DEARLY, DEPARTED Review

So, someday I will finally get the hang of not babbling like a loon when I'm trying to do a review of a book on camera. I feel like I'm getting better, but perhaps that's just me.

Here is the long awaited review of Lia Habel's Dearly, Departed. I just saw that the series title is Gone with the Respiration. Nice. That just made Ms. Habel go even further up my list of favorite people/authors.



A few things that I didn't cover in the video--I knew I'd forget something--were the cover, the wonderful pop and past culture references within the book, the multiple narratives used, and the history of the world as seen in Dearly, Departed.

The cover is lovely in a dark, gothic sort of way. I love both of those adjectives, so of course I had to buy the book. Habel has a witty writing style, quips and references come easily in the flow of the narrative. In fact, her use of multiple narrators to tell the story makes all of those cultural references seem effortless.

Although it feels to me as if Nora is the main character, Habel didn't limit the novel to just one MC. The book is broken up into many chapters told through the first person account of a different character.

Nora, Bram, Pamela, Dr. Dearly, and Captain Wolfe all have chapters in which they tell the story from their differing points of view. At first, it was a little odd, but I grew to love it. Even though Captain Wolfe isn't my favorite character and he doesn't get as much "air time" as Nora, Bram, or Pamela, it was interesting to get to see things from his perspective.

Also, the backstory for New Victoria and the Punk territories is wonderfully told. I'm not going to give much more away, but I enjoyed reading about how it all came about.

That's all for this post, but just keep one sleepy eye open for my next review. I'm still undecided which book I'm going to have a showdown with so...surprise?

Until next time...

It Happened on a Sunday

As y'all can see, I've made a few purchases recently. Some were premeditated. Inheritance and Reckoning for example. Others...just happened.

It always happens that way, without fail. I can't even tell you exactly how I ended up at BAM!, I just know one minute I was driving to get food and then I was standing in the YA section...

The next few minutes of that trip consisted of me staring aimlessly at book covers until I fixed upon the cover of The Scorpio Races. It jumped into my arms. Next came Dearly, Departed, and then with those two clutched tightly to my chest, I regained some sense and started to realize a purpose: I need books, and the more the merrier.

Faster than I can say "Christopher Paolini's Inheritance cycle" I had that stack of books and I was headed to the checkout counter before I lost all control. Six books and a pack of WTF sticky-notes later, and I'm finally back on the road to get food. Which was my original destination.

Anyway, with these new additions to my TBR pile, I'm set for reading my way straight through Christmas break with no breaks. That's the plan, at least. We'll see how much I get done. I'm hoping to read at least 30 books. That's the goal. In fact, it's going to be my resolution for this year. It's a little late, but you know what they say about those things. Better than never.

What books are y'all trying to read before New Year's? Hopefully we can keep each other accountable, because I have a TON to read. Until next time...attack that TBR pile!