Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic 50 Book Challenge 2016/What I've Read in 2016

Agreed, LabRat. I read the first one after seeing the movie for free. I enjoyed it, and the second as well, but the third was a real letdown.

I agree with both of you. The story had a lot of potential but I had problems with the concepts. And sometimes the lead character did foolish things. Some of the concepts like the fear landscape were cool in the movie. I haven't seen the second one yet.

Joan



Groobie
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The Vampire Apocalypse - Derek Gunn

I A World Torn Asunder
II Descent Into Chaos
III Fallout

I was expecting no more from this than schlock pulp horror but the writing was a notch above that and this was an enjoyable PA romp. Civilisation has begun to break down as an energy crisis looms. As societies crumble into anarchy, the vampires emerge to take control. I've already bought book 4.

The Vampire Apocalypse: Book 4 - Trail of Tears

The author seems to improve with each new book in this series. But now we've ended in a cliffhanger and I still don't know who the traitor is! Seems there'll be a wait till book 5 comes out. Hope it's soon!

LabRat

24. Thirst: The Eternal Dawn, by Christopher Pike

This is the third book in the Thirst series (the first two books consist of books 1-3 and 4-6 of The Last Vampire series). The series was originally finished around 1995, but was revived after Twilight made vampires popular again.

Sita is still a Sue, but it's toned down a bit in this book, in which she gets close to one of her descendants (from when she was human 5,000 years ago) and tries to help her in achieving her dreams. She also tracks down Seymour, who didn't die at the end of the last book after all, thanks to the advent of effective HIV drugs. She still deals with powerful forces that threaten the whole world, though, and she still disobeys Krishna's order not to make more vampires (though somehow she still has his grace).

After reading this far in the series, I have concluded that it would make a great series of graphic novels, but I don't think it's ever been done.

25. The Children's Blizzard, by David Laskin

"Thousands of impoverished Northern European immigrants were promised that the prairie offered "land, freedom, and hope." The disastrous blizzard of 1888 revealed that their free homestead was not a paradise but a hard, unforgiving place governed by natural forces they neither understood nor controlled, and America’s heartland would never be the same."

This book tells the story of the "children's blizzard" of January 12, 1888, in which a mild day followed by a fast-moving, devastating storm blew through the Midwest, leaving hundreds dead, many of them children caught by the storm while they were at school. The book gives lots of details on the history and science of weather forecasting, the reasons the homesteaders had for moving to the plains, and what happens to a human body as hypothermia sets in (it isn't pretty).

I've tried to imagine such cold, but I really can't. I've never experienced any temperature colder than 13 degrees Fahrenheit, and that only once. I have gotten the impression that the 1880's were a time of harsh weather, judging from other books I've read like The Long Winter, by Laura Ingalls Wilder and accounts of the blizzard in New York City in March of 1888, and newspaper accounts from my own town of a tornado that blew down the one and only church here in 1888 (which would not have been terribly notable in the Midwest, but this is California; after that, it was a good 120 years before the town experienced another such storm).

26. The Star Group, by Christopher Pike

Three guys and four girls meet a strange man who offers to give them secret knowledge, an inner journey that will transform them into powerful beings capable of bending the world to their wills. In the midst of this great transformation will emerge a bad seed with a will more evil than a devil.

This book was okay, but the story was kind of rushed, and the author didn't spend much time developing the characters.

#24 Undivided by Neal Shusterman

Final book in the Unwind series


Some interesting developments. Some issues were ressolved nicely. Others I would've done differently.

Joan

The Shattered Sea Trilogy - Joe Abercrombie:

Half A King
Half A World
Half A War

An enjoyable fantasy series. Not GOT deep but full of great characters. I adored Queen Skara and the hints about who the elf kind were. My only negative was the author's propensity - unnecessarily in my view - for giving some of his characters disgusting personal habits. I could have done without the repeated details on those! But I'll be looking into what else he's written.

LabRat

27. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and the Undead, by Don Borchert

Mark Twain once said “The rumors of my death were greatly exaggera—BRAINS!!!!!”

Pulled from the undead grip of Mark Twain’s rotting zombie hands, this is Tom Sawyer like you’ve never seen him before, in a swashbuckling, treasure-seeking tale spiked with blood, gore, and zombie madness.

This book was pretty funny. Now I need to re-read the original, which I last read when I was 7 years old.

The Sharani Series - Kevin L. Nielson

I Sands
II Storms

I really loved this series so far. It held a lot of warm echoes for me of the first few books in Anne MacCaffrey's Dragonriders series. In a good way. The clans reminded me of the Wheyrs. And we had aviens instead of dragons. Hopefully the next books will be published soon. Can't wait to see what happens next.

LabRat

#25 Barefoot Season by Susan Mallery


A decent light summer read.



#26 Where They Found Her by Kimberly McCreight


Interesting psychological thriller.

Joan

#27 Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Mass


Interesting fantasy world and likeable characters. My daughter adores this series and she's thrilled I finally read started it. I'm planning on reading the rest.

Joan

Indoctrination - John Harrison

This thriller was very much a book of two distinct halves. It began intriguingly enough but the second half was irritatingly rushed, lacking the care and detail lavished on the first. Add on a tacked on final couple of paragraphs there simply to provide a hook to buy the sequel and this one ended disappointingly, squandering the promise it began with.

LabRat

28. Girl in the Arena, by Lise Haines

This YA novel is set in an alternate America, in which gladiatorial combat is a popular sport -- and is completely controlled by a corporation, which hires gladiators (mostly men), encourages "Glad culture", which is celebrity culture taken up to 11, and changes the rules and bylaws to avoid having to pay out what was promised.

This book takes a rather scathing look at corporate corruption and celebrity culture. It's not a dystopian novel, but rather a look at a very plausible alternate reality.

29. Seriously, Snow White Was So Forgetful! The Story of Snow White as Told By the Dwarves, by Nancy Loewen

This children's book tells the story of Snow White from the POV of the dwarves. Snow White comes to live with them, but then proves very forgetful. She makes banana cream pie with no bananas, knits 10-foot scarves (because she forgets to stop knitting), and worst of all, forgets the dwarves warning not to open the door to strangers, thus allowing the evil queen to try to kill her, not once, but three times.

30. Noune: Child of Prehistory, by Michel Vaidis

In this children's book, which was originally written in French, a small boy, Noune, lives in prehistoric France (17,000 years ago) with his parents, Mah and Pah, and his older sister, Malina. Over the course of a year, he asks questions about everything around him, learning the lifeways of his ancient people, including how the caves were painted.

My parents just returned from a trip to France, and they brought this book back with them. They viewed a lot of ancient artwork, including a replica of the rock art of Lascaux. This book helps to explain that artwork, although in reality some of it was painted as long as 37,000 years ago and was rediscovered in the 1940s.

31. Invasion, by Robin Cook

An alien virus comes to Earth and starts infecting people, changing them into shells of their former selves. It reminds me strongly of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, only without the pod-people.

Triggerfinger - Jackson Spencer Bell.

Kevin is a local hero after shooting dead two men who invaded his home. But now strange things are happening. Violent incidents plague him, The Bald Man is harrassing him with claims his story of that night is false....did it really go down as he said?

I found this an intriguing first novel. Although I figured out pretty early on what was going on, it was still a fascinating journey. I read it in one sitting.

LabRat

The Shroud - David W. Moore

A group of priests try to engineer The Second Coming by cloning Jesus from The Shroud of Turin. They get Lucifer instead. Ooops. This one had shades of the Omen, of course, but a lot of it reminded me, too, of watching an episode of Supernatural. Perhaps because of, rather than despite, this, I did enjoy it. Even though the characters were one-dimensional and the ending rushed.

LabRat

#28 the Fate of Ten by Pittacus Lore

Final book in the "I am Number 4" series

The Mogadorian invasion of the Earth has started. Can the Guard take down Sektrakus Ra and save the planet?

An okay ending to the series. I enjoyed the earlier books in the series more.

Joan

Just found out that it's not the last book which makes sense since it ended rather abruptly and left many issues unressolved.

#29 American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Tennagers by Nancy Jo Sales

A rather disturbing look at how girls use social media the impact on their lives.

Joan

Superman: Earth One: Vol. 2 by J. Michael Straczynski & Shane Davis

Finally got vol. 2! Clark adjusts to Metropolis, the Daily Planet, being Superman, and meets his new neighbors. Lois is curious about her odd new co-worker and does some digging into his past. Superman battles an energy-sucking Parasite.



I thought that Earth One, V1 was very similar to the MoS plot, but BvS deviates from this series COMPLETELY, so clearly it's not based on this series. Can't wait to see what's in store for Clark in V3.

#30 Island Girls by Nancy Thayer


Nice light poolside read.

Joan

The Scorch Trials by James Dashner - Sequel to The Maze Runner.

A very simply written book with a very confusing and complex plot. I'm still scratching my head over these trials, this time by "fire". Those who remained after The Maze trials are back, this time they know it's a test and they aren't alone. There's another group just like theirs, only all girls with one guy. The guys group is given a challenge, only it's insane. The girls group is given another challenge, equally insane, but easier to survive. This series will make you paranoid. Can't wait to see what they've done with the film.

EDIT: Saw the film. Just like The Maze Runner, it deviates completely from the book (hardly touching on the Scorch title). Even so, both films are better plotted out than the books.