Jeff

Finished this short book. I can almost see Mr. Gaiman telling his son this delightful story and making it up as he goes along. A very short, yet captivating story by one of my favorite authors and it was just the literary palette cleanser I needed after the last two books I read.

If you haven't read this, get it now and do so.

Another great read in the Dan Brown tradition with lots of plot twists, expository conversation and action.

Deconverted: A Journey from Religion to Reason is a well-written semi-autobiography by Seth Andrews told with passion and pathos of his life-changing move from theism to atheism.

While not the same in details, my own life mirrors in general the same steps that Seth passed through in shaking off the uselessness of faith and religion in order to embrace reasoning, science and reality. The slowly dawning acknowledgment that a so-called infallible book was instead full of inconsistencies and that there was no sky-daddy to worship and serve; the friction of family still in the clutches of Christianity and the pain my breaking free of those clutches caused; the inexorable movement from ingrained teaching that there IS a god, to the position that there MAY NOT be a god to the realism that there is NO god; the feeling that a weight has been lifted when you stop basing your life on fairy tales and myths. All of these, I believe, are common to most who come to the realization that religious faith is a fallacy.

I have yet to meet anyone who moved from theism to agnosticism to atheism who did not go through a multitude of sometimes agonizing thoughts and emotions, because it is not a case of simply flipping a switch but, as Andrews says in the title, is a journey.

Some of the best parts of this book are at the end where Andrews gives resource after resource for fellow atheists. It's important for atheists, who are in the minority in the USA and the rest of the world, to know that they are NOT alone in their travels from the darkness of religion to the light of reasoning. I don't mean to sound like the moderator at some kind of support meeting, but it is important for atheists to know that they are NOT alone in what they have gone through and the feelings they have experienced.

Finally, I want to thank my friends and fellow Goodreads members, Richard and Heather, for gifting me this book on my birthday. It is one I have intended to read for several months and I am grateful that their generosity allowed me to read and enjoy this work.

“Becoming Superman”, by J. Michael Straczynski is the writer's autobiographical story of his childhood and career, constantly backlit by his desire to emulate the greatest superhero of all time; Superman.

Like a lot of children from my generation, which is also his, Straczynski found superhero comics at an early age and, also like me, his favorite was Superman. He would desperately need that example of goodness and right, because his childhood was one of violence, poverty, and sadness visited upon him by his own family; his father in particular.

Without getting into the details that you should read for yourself, suffice it to say that he suffered physical, verbal, and emotional abuse at the hands of his father and unspeakable sexual abuse from his grandmother. Through all of those things over years of his childhood that would have made most children as evil and demented as his family, Straczynski held onto the Man of Steel as the example he would follow to the best of his ability. He vowed to be the opposite of his father and as much like Superman, who was fair and just and kind and stood for right, as he could.

I first became aware of Straczynski when I began watching the science fiction TV show “Babylon 5” in 1993. Strangely enough (and you find out why in this book) it came out at almost the same time as “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and for a fan of science fiction like myself, this was a treasure trove of TV viewing. However, although I am a huge Star Trek fan in general, I found myself liking B5 more than I did DS9.

But “Babylon 5” was not Straczynski's first TV work by any stretch of the imagination. It turns out he was a writer for the animated cartoon show “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” a decade earlier as well as other animated shows and moved on from those to network live action series shows such as “Jake and the Fatman” and “Murder, She Wrote” (neither of which I ever watched aside from a few minutes of Jake one time).

Before becoming a screenwriter, Straczynski was a print journalist for various weeklies in the LA area where he grew up and even wrote a play or two for fun. Writing was something he felt a compulsion to do, like most writers. But once he exhausted all he felt he could do in print journalism he moved to stage, television screenplays, and then...comic books.

Which was where I picked up him again in 2001 when he became the writer for “The Amazing Spider-Man” at Marvel Comics. I liked some of the things he did with the character, but there were more things I didn't like and so I gave up reading the title. That's OK, no one is going to agree with everything a writer does to a character they have been reading since they were 7 or 8 years old.

He also was the writer chosen by Marvel to bring back “The Mighty Thor” in the comic books. Much of what he did in the book was also used in the first Thor movie. And best of all, he was an extra on the movie. Remember the first guy that drives up to the crater where Thor's hammer has landed, gets out of his pickup truck, goes down into the crater, and tries to lift the hammer? Yep, that was J. Michael Straczynski.

The next time I came across Straczynski was in 2010 when he had been hired to write 3 graphic novels of my favorite character and his; Superman. Titled “Superman: Earth One” he did a few different things with the character's origin and arrival in Metropolis, but I looked at them as taking place on a slightly different earth and he did do some fun things that I enjoyed.

What was even more interesting was after I finished this book the other night I went back and re-read all three volumes of “Superman: Earth One” and I was amazed and amused to see how he had taken events from his own life and woven them into the comic book story, such as meeting a vivacious redhead (who sort acted as a stand in for Lana Lang, in my opinion) and even gave Clark a kitten/cat much like a kitten Straczynski literally rescued from a drain pipe that lived with him for many years.

I don't mean to give you the impression that this man was perfect in any way. He made some mistakes and some bad decisions, but we all do. Here is the main truth of this autobiography; always strive to be the best you can be and stand for what is right. My end thoughts on completing the books was this: Straczynski has a will of iron. He determined that he would never be like his father and in fact would be the complete opposite of his father. He would hold Superman as his example and would do all he could to emulate those attributes of truth and justice and standing for the humanity of mankind.

There is much, much more to his story than what I have covered here. Finding out the truth about his father, a million-dollar movie deal and so much more.

One last thing; That front book cover photo of a Superman costume hanging in a closet is not just wishful thinking. Straczynski claims to have a tailor-made to his body exact re-creation of the Superman suit that George Reeves wore in “The Adventures of Superman” TV show from the 50's and 60's hanging in his clothes closet. He also claims he's never worn it, but c'mon! I think this might be one time he is fudging it just a bit. How could you have THAT in your closet and NOT wear it at least once?? I know I would! Lol!

This is an inspiring book to read whether you are familiar with J. Michael Straczynski and his work or not, but I admit I think I enjoyed it more because I've seen some of his work and this book gives you that all important “behind the scenes” peek that always excites me.

I highly recommend “Becoming Superman” as an excellent book to read.

Good story. Without giving it away, I was pleased with the ending, even if it was fairly standard.

When I went to BookPeople a couple of weeks ago for the reading/book signing of “The Oracle Year” by Charles Soule, I also picked up a copy of a signed edition of “Armada” by Ernest Cline. I pretty much purchase dead tree books for only two reasons these days:

I love the book and/or author so much (for example, Neil Gaiman) that I want the hardback version on my bookshelves.
I've either had the author sign the book or the bookstore has signed editions so I can add it to my bookshelves.

“Armada” fell into the number 2 category. Other than one review from a friend of mine shortly after it was published almost 3 years ago (and that didn't matter because I couldn't remember if it was a good review or a bad review), I hadn't seen any other reviews on the book and my first thought was, “Well, it's the same author who wrote “Ready Player One” so it's probably a good read.”

When I was checking out, the clerk asked me if I'd seen the movie. We both quickly figured out he was referencing Cline's first book “Ready Player One” and had a good laugh. I told him that reading the inside flap description made “Armada” sound like another “The Last Starfighter” and he said, “You'd be pretty close in getting that impression.”

So, a few days ago I had the time to start reading “Armada” and finished it last night.

Let's get the obvious out of the way; “Armada” is indeed another story with constant references to pop culture from the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's. If you liked “Ready Player One” because of those references, then you should LOVE “Armada” all to pieces. It felt like there were double or triple the pop culture references, mostly under the umbrella of sci-fi, (video games, TV shows, etc.) but also a lot of music and even commercial jingles. I enjoy those references as much as most people who lived through them, but they really almost got to be too heavy-handed in their use in this story.

I don't want to spoil anything for those who have not read the book and intend to, so I'll try to keep this as generic as possible, but you already have an idea from “The Last Starfighter” comparison above.

And I'll say from the beginning; I wanted to like this book. I really, really enjoyed “Ready Player One”, so I was hoping that “Armada” would be just as good, if not better than “Ready Player One.” I mean, there's always that question when you have such a hit like “Ready Player One” as your first book, “Will the author's sophomore book be as good as their freshman offering?”

In this case, close, but no cigar.

Zach Lightman is a high school senior about to graduate and contemplating life after school. He's a video playing kind of nerd who works in a video game store after school and on weekends and lives with his widowed mom. His father died in a sewage plant accident when Zach was less than a year old. His two best friends are gamers too, but they're not as good as Zach.

It turns out that all the top video games on the market are just a way for Big Brother to find out who their best defenders might be because aliens are coming to destroy the world. Turns out his boss at the video game store is not who Zach thinks he is; his dad may or may not have really died in the shit plant accident; and he meets a smoking hot girl his age who's being recruited as well.

You could probably write the rest of this book yourself. Right down to the schmaltzy ending.

I think the most disappointing thing was that this felt like a “write by the numbers” story. The characters were cardboard, plucked from central casting, given a standard background and then placed in a formulaic “80's coming of age saving the world tale” that was so easy to predict it lost any of it's suspense. I've often said there's nothing wrong with a formulaic story, if it's handled properly. If you give the characters lives that are as real as possible and work the story in such a way that plotting is not as obvious as one plus one equals two, then you craft a story that makes it stand out from the formula.

“Armada” is a perfectly readable and serviceable story, but it is not even close to being as good as “Ready Player One.” I felt like Cline just relied on the standard tropes for this kind of story and put no effort into making it stand out. It was disappointing.

I'm sure Cline has another great book in him, but it's not this one.

I generally like Koontz's writing and storytelling ability and have since I first read him more than 25 years ago, but this story reminds me why I haven't read anything of his in a while.

Over the years, with increasing occurrence and harsher wording, he has indulged more and more in presenting his own brand of faith or belief and political leanings as the only right way while constantly denigrating any other view with sarcasm and as something to be mocked. The balance in his storytelling keeps tipping more and more in that direction and it seems to permeate more of the story with each one he writes. I come away from the experience feeling like I've been lectured to by a paternal presence who insists I listen to his viewpoint.

This is not an argument against diversity of opinion and presentation, but is exactly the opposite. Presenting divergent views in a reasoned and balanced manner is what is missing. I wholeheartedly believe that most fiction writers present, especially their main character, with their own core beliefs. That is natural. But the best writers can temper that and present other characters in the story with opposing views in a sane and equitable manner.

If it weren't for that constant and underlying harping by the author through his narrative and character exposition, this would be a much more enjoyable reading experience because the story is good and the characters, especially Odd, have an interesting basis.

A good book.

I grew up on the early 1960's (Silver Age) Superman comic books, left after most of the John Byrne reboot had been discarded and returned briefly for the Death of Superman and a few years following that storyline. I watched Smallville and went to each of the movies because, it was after all, Superman, but could never bring myself to continue spending so much money on the comics when I didn't care for the storylines or the characters.

Thus, most of the history, up until the late 90's when I stopped keeping up with the comic book versions because of too many updates to the origin and changes in character, was already very familiar to me. So I found particular enjoyment and interest in the portions that covered that period to present-day.

Weldon is obviously familiar with the character and has done an excellent job of bringing not only the history but the essence of Superman to his work. The only caveat I would offer is his tendency to use a $10 word when a $5 one would suffice. But this is to be expected when your background is NPR and I always appreciate the opportunity to expand my vocabulary.

If you have any love for the character or interest in his history, this book should be on your shelf.

A very detailed and deep look at the lives of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, creators of the greatest superhero ever, Superman!

This is a pretty standard thriller with a pretty standard plot. There's really nothing here to get excited about, and nothing really wrong, but while I hoped for a passable story that was never my main reason for downloading this book.

I realized that, without really meaning to, the vast majority of authors I've been reading over the last several months have been male. Now there's nothing wrong with male authors, but I woke up to the fact that I needed some gender variety in my reading and Ms. Martin, in the sample I read, seemed like a good choice.

And she was, especially with how she portrayed the female characters, which is another reason I chose this book; the story revolved around women. I wanted to read someone who could realistically write from a feminine viewpoint; who could accurately reflect women's feelings (something I don't think male writers can usually do, at least not all that well); and who could capture the way that women interact with each other. On all these points, Ms. Martin came through in a fantastic way.

This was an excellent book to read after my tour of the Minuteman missile and control sites near Wall, SD a few weeks ago. Great history of the program AND the local feelings, on both sides of the issue, about having nuclear missiles buried on your privately owned property.

Very helpful!

Another great short story in the larger universe of The Expanse that looks at some everyday people who are not major characters in the storyline. I almost like these novellas more than the novels.

Once again, Neil Gaiman weaves a tale that pulls you into the world he creates and makes you care about his characters and what happens to them...even if some of them are almost god-like in their existence. Gaiman has such a way of taking words and making them live that it is an indescribable joy to read those words on a page, making you savor each and every one of them as if they are the tastiest morsels your mind has ever consumed.

Read this book, you will not regret it.

Man, I love anything Gaiman writes, but his comic book retelling brings back such memories and feelings of what comics were like to me as a kid!

I've been a huge fan of Gladwell's writing since reading his first book, The Tipping Point, in 2000. I am always astounded by the way he thinks, the thought processes he employs to bring his point into focus. It never fails to impress me how he can take disparate events or situations and show their commonality, then turn them to show how they make his argument true.

In this book Gladwell uses his usual process to show that there are many times when we think a perceived weakness is an incredible strength and a debilitating event can be the catalyst of something incredible.

I first read the original version about 25 years ago. Enjoyed re-reading the story, especially this unabridged edition. It was as good as I recall the first time I read it.

I love time travel stories. I love science fiction stories. I love the history of science fiction authors. Levesque combines them all in a great story set in the 1940's with characters right out of the pulp fiction books and magazines of the same period. If you like a fast-paced time travel story with twists and turns and a satisfying end, “Take Back Tomorrow” is a book you should read.

Great advice from the creator of Smashwords. Lots of excellent points to help ebook authors put out a successful product.

Enjoyable read. Dragged a bit in the middle but finished with a bang! Thanks Kathy Mann for loaning it to me to read.

Another excellent book in this series. I reached the end far too soon.

Enjoyable story. I was a little put off at first by the author's style and some occasional grammatical errors and typos, but was able to move past those and find a good little story with interesting characters and plot.

I've been a fan of George R.R. Martin since his days of writing TV screenplays for The Twilight Zone and Beauty and the Beast. But I held off starting the Game of Thrones books because I wanted to wait until he had finished the series so that I could read them through without interruption.

HBO scrapped that plan last year by airing the first book as a season-long series. Or rather, I scrapped that plan when I could not resist watching.

I just finished this first book in the series and it was as satisfying and enjoyable as I had expected it to be. Martin is a master of characterization, plot and description. Truly the ‘Tolkein' of our time. He has woven elements of action, intrigue, emotion and fantasy into a tale that grabs hold of the reader and will not loose its grasp. Which is why I am eagerly anticipating acquiring the second novel in the series and continuing his epic journey.

It's been a few years since I read the first book, so it took me a while to get into this second book and remember who was who and what they were doing. And the middle was a bit sluggish, enough so that I almost gave up and was ready to just stop reading. But things began to make sense and pieces fell into place and the end was one I was very happy with. Now I'm ready to make my way into the third and final book and looking forward to seeing how it all turns out.

Excellent book that dovetails and agrees with other sources of behavioral science that I have studied.