Today’s Top 5 Wednesday topic is: Books You Didn’t Get to in 2017
I have SO MANY of those, but I’m going to be good and stick to just five…kinda…
The Doctor and the Dinosaurs – Weird West Tales #4 (Mike Resnick)
Description from Goodreads: The time is April, 1885. Doc Holliday lies in bed in a sanitarium in Leadville, Colorado, expecting never to leave his room again. But the medicine man and great chief Geronimo needs him for one last adventure. Renegade Comanche medicine men object to the newly-signed treaty with Theodore Roosevelt. They are venting their displeasure on two white men who are desecrating tribal territory in Wyoming. Geronimo must protect the men or renege on his agreement with Roosevelt. He offers Doc one year of restored health in exchange for taking on this mission.
Welcome to the birth of American paleontology, spearheaded by two brilliant men, Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh, two men whose genius is only exceeded by their hatred for each other’s guts.
Now, with the aid of Theodore Roosevelt, Cole Younger, and Buffalo Bill Cody, Doc Holliday must save Cope and Marsh not only from the Comanches, not only from living, breathing dinosaurs, but from each other. And that won’t be easy.
Why I Want To Read It: I absolutely love this series. It’s basically a steampunk version of the old west, where shamans have real magic and are holding the border at the Mississippi. It features “real characters” from the time, with one of my all-time favorites, Doc Holliday, in the lead. And this one even focuses on one of my favorite fields, Paleontology! But…it’s the last of the series and I don’t want it to end so I’ve been putting it off. 😦
Split the Party – Spells, Swords, & Stealth #2 (Drew Hayes)
Description from Goodreads: Fleeing from a vengeful king has sent the former NPCs across Solium’s borders, into the kingdom of Alcatham. As wanted fugitives, they head to the small farming village of Briarwillow, hoping to blend in, lay-low, and avoid trouble at all costs. Unfortunately, Briarwillow has problems all its own, and its troubles quickly become theirs. If they hope to survive long enough to escape, they’ll have to tackle an all-but-forgotten mystery buried at the town’s border, as well as seek the wisdom of a mysterious group of mages. With time, magic, and at least one god against them, it will take everything they’ve got to save Briarwillow, and themselves.
Why I Want To Read It: I really loved the first book in this series, NPCs. To the point where I finished the book and instantly got on Goodreads to see if the sequel was out yet. I bought it from Amazon THAT VERY DAY and still haven’t read it. I’m a bum.
It Devours! – Night Vale #2 (Joseph Fink & Jeffery Cranor)
Description from Goodreads: Nilanjana Sikdar is an outsider to the town of Night Vale. Working for Carlos, the town’s top scientist, she relies on fact and logic as her guiding principles. But all of that is put into question when Carlos gives her a special assignment investigating a mysterious rumbling in the desert wasteland outside of town. This investigation leads her to the Joyous Congregation of the Smiling God, and to Darryl, one of its most committed members. Caught between her beliefs in the ultimate power of science and her growing attraction to Darryl, she begins to suspect the Congregation is planning a ritual that could threaten the lives of everyone in town. Nilanjana and Darryl must search for common ground between their very different world views as they are faced with the Congregation’s darkest and most terrible secret.
Why I Want To Read It: I LOVE the Welcome to Night Vale podcast and the last book they came out with was wonderful. I’ve been looking forward to more since then, so I pre-ordered this audio book to get it the instant it came out…and then I let it languish on my shelf for 3 months. I have no excuses, but I DO want to finally listen to it this year.
Ireland (Frank Delaney)
Description from Goodreads: In the winter of 1951, a storyteller arrives at the home of nine-year-old Ronan O’Mara in the Irish countryside. The last practitioner of an honored, centuries-old tradition, the Seanchaienthralls his assembled audience for three evenings running with narratives of foolish kings and fabled saints, of enduring accomplishments and selfless acts — until he is banished from the household for blasphemy and moves on. But these three incomparable nights have changed young Ronan forever, setting him on the course he will follow for years to come — as he pursues the elusive, itinerant storyteller . . . and the magical tales that are no less than the glorious saga of his tenacious, troubled, and extraordinary isle.
Why I Want To Read It: I’m actually about halfway through the audio book for this one (and if you decide to read it, GO WITH THE AUDIO BOOK), but I got distracted with trying to catch up on my podcasts and sort of forgot about it. It’s a really good book, though. I love mythology and lore, and Ireland has some of the best.
ALL THE COZIES (Multiple Authors)
Why I Want To Read Them: I literally have an entire dvd stand FULL of cozy mysteries that I haven’t read yet. And I’m talking one of those tall wooden stands; the kind with 6 shelves. Seriously, there’s at least 50 of them on there. Cozy Mysteries are my guilty pleasure, but I’m REALLY bad about buying any cozy that sounds cute and then not actually reading it. I even DID read a bunch of cozies last year…but I got them all from the library! My shelf is still TOTALLY FULL of books I haven’t read yet! ::shakes finger at face:: DO BETTER, GIRL!!!
How about you? What books are you planning to read this year?
I actually have quite a few options for this category, but we’ll go with a classic: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. (*SPOILERS*) This is a story about a man who decides to play God and create life, only to completely panic when he actually succeeds. His creation, understandably upset by his Father thinking he’s a freak, runs away and hides in some random people’s house. When THEY get understandably upset that a stranger has been living in their house spying on them, he decides that all people are evil and he’s just going to kill everybody. Pappa Frankenstein proceeds to blame every problem in his life on someone else and refuses to acknowledge what’s really happening, leading to the deaths of most of the people he cares about. — I really couldn’t stand this book. Dr. Frankenstein is one of the most self-centered, whiny, egotistical, and obtuse characters I’ve ever had to read about. By the end, I was rooting for the Monster. I have no idea why this story is so beloved.
Ok, I blame the Harry Potter fanfic for this one, but I’m totally a Harry/Luna (or Harry/Draco, but that’s a bit more farfetched considering that they were super-crazy antagonists in the original stories). Ginny (from the books) was pretty great, but I just love Luna and I think they would have made a great couple. Plus, falling for his sister’s best friend, a girl who’s had a crush on him forever…it’s a tiny bit cliched, don’t you think?
Terry Pratchett – Sorry Pratchett fans, I know I’m supposed to love this author, but ::shrugs:: I did like Going Postal ok and Good Omens, his match-up with Neil Gaiman, was kind of fun, but I just have no interest in trying to read more if his work.
And speaking of epic fantasies…Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein. Oh man, have you tried to actually read these books? I was doing ok, even with the really verbose dialogue and never-ending descriptions, until they all decided to stop FOR A MONTH to party with a guy who lives in a tree when they were SUPPOSED to be ridding the world of the Ultimate Evil. I got so angry with all of them that I couldn’t read anymore. I know the fans of the books love Tom Bombadil and were really cranky that he wasn’t in the movies, but seriously, what was up with that part?!?
I’ll admit, it’s been 2 or 3 years since I read this one, so I can’t be 100% sure there WASN’T romance in it. But if there was, I definitely don’t remember it. Doctor Sleep is the sequel to The Shining; it follows Danny into adulthood and depicts a brand-new adventure with horrifying vampire-demon things and a new kid sidekick with mental powers. It was actually REALLY good. If you like Stephen King, I’d highly recommend it.
Now, I haven’t read any of the other books in the series, but this first book is fairly limited on the “I love you so much” scale. In this first novel, the NPCs (non-player characters) in a role playing game suddenly have to take on the roles of the heroes in order to save their town from a tyrannical king. The characters are much more focused on their adventure than romance, though there IS some foreshadowing that romance might occur in the future.
This is probably the closest I’ll get to cheating. A book where the main character spends 80% of the time having a face-to-face with God and 10% of the rest has to do with his child being kidnapped? Yeah, not much time for romance in this one.
The creators of the Welcome to Night Vale podcast really outdid themselves on their first novel. They managed to take a bunch of very minor characters from the show and create an entire novel, with those characters coming together to solve a huge mystery that started out as an off-hand comment. It’s amazing! There ARE a few hints to a previous relationship…and of course Cecil can’t ever NOT talk about Carlos, but the majority if this story has nothing to to with romance.
This was a wonderful book that pulled me out of my most recent reading slump. I plan to do a full review at some point, because I absolutely loved it.
to buy the book, so I knew that I’d probably like it, but I wasn’t expecting to become enthralled enough to read it in one sitting!
Well, technically this is a series, but it’s my current go-to for when I need something fun to read that I know I’ll enjoy.
I’ve only gotten to read two of her books so far, but both were wonderful.
In all honesty, this is more of a “life slump” book for me than a reading slump. This is one of a handful of books that I turn to when I’m having an awful day, especially if I don’t have a real reason to feel awful.
The Life and Books of a GorJess Nerd 