Book Reviews

Summary: A young adult coming of age book in a fictional 18th century setting.

Lloyd Alexander is known for his Prydain novels (The High King, Book of Three, etc.), but he has written a number of other books.  Some of my favorites were the Westmark series.  I read them several times as an early teen and was feeling nostalgic and decided to track them down.  They are not available on kindle, so I found an old paperback copy.

Westmark is a fictional monarchy in a world that seems very much like 18th century europe.  It is a relatively small kingdom.  But it has seen better days.  The king, since his daughter disappeared (and presumably died), has become despondent and reclusive.  In the eight years she has been gone, one of the king’s advisors has slowly taken over the kingdom and turned it into a tyranny.

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An Abundance of Katherines is my second John Green novel. SInce I immensely enjoyed The Fault In Our Stars, this novel was recommended to me also. While I liked this novel also, I didn’t feel as strong of an emotional connection to the main characters as I did with The Fault In Our Stars. I did like the characters and I especially liked the friendship between Colin and Hasan but I guess I just didn’t relate to their plight as well.

In the novel, Colin is a child prodigy who isn’t quite reaching his potential and his best friend, Hasan, is a seemingly conservative Muslim. The unlikely friendship of these two boys makes for a fun listen.

Perhaps also I didn’t feel that the story was as believable but only slightly less so. The boys go on a post-graduation road trip and end up staying in a small town for the summer. In that small town, they meet some unique characters and end up figuring out what their lives are about and what they want to do with them.

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Summary: “The World is Not A Wish-Making Factory” (a frequently used line from the book that quite adequately sums up reality.)

The Fault in Our Stars is narrated by Hazel, a 16 year old with cancer. Her cancer is terminal. But she has gained a few years with the help of a (fictional) trial drug that has slowed the growth of the tumors in her lungs. It is only with her ever-present oxygen tank that she still manages to stay alive.

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As a departure from my usual fiction novel, Dad is Fat was a good book and an even funnier book to listen to. Of all the comedians, I enjoy Jim Gaffigan because he is a relatively clean comedian and his topics don’t cause me to cringe.

Since Gaffigan narrated his own book, Dad is Fat came across as a series of stand-up comedy routines or essays on various subjects related to parenting. The reason I liked the book was because there were many times where it validated what I already knew to be true about being a parent. When I heard that the next chapter was going to be “You win, McDonalds”, I knew that I was going to be agreeing with what he was about to be saying.

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This is one of the first reviews I wrote on what eventually became Bookwi.se. I am reposting it because Noisetrade is giving away the MP3 version of the audiobook. It is also available for free as an ebook or an audiobook from Audible.com (see links below)

I am a fan of Chris Anderson’s writing. I really like his first book “The Long Tail“. This second book is good as well. The central idea is that fundamentally the price point of Free is changing the way that we interact.

He believes that free is the common price on digital good, not because all digital good are free or should be free but that most digital goods will be free and the paid versions will support the free in inverse relationship to goods that have atoms. In other words, free goods in the physical world are supported by paid good in a relationship of around 5% or less free to 95% or more paid.

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The Light Between Oceans was not a great book of fiction but it was pretty good. The reason, I believe, that it is so popular and is chosen for book clubs everywhere is because it definitely does bring up the question “What would you do?” It does not give away any of the book to say that the novel revolves around the event of a baby in a boat washing up on the shore of an isolated lighthouse island. The remainder of the book asks what would you do if this happened to you.

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Once a Spy is today Kindle Daily Deal and on sale for $1.99.  Well worth reading at that price.

Takeaway: An original take on the traditional spy novel.

I originally heard about Once A Spy from Books and Culture Magazine podcast and then an article.  The premise is too good to pass up.

Drummond Clark, age 64, is a spy and he has advanced stages of early onset Alzheimer’s.  This leads to a problem for the spy masters.  How much does he know, who will he tell.  Enter Charlie, his estranged son that is in debt to a Russian loan shark over some gambling debts.

Charlie has no idea that his father is a spy.  He thinks is father is a mediocre sales manager for a mediocre appliance manufacturer.  Turns out Drummond Clark is a super spy that would shame James Bond or Jason Borne.  It is just that he believes the best spy is one that no one pays attention to and no one remembers.  Drummond Clark fits that mold perfectly.

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The most read book reviews in June 2013:

1. Holy is the Day: Living in the Gift of the Present by Carolyn Weber
2. Out of the Silent Planet by CS Lewis (Space Trilogy #1)
3. Bread and Wine: A Love letter to Live Around the Table (with Recipes) by Shauna Niequist
4. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
5. The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory by Brian Greene
6. Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
7. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

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