Tag: Mystery

Books

Book 184: The Madman’s Daughter (The Madman’s Daughter #1)- Megan Shepherd

Geoff W

A friend from UNC (Go Heels! – it’s a gut reaction :-D), Hi Lizzie!, recommended The Madman’s Daughter as the author is a family friend (or something along those lines) and I’m glad she recommended it! It was a fast paced and engaging read and although it wasn’t perfect, it was an amazing debut novel and I can’t wait to see where her writing takes her in the future.

It has been a very long time, over 10 years if not closer to 15, since I went through my H.G. Wells obsession and read everything he wrote and from what I remember this mirrors The Island of Doctor Moreau pretty closely. I think at some point in the next few years I will go back and read Wells work again as I really enjoyed The Time Machine and The Invisible Man.

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Books

Book 182: The Mysteries of Udolpho – Anne Radcliffe

Geoff W

WordPress decided to move this post to the trash bin and I, assuming it was duplicate draft, permanently deleted it. The first three paragraphs are verbatim as I was able to recover them via caching, however after that is a poor substitute of what I spoke about previously.

I had to add this to my Classics Club list because of its reference in Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey. I wish I would’ve spaced things to read Northanger Abbey immediately before or after, but I didn’t and I’m sure I will enjoy it just as much when I next read it.

The Mysteries of Udolpho counts for every challenge I’m currently participating in. It is first and foremost the 20th book in my Classics Club list and signifies my 1/5th completion (right at the year mark, so keep an eye out for a longer post later this week)! In addition it counts for my Mount TBR Reading Challenge, Back to the Classics Challenge and through a bit of questionable math as a bonus book for my Tea and Books Reading Challenge (the physical copies average out to 666 pages).

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Books

Book 166: Midnight in Austenland – Shannon Hale

Geoff W

This is why reading a sequel/spinoff isn’t necessarily the best idea. Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed it and the changes and plot twists were definitely worth the invested reading time and the ending was just as clichéd and wonderful as the first book, but I would’ve been just as good if I stopped after Austenland. And yet I’m already wondering if there is another book in the works for the ‘series.’

First, I want to start of with this. If anyone ever sets me up on a blind date there are two things you should know about who your setting me up with. If they can discuss both Jane Austen and Star Wars I will probably make a fool of myself. Somehow I feel as if the author knew this and I nearly died of embarrassment/enjoyment/excitement when I read the following:

“His slightest smile produced Death Star-size dimples in both cheeks, and his blue eyes sparkled in the candlelight.” (31)

I mean seriously? A Star Wars reference in a Jane Austen fan-fiction novel? OMG, YES!

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Book Group, Books, Reading Events

Book 149: The Talented Mr. Ripley – Patricia Highsmith

Geoff W

I have to say I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected to. It was an easy read and even though it felt like nothing happened, and I remember the movie being very slow because of this, the book went by quickly. I’m still not sure I fully understand the purpose or premise of the story. I guess it’s somewhere between a murder mystery/thriller, told from the murders point of view, and a comedy of errors.

I have never read anything by Patricia Highsmith, but her writing was easy to follow and her descriptions were, I felt, better than her action sequences. I do know there are three additional novels in the Ripley series, but I don’t think I will go out of my way to read them. This first one was enough for me, but if Highsmith’s writing had had more of an impact and not left me just sort of blase at the end of the book I would definitely want to check them out. Surprisingly I had more of a desire to find out more about Ripley after the end of the film, which is distinctly different unless it’s blending in parts from another book. (Anyone know?!)

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Books

Book 139: The Last Guardian (Artemis Fowl, Book 8) – Eoin Colfer

Geoff W

What an ending…It’s not very often an author can write an ending to a series that is simultaneously powerful and lackluster. Perhaps when I re-read this series I won’t think this (similar to how I was not impressed with Rowling’s inclusion of an epilogue 19 years later), but I’m not sure. There were good and bad parts to The Last Guardian, but honestly, I’m still digesting this book. I read it in less than 12 hours (had to get some sleep didn’t I?), but I’m not sure that was a good thing.

In this, the final installment of the Artemis Fowl series, I have to say I was somewhat disappointed. However, I can’t say why. There wasn’t as much hype, for me, as there was in either Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle or Rowling’s Harry Potter series. I think it has to do with the fact that the books within this series have really been hit or miss, and maybe even that I didn’t read them when they were first coming out and I was younger. I did review all the other books on this blog (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7), and perhaps my lack of WOW for this book is because I didn’t re-read the prequels before I read this, the final.

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