Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tales

Finished:
The Forbidden Library by Django Wexler. My first book of the year! It wasn't bad, it just didn't hook me at all. A Middle Grade book, I think it would work a lot better for young readers. In it a young girl discovers she's one of the few who has secret magic powers, and she has to adventure through a magical library to survive. I liked the worldbuilding, loved the magic system, the main character was fine, but the whole book just never clicked for me. Even though it ended on a mild cliffhanger, I'm not going to continue with the series.

The Dog with Seven Names by Dianne Wolfer. Like Forbidden Library, this book should have been a good match for me but wasn't. It wasn't bad, just never really engaged me. In it a dog was born in Australian in World War Two, and basically it was a view of the war through a dog's eyes. The dog was both way smarter than a dog should be AND had mild magical powers, but both sort of worked and it never bothered me even though the story was meant to be realistic. I learned a lot about Australia's role in WW2 and the dog character was wonderful. I just never felt that driving need to read just another page more.

Abandoned:
The Meek by J.D. Palmer. So bad. Just so bad. End of the world story, but the only people left were the most evil people on Earth or victims for those evil people. Whole book was just torture porn with a heaping helping of rape tossed in. Even greater offense was that none of it even made sense. A healthy young man was kept as a dog by a half-crippled old man (wore a collar, slept on the floor, ate out of a bowl). Same old man kept a healthy young woman captive as his "breeding doll". Either one could have kicked his ass and escaped. DNF 10%. (Only reason I got that far was how short it was.)

Crossing to Paradise by Kevin Crossley-Holland. I have ~400 books on my Kindle, but they're all books I want to read. How in the world did this book get on it? It's nothing like what I usually read. In it a young girl in early England goes on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Main character seemed fine, but the story just wasn't one I cared to read about. DNF 5%


Partial book credits:
Point reached in DNF books: 10 + 5 = 15%
Previous abandoned book total: 0%
New total: 15% (zero books)