Confessions of a Cartel Hit Man - Martin Corona & Tony Rafael

Overall, I give this book a "good"rating, nothing stellar though.  It takes you through the life of a man and how he ends up as a hit man.  I thought it was interesting to watch the evolution, even though it was a bit slow at times, but that's real life.  This isn't fiction.

I saw some other reviews post-read that complained about the detailed history and focus of the book.  While those people think the emphasis on this is stupid, they've clearly missed the point. 

Complaint A: "This book was mostly about growing up and partying, not being an actual hit man."
That's quite literally what life is. The lifespan of a hit man in incredibly short. There aren't any long-term guys running around who can write stories that go on and on because they end up dead or caught.  If you want fiction, or a story about an assassin, go to that.  A cartel hit man is going to be a boring short story, which is why there is very little about the actual hits in this book, there aren't that many hits any one single guy does before he gets caught or killed.
Complaint B: "There was too much about the people he knew and who they were related to or where they were from."
Again, that's quite literally what this is all about.  People in gangs base their entire identity on where they are from, who they know, and who their family is.  Other readers complained about the uselessness of this but that's what's important to gang members, so that is what the book emphasizes.  Is it boring to others? Yes, but those readers also aren't gang members.

I would recommend this book to people interested in the subject, but if you're not already interested, it's probably too slow for you.

A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

I've seen this book as a play and a movie many times. Those other medias were surprisingly true to the original tale.  Really the only difference were teh little rambling snippets that obviously had to be cut for time.  I really enjoyed most of those because they were filled with snarky musings that we so often forget have always been a part of humanity.  We think of people anytime before the last 40 years as being boring prudes.  That's not true, the thing that's changed is now there's an avenue to get such ideas into the public hands.
An example:  Anyone who's seen any modern version of this story knows it starts out with "Marley was dead as a door nail."  It goes from there to Scrooge's business and jumps right in after maybe a few more sentences.  The book actually continues for a bit on the topic questioning the logic behind this phrase.  "One wonders why a door nail is the deadest kind.  One would think a coffin nail to be the most appropriate word to exemplify deadness, but, in their wisdom, our forefathers did not create that phrase. So as it stands, Marley was dead as a door nail."  etc.
I do love these tidbits to remind us that our ancestors were just as snarky or sarcastic and asked the same questions, exasperatedly, about how stupid the English language is.
This is not a long book and is a great one to read if you don't have the option of going to see it as a play (and dislike most movie interpretations as I do).

Earth Bound - Christine Feehan (A Sea Haven novel, Bk. 4)

This book sucked. I've read early 19th century authors that were more interesting than this book, which is such a shame because the author thought up a great premise, but instead of making the book about "regaining your self-possession" or normality or even revenge, any angle would have made a fun story, she waxes endlessly about how the main character feels towards some guy and vice versa.  90% of this book is "I'm too broken to be loved", "I'm afraid", "He's so wonderful he doesn't deserve to be saddled with me", INTIMATE STARES.  Bitch! Please! Just STFU and get on with the story. It got particularly bad at the end when the dialogue started to repeat itself verbatim.  Not just beating a dead horse to death by regurgitating the same thoughts repeatedly, but the same exact words! Copy and paste!

Because I'm recommending the book to no one ever, I'm not going to worry about spoilers.  So here goes:

Lexi was abducted by a high-level pedophilic cult leader at 8 and he used her sexually until she hit puberty then he abused her more physically cause, you know, he's a pediphile and his "bride" aged out.  But he couldn't kill her off for a younger model because he knew she was the money maker on the farm.  He wasn't sure how, but it was because she's an earth elemental.  She runs away, gets the police to shut that shit down, but pedophile and his bros slip through their fingers.  Lexi goes into witness protection and accidentally finds other elemental women and lives with them on a farm she cares for.  She's walking the perimeter when pedophile n' bros attack her.  They'd tracked her down and were waiting for the right time. Random Russian assassin bolts out of nowhere, kills bad guys, ushers girl home because several of his biological brothers are married to the other elemental women and he needs to warn them that an old Russian politician's son is trying for minister (or whatever) and has put out a hit on all of them to cover up some shady dealings the dad did.  *Cue wasting the rest of the book until the second to last chapter*  After pedo n' friends got dead, people from the cult start calling and leaving threatening messages so Lexi thinks about it and remembers that there was a little-used compound of the cult up in the mountains.  It was raided, but apparently forgotten and has been repopulated by a tiny group of cult members.  The women go to them and use their powers to scare the "normal" people into thinking God is mad at the leaders, so they run away, leaving the leaders alone for Russian assassin to murder at his convenience.  

Sounds like a pretty good book, right? Well what I've detailed above was about 10% of the whole book.  If the author had made this the center point of the book, I would have enjoyed it. But she didn't. It just went on and on.....

Her: "I've got scars on my back and I don't want you to see them."

Him: "I've got scars everywhere. You can look if you like."

Her: "No! I mean, you're a man so it's ok.  I'll heal you."

Him: "I don't need healing."

Her: "Yes, you do.  You're in pain.  You're so broken on the inside. Let me heal you."

Him: "Only if you let me heal you and show you how sexy you are."

Her: "I can't do that. I can't give you what you want."

Him: "That's cool. I don't need it."

Her: "Yes, you do!" <cries, runs away>

Him: <chases her down and holds her> "We'll get through this. I can wait."

Her: <sniffle>  "ok"

GAH!!!!  gag! gag! gag! Me: <Pulls out gun and shoots the phone (audiobook) until there's a foot deep hole in the counter.>

Why did I read this awful book? It had a good number of similarities (superficial) to what I'm trying to write.  We had a magical female running a farm with bad guys out to get her.  I thought, "Oh no! Have I been scooped?!" Nope. No worry of that. I'm writing the story that's exciting, not the one moping about how insecure everyone is. 

In conclusion, in case you didn't already get it: I recommend this book to no one and don't understand how it's on a top anything list.

The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness - Dave Ramsey

This was both an invigorating and depressing read given that I'm currently unemployed.  On the up side, I've already done most of the hard lifting.  This book is written for people drowning in debt, which I am not. So I'm already better off than 99% of the people that pick up this book.  It is a great system and I was particularly fond of the author's in-your-face style. So many people blame anyone and everything else for their financial woes, when really, it always comes back to you and you alone. I witnessed this with one of my relationships.  It was always everyone else's fault but his and never his own outrageous spending habits. People use everything from not admitting their laziness to God or bad luck as an excuse to not take control of their own lives.  The best part was the author directly saying this is your fault that you got in this mess, but that means you can also get yourself out!
Now, I could have skipped most of the book because I don't have any debt right now. But that's the best part of this book. Ramsay's debt destruction advice is great, however his investing advice isn't as great. It's perhaps good for people who are newly to having extra money, but I'd like more aggressive tactics.  I've read other people have some better ideas for growing, but no one seems to have a better get-out-of-debt plan, so I still greatly appreciate this man for his ability to help the people who need it most.
As far as my current situation is concerned, I was disappointed that most of his advice wasn't applicable. "Get a second job." I can't get a first job! "Sell that stuff." No one wants my stuff because I don't have anything expensive to begin with.  I can't sell my stuff for 2 or 3 dollars! (I know this because I have been trying.) "Live frugally." Last month I spent a whopping total of $100 on groceries! I don't know how I could get any cheaper than that without stealing.
I would recommend this book to anyone who has debt, even student loans and mortgages.  It's got some great ideas to kill that debt fast so you can start making your money work for you instead of someone else.

The Tale of the Body Thief - Anne Rice (Vampire Chronicles, Bk 4)

I do love Rice's style of new-age American Gothic. This book is a LOT of fun and I'm SO glad she wrote this story.  It's been bouncing around in the back of my mind for a long time, whenever astral projection comes up.  This book is a little less bloody than the first three of the series, but it is perhaps the most interesting from a theological stand-point.  As with the other three before it, I would recommend this book to everyone who's a fan of vampire-related fiction or anyone who enjoys a richly written world to make you ponder both the mundane and the essence of the soul.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Washington Irving

I first came across The Legend of Sleep Hollow at summer camp when they would show the Disney animated cartoon of this book.  I had always thought Disney had caricaturized Icabod Crane because, you know, cartoons.  But after reading Washington Irving's actual words, I realized Disney pretty much got him dead on.  It's so weird.  This is a great short story and Irving does a wonderful job of painting the scenes.  I appreciate his creative use of words to produce each setting.  I would recommend reading this book in October as a fun Halloween preparation, though it could be read any time of year.

Neurotribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity - Steve Silberman

I think everyone needs to read this book!  It is the most fascinating thing I've read all year.  We are inclined to think that autism is a recent problem, but this book thoroughly lays out all the compounding factors showing that is not the case.  From striking examples in the enlightenment period to the evolution of the definition of autism, it is so clear how this significant variation in thinking was swept under the rug for so long. 
Many years past, severely autistic people were left to die, or later institutionalized where they were often killed slowly.  Autism, in its current definition, didn't exists until only a few years ago and was previously labeled "childhood schizophrenia" or any one of a myriad of other disorders.  People classified as those disorders like Temple Grandin and her "brain damage" are still alive and influencing the public discussion today. 
So anytime to wacko anti-vaxxers start spouting that bullshit about how we are in the middle of an autism epidemic and there wasn't any autism a half century ago, know that they are flat wrong.  In fact, I think if the anti-vaxx crowd read this book, we'd have a lot fewer idiots in that camp. (I wish.)
The achievements of autistic people through the ages have been significantly under rated, from calculating the mass of earth to the internet and tech, their fingerprints are all over most of our greatest advances.  Ever wonder why it seems every great mind from the past was so damn eccentric? It's cause they were likely autistic.  Some of the most famous examples being Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, and Nikola Tesla, and many more who hid in the shadows so well that you don't know their names today.
My favorite tidbit from this book is this analogy:  Just because a computer isn't running Windows doesn't mean it's not working. (comparing autistic thought to Linux or Apple iOS)

Dune: House Atreides - Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson

Definitely worth a read if you like the Dune series.  I love that teh authors are going back and filling in some of the backstory.  I liked Dune, though it was a little weird at times.  There were a few bits that had me going, "Wait, what?" And I saw one of those explained in this book.  It has been a good number of years since I read the original Dune.  I think I'd like to read through all these prequels and then the original again.  This is a weird saga, but worth the time to get through it.

Kitchen Confidential - Anthony Bourdain

This is a great book for everyone, foodie, aspiring chef, restaurant goer, person who eats, anyone.  While the narrative isn't linear, it does keep your attention while not becoming gratuitous with all the wildly inappropriate parts thrown together (which they likely would be if it were written in order).  The characters and stories are vibrant in a way only real-world stories can be.  It both scares and entices one to enter the food world. Bourdain's passion drips off every page.  I'm considering returning to the restaurant world part-time for some low-key job.  There's so much of it I haven't seen yet and want to learn.  (No busing a table isn't difficult, but in every simple task, there are tricks that you learn if you do it long enough, or if someone tells you. I'd like to learn all those.)

A Guide to Tea - Chris Cason

This is the perfect little primer for tea knowledge.  It's a short little book with beautiful pictures and a thorough background without getting bogged down in details.  Many of your basic 101 level questions are answered in this book.  I would recommend this book to anyone who likes tea.

Underground Railroad - Colson Whitehead

As far as story goes, this book was barely above average.  It jumps around in confusing ways that did not impress me.  Maybe the goal was some story telling dynamic, but it made for short periods of being extremely confused.  If an author wants to jump forwards and backwards in both time, space, and character, there needs to be an obvious road flag.  This book did not have those. Therefore, it only gets an "ok" on story.
This story deals with history, and as far as accuracy goes, it gets mostly a fail.  The author clearly wanted to touch on all the atrocities suffered by slaves and former slaves, and even freemen.  But chronologically, you can't put them all together within a few year period.  This book included references to traveling from Africa aboard a slave ship, institutionalized slavery, king cotton, the underground railroad, lynch mobs, medical testing and sterilization.  Slavery was over before we knew what "germs" were, so you can immediately see where my issue comes in with the scientific angle.  It grated against the timeline of history, too many anachronisms together.
This book might be ok if you're into wishy-washy story telling where the feel of the story is more important, but it bothered me to the point of being unable to enjoy the story. I would not recommend this book.

Mermaids in Paradise - Lydia Millet

A cute book, but not great.  The narrative character is not someone I would get along with in real life, and therefore I found her slightly vapid and sometimes grating.  It took a long time to get to the point of the plot.  It was a fun book with a nice setting and interesting characters.  But, as I've said before, it wasn't life altering or very impactful.  I wouldn't really recommend this book to anyone because it's nothing special, but if you were stuck somewhere and this was your only option, it could be worse.   

Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut

I bumped up Vonnegut books after chatting with some friends about how much they liked his books and told me that I would really enjoy them too.  I wish they had been right, but either this was a poor example of what they had in mind, or I'm not a fan of his books.  By the time you get to the end of Cat's Cradle and the main character commits suicide, you don't even care ( or at least, I didn't) and that's a sign that the characters, story, or both aren't compelling.  It was an interesting idea, but I wasn't excited to get back to the book. It was just something to fill the drive to/from work with.  I'm disappointed about how it turned out and while I do plan on reading another Vonnegut book to make sure this one wasn't a fluke, he got bumped way down on my list again.

Grist Mill Road - Christopher J. Yates

Eh.
That's how I would describe this book.... eh.
Not bad, not good, medium pace, but never sped up or slowed down so it felt disappointingly even, story ok, not enlightening or surprising....
I know what the author meant to do. I understand how he wanted to work the novel, and he succeeded too.  It just didn't impress me too much. 
Blah....
I guess I wouldn't recommend? I don't really have much of an opinion either way, I suppose that means you shouldn't read this book.

Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg - Irin Carmon & Shana Knizhnik

This book made me want to murder everyone about 60 years ago.  Women (and men too) have an awful lot to thank Supreme Court Justice Bader Ginsburg for today, as in the fact that you are considered fully human under the law.  RBG got her career rolling by repeatedly attacking sexist laws one at a time.  Her philosophy (with which I completely agree) is that to make lasting and effective change, you have to do it slowly, methodically, and in a logical progression, so that by the time you attack the root of the problem, there are no other excuses standing in your way.  Think of sexism as a pyramid.  If you go after the base, even when you chip part of it away, the less important parts above will still cave in and block your path.  RBG also used the narrow-sightedness of the male experience against them by attacking sexist laws that hurt men, breaking a path to easily continue removing sexist laws that attack women.  She is very smart.  I know large portions of people who get lost in books and cerebral careers aren't great at understanding people, society, or psychology.  RBG was not one of those people.  She is very aware of how to avoid the knee-jerk reactions of the privileged when the playing field is leveled.
The end of the book addresses something I've been hearing for a while:  the public call for her to retire.  Have you ever heard of a sustained, wide-spread call for a male justice to retire? Not really.  I see her remaining as another battle against sexism.  She plans to retire when she can no longer recall every single detail of the court battles that got her to where she is today.  I support that.  There was an incident a few years ago where she fell asleep during a speech (state-of-the-union? I forgot which speech).  People love to use this as an example that she shouldn't be working anymore.  But if you habitually stayed up until 5 am working, you would also fall asleep at a boring ass speech too.  If fact, I'd say most people would fall asleep without keeping the crazy work schedule she does.  I understand her issue perfectly.  Working at your peak when the rest of  the world demands you work on their schedule (which is awful) is hard. Always. 
I look forward to seeing her on the court for many more years. 

Murder on the Orient Express - Agatha Christie

I saw that this had been made into a movie again, so I'd love to watch that now.  I've always enjoyed Agatha Christie for her logic and no-nonsense plots.  As far as murder mysteries go, I'd say she is my favorite author.  I haven't read any of her works for years, so I was glad to get back to her.  I will keep her higher up on my list in the future.
This is a fun book, solidly written and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys fiction. 

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke

I had fun with this book. It was odd, but the styling was great.  It is a recently written book written in the style of early 1800 British fiction novels, think Pride and Prejudice or Jane Ayer.  However, this book has a more modern topic than actual novels written during that time.   Magic certainly wouldn't have been an acceptable topic during those times. But it is now, so I'm very glad the author came up with this idea.  It had all the positive characteristics of the old novels, but with a more interesting topic than marriage, money, and socializing.  The only component I didn't like was the magic was odd. I assume it was based on old English accounts of magic, which today seem fanciful (at best), but once I got used to the limits and what one could do with the magic, I liked it.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes both fantasy and the Bronte sisters.

The Hundred-Year Walk: An Armenian Odyssey - Dawn Anahid MacKeen

A very intense book, fascinating and frustrating for all the same reasons as the stories of the Holocaust, you want the people to fight back, to do something, ANYTHING, but no one realizes how bad it will get until it's too late and everyone is too exhausted to do anything about it.

The fact that the Turkish government and many of the people still deny that this even took place is unforgivable.  

This is a powerful and disturbing story and everyone should learn about a genocide that Hitler based his own genocide on.  

Ready Player One - Ernest Cline

I saw this was being made into a movie, which looked like a cool movie, so I wanted to read it first.  This is a cool book. If you're looking for something entertaining, this is it.  It was fun, sassy, creative, weird. The idea of the OASIS is phenomenal, and I'm disappointed the versions of "online life" we currently have aren't as cool.  But I don't even have an internet connection at home anyway, so it's all irrelevant to me!
I do see two potential issues with the movie, however.  In the trailers, there's been a cute chick, and I'm sad because I suspect they cast some generically cute girl as Art3mis, instead of a real person as she is described in the book.  Secondly, that genericlly cute girl says, "Welcome to the rebellion." to Wade's real-life face and then some SWAT team guys bust in, also NOT in the book and, while I expect it has been added to up the adrenaline more, it is totally unnecessary. It's already a good book. Ernest Cline likely spent a year, or more, to get it here. No hollywood moron is going to improve it in a few weeks worth of half-assed effort.
Conclusion: a fun book and would highly recommend