Heat Wave
by Richard Castle

Reading Heat Wave by “Richard Castle” is very much like watching an episode of the television show Castle (from which the book originated), albeit a really slow and boring episode.

As is typical in an installment of the show, the book begins with detective Nikki Heat arriving at a crime scene and presenting us with the murder that will need to be solved in the next 42 minutes 196 pages. Oddly enough the case in the book was fairly similar to the episode I happened to see while reading the book, so I had some confusing moments trying to keep the two mysteries straight in my head.

I found it a bit strange that there really wasn’t any character descriptions and very little character development throughout the book, but I’m assuming this is because we’re supposed to already know the characters from the show.  I often find the repetitive descriptions in each book of a long-running series to be annoying, but this is the first volume in the series and they did change the names of the characters from the show, so there should at least be a bit of a description – if only for those who haven’t seen the show.

I found the first half of the book to be extremely slow, but exciting events in the middle of the book finally piqued my interest (if you watch the show, you know what I’m talking about!) and then the pace is a bit faster from then on. The addition of two extra mysteries keeps the detectives busy, and adds some unexpected twists to keep you guessing, but overall the book did not reach the enjoyment level of the show.  Despite loving the television character, I don’t believe I’ll be picking up any more books by Richard Castle.  Which brings me to the question of who the real writer is? I’d like to know who’s responsible for such a lackluster story. Could it possibly be one of the author’s who have appeared on the show (James Patterson, Stephen J. Cannell, Michael Connelly) as part of Castle’s poker group? Popular opinion seems to lean towards Stephen J. Cannell, but as I’ve never read any of his books I can’t offer an opinion. Let us know what you think!

Anyone who’s interested in checking out Castle for themselves can get a peek at the first 10 chapters here on abc’s website.

With movies that originate as books being so popular these days, I sometimes find myself buying books because the movie looks good, or seeing movies because I loved the book(s).  I think about this phenomenon often, and it’s fresh on my mind today because I just bought the first three books in Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series based almost entirely on the movie trailer!  There were a few other factors involved in the final decision making process, but the original desire to read the books was 100% due to the fantastic trailer which my sister and I saw before the New Moon movie. (Yes, another one I saw because of the book!)

We were both so impressed by the trailer for Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief that I was online learning about the movie (and subsequently the books) the next day. Of course I wouldn’t buy a set of books based on only a movie trailer, just like I wouldn’t buy a DVD based only on the movie trailer. But when I started reading reviews they were almost all positive, with many of them mentioning that fans of Harry Potter will likely enjoy these books (yes, we all know about my HP obsession), and then the set of three was only a few dollars more than a single book, so it didn’t make sense to just buy the one.

Have you read the Percy Jackson books? What did you think? And do you buy/read books because of the movie or vice-versa? What was the most recent movie you saw based on a book you had already read? What books have you bought because the movie intrigued you?

We’d love to hear your take! Please share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Welcome to a new year of the WAGB Book Club! We’re going to  try something a little different with the Book Club this month, and instead of selecting just one book for the January Book Club Discussion, we’re going to try and discuss a whole series of books!! Now, don’t panic… this is actually a fairly short and easy to read series, which I finished in a little over a week. But I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Uglies, Pretties and Specials by Scott Westerfeld since I read the trilogy, and I think there’s a lot more to discuss when you can take the whole series into consideration.

In an effort to make it easier for everyone to follow along, we’ll post the discussion questions in stages, with questions for the first book going up next week, and then we’ll add one book each week after. This should help avoid spoilers, and take the pressure off reading three books in one week. (Although once I read the first one, I couldn’t stop until I’d finished all three!)

So, for all those that have read the series in the past, PLEASE join us in the discussion – you don’t have to have read the book this month to share your thoughts. And for those of you that haven’t read the series yet, I highly recommend you give it a try. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!

Here’s a bit about the series from Scott Westerfeld’s website:

Uglies is the first book of the trilogy. The second book is Pretties and the third is Specials. It’s about a world in which everyone has an operation when they turn sixteen, making them supermodel beautiful. Big eyes, full lips, no one fat or skinny. This seems like a good thing, but it’s not. Especially if you’re one of the uglies, a bunch of radical teens who’ve decided they want to keep their own faces. (How anti-social of them.)

Midnighters fans will know that I love a good action sequence, and this series is of full of hoverboard chases, escapes through ancient ruins, and leaps off tall buildings in bungee jackets. It’s the sort of fast-paced book I couldn’t get enough of when I was young (still can’t).

We look forward to hearing your thoughts on the Uglies trilogy. Check back soon for the discussion post!

Wake, Dream Catcher #1
by Lisa McMann

Janie, the central character in Lisa McMann’s Wake has an unusual problem – she gets pulled into other people’s dreams. She has no control over when and where this happens, or over her own body while it’s occurring.  This causes a multitude of problems for Janie who struggles to hide her ‘disorder’ from everyone around her. She seems to be succeeding at keeping her secret, until one day the boy down the street happens to notice her strange behaviour. From that point on, Janie and Cabel attempt to forge a friendship while dealing with their respective secrets.

The premise of Wake is intriguing and original, but unfortunately the delivery leaves much to be desired. The biggest problem I had with the novel is the third person, present tense narration. It feels like the characters are talking about/to themselves the whole time, and it’s very distracting. Add the extreme overuse of characters first names (it seemed like there was a name used in EVERY sentence in the book), and the short choppy sentences, and the result is a very frustrating writing style. The characters, while likable are not very well fleshed out, making it difficult to really care about them.

While I understand that the writer wanted to set up how difficult it was for Janie on a day-to-day basis, I found the many random dreams Janie experienced pulled me out of the narrative, while the dreams of the characters we did know became very repetitive. And lastly, we never really learn why things are the way they are. Why does Janie have this ability? Why is Janie’s mother such a mess? Why are Janie & Cabel drawn to each other? Why does the Captain know about this ability? Why was the Melinda character even introduced?? So many questions that seem important were never addressed. I know this is the first book in the series, so I’m hoping that the sequels will answer some of these questions. (Although I won’t be reading them to find out.)

Perhaps in the hands of another writer, this could have been a fascinating tale about dreams and inner desires, and overcoming debilitating obstacles. Instead Wake is a short story about some dark teens, with an interesting premise that is never really carried out.

- Wake marks my first book for the 2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge.

* I acquired this book as a free download from Simon & Schuster Teen.

And here’s my reading list for 2009.  I’m pretty pleased that I finally managed to break my 50 books goal! I started trying to reach this goal back in 2005 when I came across a 50 in ’05 challenge.  I only made it about half-way that first year, but my book count has gone up each year since. Last year I made it to 49, but this year I have surpassed my goal by more than I expected, coming in at a total of 66 books read! (It’s nowhere near Rae’s impressive list mind you!)

Books are listed in the order they were read, and those with an *e at the end of the title indicates that it was an e-book.  Links are to reviews and discussions available here on WAGB.  If there are any books on this list that you’d like me to review or that you’d like to discuss, please drop me a note in the comments.

Stay tuned for a recap post, where I’ll share which books were my favourites, have a look at some trends and statistics from 2009, and announce my reading goal for 2010.

December

66. Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris (Dec. 22)

65. Grace by Richard Paul Evans (Dec. 19)

64. Finger Lickin’ Fifteen by Janet Evanovich (Dec. 13)

63. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (Dec. 9)  *e

Click to read the rest of the list.

Hello Book Lovers! Welcome to 2010! Our apologies for the recent absence of posts… it seems the holidays took over, and WAGB went on a little hiatus. But, it’s a new year and we’re back with a renewed book love!

We have lots of fun things in store for the New Year… Starting with our January Book Club selection. We’re doing it a little different this month and we’ll be discussing a trilogy rather than just one book. But don’t worry; it’s not as daunting as it sounds. The Uglies books are quick easy reads, so you’ll have plenty of time to get through them. And once you do, I’m betting you’ll be as eager to discuss them with someone as I am! We’ll also have our 2009 Read lists (see Rae’s here) and our picks for the books we enjoyed most coming soon.

But, the title of this post is Holiday Recap – not ‘Looking to the Future’, so let’s recap! Did everyone have a good holiday? I hope you got to spend time with friends and family, enjoyed the many delicious delicacies the season has to offer, and that all your holiday wishes came true!

I had a very busy Christmas – what with the annual 4 day Ontario tour to visit all the various family units – but a very happy one as well. I don’t know if I can remember a year where there was no family drama over the holidays, but 2009 finally saw it happen! I didn’t get nearly as much reading time in as I’d hoped, but I did get a wonderful selection of books and book related gifts this year. Yay! I think the book I’m most excited to read is Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. I’ve picked this one up many, many times but put it back because I had myself on a book buying hold until I got caught up with the books I already had. My sister has seen me pick it up a few times so she was sweet enough to get it for me as a gift. I also can’t wait to read Living With the Dead by Kelley Armstrong. It’s the only book I haven’t read in the Women of the Otherworld series, which is one of my favourites! The Bro Code was a compliment to my new How I Met Your Mother season 4 DVD, and I started the Maximum Ride series ages ago, and then kind of forgot about it so it’ll be nice to venture back into the world of Max and her Avian friends. The Christmas Box will be saved until next Christmas, but it’s been on my wishlist for some time so I’m happy to have it! I also scored with not one but TWO gift certificates for e-books and two for Chapters! Wow! I won’t need to buy a book all year at this rate! (I kid. Like that’s going to happen?)

So, did you manage to get a lot of reading done over the holidays? What wonderful book-related surprises did you get this year?  Tell us all about it… we love talking about your books just as much as ours!

Whew! I made it. So happy that I actually kept up with my list of 2009 books thanks to this site and Jody and Goodreads. 170 books isn’t bad, right? I think I would have had more had I not slowed down the past few months.

I’m going to try and bump it up to 200 books in 2010. Let’s see if I can do it! I suspect giving myself a Kindle for Christmas is probably a good first step. The ease with which I can get books now is a little scary, I’m kind of afraid for my wallet.

As usual, if there are any books on the list that you’d like me to review, let me know in the comments. (Look for reviews of a few from the end of December in the next few weeks.)

(December)
170. Life’s That Way: A Memoir by Jim Beaver   Dec 30
169. Believe by Victoria Alexander   Dec 29
168. To Desire A Devil (Legend of the Four Soldiers, #4) by Elizabeth Hoyt   Dec 27
167. A Local Habitation (October Daye, #2) by Seanan McGuire   Dec 26
166. Born of Ice (The League, #3) by Sherrilyn Kenyon   Dec 26
165. Frostbitten (Women of the Otherworld, #10) by Kelley Armstrong   Dec 25
164. The Ultimate Gift by Jim Stovall   Dec 13
163. The Man Who Invented Christmas by Les Standiford   Dec 09
162. The Christmas Box Evans, Richard Paul   Dec 06
161. Zombie Blondes by Brian James   Dec 04
160. Specials (Uglies, #3) by Scott Westerfeld   Dec 01

Continue reading for the rest of the list.