Category: Ebook

finding?

Posted on by Greig

The Language of Spells

Sarah Painter

the language of spellsThis was another Kindle daily deal that I was tempted by.
The plot is about a young woman who inherits her great-aunt’s house and the repercussions as the past is dredged up by her return to where she grew up.
This is a nice little romance novel that happens to have a lead character with real magical powers.
Weirdly it reminded me a bit of Diana Wynne Jones – though not in her league – with the small town English setting and the prosaic everyday magic.
I enjoyed it quite a lot and will definitely check out any new books by the author to see if she can get even better.

Rating: B

hinges?

Posted on by Greig

Flat Out Love

Jessica Park

flat out loveI’m pretty much unable to resist a good bargain and when this book cropped up in the 99p daily Kindle deal with the promise of a good romantic comedy I jumped at the chance.
Imagine my disappointment when this turned out to be full of cliche characters and crashingly obvious plot twists.
The author has a pleasant, readable voice but the book is utterly forgettable.

Rating: C+

spike?

Posted on by Greig

Rosemary & Rue

Seanan McGuire

rosemary and rueI don’t normally re-read books so quickly but I was looking for something to divert me at lunchtimes now that I no longer eat at my desk. This, the first Toby Daye book, just happened to be on my phone.
It’s a very enjoyable urban fantasy novel that sets up the series with a deft hand. There’s a lot of seeds planted in this first book that go on to pay off with interest in later volumes and it was fun to catch that this time around.
If you have any tolerance for urban fantasy please check out this series – it starts well and gets better.

Rating: B+

potato?

Posted on by Greig

This Lullaby

Sarah Dessen

this lullabyRemy is a cynical young woman about to graduate from high school and escape her home town to Stanford for college. Convinced love is a sham following her Mother’s many marriages she jumps from boyfriend to boyfriend without ever getting emotionally invested. Then she meets Dexter – the singer of an indie band newly arrived in town and things stop being so cut and dried.
This is an expertly constructed and very enjoyable slice of teen romance. Recommended by a fellow fan of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries I raced through this in a couple of days.
It nicely hits that funny, smart romantic tone that I’m sucker for in films and TV without ever getting too melodramatic.

Rating: B+

dirigible?

Posted on by Greig

Changeless

Gail Carriger

The sequel to Soulless finds Alexia busy with her new roles in life and caught up in a mystery when Werewolves can no longer transform, Vampires become human and Ghosts are exorcised with no apparent cause.
Chasing the cause finds her taking a zeppelin ride north to Scotland.
This is a perfectly well constructed book and I still like the lead character – I just found myself getting tired of the ‘witty’ faux Victorian banter and I had to force myself to read it to the conclusion.
Only recommended to those who enjoy the Victorian aspect of the books.

Rating: C+

carter?

Posted on by Greig

An Artificial Night

Seanan McGuire

When Toby’s friend’s children disappear in the night she’s quickly on the case only to find herself embroiled with the crazed Firstborn Blind Michael.
This installment is just as entertaining and enjoyable as the previous books in the Toby Daye series. McGuire reveals the back story of her world with perfect timing and as a result I’m totally invested in the series.
A must read if you’ve read the first two.

Rating: B+

oof?

Posted on by Greig

How To Be A Woman

Caitlin Moran

Moran’s book is a funny autobiographical feminist polemic.
Each chapter illustrates an aspect of growing up and living as a woman using events in her own life.
Her anecdotes are usually hilarious, occasionally moving and nearly always enlightening.
I found much to admire in her take on feminism, but that’s not too surprising given how well it chimes with my own views.
It’s currently available as a cheap paperback or ebook and is well worth buying.

Rating: A-

pendant?

Posted on by Greig

War For The Oaks

Emma Bull

Back in 2008 when the tor.com website first started up they gave away a load of ebooks from the Tor catalogue to people who signed up to be members. This is one of those books.
I read it when I first got my hands on it, on a Palm pilot. Not the greatest reading experience but I did enjoy the book.
Earlier this year I had a sudden craving to re-read War For The Oaks and went scouring through the hard disks of various old PCs and I just couldn’t find it anywhere. A few days ago I was idly tidying up files on my iMac and lo and behold there was the ebook file.
Reading the book on the new ‘retina’ iPad is a world away from the Palm – it’s amazing the speed at which technology has improved.
Anyway back to the book. This is an excellent early example of urban fantasy. It’s particular strength is in the author’s understanding of music and the music industry, which I can tell is pretty much spot on.
It’s hard to get hold of in the UK, but I’d recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone looking for a good fantasy read – especially fans of urban fantasy.

Rating: A-