outrageously zany and great fun

Mort by Terry Pratchett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Mort is outrageously zany and great fun! If you loved Hitchhikers Guide, you'll love this one!

View all my reviews

a very special collection

Burning Bright by Ron Rash
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A really nice collection of short stories that portray real people and their lives set in the mountains of Appalachia. The tales cover a range of topics and time periods, but portray in gritty and sometimes gruesome detail life as it really goes down. This is a very special collection, i heartily recommend it.

View all my reviews

realities of life at the margins

Above the Waterfall by Ron Rash
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is another beautifully told story of the realities of life at the margins. Told from the POV of the two central characters, we experience the paradoxes of good and evil, right and wrong, and how life seems to settle out somewhere in between. The word imagery the author uses, especially in Becky's account, is top shelf. Wonderful writing and reading, one can't help but feel the story as if living it.

View all my reviews

great conclusion!

The Graveyard Book Volume 2 by P. Craig Russell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A great conclusion to Neil Gaiman's first volume of this graphic novel format of his Graveyard Book. Now i find out that these two volumes are based on a novel by Mr. Gaiman, which i will soon obtain and read. I'm sure it will not disappoint!

View all my reviews

America and Americans

America and Americans by John Steinbeck
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

America and Americans is an interesting and nicely written collection of essays on topics related to . . . America and Americans. Steinbeck displays his wisdom and knowledge on a range of topics and discusses how the current events and issues of the 1960's are related. It is fascinating (as always) to read Steinbeck's insight and thoughts, but the context of the 60's should be kept in mind when reading them today, in the 21st century. While some of his views are somewhat dated, those are the exception to the mass of wisdom and intelligence that are conveyed as he works through each topic. The book's pages are the majority photos from famous photographers, but aside from the photographer credits in the back of the book, there are no captions or descriptions of any kind, which is frustrating when viewing the pictures for content and context, etc. This is a great read for Steinbeck fans and Americans alike.

View all my reviews

thoughtful and accessible form of an important story

March: Book One by John Lewis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book relays some of the history and events of the civil rights movement in the US as experienced by John Lewis. The graphic novel format is a thoughtful and accessible form of an important story. I am looking forward to continuing with the next installment of this series.

View all my reviews

the classic dystopian trifecta

We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I finally got to read the remaining novel of the classic dystopian trifecta "Brave New World, "Nineteen Eighty-Four" and "We". This is a nicely written, visionary, and insightful novel that was written in Russia in 1922, after the Bolshevik Revolution, and banned from publication there until 1988! The writing uses creative and compelling imagery as it tells the tale of a Utopian society of the future where happiness mandated and not a choice. It creatively weighs the tension between technology and humanity, and offers wisdom related to the dangers of having one without the other. Though not published in Russia, it was published in 1924 in New York, and as can be seen, was influential to both Huxley and Orwell in their classic works mentioned above. This one was worth the searching and waiting to get to read, i recommend reading it to complete the dystopian trifecta.

View all my reviews

blockbuster movie in book form

Abaddon's Gate by James S.A. Corey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This third installment of the Expanse saga is fast moving, engaging, with great story telling and character development. I will definitely be proceeding on in this series. Like a blockbuster movie in book form.

View all my reviews

smack dab in the middle of disfunction junction

Oral History by Lee Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A tale of generations of mountain folk, told in multiple character point of view and using the narrative style of Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury. Interesting inside insights into a family living pretty much smack dab in the middle of disfunction junction. This story has the feel of authenticity and real family history, and with some name changes, probably applies to a multitude of families, including my Missouri roots. A good read.

View all my reviews

fascinating behind-the-scenes look

Casablanca: Behind the Scenes by Harlan Lebo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow - it is a wonder that Casablanca, one of my top favorite movies, ever got made! This is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the making of arguably one of the best films of the 20th century. We get lots of fun and interesting facts about the script, the players, the filming, the drama and politics with the directors and producers, and the wheeling and dealing of Warner Bros management. This book gives a detailed look into movie making in the context of the studio system that was in play in the 1940s. It also gives surprising insight into the constraints put upon the movie making process during the early days of WW-II. All in all, the odds were stacked against Casablanca, yet the resulting film is one of our finest. I can't wait to watch it anew with this collection of facts in my memory. A great book!

View all my reviews

clarity to the M.A.G.A. mantra

White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America by Nancy Isenberg
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well . . . this is one of the more disturbing books i've read in a while. It is disturbing because it is well documented U.S. history and i don't like what it says about us as a people and as a nation. The romantic image of our founders and their founding philosophy that we have come to believe in and aspire to is largely myth and political spin. This book details the role that class and privilege (and lack thereof) has affected and shaped all the people of the U.S. over the last 400 years. It also examines how class and privilege have been used to define policy and laws, and maintain control and power over those without. Be ready for a lot of eye-opening documented historical facts that lower the bar of who we as a nation are, and what motivates and drives us. This gives great clarity to the M.A.G.A. mantra being flung around by neo-cons in the 21st century. Knowing the facts behind the role class has played over our history as a colony and nation sheds frightening light on what "great again" really means to the privileged powers that be.

View all my reviews

great story telling and character development

Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

OK, I'm sold on this series, and giving this book 5 stars. This installment 2 of the Expanse saga is again fast moving, engaging, and great story telling and character development. I will definitely be proceeding on in this series. I have not yet picked up the TV series based on it, but will this summer. I heartily recommend this series to all sci-fi and fantasy fans.

View all my reviews

someones laundry list

The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye by David Lagercrantz
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Not even the seriously bad-ass Lisbeth Salander could save this story. To me, this felt like someone's laundry list of topics with a Millennium based story forced upon them. This novel did not measure up. The only thing saving it from less than 3 rating was a conclusion that was a surprise, some amount of suspense along the way, and of course our beloved hero Lisbeth. I don't know if the topics in this story were left pending in whatever notes Stieg Larsson left behind, or if they were introduced by Mr. Lagercrantz, but either way, they were not executed well in this story. Being a dedicated fan of Ms. Salander, i was compelled to complete the book. Otherwise, i probably would have moved on to something better, like Expanse #2 or Altered Carbon #2 :)

View all my reviews

a wild, breathtaking and fun ride

Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This, the first installment in the "Expanse" series, is described as a space opera, a term which i've heard but had never looked up ( per Wiki). After reading Leviathan Wakes, i concur that this engaging and fast paced tale has most if not all the characteristics of the definition. I teetered toward giving this one 5 stars because frankly, i had a hard time putting it down. Unexpected action and peril waited at nearly every turn, and i wanted to know what was next and how it would "end". I was thoroughly engaged for the entire story. I appreciated the character development, the reasonably believable and consistent technology and setting within our solar system. It had a feeling which i appreciate in SciFi, that is it felt like it could happen someday. I enjoyed this book very much, and look forward to continuing the series, as well as watch the TV series on Amazon, which has been recommended to me by several people i know. This was a wild, breathtaking and fun ride.


View all my reviews

tale with a Japanese flavor

The Sandman: The Dream Hunters by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Dream Hunters is a beautifully told and illustrated tale with a Japanese flavor. The King of Dreams fits in perfectly with this thoughtful and moving story. Nice!

View all my reviews

nice

Death: The High Cost of Living by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"Death: The High Cost of Living" is a nice sort of back story to one of my favorite of the Endless. Nice.

View all my reviews

Excellent storytelling

The Graveyard Book, Volume 1 by P. Craig Russell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Neil Gaiman is such a creative writer. This graphic novel adaptation of his "The Graveyard Book" is really well done, and has me wanting to read Volume 2 as well as Neil Gaiman's novel on which it is based. Excellent storytelling!!

View all my reviews

moving and inspirational memoir

The Water is Wide by Pat Conroy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

We recently saw the movie entitled "Conrack" starring Jon Voight which is based on this book. The Water is Wide is a moving and inspirational memoir of Pat Conroy, a young and idealistic teacher, and his mission to rescue a classroom of children who were all but forgotten by the school system in South Carolina in the contentious environment of the late 1960's school desegregation. The setting is Daufuskie Island (called Yamacraw Island in the book), off the coast of Beaufort SC. The children were direct descendants of slaves, and had never been off the island, living frozen in the past. Mr. Conroy encounters resistance immediately and throughout the tale's approximate timeline of one year. As he fights to break through and reach the children, their families, the island community, and even the segregationist status quo county school administration, he encounters hurdles of all kinds, social, religious, cultural, historical, personal, etc. This is a great story, a true story, and i recommend it to all who care about education, equity, and humanity. Sadly, the struggles of this isolated island school, were not unique, especially in the US South, but are still going on today, 50 years later.

View all my reviews

political and magical intrigue in the D-town!

The Fever King by Victoria Lee
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What did they say in Victor, Victoria? BRAVA! Well done! The Fever King is an engaging tale of political and magical intrigue set in our very own hometown of Durham, about a century hence. Starting from my initial elation at finding out that one of the main characters in the story lived in the very bookshop in which i purchased my copy (The Regulator Bookshop on Ninth St!), this book builds and builds to a somewhat unexpected but thoroughly exciting conclusion! It is not really a conclusion, but rather a segue into the next installment of this exciting tale. Not only did the plot and action build as the story progressed, but i also enjoyed seeing Noam grow from a moody impulsive young person into the beginnings of a maturity that will serve him well as this series unfolds (how long until Book 2, Victoria?). I really enjoyed this tale and am looking forward to its journey continuing! Hope to see you and get you to sign my copy at The Regulator in Durham!!! :) :) :)

View all my reviews

an amazing tale

The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow, what an amazing tale. The Blind Assassin is a story within a story within a story. It is a tale of the love and hate, joy and pain, of family, politics, big business, greed and envy, of regrets, and of cherished moments. Ms. Atwood writes with such realism, depth, and feeling that this tale could really have happened, even with all its twists and turns to the very end. But as with any excellent book, it DID happen, it was beautifully created for the reader to experience his or her self. I understand now why this novel won the Booker Prize and is on the Time Magazine 100 best list of the 20th century. An excellent book.

View all my reviews