gilda_elise | Entries tagged with monthly motif 2023

The perfect, feel-good holiday gift from W. Bruce Cameron, the #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the A Dog’s Purpose series

The problems fracturing the Goss family as Christmas approaches are hardly unique, though perhaps they are handling them a little differently than most people might. But then a true emergency arises, one with the potential to not only ruin Christmas, but everything holding the family together.

Is the arrival of a lost puppy yet another in the string of calamities facing them, or could the little canine be just what they all need?

A Dog’s Perfect Christmas is a beautiful, poignant, delightful tale of what can happen when family members open their hearts to new possibilities. You’ll find love and tears and laughter—the ideal holiday read.

I get the impression that Cameron doesn’t know kids (even though he apparently has some,) because all three in the book are so clichéd it isn’t even funny. Ello (Ello? Ello?! It took awhile to find out that it’s short for Eloise,) the teenager, goes around yelling at her parents, being morose, and just an all around unpleasant person. For half the book she has no redeeming characteristics whatsoever. And what’s with her and her friends’ names? Their names, but none of the other characters’ names, are oddly spelled. Brittne instead of Britney, Soffea, instead of Sophia, Mourgen instead of Morgan.

The twins are even worse. They’re constantly breaking things, they talk in “twin,” and don’t seem to know any English even though they’re three. Or is this really what passes as parenting now?

Oh, and don’t forget the grandfather, who, though grieving (his wife had died two years before,) thinks he should be waited on. He does everything he can to be an unpleasant person. A lot of the time it made the book hard to read.

What makes the book not totally terrible are the dogs. Cameron does have a knack for bringing dogs to life, so that I totally buy into that what I’m reading are really the dog’s thoughts. Unfortunately, the dogs are in the background through most of the book. Its title is totally misleading.

A completely disappointing book; I hope Cameron never goes down this path again.

Mount TBR 2023 Book Links

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51. Lady in Waiting by Susan Meissner
52. Jackdaw (Jackdaw #1) by K.J. Charles
53. Blightborn (Heartland #2) by Chuck Wendig
54. The Harvest (Heartland #3) by Chuck Wendig
55. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
56. Black River Orchard by Chuck Wendig
57. The Change by Kirsten Miller
58. The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas
59. The Witching Hour (Lives of the Mayfair Witches #1) by Anne Rice
60. Abandon by Blake Crouch
61. Planet B (Architects of the Apocalypse #1) by Jasper T. Scott
62. Shiver by Allie Reynolds
63. The Starlite Drive-In by Marjorie Reynolds
64. The Snow by Flint Maxwell
65. The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket by Edgar Allan Poe
66. December by Phil Rickman
67. Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
68. Ariadne's Crown by Meadoe Hora
69. Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
70. A Dog's Perfect Christmas by W. Bruce Cameron

Goodreads 70

DECEMBER- White-out
“Read a book with a wintery setting or a book with a mostly white cover.”
A Dog's Perfect Christmas by W. Bruce Cameron

2069: EARTH IS DYING AND SOCIETY IS ON THE BRINK OF COLLAPSE
We are out of time to save the planet. All that’s left is to watch the world burn, but the apocalypse is about to take an unexpected twist.

Alice Rice has discovered the a potentially habitable world in close proximity to Earth. The media is calling it Planet B.

PEOPLE ARE DISAPPEARING
Detective Layla Bester was about to marry the love of her life when she learned that he slept with her best friend. Now, she’s alone and starting over in the once great city of New York. But the world has more than enough troubles to make hers feel small, and a new one has just been people are vanishing, and no one knows where they’re being taken.

AND A WAR IS BREWING
Meanwhile, Billionaire Preston Baylor is leading the race to reach Planet B, but competing space programs are heating up political tensions and driving superpowers ever closer to war.

Climatologist Bruce Gordon believes an incomprehensibly powerful species sent Planet B to us, but who are our mysterious saviors, why are they hiding, and what do they want? As time goes by, it becomes clear that even if their intentions were good, our own self-destructive natures could be all it takes to wipe us out.

An interesting premise that I felt was a bit overdone. There was just too much going on for the writer to give any one scenario its due. Same with the characters, of which there are more than are needed. I never felt as if I got to really know any of them. And what I did get to know was to their detriment. None were likable. Wasn’t taken with the fact that the two characters of color are, of course, the convicts, either.

I hung in there, though, hoping that things would get better, that it would all come together. It never really did, and you have to read two more books to hopefully get there. But I don’t think I’ll be going along for the ride.

NOVEMBER- Around OR Out of this World: “Read a book set in a country other than the one you live in OR read a book that takes place in space or on another planet.”

Planet B (Architects of the Apocalypse #1) by Jasper T. Scott

In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees, live three robots--fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. They're a family, hidden and safe.

The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labelled "HAP," he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio-a past spent hunting humans.

When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio's former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic's assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming.

Along the way to save Gio, amid conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap, Vic must decide for himself: Can he accept love with strings attached?

Author TJ Klune invites you deep into the heart of a peculiar forest and on the extraordinary journey of a family assembled from spare parts.

I loved Under the Whispering Door, and The House in the Cerulean Sea. In the Lives of Puppets, not so much. Mostly, because I was never able to make a connection to any of the characters. Even Rambo, who was probably my favorite, could be annoying at times.

There are a lot of twists and turns to the story. Unfortunately, most weren’t much of a surprise. I think because the plot relied too heavily on stories that are already well known, such as Pinocchio and The Wizard of Oz. Knowing what happened in them gave me a pretty good idea as to what was going to happen here.

Will this keep me from reading any more Klune novels? Not hardly. Everyone can have a bad day; I’m counting on that being all this was.

Mount TBR 2023 Book Links

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41. The Power by Naomi Alderman
42. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
43. Day Zero (Sea of Rust #0) by C. Robert Cargill
44. Dog Days by Ericka Waller
45. Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
46. The Passage (The Passage #1) by Justin Cronin
47. Kallocain by Karin Boye, Gustaf Lannestock (Translator), Richard B. Vowles (Introduction)
48. The Book of Koli (Rampart Trilogy #1) by M.R. Carey
49. Different Seasons by Stephen King
50. In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune

Safari - Sep 14, 2023 at 10:58 AM

September - Speculative Stories: “Read a book from the speculative subgenre, ie. a book with elements that do not exist in the real world.”

In the Lives of Puppets by T. J. Klune

An aging death-metal rock god, Judas Coyne, is a collector of the macabre: a cookbook for cannibals... a used hangman's noose... a snuff film. But nothing he possesses is as unlikely or as dreadful as an item he learns is for sale on the Internet. For a thousand dollars, Jude will become the proud owner of a dead man's suit, said to be haunted by the deceased's restless spirit. Judas has spent a lifetime coping with ghosts - of an abusive father, of the lovers he callously abandoned, of the bandmates he betrayed - so what's one more?

But what UPS delivers to his door in a black heart-shaped box is no imaginary or metaphorical ghost, it's the real thing. And suddenly the suit's previous owner is everywhere - behind the bedroom door... seated in Jude's restored vintage Mustang... staring out from his widescreen TV - dangling a gleaming razor blade on a chain from one hand…

Books whose main character isn’t terribly likable are hard for me to enjoy, much less be drawn into. I thought that would be the case with this one; Judas Coyne is something of an ass. He’s not nice to his lovers, calling them by the state they’re from, rather than their given names. Actually, he’s not terribly nice to anyone. He’s had some hard knocks and it shows.

But as his story progresses, you can’t help but root for the man. He’s a fighter. He has to be considering who, or maybe make that what, he’s up against. He’s bought himself a read, “live” ghost who’s out to get him him and anyone who gets in its way.

Tahe book isn’t scary in the conventional sense; the evil is more garden-variety human. Rather, the story is more an interesting study of a man grappling with the ghosts of his past, and one particularly nasty one in the present.

This is the first Joe Hill book that I’ve read. I think there’ll be more.

Mount TBR 2023 Book Links

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36. The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson
37. A Natural History of the Future: What the Laws of Biology Tell Us about the Destiny of the Human Species by Rob Dunn
38. Sparta: Rise of a Warrior Nation by Philip Matyszak
39. Wayward (Wanderers #2) by Chuck Wendig
40. The Summoning God (Anasazi Mysteries #2) by Kathleen O'Neal Gear, W. Michael Gear
41. The Power by Naomi Alderman
42. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
43. Day Zero (Sea of Rust #0) by C. Robert Cargill
44. Dog Days by Ericka Waller
45. Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill

Goodreads 45

Debut horror

1. Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill

2023 Monthly Motif

AUGUST- A Book and a Song :“Read a book with the same title as a song you’ve heard.”

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
Song by Nirvana

Drawing on Maggie O'Farrell's long-term fascination with the little-known story behind Shakespeare's most enigmatic play, HAMNET is a luminous portrait of a marriage, at its heart the loss of a beloved child.

Warwickshire in the 1580s. Agnes is a woman as feared as she is sought after for her unusual gifts. She settles with her husband in Henley street, Stratford, and has three children: a daughter, Susanna, and then twins, Hamnet and Judith. The boy, Hamnet, dies in 1596, aged eleven. Four years or so later, the husband writes a play called Hamlet.

Award-winning author Maggie O'Farrell's new novel breathes full-blooded life into the story of a loss usually consigned to literary footnotes, and provides an unforgettable vindication of Agnes, a woman intriguingly absent from history.

It’s been quite awhile since I’ve read a book that was so beautiful, and yet so tragic. The writing is lyrical, and creates a world of magic and love and loss.

But while the title of the book leads the reader in one direction, or, perhaps, two, the boy, Hamnet, and the sickness that swept across Europe, the true center of the story is Hamnet’s parents. How they met, what it took for them to come together, and how the death of their son affects their lives. Together, and separately.

In this way, Hamnet is an integral part of the story. He is a sweet and loving child, whose death drives his parents in two different direction. Both are devastated, but while his mother struggles to survive one day at a time, his father pours his grief into reimagining his son, and how his character would have manifested itself.

I was amazed that, in further reading, some critical “experts” saw no evidence of his son’s death having any affect on Shakespeare’s writing. I can’t imagine that it wouldn’t have. Anyone who has lost a child, or knows someone who has, I would imagine would agree.

I can't thank Melissa W. enough for recommending this book.

Mount TBR 2023 Book Links

( Mount TBR 2023 Book Links 1-25 )

26. Bethany's Sin by Robert McCammon
27. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
28. The Tea Party by Charles L. Grant
29. Seeker (Alex Benedict #3) by Jack McDevitt
30. Jizzle by John Wyndham
31. The Taking by Dean Koontz
32. Frozen in Time: An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II by Mitchell Zuckoff
33. A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
34. Hamnet: A Novel of the Plague by Maggie O'Farrell

July - Melissa W

This is the women’s war, just as much as it is the men’s. They have waited long enough for their turn . . .

This was never the story of one woman, or two. It was the story of them all . . .

In the middle of the night, a woman wakes to find her beloved city engulfed in flames. Ten seemingly endless years of conflict between the Greeks and the Trojans are over. Troy has fallen.

From the Trojan women whose fates now lie in the hands of the Greeks, to the Amazon princess who fought Achilles on their behalf, to Penelope awaiting the return of Odysseus, to the three goddesses whose feud started it all, these are the stories of the women whose lives, loves, and rivalries were forever altered by this long and tragic war.

A woman’s epic, powerfully imbued with new life, A Thousand Ships puts the women, girls and goddesses at the center of the Western world’s great tale ever told.

Women are so often given short shrift when it comes to book about war, so this book was a refreshing change of pace. It is the women, not the men, whose stories are told. And even though their stories have been covered by the Greek tragedians, those stories are little read or known by the modern audience.

Both sides of the conflict are covered, along with the goddesses whose actions began the whole thing. Told in short chapters, the story moves from side to side, forward and backward, yet never loses the thread of the narrative. Their stories mostly follow the ancient texts, but often with a surprising twist. The women come alive, and even though their fate is already ordained, I couldn’t help but wish for different outcomes.

Especially captivating are the letter from Penelope to Odysseus, and Hector’s wife, Andromache’s, tragic tale.

JUNE- Take the Plunge
“Read a book from any genre that is set on or near a body of water- lake, ocean, pool, river, etc.”

A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

Alex Benedict and his executive assistant, Chase Kolpath -- ambitious antiquities dealers from Jack McDevitt's A Talent for War (1989) and, more recently, Polaris -- are back in Seeker, a story in which the two antiquarians search for a legendary lost colony that is both a science fiction thriller and a remarkably complex mystery.

More than 9,000 years after an interstellar transport named Seeker left an overcrowded and politically repressive Earth with the dream of founding a new society on an unspecified planet, Benedict and Kolpath stumble across a ceramic cup that was once on the now-legendary lost starship. But tracking down how the ancient artifact got from the ship into the hands of a maltreated woman and her thuggish boyfriend turns out to be more than Benedict and Kolpath bargained for -- as their search leads them across multiple star systems and straight into an anonymous assassin's crosshairs. But as the killer closes in, the two courageous antiquarians uncover the jaw-dropping truth about the lost starship and the legendary colony

Equally reminiscent of Frederik Pohl's Hugo and Nebula Award-winning Heechee saga (Gateway, Beyond the Blue Event Horizon, et al.) and a classic Ellery Queen mystery, McDevitt's Seeker will appeal to readers of hard-core science fiction, as well as adventurous mystery fans looking for an out-of-this-world story. And just like Polaris, Seeker is characterized by a bombshell of an ending that will leave readers absolutely awestruck.

A truly excellent installment in the Alex Benedict series. Once again, the book is in the first person, with, again, Chase as the narrator. But unlike the previous volume, I felt her portrayal this time was spot on. I don’t know if she matured or if McDevitt’s writing did. In either case, Chase is the perfect character to move the story forward.

And move it does. The reader is taken on a fast paced ride, as one discovery leads to another. And while the series is named for Benedict, Chase is being given a bigger role; just as big, if not bigger, than Benedict’s.

I don’t know of a lot of hard science fiction writers out there, but of those I do know, McDevitt is at the top of the list. And this book has only solidified his position. Part science fiction, part mystery, part archaeological search, the book keeps the reader guessing until the end. No surprise that it won the Nebula award for best novel of 2006.

There are several more books in the series, with a new one just out. I can’t wait to start the next one.

Mount TBR 2023 Book Links

( Mount TBR 2023 Book Links 1-20 )

21. The Magpie Lord (Charm of Magpies 1) by K.J. Charles
22. 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed: Revised and Updated by Eric H. Cline
23. Wanderers (Wanderers #1) by Chuck Wendig
24. Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
25. A Dog's History of the World: Canines and the Domestication of Humans by Laura Hobgood-Oster
26. Bethany's Sin by Robert McCammon
27. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
28. The Tea Party by Charles L. Grant
29. Seeker (Alex Benedict #3) by Jack McDevitt

Goodreads 29

MAY- In It To Win It
“Read a book that involves a game or contest of some sort.” ie. Virtual reality, video games, war games, psychological mess-with-your-mind games, characters who participate in a contest, or a story in which the character takes on a personal challenge.

Seeker by Jack McDevitt

Shana wakes up one morning to discover her little sister in the grip of a strange malady. She appears to be sleepwalking. She cannot talk and cannot be woken up. And she is heading with inexorable determination to a destination that only she knows. But Shana and her sister are not alone. Soon they are joined by a flock of sleepwalkers from across America, on the same mysterious journey. And like Shana, there are other "shepherds" who follow the flock to protect their friends and family on the long dark road ahead.

For as the sleepwalking phenomenon awakens terror and violence in America, the real danger may not be the epidemic but the fear of it. With society collapsing all around them--and an ultraviolent militia threatening to exterminate them--the fate of the sleepwalkers depends on unraveling the mystery behind the epidemic. The terrifying secret will either tear the nation apart--or bring the survivors together to remake a shattered world.

A truly amazing end-of-the-world novel. One I’d put up there with Stephen King’s The Stand, Robert McCammon’s Swan Song, and Jack McDevitt’s Eternity Road.

With the same catalyst as The Last of Us, (though published before the series premiered,) Wanderers lives up to its name. A fungal plague is spreading fast, and no one is safe. Except, perhaps for those you have inexplicably began a journey while seeming asleep. We follow those who are sleepwalking across the country but, more so, those who have made it their mission to protect them while everything falls apart around them.

I especially liked how we get to see the collapse of civilization from several people’s perspective. There are, of course, the sleepwalkers and their protectors. But there’s also a rock star who’s looking for a new way into the spotlight; an ex-cop, whose brain injury seems to connect her to the flock, and a preacher taken in by the twisted logic of an extreme right militia leader.

It’s a story which grabbed me from the beginning and never let go.

( Mount TBR 2023 Book Links 1-20 )

21. The Magpie Lord (Charm of Magpies 1) by K.J. Charles
22. 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed: Revised and Updated by Eric H. Cline
23. Wanderers (Wanderers #1) by Chuck Wendig

Goodreads 23

APRIL- I Like Big Books

“Read a book over 400 pages long or listen to an audiobook over 14 hrs long.”

Wanderers by Chuck Wendig (780 pages)

In the spirit of Station Eleven and Never Let Me Go, this dazzling and ambitious literary debut follows three generations of beekeepers from the past, present, and future, weaving a spellbinding story of their relationship to the bees, to their children, and to one another against the backdrop of an urgent, global crisis.

England, 1852. William is a biologist and seed merchant who sets out to build a new type of beehive, one that will give both him and his children honor and fame.

United States, 2007. George is a beekeeper fighting an uphill battle against modern farming, but he hopes that his son can be their salvation.

China, 2098. Tao hand paints pollen onto the fruit trees now that the bees have long since disappeared. When Tao's young son is taken away by the authorities after a tragic accident, she sets out on a grueling journey to find out what happened to him.

Haunting, illuminating, and deftly written, The History of Bees joins these three very different narratives into one gripping and thought-provoking story that is just as much about the powerful bond between children and parents as it is about our very relationship to nature and humanity.

As with The Last Wild Horses, the story is told through the lens of three people in three different times. We see the history of bees from when they’re first made to work for men, then when their work comes to a tragic end, and then when they’ve all but disappeared. It’s a powerful story, sparely told.

William, George, and Tao each have a part to play in, first, trying to force the bees into working, not for themselves, but for man, and then trying to take the place of the missing bees. Each hopes their work will be continued by their sons.

Will the earth survive? Will Man? Maybe, but only if we learn that the other species on the planet are not here for us; that we cannot tame Nature. Genesis 1:26-28 was a foul trick.

Mount TBR 2023 Book Links

Links are to more information regarding each book or author, not to the review.

1. Alexander's Tomb: The Two-Thousand Year Obsession to Find the Lost Conquerer by Nicholas J. Saunders
2. Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune
3. Under the Empyrean Sky (Heartland Trilogy #1) by Chuck Wendig
4. Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon
5. After Appomattox: Military Occupation and the Ends of War by Gregory P. Downs
6. The Wolf's Hour (Michael Gallatin #1) by Robert R. McCammon
7. Bag of Bones by Stephen King
8. Substitute by Susi Holliday
9. Fairy Tale by Stephen King
10. Huxley: From Devil's Disciple To Evolution's High Priest
11. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
12. The History of Bees (Climate Quartet #1) by Maja Lunde, Diane Oatley (Translator)

Goodreads 12

Books in Translation - The History of Bees

FEBRUARY- If You Have A Garden and a Library…
“Read a book with a plant or flower on the cover.”
The History of Bees by Maja Lunde

Welcome to Charon's Crossing.
The tea is hot, the scones are fresh, and the dead are just passing through.

When a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his own funeral, Wallace begins to suspect he might be dead.

And when Hugo, the owner of a peculiar tea shop, promises to help him cross over, Wallace decides he’s definitely dead.

But even in death he’s not ready to abandon the life he barely lived, so when Wallace is given one week to cross over, he sets about living a lifetime in seven days.

Hilarious, haunting, and kind, Under the Whispering Door is an uplifting story about a life spent at the office and a death spent building a home.

After reading The House in the Cerulean Sea, I knew that I wanted to read more of Klune’s books. I’m so glad that this is the one I chose next.

Once again, I fell in love with all the characters: Wallace, Hugo, Mei, Hugo’s grandfather, Nelson, and Hugo’s dog, Apollo. And even if the last two are spirits, all play a part in helping Wallace become the man in death that he should have been in life.

The talk of death and grief is gentle, though its effect is forceful. It may not help others through their own bout of loss, but I think it helped me.

A truly wonderful and magical book.

Mount TBR 2022 Book Links

Links are to more information regarding each book or author, not to the review.

1. Alexander's Tomb: The Two-Thousand Year Obsession to Find the Lost Conquerer by Nicholas J. Saunders
2. Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune

Goodreads 2

JANUARY- New Year, New Direction
“Read a book with one, or more, ‘directional’ words in the title.” ie. (into, over, out, behind, left, right, down, up, north, south, out, etc.)

Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune

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Page Summary

A Dog's Perfect Christmas by W. Bruce Cameron
Planet B (Architects of the Apocalypse #1) by Jasper T. Scott
In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune
Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
Hamnet: A Novel of the Plague by Maggie O'Farrell
A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
Seeker (Alex Benedict #3) by Jack McDevitt
Wanderers (Wanderers #1) by Chuck Wendig
The History of Bees (Climate Quartet #1) by Maja Lunde, Diane Oatley (Translator)
Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune

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