one worships a god from which they are descended, leading to a precarious and tense situation following a catastrophic event known as the Sealing five hundred years ago which forced all four of the houses to exist one plane.

We have Angelica Mardova, an elemental worshipper who has plenty of ambition but is hobbled by her inability to harness the full potential of her magic. Then there’s Risha Vakara, a necromancer who must weigh her family’s hopes for her against what she wants for herself. Next is her friend Taesia Lastrider, who wishes she could wash her hands of house politics, but her brother Dante’s big plans seem to keep drawing her back in. And finally, there’s Nikolas Cyr, whose lack of experience and preparedness for the throne often makes him feel insecure and inadequate.

It is the hope of every house to some day undo the Sealing, and Dante Lastrider feels he’s getting close. But then he gets involved in some trouble, forcing his sister Taesia to step up and take charge. For the first time in centuries, it appears the houses’ connections to their gods can be feasibly reestablished once more, but there will be some dark magic required, and it all comes down to how far each heir is willing to go.

As many reviewers have pointed out, if there is such a thing as a “main” character in this ensemble cast, it would have to be Taesia. The focus seems to lean heavily on her, and her storyline also seems the most eventful and interesting. Unfortunately, this imbalance means the other characters feel neglected in comparison or aren’t as developed, and it was this disparity which also led me to feel dissatisfied with much of the overall story direction. Leaving aside that the fact none of the other characters were all that memorable and failed to make any lasting impression, I was simply not feeling their storylines as much because I was not as engaged.

And to be completely blunt, much of the plot was plodding and dull. That’s not to say it didn’t have its moments, but these little bursts of action and adventure were brief and far too few in between. Part of the problem is that the book’s greatest strength is also the source of its greatest weakness. I loved the rich magic system and the author’s attention to detail when it comes to bringing the world of Nexus to life. That said, all this information also made for an overwhelming experience, not to mention it bogged down the pacing. For a story with a relatively straightforward plot and uncomplicated themes, The City of Dusk felt unnecessarily bloated.

At least the writing style was exquisite, and Sim’s prose is beautiful despite feeling overly dense. There is a lot of exposition, however, and the battle to remain engaged is compounded considering so much of it is frontloaded backstory and explanations right off the bat. In my opinion there was also way too much going on, and the impression I got was that the author was juggling too many ideas and struggled to keep them all in the air. That’s the only explanation I can come up with to address why there would be glaring holes in certain aspects of the world-building, when for the most part everything else was handled so well.

At the end of the day, only the answer to one question matters, and it’s what I always use to guide me when writing a review. Did I enjoy this book? Well, I didn’t hate it, but I can’t say reading it did much for me either. More than once, I found I couldn’t wait for it to be over, just so I could put it away and move on. Despite some things that I really liked about The City of Dusk, I’m sorry to say that I just didn’t have that great a time with it overall, and I likely will not continue with the series.

Bookshelf Roundup: 04/16/22: Stacking the Shelves & Recent Reads

Posted on April 16, 2022 15 Comments

Bookshelf Roundup is a feature I do every weekend which fills the role of several blog memes, like Stacking the Shelves where I talk about the new books I’ve added to my library or received for review, as well as It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? where I summarize what I’ve finished reading in the last week and what I’m planning to read soon. Mostly it also serves as a recap post, so sometimes I’ll throw in stuff like reading challenge progress reports, book lists, and other random bookish thoughts or announcements.

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Received for Review

My thanks to the publishers and authors for the following review copies received, and be sure to click the links to their Goodreads pages for more details and full descriptions!

Starting out with a couple of fantastic looking Middle Grade titles with thanks to the kind folks at Simon & Schuster! First up is an ARC of Spy School Project X by Stuart Gibbs, the latest installment in the author’s hit children’s series. Books for middle graders tend to be pretty forgiving when it comes to jumping on board in the middle of a series, so maybe my daughter and I will be able to check this one out! From S&S imprint Aladdin, I also received a finished hardcover of Lia Park and the Missing Jewel by Jenna Yoon, the first book of a new MG fantasy series exploring a world of Korean mythology.

On to more mature fare, with thanks to the team at Cemetery Dance Publications, a small horror publisher founded by author Richard Chizmar (which I was recently surprised to discover that they’re headquartered in my own backyard), I received a review copy of The Night Road by Kevin Lucia. It sounds like a creepy little novella, and I hope I’ll have some time later this month to read it. And with thanks to Del Rey, I received an ARC of The Art of Prophecy by Wesley Chu. I’m up for anything inspired by martial arts these days, and I’m also looking forward to reading Wes again!

On to the digital haul! This week’s new arrivals are courtesy of amazing HarperAudio team, who supplied me with a good mix of fantasy and thriller titles to suit my every mood: God of Neverland by Gama Ray Martinez, Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough, An Honest Lie by Tarryn Fisher, The Wild Girls by Phoebe Morgan, and The Couple at Number 9 by Claire Douglas.

Reviews

The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James (4 of 5 stars)
The Amber Crown by Jacey Bedford (3.5 of 5 stars)

What I’ve Been Reading

Have you heard of or read any of the books featured this week? What caught your eye? Any new discoveries? I hope you found something interesting for a future read!

Friday Face-Off: Urban Fantasy

Posted on April 15, 2022 12 Comments

Welcome to The Friday Face-Off, a weekly meme created by Books by Proxy! Each Friday, we will pit cover against cover while also taking the opportunity to showcase gorgeous artwork and feature some of our favorite book covers. If you want to join the fun, simply choose a book each Friday that fits that week’s predetermined theme, post and compare two or more different covers available for that book, then name your favorite. A list of future weeks’ themes are available at Lynn’s Book Blog.

This week’s theme is:

~ an URBAN FANTASY cover

The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu

The Library of the Dead opens in Edinburgh, the home of our protagonist, 14-year-old Ropa Moyo. At a young age, she dropped out of school to look after her beloved grandmother and her sister Izwi, scraping out a living as a “ghostalker”—someone who can communicate with the dead. Mostly, this involves getting paid to help folks deliver messages to their dearly departed, but then one night, Ropa encounters a recently deceased spirit who makes her rethink everything she thought she knew.

Let’s check out the covers! Keeping it simple with just a good old-fashioned head-to-head this week.

Tor Books (2021) vs. Pan Macmillan (2021)

Winner:

Tough one this week, I don’t love either one but I don’t dislike them either! The Pan Macmillan UK version did catch my eye though, with its lines radiating radiating out from the center, and it took a closer look to make me realize it’s supposed to be a map of the city. But it’s cool that from a distance they look a lot like tree limbs or veins!

But what do you think? Which one is your favorite?

Thursday Thriller Audio: The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James

Posted on April 14, 2022 12 Comments

I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James

Mogsy’s Rating (Overall): 4 of 5 stars

Genre: Thriller, Mystery

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: Penguin Audio (March 15, 2022)

Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Narrators: Brittany Pressley, Kirsten Potter, Robert Petkoff

The Book of Cold Cases is my second novel by Simone St. James. After reading The Sun Down Motel, I became a fan of the author’s style of combining mystery suspense elements with the supernatural, so I was happy when I found out this one would have similar vibes.

For one, the setup felt familiar, with a story told via two timelines. In the one set in 2017, we meet Shea Collins, a true crime enthusiast. By day she is a receptionist at a clinic, but by night she works on her website called the Book of Cold Cases which focuses on unsolved murders. Tragically, Shea’s obsession was born from a traumatic experience from her own childhood in which she almost became a victim of abduction and murder.

To her surprise, one day Shea recognizes an elderly patient who steps into the office. It is none other than Beth Greer, a former wealthy socialite who had been tied to a pair of brutal murders back in the late seventies. Two men, in separate incidents, were gunned down by the side of the road after stopping their vehicles to help someone. In both cases, a mysterious note was left behind by the killer, with a taunt written in the same hand. At one of the crime scenes though, there was a witness who claimed to have seen a young woman matching the description of Beth Greer, twenty-three years old at the time, running away after the shooting. But even after she was arrested and dubbed the Lady Killer by the press, Beth was ultimately acquitted due to lack of evidence.

For someone like Shea who has spent hours poring over the Lady Killer case, seeing Beth Greer in the flesh was somewhat like meeting a celebrity. Plucking up her courage, she approaches the older woman for an interview for her blog, and to her surprise, Beth accepts.

What follows next is the gradual unraveling of the truth of what really happened, told through the eyes of both Shea and Beth using alternating perspectives. As the interview between the two women goes deeper into the past, exploring Beth’s childhood growing up amidst her parents’ troubled marriage, as well as Shea’s harrowing escape from her would-be abductor, a clearer picture begins to emerge on how their stories fit together and how the impact of certain events can ripple through time.

At the center of this book is also a house—the Greer mansion in which Beth was raised. It’s a beautiful estate by the ocean. It’s also seemingly haunted. Kept pristine since the time Beth lived there, strange things tended to happen within its luxurious rooms and halls. It’s almost like it’s trying to communicate…but what is it trying to say, and who is sending the message?

The longer Shea tries to answer these questions, the more she becomes drawn into Beth’s past. On another level, she’s also enchanted by the older woman because of her interest in true crime and having been obsessed with the details of the Lady Killer case. As the bond between the two of them grows, so too does the complexity of their relationship. Beth has a secret, and there’s a reason why she has decided to share it with Shea. But as the truth surrounding the past murders remains shrouded for most of the book, readers are left hungering for more details.

In the end, the reveals were subtle, and the experience satisfying. The pacing was certainly compulsive, but the energy behind The Book of Cold Cases was undoubtedly driven by atmospheric suspense rather than pure thrills. I also enjoyed the author’s handling of the alternating POVs and the two timelines. Past and present chapters folded into each other seamlessly, and not even the interview sections could impede the flow.

On the whole, major points to The Book of Cold Cases for originality and the entertainment factor. If you enjoy mysteries with a touch of paranormal, this is the book for you! As well, high marks to narrators Brittany Pressley, Kirsten Potter, and Robert Petkoff for brining the audiobook version to life. All three are readers I’ve enjoyed listening to in the past, and I’m glad they were able to lend their talents to this project, making it such an immersive experience.

Waiting on Wednesday 04/13/22

Posted on April 13, 2022 5 Comments

Mogsy’s Pick

Lute by Jennifer Thorne (October 4, 2022 by Tor Nightfire)

I’m intrigued by both this book’s cover and its description, and you know I’m always up for horror reads in October!

“Wicker Man meets Final Destination in Jennifer Thorne’s atmospheric, unsettling folk horror novel about love, duty, and community.

On the idyllic island of Lute, every seventh summer, seven people die. No more, no less.

Lute and its inhabitants are blessed, year after year, with good weather, good health, and good fortune. They live a happy, superior life, untouched by the war that rages all around them. So it’s only fair that every seven years, on the day of the tithe, the island’s gift is honored.

Nina Treadway is new to The Day. A Florida girl by birth, she became a Lady through her marriage to Lord Treadway, whose family has long protected the island. Nina’s heard about The Day, of course. Heard about the horrific tragedies, the lives lost, but she doesn’t believe in it. It’s all superstitious nonsense. Stories told to keep newcomers at bay and youngsters in line.

Then The Day begins. And it’s a day of nightmares, of grief, of reckoning. But it is also a day of community. Of survival and strength. Of love, at its most pure and untamed. When The Day ends, Nina―and Lute―will never be the same.”

Audiobook Challenge 2022: 1st Quarter Update

Posted on April 12, 2022 16 Comments

April is upon us! That means it’s time for the first quarter update on what I’ve been listening to for the last three months and how I’m currently doing on the Audiobook Challenge. Here’s a quick refresher on the challenge details this year:

Challenge Details

Runs January 1, 2022 – December 31, 2022. You can join at any time.
The goal is to find a new love for audios or to outdo yourself by listening to more audios in 2022 than you did in 2021.
Books must be in audio format (CD, MP3, etc.)
ANY genres count.
Re-reads and crossovers from other reading challenges are allowed.
You do not have to be a book blogger to participate; you can track your progress on Goodreads, Facebook, LibraryThing, etc.
If you’re a blogger grab the button and do a quick post about the challenge to help spread the word. If you’re not a blogger you can help by posting on Facebook or Tweet about the challenge.
Updates plus a giveaway will be posted twice during the year. The first update will be July 2, 2022, and the last update will take place on December 30, 2022.

Achievement Levels

Newbie (I’ll give it a try) 1-5
Weekend Warrior (I’m getting the hang of this) 5-10
Stenographer (can listen while multitasking) 10-15
Socially Awkward (Don’t talk to me) 15-20
Binge Listener (Why read when someone can do it for you) 20-30
My Precious (I had my earbuds surgically implanted) 30+
Marathoner (Look Ma No Hands) 50+
Over-Achiever (Power Listener) 75+
The 100 Club (Audiobook Addict) 100+

For this first quarter, I actually did better than I thought! Considering how my work and health got in the way for much of January and February, I think 16 audiobooks is quire respectable. It puts me on track for Marathoner which I should reach quite easily at this rate, but I’ll have to push a bit harder if I want to go for Over-Achiever, which is still a soft goal.

Are you doing the 2022 Audiobook Challenge? If so, how are you doing?

Book Review: The Amber Crown by Jacey Bedford

Posted on April 11, 2022 7 Comments

I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

The Amber Crown by Jacey Bedford

Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Genre: Fantasy

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: DAW Books

Length: 480 pages

Author Information: Website | Twitter

While The Amber Crown wasn’t the perfect book—and I certainly had my issues with some of the characterization—at the end of the day, it was still solidly entertaining and made for wonderful escapism and perfect light reading. The fact that it’s a standalone fantasy novel is also a nice bonus.

The story takes place in the land of Zavonia, a setting heavily inspired by the history and cultures of the Baltic region in the 17th century. It is told through three main viewpoints: Valdas, a Captain of the King’s High Guard; Mirza, a witch-healer from a band of nomadic Landstriders; and Lind, an assassin hired to kill the king. As the book opens, the deed has already been done, and all around the city, alarm bells are ringing to report the monarch’s murder which had occurred on the one night Valdas decided to take off. He immediately becomes the main suspect, likely the result of a frame job set up by the true masterminds behind King Konstantyn’s assassination. All his men were also accused of treason and executed, and so Valdas is forced to flee the city in search of other allies to avenge his king’s death.

After some misadventure, Valdas winds up gravely injured and in the care of Mirza, a Landstrider whose band was traveling through the area at the time. With her powers of dreamwalking, she enters the Captain’s mind and learns of his personal quest, realizing that she is fated to play a vital role in his mission as well. Together, they part ways with her band and set off for a new course to save Zavonia before their land can be destroyed by the usurper who now sits on the throne.

Meanwhile, the assassin Lind has completed his job of killing the king and is looking for a quick and discreet way to get out of dodge. An opportunity presents itself when his innkeeper, who is also a spymaster and information broker, offers him a large sum of money to transport a young woman out of city. Posing as husband and wife, they make for an inconspicuous couple, and Lind thinks this might actually be one of his easier jobs—that is, until he discovers the true identify of the young woman and why she has to flee.

The Amber Crown is a purely character-driven story, there’s no denying that. I also wouldn’t say any of the characters are entirely likeable, i.e. Valdas is sex-obsessed in a way that puts a bad taste in my mouth, Mirza is comes across as a bit of a pushover, and Lind is a killer-for-hire who simply thinks of himself as a tool and hence holds little remorse for any of his actions, and their list of flaws goes on and on. That said, I can enjoy a story even if I find its characters distasteful, or recognize that many of their shortcomings are important to the plot or to their overall development. Also, I must admit the character flaws made this novel more memorable, almost like they were written in with the intention to make a strong impression.

And it’s not like the characters don’t have any redeeming qualities. In fact, many of their heroic traits come through in the end that make it easy to root for them. Our three protagonists ultimately become a team working towards the same goals, despite all their conflicting interests (which made for some good drama).

In terms of the story, we have the usual hallmarks of a fantasy saga. There’s a good deal of sex, action, conspiracy, violence, and magic. World-building was a tad light, but considering The Amber Crown is a standalone novel, that’s a tradeoff I didn’t particularly mind. Some stories are made for multi-book series, while others have the simplicity that can be told in a single volume, and here we have an example of the latter. Still, despite its straightforwardness, there was plenty in the plot to keep me interested, including fascinating side characters, intriguing mystery, and dark magic shenanigans. The pace was also snappy, helped by short chapters, so on the whole, this went by real quickly.

Bottom line, I wouldn’t say The Amber Crown is for everyone, especially if you prefer more meat on your fantasy, but if you’re not feeling in the mood for something too long or too time consuming, this would do nicely.

Bookshelf Roundup: 04/09/22: Stacking the Shelves & Recent Reads

Posted on April 9, 2022 31 Comments

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So, I guess my plan to get off on track…got sidetracked! This week was another busy one–I have family visiting, so I guess reading and blogging had to be put on hold for now, even though I have about four or five reviews that I still have to write. It was also my birthday on Wednesday, so I basically just took that whole day off. I got the coolest gift from my wonderful, incredible husband though!

As some of you might know, I started doing Ninpo last year, and one of the areas I wanted to further focus on was sword, which I began training in recently. To surprise me, my husband got me an iaito, or training sword. My favorite animal being the red fox, he had it custom made and designed with the help of my sensei. They themed it red, with the kanji for kitsune (fox or fox spirit) engraved on the saya and blade. My favorite part though, is the tsuba or guard, which also bears a fox motif. I love it!

Received for Review

Anyway, on to the books! My thanks to the publishers and authors for the following review copies received, and be sure to click the links to their Goodreads pages for more details and full descriptions!

First up, huge thanks to Orbit Books for a finished copy of The Hunger of the Gods by John Gwynne, the second book of the Bloodsworn Saga. I can’t wait to continue this series!

With thanks to the kind folks at Tor Books, this week I also received an ARC of In the Shadow of Lightning by Brian McClellan, another one of my most highly anticipated releases for this year.

Also thank you to William Morrow for a copy of Kingdom of Bones by James Rollins. It’s the latest installment in the Sigma Force series, and I’ve actually read the previous one. It’s quite possible to read these books as standalone so I’m definitely going to check this one too, and I’m also really enjoying Rollins’ stuff these days.

And finally with thanks to Minotaur Books for sending me an ARC of Fierce Poison by Will Thomas. It’s new to me, and a quick check on Goodreads shows it’s actually the thirteenth volume of a series of historical mystery novels called Barker & Llewelyn. Not sure if these books can be read individually as standalones, but I hope so.

In the audiobook haul this week, with thanks to Macmillan Audio for Together We Burn by Isabel Ibañez which caught my eye because I’d noticed it was a top pick for a lot of readers this month. From the publisher I also snagged listening copies of Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak because I was feeling in the mood for a horror thriller, as well as Spear by Nicola Griffith because I’ve wanted to try something by her for a long time, and also The Devil’s Dictionary by Steven Kotler because this sci-fi near-future thriller just sounded plain awesome.

Speaking of awesome, with thanks to the amazing team at Random House Audio I also received an ALC of Flint and Mirror by John Crowley which I requested simply because I could hardly resist its historical fantasy premise, as well as Breathless by Amy McCulloch because HELL YES to a “high-altitude thriller.”

Reviews

City Spies: Forbidden City by James Ponti (4 of 5 stars)

What I’ve Been Reading

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Have you heard of or read any of the books featured this week? What caught your eye? Any new discoveries? I hope you found something interesting for a future read!

Friday Face-Off: Green

Posted on April 8, 2022 5 Comments

This week’s theme is:

“Fresh and green”
~ a cover that is predominantly GREEN

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

The spring season brings to mind lush green colors, and although there isn’t much about this book that screams spring, I just love all its different covers!

From left to right:
Nightfire (2021) – Viper (2021)

French Edition (2022) –Russian Edition (2021) – Spanish Edition (2021)

German Edition (2021) – Italian Edition (2022)

Winner:

This week’s choices are all so strong, it’s honestly hard for me to choose. If forced to pick just one winner though, I would have to give the edge to the Italian edition, which features the red/white/black color palette I love so much. The artistic style also gives it that foreboding look, at the same time doing a great job at grabbing the viewer’s attention. And of course, to top it off, we have Olivia the cat. It just can’t get more perfect than this.

But what do you think? Which one is your favorite?