Down These Strange Streets

Down These Strange Streets by George R.R. Martin

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I have had a really hard time digging into this book, as evident by both the rating and the amount of time it took me to read it. Sure, books are taking me longer to finish as more of my time is spent either working or with my daughter than reading, but May to July? Nearly 3 months for one book. Ouch.

Originally picked this up because it had shorts from authors that I normally read. Sadly, they mostly seemed to be filler that you could already more or less guess from the main series and didn't fill any real gap or need. The rest of the stories were dry and failed to draw me in, lending to the extended reading time. Maybe I would have been more interested in them if I knew more of the stories or characters aside from the brief snippets given at the start of each one. Either way, this book was overall a rather large disappointment that I finished more out of sheer determination than a desire to find out what happened next.

The only saving grace that earns the second star is Patricia Brigg's snippet from the Mercy Thompson series. I adore that series and never seem to get enough of it. This was the only part of the book that I didn't take a break during or have to trudge through to finish. Wish I could say that about more of the book.

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Home Improvement: Undead Edition

Home Improvement: Undead Edition by Charlaine Harris

 My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Some of these stories are very interesting and leave you wishing they were longer. Others are just the right length; There was only one that I really had a hard time wading into. A little spooky and somehow oddly related to home repairs, this is a unique collection of stories that will give you a little bit of everything.

This includes the following stories:

• Blood on the Wall by Heather Graham
• Downside Ghosts 3.5: Rick the Brave by Stacia Kane
• In Brightest Day by Toni L.P. Kelner
• It's All in the Rendering by Simon R. Green
• Mercy Thompson 0.5: Gray by Patricia Briggs
• October Daye 4.5: Through This House by Seanan McGuire
• Southern Vampires 11.1: If I Hade A Hammer by Charlaine Harris
• Spellcrackers.com 0.5: Full-Scale Demolition by Suzanne McLeod
• Squatters' Rights by Rochelle Krich
• The Mansion of Imperatives by James Grady
• The Path by S.J. Rozan
• The Strength Inside by Melissa Marr
• Wizard Home Security by Victor Gischler
• Woolsley's Kitchen Nightmare by E.E. Knight

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