Kindle Surprise

Kindle Surprise | January's month in Books

Good evening Book Nerds

Phew, it’s been a long month hasn’t it? It always seems that the month after the Christmas period goes on and on forever. However, here we are in February! Month two and hopefully a step closer to being out of lockdown, a step closer to getting this raging virus under some semblance of control.

So, how has your first reading month gone? Did you read some books, or was it a bit difficult to get back into the flow of things? Well, how ever it has gone, I hope you are all staying safe and well and doing what you want to do

I have to admit, it started a little shaky for me initially. I started my Goodreads reading challenge and as usual I started as I always do with the minimum books that I may read and see how it goes, and will probably change it later in the year to reflect how things are going. I try to always stick to something I learnt a long-time age, which can fit into any aspect of life really. I tend to go with something called SMART goals. This stands for Small (or it can mean specific, but I like small!), Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely. It works for me!

So this month has been a little bit of eclectic month in the reading department, comprising of novels, short stories, novella’s and comics (or graphic novels if you want to be all farncy about it) At the moment, I am finding quite a bit of joy in the short story and novellas, those compact little bites that leave you satisfied. I recently got some short stories and novellas recommended and I must say that I enjoyed the heck out them, but on the whole, I have quite enjoyed the reading material this month. I also did a review for Ginger Nuts of Horror, which I hope will go down well. I also did a chat with the Picky Bookworm on her podcast, which whilst a little nerve wracking, I did enjoy. Although I am not sure anyone will understand my broad Yorkshire accent!

Now onto the books!

Blood Metal Bone | Lesley Cummings.

This is a little bit of a cheat because I actually started it in December, but finished it in January. Do I care about this little cheat - nah! Not much coz I make the rules on my blog. Anyway, I think that this is a YA scifi fantasy amalgam. I did think it was a not bad book, but I am not sure that I would delve into this story again to be honest.

Elantris | Brandon Sanderson

This one was a re - read. Yes, I know that books that you have read before are not new books. But I did read it, I was there! This is the great Brandon Sanderson’s debut novel, and I have to say that I still think that this is a pretty good debut. It’s not perfect, but on the whole, it is a good book with a really interesting premise. It is more character driven and does not have the same fizzle and pop of Sanderson’s later books.

Inscape | Louise Carey

This was a surprise hit with me. This was one of those books that I did not know much about to be honest. However, I was gripped from the start with this sci fi thriller. I cannot wait for the second one of this series. Louise Carey knows how to write a cracking book and I cannot believe that this is her first book. If you haven’t read this, honestly read it.

Dragons of Autumn Twilight | Margaret Weis and Tracey Hickman

Another re - read that I did with a group of blogging friends. I had so much fun reading this. I think I read this originally about 25 years ago. WTF! Anyway, it is one of those books that I remember reading but cannot recall all the details in all honesty. However, it did start to come back to me once I started.

A Dead Djinn in Cairo | P. Djeli Clark

This is a short story. Coming in at a whopping 46 pages. However, P. Djeli Clark fits so much into this short story. P. Djeli Clark’s writing is simply brilliant and he creates an evocative portrait of an alternative Cairo. And on top of that introduces what I think is one of my favorite literary characters in Fatma el-Sha’arawi.


The Haunting of Tram 015 | P. Djeli Clark

This is the second story that I read from P. Djeli Clark. I haven’t actually wrote a review yet, so come back in a little while for that.


Tristan’s Folly | Marcus Lee

Another one that I haven’t wrote the review for yet. However, here comes a spoiler! I thought that this was an excellent sequel to Kings and Daemons, that I think surpasses the first one. Again, come back later for a review.


Resident Alien | Peter Hogan,Steve Parkhouse (Illustrations)

Sometimes I read things that I have no intention of reviewing, and this is one of them. Whenever I need a comfort read, or feel a bit frazzled, my comfort read is a good comic. And this was one of those. It is about an Alien living in plain sight. It’s a bit of a murder mystery, but the reclusive alien starts to become integrated into the community when he takes the job as a local doctor when the town doctor is murdered.


Knight's Ransom | Jeff Wheeler

 

Hmm, I kinda enjoyed this. As my first introduction to Jeff Wheeler, it wasn’t bad (roughly translated - I liked it). There were some things I had a few problems with, but this story of an errant knight reminded me a bit of David Gemmell, and there was even a reference in there to David Gemmell who I have always liked and have fond memories of. I think I will be carrying on with this series.


The Year of the Witching | Alexis Henderson.

Another surprise hit! One night when I was hanging around the Cosmere Conquest Discord channel, Trin from Practical Magic was raving about how good this was. With that much enthusiasm I thought I had to investigate this. I did this on audio with Brianna Coleman doing the narration. I loved this, I really did. It’s a dark fantasy set in a dystopian world ruled by a patriarchal and cruel religion. I simply loved this.


And the final book I read was


The Gathering of Shadows | Mark N Drake

This is my first review gig for Ginger Nuts of Horror, and I made my way through this detective yarn with Lovecraftian elements set in 1920’s northern England. Again, it is not perfect, but these little faults that I had with the book did not spoil my enjoyment of this book. I think that this is a series and this book sets up the story well and I will definitely be catching up with the series as they are released.


So, not a bad month of reading. If you want to know what my favorite is, that is going to be a toughie. So I am not going to choose a out and out winner as I would have to choose between Louise Carey’s 'Inscape', P.Djeli Clark and Alexis Henderson’s 'The Year of the Witching', and I don’t think I can. So I am not going to!


Well, that’s all for this month’s Kindle Surprise