So it’s almost April and thanks to my rather chaotic life, I haven’t had chance to sit down and blog in a very long time. But I’m back (for now) and I thought I should wrap up everything I’ve read for the past few months, starting with the end of 2018.
Here are all the books I’ve read in December 2018.
The Slippery Slope, by Lemony Snicket
Dear Reader,
I’m sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant. It tells an unhappy tale about three very unlucky children. Even though they are charming and clever, the Baudelaire siblings lead lives filled with misery and woe. From the very first page of this book when the children are at the beach and receive terrible news, continuing on through the entire story, disaster lurks at their heels. One might say they are magnets for misfortune.
In this short book alone, the three youngsters encounter a greedy and repulsive villain, itchy clothing, a disastrous fire, a plot to steal their fortune, and cold porridge for breakfast.
It is my sad duty to write down these unpleasant tales, but there is nothing stopping you from putting this book down at once and reading something happy, if you prefer that sort of thing.
With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket
With the round up of the Netflix show, I knew I wanted to finally finish reading this series so I picked up the tenth book in the series. I enjoyed this one. It’s not one of my favourites but it is a good addition to the series. And it’s kept my interest which isn’t something I can say for all of them. There are a few that I skim read a lot of. Five stars.
Frozen Heat, by Richard Castle
NYPD Homicide Detective Nikki Heat gets more mystery than she imagined when she arrives at her latest crime scene. The body of an unidentified woman has been found stabbed to death and stuffed inside a suitcase left sitting on a Manhattan street. A startling enough death, but an even bigger shock comes when this new homicide surprisingly connects to the unsolved murder of Detective Heat’s own mother. The gruesome killing of this Jane Doe launches Heat on a dangerous and emotional investigation, rekindling the cold case that has haunted her since she was nineteen. Paired once again with her romantic and investigative partner, top journalist Jameson Rook, Heat works to solve the mystery of the body in the suitcase while she also digs into unexplored areas of her mother’s background-areas Nikki has been afraid to confront before, but now must.
Facing relentless danger as someone targets her for the next kill, Heat’s search will unearth painful family truths, expose a startling hidden life, and cause Nikki to reexamine her own past. Heat’s passionate quest takes her and Rook from the back alleys of Manhattan to the avenues of Paris, trying to catch a ruthless killer. The question is, now that her mother’s cold case has unexpectedly thawed, will Nikki Heat finally be able to solve the dark mystery that has been her demon for ten years?
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. These books might not be works of Shakespeare but they’re blooming addictive. I’ve loved every single second of all of them. This one was no exception. Five stars.
City of Ghosts, by Victoria Schwab
Cassidy Blake’s parents are The Inspecters, a (somewhat inept) ghost-hunting team. But Cass herself can REALLY see ghosts. In fact, her best friend, Jacob, just happens to be one.
When The Inspecters head to ultra-haunted Edinburgh, Scotland, for their new TV show, Cass—and Jacob—come along. In Scotland, Cass is surrounded by ghosts, not all of them friendly. Then she meets Lara, a girl who can also see the dead. But Lara tells Cassidy that as an In-betweener, their job is to send ghosts permanently beyond the Veil. Cass isn’t sure about her new mission, but she does know the sinister Red Raven haunting the city doesn’t belong in her world. Cassidy’s powers will draw her into an epic fight that stretches through the worlds of the living and the dead, in order to save herself.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; I’ve never been that big a fan of Victoria Schwab. I’ve read (or tried to read) a few of her books. But nothing has ever clicked with me. That’s annoying, I won’t lie, since I think she’s a wonderful person. I adore her stories on Instagram.
And yet, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this. It’s the sort of tale that I found genuinely interesting and I know I’m going to keep reading this series as it is released! Five stars.
Skullduggery Pleasant, by Derek Landy and Skullduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire, by Derek Landy
Stephanie’s uncle Gordon is a writer of horror fiction. But when he dies and leaves her his estate, Stephanie learns that while he may have written horror, it certainly wasn’t fiction. Pursued by evil forces intent on recovering a mysterious key, Stephanie finds help from an unusual source – the wisecracking skeleton of a dead wizard.
This isn’t the first time I’ve read either of these books. And it definitely won’t be the last. This book series was one of my favourites growing up but for several reasons I drifted away from it. And with the release of further books, I’m definitely going to read the rest of the series over the course of the next year!
And there we have it, there is my wrap up for the end of 2018. Keep an eye out for you will soon see wrap ups for January, February and March.
-IAMAGEEKINGGINGER!
Book Total of 2019 – 10
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IAMAGEEKINGGINGER 