#44 Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer

This was one of my Hugo book club that I hadn't read before. I liked and loathed the book at the same time. The rape in the early chapters of the book seemed completely unnecessary as if that would be the only way Mary would be interested in Ponter later on in the book since he isn't a human male.  The Neanderthal culture was interesting and I would have liked to have seen more of it. I did think that the AI upgrade on Pointer's recorder made for an easy out for communication. The story just seemed to find the easy way to deal with things to complete goals in the story arc. The only time things seemed hard were in the Neanderthal side of the story when it looks bleak for Adikor. And again of they have devices that people wear strapped to them why don't they have cameras to record things where the signal is blocked. I don't think I will bother with the rest of the books. So far this is the second series by Sawyer I have started and didn't feel compelled to finish.

#45 Loki's Wolves by K.L. Armstrong, M.A. Marr

A new middle grade series by Kelley Armstrong and Melissa Marr. The story is a bunch of kids in South Dakota are the direct descendants of various Norse gods and they seem to have been tapped to take the place of the gods to fight during the Ragnarok. This book is the setup of the story and as the plot goes the kids talk about the gods they are related to and what they can do with those powers. Of course there are people on the side of the monsters so there are obstacles for the kids to overcome and since it is a series   ti doesn't leave so much on a cliffhanger but out the door and on their way to the next thing they need to accomplish. Light reading for adults and a good read for the YA/Middle grade reader.

#46 Black Blade Blues by J.A. Pitts

I've had this on my TBR pile for a long time but trade paperbacks always lose when it comes to trips for reading material. Not sure why I grabbed it this go around but I am glad that I did. Sarah is an apprentice blacksmith that works nights as a props master on a direct to video movie set. One of her swords breaks during filming and she has to reforge it. Before she can even do that she is approached by one of the extras claiming to be a dwarf and that he can help her fix it. She humors him and allows him to watch and eventually give advice when it turns out that he knows something about smithing. Once the sword is complete the dwarf tells her she needs to slay a dragon that takes the shape of an investment banker. Of course she thinks he is nuts but too many bad things happen to be coincidence and it is the dragons trying to get their hands on the sword. What I liked the most about this was there were lots of negative outcomes to people in her life. Her girlfriend and boss are kidnapped and held for ransom in exchange for the sword. The SCA group she is with  helps her fight but they do not get off lightly. I think this is the first book I read in a long time that fighting monsters will result in death and not just one or two token deaths.  The next two books are out and I don't think I'll be waiting years to read them.