The Koala of Death - Betty Webb (Gunn Zoo Mystery, Bk 2)

31 December 2015

I got this book for my mother as a Christmas gift last year. She read it and enjoyed it, so when I went home to visit for Christmas, I read it too.
It is an interesting idea to have the main characters be zoo staff. It gives a glimpse into a career that few people think about, but that's about the end of the parts I thought were outstanding and worth mentioning. The story itself was mediocre. The characters were colorful, but the flow was lacking. Overall, I would say this book simply wasn't intense enough for my preference. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone, other than maybe my mother, who has already read it.

The Wind Through the Keyhole - Stephen King (Dark Tower Series, Bk 4.5)

1 December 2015
A story in a story in a story, seriously King, what are you doing? I suspected this was what he would do, but still..... Roland n' crew are still on the way to the dark tower. They get him to tell a story about his younger self, in which his younger self tells a story to another boy. It's like Inception, you just keep going deeper and when you emerge from one, you must stop and consider how many more you must surface from.
Despite this, I actually really enjoy both stories in this book, but I would have been perfectly content if they had been separate instead of embedded inside each other.

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War - Max Brooks

13 October 2015
This book is better than any other zombie story because it gives you the bigger picture while still being able to enjoy highly personal stories. In other zombie stories, we follow one or a small group of people around a single area. There may be news or radio broadcasts mentioned or in the background, but never so many fascinating stories and takes on the problem. I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys the zombie thing.

Thomas Paine: Enlightenment, Revolution, and the Birth of Modern Nations - Craig Nelson

8 October 2015
As I have come to notice, many of the people who are now famous as artists, great thinkers and patriots, in their own lifetime, were treated like crap. I believe the case of Thomas Paine may be the best example of this. (I'm excluding Aaron Burr because his story is simply too crazy.) Thomas Paine is often single-handedly cited as the reason the American Revolution was able to gain the necessary momentum needed from the common people. He convinced the nation to sacrifice its short-term happiness for long-term gain. His pamphlets are required reading for high school students. Yet, during his own life, he struggled endlessly with debt.
The early part of his financial woes was his own fault. He was, as seems to be very common, a horrible businessman. But after his famous publications, he thought he deserved some compensation, and I must agree. Another fascinating thing was that during this time, there was no such thing as copyright laws in the US. It was something the English were big on, and consequently, the Americans abhorred the idea. Writers hoped for a good deal from publishers, but most money was kept by the publisher and once a manuscript was in the publisher's hands, they could do with it whatever they pleased while the author had no power. This seems extreme to me and I do approve of keeping artistic power in the hands of the creator. I believe artists should be compensated for their work. I do not believe that their venue, platform, or distributors should get most of the money (I'm specifically thinking of record labels needing to die).
On to more crazy things, Mr. Paine was in France during the insanity that was the French Revolution. Shortly after the French royal family tried to run away but was caught and returned to the palace in Paris, there was a mass gathering outside the building. Thomas Paine was watching the spectacle when a layman from the crowd noticed he didn't have his tricolour cockade, the symbol of the revolution. The French mob then tried to lynch Thomas Paine from a street lamp until someone who recognized him yelled out who he was, and that he was, by proxy, the father of the French Revolution. The French had lost their minds so much that they nearly killed the man famous for the best writings to support their cause.

Dead Beat - Jim Butcher (The Dresden Files, Bk 7)

30 September 2015
I started this blog with a Dresden novel and this is the first chance I've gotten to read another. Not because they are hard to come by or anything actually restricting my enjoyment of them, but rather because I am limiting myself on how fast I read them. Reading these books makes me happy in a way few other things can.
I don't have any super detailed critiques for this specific book. It is in line with the others of this series so, of course, I loved it. The only detailed thing I'd like to say is: Zombie T-Rex named Sue. You're welcome.

Ruins - Orson Scott Card (The Pathfinder Series, Bk 2)

20 September 2015
I LOVE Orson Scott Card. Everything he's ever written has been fan-freaking-tastic! He's not afraid to really push the limits of logic in his works, particularly this one. Time travel has always been a fave for all sci-fi writers and readers since the very beginning.  But what he does that few others do, is make it logical. The characters use it fully as a tool, not just a fun romp around or endless paradoxes, but in a way that intelligent people would utilize the capabilities to solve serious problems. He also makes very realistic characters (other than perhaps Rigg who is far too self-sacrificial, but you could argue that same flaw in Ender)
I always recommend Orson Scott Card to people. He is a master of seamlessly twining together fantasy with enough logic to make it believable.  If you've never read one of his books, pick up Pathfinder (book one in this series).

The Warded Man - Peter V. Brett (Demon Cycle Series, Bk 1)

19 August 2015
Great, great, great book! This one came off an online list, but was also concurrently recommended to me from a fellow grad student.
Good fight scenes. Good angst. Good character design. Good visuals. This would also make a superb movie, just so long as they stick to the book.
All the components of a good, solid, entertaining book, but the one aspect of it that really got to me was even when human lives directly depended on it, people were exceptionally poor at retaining the hard-won knowledge over the ages. There are holes all over the colosseum in Rome because people lost the knowledge of how to create the metals that they still used and needed but couldn't even make themselves anymore. I honestly do fear that this will happen again in history. Some of our current politicians make me particularly nervous with their blind clinging to ideas and ideologies that simply don't work in real life.
But enough of that: Read this book!

Fire - Kristin Cashore (Seven Kingdoms Trilogy, Bk. 2)

11 August 2015
I do really like this author. In both books I have read of hers, she strikes a good balance between sweet and lively.
This book takes place in a different kingdom than the previous with people of a different type of talent. The title character, Fire, is the last of her kind, a sort of super-predator variant of humans. Everywhere she goes, the mere sight of her drives people mad, either with lust or envy or horror. Consequently, she often hides herself and her most outlandish characteristic, her vibrantly, flame-colored hair.  Not to sound pompous, but I can kinda relate given the attention I draw down here in south Texas.
Regardless, again, simply a good and interesting book. Certainly one I would recommend to people.

Inca Gold - Clive Cussler (Dirk Pitt Series, Bk. 12)

22 July 2015
I have read many Clive Cussler books. Dirk Pitt is the original character of his books. This particular one is interesting, as always, but not his best or most creative. That being said, you will always win if you pick up a Clive Cussler book.

Graceling - Kristin Cashore (Seven Kingdoms Trilogy, Bk. 1)

8 July 2015
I found this book listed in an article titled "# books as enchanting as Harry Potter" and thought, "Eh, why not?" Perhaps not as enchanting as HP, but pretty close, I will certainly give it that. I will be reading the other two books in this series that are already written and keep an eye out for future publications.
It's cute and fun, but didn't cut out slight gore and mild sex, a pretty good balance of everything in a simple piece of fiction.
Conclusion: Recommended, particularly if you like stories like Harry Potter or slightly more action oriented (read murdering) versions of Julia Quinn or Amanda Quick.

The Maze Runner – James Dashner (The Maze Runner Series, Bk. 1)

3 July 2015

This is a good book. If it had been around when I was a “young adult reader” (which would have been the ages of 9-13 for me) I would have been all over this. However, as it happened, it’s just a good book. Not as dystopian as other things I’ve read, not close, so if that’s your favorite genera, it might be a bit of a disappointment. And the mystery isn’t really all that mysterious, you can figure it out right away what has to be going on (having read Ender’s Game years ago, it already put me on the right track in knowing what was going on and a likely explanation of why). BUT it was still a pretty good book, definitely worth picking up while you wait on the next installment of whatever your other favorite series is.

Hellblazer: The Devil You Know – Jamie Delano et. al. (Compilation 2)

1 July 2015
The last story in this collection, and consequently the one freshest in my memory, I did not like. It was a little too convoluted for my taste. That aside, this collection was better than the first because it goes into the actual happenings at Newcastle, which is heavily referenced in both the previous collection and the television show (the impetus for me to finally get around to reading these). It starts off with a dated, but fantastically fun, romp into the 80’s idea of what the ether would be like (think gay Tron) to escape a devil come to claim Constantine’s soul.
I like the way these pit the flamboyantly bright colors popular in the 80’s against the incredibly dark verbal material. It is a delightful contrast that doesn’t allow it to stray too far in either direction. The exception this was that last story in this collection mentioned before. However, one of the following quotes is still from that section.
Great quotes from this:
#1) "Life's only duty is survival. We are all gods or demons-exerting the energy of will to squeeze the anarchic creativity of nature into our own image.
Stiff monuments, memorial only to the poverty of our imaginations. So swim. Embrace thought. Think.
Think what you are - what you would wish to be. Construct your future. Mold reality into a pleasing shape. Push on through - but know that all the world is subject to the arbitrary rule of sex and death."
#2) "Closed in the ruins of my room, it seems gravity increases its grip on me, focusing all my energy inward - -
Engulfing the nebulous fire of anger in my black, pulsating heart - -
Squeezing it remorselessly into glittering diamonds of pure, mathematical fury.
It is as if, turning over a stone, I have revealed the meaning of my life - and that meaning scuttles and spits and is called hatred.
And that hatred is ugly.
And that hatred is beautiful.
If he could read my mind - demon or no - he would be afraid.
I owe him a monstrous debt, and I swear - between the despair of heaven and the hope of hell - that debt will be paid in full."

#3) Your soul dies if you stop dreaming.
#4) Kid: See… I told ya he wouldn’t be here. You shoulda listened. You’re so stupid, Mom!
Mom: Don’t say that - you . . . you lyin’ little weasel! He will too come.

Constantine: Sure lady – and shit don’t stink. Vicious little brat, though, probably turn out to be a writer or some other kind of psychopath.

Wizard and Glass - Stephen King (Dark Tower Series, Bk 4)

15 June 2015
This is the fourth book in the Dark Tower series, Stephen King's one epic saga. The largest chunk of this story is actually the background of Roland, which is heavily referenced up to this point but never explained. So maybe 550 of the 700 pages of this book are devoted to this story.
My favorite part about Stephen King is he will tell you what is going to happen, but you will still read it anyway! From the very beginning, you know the girl dies and even that she burns, but the details of why never come out. As I read this book, you eventually met Susan and, despite knowing she dies, hope that somehow King was wrong. You hope that something has changed. You don't want her to die and as the time gets closer you read with increasing trepidation. You are convinced the very next time she screws up, she's dead . . . but then she's not. And the next time, and the next, until you're emotionally exhausted when. . . . BAM she's dead. And you don't even know what to do with yourself.
I love Stephen King.

Dead Until Dark - Charlaine Harris (The Southern Vampire Mysteries, Bk 1)

5 June 2015
This was not a book I intended to read. I was at a friend's house and he just threw it at me for me to read, so I thought I'd give it a shot.  I know that the book was the base for the HBO tv show Trueblood only because it prominently displays that information on the cover, and I know that show is about vampires, but that's it.  So what I'm saying here, is that I had zero expectations.
I thought the author did a great job on the main character. Most female leads, especially in love-oriented stories simply dither around until things happen to them. There was some of that in this book, but it was a realistic amount when legitimate decision making would take place. The main character takes action sometimes, but also holds back sometimes, avoiding the stereotype at each extreme.
The author did not shy away from the sense of history a small, southern town can hold onto. The "what happened to their offspring" question is one I often wondered about in other immortal/vampire stories. Ms. Harris did leave some holes, but I assume they'll be filled in later on.
This is not the most graphic story I've read by a long, long shot, but it's not PG either. Again, the author creates a great balance between arousing and pornographic. I often lean toward grittier regardless of the topic, pain, joy, sex, fear, revenge. I typically like fully fleshed out, brilliantly vibrant emotions and descriptions. However, I've not been feeling up-to-par as of late and the less detailed sex scenes in this book, at this particular moment in my life, were spot on. I don't believe I could have said that same thing two weeks ago.
Overall, I'd give this book a "good" review. It's not one I'd push on everyone, but if a friend had already read some of my other recommendations and just wanted something simple, I'd throw this title out. I'll likely read more in the series, but I won't have to reign myself in from blazing though them all at top speed.

Greywalker - Kat Richardson ( Greywalker Series, Bk 1)

2 May 2015
My reading schedule has slowed way down with real life intruding. It has been so long since I read books this regularly that I'd forgotten how nice it is. It makes me happy. Even when the book is over and you're left suddenly alone in a room, I'm glad I took the time.
But this post is about one particular book. Greywalker was not that great, in my opinion. There was a lot of added angst for no apparent reason. The author wanted to create the classic accept-your-fate dilemma, but it comes off weak.  The book isn't that enthralling. The characters are meh, with one exception, who isn't even that prominent of a character. The idea is pulled off so-so. I am confident that placing this concept in another author's hands, this book could be good.

Hellblazer: Original Sins - Jamie Delano et. al. (Compilation 1)

14 Apr 2015
I've had a fascination with John Constantine for as long as I can remember and I have no idea why or how. I do not remember the first time I heard the name. I do not remember learning about him. He's been a character that I've known for too long like Batman or the Hulk that I don't remember when I first came across him. The bizarre part is unlike the 2 comic heroes I just named, Constantine is pretty obscure.  He's too dark to be a family-friendly anything, and no one in my family or friends read comics growing up, so I have honestly no idea where I came across him. But I like him.
Hellblazer is just dark enough, dirty enough to hit a sweet spot for me. I like his flippancy. I like how he doesn't always save the day. I like how he makes such poor choices. I like how his suffering is largely his own doing. I like that he seems close to a real person.
My only complaint: It's a comic book. Ironic, I know, perhaps bordering on ridiculous to say that I really like this comic book character and then complain that it is, in fact, a comic book. I would be madly in love with Constantine if he were in standard book format. I could get lost. In the comic format, I can't. I know many would attempt to burn me at the stake for saying such, but books filled only with words are superior to comics.

Danse Macabre - Stephen King

8 Apr 2015
An old book, it was written about the early to mid 80's but still interesting. I'm not well versed in the horror genre in any format, radio, book, movie, television, and especially in the cases listed in this book as they were all from before I was born. To me this was a gold mine of things to put on my "To see/read" list. Many of the classics I recognized, but didn't know the stories behind.
The best part of this book was observing the deconstruction of the genre by another author of it. So often when I see critics reviews on a movie, I assume the opposite. The critics hated it? Must be awesome!
In this case, Stephen King is commenting on his forebears and contemporaries, not from the perspective of some lord, as outside critics do, so we see an more accurate description of the good and the bad.  He is also very honest in his description of the bimodal pattern of quality seen in the horror from the eras discussed: when it's good, it's really good but when it's bad, it's really bad.
Pick up this book if you're looking for a quality list of 20th century horror to get your hands on, or if you enjoy the musing of a young, but popular fiction author.

Furies of Calderon - Jim Butcher (Codex Alera, Bk 1)

30 Mar 2015
As you can see, this is also a Jim Butcher book like the Dresden files, so I had extremely high hopes. The Dresden books are what set me on this venture to read through similar authors.  I like the obnoxious wit and sarcasm in the Dresden books, so I expected to find more of that here, even if the setting was different. I did not find nearly as much to laugh about in this book and it was not as alluring as Butcher's Dresden books.
All that being said, it was a reasonably good book for the first of a series.  My interest in the book was clouded with hopes of being as great as a Dresden book, and I was fully aware of that from the beginning. Butcher's Furies series doesn't have the fervent following that his Dresden series dose, and I know why.
The book, standing alone without expectations, is fine. Not the best one I've read, FAR from the worst. He, again, keeps up a good pace and has created an interesting enough world. Some characters were a little too obvious, some too opaque.  The characters' reactions were all within reason, but some only barely.
My biggest issue was with the wildlings called Marat.  He goes into description of them and their culture but never says what they are. He uses "man" and "he" and "woman" so on during action sequences and they have male and female, but I wasn't even sure if "man" was the right word.  Are they a non-human primates? Something farther away on the evolutionary chain than Neanderthals from us? Are they magical, non-real beings? Are they people who's ancestors fell into a vat of toxic goo? I had a hard time coming to terms with them because Butcher skips over what they actually are.
I would read more of this series, but it's pretty far down on my list. I'd much rather read more Richard Kadrey, Stephen King, or Phillipa Gregory first. It also wouldn't be first on my list of recommendations to anyone unless they had already read everything else I could offer.

Sandman Slim - Richard Kadrey (Sandman Slim Series, Bk 1)

21 Mar 2015
This. I liked this. Of course, I have liked every book I've come across that has *spoiler alert* nephilim mythology in it.
The construction of the book had some ups and downs. I didn't really understand why Stark continued to return to the crapped out video store when everyone knew to look for him there. I'm also not really sure why Aelita just decided to murder him. It seemed like she was plain crazy, maybe that's what Mr. Kadrey was going for, but it was still a bit much, on the verge of roid rage even.
I did like the pace. I loved the style and origin of the magic in this book. While it didn't get me all giddy the way some books do, it has potential and I will certainly read more of these in the future.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - Sherman Alexie

21 Mar 2015
I decided to give this book a try after seeing it on a list of "100 books to read before you die" list. There are maybe 30 books on my TO READ list from this type of recommendation. Who knows if I'll ever get through them all, but this was a shorter book so I was able to tackle it (as compared to, say, Gone with the Wind, which is also on that list).
I wasn't real sure what to expect with this book being as I got it off a list rather than tracked it down through personal recommendation or following similar author leads, like the last 2 books I've reviewed.  It was not fantasy like the last few books I've read, but I liked it well enough. I don't know that I'd put it on a list titles "books you must read before you die" however. That being said, as far as coming-of-age books go (which I'm not a fan of) this was probably the best I've ever read (keep in mind, it's a short list, so that's not really saying that much).
I do think it would be a good book for middle schoolers to read. It addresses nearly all the obstacles they will soon encounter like fitting in, poverty (yours or a classmate's), death, friendship, originality, and learning what really matters in life. I believe any middle schooler could take away an important lesson from this book.

Ghost of a Chance - Simon R. Green (A Ghost Finders Novel, Bk 1)

2 Mar 2015
This was my first experience with Simon Green and I was very unimpressed. I am aware that he has many other books, and while I plan to try out another of his, it will absolutely be from another series! I had heard all good things about his books, but reading this, I don't know what they would be.
Ghost of a Chance was the first book of the series, so I expected some standard explanations and character set-up. But, it never got better?!? We have 3 characters, they are so flat and stereotypical, it's kinda painful.
Melody constantly obsesses over her instruments even though they never DO anything. She can't get a good read, isn't sure how to interpret the data, the machines are going off the chart, bla bla bla. This constant return to the instruments felt more like filler than actually progressing plot or dialogue.  Her actions and responses were on repeat the whole book, like Mr. Green had a Twister board of actions and phrases that he just flipped anytime Melody needed to add something to the book.
Happy, while I love the irony of his name, made zero sense. Mr. Green tried to explain away Happy's inconsistency with drugs, but even the most hardened pill popper can't go up and down that fast. It was like Mr. Green had certain scenes he wanted to create but then realized he needed a sober character in between these scenes. Happy's ups and downs were so beyond the capability of a human that it would have made more sense to use some tele-whatever explanation rather than just "he does a lot of drugs".
JC was the worst of all, supposedly being the flagship character of the trio. He comes up against evil so magnificent it has to come from another dimension and he just goes, "Eh, whatever. This should work." BAM! WOW! He figured it out!! There is no logic for these great leaps of insight, no lead-up, no reasoning, no explanation. None. Then we're supposed to believe that this great mastermind of making-shit-up falls instantaneously in love beyond reason with a ghost, and the she ghost with him. What.
Looking back over what I've just written, I wonder if Mr. Green has early onset Alzheimer's. He forgot Melody just checked her instruments and said that line, so he repeats them. He forgot weather Happy was high or not. He forgot to include all of JC's internal dialogue of how he comes to these great conclusions.
Yes. This is a book for Alzheimer's patients.

Our Mutual Friend - Charles Dickens

22 Feb 2015
I did not actually read this whole book between today and the completion of Shadows Linger! I've been working on this book since before Christmas and finally finished it. I've not read many Dickens' books, but this might be my favorite of the few I have. Nicholas Nickleby was entertaining, but not something I could wrap myself up in. This is similar in that some of the dialogue is too drawn out, but that was also the style of the time.
Dickens creates some dramatic characters that I did enjoy greatly. John Harmon shutting down Wegg was satisfying and Eugene Wrayburn is perhaps my favorite character created in the 1800's after Elizabeth Bennett. The way he runs Headstone rabid and doesn't give a shit about anything is fun to see in an otherwise straight-laced book.
I would recommend an abridged version of this to most avid readers.

Shadows Linger - Glen Cook (Annals of the Black Company, Bk 2)

14 Feb 2015
This is the second book of the Black Company series and it was far better than the first. Cook finally reaches his stride with this one. Enough is going on with a goal and you actually have something to worry about and characters to invest in. Better pace, more purpose comes out in this book that did not appear in the previous. While important things happened in the first, the events of this book were more enthralling, even if they were, mostly, less important for the development of the long term story.
I will definitely go onto the third after this one. I was dubious after the first, but I'm glad I tried out another.

The Black Company - Glen Cook (Annals of the Black Company, Bk 1)

8 Feb 2015
I found this book at the library while searching for authors similar to Jim Butcher. Once I got into the book, I realized by "similar to Jim Butcher" it meant his Codex Alera stuff, not his Harry Dresden stuff. But I'm rarely one to put down a book, so I continued if for nothing else than the experience of a new (to me) author. It started out slow. I had a hard time getting involved in the story. I was about 80% of the way through before I finally reached that attachment stage.
This is a long-time-ago-fictional-magic-happening land, which isn't really my thing but it is well written and the characters are very real. I wasn't a fan of the style of magic he created, but it was used in appropriate measure.
I did get the feeling that this was a lot of running around pointlessly and mostly just preparation for the following books.

Blood Rites - Jim Butcher (The Dresden Files, Bk 6)

31 Jan 2015

I don't think I can actually convey how much I loved this book. I believe this is the seventh Dresden book, and I thoroughly enjoyed the previous. Something about this one, however, made me fall in love.  Given my preference for gross amounts of detail, there were a few spots that went by too fast for my taste, but he does keep the pace hard and fast, which is part of the appeal.  I have a hard time finding the sweet spot between long drawn out pointless dialogue Charles Dickens-style and trying to go so fast you've left readers in the dust trying to fill in the blanks Simon R. Green-style. Personally, I find Stephen King, without fail, can find that spot. I am aware that few people would agree with me on this.
I've read many negative comments about Butcher's illogical/poor choices made by Dresden. Yes, this character makes a lot of dumbass decisions, then just blasts his way out with raw power.  However, I'd like to remind those people that real, decision-making people do the same thing. Politician whose JOB is to make decisions aided by more knowledge and recommendations than you can shake a stick at STILL make bad decisions and try to blast their way back out. While eye-roll-worthy, Harry's dumb man mistakes aren't, in my opinion, unrealistic.

Regardless, I recommend Dresden novels to anyone who likes a fantastic, fast-paced piece of fiction.