Books read in 2018: No. 51 -- Great Ages of Man: The Reformation

from Time/Life Books

Started: Sept. 24

Finished: Sept. 29

Notes: I picked up a couple of these older Time/Life Books in a used book store a while back and thought I'd get back into them some as it has been a long while.

Mini review: As is usual with such books, this one is not overly indepth but it's also not overly basic, providing enough information for the serious student of history though maybe boring to the average reader. I generally enjoyed this book but was not blown away by it. However, I did find a lot of it quite related to the modern world, perhaps more than I felt comfortable admitting. For a basic, quick but fairly solid look at the historic break in Christianity, there are worse books.

Books read in 2018: No. 50 -- Great Ages of Man: Renaissance

from Time/Life Books

Started: Sept. 20
Finished: Sept. 24

Notes: When I was a teen I read a ton of Time/Life Books about history, the supernatural, whatever. However, I've not read any in a long while and I've not read this particular book. I always enjoyed these books even though they might be dated because plenty of research has been done since they were originally published (1965 in this case). I liked them because they weren't completely basic, but also didn't bog down the reader with lots of extraneous information.

Mini review: A bit basic but covers those basics well, name dropping quite a bit. The focus here is almost entirely upon Italy, but there is some information about the spread of the Renaissance to other parts of Europe. Anyone wanting to brush up on this period, or to be introduced to it, could do a lot worse than reading this book.

Books read in 2018: No. 49 -- The Gideons International Guide Book: 2017-2018

from The Gideons International

Started: Sept. 13
Finished: Sept. 20

Notes: Perhaps you've heard of The Gideons International, the organization known for placing Bibles in hotels and motels and other locations. Yes, I happen to be a member. The organization does much more than put Bibles in hotels, however, including jail ministries, missionary work, etc. Though I've been a member for a while now, and though I've thumbed through this book somewhat, I've not yet set down and read the book from beginning to end, and I thought it high time I did.

Mini review: Mostly operating procedures here which likely wouldn't be of interest to the average reader, but it definitely helped me to understanding the workings of this organization of which I'm a member. Glad to have read it.

Books read in 2018: No. 48 -- The King in Yellow

by Robert W. Chambers

Started: Sept. 6
Finished: Sept. 13

Notes: This 1895 collection of weird short stories apparently had a huge influence upon Lovecraft and others who penned such tales in the early 20th Century. I've been meaning to read it for years but never could find an actual copy in any book stores. Then a few months back I stumbled across this free e-book version for the Kindle and snagged it up.

Mini review: This was an odd little book. The first half of it is of tales most definitely of the weird, though slightly so, almost hinting at madness instead of some true supernatural terror. However, the second half of this book is of tales of Americans and the French in Paris either during war time or during more peaceful times, focusing mainly upon young artists and their love interests, somewhat like what would appear decades later in the works of Hemingway and Fitzgerald. For its time this is a decently written book, and I found the tales of madness and the macabre more interesting, but I'm not sure I could recommend this one for any but those who truly want to delve into the earliest tales of the weird and possibly Cthulu fans.

Books read in 2018: No. 47 -- The Reavers of Skaith: Volume 3 of The Book of Skaith

by Leigh Brackett

Started: August 28
Finished: Sept. 6

Notes: Having just finished the first two books in the series, loving the first but not so much the second, I thought I'd finish this trilogy. Hopefully the last book will more mirror the first than the second book.

Mini review: I liked the first book in this series, a little less the second book, then this third book did something on the very first page that almost made me throw it across the room. Can you guess what it is? Beware, here's your SPOILER warning before I tell what it is. Okay? Ready? On the very first page, this book totally went back and made all of the events from the first two books completely pointless. I hate when authors do that crap! Otherwise, the writing is fair here and the characters interesting, but I was glad when it was over. Still, there was enough here so I wouldn't turn up my nose at reading more Brackett in the future.