Bookstooge's Reviews On the Road

Sunday, June 30, 2024

June '24 Roundup & Ramblings

Raw Data:

Novels – 15 ↓

Short Stories – 0 –

Manga/Graphic Novels – 0 ↓

Comics – 0 ↓

Average Rating – 3.20 ↓

Pages – 3608 ↓

Words – 1304K ↓

The Bad:

Life, the Universe and Everything – 2 stars of utter stupidity. Not funny, just stupid.

Remains – 2.5stars of watching a favorite series slide into something I didn’t want.

The Good:

Jenny Trapdoor – 4stars of Polity goodness and ultra-violence.

The Pinhoe Egg – 4star ending to the Chrestomanci series.

Movie:

The Clow. The first four episodes of the anime Card Captor Sakura. When story telling still meant something.

Miscellaneous Posts:

Personal: (there’s a lot)

Thankfully, that nasty cough is gone for both of us. Took me two weeks longer than Mrs B, but we eventually beat it. Man, I do not want to repeat that any time soon!

Got both my eyes injected for my diabetes, at the same time. I usually have one eye done one week and then the other the next, but that is an extra vacation day to use up, so I took the latest time slot and Mrs B came with me so she could drive home. It’s a good thing. I normally drive myself home when it was just one eye, but man, doing both at once really did a number on me. Once we got home, I took some tylenol, a sleeping pill and slept until it was time to go to work the next day. And I didn’t even have to use up any vacation time. Score!

One of our cars developed a gas leak, but the garage said they didn’t have an opening until the next week, so we drove it there and parked it. That way the gas would get on THEIR parking lot and not ours 😉 I was hoping that would help convince them to put it into the schedule sooner. That meant juggling our remaining vehicle as we both had to work. Thankfully, our work times have enough leeway that one could drive to work and the other drive back. Meant one had to sit around in the morning the other sit around in the afternoon, but better than walking 4 miles each way next to a four lane highway. It was taken care of, quicker than they said it could be, so I think leaving it on their premises helped 😉

It was also a busy month. Mainly for Mrs B, but when she’s busy, there’s always spillover and so I’m busier too, even if not as busy as her. Several various doctors appointments. Lots of social meetings (including picking strawberries at a local organic farm), a highschool graduation party, a bbq sendoff for a childhood friend of mine who I haven’t seen in years, singing at a local rest home, helping our new (future) pastor and his family move in to their home and going to a work friend’s place for more bbq’ing.

In fact, we were so busy that I forgot to read a Groo comic this month. Is that a crying shame or what? Never fear though, I’ve made sure to pencil it in for July so I won’t miss it. Wouldn’t want to deprive you of your one piece of good literature you’ll read about 😉

I also managed to forget about $2000 worth of equipment on a jobsite one day. Thankfully, the contractor saw it and set it aside so no one stole it, but man, that really shook me up. I’m usually very meticulous about making sure we pack everything up at the end of the day. It was about an hour away, so Mrs B and I went on a road trip that weekend to pick it up. Lovely scenery anyway.

I participated in my first “group thing” in several years. #ReadingtheMeow2024 was a very simple group activity of just reading a book that involved a cat. The Pinhoe Egg (linked above) slotted right in without me even having to try. THAT’S the kind of group activity I like. Where I am by myself and nobody tells me what to do 😉

The Mysterious Spike In Stats (chronicled in the “So This Happened” post, which also broke the 100 view mark in a single day) got me some big numbers for the month. I believe I was able to find out the cause of some of them, but definitely not all. Either the bots are truly becoming intelligent (as shown by their consuming my words like honey) or my ascension as the King of Blogging has begun. Personally, I suspect you may start calling me “Your Majesty” by this time next month. 👑

We had a heat wave mid-month. For three days it was 100 degrees. Had to go into work an hour early so we were done before the temps peaked in the afternoon. It was pure misery.

Plans for Next Month:

READ A GROO COMIC!!!! I know I mentioned it above, but seriously, that is important stuff.

Independence Day is coming up later this week and I’ll be doing my usual posting of our Founding Document.

Book Recommendations. I garnered enough suggestions in the Intro Post to start replying in July. So put on your thinking caps and come up with MORE suggestions. And you people who comment rarely or never, jump on in would you? I would love to link to some of you folks and get to know you, even if in a very silly way. You can do it! I would say there is nothing to be afraid of, but honestly, there is. That Chartreuse Flag is flapping menacingly in the background. You can hear it, flap, flaaaap, flaaaaaaaap…

Saturday, June 29, 2024

Pound of Flesh (Arcane Casebook #10) 3.5Stars

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Pound of Flesh
Series: Arcane Casebook #10
Author: Dan Willis
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 312
Words: 100K

I was looking, it’s been over a year and a half since I read the last Arcane Casebook, Hidden Voices. This is why I don’t usually read a series as it is being written. But in a few select cases, I let that rule slide. The Arcane Casebook is one of those series.

In this story, Alex is dealing with the fallout from the previous book. He had become addicted to a drug that enhanced his abilities but with the usual costs of a drug. This time, he had to be cutoff from using ANY magic or else his own system might kill him. Which means that by the books end, he was forced to rely on help from others and to begin thinking on his feet again. It was a return to form from the first book where Alex was a very weak runewright. I liked it.

The multiple mysteries were entertaining too. My only issue was at the 70% mark I suddenly realized how everything tied together. It didn’t ruin the book for me, but it definitely took the edge off of the thrill. I suspect mystery readers will piece things together much faster than me.

With this entry I am now content to read the next book whenever it becomes available. I’m in no rush nor do I feel a burning desire to HAVE to have the next book. That’s a good feeling to be content.

★★★✬☆

From the Publisher

Synopsis – Click to Open

One of the first things a private detective learns is that people have secrets, and people with important secrets attract trouble.

When a young woman is brutally murdered in a back alley, the police quickly turn to Alex Lockerby to help them. Hampered by the fallout from his own secrets, Alex goes to work, only to find that the victim in this case had secrets of her own, starting with her identity.

As Alex tries to trace the origins of the mysterious murder victim, a woman comes to his office, begging Alex’s help because she believes the new house she’s purchased is haunted. When Alex investigates the house, he finds that even it holds a secret, one that someone is willing to kill to keep.

With political pressure mounting to solve the murder of the nameless woman, and the tabloids blaming the police for the lack of progress, Alex finds himself caught in a web of secrets, lies, and murder that he might not be able to escape from. Can Alex bring a violent maniac to justice while, at the same time, stopping a methodical killer determined to bury the past forever?

Friday, June 28, 2024

Top Dog! (For A Day Anyway) or My Week II

This past week I’ve been getting a very steady trickle of Google search hits for my reviews on the Metaframe War books I’ve read so far. It was enough that I decided to investigate and see what was going on. Most of the time when that happens it’s because I’ve pissed somebody off and they’ve cried to their mommy about it and that sends the drones my way. Thankfully, it was nothing like that.

As you can see in the first picture, my site pops up Fourth in a google search for Metaframe War Review. Most of the hits after that are from various bookstores, etc, much like the Amazon hit shown.

I didn’t show it, but my review for Traitor’s War (book 2) is at Fourteen. So I’ve got 2 frontline eyeballs for anyone curious about the Metaframe War. Of course, in about a week I’ll have sunk to the 100th page and I’m ok with that.

But for right now, I’m basking in my own notoriety and the power that comes from being A Book Reviewer. I am the power behind the throne. Dreams live, or die, at my whim. Hope and Despair live within my gaze and I turn it where I will, much like the Eye of Sauron! Mwhahahahaha!

Yeah, ok, I’m giving myself a Chartreuse Flag for an out of control egotrip. But it was worth it, every single second!

Hopefully you’ve had a good week too? Probably not as good as mine, but that’s ok. Not everyone can be the Mad Chartreuse Emperor of the known Universes after all. But just to show you how much I care, I will actually read any comments that are left and if you’ve been a really good boy/girl, I might even respond. Wowzer, talk about incredibly generous! That way you can tell your grandkids that you actually talked with someone who was on Google. But wait, there’s more!

Oh, no there isn’t.

Have a good Friday and I’ll see you in the comments. Or on your blog. Or on Whatsapp. Or email. Or text. Don’t think that just because I’m ending this post means I’m stopping talking. No sirree bob. There are words to be said. Many, many, many words. Like “extra large bottle of bbq sauce”.

`dragged away by the men in white coats carrying a strait jacket

ps,
If you don’t find this amusing, don’t worry. I am amused enough for everyone.

Thursday, June 27, 2024

Mary Poppins Comes Back (Mary Poppins #2) 3Stars

Title: Mary Poppins Comes Back
Series: Mary Poppins #2
Author: Pamela Travers
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Middlegrade Fiction
Pages: 304
Words: 59K

A couple of teens in our church had done the play/musical Mary Poppins Jr and had to read the original book so they had the full story. I was talking to them and when they mentioned it, that was how I got the idea to read at least the first couple of books. I thoroughly enjoyed Mary Poppins and after their play was done, hunted them down and asked them what they thought of the book. They had a VERY different take on the original and one that I suspect was more about age and experience difference than actual literary evaluation difference. But their comments stayed in my head as I went into the next book and yeah, I see what they meant. I shall expound in a later paragraph.

When I did the Currently Reading & Quote post earlier this month, I said I was looking forward to Mr Banks’ old nanny, Miss Andrew, striking sparks with Mary Poppins. Well, there was a confrontation but there weren’t many sparks, mainly because Mary Poppins so overpowered Miss Andrew that it would have been like asking a log of wood to strike sparks from an axe. Mary Poppins eventually got so fed up with Miss Andrew, that when she found out Miss Andrew kept a singing lark prisoner in a cage, she put Miss Andrew in the cage and had the lark fly all over the sky with it, thus scaring the stuffing out of Miss Andrew.

In this book, it is Jane, the eldest, who has a “bad” day and is naughty, naughty, naughty (in the previous book it was Michael). She ends up inside a magic vase, trapped by an evil “grandfather” who wants new grandchildren and for them to never change. Mary Poppins rescues her but Janes’ takeaway is that it wasn’t really her who was being so naughty, but some other “Jane”. I have noticed this author doesn’t believe in the fallen nature of humanity. Everyone is basically good. Which is so much complete balderdash that you have to be deliberately ignoring the evidence in front of your eyes. Children ARE naughty and bad. They need to be corrected. They need to come to the realization that they are bad in and of themselves and that they will never be “perfect’ on their own. Until a person realizes that, they can never admit that they need Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

Ok, so back to my reading. When I was talking with the teens from church, one of their complaints about Mary Poppins was how she gaslit the children and that really annoyed them, hence their dislike of the first book. I had to laugh, because it happens just as much this time, if not more. Jane and Michael will see something, like Mary Poppins coming down at the end of Michael’s kite (how she came back) and when they mention it to her, Mary Poppins acts outraged and like it couldn’t possibly have happened. Being children, they are not so sure of themselves, but the author always has them see some bit of evidence at the end of the chapter so they KNOW they did see what they thought they saw. I found it extremely amusing but I guess from a teenager’s view point I could understand why they wouldn’t like that. Getting older has brought me so many benefits that sometimes I forget and it takes talking to someone who hasn’t gotten to my place yet to remember just how blessed I am.

I also found out there are EIGHT Mary Poppins books. I just have the omnibus collecting the first four. Depending on how the next two go will determine if I try to track down the other four.

★★★☆☆

From Wikipedia

Synopsis – Click to Open

Nothing has been right since Mary Poppins left Number Seventeen Cherry Tree Lane. One day, when Mrs. Banks sends the children out to the park, Michael flies his kite up into the clouds. Everyone is surprised, when Michael reels his kite in, to find that Mary Poppins is at the end of the string. She takes charge of the children once again (though she’ll only stay “’til the chain of her locket breaks”). This time, Jane and Michael meet the fearsome Miss Andrew, experience an upside-down tea party, and visit a circus in the sky. In the chapter “The New One” a girl, Annabel, is born into the Banks family, and concludes the family of now five children: three daughters and two sons. As in Mary Poppins, Mary leaves at the end (via an enchanted merry-go-round, throwing her locket towards the children as she disappears), but this time with a “return ticket, just in case” she needs to return.

Wednesday, June 26, 2024

Marvel Champions: The Deckening I

The last couple of posts explained, in simplified terms, the rules of Marvel Champions and the various steps each Hero and Villain went through for each round of the game.

Today, and then next month as well, I’d like to look at how the decks are constructed. This is a necessary bit of knowledge because while the Spiderman and Captain Marvel decks as well as the Rhino Villain Deck, are preconstructed, should you desire to play with any of the other heroes from the box, you will need to construct a deck yourself. This might seem complicated if you’ve never done any sort of deck construction before, but thankfully, the rules walk you through exactly what to do and I’ll be showing the various parts with pictures.

Today, we will just deal with constructing your Hero Deck. In the base set (the big box), there are 5 Heroes to choose from.

Spiderman
Captain Marvel
Iron Man
She-Hulk
Black Panther

I will be choosing Spiderman today and using him and his cards as an example.

Once you choose your Hero Identity, there are a set of cards automatically associated with that Hero. You will see this on cards down in the lower right of the card. On the card below I have boxed in “Spiderman” in yellow with a big yellow arrow pointing to it. The number next to it means there are 15 cards in total associated directly with Spiderman.

Also associated with each Hero are a set of “Nemesis” cards. You will not be using these to construct your Hero deck, but need to keep track of them for when we construct our Villain Deck next time. I have once again boxed it in yellow with a big yellow arrow, hopefully making it easy to see. The numbers once again indicate how many of these cards there are, making it easy to group them together should you ever spill the box or have your cat knock it off the table, or even have your children play along with you.

The next part of the deck is your Aspect. In Marvel Champions, there are four Aspects to choose from:

Justice
Leadership
Aggression
Protection

Once again, there are specific cards associated with each Aspect, making it easy to choose the correct cards. These are found on the lower right of the card, just like the Hero Cards. While a bit blurry, the card below is a “Justice” card.

The Next part of a Hero Deck are the pool of Basic cards. This is group of cards that you can mix and match and add to your deck to bring it up to the requirements of deck building.

Some cards are generic and some are unique. If a card is generic, you can have up to 3 copies of it in your deck. If it is unique, you can only have 1 copy of it. You can tell a card is unique because of the Diamond symbol next to the Title/Name, as pictured below.

The above are all the parts you’ll need to create your personal deck. A Hero deck must have a minimum of 40 cards and a maximum of 50.

One Hero Identity Card (doesn’t count towards the limit)
All of the associated Hero Cards
One of each card from a particular Aspect
Additional cards from the Aspect you have chosen
Additional cards from the Basic card pool

By the time you are done, you will have created a deck of 40 to 50 cards with which to play. Next time we will look at constructing the Villain Deck. And remember folks….

There Can Be…..
…..Only None!

Tuesday, June 25, 2024

A Traitor’s War (The Metaframe War #2) 3Stars

Title: A Traitor’s War
Series: The Metaframe War #2
Author: Graeme Rodaughan
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 247
Words: 97K

Anton goes through a training montage with his new buddies, Vampire General Armitage continues her machinations and the secret hidden servant of the Red Empire (humans who fight vampires, but don’t care about collateral damage) is conflicted when they find out that the Red Empire has allied with the Vampire Dominion to take down the Order of Thoth (the group Anton kind of belongs to now).

Decent, but with some real issues. The leader of the group that Anton is now in appears to take such a hands off approach to being a leader that all he does is fight and tell others to fight. There was no “strategy” or tactics or anything. He really didn’t display any leadership qualities and his choices could have some really bad consequences, IF the leaders of the Red Empire and the Vampire Dominion weren’t just as clueless as him. It’s definitely the author not having any idea of how to write a leader. For him, the main character should be the leader and that is Anton, except Anton can’t be the leader because he’s too inexperienced and doesn’t know enough. It wasn’t bad writing, but it WAS poor writing. There were also some egregious “he said, she said, he did, she did” kind of scenarios that took me right out of the story.

Now, with all that complaining, I still enjoyed the story. I think the bones are decent. However, as I wrote in the comments in the first book (A Subtle Agency) if Rodaughan hasn’t improve beyond this level by the next book, I’m probably going to dnf the series. These books seem like the quality that you’d find in the Kindle Unlimited program. Indie authors who are trying to improve but aren’t keeping it to themselves when they should be.

I didn’t waste my time but neither did I feel like I had read something exceptional or even pretty good. It was decent and that was it. Sometimes that IS enough and sometimes it just isn’t. I guess I’ll be finding out which it is in the next book.