Saturday, November 5, 2016

Sunday Post #167



The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer


This was a fast week, seemed to fly. And it was in the 50's all week. No complaints. Not too much happening this week- other than SciFi Month being underway. It's going to be a busy month with all the SF posts going on and there's a lot of people participating this year. Should be fun. 

I have a lot of posts scheduled for it and you can check out my Intro post here. 

The other big news this week was the BEA thing. Will they be limiting blogger attendance? Time will tell how this plays out. If bloggers are largely out it will be interesting to see if an alternative venue becomes a place for bloggers to meet. 



Did anyone see this?  The Silver Surfer has been spotted in NYC. Seriously you gotta check it out.  



PULP COVER OF THE WEEK: 

Image result for the big kiss off

NEW ARRIVAL/ UPCOMING REVIEWS:

Dead Girls SocietyWeregirlLove & Gelato

BOOKISH LINKS

Here's some upcoming graphic novels that look good. 




I kinda like this cover.  

Sharks and People: Exploring Our Relationship with the Most Feared Fish in the Sea

Friday, November 4, 2016

Bookcover Spotlight #73

Image result for planet of no return art

I like the retro look of this one- the stars in the background, the moons, and the sense that he's being stalked by those two guys. Plus his weapon is kinda cool too. 

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Fear The Drowning Deep

Fear the Drowning Deep

Fear The Drowning Deep is a book I wanted to read as soon as I saw the premise. A girl hates the sea after her grandfather jumped off a cliff- with a smile on his face. She believes that something called to him from the waves, but of course none believe her. And it's set on the Isle of Man. I'm in! And the nice reviews didn't hurt either. So I was pretty predisposed to like this one. And I did- maybe not quite as much as I thought I would, but it's a solid debut and it's oozing with atmosphere. 

Bridey is a girl who hates and fears the sea, and the horror of what happened to her grandpa returns when a dead girl washes ashore. People start disappearing and Bridey hears strange fiddling in the night- and when a strange boy washes ashore with serious wounds she gets sucked into a harrowing situation where she may be the only one who understands the threat. There's also a witch who has a strange relationship with her mother, and Bridey goes to apprentice for the woman to help ends meet. The witch seems to know more about the sea and believes Bridey when no one else does. but it's the strange boy who takes over the story. He has no memory of who he is and Bridey decides to call him Fynn. 

From there we have folklore and a chilling tale about an ancient evil that may visit the isle and doom those who go to sea. The folklore elements are pretty well researched and the author does a great job evoking the feel of a mist shrouded island in the early twentieth century. Bridey is a likable protagonist and I was impressed with her spunk and determination as she had to face down all of her terrors to do the right thing. I thought her family were convincing as well, as were the townspeople for the most part. The witch is a bit of an enigma, I wasn't quite sure about her throughout but she wasn't entirely what I expected. 

The nature of the evil occurring in the waters off the island wasn't exactly what I was expecting either- I mean just by reading the blurb you have an idea what's going on, but it's spoilery to say anything other than the folklore of the area plays a role. I thought this was handled well for the most part, it's a very atmospheric story but at the same time I thought the nature of the threat could have been more ambiguous and therefore perhaps more compelling. I was actually surprised we got as much information as there was, I thought it would be more mysterious or vague, but other than that I have no real complaints. Maybe a minor issue with Fynn and his relationship with Bridey- I thought things moved a little fast there, but there is a story rationale and given the circumstances its plausible. 

I also liked the supporting cast- Bridey's sisters were portrayed well and I liked Lugh, a friend of Bridey's who is perhaps more. She has a thing for Lugh before Fynn shows up, and the book flirts with a love triangle but thankfully the author handles that well and surprised me by dispensing with the usual angst before it takes over. This is a tale of mysterious creatures from myth and I think it works in lot of ways, and the setting and time period of the story only add to the mix. 

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

SciFi Month Intro Post


SciFi Month is here! Hosted by Rinn Reads and Over The Effing Rainbow, this is a month long celebration of all things sci fi. This will be my third year participating and I have more stuff to share this year so I'm pretty excited about it. And Rinn and the various co- hosts always do a bang up job of running this. This event has something for everybody- if you like reviews or discussions, ponderings on deep subjects or movies or whatever- even humorous stuff- SciFi Month has it.

So... I've been spending a little time coming up with posts for this year, and my schedule is below.  Also some of the posts I do regularly have been drafted with SciFi Month in mind, so those may have a SF feel as well.

Tentative Schedule of Posts

11/3  Fear The Drowning Deep reviewed
11/4  Bookcover Spotlight #73
11/7  Cover Characteristics Prehistoric Settings
11/8  Top Ten Tuesday Favorite SF Tropes
11/11 Bookcover Spotlight #74
11/15 Top Ten Tuesday Favorite SF Movies
11/16 Discussion: Why I Like Grittier Fantasy
11/18 Bookcover Spotlight #75
11/21 Cover Characteristics Retro Covers II
????? Favorite SF Artists
11/29 Best SF Music

Wooh! I didn't actually realize how much I had planned for this. and some of it was coincidental- my Bookcover Spotlights are done months in advance so that just worked out. Anyway some of those dates may change, but that's the gist.

Want a sneak peek? Here's maybe my favorite post from last years event- not my favorite of the event, just the favorite one I submitted.

Top Ten Star Wars 

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Top Ten Books If Your Book Club Likes X

 

 Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week a new Top Ten list will be posted. Everyone is welcome to join. Link back to The Broke and the Bookish so everyone can check out other bloggers' lists. It's a fun way to get to know fellow bloggers.

This week's topic is Top Ten Books If Your Book Club Likes (historical fiction, YA, or whatever). I decided to go with thrillers/ suspenseful reads, because I like a good twisty story and I think it would be fun to discuss the following books with a book club. Not that I'm in a book club, but I kinda wish I was. So... here are my picks. 



 The Woman in Cabin 10

Gone Girl

The Incident on the Bridge

Big Little Lies

The Girls in the Garden


The Blue

City of the Lost (Casey Duncan, #1)

The Girl from the Sea

I think all of these are great for discussion- there's twists and turns, plot surprises, the kind of stuff to get a conversation really flowing. And it would be a lot of fun to compare notes and see what other people think. 

Tuesday Tagline #11

The Immortals (Olympus Bound, #1)

"Manhattan has many secrets. Some are older than the city itself..."

How can you not want to know more with a tagline like that?