Wellington High School and Com Ed Centre

98,433 pages read and 4,879 team points

Team members

Sharon Henry

5,449 pts

(5,329 pages read)

The Kingdom of Gods

By N K Jemisin

4 stars

This finishes off the series and ties things together but seems a bit contrived in places.
The Broken Kingdoms

By N K Jemisin

4 stars

Same world but different point of view.
The Starless Sea

By Erin Morgenstern

5 stars

One of the best books I've read in a long time. Erin Morgenstern writes a lot like Brandon Sanderson. It is several storylines at once that jump about and interweave but are so whimsical. Someone described it as dreaming with your eyes open. I imagine that for some people this will drive them nuts. But I loved it.
Arsene Lupin Gentleman Thief

By Maurice Leblanc

3 stars

I had recently watched Lupin on Netflix and really enjoyed it. The main character bases himself on Arsene Lupin from the books by Maurice Leblanc and I was curious about the book. It was written in 1905 and is quite verbose in parts. I did not enjoy the round-about writing style but the ways in which Lupin manages to disguise himself and trick others so that he can steal from them is clever. Not planning on reading any more books from Maurice Leblanc though.
Tilt: The Skewed Tale of the Tower of Pisa

By Nicholas Shrady

5 stars

Fascinating book on the Leaning Tower of Pisa, it's construction and the many attempts made to stop it from toppling, as well as insights into the trials and tribulations of Pisa as a city. The Pisans were not well liked and apparently the Florentines and Genovese used to have a saying "Better a corpse in the house than a Pisan at the door". Definitely worth a read and to top it all of the book itself is tilted.
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

By N K Jemisin

5 stars

Girl is summoned to the capital by her grandfather, who happens to be the King, and finds out she is a contender to be his successor. She is helped buy some gods who are enslaved and want to be free and see the girl as the way to do this. Great character and world building with some nice plot twists. Very annoyed that I didn't get the whole trilogy out and now have to wait for a couple of weeks to read the next one.
Smoke in the Sun

By Renee Ahdieh

4 stars

Second in the series, good politics but a bit confused in places
Flame in the Mist

By Renee Ahdieu

4 stars

Basically a tale of revenge set in a Japanese world. The author knows where she wants to get to, she is just not very good at getting there so the first quarter or so of the book is very clumsily written, but by the end I wanted to read the next in the series
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi

By Shannon Chakraborty

5 stars

Chakraborty writes fantasy that involves the creatures you would find in 1001 Arabian Nights. I enjoy her character development and world building and the chance to look into a completely different cultural mindset. This time our main character is a retired female pirate who is blackmailed into a new job.
Fifty Places to Travel Solo

By Chris Santella and DC Helmuth

5 stars

I picked this up in Scorpio Books in Christchurch as the foreword in particular really resonated with me. I often get told that I am brave travelling solo overseas, but it allows me to see places that I wouldn't have had the opportunity to experience if I had to find someone else to go with. Thankfully these days travelling solo has become much more accepted and this book has 50 possible destinations to explore, each written by a different authour.
New York and the Mid Atlantic

By Ray Bartlett et al

4 stars

I'm planning a trip to Canada and the States, but not one that will happen anytime soon - definitely not during the current administration. Needless to say a useful book that added a number of places to my list.
The Dark Hours

By Michael Connelly

4 stars

Michael Connelly is a brilliant crime writer but Renee Ballard is not my favourite character. Having recently watched Ballard on Amazon Prime (I think), I thought I'd give the Ballard/Bosch books another go. Well written as always with a good twist where everything comes together at the end but I still don't like Ballard as a character. She comes across as having a massive chip on her shoulder with the world out to get her and her behaviour reflects this.
Treat Your Own Back

By Robin McKenzie

3 stars

Recommended to me by my physio. It is practical and helpful, but not the most exciting read.
Turns of Fate

By Anne Bishop

5 stars

One of my favourite authors and this time a slightly different world. Another great read.

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Wellington High School and Com Ed Centre

98,433 pages read and 4,879 team points

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