32. Skyward by Brandon Sanderson

listened on Audible
read by Suzy Jackson
Unabridged audio (15:28)
2018 Gollancz
510 pgs.
YA SciFi
Finished 3/24/2019
Goodreads rating: 4.55 - 22,753 ratings
My rating:  4


First line/s:  "Only fools climbed to the surface.  It was stupid to put yourself in danger like that, my mother always said.  Not only were there near-constant debris showers from the rubble belt, but you never knew when the Krell would attack."

My comments:  Hours and hours of simulated flight instruction and fighting the Krell, much of it over my head.  But for some reason I continued to listen and somewhat enjoy.  This world was hard to imagine, but I found Spensa's story and character development, as well as the writing, excellent.  Fascinating, actually.  So many questions, good ones, throughout the story.  Great narrator. 
     To remember before reading the next installment:  Spensa did not quite earn her captain status because she ejected, which is a no-no and not "brave."  However, in a battle to end all battles, she piloted Mbot, a mysterious flyer that she had found hidden in a cavern and repaired with the help of a friend.  Four of the ten people in her flight had been killed on missions - during training! - three had quit, and only two of her classmates had graduated and moved on.  Her arch enemy from the beginning has actually become a good friend (possible romance to come?).  Her instructor, Cobb, always on her side, had been her father's wing man.  It now looks like she is going to be a hero.  Still lots of questions to be answered about what is really going on out there in space.  Interesting.  Definitely want to continue.

Goodreads synopsis:  Defeated, crushed, and driven almost to extinction, the remnants of the human race are trapped on a planet that is constantly attacked by mysterious alien starfighters. Spensa, a teenage girl living among them, longs to be a pilot. When she discovers the wreckage of an ancient ship, she realizes this dream might be possible—assuming she can repair the ship, navigate flight school, and (perhaps most importantly) persuade the strange machine to help her. Because this ship, uniquely, appears to have a soul.

46. Graceling - Kristin Cashore

audio read by a full cast
Graceling Realm Book #1
11 unabridged cds (12:30)
Full Cast Audio, 2009
Graceling copyright 2008
471 pages
There's a map of the seven kingdoms on the enpapers
Goodreads rated 4.13
I rated this 4 stars, I liked it a lot.
for: YA (there is a very small amount of older-kid antics which would make me a tiny bit reluctant to give to anyone younger than middle school)

I listened to this, it was a "full cast" recording, and very good. Kristin Cashore has a new one out that is supposed to be excellent, and it was strongly suggested to read this one first. I'm glad I did, am on the waiting list for Bitterblue, which takes place 8 years later.

Katsa, the protagonist, wasn't one of my favorite characters.  She's pretty self-absorbed, headstrong, and has little care for those she doesn't like or agree with.  She's smart and brave, but extremely cocky.  Her "love interest," Po, and the 10 year -old girl they save, Bitterblue, are much more likable.

When someone in the Seven Kingdoms is born with two different-colored eyes, that means they are born with some kind of "grace," something they can do remarkably well.  Katsa's grace is as a killer, although the actual more accurate title she discovers later in the book.  Po has to hide his grace (SPOILER: he can read the minds of or sense the thoughts and feelings of anyone that's thinking of him)  by calling himself a great fighter.  People with grace's are given wide berth.

Katsa has always been used by her uncle, King Randa, to punish his enemies.  She hates this.  But she must to what he bids to survive.  She and a few loyal friends create a "counsel," and they try to right some of the Seven Kingdoms' wrongs.  That is how she first meets Po, from the Island Kingdom of Leonid.

This was a good adventure, had a little ya boy-girl you-know-what going on, though nothing graphic.  She is indeed a feisty, strong female role-model and i will encourage middle schoolers to try this one out.

Notes to remember before reading a sequel:  King Randa, her uncle, is not a really nice guy.  However, his son Prince Raffin, is 3 years older than Katsa and her best friend.  He is a scientist/chemist who makes all the helpful drugs the council needs in its good-doings.  Oll is Randa's underlord, a spymaster (a "graying captain") and helped raise Katsa.  Giddon, another sidekick, has been very protective and asked her to marry him.  So he's now a bit jealous.

kristincashore.blogspot.com
www.gracelingrealm.com

35. Getaway - Lisa Brackmann

2012, Soho Press
Adult Mystery
312 pgs.
Rating:  3.5/ Liked it quite a bit

Setting:  Contemporary Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
1st Line/s:  "Michelle dropped the sarong she'd strted to tie around her wist onto her lounge chair.  Nobody cared what her thighs looked like."
OSS: Michelle's getaway to Puerta Vallarta to flee LA and a mess her deceased husband left her. becomes scary when she is robbed, arrested, mugged, and gets confronted by really unscrupulous characters.

She's alone, scared, has no one to talk to or trust, makes a few friends but is uncertain about all of them.  She drinks a lot, makes a few questionable decisions, but it's a good mystery in a great setting.  It's fun when you know the setting, and I could picture it quite well even though my faulty memory had to go back about 15 years to remember the city.