The Plastic Magician

Book 30 of 2018 is The Plastic Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg.

I love this series. I didn't at first but I can't walk away.

This is an American introduced in to a trying-to-be-British series. Holmberg writes the out of place American so well. So so well.

She's actually more likeable than any of the other protagonists. I just want to keep on reading.

5 new disciplines out of 5.

Should I read this? Only if you like the other three. They are not for all.
What did I learn? A series can redeem itself.

Hopeless Magic

Book 30 of 2017 is Hopeless Magic from the Star-Crossed series the by Rachel Higginson.

I read the first book from this series a month ago and enjoyed it enough to want to read the second book.

After finishing this arduous read with a whining teenage girl and her band of merry teenage men chasing her along with the "once you have sex you are bonded for life" message, I was glad it ended. There will be no more reading from this conservative non-subtle instruction on how young women cause trouble by speaking their minds and should think carefully of who they will marry because he owns you forever.

It. Was. Painful.

This had to have been written by a middle aged suburban housewife who wished she had never married her boring muggle husband.

1 spoilt Omaha teenage victim out of 5.

Should I read this? No. The first book ends implying more lies ahead in this book but nothing does.
What did I learn? First books in a series should be standalone.

The Chimes

Book 30 of 2016 is The Chimes by Charles Dickens.

It can't be Christmas without a lesson for the soul from Dickens.

This isn't A Christmas Carol but it runs along the same tracks. The Chimes however does not cross the times and resonate as its more famous sibling does. It is lost in class and superstition and old sexist ideas. Maybe a modern day rewrite would work.

Still, this book has brought the Christmas spirit out in me. Since it is an easy read, it is worth the moment it takes to listen to the ever present chimes.

Three chimes out of five.

Should I read this? Only if you need some Christmas reading.
What did I learn? Dickens sometimes wrote the same story twice, even the good ones.