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I read a lot of books and I write about them on here. Mummy Geek is sometimes a guest blogger....people seem to love her.....Oh and you can find me on Twitter.....@book_geek_says. Shortlisted for Blog of the Year by the 2015 Love Stories Awards...THANK YOU!!

Wednesday 30 April 2014

Review: Snapper

Price: £ 14.99
Publisher: Tinder

Sorry it's taken me a while to get this up. I was on holiday then was a gross and sick so was in my pit for a few days festering! YAY! But now I'm back, not totally fighting fit, but back...so on with the show.

Nathan lives in Indiana and he likes birds, he also has a few anecdotes to tell us about his life that have formed who is has become.

I loved this book from the very start. Even after the first three pages I was raving to Boy Geek about how the style of writing was just up my street, the sarcasm was perfect and the small snappy interjections made me giggle. It's not humour for everyone but it is defo for me. 

I would love to know how much of this is actually based on BK's life. I'm sure a large portion of it is as it's set in his Indiana home and he was a bird man too. I'd be totally intrigued to find out so if you know, do comment below or tweet to tell me.

The characters in it were great, from the down right knobby ones, to Lola, to Annie. My total favourites were the Aunt and Uncle from Texas. I bloody love Texans and they really really were the complete epitome of Texans! Huzzah.

I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone. It was totally brilliant and I hope that BK writes more in the future!

Happy Reading

Book Geek
:-D

Tuesday 22 April 2014

Review: Libromancer

Publisher: Del Ray
Price: £ 7.99

Isaac is a Libromancer. The Libromancers/porters/magic people are all in a spot of shit and it appears that Isaac, with a little help, is going to sort it all out.

This book has officially made me want to be a Libromancer. There are some VERY big flaws in the system and the rules, but I'm sure I could iron them out once I was on the team! I wish this was all real! The idea for this is totally awesome and I can't understand how someone hasn't written about such things before, it's so bloody obvious now!!!

The characters are cracking. Lena is a babe, Isaac is pretty cool. He's such a geek, it's awesome as everyone loves a book geek. The vampires were scary enough and the other porters and Gutenberg did the job indeed.

As far as the story went, up until the very last few pages I was totally enamoured. The final conclusion did piss me off a tad as I don't really think it was necessary and it is all a bit stupid and gratuitous. But, that hasn't ruined the rest of the book for me as it was that good!

I was also very appreciative of all the research and reading of other books and the history of printing that JCH must have done in order to create this book. Oh oh, and the made up books that are referenced sound pretty cool in some instances, so why doesn't JCH write them too??

If you are a book geek and love magic and vampires and other worldly things then read this, it's a treat!

Happy Reading

Book Geek
;-)


Thursday 17 April 2014

Review: Nunslinger Book 1

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Price: 99p ebook

Well this was MUCH MUCH shorter than I expected. Only 53 pages but there are a hell of a lot more of them to come from what I can gather so that is rather interesting indeed. It's like a serialisation of story or many a scenes from one nun's life. And what a life she will be leading if this is anything to go by.

The story isn't as brutal and epic as the cover implies which, I have to say, disappointed me a tad. I was ready for all out war and action and crazy shit to hit the fan. However, I do indeed enjoy a good western when it comes along and you don't get many of them these days. 

The Nun is pretty cool, she is a bit of an anti nun on occasion and I did indeed like that also. The dudes in the book and the play between good and evil is pretty decent and I enjoyed that also. It provided a little bit of tension and a small twist to this very concise bit of writing. 

I will delve in to book 2 indeed as I'm most intrigued to see what happens to this Bride of Christ next. If you want a read to fill only a short period of time that will keep you interested I thoroughly recommend this.

Happy Reading 
Book Geek

:-p

Wednesday 16 April 2014

Holmes Challenge: The Valley of Fear

So my lovely people, this is the last novel in my Holmes Challenge, the adventures/short stories are to follow! YAY!

Anyway, this is another story that is split between the Sherlock action and what happened once upon a time in America. I do wonder if ACD spent time in the US and that's why he is so fond of writing about it....maybe I should look this up?? The move from Watson's narration to Douglas' written account changes as per the first US jump and I thoroughly enjoy that as it is so distinctly clear. I even prefer different voices to Watson's. I must admit that Watson is starting to grate on me. He is rather sycophantic to Holmes and his derogatory comments are driving me loopy! I worry that ACD is coming through here and it's not just character! BOOO!

I did enjoy the story as a whole! I think it's the one I've enjoyed the most so far. I've got to know the characters and the formula so I know what to expect, but this seemed to take a slightly different edge and format as Holmes revealed his conclusion before the US portion and we didn't have to go back to Holmes to reveal all in the end.

I did notice that a new way of addressing people as 'Friend so and so' has cropped up which appears to have arrived out of the blue. I wonder why??

Also, this is the first mention of Moriarty! I wondered when he would show up and I look forward to encountering him more frequently as time goes on!

Happy Reading

Book Geek
*<:-p

Tuesday 15 April 2014

Review: Midnight Crossroad

Price: £ 18.99 Hardback
Publisher: Gollancz

Sookie's story may be over but CH isn't done with you all yet. Welcome to Midnight, Texas, where an unusual bunch of people live. They have a bit of a situation going on, but they sure do have a sense of community and they fight for their own.

I wasn't 100% sure what to expect from this book as I am so used to Sookie's world. I have been a devout follower and reader of the Southern Vampire Mysteries so was overjoyed that CH hadn't chucked in the quill/typewriter/biro for life.

The characters created in this novel are all very intriguing in their own way. In the novel you find out the back story of some of the residents of Midnight but not all and I'm most intrigued to find out more about many of them. Especially Olivia and Lemuel. Fiji and Manfred and Bobo are total stars. I think the Rev is pretty darn cool in his own way too and I have conjured up a complete image of him in my head...a scary as arse image but pretty cool too. 

The story was alright. I wasn't as gripped from the start as I usually was with the Sookie novels, but maybe that's because it took me a while to accept that she was gone and this is CH's new adventure. However, as the book went on and I got to know the characters, the town and the set up I was merrily on my way and did indeed enjoy the book, muchly.

CH fans should defo pick this up when it comes out in May. And if you didn't think that Sookie was for you, give this a try as it's pretty darn different indeed!

Oh, and how can I forget Mr Snuggly! All I shall say of him is sodding awesome!

Happy Reading

Book Geek
:-D

Thursday 10 April 2014

Review: Dead Stars part 2

Price: £ 2.50
Publisher: Self


So, part 1 was EPIC. Part 2 is EVEN MORE EPIC and totally DEVASTATING as it's now the end of following Farden around on his awesome journey. We've come to the end people, the climax is here and it's in no way anti.

This is going to be another shorty as I really, REALLY don't want to spoil these books for anyone, accidentally or not!

Ben Galley has triumphed once again. I was panicking that the end of this wonderful series would bomb, as so many often do, but BG stayed the course and provided a satisfying, ball breaking, action filled and in some places sad conclusion to what has been a roller coaster set of reads!

If you love fantasy then you will not be disappointed with this book (or the rest of the series) and if you're yet to read Part 2 for fear of it all ending, then I urge you to open the cover and plough straight in.

I'm going to miss Farden, I'm going to miss his world, his moods and all those around him. I got really immersed and dragged in to this story and felt one of the crew. I'm delighted that I didn't have to wait in real time to read the series and caught on to it after all were published.

I now wait with baited breath for BG's next novels. I will be forced to read these in real time as I need more of his cracking tales in my life.

Happy Reading

Book Geek
:-D

Wednesday 9 April 2014

Review: A Natural History of Dragons

Publisher: Titan Books
Price: £ 7.99

Lady Trent is telling us all about her early life, how she became obsessed with dragons and her first major adventure. She is also telling us a bit about her and her personal life too.

I love the tone and style of writing that MB adopted for this novel. Trent is getting on now and is recanting her youthful years, but you can tell that she's become a lady who doesn't give a rat's arse what people think about her and is delighted that she has lived her life her way! She is a total babe! However, I'm most sorry to say that that is all I enjoyed about this book.

The story was somewhat tedious in many places and less than thrilling on many occasions. I thought this book held so much promise and was a bit buggered to find that it was a total let down. The idea is excellent, don't get me wrong, as is the narrator and main character of this novel, but I feel it could have been better executed. Maybe I was expecting too much?

Anyway, give it a read for Lady Trent if nothing else. Oh, oh and the pictures are few and far between but they are damn awesome!! I liked them too!

Happy reading

Book Geek
:-s

Friday 4 April 2014

Carrie: Review: Carrie at 40

First off, big thanks to fellow book blogger Mr Matthew Craig for getting me on board with his Carrie at 40 celebrations (#Carrieat40). His website is www.readerdad.co.uk and he can be found on twitter as @MattGCraig. I've also contributed to his Stephen King celebrations with a guest blog on my reading/viewing experiences of SK and that can be found here!

As part of the celebrations I decided to join Mr C and read Carrie, the book we are all here to celebrate as it turns 40 tomorrow! As tomorrow I am buggering off for work I'm publishing my review for you lovely lot today so here it goes!

I'd heard a lot about Carrie, how there is horror, how a girl looses control and destroys everything with the power of her mind. I've also seen trailers for the various film adaptations, however, when I actually read the book, I wasn't half as terrified as I expected. Yes, it was creepy but it isn't the massive horror fest I was led to believe it is...and tbh, I was pretty pleased about that!

I mainly felt a great sadness for Carrie and for those around her. She had lead a pretty horrible life, her mother, a complete mental case, had bullied her, people at school had bullied her and she'd never really fitted in or even been wanted. No wonder everything got too much for her and she snapped.

When it comes to the book's construction, I was impressed. It was great to have snippets of memoirs, reports and books about the incidents as well as the SK narrative of the real time story. The retrospective recollections, interviews and reports gave the book more depth and led you down a path of 'yes this actually happened.' I wasn't expecting these bits, I was merely expecting a narrative tale so was delighted to come across them.

With regards to characters, they were wide and varied. Carrie was heart wrenchingly wronged and confused and upset and angry. Her mother was total bitch and there was a clear line of baddie and goodie, love and hate between and for the others. I did however develop a bit of a crush on the PE teacher, she was a babe!

I am delighted I've read this, it shows that SK had talent from the very beginning and makes me very jealous that someone so young can create such works of wonder!

Happy Reading

Book Geek
:-)