Attack the Geek (Ree Reyes, #2.5)

author: Michael R. Underwood
name: Wayne
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2015/04/30
date added: 2015/04/30
shelves:
review:
'Attack the Geek' by Michael R. Underwood is numbered 2.5 in the series. It's a fun series with lots of references to geek culture.

Ree Reyes is working her shift at Grognard's, a bar where geeks hang out to drink and play boardgames. The usual crowd is in the place and it seems to be a normal night until something starts pounding on the door. When the Grognard crowd looks into the hallway, they find themselves under attack by all manner of magical beings. For those unfamiliar with the series, these geeks gather magical powers from different geek artifacts, like replica weapons, or ccg cards, or movie clips. Before long, they are ripping up magic cards, shooting phasers, and climbing and quipping like Spider-Man. The bad guys have more tricks up their sleeves though and the battle rages on for most of the almost 200 pages of the book.

I wasn't familiar with this series, and that might be recommended, but I wasn't lost. Ree is a pretty likeable character, and I liked her power of channeling movie characters. I like that there are different types of geek magic for different types of geeks. I liked the bar owner, Grognard, and grouchy Eastwood, and wanted more of them, but maybe they feature more in the regular series. It's a quick read, and I thought it was fun.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Gallery, Threshold Pocket Books, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.


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Cottonmouth and the Great Gift

author: C.S. Fritz
name: Wayne
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2015/04/30
date added: 2015/04/30
shelves: children-s
review:
'Cottonmouth and the Great Gift' is the second book in the series by C.S. Fritz. It's a middle book, so it picks up right after events in 'Cottonmouth and the River' and it has a bit of a cliffhanger ending.

So, Frederick has been saved from eating the big, black egg. Tug has given him a job to do with a similar black egg, but Tug is not around anymore. Instead, Tug has sent a hummingbird named Yellowthroat to help Frederick out. They travel down the river, and find an unusual bookshelf with an unusual librarian. They also find a weird sphinxlike being and Frederick makes another bad move. Will he be with Tug again? Can they complete the mission to deliver the black egg?

It's got good illustrations. I found more story depth in this one. The book is an allegory of the first chapter of Acts: the ascension of Christ and the arrival of the Holy Spirit. Yellowthroat is supposed to be this gift. I like the representation, but he doesn't seem to be very powerful or influential in Frederick's life. The book ends on a cliffhanger, which seems like a weird way to end a picture book. I would have liked a more self-contained story rather than one that ends on a question. Obviously, this can lead to conversations and imagining with young children, but I feel it should be known to potential buyers.

I received a review copy of this ebook from David C. Cook and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.


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Finn Fancy Necromancy

author: Randy Henderson
name: Wayne
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2015/04/30
date added: 2015/04/30
shelves:
review:
'Finn Fancy Necromancer' by Randy Henderson is a fun book. At least the part I got to read. My review copy was only the first 99 pages

Finn Gramaraye is from a family of wizards that live in Port Townsend, Washington. He was framed for a crime he didn't commit and put into stasis back in the 1980s, but his body is free to continue aging and collecting memories until he can reclaim it upon his release. The book opens with him getting out of wizard prison and going to collect his body. The only problem is that his memories are lost, and there is the small matter of a dead body to deal with. His homelife is dysfunctional, and his best friend doesn't know what happened to him, just that he disappeared with no word. Can he solve the murder to keep himself from getting locked up again, fix his broken family and friendship, and stop making pop-culture references from the 1980s?

I hope not the latter. My review copy ended with Finn trying to evade some sasquatches, but I feel certain that it was on track to be a good read. I liked the characters and their quirkiness. I liked the Pacific NW setting (after all, I live there), and I liked the out of joint 1980s references to things. Finn is a likeable character, and at some point, I'd like to find a complete copy and find out what happens.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.


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Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock

author: Matthew Quick
name: Wayne
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2015/04/28
date added: 2015/04/28
shelves: young-adult
review:
'Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock' by Matthew Quick is my first novel by him. As a fan of the film adaptations of his work, I recognize some similarities.

Leonard Quick is having a bad day. Maybe even a bad life. His father is out of the picture, and his mother is too absorbed in her business to care. It's his birthday and he's got a plan. Leonard chops off his long hair, and wraps a bunch of gifts to hand out to the people in his life. the final plan involves using an antique Nazi pistol to kill his best friend, then himself. First we follow Leonard as he delivers his gifts to his neighbor Walt, that he watches Humphrey Bogart films with, and his friend Baback who plays violin. He gives a gift to Lauren, who is a Christian girl he likes, and to his favorite teacher, Herr Silverman. Along the way we learn that he likes to dress like a grown up and see if adults are really happy. We see him hoping someone will remember his birthday. We see him reaching out, and turning away attempts to reach him. How will it turn out?

It's a day in the life and it's quite the day. At first, I didn't seem to have much sympathy for Leonard. As the book moves along, I had more feeling for him. I really liked most of the supporting characters in the book. Lauren felt a little too one-dimensional to me, and I couldn't figure out why Leonard would be attracted to her. Still it's a powerful read, and probably not a bad one to put in the hands of a young person that you want to convince that things will get better. I liked Matthew Quick's writing style and I plan on reading more by this author.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this fine ebook.



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The Power Formula for Linkedin Success: Kick-start Your Business, Brand, and Job Search

author: Wayne Breitbarth
name: Wayne
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2015/04/28
date added: 2015/04/28
shelves: non-fiction-business
review:
'The Power Formula for LinkedIn Success: Kickstart Your Business, Brand, and Job Search' by Wayne Breitbarth is a short introductory book on how to use th social media site. It's geared to users who are less internet, and social media, savvy. Think of it like a "Dummies Guide" which is by no means meant in a derogatory way.

Starting with logging in, just about all the basic ways to build out your LinkedIn profile are covered. Tips are given on keywords, and how many words can be used. Networking tips and writing and receiving references are talked about along with the importance of seeking out solid people to follow on the site. Searching in LinkedIn is quite powerful and that's covered as well. This also shows you the importance of having a decent profile. There are action plans for building up your page.

Wayne Breitbarth takes a basic approach with the book, and you could certainly find this information out on your own, but this is a gentler approach that takes things systematically. He also does seminars on this which he touts throughout the book (along with his office furniture business). The pandering got a bit old since it's in every example he show. It's not a bad book if you're looking for help on LinkedIn, but there are probably better ones out there.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Greenleaf Book Group and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.


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Rot & Ruin, Vol. 1: Warrior Smart

author: Jonathan Maberry
name: Wayne
average rating: 3.10
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2015/04/28
date added: 2015/04/28
shelves: graphic-novels
review:
'Rot & Ruin Vol. 1: Warrior Smart' is based on the book series by Jonathan Maberry. This story is about a group of teenagers trying to make it during the z-poc. This is part of the series, and not a retelling of the first book, so it does kind of dump you right into the action.

Benny, Chong, Lila and Nix are on the run. They are trying to track down a jet that flew overhead. They are also foraging for supplies, which is getting pretty picked over. When their scavenging takes them to an abandoned hospital, they find themselves running from zombies. They stumble across something really weird and disturbing, but before they can decide what to do about it, they have to make a break for it. This leads them to a walled farm where everything seems to be normal life. Plenty of food, and walls and traps to keep the zombies at bay. What could possibly be wrong with settling down and staying for awhile?

If you are familiar with post-apocalyptic zombie stories, you know that groups of humans living safe behind walls are almost as dangerous as the zombies are. Maybe even more dangerous. It's a good thing these kids have some mad fighting skills.

The story is pretty good. Perhaps a bit disturbing when they get to the heart of what the humans are doing, but if teens can handle a book series about zombies and zombie killing, I suppose this is just more of the same. The art was a bit uneven. Sometimes the characters looked Asian, sometimes they didn't. I don't know that it matters, but when I read a graphic novel, I like decent art. It's still a good quick ride, and I'd like to read more about these characters.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors, IDW Publishing, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.


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Midnight in Europe (Night Soldiers, #13)

author: Alan Furst
name: Wayne
average rating: 3.36
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2015/04/28
date added: 2015/04/28
shelves:
review:
'Midnight in Europe' by Alan Furst is book 13 in his Night Soldiers series. It's a series that takes place in the immediate years before World War II.

I've only read a couple of these. The ones I've read center around normal people who get caught up in the war and do clandestine stuff they normally wouldn't do. This time around it's a Spanish lawyer named Cristian Ferrar. He gets talked into buying arms for one side of the Spanish civil war. This takes him from France into all kinds of dangerous, soon to be Nazi, territory. He is on the side of the Spanish Republic while Germany was siding with the Spanish Nationalists. The Republic needs the weaponry to fight back against a well supplied force. We follow the initial buying of the arms, then the attempt to get them out of a trainyard and on to a ship in Danzig.

The suspense is fairly low key by most thriller standards, but that just makes it play more realistically. Also, the time and locales seem to be well researched. If this were a fantasy novel, I'd make a comment about Furst's worldbuilding skills. His level of detail is rich and immersive. Still, I found this one not as likeable as the last one I read. The plot elements are fine, but my attention wandered a bit. I should really go back and read one of the early entries in the series.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.


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