The Lost City is the fifth and final installment in the wonderful Time Hunters series. Becky, her brother Joe and Uncle Percy, the time traveller, are off to find El Dorado, the fabled Lost City.
This book starts off with a massive bang. Emmerson Drake, their evil enemy blows up not only the Houses of Parliament, but just about every other major seat of power. The story then ramps up as the family set off to find the last of the Eden Relics.
This may be a children's book, but I know of so many (alleged) grown-ups who love this series. It has great depth, lots of action, humour and love. What's not to like.
I'm a bit sad that this is the end. The first Time Hunter story was the first kindle book I paid for and I feel I've been on this journey with the Mellors. I'd like to think there'll be more stories set in this world.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00YAQV61M/?tag=jookuf-21
http://joobook.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Carl%20Ashmore
This is the ninth in the Pitkirtly series and is probably my favourite so far.
Amaryllis has put herself forward for being a councillor, but has this dulled her senses? Christopher has loads to do at the Cultural Centre, but what's this art exhibition he doesn't really know about? When Christopher and Amaryllis find something nasty at the Centre, they try to go their typical opposite ways, Christopher doesn't want to know, but Amaryllis needs to stick her nose in.
As with the previous 8 stories, there's a crime in the community and the locals do their best to "help", although the police wouldn't call it that. Keith is the only policeman around and he's struggling to keep up.
In each episode we get more info on a supporting character and this time it's Keith. I enjoyed finding more about Keith in this story, now that Charlie is the pub landlord. I particularly liked the dogs' stories. They seemed to have a more starring role.
This story is best enjoyed having read the previous ones, but I think this stands on it's own. You don't really need to know the cast's history, it just makes it seem that they are your friends.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00Y6K1PB8/?tag=jookuf-21
The third in the Chronicles of St Mary's series gets even darker. Whilst these books are mostly light and witty and exciting, people do die and often not in a nice way.
This time, the team visits Troy to see if the wooden horse story is true. They have to hang around and live there for a while. This is no Star Trek, though. They don't have communicators and universal translators, so they have to keep mostly to themselves.
I really enjoy this series of books. I think the concept is a great one and the execution very enjoyable. So what if there are a few deus ex machinas along the way?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00IEEXX12/?tag=jookuf-21
http://joobook.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Jodi%20Taylor
I found it hard to pigeon hole this book into a genre. On the surface it's a paranormal/supernatural story, but only a little bit. It starts reading a bit chick-litty, but it's more than that. There's a bit of violence with the police involved, but it's more of a mystery. But, for me, overall it was a satisfying story, with possibly a set-up for future stories.
Kate has just moved to London, she's lost her beloved husband in a car accident and is seeing pixies and mice in kilts among other things. What is real and what is not?
I'm not one for paranormal fantasies, but as this was more about the mystery, I rather enjoyed it. The supernatural elements were mostly on the edge of the story and sometimes added the comedic element.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00QXZSIPA/?tag=jookuf-21
I didn't fancy the third in this series but jumped straight to the fourth as this storyline looked more my thing. As with the others in this series, the story is told by both Jamie (on his blog) and Laura (in her diary) with the chapters going back and forth.
It seems that tJamie and Laura have been publishing the previous books themselves (we don't need Nick any more haha) and they have just published book number 3, so we follow them as they go through publishing and promoting it. As ever, things never run smoothly.
My favourite bit was where they were invited to the film premier. As it happened, things didn't really go as badly as they expected it to. I also like the recurring character - you'll know who it is when you read it.
This was a very easy book to read. Yes, it can be crude at times, but I found this to be quite a romantic story. Jamie and Laura really love each other. I didn't find it "laugh out loud" but did find it sweet and humerous.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00UFVKDYW/?tag=jookuf-21
http://joobook.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Nick%20Spalding
Max Bloom is back and this time he's had a year to hone his powers and he's the most powerful wordsmith in the land, but certainly not the greatest. He's still a teenager (in lurve) and is still immature.
This is a cracking romp and I flew through the story.
I'm unsure of the lower end of the target audience of this as there is some very minor swearing (such as bloody hell) which would make me reluctant to recommend it to my 10 year old nephew, even though I think he'd love the action and adventure. I certainly enjoyed it, the pace was high and it was very exciting.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00EIFOLM6/?tag=jookuf-21
http://joobook.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Nick%20Spalding
Now my review for Book 2 in this series stated I wasn't as impressed with it as I was with the fantastic first book, so I'm glad to say that Tom's back. But this one is more the search for Tom, rather than about Tom himself. So did I like it? Yes, more than book 2. This time the good guys and the bad guys are after Tom, some of them not even knowing who they are after.
Ii was a bit muddled at the start as to who some of the characters were as it's a long time since I'd read the first two books, but it didn't really matter as the story and the action got going and I was along for the ride. I did enjoy the Andrew Harvey character and I've since found out he's hopefully getting his own adventures, which is great.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00G4LJE56/ref=la_B0061QKMSC_1_4/?tag=jookuf-21
http://joobook.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Alan%20McDermott
In the future, life has fallen apart and it's bad out on the streets. There's no electricity and the people that are left in the city live in their own clans in compounds or apartment blocks. Deeta is a teenager and has never been outside her block. Other members of the block go out, but it's dangerous out there. One day, everyone has to leave and Deeta's life changes.
I enjoyed this YA dystopian story more than I thought I would. I wanted to know what Deeta would do as she finds out what life can be outside of her safe world. There's a bit of romance going on and inter-clan violence and politics and some bits I thought were a bit unrealistic, but, on the whole, this was a good book.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005GHMH8A/?tag=jookuf-21
This is the story of 15 days in 12-year-old Gerald's post-war summer holidays when he finds a caterpillar and forms a bond with it.
I found this to be a lovely gentle story set in a time that doesn't exist any more. I'm not of the age to remember these times, but I've heard stories of my mother's childhood running around without a care in the world, out from dusk 'til dawn. Gerald has a close-knit family, but he doesn't quite fit in with his older siblings. They have to share not just rooms, but beds when the extended family comes to stay, so he has to find someone he trusts to help care for Gerald as he doesn't want to tell anyone about his new friend.
I think this story is aimed for children, however, I love reading books for any age and this was enjoyable from a grown-up's perspective. Whenever I put it down I was wondering what would happen to Douglas the caterpillar next.
Even though this is Gerald's story, his family's stories were just as enjoyable and it all came together in the end.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00U90WEBY/?tag=jookuf-21
I'd ignored this book for some time as "post apocalypse dystopian books are not my thing", but once I started reading it, it was a normal story of survival and teenage angst. Flick meets Shea and even though she's young, sparks fly. But is that because Shea has been shot down whilst in a flying machine ... that surely doesn't exist in this post-technological world where old cars are pulled by horses?
Whilst this story is set in times where technology doesn't exist anymore, it's still a story that seems very true in that type of era. It's now a hard life where every day is a struggle.
I took a chance on this and I'm glad I did as I enjoyed this. It is obviously the first book in a series, but it was satisfactorily resolved and I don't need to read the next, but I'm sure I'll be tempted to sooner rather than later.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00CVTK6Q6/?tag=jookuf-21
Adnan, a bookshop owner in Baghdad finds an old book in his store and starts reading it. But once he's started, he just can't stop, as it's the story of Ali - the Gardener of Baghdad who disappeared back in the 50s.
I really enjoyed this gentle story. The book is paced as Adnan reads it. It is a love story across class and religion back in the times when it really did make a difference.
We are taken on a journey through hard times but where love tries to conquer all. This was an enjoyable read indeed.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00M91LJGW/?tag=jookuf-21
