Kate Reads

And the Heart Says Whatever - Emily Gould I am so ambivalent about this book that I am not entirely sure what to say about it. I hadn't heard of Gould before I bought it, and I bought it because I like young people essays, and the title and cover were kind of cool. I ended up reading this in one sitting, not because it was riveting, but because I felt like if I could just finish it, then I could move on. Gould would mention people that, despite just having read about them a chapter earlier, were so bland that I had to go back to figure out who they were. And a lot of the book was about the sex she was having and marijuana she was smoking, which can be incorporated just fine, felt more like a "look at this crazy stuff I was doing" The timeline in the book was scattered, which also didn't help understanding. It wasn't always clear when she was having an experience, unless she mentioned the man she was with at the time. Memories seemed to blend in to each other, which I suppose is natural when a person is thinking about them, but hard to follow when you are reading it. All in all, this book wasn't terrible, but it didn't really have anything that would cause me to recommend it either. There are many better essay collections out there if that is what you enjoy.
Spud - John van de Ruit Hysterical and touching all at once. I sped through it.
Emotionally Engaged: A Bride's Guide to Surviving the "Happiest" Time of Her Life - Allison Moir-Smith A much more engaging read now that I've start planning my wedding, as opposed to previously when I had no idea when the wedding was going to be. The book really does make you think about your emotions and what could be causing various different feelings, and really did give me some insight as to what might be going on in my head.
Once Bitten, Twice Shy  - Jennifer Rardin I just came off reading the Jane Yellowrock series, and I have to say, I like Jaz Parks much more. The series is a lot lighter, it seems, and more enjoyable. There were quite a few laughs, subtly romantic moments, and definitely enough action to hold my attention.
The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains - Nicholas G. Carr Discuss: This book took me a month to read because I have internet caused ADD and can't manage to focus on something long enough to process it correctly.Basically, this book terrified me. I guess in a good way. I realize that though I spend lots of time on the internet, I also read a significant amount, but this book made me think about the way I am reading and how I am consuming information in general. It was a good, thought-provoking treatise on how the internet is changing the way we think and interact with media, and how we need to consider not only the positives but the possible negatives as well. I enjoyed this book a lot, but like I said, it took some time to process, and there were definitely some parts which were a little bit scientific and dry for me, and that I couldn't understand at all. Otherwise, it was great!
Skinwalker - Faith Hunter Enjoyable. I seem to recall this series being suggested to me after my Mercy Thompson withdrawal, but there really isn't a comparison. Jane's skinwalker mythology is more complex and there appears to be more back story. More drama and less humor, all in all. I'll read the next few though, as it was definitely interesting.
The Wolf's Hour - Robert R. McCammon,  Vincent Chong There was a bit too much blood and gore for my taste, but it was full of action and excitement, just what you would expect in a spy novel with a werewolf.
Cinder - Marissa Meyer I was super excited to read Cinder and it did not disappoint. I absolutely love fairy tales retold in different ways, and this was definitely a creative take on Cinderella. This was a very enjoyable read. I plowed through it, not really wanting to put it down, because I wanted to know how it ended. I'm looking forward to the next one, though it seems like it's going to be a while? One thing I did notice about the book was that at times it could be a little predictable. Sometimes the big reveal was obvious before it happened (there were a few occasions when this was the case). That being said, though, it wasn't a distraction or a bad thing, it just meant that while the story was trying to be a bit mysterious, it was easy to guess what was coming next. I also liked the characters. While Cinder was a bit focused on being a cyborg, and what that meant for her, her interactions with her sister and the prince gave her a depth past that internal dilemma. At the end of the day, I very much enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anybody who likes young adult with a twist of science fiction and some dystopian action.
Magic Burns -  Ilona Andrews I'm going to admit here that I didn't particularly like the first Kate Daniels book, and the only reason I continued to read the series is because I bought the first three and fifth books when Borders was going out of business.That out of the way though, I have to say that Magic Burns exceeded my expectations by quite a lot. After the first book, I came away with a feeling that I had just seen a play with cardboard cut outs, as opposed to real people. In my head, there was no inflection in the dialogue, no strong relationships developed, not much to keep me going through the book at a decent pace. It was short, which was it's saving grace- at least the author didn't drag out what I considered to not be an amazing plot anyway.The second book changed quite a bit. I found myself caring more about the characters, caring what happened and sat up until I finished it. There were a few unanswered questions which bugged me, but otherwise, I found this one quite enjoyable. In my opinion, you could probably even skip the first one and start right in on Magic Burns if you wanted, because there isn't too much you'd be missing. The relationships develop far more in books two, and pretty much everybody's role in book one can be explained in a sentence, and the author does a good job of not re-hashing too much, but explaining just enough so the reader isn't confused.I enjoyed the progression in Kate's and Curran's relationship probably the best of all. I liked the mixed messages he seemed to be sending her, and her confusion over it. It seemed very realistic and like feelings real people might actually have, which is something sometimes lacking in the urban fantasy genre. Just because the characters are "supernatural" doesn't mean they don't have emotions too. One thing that bugs me is the constant reference to Kate's heritage without much in the way of clues and her greater purpose. She seems to have a life goal, but we don't know much about it, or why she has it, and since all of the people in her life prior to the books starting aren't around, you don't get much background on her except from the minute you walk in. And yet, she is constantly talking about how she can't form relationships because it will get her friends killed, and how she can't let anybody know where she comes from. It comes up often, and without any greater story arc, can get very annoying. All in all, I found this an enjoyable short read. Obviously nothing too deep or thrilling, but a good distraction for my commute, and I am much more excited to be reading book three now.
Briar Rose - Jane Yolen I find it hard to rate this book because I found it so terribly depressing. I don't want to say I "liked" it, because I didn't, per se. I am not happy that I read it, but I don't think it was a waste of time, either. The way the stories intertwined was interesting and it was well written (I believe) but I won't be reading it again. Definitely not something to read if you need a pick-me-up.
Ash - Malinda Lo I rarely use the word hauntingly, but I would describe this story as hauntingly beautiful. It seemed to flow off the page and into my head, creating a lush world while allowing for my imagination to fill in the gaps. I adored the fragile relationships that Ash formed with the fairy and the huntress. All in all, since I love fairy tale retellings, this was an enjoyable read, and worth the time spent.
Sunshine - Robin McKinley One of the best vampire books I have ever read. I tried to drag this out as long as I could, and yet it still ended! The characters were developed, the world was vivid and though different than ours, still believable, and the plot was clever and definitely didn't feel used or cliche. While packaged as a young adult book, I've also seen copies packaged for adults, and I would say this book leans toward the older end of young adult, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for the younger teens due to some violence and certain wording used on occasion. Those are minor issues, though. This book was wonderful and I would recommend it to anybody who likes vampire books but is tired with the crap being put out in pure Stephanie Meyer style.
Doppelgangster - Laura Resnick Very, very enjoyable. Funny and cute, with well rounded characters, and in my opinion, even better than the first.
Haunted  - Kelley Armstrong At this point, I've read quite a few of the Women of the Otherworld series (a little out of order) and I have to say that Haunted is my least favorite one. While I enjoyed the opportunity to get to know Eve and Kristof better, I sometimes felt like I was just slogging through parts of this book. In my opinion, this book was far darker than other Women of the Otherworld books. It featured a demidemon who lives off chaos, and the way she got that was by helping women kill. And not just once, usually more than once. We encounter many of these women throughout the book. There are also some men serial killers as well- 6 of them in a level of hell that Eve gets trapped in for a short period of time...Overall, this was the least plausible of the series, as it mainly took place in the "ghost world"/hell and featured the Fates, angels and other ghosts. It was nice to see Eve grow up, but it would have been better as a sub-plot in another story, in my opinion, with less descriptions of murders.
Jack with a Twist: Engaging Your Adversary and Other Things They Don't Teach You in Law School (Brooke Miller, #2) - Brenda Janowitz This book was truly ridiculous. The main character, Brooke, came off as lazy, immature and whiney. I wanted her to talk to her fiancé about what was going on in her head about their relationship and what she was feeling, but she didn't. And when she did say anything, he ignored her or brushed off her concerns. Maybe, if I had read the first book and already knew the characters and was more invested in their story, I would have enjoyed it more, but as a stand-alone book, I would definitely not read it again or recommend it to anybody. The language was young and will be dated fairly quickly. There were frequently places in the book where "like" was used colloquially not to the benefit of the sentence it was in. All in all, would not recommend that you waste your time on this book.
Thirst No. 1: The Last Vampire, Black Blood, and Red Dice - Christopher Pike While I am not going to say this was the best book (books?) I have ever read, it also wasn't the worst. Pike offers an interesting take on the vampire mythology, originating in India and involving Krishna. That was really mostly what kept me reading. I did buy this book for $4 so it wasn't a complete waste.