Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic 50 Book Challenge 2016/What I've Read in 2016

What Remains - Tim Weaver

David Raker has only recently been added to my list of absolutely can't miss detectives, alongside the limes of Jack Reacher, Charlie Parker and Myron Bolitar - and like them, he's rarely disappointed.

This was the usual rollarcoaster ride, with so many twists and turns, revelations and counter-revelations, I almost got whiplash. A joy to read.

LabRat

Superman: Secret Identity by Kurt Busiek and Stuart Immonen

A boy named Clark Kent is raised in the small Kansas town of Pickettville. In this universe, Superman is a comic book hero and Clark Kent is tormented for being named the hero's alter-ego. (Thanks, Mom & Dad!) In his teen years, he discovers that he, too, has powers... Superman's powers.

The story goes from Clark having no powers to discovering powers to moving to NYC and to being set up on a blind date with a woman named Lois (who understands the jokes and teasing), and beyond.



I really enjoyed this look into a world where Clark had to create a life for himself with his powers in a world where everyone already gave him grief for having Clark's name. His and Lois's relationship is sweet and everything fans of L&C:NAOS would hope for.

If ANYONE has a copy of this comic, the library's copy had the most important pages (Pg 15-16) torn out... You know the pages where Clark discovers he has powers. Who does that!?!

Virals - by Kathy Reichs

Tory, a 14 y.o. girl, and her three male friends uncover some mysteries taking place on the nature preserve where their families live and work (on an island east of Charleston, SC). They set about to discover the truth and thus change their lives forever.

Kathy Reichs, well known author of the Temperance Brennan mysteries the show Bones was based on, dips her toe into teen novels with this first of a series of books. While this book is grounded in science, it does flirt heavily with science fiction. Tory is very reminiscent of a young Lois Lane, had she been more scientifically minded... especially on the B&E side of things to get at the truth.

#31 The End of Sex: How Hookup Culture is Leaving a Generation Unhappy, Sexually Unfulfilled, and Confused about Intimacy by Donna Frietas

Eye opening book about hookup culture on college campuses.

Joan

#32 No One Knows by J.T. Ellison


This was an interesting set up which kept me reading. However, several aspects were just silly and the 'surprise' ending didn't make sense.

Joan

That's too bad. It does sounds like a tempting set-up for a plot.

Seizure: A Virals Novel - by Kathy Reichs
Code: A Virals Novel - by Kathy Reichs & Brendan Reichs
Exposure: A Virals Novel - by Kathy Reichs & Brendan Reichs

Tori, Hi, Sheldon, and Ben solve more mysteries, including saving their group, dealing with a serial killer, hunting down kidnappers -- with the help or the hindrance of their new-found Viral powers, also while battling being outcasts, trying to stick together through the bad and the worse, (and being grounded - which never seems to stick), and Tori being forced to be something she's not (a debutante). All the while, Chance Claybourne (the quasy-villain from book 1), who knows more than he should, tries to figure out the Virals' secret.

Fun plots, despite Seizure's being the least believable and most fantastic of the three. Time passes slowly in the books, as only a year since book 1 has passed by the end of book 4.

If you're not picking about twist endings making sense, then you might enjoy it. I went to Good Reads and people were equally divided. Many thought the twist ending was pretty cool.

Joan

Homeostasis Lost - Kyle Yauchler

A disparate group of people wake one morning to discover a huge solar flare has knocked out all power and must band together to face the challenges and dangers they face as a result.

Lightweight reading from this PA novel but a good group of characters you can root for made it enjoyable all the same. I've already bought book 2.

LabRat

Wolverine: Origin - by Paul Jenkins, Andy Kubert, & Richard Isanove

The story of how tragedy turns a privileged young man into Logan/Wolverine. The graphic novel differs from the movie adaptation.

A bit confusing at times, as the story is told by an outside observer and several of the characters are depicted/drawn very similarly.

#33 Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

A continuation of the Shadowhunters world following new characters, Emma Carstairs and the Blackthorn family. This author does a nice job of expanding upon the world she created yet introducing new aspects about it and developing intriguing new characters.

Joan

Moving In - Ron Ripley

Brian and Jenny move in to their new country home, but quickly find a malevolent force is at work within it's walls...

Despite the unoriginal plot, this one seemed to be shaping up to be a decent horror novel. Unfortunately, it quickly disintigrated into an unholy mess with poorly drawn characters and a headlong rush towards its lacklustre ending. Disappointing.

LabRat

#34 Boys Adrift: The five factors drivng the growing epidemic of unmotivated boys and underachieving young men by Leonard Sax

Well written book addressing factors influencing 'failure to launch' syndrome with young men.

Joan

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

After reading Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations I finally decided it was time to read this masterpiece by Dickens. Despite the old-fashioned English this is a very timely story with fascinating characters.

#35 finding Jake by Bryan REARDON

A stay at home dad learns there was a shooting incident at his kids high school. Once he arrives he learns his daughter is safe but his son can't be located . Has he been killed ? Or was he one of the shooters?


Fast paced read. I've better novels on this topic but this one had unique features.

Joan

Bones to Ashes - By Kathy Reichs

When working with a set of bones from the region where her childhood friend had disappeared, Temperance Brennan wonders if the bones could be that of her missing friend.

Dark subject matter, dealing with the kidnapping and rape of young women. The history of Eastern Canada that Tempe discovers is the only thing that kept me through it.

#36 The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney

A story about the relationship between four siblings and the impact the loss of a shared inheritance has on them. The characters weren't overly likeable but it was an interesting story about relationships.

Joan

World Without A Superman - by many, many DC writers and artists

The follow up to the comic Death of Superman. Many of DC comics characters from previous comics and plot lines are brought back to help revive and then bury (entomb) Superman, while Lois and the Kents are left to mourn Clark without revealing his secret. A very sad plot (clearly) with some hope towards the end.


Mrs. Piggle Wiggle by Betty MacDonald

Parents are given 'cures' to help their previously well-behaved kids stop being show-offs, bullies, whisperers, slowpokes, and such. Always interesting to read these stories written in the 1950s to see how much life and raising kids has changed.


On the Banks of Plum Creek - by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Having left Indian Territory, the Ingalls family moves to a dug-out in Minnesota along the banks of Plum Creek and tries to raise wheat. Laura and Mary go to school, church, and visit town for the first time. A 100 years may have passed but the types of people Laura meets are still around, the good and the bad. Again, interesting to see how much freedom and responsibility kids were given back then that they aren't now.

#37 The best of Connie Willis: Award Winning Stories by Connie Willis

It's interesting to see some of the themes from her novels (the Blitz, time travel) in short stories.

Joan

Superman: Secrets and Lies, Vol 2 - by Dan Jurgens, Jesus Merino, & Keith Giffen

A story set in the New 52 universe. Clark is working at the Daily Planet, which apparently is owned by Morgan Edge (a man who cares more about being first, than being right -- no matter who it might hurt). Lois Lane works there too but, from what I can tell, does a tv show.

I didn't read the first volume; therefore, I was lost on some aspects of this universe. It seems as if Lois is older and wiser than Clark here and therefore, not a friendship of equals. She treats Clark more as a glorified assistant than a colleague. She also sets him up with her younger sister, Lucy (booooo, hisssss). Clark is also very unreliable as Clark, because of all that he does as Superman. As Superman, he battles an alien, Helspont, with very unclear motives. He wants to fight Superman for the right to be master of Superman and therefore Earth, but then set Superman up as the supreme being on Earth. Also, there was another alien captured and tortured by the Russians, who wanted him to be their Superman against his will. Clark has to decide if he should keep this alien here against his will to pay for his crimes, or let him return to his home dimension, since the alien was as much a victim in this scenario as those he killed.

While the artwork was clear and crisp, the storyline was all over the place, jumbled, and confusing.


The Death Cure (Maze Runner book III) by James Dasher

Thomas, Newt, Minho, Teresa, and the gang (those of which didn't die in Books 1 & 2) are back. WICKED claims they have a cure, but first they want to give everyone back their memories. Thomas and those from the Glade rebel.

I hoped that everything that confused me from books 1 & 2 would now be clear. Not really. The only hope for the future is one with no hope. Gee, thanks. Ditopia at its best. Disappointed.