Bookquarium

Yeah, I'm in a reading slump....but I'm gonna share with you ways I've been trying to get out of it! When you are in a reading slump, it can seem impossible to get out of it. You're too busy at work to really get into a book when you get home, or chores get in the way. In my case, I almost feel as if reading is somehow lazier than anything else because I'm sitting down, not moving and just focused on the book. Why this translates to laziness to me is still not clear, because I also watch a lot of television. I'm trying to change the way I think about reading. Our world is so quickly moving, it can be hard to stop and concentrate on just a book.  That I think, is the root of the problem I am having. Here are some tips I am working to use for myself to become a more involved reader again. Read one book at a time I have several books going at once (don't do this). If you can't concentrate one book, don't fall into the trap of starting another...

Heeeeere's Amy!  Picture this. It's 1980. I'm not even alive yet. The hair is continuing to defy gravity. Computers and technology are out there, but they're remarkably slow. You're still almost a half decade away from AOL and the fabulous dial up internet. Michael Crichton decided to write a technology-heavy book about killer gorillas and the search for diamonds in the Congo. Dudes, I just finished this book, and I still don't understand Crichton's need for diamonds. It's got something to do with technology, and powering things? I'll admit I skimmed a lot of the rambling bits when he really got going about the tech stuff. Congo, as an adventure read, was fun. I am all for really smart gorillas tearing humans to bits. Amy, the good gorilla who joins our plucky (and obnoxious) adventurers on their quest to discover what happened to the first team, is a fun character, who drinks cocktails and smokes cigars (even though she's a gorilla?), an...

The Luminous Dead The Blurble:  When Gyre Price lied her way into this expedition, she thought she’d be mapping mineral deposits, and that her biggest problems would be cave collapses and gear malfunctions. She also thought that the fat paycheck—enough to get her off-planet and on the trail of her mother—meant she’d get a skilled surface team, monitoring her suit and environment, keeping her safe. Keeping her sane. Instead, she got Em. Em sees nothing wrong with controlling Gyre’s body with drugs or withholding critical information to “ensure the smooth operation” of her expedition. Em knows all about Gyre’s falsified credentials, and has no qualms using them as a leash—and a lash. And Em has secrets, too . . . As Gyre descends, little inconsistencies—missing supplies, unexpected changes in the route, and, worst of all, shifts in Em’s motivations—drive her out of her depths. Lost and disoriented, Gyre finds her sense of control giving way to paranoia and anger. On her own in ...

The Unhoneymooners This book basically has everything I want all wrapped up in a nice, neat bow. Enemies to lovers, forced proximity, tropical locales, curvy heroines. I don't know how Christina Lauren (a.k.a Christina and Lauren, two sisters who co-author romances together) put out so many books so fast but I'm damn glad they do because this one was DELIGHTFUL. The premise: Our heroine, Olive, is maid of honor at her twin sister Ami's wedding. She hates the best man, Ethan, who is brother to the groom, Dane. Semantics. Nearly everyone at the wedding gets food poisoning from a bad seafood buffet, and Ami begs her sister to go on her non-refundable Hawaiian honeymoon. The only problem? Dane offered the other ticked to Ethan. Ten days in a tropical paradise with the man she hates? Yes, it's just as delicious as it sounds. Olive was such a fun main character! And she was described as "curvy", which could mean anything really, but I chose to believe she...

Do you remember those movies on the Disney channel (back in the day when it was good) and ABC's TGIF, when they'd show things that weren't necessarily great, but really  fun to watch? Like My Date with the President's Daughter  and Still Life  starring a pre-Top Model Tyra Banks? This book felt a lot like those. Not If I Save You First  is the fast paced and funny story of Maddie, daughter of the top secret service officer, and (former) best friend of the president's son, Logan. Six years ago something happened that made her dad quit his job and move them to the wilds of Alaska, leaving behind her best friend who then cut all contact. First, Maddie is the kind of sassy I wish I was. The kind of sassy I am in my head when I think of snappy comebacks four hours after I was insulted. At times, it veered into unrealistic, but it fit well into the story. She has spent much of the last six years fending for herself, bedazzling axe handles and making sure her hair rout...

I don't think I've ever read a Cat Sebastian before! (But I met her at KissCon and guys, she's lovely.) She's also well known for writing queer historical romances, and A Duke in Disguise  was her first (to my knowledge) straight romance. It was really good, you guys. Five stars good. It was a friends to lovers, but with this delicious tension running throughout where both people sort of knew the other liked them, but they couldn't do anything to fuck up their friendship. On top of all that, she runs a newspaper, including one that is publishing a) seditious stuff, and b) an erotic novel, that - guys - he does the illustrations for. Sexy ones. But like... really sexy, to appeal to the female gaze. It's all against a backdrop of a London that is plagued by an asshole government who are throwing people in jail/having them hanging for speaking out against them, and our heroine, Verity, definitely does that in her paper. Did I mention she's also hella bi...

This book gives us some heroines that Ripley would be proud of! Alien: Echo is an original young adult novel set in the Alien film universe which means yes, we absolutely get to see the creepy, drooly, chittering aliens from the movies. The premise:  Twin sisters Olivia and Viola are daughters of two xenobiologists (coolest job title ever.) Their family is stationed on a new colony world. When they discover a new and deadly alien species (hmm, I wonder what it could be?) they are forced on the run in hostile terrain in a fight for their lives. Queer main character alert!! So excite! I loved Olivia, our protagonist. First off, she kicks SOOOO much ass, but in a smart way. Not a "blustering around, shooting anything that moves" type. She was smart. She had the knowledge. She used it and common sense to survive. Viola, her twin sister, is sassy and real and a nice opposite to her sister. One of the side characters I legitly wanted to punch in the face, which is probably...