#AmReading + #AmWatching + #AmListening - Media Shares And #Reviews 06-08-20

"No story lives unless someone wants to listen. The stories we love best do live in us forever."
~J.K. Rowling

 

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Welcome to this week's weekly media shares and reviews post!

 

You're getting three weeks worth of reviews today, because - for reasons that will become clear when you read tomorrow's     post - I learned just before we moved that I'd be without internet for almost two weeks            , so scheduled                     some bookish quotes instead of my usual Thursday posts for the past couple of Thursdays.

 

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*Disclaimer: no matter what's being reviewed, all opinions in this post are entirely my own, and I reserve the right to have them, regardless of who may or may not share them. Feel free to express your own in the comments, but please respect my right - and the rights of other commenters - to have opinions that might differ from yours, and to express those opinions too.  Also, please remember that I read/watch/listen to things in a variety of genres, and for all ages, so you should make sure you check that the book/movie/show/song is suitable for the intended audience before reading/watching/listening to it, especially if children are involved. I take no responsibility for anything which may happen as a result of failing to do so.

 

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OK. Let's see what I've been reading, watching, and listening to, and which song I'm going to share this time around, shall we? After all, that's the point of this post, and why you're here today, right? Plus, as I said, we have three weeks worth to share.  So, let's get to it.

 

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• Reading:

Over the past few weeks I read six books.  Well, finished one and read five more, but it still means I have six books to share reviews of today, one of which I was given in exchange for a review (as you'll see below).  So, here's what I read, along with my book reviews.

 

City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments, #5)

by Cassandra Claire

My rating: four out of five stars

This was a really great read. Not quite awesome enough that I feel it deserves five stars, but almost. There were times I wanted to shake a couple of the characters and tell them to stop being so stupid, but the plot was action-packed and exciting, and there was definitely some fantastic character growth going on. It had quite the emotional ending too. Now I can't wait to see what happens in the next book, and am glad I have it ready to start right away.

 

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City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Instruments, #6)

by Cassandra Clare

My rating: five out of five stars

I think this was the best of the series; this book deserves the full five stars for sure. It has an exciting plot, excellent character development, and a fantastic ending.

 

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Viper's Daughter (Chronicles of Ancient Darkness, #7)

by Michelle Paver

My rating: five out of five stars

I love all the books in this series so much I’ve read them multiple times, and was excited to learn we’d finally get a new one; I’ve been eagerly waiting to read this book since I heard it would be coming out. I was not disappointed! This was a totally awesome read, and the only thing that stopped me devouring it in one sitting was life and the need for sleep forcing me to put it down. That and juggling reading it with another book I was as reluctant to put down.

 

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Curse of the Crimson Throne: Crown of Fangs (Pathfinder Legends, #3.6)

by David Bryher

My rating: five out of five stars

I did read/listen to this before, but apparently forgot to review it, so I guess I'll do so this time around. Anyway, this was an excellent chapter in this adventure, and I loved it. I recommend it for fans of fantasy stories based on systems like you find in roleplaying games – or fantasy fans in general - and hope they’ll be doing more of these, because I’d love to follow these characters on more adventures.

 

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Good-bye A672E92 Quintus (The Peers of Beinan)

by Laurel A. Rockefeller

My rating: four out of five stars

This was a really enjoyable read, with a fascinating plot concept, and some wonderful characters. I would have liked a bit more in the way of descriptions - something the author seems to use sparingly - since it would have helped me to immerse myself in the story and world better, but it was an otherwise excellent read, which made me want to read the other books in the series.

*Note: I was given a free copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review. This fact has in no way influenced either my opinion of the book or the contents of this review.

 

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Sci-Fi Stories - Future Earth Tech
by Barbara G. Tarn, Debbie Mumford, Blaze Ward, Stefon Mears, B.A. Paul, Mary Rabe, Katharina Gerlach, David Bruns, Rei Rosenquist, and David H. Hendrickson
My rating: four out of five stars

Compilations like this are always tough to review, because there's almost always authors you like the work of more than others. This collection was no exception. The stories were all great in their own way, and some of them I absolutely loved, but a few weren't my cup of tea. Still, this was an enjoyable read over all, and I would recommend it to sci-fi fans who enjoy future tech type stories.

 

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• Watching:

During the past couple of weeks I watched very little, because of a combination of being busy dealing with moving related stuff, and lack of internet access to stream things via Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+.  However, I did watch a few episodes of "Outlander" both before I lost my internet and after I got it back, as well as a couple of episodes of "Game of Thrones" on DVD during the time I had no internet access.

 

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• Listening:

I haven't been listening to any music over the past few weeks.  At least, not unless you count the singing of the birds.  So, though it will be slightly different to what I've been hearing due to me hearing coastal town birds, here's some birdsong for you to enjoy too.