Monthly reading review – January 2018

This January I have read:

The Scoundrel Takes a Bride (Regency Rogues #5) by Stefanie Sloane ★★

The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, #1) by Philip Pullman ★★★

A Test of Mettle (The Iron Druid Chronicles #3.5) by Kevin Hearne ★★★★

A Prelude to War (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #7.5) by Kevin Hearne ★★★★

Three Slices by Kevin Hearne, Delilah S. Dawson and Chuck Wendig ★★★★

Taurus by Božica Dragaš ★★★

The Shab-al-Hiri Roach by Jason Morningstar ★★★

1. How many books you’ve read last month? Are you happy with the amount you read?

In January I have read six books in total. I have decided leave the short story from one of them out of the count. I would like to read a bit more in general and get the number of books I read in a month closer to ten.

2. What was the best of all the books you’ve read in January? Any scenes or characters that made a lasting impression?

I loved getting back to The Iron Druid Chronicles in the form of short stories and they were the highlight of my reading in January. The Shab-al-Hiri Roach has given me some food for thought in January as well.

3. Were there any not so good books for you last month? What made it hard or not enjoyable to read?

The historical romance The Scoundrel Takes a Bride did not impress me much. I guess I was not in the mood for romance books this January.

4. How did the books you were reading last month fit in your reading plans if you had any?

Only planned reading I did was finishing The Golden Compass from December and reading the Taurus book for my book club meeting at the start of February.  The rest of the books, excluding the TBR Jar Draw The Shab-al-Hiri Roach were not planned.

5. Any updates on the series you are reading or are you starting any new series?

Technically I tried out three new series: His Dark Materials #1) by Philip Pullman, Blud short story by Delilah S. Dawson and Miriam Black short story by Chuck Wendig.

6. Would you like to recommend any books or authors you’ve been reading this last month?

This January recommendation goes for Kevin Hearne and Iron Druid Chronicles. I enjoy the stories from the world of Iron Druid a lot and hope to continue reading the next book soon.

Final thoughts on January reading

I have posted three book reviews in January:

The Scoundrel Takes a Bride (Regency Rogues #5) by Stefanie Sloane ★★ – REVIEW

Three Slices by Kevin Hearne, Delilah S. Dawson and Chuck Wendig ★★★★ – REVIEW

The Shab-al-Hiri Roach by Jason Morningstar ★★★ – REVIEW

I am still reading A Man for Himself: An Inquiry into the Psychology of Ethics by Erich Fromm and I am slowly trudging on with Fifty Shades Freed (Fifty Shades, #3) by E.L. James. I am having trouble with it and hope to finish it by the time the movie comes out.

I have yet to do the TBR Jar Draw for February and start on the other book for my book club reading in February which is Lord of the Flies by William Golding.

Three Slices – Book Review

Finished reading

Three Slices

by

Kevin Hearne, Delilah S. Dawson and Chuck Wendig

★★★★

Expectation

I was going trough the list of short stories I missed reading for Iron Druid Chronicles after one of my friends asked for reading recommendation. Naturally I turned to Kevin Hearne’s Iron Druid Chronicles. I found a few short stories and novellas I have not read yet and this one stood out as an interesting one. I gave up on reading the short stories in order since they are not so easy for me to come by. I was actually surprised to see that the story A Prelude to War is almost on point for book 7. which is the next book I need to read for this series. I have heard for Delilah S. Swanson and her Blud series and even put it on my TBR some years back. I have never read anything of it though. This is my first Chuck Wendig story and I had no idea what to expect.

Summary

These three stories have in common the theme of tyromancy. Tyromancy is the art of divination and telling ones future using cheese hence the apt title Three Slices. While each story is set in its own universe the cheese part is what connects them in a quirky way.

A Prelude to War

by Kevin Hearne

★★★★

This story was relatively easy for me to get into. It is divided into two segments. One follows Atticus the main character of the series in his exploits to recruit the help of someone he used to know and to get better insight for dealing with his enemies. The other part of this story follows Granuaille on her training to be a druid. While Atticus was one of my most liked parts of the Iron Druid Chronicles I did prefer Granuaille and her way of dealing with druid business and foes. I suspect the part with Atticus has more meaning to the main story of the book series and will have to read on to find out.

Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys

by Delilah S. Dawson

★★★★

Second story  in this collection presented a bit of a challenge to get into. As a short story from a fully developed and fantastically rich world it brought out an array of new creatures and a world that follows its own rules. Since I knew nothing about any of it the first part of this story had me going slowly to try to understand dynamics of the creatures and the rules they abide by. I knew there was a vampire type creatures of some kind in the center of it all and that’s about it. I like the main character Criminy Stain and his sense of flair. The character itself is very strongly portrayed and driven. In retrospect the story was full of macabre and strange but it was all very nicely put together and I did not mind the brutality of some parts. Its a very dark story set in a dark world with some dark characters. I ended up liking it.

Interlude: Swallow

by Chuck Wendig

★★

This author and her characters I knew the least about. From the very start it read more like a mystery thriller than anything else. While the story Delilah S. Swanson before it had more macabre elements this one was much more scary for me. The way it was written did not help either. The story was put together by little chapters out of order. The way they continue is that they turn forward in time and back in time in the most intense parts of the plot. I had no love for this and did not like it all that much.

Conclusion

While all three stories have a character that uses cheese to tell future in some way there was a distinct commonality in the title of the second story – Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys which refers to a polish saying with general meaning Not my problem, I don’t care. In each story there was a moment of betrayal and the motive of the betrayer had certain carefree elements – nothing personal, I was just worrying about my own stuff. This three story collection was entertaining to read and I found it to be informative for future reading.

The beautiful illustrations were made by Galen Dara and are part of the book. Aside the cover illustration each story has one and I like them as much I like the stories.