Tag: reading

Categories
books and reading

Rise by Katherine L. Evans

So, a friend of mine told me a couple weeks ago, “Hey, I have a friend who is an author, and I gave her your name to be a beta reader for her newest book.” And I wholeheartedly agreed having absolutely no idea what kind of book I had just volunteered to read. It could have been a western, a fantasy or worse yet, a sappy romance book. Those types of books have a place in the world, just not in my world. But when I got the word document and started the book, I was immediately hooked.

The overarching theme, as well as the title, is to rise. Rise above. Rise above anything and everyone who drags you down. Not in the “I’m better than everyone” way, but more of the “I can persevere through the worst” way. Isn’t this how we should all lead our lives? And, thankfully, the main character realizes this as well.

This book isn’t an easy read. There are parts that will punch you in the gut. And you will get choked up numerous times (there are only four books that have made me tear up. This was one of them), and you will love every bit of this book. Emma is a journalist running from a terrible childhood. Running away, running to, it doesn’t really matter. Escape is all she craves. She has people who love her, but it isn’t enough. Like many young adults, she needs to find herself and give back to the world. So, she heads to Syria to do some investigative reporting. Let me repeat. Syria. This isn’t going to be pretty. And, like always, you will get zero spoilers from me, so I will just say that the best thing I loved about this book was that it was REAL.

Since this book is still in the prepublishing beta stages, I beg you to keep a lookout for this when it is on the shelves. And I will keep you posted. This one is absolutely worth reading. The main character is flawed and broken and authentic and beautifully written. I’m so thankful I was asked to read this.

Categories
books and reading

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

A friend has been hounding me to read this book for years. So, when the BBC series came out last year, I agreed to read the book before watching the series. I’ve been trying to pace myself with long books, but it’s becoming abundantly clear that 2016 will be the “year of the epic novel.” I have so many 500+ page books on my list that I’m starting to fall behind. And it doesn’t help with a book is so stinking boring.

Ultimately, I gave this one 3 stars. But the first 60% was just so awful. I felt like it was two books put together and the first one was pretty useless. Strange and Norrell are frenemy magicians in the early 1800s in England. This book tries to do a lot of things, and only a few of them are successful. I have no problem with books that juggle multiple characters and plotlines, but they must all be interesting, and I found Strange and Norrell to be pretty awful people. The minor characters were more interesting, but I have a hard time enjoying a book when the main characters are just assholes. Neither one has very little redeeming value.

I’m a little confused why this book was so popular. Maybe people reading it were just so impressed with the time period, setting, writing, etc. 1800s England definitely isn’t my thing to begin with. Everyone is too snobby and stuffy. The Stephen Black plotline was, by far, the best one, and I was sad his story ended, but pleased with the resolution. But overall, I think 3 stars is generous.

Categories
books and reading

I Am Pilgrim

I really dislike the Mad Max movies. Which is odd, considering dystopia is my thing. I can read any book about the genre, and most movies, as well. But the Mad Max movies are not my thing. So, when I heard about this book, written by the screenwriter of Mad Max 2 and 3, I was out. No interest. Then I read the plot and reviews. And maybe, just maybe I would check it out. Then a friend raved about it. And harped on me about it. And I caved. 600 pages later, here I am on the other side. I survived.

I love a good thriller. I will read most types, but this one about espionage, catching the Muslim extremist in a post 9/11 world, covert operations, etc just didn’t appeal to me. But the more I read, the more sucked in I got. And I was so impressed with this story. Because something that is mentioned on page 100, that was just a hint, just a tidbit, turned out to be huge later in the book. And that happened a number of times. This is an expertly constructed book.

You never really know the character, in part because his identity shifts so much due to the covert business, but you see who he is deep down. He’s not a heartless man. He isn’t ruthless or cruel. He simply wants to protect people. And unfortunately, he knows you sometimes have to kill people to protect the many. Even when he does, he still takes no joy in what he has done, making him human. And this is the main reason I enjoyed this book. There are so many small events that link together within the novel. Hayes does a great job of tying up all the loose ends as well. Very impressive first stab (pun intended) at a novel from this screenwriter.

Categories
books and reading

All the Missing Girls

Yet another Netgalley book! So, I’ve read one great one and one bummer one. However, this one I selected completely on the premise alone. It’s a murder mystery, but it has a unique feature. It’s told in reverse. Which really seems odd, given the whole mystery aspect, but this novel really does work.

The fact that it’s told in reverse is laid out for you up front, so there’s no confusion as to what is happening. And, as a speed reader, I found myself having to go a lot slower with this book to really grasp all the details.  Reading a book in reverse chronological order is like looking at a picture and then being told the story behind it. Normally you make the memory and look at the picture later, then the memory comes flooding back. And I was skeptical about whether or not this novel (and unknown, to me, author) could pull it off. And while the book had some confusing moments and not everything is perfectly resolved (but rather implied), as a whole, it was really great.

The murder mystery genre is really hit or miss for me. Some novels are so predictable and formulaic that you see the murderer coming a mile away. And not to give anything away, but the resolution wasn’t wholly surprising to me, but the storytelling was really what made the book readable and interesting. Reading it in chronological order would have been nowhere near as intriguing.

Categories
books and reading

Dark Matter

When I saw this book was available on Netgalley, I immediately requested it, simply based on the author. I read the Wayward Pines series last year and loved it. I don’t know much about the author, but based on the trilogy, I knew I wanted to read more. He does a great job of balancing suspense and science and wow, can he write an ending.

This book grabbed me from chapter one. There’s no slow burn in this book. From the beginning, you are sucked in. And there is absolutely no way to predict where the book is going, which is refreshing. The author has clearly done his research in physics and does an outstanding job relating this information in an understandable way. I expected there to be some difficult parts given how insane (in a good way) the premise is, and there were a few where I had to slow down and reread a bit, but nothing that I wasn’t able to handle.

And just when I thought I knew what was going to happen, the rug was yanked out from under me. I was pleasantly surprised by how many plausible twists and turns the book provided. I never felt like what was happening wasn’t possible, even though it really isn’t….probably. I’m no physicist, so there’s always a chance. In any case, I highly recommend this book, especially if you liked the Wayward Pines trilogy. This seems to be a stand alone book, but I could be wrong. I will be adding Blake Crouch to my list of “must read” authors.

Categories
books and reading

The Nightingale

Two birds with one stone here!! A friend recommended this one, and it is on the NY Times Bestseller list for the book challenge. And wow! What a fabulous read! Not necessarily the most uplifting of books, but absolutely beautiful.

Two sisters, one older and responsible, one younger and impetuous. But both strong in their own stubborn way. Set in France during WWII, the stories follows both of them, sometimes living together, oftentimes apart and you see their struggles for survival during the worst period of the last century. You get small glimpses of present day, learning that one of the sisters has survived, but which isn’t revealed until the end.

I have shed tears at three books: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (ugly cried. twice.), the Book Thief (just a couple tears. twice) and now The Nightingale. I’m not a crier, so this should tell you something. I refuse to reveal whether they are happy tears or sad tears or a combination of both, but know that this book hit me hard.

I gave it 4 stars because I thought it could have been edited down a bit, but that’s just my personal preference. Overall, I loved the characters and felt their motivations were authentic. Even though WWII is always hard to read about, I feel it’s important to be frequently reminded of the time period, and books like this do an excellent job at doing so.

Categories
books and reading

Where the River Ends

A few months ago, I asked some Facebook friends for book recommendations, and I vowed to read every book mentioned. One thing I love about doing the book challenge is that I get exposure to new authors. So, asking my friends for feedback seems like the next step in broadening my horizons. And one recommended author Charles Martin. I selected one of his books at random from the library, and in all honesty, I HATED this book. One star. I finished it only so I could write an accurate review.

I used to tell my students that hating a book was sometimes better than loving a book because you end up having so much more to say. For the first half of the book, I merely disliked it. The writing is atrocious and trite. The characters are stale and predictable. The plot was mediocre. Then came the sexist comments. Did you know that from birth, there are two things a woman wants: To be pursued and to know she is beautiful. Are you fucking kidding me? How about “to be strong,” “to be equal,” “to be treated fairly”? I would take every one of those things over the very shallow ideas of pursuit and beauty. This is where the book lost me. The hatred grew. By the end I was almost to the point of throwing the book across the room.

I’m giving the author the benefit of the doubt and assume he isn’t sexist, however, there are dozens of male writers who write strong female characters. The main female character in this is strong, but she is also selfish and reckless, putting her needs above the safety (and potential jail time) of her husband. I have no tolerance for this. The author’s twitter handle is “storiedcareer.” Seriously? Isn’t that self glorification? Barf.

I will not be reading another one of his books and I certainly suggest that you don’t either. I rolled my eyes at least every other page at how terrible, cliched, and downright sexist this book was.

Categories
books and reading

Movie Game

I’m new to Netgalley and this was my first book that I was approved for. I was quickly intrigued by premise of a teenager obsessed with movies, a mystery surrounding his father, a tragedy from his younger days, but this book just didn’t work for me.

Our main character, Joe, is just a terrible person. He cares about his sister, but only to keep her from interfering in his life. We are never given any indication they have a relationship, and they simply co-exist alone. Their mother is living with her boyfriend and has abandoned her children. Their father is MIA. No idea where he, a marine biologist, has gone. Do marine biologists often disappear for their job? Seems like a job that doesn’t have much intrigue behind it.

Joe and his friends play the “Movie Game” which involves someone saying an actor, next person says a movie the actor was in, next has to name another actor in that movie (I think, I’m not good with these kinds of games) and Joe frequently wins. But to have this be the title of the book is baffling to me. It was the most minor of subplots. I suppose Joe’s obsession with movies was to illustrate his escape from his tragedy where his girlfriend died. They were 14 and it was young love. Of course, anyone who loses a loved one when they are freshmen, has two awful parents will be a giant mess of a person, but I just wasn’t sold on Joe. He was too thin, too much of a stereotype.

There was an absolutely ridiculous plot involving the girl next door that didn’t fit at all. I felt like the author needed certain things to happen (Joe needed to learn about movies from the ’70s, he needed to have a place to escape, he needed someone to help him craft absurd lies, etc) and the author thought, “How can I get all these things to happen?” and he created this neighbor plot. There’s another plot involving a couple limo drivers and a scheme that didn’t work either. Again, it felt forced and wedged into the plot to make a couple events happen.

Overall, I wouldn’t recommend this book. The author made attempts at using figurative language and I rolled my eyes at how bad it was. The mystery surrounding Joe’s father was ludicrous, and I didn’t care at all about Joe. His sister was so much more intriguing, but we didn’t spend much time with her at all.

Categories
books and reading

Morning Star

My gosh. This series. Let me preface by saying I bought Morning Star one year ago. The minute I finished Golden Son, I knew I would be finishing the series. Waiting a year was torture, but absolutely worth it.

This book broke my heart a couple times, made me tear up a couple times (which says something for someone who doesn’t cry at books, ever) and I couldn’t wait to see what happened. The bad thing is that this series is complex, and unique, and full of characters that I couldn’t keep straight one book to another because I had to wait so long in between them. I should have done a reread of the first two. I remembered the general idea, but there are a lot of characters that ran together. Not only that, this book reads like a Russian novel. Characters are referred to by multiple names. First, last, war names, nicknames, and keeping them straight is often difficult. However, with a reread, or for someone who gets to read them 3 in a row, this won’t be a problem.

These are young adult books, but are definitely rated R for language and violence. I have no issues with this. Kids can handle a lot more than we give them credit for. And the violence isn’t one that’s realistic (unless our children are going to battle for Mars anytime soon). And I like that the story is complex and uses high vocabulary. As an adult, I was frequently looking up words on my Kindle. And I recently read that there will be another Red Rising trilogy. I can’t wait.

Categories
books and reading

Saturn Run

When I walked into my local Barnes & Noble (sorry, indie bookstores. I would visit you if there were one within a 25 mile radius of my house) to find my “first book you see in a bookstore” challenge book. I blocked my peripheral vision so I didn’t end up with a cookbook or an origami book or a how to draw cars book. My only rule was that the first book I saw couldn’t be the book in the middle of a series, and it couldn’t be a book that I had already read. And there on the bottom shelf was Saturn Run. A science fiction book. I hate science fiction. Hate. Ugh.

And rather than spending $20 on a book I did not want to read, I put it on hold at the library. There were a few people ahead of me, so after several weeks, I got the email that this book was ready for download. And because there were people behind me on the reserve list, I got the book for 2 weeks only. It was happening. I had to read it. So, I set myself a 10% daily goal so I would have a little wiggle room. And I was so sucked into the book that I finished my daily goals with no problem. This was an excellent book.

The author, John Sandford, writes thrilllers, namely the Prey series. I had never heard of this guy until I picked up Saturn Run. But he apparently writes pretty decent books. On his twitter page, Stephen King is quoted saying “If you haven’t read Sandford, you’re missing one of the great summer-read novelists of all time.” This sounds like a back handed compliment to me, but if Sandford has it on his homepage, I guess he appreciated it. I believe he has 22 Prey books out.

So, for an author who normally writes thrillers, to delve into science fiction, there must be a little carryover of the original genre. And thankfully for this sci-fi disliking reader, there was. Imagine this book to be a fair combo of both. The story lagged in the middle for me, but once they got to Saturn (I don’t think it’s a spoiler, given the title) the plot picked up the pace. The characters were pretty thin, but with good female roles, so I can’t complain. Finding the “alien race” is one of my least favorite plots in any genre of book, but this book was really not about that as much as the science of getting to and from Saturn (assuming they do…. 😉 ).

I was pleasantly surprised by this one and will be checking out the Prey series at some point. It might take me a few years to read them all, but I am willing to bet they make great audio reads.