What I've Read Lately - January

I'm off to a great start so far this year, as it is only January 8th when I begin this post and I have already finished three books!   That means I am ahead of schedule for my goal to read 100 books again during 2017.  Here is the rundown for this first month:

What can I say about Mistwalker, by Saundra Mitchell?  Well, first of all, the title kinda bothers me because the entity in this book does not walk in the mist, with the mist, or through the mist.  Said entity only controls the mist.  The story starts out as a real-life drama, but it took so long to get going that I was starting to get bored.  But then the aforementioned entity enters the story, and it shifts into a real-life drama with magical type stuff going on, and I really started to like it.  It was quite different from anything I've read before, and I enjoyed it all the way up until the last chapter, which didn't end the way I wanted it to.  Not that there was anything wrong with the conclusion, but it just wasn't what I was hoping for and that just sort of ruined the magic (so to speak) for me. (Reading Level: ? /Middle Grade+)

The Restorer, by Amanda Stevens, was the second book I finished this month, but I'm not going to tell you all about it here.  It was part ghost story, part murder mystery, part 'Romance' (?) (I will discuss this little matter in my post here.)  The mystery part was pretty well done, but there were some annoying aspects to the book, like when the author keeps repeating the same thing over and over throughout (I really hate that!), as well as the whole romance thing you can read about later.  Although it could be read as a stand-alone since the mystery gets nicely wrapped up, it is a part of a series, which would have to be read to find out what happens with the characters and the problem with the ghosts.  I still have questions that I would like answered, and I really liked the overall concept of the story, but I'm not sure if I can put up with more of the stuff that annoys me.  We'll see. (Reading Level: ? /Intended for adults but fine for Upper Grades)

First of all, I have to comment on the absolutely cheesy cover of The Immortal Throne, by Bree Despain.  Absolutely awful!  I would never have chosen this book off the shelf if all I had to go on was the cover (and it turns out, the images don't even match the characters!), but it was the final book in a trilogy which started out with a really awesome book cover on the first printing of The Shadow Prince (see image here).  The series is one of those
Greek mythology in the modern world that I like so much, and the first two books were pretty good, but I just couldn't get into this third one.  It spent too much time recapping in the beginning, I found half the dialogue annoying, and the action parts were kind of blah.  I don't know if two out of three is worth it if you have trouble finding enough time for reading.  The romance part is pretty good, though, so if you like that kind of thing, it might be. (Reading Level: ? /Middle Grade+)

Fell of Dark, by Patrick Downes, follows the thoughts of two teenage boys.  The book is very interesting, but also disturbing, distressing, and terribly sad.  It gives a glimpse into the mind of the highly gifted, the traumatized, the abused, the neglected, the mentally ill.  It will either inspire you to run out and become a mentor, or a social worker, or foster parent, or somebody who can make a difference, or it will leave you frustrated, feeling that as much as you want to, you will never be able to run out and make a big enough difference to matter. I wouldn't recommend this book if you are looking for light entertainment, but if you want something that will move you and make you stop and think, this will definitely deliver. (Reading Level: ? /Upper Grades)

I didn't finish Chasing Power by Sarah Beth Durst.  It is another book about teens with powers, but I found most of it boring or dumb.  The banter between the main character and her best friend is funny, but the rest of the book (as far as I got anyway, which was like page 76 or something, which wasn't really very far because the book has 368 pages) just fell flat for me.  Really flat.  I don't know if it was just me, or if it was the book.  I guess you could read it and then we'll know.

Insanity, by Susan Vaught, was a roller coaster ride for me.  Sometimes I loved it, and sometimes I hated it.  But every time a part I hated made we want to quit (it seems like a looong book), a part I loved would come and keep me going.  My biggest problem with it was the implausibility.  Well, the whole book is implausible, but the parts that should have been plausible too many times weren't, as if the author didn't give it enough thought or tried to tidy things up and move them along in too few paragraphs (or words, even!).  Oh, and some of the characters were annoying, which for me, spoils a book faster than anything (well, other than bad writing or a stupid plot, you know).  Anyway, I don't know what I was expecting, but it turns out that this book would be a great Halloween pick; it has serial killers and ghosts and the ghosts of serial killers, witches, evil trees, and an undead dead boy who (forcibly) escorts spirits to the Other Side.  Oh, and a good amount of graphic action sprinkled in for good measure. (Reading Level: 5.3/Middle Grade+)

The Killing Jar, by Jennifer Bosworth, started out like so many other books - girl has secret power that makes her accidentally kill people, just by touching them.  I was like, great, another one of these.  But it was pretty interesting in the first part, with a nice little almost love story thing going along with it.  But then in the middle there was this whole going to live in a commune thing, which I found extremely UNinteresting, and even annoying because there was all this not drug abuse that really was drug abuse and I was like what???  I almost quit reading it, but then she left the commune and it got more interesting again, and the ending is pretty predictable (from the standpoint that you totally figure out what is going on ahead of time), but interesting and creative (from the standpoint that I haven't come across it before).  So, overall, an okay book, but nothing I would rave about (or even give a second thought to, really). (Reading Level: ? /Upper Grades)

For some reason I was thinking that Perfectly Good White Boy, by Carrie Mesrobian, was going to be a sad and depressing book.  It wasn't.  It was pretty much about a teenage guy thinking and doing the kind of stuff a teenage guy will think and do.  And this wasn't the PG 13 version.  If it was a movie, it would for sure be rated R, so this is definitely a book for readers in the upper grades.  I'm not sure what the point of the book was exactly, other than to be a snapshot of the life of a guy growing up and finding his place in the world, and the relationships he has (or doesn't have) along the way.  Not quite sure why the author chose this title, since there really wasn't anyone in the story thinking the main character wasn't just fine (except his older brother, but hey), and race wasn't an issue in the story either . . .  anyway, the story was well-written and paced just right.  I liked it. (Reading Level: 4.8/Upper Grades)

There are things I loved about Oblivion, by Sasha Dawn, and things I hated.  Overall, the love won out and I definitely recommend this book for the older readers out there.  Why?  Well, I am currently working on a longer review where I will tell you all about it.  When it is finished, you will be able to see it here. (Reading Level: ? /Upper Grades)