Debbie's Spurts

I've had this preordered for what seems like forever (okay actually about a year).

The last two in the series just blew me away. 

Not that I wrote good reviews of them; just fired all cylinders for what I want in a good read and a science fiction book in a way I haven't seen in a long time.

Sometimes the 5-star books are the hardest to review.

Ends today -- but I just now saw the notice over on goodreads because I am so seldom on that site.

—Rebecca West

—Judy Blume

Boy, I was almost whimpering while booklikes was down.

My New Year's resolutions aren't big at all. Just to make sure I do something everyday to get my new home in order. To get some sunshine each day. Pay more attention to my own health. Work in more of what I enjoy like reading and some crafts.

This month's freebie from publisher TOR (Macmillan) is Wild Cards I - George R.R. Martin.

To download, go to https://ebookclub.tor.com/ .

Publisher's info on book is here . 

There's a book club for these freebies at http://booklikes.com/book-clubs/book/88/tor-monthly-free-ebook-science-fiction-and-fantasy .

“Is there a reason I’m not being asked anything?” Dick asked, raising his hand. “Usually I’m the one that gets questioned in these situations.”

"...as if Dick had done something to personally offend him (which, honestly, was a possibility with Dick. He’d been around for a while, and he was… Dick)."

"Jane smelled of old paper and creamy chocolate and kindness, the sort of scent that meant safety and home."

 

 

"...had mutually friend-zoned each other within minutes of meeting, because it just seemed like crossing too many streams to date your neighbor who also happened to be your coworker."

Oooh...been waiting on a new Half-Moon Hollow book for what seems forever!

"...remember to pursue progress, not perfection. At first, just try to kill fewer people."

 

 

LOL, I can usually figure out how to shorten amazon links but this one flummoxed me so here it is in full:

https://smile.amazon.com/b/ref=amb_link_3?ie=UTF8&node=6502382011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=hero-quick-promo&pf_rd_r=MPP44TZV32BGKEAHRVMG&pf_rd_r=MPP44TZV32BGKEAHRVMG&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_p=b8250a0b-7fcf-4d3d-b654-1be0fcc26e7d&pf_rd_p=b8250a0b-7fcf-4d3d-b654-1be0fcc26e7d&pf_rd_i=B002PXW1IE 

This reader's personal opinion, ©2019, all rights reserved, not to be quoted, clipped or used in any way by goodreads, Google Play, amazon.com or other commercial booksellers* 

Outright boring.  Surprisingly disappointing.  Surprising because I usually like this author and because the disappointment wasn't with some of my usual YA objections.  

This just was not a paranormal series.  Maybe if I hadn't been expecting a YA paranormal ...?  Maybe if had just been billed as alternate history?

Pretty much take a 1970s historical romance about colonizing the Americas with an uneven heroine (sort of mail order bride-ish) mostly self-involved ... oh heck, it was so utterly boring and trope-y I'm not even going to waste more time on reviewing it.  Prejudice and racism -- well yeah but even that was so utterly typical (male assholes wanting women in their place and assholes, mostly male, degrading a side character of color and all the women brought over to be brides treated like pieces of meat -- and even that was bland).

100% failed to live up to the hype and even the drama about whether or not was racist.

Drama? What drama, everything was so bland and forced and didn't flow.  Even the sudden about face towards end chapters with our shallow heroine now becoming super pioneer hardworking wife-y was just boring and a weird twist on the character that already was uneven.

Doesn't sound like rest of series is exactly "series" although follows some of the characters. I am certainly not interested enough to try the next book.

*©2019.  All rights reserved except permission is granted to author or publisher (except Penumbra Publishing) to reprint/quote in whole or in part. I may also have cross-posted on Libib, LibraryThing, and other sites including retailers like kobo and Barnes and Noble. Posting on any site does not grant that site permission to share with any third parties or indicate release of copyright.  

Ratings scale used in absence of a booklikes suggested rating scale:

★★★★★ = All Time Favorite 
★★★★½ = Extraordinary Book. Really Loved It.
★★★★☆ = Loved It.
★★★½☆ = Really Liked.
★★★☆☆ = Liked.
★★½☆☆ = Liked parts; parts only okay. Would read more by author.
★★☆☆☆ = Average.   Okay. 
★½☆☆☆ = Disliked or meh? but kept reading in hopes would improve.
★☆☆☆☆ = Loathed It. Possibly DNF and a torturous read.
½☆☆☆☆ = So vile was a DNF or should have been. Cannot imagine anyone liking.  (Might also be just an "uploaded" word spew or collection that should not be dignified by calling itself a "published book." If author is going batshit crazy in the blogosphere over reviews -- I now know why they are getting bad reviews.  Or maybe author should take remedial classes for language written in until basic concepts like using sentences sink in. Is author even old enough to sign a publishing contract or do they need a legal guardian to sign for them?)

If anyone has been using Libib to catalog books (not a full or social site like goodreads and booklikes but lots of privacy choices and import/export options), there's an update to the app.  Email said:

Libib Mobile App receives major updates

We know it's been a while, but we've been diligently working on a lot of back-end updates to allow for some upgrades in the near future. But just recently, we have released a rather big update to the mobile app!

New/Improved app features:

• Cover Image Upload (add your own cover images from the app)
• Search parity with the website (you can now use search operators on the app)
• Tap Hold to Rate (tap and hold an item list item to immediately bring up the rate dialog)
• Multiple logins (you can have up to two separate accounts logged in, and swap between)
• Better contrast between text and background
• Item Edit dialog easier to reach (slide over an item and get a full list of editing options)
• Improved scan lookups
• Status' and Copies now individually editable
• Android version now follows Material design best practices (iOS design has been updated as well)
• [Pro] Image shown on list (option to show cover images so that they appear on the list of items)
• [Pro] Choose between different updated themes (change your color scheme)
• [Pro] Renew a checked out item (slide over a lent out item and renew)
• [Pro] Patrons list now shows the number of items a patron has checked out
• [Pro] Edit/Add a price from edit dialog
• [Pro] Metadata editing capabilities for all fields

...and a whole lot of tweaks and adjustments to make everything just a little bit easier!

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