Goodreads Choice Awards Final Round

It’s the final round! We’re at the point of the awards where I just vote for books from authors I like or skip whole categories. The only category I’ve read more than two books is romance. Sadly, Ilona Andrews Emerald Blaze did not make it.

My nominations:

Mystery & Thriller – When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole

Fantasy – The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin

Romance – Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert

Sci-Fi – Axiom’s End by Lindsay Ellis

Food and Cookbooks – Modern Comfort Food: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten

Graphic Novels & Comics – Fangirl, Vol 1: The Manga by Sam Maggs, Rainbow Rowell; Illustrated by Gabi Nam

Middle Grade & Children’s – The Tower of Nero by Rick Riordan

Picture Books – The Seed of Compassion: Lessons from the Life and Teachings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama by Dalai Lama XIV; Illustrated by Bao Luu

Alright, so I’ve read three of the above books. The library has the graphic novel Fangirl waiting for me to pick up, so if I’m able to pick that up before the deadline, I could change my vote. Unless I absolutely hate it, I don’t see that happening. All the other books were books from authors I’ve enjoyed in the past.

This is pretty normal for me when it comes to the Goodreads Choice Awards. Usually, I end up finding a lot of books that I hadn’t heard about that I’m interested in, but not this year. I’ve been in a very critical mood lately, and there ended up only being a couple of books that I added to my list.

In my opinion, the Goodreads Choice Awards needs some changes. I was pleased to see more diversity, but I would love to see the categories changed. Why is Biography not in the same category as Memoir and Autobiography? Having one category for romance is ludicrous. Why are books that aren’t even published yet allowed to be included? The Pioneer Woman cookbook doesn’t even come out until tomorrow.

There are so many illustrated covers. I liked the trend, to begin with, in romance, but I’m starting to miss beautiful women in elaborate gowns draped over bare-chested men.

Anyway, there you have it, the conclusion to the Goodreads Choice Awards.

Pumpkin Spice Peril (Cupcake Bakery Mystery #12)

Pumpkin Spice Peril (Cupcake Bakery Mystery #12)

By: Jenn McKinlay

Blurb:

In the twelfth Cupcake Bakery Mystery from New York Times bestselling author Jenn McKinlay, the Fairy Tale Cupcake crew follows the clever crumb trail of a killer who’s anything but cookie-cutter.

Life is all sugar and spice for the Fairy Tale Cupcake bakers–Melanie Cooper is engaged to the delectable Joe DeLaura, Angie Harper and her husband Tate are savoring married life, and the bakery is bustling with happy customers. Until one of their most valued cupcake connoisseurs ends up dead.

Local glass artist and cupcake lover Rene Fischer-Klein has always suffered from a wide variety of health issues. In an effort to cheer her up, her doting husband, Peter, brings her a four-pack of her favorite cupcakes every week. But when the police discover that Rene has been poisoned, there’s no sugarcoating the fact that the last things she ate were the bakery’s signature pumpkin spice cupcakes! With their lives and bakery at stake, it’s up to Mel and Angie to find out who poisoned their artist friend and why, before their future is frosted for good.

Review:

And we’ve got another DNF. I read over half the book, so I feel comfortable leaving a starred review. This is the twelfth book in the Cupcake Bakery Mystery series, and I’m calling it. I can no longer read this series. I loved the first seven books. They introduced me to cozy mysteries, and for a time, I couldn’t get enough. The last five books, however, have taken a sharp decline. Book ten was okay, but the others have been so disappointing.

The main character Mel has become a giant pushover, except when it comes to murders. Which is a bizarre thing to feel comfortable pushing back on, but it’s a cozy mystery. Her fiancé and almost any male in her life do whatever they want when it comes to her. I’m supposed to think it’s sweet that they’re so protective, but they treat her like a child. It’s infuriating. I swear it didn’t use to be like this, but maybe I’m mistaken.

The side characters, whom I used to love, have also taken a bit of a hit. Mel’s best friend Angie used to be a fiery woman who didn’t put up with most things. She was able to control her brothers as no one else could, and now they walk all over her. Sure they’ve got a reason to be protective, but they bothered me. Of course, she’s barely in the story, so it’s not like I had much to go off of there.

Looking back, I think one of the things that I dislike about the newer books is that the side characters are barely in the series anymore. It’s sad. They were a large part of why I loved the series.

After reading Pumpkin Spice Peril, I’m not sure if I’m going to even bother catching up with McKinlay’s Library Lover’s Mystery series. I seem to be one of the few people who disliked this book, so if you’re a fan of the series, I would probably ignore my review.

2/5

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

By: Christopher Paolini

Blurb:

Kira Navárez dreamed of life on new worlds.

Now she’s awakened a nightmare.

During a routine survey mission on an uncolonized planet, Kira finds an alien relic. At first she’s delighted, but elation turns to terror when the ancient dust around her begins to move.

As war erupts among the stars, Kira is launched into a galaxy-spanning odyssey of discovery and transformation. First contact isn’t at all what she imagined, and events push her to the very limits of what it means to be human.

While Kira faces her own horrors, Earth and its colonies stand upon the brink of annihilation. Now, Kira might be humanity’s greatest and final hope . . .”

Review:

I was not able to finish this book. I tried. I really did, but I could not do it. I read over two-hundred pages, which only put me over 25% of the way through, so I’m not going to leave a starred review.

I read Paolini’s Eragon book when I was in middle school and remembered enjoying it. I must have because I owned a copy at one point, but it’s not a book I’ve felt a desire to go back and reread. I haven’t even read the last book in the series. I picked up To Sleep because I enjoyed Eragon, though.

The beginning of the book was so heavy-handed with the foreshadowing that it might as well have been Walk Hard. I knew what was about to happen within the first ten to twenty pages, but he dragged it out.

There was a lot of world-building and tons of talking about science, but very little character development. Kira was not a compelling at all. She was boring, and a lot of the time, felt like she was just reacting to what was going on. When I finally gave up, she started to do more than react, but I didn’t care about her by then.

I can’t say I’m disappointed in the book because I went in with no expectations. I wanted to read something besides romance, and I thought trying a writer I was familiar with was a good idea.

Currently Reading 11-11-20

Well, I wasn’t able to finish reading To Sleep in a Sea of Stars. I wrote up a little thing about what I thought that will post tomorrow.

Moving on, I’ve started reading Pumpkin Spice Peril by Jenn McKinlay. I took a little break from this series because I didn’t enjoy the last book as much. Hopefully, I like this one better.

I feel like I’ve been really negative with books lately. I’m not sure if it’s my mood or I’m just picking the wrong books. Maybe it’s a combination of both? I’m wondering if I should go back to rereading old favorites, but I’ve still got five books checked out from the library. Never again will I put so many books on hold at the same time! (I probably will) 😩

2020 Goodreads Choice Awards Semifinal Round

So as expected none of the books I voted for made it in their categories. I was able to vote for Emerald Blaze by Ilona Andrews in the romance category. I also went ahead and voted for Axiom’s Edge in the Sci-Fi category. I’m honestly not sure if I’ll vote in the other’s or what I’ll vote for. Maybe Alyssa Cole’s book When No One is Watching in the mystery category. I haven’t read it yet, but I love her. I’m not a fan of voting for books I haven’t read, though.

Oh well. There you have it. Another year where not enough people nominate the books I love lol