Where the Crawdads Sing

 Where the Crawdads Sing  is a phinominal book. I could not put it down so much that my ears hurt from listening to it for so long. Cassandra Campbell did such an amazing job with the reading of this audiobook. It is one where I would love to listen to it again. 

Kya is "The Marsh Girl." In the 1950's, after her mother left because of Kya's abusive father, her siblings all left. One by one. Then she was all alone, just a young girl with her abusive, often drunk father in their marsh shack far away from anyone. Eventually her father leaves her too and Kya is left all alone, left to fend for herself or die. With the basics of how to navigate the marsh and a very kind husband and wife who is willing to help her and fill up her gas tank for her boat, Kya lives. The town folk nearby don't want anything to do with her and she is laughed out of school for not knowing how to spell the word "dog." One friend she has, Tate, who teaches her to read and shows her the scientific way of looking at things, but even he leaves for college and she is left alone. As time goes by and she sees other people amongst the marsh--trappers, fishers, and local kids churning up the waves--she meets Chase Andrews, the towns handsome man. He entraps her in her loneliness and has found herself in the same position as her mom. Then one night, his body is found at the bottom of a tower and Kya is suspected of his murder. 

The way this book was written was very well done. Like I would have given this book a 5 star rating simply for it. The prose and little poems in it are fantastic. I even liked all of the biology stuff Kya got into that was in the story. They were pertinent to her character development and how Kya perceived the world around her and how she guessed that people reacted in similar situations. The characters are developed well enough--though some might be seen as bland or stereotypical, mainly the towns folk anyway. 

I loved the story. The fact that there are flashforwards until we can come to the "present" wasn't jarring like I anticipated. It flowed well and we weren't stuck with anyone I didn't want to listen to at all. I was interested in Kya and Tate; I was interested in the Sheriff and his investigation and trying to find out for myself if Kya or one of the other characters we were acquainted with had done it. I was on the edge of my seat waiting for the jury's verdict and the evidence that was given. It was a very engaging read that kept me wanting more. 

Like I said, I would have given this a 5 star, easy, except for two things that I don't like in the stories I read: descriptive sex and swearwords. It wasn't horribly descriptive, so I kept reading and finished the story. I'd rate it a PG-18, probably.  But it was defiantly farther than I appreciate with tastes of foreplay. And the swearwords, while applicable to the situation and not horribly over done, were still some $5 swear words there in a few places throughout the book. 

For those who don't care for those parts, like myself: be careful about chapter 18 and after that for a ways. If I were to actually get the book, I'd mark those parts out in my own copy (Don't you dare mark up a library book, y'all hear me!) For those who couldn't care less: go, read, enjoy. 

The Color of Magic

This very odd book is rather fantastic.

The story follows Rincewind, an "incompetent" wizard who only knows one spell, that's so powerful he doesn't dare use it, and Twoflower a former insurance clerk, now bumbling tourist who wants to see everything there is to see on the other side of Diskworld including tavern brawls, pirates, heroes, dragons, magic spells, and everything else that he's heard of from the docks. Oh, as well as Twoflower's luggage chest that walks on its own with about a hundred legs, and Death, who is spotted quiet often and is quite a character.

This book is a very well thought out Dungeons and Dragon's campaign (rolls of the dice included) with the most entertaining characters.

Terry Pratchett's writing style may not be for everyone, which is understandable because the way it describes things is rather obnoxious but in a humorous way. There were times when things happened and I had to go back because "What just happened?" As I said, it may not be for everyone but I laughed out loud and nearly fell over while I was jogging because of the way things were said or the weirdness of Twoflower.

I think the world that Terry Pratchett made is unique yet still has the basics of "typical fantasy." Magic, the Gods, Death, and pretty much the universe has been warped and changed to the delight and curiosity which is Twoflower and us as the reader. I mean, what fantasy world has dragons and jet planes? You tell me. ;)

While I was looking online a bit about this book, I found out that it is also a movie!!! WHAT!?! Starring Sean Astin, David Jason, and Tim Curry... I about died. The movie, I believe, is based on The Color of Magic and The Light Fantastic. The rest of the Disk World series and lore might be in it too, but because I haven't seen it, I don't really know for sure. I do plan on finding out though, just for a laugh because I'm sure Sean Astin will to a phenomenal job as the ridiculous tourist.

Wow.

The Girl on the Train

The Girl on the Train is a National Bestseller and supposedly pretty good. I somewhat disagree. I can see why people would like the book, I however don't care for it.

The book is about Rachel who's had a mental crisis and is trying, very poorly, to function. She rides the train to work every day and at a particular stop, she watches this couple whom she deems perfect. They must have the perfect life. She's fascinated by them because her life has gone down the drain since her divorce to her cheating husband. She does drink and often blacks out, not being able to recollect anything whiles she's drunk. Megan who is spotted having an affair. And lastly, Anna, who is the woman Rachel's husband had an affair with and is now currently married to. Megan is suddenly found dead and after a drunken blackout, Rachel is trying to find out what is happened on the night she can't remember. Did she do it? Did she see who did it?

This is the story with a very unreliable narrator. Rachel is on the verge of mental snappage which makes her testimony hard to find solid footing in, which is a way to make this fun. Unreliable narrators bring twists to the story that otherwise wouldn't be there or it wouldn't be nearly as fascinating. This was the point that drew me in and kept me wanting to listen.

However, I didn't finish the book. It had a few too many and strong swear words for my liking as well. It was also more dark than I really wanted to read. I don't get drunk, I don't drink at all. I don't find it as fascinating as others might. I don't have a point of reference for it, not that I really want one either. Then there is the concept of affair this and that and having it constantly swirling around the page. I don't read for that. Getting cheated on isn't something I like focusing on. To have it be so constant, has put me off.

I'm sure it's a good book, for other people. Not me.

If others don't mind the concepts that are very prominent here, then they would probably enjoy it very much. Have at it. It was written well with good characters and an interesting concept. It's just not more me.

Garden Spells

After a need for a good, happy book,  I was recommended Garden Spells and wasn't disappointed.

Claire and Sydney never got along as kids. After high school Sydney left and Claire found solace in the old family home with her Grandmother and the somewhat magical garden with an annoying apple tree.  Ten years later, new neighbor moves in next door who won't leave Claire alone and suddenly Sydney is back with a bag full of mysteries and a sweet little girl named Bay.

Old towns have legends and the people in small towns have ways about them, also known as stereotypes.  Nearly everyone in town has a family stereotype and the Waverley's, Claire and Sydney, carry the weird gene. Claire has this uncanny way with food that can make people feel a certain way. Have an awkward conversation? Have some Lemon Verbena in your muffin. Want to see better? Have some Honeysuckle. Etc. Rather smart move for a caterer. But for Sydney, going back to a small town with old faces you'd rather forget is hard, but far safer than where she had been.

I thought it was a good book. Not something I'd recommend to a teenager whereas there are parts toward the end where there is slight descriptive nudity. All sexy times are curtain closed but there are some moments that lead up to it and lots of talk about sex, but nothing descriptive or erotic--thank goodness.   It's slightly beyond the PG-17 range. I most definitely would be blushing if I was reading this at 17, like I did with the Notebook by Nicholas Sparks.

The characters were good, engaging all around and surprisingly the apple tree was one of my favorite characters. Claire and Sydney were fun and well developed as well as the other side characters. All the other characters got their moments and segments of chapters which helped bring the whole story and town community to life. Which makes the story more fun all around.

I enjoyed the book and if I chose to read it again would probably skim past some parts about 3/4 of the way though, but the rest of it was well done and I enjoyed the storyline.

The Moon And More

Sarah Deaden is really good at writing young adult romances while also hosting life on the page.

The Moon And More is about Emaline and her romantics summer on a beach. Unlike most vacationers, Emaline works at the beach in Colby at her families business renting beach houses for the typical vacationer. New people come in and out of the renting houses all the time, but one house is being rented for two straight months--a very odd occurrence--while they work on a documentary about a man who is just a regular laundromat business man,  right?

Not only are these new people but Emaline's father is making a visit for the summer. He relations wither father have always been strained with his life being so very different than her and her mother's and the rest of her blended family. Her summer is full of boys, family, film, and work to, hopefully, the Best Summer Ever.

I like the way Sarah Dessen writes her books. It is fun to see hints of previous characters from previous books, familiar places, as well as life--not only romances that bloom throughout its pages. There is romance through all of her books,  but there are also bigger questions being asked as well. Bigger situations that exist around her characters more than just, "Does that guy like me?"

Here dealing with a flaky father, disloyalty from a boyfriend, leaving for college, work, a new guy who knows she's too good for her little town, and finding time to watch out for her half brother, Emaline has a lot on her plate. Like real life. I very much enjoy that. And what is great is that Sarah Dessen makes it flow. She makes the chaos of life flow in her stories so then we don't get lost as readers.

There was some language and there was talk of sex though nothing graphic (in the end, I don't really know if it was all that needed. There didn't seem to be much of a purpose to it, which I feel there needs to be in it is put in there).

I was a good book and well done. 

*Spoilers from here on*

The characters here, though there are many, are developed and all have their own story,  their own reasons for being themselves. Benji and Morris are probably my favorite characters. Mainly Morris because of how much growth and development he has throughout the story and how much he is willing to change. He is willing to put Daisy's good ahead of what he wants even though she is very much willing to keep things going. The fact that he made assistant instead of Theo made my day (literally, though it's kind been a bad day). Going from lackless and pretty much unmoving on the job to scrambling for an art show was awesome. He had a very good story arc. He was also pretty cool with Benji, who was probably the real man (at age 10) of the story. 

I also really liked that Emaline doesn't "end up" with any of the guys. She left Luke for good cheating  on her and didn't go back to him by the end of the story, which was a big relief to me. Then there is Theo. He was new and invited her to push herself and try new things, he wasn't a prince charming character either (which Sarah Dessen doesn't really write, no one is perfect in her books). He definitely had his flaws and in the end they overcame how "good of a pick" he was for her. His Best Ever's would probably get on my nerve along especially when making a spectacle in front of people in public places. She felt very much embarrassed as would almost any girl. He also seemed far more excited to for work and hanging out with Clyde (his interviewee) more than he actually did with her unless it was his Best Ever events. That is no kind of thriving relationship. 

I guess Emaline kind of chose Benji at the end of it. If you had to pick one. 

My Giant Nerd Boyfriend

My Giant Nerd Boyfriend otherwise known as My Giant Geek Boyfriend is another webcomic that I
binged in a half day and must tell all about.

It is a slice of life comic about a girl who is about 5'1" with a 6'5" boyfriend and most days in their relationship. Moments from dealing with parents, to arguments in their relationship, to laughing about everything, to how they met, to dealing with cramps, to getting their new dog, frustrations, good times, differences in height problems, and many nerdy things that I have grown accustomed to in my own relationship with my spouse. There are many gaming moments with hints at games alongside real problems that many people face.

I think the situations here are honest and do occur. These are real people in comic form. It was simple, but very much fun and had me laughing out loud in many spots.

A book with some of the comics has been published but you can find all of the stories on webtoons.com . On the book cover here says for "mature readers only" though I'm not 100% sure as to why... It was a good set of stories.

Her Royal Spyness

I was in the mood for a good mystery novel, so because GoodReads recommended it I gave it a shot.

Set in 1930's Great Britain after the start of the Great Depression and after a father who was really bad at keeping a hold of his money, Georgie finds herself at 21 years old rather penniless. She is unmarried and can't get a job because she is still considered nobility at 34th in line for the thrown. She leaves her Duke of a brother up in Scotland, where their duchy is, and adventures by herself to their townhouse in London. Seriously by herself. Previously she had always had maids and cooks and butlers, but now she is alone in the house with no servants to help her and she has no idea what she's doing. Doesn't know how to make a fire, cook many things, and has no income because she is still a Lady and should be married off by now, but she's not. She gets a friend that she knew from a French Boarding school she went to, to help her out, but times are hard all around. She gets a job under a fake name, meets an Irish boy who crashes weddings for free food, and yet still gets invited to Buckingham Palace for tea with the Queen. Ah, the life.

Not much of a mystery (not until 130 pages into the book...I'm not very happy about that one) until her brother shows up in London telling stories of how a Frenchman wants to take their family home in Scotland because of their deceased father's gambling debts. "Binky" (oh the names in this book) and Georgie are the only ones townhouse and then suddenly this Frenchmen turning up dead in their bathroom, Binky is suspected for the murder and Georgie has to find out who did it before her brother gets hanged.

*dramatic theme music*

I was not so pleased with this one. I almost expected it to be her first mystery novel, but after a quick look, it's not. It took a long time for the mystery to actually start and spent a lot of unneeded time setting things up. It seemed as though "for reasons" or "for the plot" were the only reasons some of the things happened. Did she really need to go and actually talk to the Queen except to the big reveal at the end? Her non-royal grandfather was a detective in his younger years and so he has the "in" with a few people that she couldn't get to. She actually acted rather dumb at times, not just because she's naive and doesn't know how to build a fire, but with people too. The "I think it is this person" moment at the ended changed very quickly with some people who had barely been introduced.

I did finish it because I wanted to see who had done it, but I called that it was who it was from a while before and his motive. I'm not much of a mystery reader and I prefer to not make too many conclusions and see how the book plays out, but it seemed very "no duh" toward the end. Also the reason why everyone is at the party at the end whom she suspects is rather odd, weird, and probably shouldn't have happened. It felt like a "hot potato" moment where the author said "I guess I'll do this." But the potato ended up smashing into the concrete. Why the bad guy did it and how he did it was good, I'll give her that. Though there are so many mystery shows and books out there, it's been done before. Nothing new, nothing "Wow! What!?" But it was alright.

I didn't so much like Georgie as a character. She's the airheaded, naive, clumsy girl that is okay for those cheeky high school girl books, but it seemed like a cop out here. She had very little personality besides that and loving her family. She felt flat though.

There was also a lot of talk about sex. Anytime her friend Belinda or her mother was in the scene is almost always was illuded to or mentioned outright. Good on her for keeping her virtue intact but her only reasons were for keeping with tradition; if that's her only reason for keeping it though, it'll be taken in later books. Everything else that people did when they weren't working was only going to a club/gambling den or sleeping around after that party. I was getting ready to skim a steamy scene , but then nothing happened and she walked home.

Also the way that the book was portrayed was odd. First person, okay. But then it had all these dates and places at the beginning of each chapter almost like it was a journal entry, but nothing ever illuded to that it was an actual journal or diary. Some of the chapters happened in the same place or on the same day, and the only difference between chapters was for a "pause for dramatic effect" which didn't fit. Not a journal, but like a journal, not still not one. It was weird. She could have introduced  April 1930's Great Britain at the beginning and left it at that, but then to abruptly tell us again where and when we were was weird. The readers are following along, we should know where we are at without it being telegraphed at the front of 30 chapters.

Over all, it was weird. I might read another in the series to see if it is any good and let this one be an "introduction into Georgie's world" but it'll be a while.