Books I Read Over Winter Break

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie (library book) - I realized at the end of last year that I was just reading trashy romance novels because I could get them for free on my Kindle, but I can also get books for free from the library! I used BuzzFeed's (often critiqued) list of the 51 best fantasy series to give me some suggestions of where to start looking for a new series.  So I tried the Abercrombie book. I didn't have a clue what was happening for the first 150 pages. I was reading it slowly, carefully, and really trying hard to follow it when the magic happened. I figured out how all these different stories were going to come together and it was delightful.  But not so delightful that I'm going to get the next book in the series.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin (library book) - Jemisin was also a find from the Buzzfeed list and it was an interesting read. I really liked the tone in this book; the first person narrator was casual like she was telling a story to an actual person, full of tangents and digressions like you would have in person. Unfortunately for Jemisin, I just don't find abusive alpha gods attractive, so the rest of this series seems tedious to me.

Devoted in Death by J. D. Robb (Kindle purchase) - I still read every book in the In Death series despite my frequent complaints about the quality of the series degrading.  AND I stand by this argument. But this book, despite being a strict procedural, was kind of interesting in that Robb has begun to weave in small details from previous books that are actually kind of fun. For example, in a previous installment of this series, Mr. Mira gave Eve a hat with a snowflake on it and she keeps wearing it, even though she thinks it's silly. I love Mr. Mira. This is important because in the next book MR. MIRA is in the mix!  It's coming out on February 2 and I'm pretty jazzed about it.  Please don't let me down, J. D. Robb.

Deer Season by Aaron Stander (free Kindle book)- This book was free, set in the upper peninsula of Michigan, and a murder mystery seemed right up my alley during the frigid temperatures during the first week of January. Unfortunately, it was kind of boring. I think it might be a mid-series book and it might have been better if I'd read the other books in the series. 

Holding Her Hand by Tammy Falkner (Kindle purchase) - This is the ninth book of the Reed Brothers series and while I loved the first five books in the series, but things aren't as good now. It's still good, much better than most Kindle authors, but there's no tension in this book. The female main character immediately spills her guts to our hero about all her baggage, he dumps his baggage to be with her, and it's over.  I love the Reed family and I don't really want to leave this world, either, but I think Falkner needs to switch to another group of characters so she can start fresh.