Bogormen

Title: Knit One, Kill Two
Author: Maggie Sefton
Genre: Crafts, Crime
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 273
Date read: June, 2013

Kelly Flynn never picked up a pair of knitting needles she liked—until she strolled into House of Lambspun. Now, in the first in a brand-new series, she learns how to knit one, purl two, and untangle the mystery behind her aunt's murder.

I am once again reminded that I really don't like detective stories much. I really liked this book (as the rating shows), but it was blatantly obvious to me that I read it in spite of the mystery involved, and not because of it. Of course it didn't help that I found the mystery - and especially the resolution - ridiculously unrealistic.

However, putting that aside, I loved the rest of the book - the small-town atmosphere, Kelly's introduction to the environment, the knitting shop... why is it that knitting shops such as Mimi's are so abundant in books, yet I've never encountered a single one of them? Is it an American thing... or a fictional thing? ;)

Anyway, cozy mystery that would probably be spot-on for anybody who enjoys their sleuthing novels. As for me, as much as I love the knitting part of the plot, I think I'll give the rest of the series a pass.

Title: Little Fuzzy
Author: H. Beam Piper
Genre: Sci-Fi
Rating: 4.5/5
# pages: Audiobook ~5.5hrs, 252 pages
Date read: June 2013, June 2014

The planet Zarathustra is listed as uninhabited -- which means that the entire planet can be owned by a corporation. That owner is the rich and happy Zarathustra Company -- rich and happy, that is, until a prospector named Jack Holloway comes across undocumented species -- a tiny, golden-furred little biped that he dubs "Little Fuzzy." Not only are the Little Fuzzies cute, they're bright too -- in fact, they may be sapient as people are... and that means everything the Zarathustra company owns on this world is at stake...

Little Fuzzy was recommended to me by an online friend after I asked for suggestions of "comfort books". I'd never even heard of it before, but as I managed to find it for free on both Amazon and Librivox that same day, I decided it was a sign and that I had to read it.

It's a quick read - not even 6 hours - and utterly adorable. The plot is nothing out of the ordinary, but I loved the characters, and it made for very enjoyable reading indeed.

Reread in 2017: Just as good the second time around :) But it did have a rather surprisingly graphic depiction of violence later on in the book, which made me happy that I reread it myself before recommending it to my niece. Even as an adult it made me shudder.

Title: Knitting
Author: Anne Bartlett
Genre: Crafts
Rating: 3.5/5
# pages: 273
Date read: June, 2013

A chance meeting sparks a friendship between two very different women who share a fascination with knitting. Sandra, a rigid academic, struggles to navigate the world without her husband, whom she has recently lost to cancer. Martha - a self-taught textile artist with her own secret store of grief - spends her days knitting elaborate projects charged with personal meaning. As the two women collaborate on a new project, surprising events will help heal them both.

I'd read a sample of this on my Kindle, and thought it sounded interesting enough to get the entire book. It didn't quite live up to my expectations, but came pretty close - and if nothing else, it gave me a craving to take up my knitting! ;)

My biggest problem with the book was that the main characters were just not very sympathetic. I never came to like either of them all that much. One was too spineless the other too much of a bully, and while they both improved during the cause of the book, it wasn't really explored thoroughly enough for my liking.

... This makes it sound worse than it really was. I did mostly enjoy it, but for a real knitting treat, I'd rather read books like "The Friday Night Knitting Club", "The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society" or "Divas Don't Knit".

Title: Blackout (Newsflesh #3)
Author: Mira Grant
Genre: Dystopian
Rating: 4.5/5
# pages: 659
Date read: June 2013, June 2016, November 2020, July 2024

The year was 2014. The year we cured cancer. The year we cured the common cold. And the year the dead started to walk. The year of the Rising.

The year was 2039. The world didn't end when the zombies came, it just got worse. Georgia and Shaun Mason set out on the biggest story of their generation. They uncovered the biggest conspiracy since the Rising and realized that to tell the truth, sacrifices have to be made.

Now, the year is 2041, and the investigation that began with the election of President Ryman is much bigger than anyone had assumed. With too much left to do and not much time left to do it in, the surviving staff of After the End Times must face mad scientists, zombie bears, rogue government agencies-and if there's one thing they know is true in post-zombie America, it's this:

Things can always get worse.


Definitely one of my favourite series read this year.

After seeing that book two had been a transitional novel, I was a tad worried whether or not this final one would be able to live up to my expectations and provide a fitting closure to the story. Fortunately it managed this very nicely, although it in no way took the form I had expected - there were many curve-balls thrown at the reader along the way. The end was left kind of open, but with this kind of scenario, I can't really see how it could be anything else.

I'm sad to leave the characters behind - they became unusually 'real' to me.

Title: Deadline (Newsflesh #2)
Author: Mira Grant
Genre: Dystopian
Rating: 4/5
# pages: Audiobook ~15hrs
Date read: June 2013, June 2016, October 2020, June 2024

DO NOT READ THE SUMMARY OF "DEADLINE" ON GOODREADS UNLESS YOU'VE READ "FEED"!!! HUGE SPOILERS!!!

... trying to make this a spoiler-free review though, so I'll leave out the summary for this one...

Very obviously the middle book of a trilogy and therefore really cannot stand on its own. It had me totally hooked from the very beginning, and was as action-packed as I could have wished, but the story was definitely action-driven and character-driven rather than plot-driven... some major twists were thrown at us, but nothing resolved.

I'm still really impressed by the world-building, and how Mira Grant so effortlessly switches between Shaun and George's voices - making both equally believable. I thought the revelations about their relationship more than a little unnecessary though... it makes sense, but I'm not sure that it was necessary for the story... but perhaps that will be revealed in the next book.

Title: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Author: Mary Ann Shaffer
Genre: Fiction, ww2
Rating: 5/5
# pages: 240
Date read: April, 2009

Summary: January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she's never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb.

As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society--born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island--boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all.

Review: This is a comfort book of the best kind. It's cosy, it's funny, it's well-written and the characters are delightful. In atmosphere it reminds me of many of the books by Estrid Ott - one of my favourite Danish authors.

I've always loved reading books made up of letters, so that's an added bonus to this book, and through those letters I fell completely in love with the different characters - especially Juliet and Kit. Also, reading about WW2 has always fascinated me, so learning about a new, and lesser known aspect of the war was very interesting.

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