23. 
Title: [Night Broken]
Author: Patricia Briggs
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Pre-ordered
Date Completed: March 20 2014
Rating: ****1/2

The pack often blames Mercy for bringing trouble to their collective doors, but this time it's Adam's ex-wife who comes calling, with trouble and melodrama to spare.  Christy is a human who leaves Adam years before, citing fear of the wolves, but her present (legitimate) danger chases her back to the home she helped build, with one thing on her mind: winning back the alpha and father of their daughter.  Christy's presence divides the pack between those who recognize her for the selfish manipulative *expletive* she is, and those who are driven by a need and desire to protect the "weak." 

Christy is loathsome, and a desire to see her fall races through the novel.  The fact that she brings a long-unidentified danger with her, threatening the lives of everyone around her, makes her presence even more grating. 

Briggs is a solid urban fantasy author, and the consistency of her novels will always keep me coming back for more.  Night Broken maintains reader expectations, and though it doesn't take any chances, the action and development are what I've come to expect.  I'm glad I put down all other books when this arrived at my door - it's just the fun I wanted and needed. 

22. 
Title: [The Savage Garden]
Author: Peter D'Amato
Genre: Horticulture
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: March 17 2014
Rating: ****

Meet Bugrit. 


This adorable little guy, a three-year-old Venus Flytrap, is my new office mate.  I've been long interested in carnivorous plants, and seeing flytraps in terrariums in a museum gift store eventually lead me to look for them locally.  To my delight, one can purchase carnivorous plants from Amazon, and Bugrit is the first of two to arrive.  But there's one problem: I have no idea how to care for my new charges.

The instructions that came with my first plant are invaluable, but Peter D'Amato's name has come up several times in connection to carnivorous plants, and I gleefully snagged a copy of his book at the library.  The Savage Garden is a beautiful text, with stunning photography and high production quality.  D'Amato obviously knows a thing or two about his subject, and offers rich history of each species, as well as simple instructions for cultivating these plants in one's home and garden.   At times, the text can be a bit dry, as I don't share the author's enthusiasm for differentiating between genus and hybrids and how to catalog breedings.  Still, it is clear why this book has such a strong reputation, and I'm very glad for the history and instructions. 

Geekery!

21. 
Title: [Ready Player One]
Author: Ernest Cline
Genre: Fantasy, Dystopian
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: March 17 2014
Rating: ****

Ready Player One, though just published in 2012, is an old story: Wade, an American high school senior, is a gunter, living almost entirely online in an environment called Oasis.  This virtual space offers an alternative existence to reality, in which the world is steadily falling apart, though class, culture, and economy still thrive in familiar ways, both online and IRL. When billionaire hermit Halliday, the creator of Oasis, dies, he leaves his entire fortune (and control of the company - and thus, Oasis) to the Oasis user who can find his Easter egg.  This kind of power is nearly limitless, so everyone engages in a 1980s-saturated quest for the egg.  Gunters like Wade are battling corporate America, aka IOI, who hopes to find the egg and commercialize Oasis in anti-bohemian ways. 

One's familiarity with the target audience - "geeks" who grew up in the 1980s - will greatly impact the enjoyment of the story.  I'm a bit too young for many allusions, and not a gamer, but my own fondness for and familiarity with geeks carried me through the story with smiles.  Wade is flawed and likeable, and the text as a whole is warm and familiar, even for someone with limited experience.  Though this is not a five-star read for me, I can very easily understand why it's gained such popularity, and can highly recommend it myself. 

Finishing February

20. 
Title: [The Truth]
Author:  Terry Pratchett
Genre: Fantasy, Satire
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Purchase
Date Completed: March 6 2014
Rating: *****

The industry novels are my favorite in the Discworld canon, and The Truth will always hold a special place in my heart, both for the story itself, and as the first Pratchett novel I ever had the pleasure to read.  Unfortunately, my students didn't find it nearly as enthralling; that'll teach me to assign one of my favorite novels immediately before spring break.  Still, I had great fun re-reading it, even if lectures felt like pulling teeth.

19.
Title: [Bared]
Author: Stacey Kennedy
Genre: Romance
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Purchase
Date Completed: February 2014
Rating:

I can offer neither a review nor a rating, since I forgot to post this right after reading it.  I vaguely remembered being annoyed with the levels of angst and lack of communication, but it left me with no other impression.

18.
Title: [Bonds of Trust]
Author: Lynda Aicher
Genre: Romance
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Purchase
Date Completed: February 15, 2014
Rating: **1/2

Though the later book in the series shows such promise, with interesting character development and actual romantic passages, the first of the same series is absolutely flat, dull, and without interest.