Packed with engaging Sanderson action scenes featuring well crafted interplays of Epic powers, as well as touching interpersonal scenes that brought me to the edge of tears numerous times, Calamity was almost all I expected and hoped for out of the Reckoners series conclusion. Where it fell a little short to me was in the final resolution and answering of some of the series's big questions. Perhaps I would be well served to go back and read it all more slowly, but I felt that some of the resolution was kind of hand-wave-y and key motivations were left obscured. While some bits felt rushed through, others felt overly heavy handed, but that didn't stop them from being pretty moving anyway. So, while the conclusion wasn't quite *everything* I hoped it would be, I would still very highly recommend this series. Although I'd probably suggest you read Mistborn first ;)

I enjoyed reading this book but I haven't really decided why. I have wanted to read Patricia Highsmith for a while, intending to start with Strangers on a Train or The Price of Salt, but when I came across Ripley's Game in a used book store I picked it up and started reading it that night when I finished Redefining Realness on the plane with half an hour or so to go. Of course, when I returned home and checked into Goodreads I realized that I had read the first several chapters of the third book about Tom Ripley. I decided to go in order and purchased this one, beginning right away. Ripley's Game had felt like it picked up into the action right away, but this novel started quite slowly, introducing the character well before the bulk of the story began. I think it helped me stick with it that I had already become invested in the middle of the story, until suddenly the dreary little story went up like ten levels of intensity. I'm still not really sure what it is about this story but I definitely want to read more. I am unsure of what to do with Tom Ripley. He's kind of a pathetic disaster, like watching a very anxious train wreck. I don't even like his character that much but I'm still swept along with the story, following intensely. Highsmith has definitely done something right, even if I can't quite identify it.

Still don't know why I enjoy reading about Tom Ripley's antics but I flew through this book and found it ceaselessly entertaining. It's so interesting to read these books, because the world has changed so much in the sixty intervening years that I find much about Tom's world to be unrecognizable to my own.

The Dresden Files continues to add to the big picture plots and mysteries, while resolving an interesting and exciting one off, and even giving growth and change to the characters and their relationships. Unfortunately, I think I like this series so much that the moments that irk me bother me even more than they used to.

The Good Girl was a great read but one of the slowest paced thrillers I have ever read. This is not necessarily a bad thing, I think the story required the slow pace and would have probably strained credibility to have moved more quickly. However, this made some of what would have been surprising twists into turns easily spotted from a distance.

I was so excited to start this book, and was somewhat frustrated as I struggled to get into it at first. It tells a big story that almost reads more like a history book than a novel, especially in the beginning as numerous characters and places and aspects of the culture are all introduced at once. From the beginning though I loved the characters and Dara felt vibrant and real. And then eventually I just fell in love with all of it. Truly an epic story, in which Liu treats his characters and their endeavors with care and nuance. I highly recommend this story, but caution that it is a story of uprising and filled with deaths of many characters - some coming suddenly before I had hardly a chance to get to know them, and some painfully after growing to love them a great deal.

I was going to read this book because of the rave reviews and gorgeous title and cover, but then I thought maybe I wouldn't because I am not really that into historical fiction or just fiction-fiction and there are so many books to read in the world. Then my brother raved about it and decided I should read it as our first book club book (for our two person book club we are starting) and that was good enough for me. I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly I became immersed in this story. The pacing was quick for a story that isn't particularly action packed, and I loved how short and sweet each chapter was. I enjoyed the strong themes of wonder at the physical world that the two protagonists shared, and the way their stories contrasted and aligned in delicate ways. A powerful set of coming of age stories set to a frightening time in our world's history, this was a good read.

There's little I enjoy more in fiction than a good Sci Fi Horror Thriller perfectly executed with a cast of wonderful characters. Hill hits all the right notes with this one.

I had a feeling I was going to love Alafair Burke's writing and I'm pretty sure I was right. This book was a great mystery/crime/thriller that never let me stop being intrigued and was also fun to read all the while. I guess the ending had a few points I didn't like (including one of my biggest pet peeves happening kind of twice, sigh) but the story all along kept me hooked with so many questions and a bunch of *gasp* moments that I'd give it a lot of praise overall.

After Anna was a page turner. But. It was so obvious. So so obvious. I think this book would have been much more exciting if the twist hadn't been clear to me from chapter three. Also I hated every bit in second person. That was pretty terrible. And the writing was very repetitive, going over and over the same details about what the main character was thinking and why at every moment. I enjoyed reading a quick thriller, but unfortunately this book really didn't deliver on my expectations.