Monday, November 26, 2018

The Watchmaker's Daughter by C. J. Archer

3.5 Stars

Glass and Steele - Book One

Upon starting this book I was worried that it was going to fall into DNF land or at least 2 Star Land at the very least, but you know what?  It surprised me! 

Yes, it has problems.  The heroine is sometimes a little slow on the uptake, as my mom used to say and things would have gone much smoother had she and the hero, or even she and some of the other characters, actually talked about things.  But you know... I couldn't put it down even with all that!

I wish there was a bit more explanation of the magic that is hinted about through most of the book.  And I wish we had some resolution of the hero, Matt's, problem.

I loved the cast of secondary characters - they are very found family and that, admittedly, is one of my most favourite things. 

I honestly shouldn't have enjoyed this book but I did!  I'm ready to read more.

Come Hell or Highball by Maia Chance

3.5 Stars

The Discreet Retrieval Agency - Book One

This was a fun cozy mystery read.  Set in the Jazz Age, the age of Prohibition, the age of silent films, when the movie industry was beginning and mostly in New York, it's rightly described as a fun-filled romp.  There's a taste of madcap about it too.

I really enjoyed the characters: our heroine, the society widow Lola, her Swedish cook Berta, the mysterious Ralph and of course the dog whose name escapes me now because I waited too long to write this.  *LOL*  Most of the dialogue was fun banter, especially between Lola and Berta.  The mystery was okay and kept me engaged.

My one problem was the constant harping on Lola's weight.  It got old, really quick.  I loved that she was not the slender, boyish framed woman of that age, but dear God, the jokes got old and somewhat distasteful and there were far too many.  They took away from my enjoyment of the book.

Will I continue on with the series?  Probably.  Overall, I liked it.  And it's one of my favourite eras. :)

Sunday, November 11, 2018

New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson

DNF

I made it almost halfway before throwing in the towel.

There is nothing happening in the first part of this book.  Nothing interesting at least - it's just a bunch of daily vignettes of what are actually very interesting characters when they're not being mired in unnecessary narrative over and over and over again. 

This man obviously does not like to show.  He's a teller.  A big boring teller.  Treatises on finance and the 'stock market' in 2140, essays on real estate values after the flood, nonsense after nonsense. 

I was very disappointed, but when I realised that I'd been working on this book for almost 2 weeks and wasn't enjoying much of it at all, well... it was time to give up.  I'd have liked to know more about the story of the girl with the airship who was flying polar bears from up north to Antarctica to preserve them. Sadly, I've not the patience to wade through the rest of the stuff.