Brig Berthold

I will tell you, I did not expect what I received.

This was a last minute decision for me. Audible.com offered this short title to its members as a Christmas gift and I, for one, cannot refuse a free book. Seeing Dickens, I was certain to receive a well written story, complete with a melancholy exposition, dismal rising action, and a strong moral. What I did not expect was an altogether unforeseen resolution which left me bounding with joy. The finale of this tale will leave you having learned the lesson with feelings of contented, emotionally charged, gratitide for the author's humanity.

Trudge through this brief example of Dickens' mastery of craft as compelling characters are allowed a happily ever after, rather than the socio-economic crucifix so common in this author's cannon.

Overall, this was a fun, quick read. I hope the authors keep writing and keep getting better. Their future work is poised to be very good and sufficiently deep.

The Good: The writing was incredibly fast-paced. I loved the speed because it made me feel claustrophobic at key moments. The chapters flew by in gulps of breath as much of the “fluff” you get in other stories was simply cut out. That was awesome...for the most part.

I love plot-based stories. We get action scene after action scene with some rather artful violence. The violence itself was handled nicely. It was enough to be called hardboiled but not enough to be campy.

The Bad: One of the quickest ways to irritate me is the appearance of deus ex machina while the protagonist is smack in the middle of a shit sandwich. This book featured a limp justification for what I would qualify as a savior from the ether who saves the day. I chose to forgive but I did so reluctantly.

I didn't love many of the characters. In fact, a supporting character (Big Ronnie) was easily my favorite and the most dynamic of all. I should have ached for Amisha's pain but I merely grommaced at her situation.

It's book one of a series, I get that, but what happened to half of the cast? They all disappeared and even in denouement, we were given absolutely nothing about Stone, Jupiter, Marchant, Olivia, Amisha...and that's not a good enough reason to read book 2. This book could have stood on its own but falls just short of the mark.

The Miscellaneous: The book was not re-edited and formatted for a U.S. audience. Quotation marks were identified by a single inverted comma (‘), rather than two (“). Also, the use of the em dash was substituted for a single hyphen mark, rather than the full grammatical em dash. I don't know if that is a function of UK English grammar, or if the authors penned the novel on a smartphone lacking that partuclar special character. I love indie authors and I love reading indie author works but some of these things exaggerated the point.

There are a few things in this book I hope to never forget. Then, there are the paradigms that deserve a place on my wall, in their own inks and framed in a way that will preclude my ever living without them. Things my children need to learn that become pillars in our family culture. Thanks, Angela. And great work.

I can see why people enjoy this book but I just couldn't get myself to bite. I did finish it, and I can safely say, I have no doubt this book is the first of a series with at least three installments. So, if you liked it, I doubt you will be left without more quirky police work.

MOONGLOW


This is my second experience with Chabon, and it won't be my last...probably.

1) Kavalier and Clay was SO GREAT I likely expected too much from this book.

2) This is autobiography meets fiction which can be awesome when veiled. This was anything but veiled...which should work, but it didn't for me. The plot was really choppy, which was by design, I'm sure. That's where it got a fictional style and flair. Otherwise, it would have read as a narrative history and that would have been just plain boring. Because it's “fiction” we get to see Chabon do his thing a bit. Vivid details, exquisite descriptions, and geriatric sex. He just isn't going to cut that out, is he?

3) I'm not a space-enthusiast. To me, the final frontier is—well—death and I just don't care for the obsession with space travel, rockets, and that stuff. That's not Chabon's fault, by the way, I'm to blame there.

4) Early in the story, it flowed the way I hoped it would. I expected a meandering experience with a gentle start and a nice, soft landing into the finish. What I got was an excellent Chabonesque opening and a finale that seemed rushed, or bored, or fed up. Almost as though Chabon himself couldn't wait to put down the book. That would have been a major buzzkill if I had been buzzing at all.

5) Spies. I love spy stories. I love stories with mere tertiary spy angles. I love stories where kids run around pretending to be spies while they wait for dinner. This book presented Wild Bill Donovan and all I got was a rinky-dink story about a V2 rocket and a priest discovered in Europe; which, by the way NEVER WENT ANYWHERE! I'm a little pissed about the spy thing.

6) Is this speculative history? Yes. Is this reconstructionist? Yes. Is this family dirty laundry? Who f***ing knows.

3.75

Wow...this was awesome. I am able to comfortably qualify much of what I read as “not for the faint of heart,” and this book was no different. This book WAS different in the ways it peeled back my expectation—of an interesting murder mystery—and left me with a dark and honest view of love, teen anxt, and rape. The best part was that my expectations were met and I wasnt left resenting the result despite the plot deviating from my expectations. Maybe that doesn't make sense but I read it and you (probably) haven't yet. Read it, then let me know what you thought.

Well done, Mindy. I believe I will need to track down some of your other work.

This was an incredibly quick read. It appears Martin Meadows has made his mark publishing bite-sized summations of more robust research. While his detractors call this cheap, I disagree, calling it well-achieved.

Everything in this book was a reminder. Nothing was new or revelatory and that's what I liked about it. I also agreed with everything he said. He called them “best practices” and that's exactly what I would call the advice he offered.

In his preface, Meadows makes it clear what he is going to deliver and he qualified his status as a writer, rather than a degree wielding expert. As much of my non-fiction is written in similar humility and brevity, I was inspired by the view of success achievable in such a style.

She's BACK! For those of you who ever wondered if Madame Rowling was ever capable of such great heights following Harry Potter... this is your answer. Book three solidifies this series a place among my favorite serial fiction. It is too bad I must advise you to “get through” [b:The Cuckoo's Calling 16160797 The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike, #1) Robert Galbraith https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358716559s/16160797.jpg 22002305]. Trust me, by the time you read [b:The Silkworm 18214414 The Silkworm (Cormoran Strike, #2) Robert Galbraith https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1392577290s/18214414.jpg 25639104] you will not regret it. Finally, having the opportunity to read [b:Career of Evil 25735012 Career of Evil (Cormoran Strike, #3) Robert Galbraith https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1434419930s/25735012.jpg 43699375], will be entirely satisfying. Without the first two books, you would be wholly incapable of following the storyline. Do yourself a favor, dig into these. They are easily read, though rough, quite adult, and certainly not for the faint of heart. If you have a proclivity for a dark crime story with a hero you can root for, you will find it here.

This book was possibly the best of the bunch.

Me and my daughter laughed and laughed!

Fun, Fun, Fun!

Follow Jim and Will through an adventure to learn the truth about a late season traveling carnival. With unlikely friends, and unbelievable adversaries, the boys discover a wickedness they never imagined.

The writing was superb, flowing from left, to center, to right and back. This was a surprise addition to my library and there it will remain.

Bonus, this book is totally safe for kids about 13, or so.

Not what I expected.

It is challenging to experience a childhood hero in a different light. Brilliantly, readers who loved To Kill A Mockingbird will have a very visceral experience.

For now, that is all I have to say. The narrative covers challenging topics and I think I will grow to appreciate this book more over time.

With the thinnest relationship to espionage, or treachery against King and country, this novel disappointed in its lack of depth. Efforts at multi-dimmentional characters were stunted and details used in developmental stages lead to nothing in the end.

From start to finish, myriad details were left completely untouchrd:
-The Local Play
-What Selchester's niece was writing
-The missing notebook
- And all the gossip adsociated

The story was barely entertaining.

I suppose, the only thing I can say in so few words would be this: if you appreciate fine literature, via exquisite characters, history, philosophy, battle between ethics and morals, love and hate, expansive national politics juxtaposed and at war with the lives of mere children ... if you value just such an experience, worthy of the title “epic,” in this case you will not be disappointed.

I may never be able to concisely articulate my feelings on this book. A just review would require many conversations, over specific parts of the book, at different times.

Lastly, a word of caution. This book, more than perhaps any other story I have read, is worthy of its title.

I consider this course an introductory survey. The author may have addressed the audience in such terms, but I cannot remember. On the whole, this was a wonderful dive into what it takes to consider and create fiction.

Not exactly unpredictable but it was fun.

Fun characters. A fun premise. GREAT writing! Check it out. A short joyride.

Meh... This was okay. I wanted more than I got from this story. The characters were relatively interesting but, overall, it was lackluster.

As this is the first installment of a forthcoming series, it was heavy on character and world building. There is nothing wrong with that, but even book #1 in a series should stand alone. Subjected to this standard, Girl Waits With Gun was marginal, at best.

I believe this yarn would strike a chord with a niche audience. Just because I do not for the bill, does not make this a poor story. Also, I would not define it as poorly written.

I'll be hinest, the cover got me. Well done on that account.

While this was not appropriate for my 5 year old (for whom I was screening it) I still would hesitate to pass it on to even a 9 or 10 year old. Simply because I found the characters to be pretty harsh towards one another. Still a good story and plenty spooky. But I'd want to talk my kid through some of the interactions between these characters. It's not bad by any stretch. In fact, I think it would be a great way for kids to expand their empathy but an adult would be good to help.

This book, despite its age, truly surprised me. I found myself feeling concerned with some of the messages contained within the storyline; beauty equals love, performing acts of service justifies entitlement, etc. Baum's introduction specifically sets the reader up for failure by explaining his intention to avoid scaring his readers through dark elements, which he does repeatedly. I thought the writing was poor, despite his target audience and, yes, I adjusted for generational gaps.

Epic. Dark. Realistic.

I was amazed at how true to life this story seemed. I have no personal experience in the cartel world, but what little I know seems to coincide with this narrative. If not for the voice and distinctive style of fiction, you would wonder if this was not a compilation of memoirs.

The ending was satisfying the way I hoped it would be. After a 600 page juggernaut of literary achievement, a clean, plausible, and climactic finale is expected. Few deliver as well with stakes this high.

Somehow, I couldn't stop.

This is a wonderful mystery novel. It reeks of Agatha Christy and such praise is not issued lightly. As with all mystery novels, the finale, the climax, is really not the point. It's about the journey. The subtle details and fiendish second guessing that gets our blood boiling. You get precisely that from Ware.

Written with superb flow, excellent characters, and deeply evocative language, I give a full five stars.

A surprising little nugget of awesome.

Ok, I'm impressed with this book for many reasons. The author was relateable and her situation was epathtically lamentable. In the end, this is upper-class writing.

As non-fiction goes, an author's voice is often dull and mechanical, unless you are Helen Russell. She was witty, glib, and completely normal from start to finish. As I do, she assigned nicknames to most of those she interacted with. Examples include “Judgy Face” or “Lego Man.”

Her research was neither tediously academic nor jeuvenile. The majority of her research is based on interviews, jotted notes, and humerous internal monologue.

From start to finish the reader loves the story woven around her main goal to identify what makes Danes so happy. The project is broken up into 12 months, with each month ending in a summary of her findings. The best of her observations, interviews, and internet research are highlighted throughout. The reader stands to learn more about rural Danish life and tradition than you thought possible. Certainly more than you previously thought interesting.

In summary, well done Helen. Please write more so I can read all of your work.

I tried this book on a whim because it purported to be about a spy. And while I did not get the espionage I thought I would, I was not disappointed.

This book is about mankind, war, and the political struggles on the smallest scale all set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War.

The social commentary was poignant. The cultural commentary will annihilate American xenophobia. The deeply flawed inner dialogue was relatable. And the climax was perfectly tailored.

Every single word in this book was painstaking labored over. That effort, alone, the craftsmanship of the writing will be an intoxication to the reader.

This book has some nuggets of wisdom that are fantastic. Too bad I found the need to “slog” through the rest of it. Well worth your time but be prepared for much of it to be applicable to few, rather than most.