Thursday, May 31, 2018

Books read in 2018: No. 35 -- Black Amazon of Mars

by Leigh Brackett

Started: May 30
Finished: May 31

Notes: I've not read a lot of Brackett, mostly short stories in one anthology or another, but I've been meaning to read more of her work, so here goes.

Mini review: This was actually an interesting, adventurous sci-fi novella. A mercenary of sorts finds himself embroiled in a war between barbarian tribes and a city on Mars, then is forced to face dangers from far in Mars' past to bring about a conclusion to not only the war, but to an old enemy ready to take over Mars once again. A fun read, especially if you like older science fiction and space opera from the 1950s and 1960s.

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Books read in 2018: No. 34 -- LZR-1143: Within

by Bryan James

Started: May 29
Finished: May 30

Notes: Been a while since I've read any indie authors, so I thought I'd give this zombie novella (and its author) a try.

Mini review: This was an interesting story. A group of online bank workers are trapped within their corporate building while a zombie apocalypse breaks out outside, and of course they have to find a way to survive ... or not. The writing is fairly strong, the characters interesting enough, and the story itself kept up my interest. I might have to check out this writer again.

Monday, May 28, 2018

Books read in 2018: No. 33 -- Horrorstör

by Grady Hendrix

Started: May 26
Finished: May 28

Notes: This comedy horror novel hit fairly big a couple of years ago and I've been meaning to check it out, so here's my opportunity. It's about a haunted furniture store that's a spoof of Ikea stores, so maybe it'll be amusing, and possibly horrifying.

Mini review: This was actually pretty good. The humor is quite mild, and I didn't find the story overly terrifying, but the writing is fairly strong and the tale was interesting enough to keep me flipping pages pretty quickly. My favorite part was the ending because I felt that, while not trend-making or outrageous, it went places most horror novels don't, showing the aftermath and the effects of the horror upon survivors, but also showing an opportunity for making things right. Worth checking out. And not gruesome or overly dark, for those who shy from such things.

Sunday, May 27, 2018

Books read in 2018: No. 32 -- Let Me Off at the Top!

by Ron Burgundy

Started: May 21
Finished: May 26

Notes: Sometimes you see a book that's just so goofy, you want to give it a try. I have no idea who the real author is, even after an online search, because ... for those of you who might not know, Ron Burgundy is not a real person but a fictional character from a series of movies. The actor who portrays Ron is Will Ferrell, but I find it unlikely (though not impossible) that Ferrell has penned this book. Anyway, this is supposed to be an autobiography of Burgundy's life. The first movie with Ron was quite funny, in my opinion, the second one less so but still not awful, so maybe I'll enjoy this.

Mini review: This wasn't as funny as I had hoped it would be, but it gave me a few chuckles here and there, and for the most part it kept with the Ron Burgundy character fairly well. If you're a big fan of the movies, you might want to check this out, otherwise you can skip it.

Monday, May 21, 2018

Books read in 2018: No. 31 -- Brook Trout and the Writing Life

by Craig Nova

Started: May 18
Finished: May 21

Notes: Trout aren't my thing, me being more of a bass and sunfish kind of guy, but fishing definitely is, and of course I'm a writer by trade. So this book seemed a natural to me, especially as the award-winning author lives only about a half hour from me. All those things considered, I thought I'd take a look at what he had to say, though admittedly I've not read any of his other works.

Mini review: This one turned out not to be for me, which is a shame since the author is a writer and a fisherman, and so am I. However, different types of writers and different types of fishing. I found this one to be too literary in a modern sense, written in an easy-enough-to-follow manner, but quite full of liberal upper-middle-class white male navel gazing. Yes, I realize how dismissive what I just wrote sounds, but it's also the best description I can come to for this book, and I feel less guilty about it as the author is mildly dismissive himself once or twice. This book isn't a pity party, to be fair, but it faux-ruminates upon mostly everyday life with some kind of vague reflection that's kind of, sort of supposed to be almost spiritual, at least illuminating. I found it none of these. Comparing life to fishing and vice versa doesn't take any great philosopher, nor does comparing writing and fishing. While not an awful book, it seemed more for the author than the reader, and as an author myself I'll say that's not necessarily a bad thing, though it doesn't always make it good for the reader. In this case, I was one of those readers.

Friday, May 18, 2018

Books read in 2018: No. 30 -- Know Your Bible

from Barbour Books

Started: May 17
Finished: May 18

Notes: This little book was gifted to me a couple of years ago, so I thought it time I finally read it. It's supposed to offer a synopsis of each book of the Bible, so that might be interesting, even useful as it might explain some things in a short, simple form.

Mini review: As with many such little books, there's an evangelical tone, though it is rather slight here. Still, there's definitely a Protestant leaning, as the Catholic Bible is different from that of the Protestant. All in all, this is a handy book. It breaks down each book of the Bible into a short synopsis, lists the supposed authors and approximate dates when written, gives a few better-known verses, etc. This would be a good book to have around when needing a quick reminder, and it might open eyes to those books of the Bible which are not so well known. Obviously, this book will mostly be a help to believers, but even those who are not Christians but wish to study religion or the Bible could find this short book helpful.

Thursday, May 17, 2018

Books read in 2018: No. 29 -- It's Not About Me

by Max Lucado

Started: May 15
Finished: May 17

Notes: I've been meaning to check out this Christian author for a while, so when I stumbled across this book of his in a Free Little Library, I thought it time to give him a shot.

Mini review: Basically, life is not about you, it's about God, and all things we do should glorify God. This is pretty basic Christianity, especially for Protestants, specifically for evangelicals. If that's what you're interested in studying, or if you're a Christian who feels you need a spiritual boost, then this book might be for you. As for me, I didn't find much new here other than a few comments about some texts in their original Hebrew, but the writing style wasn't too bad, a little long winded to say a fairly simple message, but not too bad.

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Books read in 2018: No. 28 -- More Than A Carpenter

by Josh McDowell

Started: May 13
Finished: May 15

Notes: I've read some of this Christian apologists work before and found it interesting, so I thought I'd give another books of his a try, this one apparently being more personal to his life.

Mini review: There wasn't anything revelatory here for me, but that doesn't mean there wasn't anything here that would be useful to believers and possibly to non-believers alike. Other than the final chapter (which was the personal part of McDowell's message), this book is a basic primer for Christian apologists, culling ideas and quotes not only from the Bible, but from the likes of C.S. Lewis and many others. Those who are interested in Christian apologetics could find this a useful book to provide them some basics without having to go into deeper material.

Sunday, May 13, 2018

Books read in 2018: No. 27 -- Sword and Sorceress IV

edited by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Started: April 26
Finished: May 13

Notes: This series of fantasy anthologies has been around for several decades now, but I've never had the opportunity to read one until now. There are a few familiar names in the Table of Contents, but there are many more whom I do not know, so maybe I'll find some new authors to enjoy or at least a few stories to entertain.

Mini review: Usually with any collection of short stories there are a handful of stinkers, but I have to admit there was only one tale here which didn't work for me. The rest were quite good, a few bordering on being awesome. So, yes, I can suggest this book for fans of Sword & Sorcery short stories.