Raw Data:
15 Books
5099 Pages
Average Rating: 3.30
The Bad:
Valor – 1 Star DNF
The Hyena and the Hawk – 2 Star disappointment from one of my favorite authors
The Good:
Target Rich Environment – 5 Stars all the way!
The Hobbit – 5 Stars and the good times are rolling!
Our Mutual Friend – 4 1/2 stars kept the party going!
Miscellaneous And Personal:
I only did TWO non-review posts this month. One was a Currently Reading (which I liked doing and I might try to do those a bit more often) and the other was the Fall from Grace about Star Wars and Bookstooge. A truly masterful yet tragically poignant post.
However, when I have two 5star reads AND a 4 1/2star read, well, you know it was a good month of reading. I deliberately wrote a review almost every other day and cut out almost all tv watching this month so I could read a couple of extra books. Of course, with Our Mutual Friend my page count went pretty high too. So another statistic that went swimmingly. My average rating was down from last month, but with a lot of middle of the road books you can’t expect anything else. Plus, 1star books totally destroy a month’s rating; they’re worse than the titanic!
Yet I didn’t read one single volume of Shaman King nor did I really want to. I found that alarming because I started the series so strong and I really want to finish it. so I’ve decided to finish off the series in July. I know I’ll burn myself out on the series and on manga in general, but I’ve been approaching that point anyway so might as well go for the gusto, as one little boy named Calvin would say. This does mean that your feed is going to be packed with manga. I’ll try to post a couple of other type posts throughout July but you are getting your warning here and now. I do expect my numbers to plummet so I’ve prepared my mind for the onslaught of not being so famous for a month. It will be a real trial for me but I guess being humble is something we all need once in a while.
Cover Love:
As much as I despised the book, Valor had the best looking cover. It is pure awesome sauce from a visual standpoint!
I agree, Valor does have a pretty good cover! Pity about the book then…
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yeah, I had high hopes for John Gwynne. But sadly, his writing style just sets my back up so there’s not much I can do about it, except not read him 🙂
LikeLike
Been so long since I read anything Gaunts Ghosts … might have to do a restart of the series.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m just really thankful that SavageDave recommended them to me. They’re working out the best of any Warhammer/40K series that I’ve read.
Have you read the whole series or did you stop part way through for some reason?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I stopped part way through. I read some of them (out of order) when I was a kid and stopped reading as much WH in general (had to be done as I ONLY read WH novels back when I was kid. So needed to broaded my horizons). Now I’m back reading them on Netgalley every so often I’d like to revisit some of the stuff I loved growing up. Gaunts Ghosts being one of my main four or five series I need to re-read.
They are a good series as you can enjoy them without needing to have a massive Warhammer knowledge.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hooray for the manga run. Hopefully, it won’t be the end of that medium though!
LikeLiked by 1 person
We’ll see…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, I was a bit surprised to see the 2 star rating for Adrian Tchaikovsky earlier this week, knowing you’re a big fan. I do plan on reading this series one day (though I have no idea when that might be!) and it’s disappointing to hear this one takes a dip.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Unlike Spiderlight, where I really disagreed with what he wrote but still enjoyed it, this was just so mediocre, so blah. I guess that is what most disappointed me. He is not a mediocre writer and I know he can write engagingly.
As for you and “one day”, honestly, I’d be surprised but I’d love to be wrong 😀
LikeLike
Seems like a good month, some beautiful covers, good authors. Sad about Czajkowski, as this hardcover is already waiting on my bookshelf, but I guess every writer is entitled to some misfires… My recent, similar experience – much as I love McClellan, his attempt at Urban Fantasy is… average, I guess?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I seem to remember you having issues with how neatly Apt wrapped up. If that is the case, then be prepared for a pretty pink bow on this trilogy. And average is a good description.
I hadn’t realized McClellan was writing outside his powder mage series. I’m waiting for the second trilogy to wrap up so I can begin it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hated certain developments, but I still thought it’s a great series, here – I’ll see when I finally read it 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Valor really does have an awesome cover. Sounds like this was a great month of reading, and I hope you enjoy the manga in July more than you expect to!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, June was great! I’m hoping the manga picks up like it was near the beginning of the run. I’m committed to finishing it though, whatever comes…
LikeLike
Maybe it just had a lull in the middle?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good cover, some good reads, not a bad month!
LikeLiked by 1 person
2 five stars made it a great month! 😀
Of course, we’ll see how the manga binge this month affects me. Wouldn’t surprise me if I do nothing but moan and complain at the end of July, hahahahahahaa….
Oh wait, I pretty much do that every month anyway 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Looks like a good month indeed. I will be checking out the last couple of reviews a bit later.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I did have a good Warhammer 40K review. Gaunt’s Ghosts delivers the good stuff yet again 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Im going to be a tiny bit jealous if you read necropolis before me… glad you liked book two. Im still recovering from quite a hectic weekend, will read soon as i can pay more than 3 second’s worth of attention
LikeLiked by 1 person
Look! Two classics in your “good” category! Are the classic gods trying to tell you something?
Whenever I think about the number of reviews you churn out (and therefore the number of books you read), I’m convinced that I read more slowly than I used to. Of course, that couldn’t possibly mean that I’m approaching the age where I need glasses! Perish the thought! 😉
Good for you for watching less T.V. That’s always a good thing no matter what the reason ….
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, I’m ok with the regular pace I do 🙂 6-8 a year is ok.
As for the number of reviews/books, you also have to look at the number of words I use in my reviews. I’m pretty sparse with most reviews running right around the 600 word mark. Of course, most of what I read sets itself up to fall into that kind of review 😀
Glasses. I’ve had them since 6th grade so for me the change is going to be the whole transition/bifocal thing. We’re getting old 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Cutting down on telly does help free up some time. I’m kind of in a phase where i just want to watch netflix (while doing other stuff), and read, and basically that’s my life now 😀 Eventually i will get tired of it though, i know.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like the tv on when I write reviews. Which is why Prime is usually enough for me 🙂
I cancelled my subscription to netflix after the first season of Daredevil was done. I figured it was a good place to end things. And since disney cancelled all their superhero tv shows with netflix, I guess I went out at the high point 🙂
LikeLike
It is an irony how many book covers I love, although I know that I would not find the book interesting. Still, I enjoy browsing the popular books just to see the covers. They promise so much more than they actually offer.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sadly, books are becoming as vapid as movies. And that means the audience has become that vapid. That concerns me…
LikeLike
Glad you had a good reading month! And love that cover for Valour 🙂 (even if I don’t plan to read it)
LikeLiked by 1 person
I wouldn’t recommend reading it either 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person