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Dead Souls

Book Notes Yeah, kitt finished writing this at 21:26 on 26 July 2015

Okay, this book.

Right, this book.

I have no idea why I have this book. I have tried to read this book three times. This time was the fourth time, and I guess that the fourth time is a charm. And, hey! I managed to finish it! Go me!

I couldn't stand this book the first three times I started this book. Aaaaaaaaaaand, well, once I managed to read to about a third of the say in, I was okay enough with it to finish it. Finally.

Right, so this book is part of the Inspector Rebus series. It was clear enough that reading the rest of the books isn't really required, which I appreciated. I didn't care for the writing style, unsurprisingly. I liked that I knew the areas (-ish) of the book. The plot was okay, and the mystery mysterious enough to be interesting. Enough clues, but not too many to make the plot obvious. It had that going for it.

I didn't like this book, so, unsurprisingly, I don't recommend this book. Maybe someone else thinks differently.

The Girl With All the Gifts

Book Notes Yeah, kitt finished writing this at 21:32 on 21 July 2015

I'm fairly sure I bought this book after a Book Riot post of the best books of 2014. It has zombies in it, which pretty much goes right along with my current delight with zombie books. I've been lucky so far to have read some good zombie books (World War Z, and Mira Grant's Feed trilogy), and this one continues that trend.

The beginning of the book is odd, and I struggled to follow along but briefly. Once I relaxed into the story, it read very quickly. I really like the explanation of the cause of zombie-ism (new word, totally correct), along with the consequences of the continued existence and development of said cause. The social fallout of a post-apocalyptic zombie world is also well portrayed, with different levels of coping with the end of the world (as we know it).

The ending was satisfying, with pretty much the only way the zombie world could continue (given the parameters of zombie-ism provided).

I enjoyed this book and recommend it if you like the zombie fiction genre.

A Case of Exploding Mangoes

Book Notes Written with a loving hand by kitt some time around 22:15 on 13 July 2015

Pre-book notes

Mom bought this book when she was on her Indian writers kick. I have no idea what to expect.

Post-book

Okay, this book was completely and totally not one I would pick up on my own. If Mom hadn't bought it in such a format that I would have it on hand, I wouldn't have read it. She was on an Indian writers kick, and read a large number of authors from India, this book and this author being one of her many.

The story is told in two interleaved parts, one from a first person point of view of a major in the Pakistani army, the other from a third person point of view of a narrator. The story is somewhat confusing at the beginning as the two parts intertwine, but totally clears up as the story progresses. I absolutely adored the way the author would tell of an incidental fact or odd coincidence in the story, then a bit later show how it was incredibly relevant in the story. I chuckled a large number of times, pleased when I caught the references.

I didn't catch some of the humour, and many of the references were lost on me, but I was delighted by the book. Totally outside of the books I normally read, and recommended.

Darkly Dreaming Dexter

Book Notes Written with a loving hand by kitt some time around 13:00 on 4 July 2015

Okay, I picked this book up for really cheap, after being notified it was on sale in an email from BookBub, a site with daily emails of books that are on steep discount or free on Amazon and Apple Books.

This is the first of the series of books the show Dexter is based on. I've watched the show, I found it somewhat entertaining, if hard to watch with some of the gore and just wrongness of the whole concept. I mean, not of the fact there's someone taking out the people who are killing people and not being caught, but that such people could exist (both the people doing the killing and the person killing the people doing the killing). It is an interesting twist on the concept of right and wrong and the morality of revenge for those who don't find justice.

The book follows the series incredibly well, with few details different. Said details are pretty significant, but come late enough in the story that I was thinking, "Huh, I pretty much know how this is going to end." I didn't, and that was okay. I might read the next book to see how the books and the series diverge, but only if the book is on sale (or free from the library), and only if I've run out of other books to read. The premise of the books doesn't sit well enough with me to continue reading the series.

I'm glad to have read the book. I suspect fans of the television series would enjoy it.

Possibly unrelated, I am amused by the author's name, even if it is a pen name.

The Burning Room

Book Notes Written with a loving hand by kitt some time around 09:16 on 2 July 2015

Harry Bosch, Book 19

As far as Bosch books go, it isn't clear that this is the *last* one, but it is currently the last one published. In it, Harry has about a year to go before he's completely dropped from the police force. You would think that at SOME POINT in his career, he would be able to figure out how to be political. You would think at some point he would have learned how to be just enough manipulative to get his own way. But, no. He hasn't (er... hasn't been written that way), and so, goes out on a stupid thing like, "getting a report for the amazing TWENTY YEAR OLD CASE I JUST SOLVED." Come on. You reward shit like that, you don't fire someone 6 months from retirement.

Okay, so, Harry is an old fart now. It happens. He's, what, 64 at this point? Yeah, old.

And yet... someone dies, a bad cop did it, tunnels. Still.

19 books worth of that plot.

And I read them all! Take that reading list goal! CRUSHED YOU!

Anyway, if you like the first few books, enjoy 19 books of essentially the same plot, with a few clever twists. I've enjoyed them enough that, SHOULD ANOTHER BOSCH BOOK COME OUT, I will read it.

Yeah, I kinda miss the guy already.

The Black Box

Book Notes Instead of being asleep at 08:12 on 1 July 2015, kitt created this:

Harry Bosch, Book 18

Okay, come on, how much coincidence can one stand? I mean, yeah, an author is going to write a nailbiter, create some suspense, but coincidence after coincidence after coincidence allows this seemingly random 20 year old case to be solved. Classic Bosch, too! Someone dies, the bad cop did it, tunnels. In this particular case, it's not a tunnel, per se, but it totally the darkness of the tunnels, so let's say metaphorical tunnel.

This is the second to last Bosch book currently published. There was enough eye rolling with all the dead cops but the case is still solved after twenty years that, well, I have to admit this counts as the first of two bad books that might make me stop reading the series (two books in a series in a row bad, and I now stop). Bosch's girlfriend is clearly completely annoying, and clearly there only for filler. She doesn't add much to the plot, yet is insecure enough to be awkward. The real Bosch would have dumped her already, as he tried to do at the beginning of their relationship in the previous book.

Nearly done with the series, which is good, because I've been tearing through these, and, well, with the end so close, I'll be somewhat relieved to finish the series. Even in his old age, Bosch is still a lone wolf, a keep-the-cards-tight-to-the-chest, if-I-die-the-case-goes-with-me sort of player. You'd think he would have mellowed out.

I don't recommend this book unless you've already been reading the series and want to finish it. Then it's classic Bosch, read it.

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