My Reading Report Card

 

My Reading Report Card as of 21 January 2021

My grading system:

A – Great (Very rare)

B – Good (Recommendable)

C – Okay (Average to so-so, but good enough to read to the end.)

DNF – Did not finish. I don’t bother reading books that I would grade either D or F

October 2021

Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds – DNF

It had a prologue that seemed to foreshadow how the story would unfold, which I didn’t appreciate. It had too many characters to follow without a cohesive focus. Said that a man died, and then spent 13 pages describing the process. I should talk, but way too wordy no one to care about.

November- December 2021

Miss Buncle’s Book by D E Stevenson – B

Miss Buncle Married – B-

The Two Mrs Abbots – C+

The Four Graces – B

Light romances and mild comedy set in what was contemporary England of 1934 through 1945. I found them entertaining, in part because it is a place and a period that I enjoy exploring in fiction. There a no doubt more realistic and darker representations of that period in fiction, but I like light novels, and these fit the bill. Complete review here: https://clitkabooks.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-miss-buncle-books-by-d-e-stevenson.html

Miss Clair Remembers – by Miss Read (Dora Saint) – B

Emily Davis – C +

Fairacre Festival – C (Novella)

Summer at Fairacre – B

Stories about school teachers and rural life in England from 1910’s to the 1970s. These are the small, slice of life stories I like, again in a time and place that I like. She writes clearly, and doesn’t shy away from talking about the darker sides of rural life and rural poverty. I had read a number of her stories years ago, and enjoyed them as well. Miss Clair and Emily Davis talk about life in pre-World War ll England, and the Fairacre books are two of “Miss Read’s” own stories set in the 1950 through the 60’s.

I have complete reviews on my blog here: https://clitkabooks.blogspot.com/2021/11/summer-in-fairacre-by-miss-read.html

Victories Greater than Death by Charlie Jane Anders – DNF

YA/Middle school fiction. Not my thing.

Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P Djeli Clark – C

Promising setting, but the story and characters were so-so, though to be fair it was only a novella. Might try another in the series.

Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton – DNF

Fantasy with characters that are dragons. Fantasy is just not my thing these days and while using dragons as your POV characters my appeal to other readers, they didn’t do it for me.

Hammers on Bone –Cassandra Klaw – DNF

A detective story novella featuring over-the-top hardboiled detective style story writing with an unpleasant POV and secondary characters, with not much going on as far as I read.

A History of What Comes Next – by Sylvain Neuvel – DNF

Cheesy opening with narrator killing her husband of 20 years by sticking a pen up his nose because he may have read something about her he wasn’t supposed to know. An unpleasant read and I was unlikely to care for the characters going forward.

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson – DNF

Epic fantasy; not my thing. I’m just not into the use of magic in a story.

January 2022

Network Effects by Martha Wells – C

Murder Bot is entertaining, though its schtick getting old, Supporting characters and setting are nondescript. Plot is repetitious both within the story and from one story to the next. Won’t continue on with the series Complete review here: https://clitkabooks.blogspot.com/2021/12/network-effects-by-martha-wells-review.html

Leviathan Wakes by James S A Corey – C

Too long. It left me with too many questions. I have the feeling that the plot driving incidents did not make sense. Annoyingly magical ending. I might try another book in the series.

Complete review here: https://clitkabooks.blogspot.com/2022/01/leviathan-wakes-by-james-s-corey-review.html

The Great North Road by Peter F Hamilton – DNF (@ 10%)

Too many points of view characters, too many words, and to many and too long of scenes made it a slog to read.

A Talent for War by Jack McDevitt – C+

A SF detectives story concerning events in a war 200 years prior to the story. First person narrative to my taste, but because the mystery is in the past, it has too many disjointed flashbacks to the past. Major plot concern seemed to go missing in action – a red herring or what? It’s ending is melodramatic that I’m not sure made any internal to the story sense. However I will likely try another in the series.

Dark Run by Mike Brooks – DNF (@24%)

Bounty hunters in space, i.e. nothing original, more or less a Firefly fan fic story.

A Memory Called Empire by by Arkady Martine – B

Finally, a long, original story written using a single point of view character that you can care about together with a straight ahead narration that is set in an intricate interstellar Chinese/Aztec-like court setting. The backdrop of the story is sketched in with snippets of text at the beginning of each chapter. It is wordy, but has a well thought out world. I could nit-pick, but it was the best SF read so far, so I won’t complain.

Now reading(actually listening):

Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe (an audio book)