Kelly Corn
This book is another one of those books ... considered great as a classic, but just not one that I found very enjoyable. I feel almost the same about [b:On the Road 70401 On the Road Jack Kerouac https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1413588576l/70401.SX50.jpg 1701188], a book about a set of friends on an extended vacation who get really really drunk all the time. Hemingway's writing style is so choppy compared to the tomes I typically read that it was unnerving and almost seemed juvenile. Additionally, I missed a very very important piece of this book's puzzle, I totally didn't get that Jake couldn't have sex anymore due to his war injury. I would've read his interactions with Blake differently, and understood her weird behavior. But good for Hemingway to write about a woman very comfortable in her own sexuality, especially one in a time when speaking as she does was very taboo. I do want to visit after reading this novel.
This is probably a 2.5 book, but does lean more toward the 2 end than the 3 end.I don't mind a “dark”, “gritty” or even a “violent” novel. This novel is all of those. I like [a:Robert B. Parker 397 Robert B. Parker http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1354149354p2/397.jpg], whose stories I find to be quite gritty and violent. I like [a:Elizabeth George 1402383 Elizabeth George http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1235518043p2/1402383.jpg], whose plots I find to be very dark and the crimes often violent. But these first 2 books in the Kenzie and Gennaro series are just too much of the gritty, dark, and violent for me. It's almost as if the desire to disturb is Lehane's focus. The book is significantly longer than Parker's (generally coming in at about 200 pages), and it really doesn't need to be. But describing pages and pages of creeps and creepiness takes up lots of space. I get the sense, though, that Lehane is attempting to do deep and complicated character studies more like those of George, which accounts for the length. Unfortunately, the characters are just unbelievable for me.I don't particular care for Angela Gennaro, and I really don't care for Patrick Kenzie. From my perspective, Kenzie is pretty much a self-absorbed jackass. In the end that's really why the book is a 2. I did feel compelled to read it (it is a suspense novel afterall). It certainly is violent, but it just isn't deep, not in the sense that it deserves more than 200 pages. If you like just good PI suspense, read some Parker. If you like mysteries that develop along with their characters, try some George.
As with the other 2 books in this series, the story is incredibly fast-paced and never slow down. The first had the perspective of 2 major characters, while the 2nd expanded to include 2 more. This installment in The Expanse also has the perspective of 4 characters which I enjoyed more than 2. Also the 2nd and 3rd installments have the perspective of women, which is refreshing in this genre.
I continue to be impressed with the depth and variety of the characters in this series. There are 2 female perspectives in this book, and I felt both were believable, and I was sympathetic to their causes. Sure, I personally may not act as they do, but the author's development of the character has led me on a easy path to understanding why they do what they do. And that's important to me.
If forced to choose one aspect of the fantasy / sci-fi genre that I most like, I would have to say world building. The world building in these books is awesome, inspiring, and delightful. I love space operas that expand my imagination like this one does. Also, the world is wonderfully open-ended, the author has so much to do in this world yet, and so many ideas to explore. It's a great setup to the story.
So, the characters are great! The setting is great! The plot... was pretty good.
The rest of my review is spoilerific.
Holden returns in this installment as the protagonist. but he is embracing his new identity as a hero. Miller is also still lingering, this time as ghost. The 3 other characters are Anna, Melba, and Bull.Anna is a (okay I'm making an assumption here, but she is married to a woman) lesbian first-time mom and preacher who is asked to go on a journey to the mysterious ring leftover from the 2nd book. She's a great example of the complexity of characters. She's a lesbian (different enough on its own), but also a preacher so now we have a moral compass in the mix, and finally a new mom who has ties to humanity in that regard.Melba is the big enemy, plotting to ruin Holden's life. In the process, she kills a man, and is basically driven insane by the guilt. Bull is probably the character I least identity with because he's the opposite of me. Although I really liked the characters and the setting, I really hoped to have more in the plot. I think I was expecting knowing more about the "other side" of the ring. The novel ends with some explanation of the ring's existence, and then basically the ring opening for exploration. (There's actually several rings, but I'm paraphrasing here). It did not feel like an ending to 3 books to me. I know it is 6 books, but I still just expected a few more crumbs of info. And, there was a lot of ship battling-type stuff, of which I'm personally not a huge fan.
Great book overall, very much looking forward to the rest of the series!
I've read 2 Tim Powers books. They were both completely different but yet with many similarities. The similarities are quickly convincing me that I need to read more Tim Powers.
I read this novel because Powers was the guest of honor at a con I attended recently. Additionally, I recognized the title from the 4th Pirates of the Caribbean movie, of which the book is not really related.
If I were to describe the hallmark of Tim Powers based on all of 2 books that I've read of his, I would say his vision is taking historical facts and weaving in magic (or supernatural or time travel) into the history to explain it. The magic or supernatural is dark (I won't go so far to say evil, but it certainly isn't angelic power at work).
On Stranger Tides is all about the adventures of Mr. John “Shandy” Chandagnac. He is kidnapped by a man who is hoping to revive the spirit of his dead wife into his daughter.
The book is spooky and scary on a basic level. No thing is really that scary, but instead the embodiment of human desire was terrifying. What drives a man to search for the Fountain of Youth at all costs?
I do wish that there was just one more female character. The only one is this book is the damsel in distress. An opportunity to add a kick-ass female pirate squandered.
Great compilation of post apocalyptic stories! I look forward to Wastelands II and I just saw an announcement of another compilation of Pre-apocalyptic stories. I really wanted to do a long review, and point out the stories I liked and didn't like. For the most part, I enjoyed them all, with some standouts.
The basic idea of this book is to introduce to the reader several key figures living in or somehow involved with the modern history of Jerusalem. I enjoyed the real life memoirs of the author sprinkled with history, and I learned a lot about Jerusalem, Palestine, Israel, and Judaism.
This is not a straight history book, nor is it a straight biography type book. It's also not filled with opinion. It was not what I expected based on the title, but I was pleasantly surprised at what it turned out to be about.
I love Nevada Barr's settings! I am more neutral about the primary protagonist Anna Pigeon. And I generally don't like any of the other characters. This particular mystery is almost of the locked room subgenre. After running to escape a fast moving fire, several firefighters and rangers end up stranded far away from their base camp, with one of the rangers found dead after the fire passes them.
So torn on this book between 2 and 3 stars. I guess I'll go with 3 since I tend toward the positive side usually.
3 stars for the super-fun setting. Annie Laurence lives on an island off the East Coast selling books (what a DREAM job). To top it all off, she even lives in a posh tree house. She's got a great boyfriend (almost irritatingly too great, mostly I'm unsure why the author chose to make him wealthy). I thoroughly enjoyed all the references to great mystery authors, past and present. It was a Who's Who of Mystery Writers all throughout this mystery.
Unfortunately, this mystery was just not that good. I never ever know the murderer until either the end of the book, or maybe a chapter right before. But this murderer, I knew right off. And I just spent the rest of the book hoping I was wrong, only to find all the clues worked out just fine. I may read more in the series, but it's not a priority right now.
I bought this book because the author was the special guest at a lectureship in a nearby town, and I wanted a copy to get autographed. It wasn't long after starting the book that I bought quite a few more because I simply loved it.
I knew going in that the message of the book is a general (loud and clear) anti-war message. And that coincides with my beliefs. Of course, most people are surely anti-war, but for some like myself, I think we should exhaust all other means before going to war.
The book begins in our past (well, at the time it was written, it still was the future). The majority of the story is about William Mandella as he climbs the ranks of the military after being drafted right out of college. Earth is fighting a far, far away enemy, and because of the distance, a lot of Earth time passes in between battles that happen quickly from the soldier's perspective. Due to these huge spans of time, I think the author had the opportunity to explore so many different topics and visions of the future.
Just one of the ideas explored is the draft. Only physically fit and intelligent men and women are drafted. Once drafted, they go through rigorous training in which it is known and expected that not all will live through. There are some interesting ideas about sex thrown in as well. The women are pretty much expected to have a lot of sex, likely to keep the men stable? Not sure, but interesting nonetheless.
The first attack by the Earth on the enemy is deeply cringe-worthy. It definitely seems unwarranted. The aliens seem complacent, uncaring, and we seem aggressive and hateful.
Each time Mandella goes back to Earth or back to a close base, a lot of time has passed. I loved some of the visions of the future the author had the chance to explore because of this. One is that the future becomes so overpopulated that homosexuality becomes the norm (encouraged by the powers that be). It's a dystopian future in which most citizens have weapons, even bodyguards, and expect violence.
This war lasts 1,143 years. The Earth had become so economically dependent on war that it just had to be kept up. And in the end, those involved didn't even remember why it began. There is definitely some parallel today to that concept as America continues to linger in the Middle East, and countless corporations and government agencies depend on the war for livelihood. I just hope we avoid this dismal future that Haldeman has envisioned.
Fantastic read that has stood the test of time!
This is the best book yet in the alphabet series. I've been reading them in order and honestly close to giving up on the series after I and J.
Kinsey Millhone, who is normally an early-rising, 3 mile jogging, hamburger-eating private eye switches to join the nightlife. And maybe that's why I liked this book – I can surely relate to that more. Every time I read about Kinsey jogging 3 miles, I feel guilty because I don't jog 3 miles. Yeah, I compare myself to a fictional detective. Kinsey was more to my liking staying up all night, and meeting with the seedier people in Santa Teresa's underground.
The mystery was compelling, and the structure was just wonderful. The interviews were clear, the evidence mounted consistently, and I pretty much guessed every single character as the murderer before it was all said and done.
I don't read mysteries for character development, nor do I really care much about setting. I like trying to figure out the culprit. ‘K is for Killer' was better than my expectations in that regard.
I am not a maphead myself, but I thoroughly enjoyed every page of this book. Ken Jennings is the famous Jeopardy record-breaking winner and has written books about trivia. This book, however, is all about cartography.
Jennings himself is a maphead, and I think this book probably started with a question like “Why am I like this? Are there others like this?” These two questions get presented with answers that delighted this particular reader. But really, what is a maphead? Someone that likes to look at maps? Someone that collects maps? Someone that geocaches? Someone whose goal it is to travel to every continent in the world during the month of January?
I was fascinated with the intelligence of the children in the Geography Bee, and I am swayed by Jennings' argument that perhaps the Geography Bee, while not as famous nor renowned as the Spelling Bee, it is actually harder and more entertaining.
I learned a great deal about the history of maps, about the Library of Congress' immense holding of expensive, rare, and overlooked maps. I learned about the St. Valentine's Day Massacre Road Rally, and nearly purchased my own voucher to participate in this year's road rally. Perhaps next year. From the Geography Bee, to exclusive travelling clubs to road rallies to geocaching to the history of GPS, there's a lot covered in a few pages.
The one thing that prompted me to read this book was one reviewer's mentioning that the book covers some history of the US Interstate System. In the end, I actually didn't learn much new about those roads (it's already an interest of mine), but I learned much more about other topics of which I wasn't aware. I'll never look at the hobby of geocaching the same (never really gave it much thought) for instance.
Took me 2 months to read this beast. Well, it was a re-read technically but I didn't remember anything from the first read 10 years ago. I read it in preparation for watching season 2 of the show.
Engrossing from beginning to end, a reader can easily see themselves hanging out with these characters. Some characters are there to love, and some are there to hate, but most of them are in between. They are not all good and not all bad, making it hard sometimes to take sides.
I'm curious how the 2nd season of the show will compare to the book, looking forward to finally getting to watch it.