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Books

Book 417: A Knight of the Word (Word & Void #2) – Terry Brooks

Geoff W

Brooks, Terry - A Knight of the Word (Word & Void #2)Picking up five years after the action in Running with the Demon, A Knight of the Word takes off at a fast pace and keeps going. If you could skip the first book of the Word & Void trilogy I would recommend it. This one was a huge step forward and I think the 80 fewer pages in this book were all description from the first book, making this one better. I mean you should read both, but know if you make it through the first one, you’ve got this great one to look forward to!

I wasn’t sure how I would like this book with the five years between the two stories and taking the action away from Nest and putting it solely on John Ross. Brooks didn’t let me down though, the story moved quickly to include Nest. It was a bit sad hearing about everything that happened since the end of Running with the Demon, but it was great to be back in the world again so quickly.

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Books

Book 416: Running with the Demon (Word & Void #1) – Terry Brooks

Geoff W

Brooks, Terry - Running with the Demon (Word & Void #1)Talk about coincidence! I planned to read the Word & Void trilogy early this year as it’s been on my shelf for far too long and a coworker from my last job (3+ years ago) recommended it. Add that we recently started to watch The Shannara Chronicles (IMDB link) and my interest in Brooks’ work increased. So when I started reading this and found out it’s a distant part of the Shannara universe my mind was blown!

I asked advice on whether to even consider the Shannara super-series and I find out I’ve backed myself into it inadvertently. Again, Mind. Blown. Although this is the eleventh book published connected to Shannara, it is the first in story chronology. I have no idea how many I will read, but I will most definitely finish out this trilogy as I was sucked in within the first few pages!

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Books

Book 316: Will Grayson, Will Grayson – John Green & David Levithan

Geoff W

Green, John and David Levithan - Will Grayson, Will GraysonI’m not sure how David Levithan went so far under my radar for so long. Seriously, I’ve read two books by him (with a third on my shelf) and I’ve seriously enjoyed both and it doesn’t hurt I pronounce his name Leviathan no matter how many times I read it.  As for John Green, the only thing I know about him is that he wrote The Fault In Our Stars which until I finished this novel I’ve had no desire to even look into.

I can’t remember whose blog I saw this on, but I knew I needed to read it when I read the synopsis and I finally got a copy from my local library. It was a quick and hilarious read, even if I didn’t like the lack of capitalization in half the book which is funny as that’s the portion by Levithan. according to Wikipedia, they split the book evenly and it worked perfectly. The juxtaposition of the two styles and stories was perfectly balanced and the final scene had me in tears.

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2014 Challenges, Books

Book 252: The Man Who Loved Pride & Prejudice (Woods Hole Quartet #1) – Abigail Reynolds

Geoff W

Reynolds, Abigail - The Man Who Loved Pride & PrejudiceI love it when a book doesn’t try to be something that it’s not and this is a perfect example of that. Although, this was a retelling of Pride and Prejudice there was no struggle to make sure that everything fit within the story 100%. Abigail Reynolds did a great job filling in what she wanted and didn’t worry too much about matching up every character or sticking to the full story. And then after I finished I found out that this was the first book in a series and I was of course even MORE excited!

I enjoyed this book from the very first page! It didn’t hurt that the book was set in Massachusetts, Cape Cod to be specific, and mentions Boston on a couple of occasions. The book opens with Cassie and her friend Erin working in their lab at the world-famous Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and then follows Cassie’s romantic adventures and mishaps over the ensuing summer and following two years. There are of course two love interests Caulder Westing (Darcy) and Rob (I guess this could be Wickham, but I’m not so sure she included a Wickham).

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Books

Book 174: Faitheist – Chris Stedman

Geoff W

Stedman, Chris - FaitheistSince I decided to read so few challenge books this year, I’m able to pick up books on a whim and this is one of them! I encountered Faitheist through Heather’s great review at Between the Covers and knew I had to read it. So go read her succinct review first and then return to read my ramblings.

I’ll be the first to admit that I wanted to read Faitheist because the author is wicked cute, but the synopsis drew me in because I’m fascinated by how people negotiate identities especially when it comes to sexuality in relation to religion and geography.

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