Category: Review

Fiction Mystery Review
July 5, 2021

Origin Review

Title: Origin Author: Dan Brown Date Purchased: 7/30/2018 Price Paid: $3.17 Date Finished: 6/30/2021Rating: 3/5 One of my favorite bands of all time is AC/DC, and many years ago Angus Young (the lead guitarist for the band) was interviewed by Guitar World magazine on the eve of a new album release. After talking about the new album and getting through the various normal questions asked […]

Review Science Fiction
June 26, 2021

Dust Review

Title: Dust Author: Hugh Howey Date Purchased: 11/27/2017 Price Paid: $2.11 Date Finished: 6/20/2021Rating: 3.5/5 I have always disliked dystopian stories, but it wasn’t until recently that I really started to dig into the “why” behind my stance. It obviously varies from story to story, but it typically boils down to this: the real world can be a giant bag of shit, where hope can […]

Review Science Fiction
June 20, 2021

Shift Review

Title: Shift Author: Hugh Howey Date Purchased: 11/27/2017 Price Paid: $2.11Date Finished: 6/13/2021Rating: 3/5 In previous reviews I’ve spoken about how challenging it can be to write the middle book of a trilogy. You’re trying to balance the momentum of the first book with new advancement of a story. It’s not always done well, and I’m surprised some trilogies even see a book three with […]

Review Science Fiction
June 16, 2021

Wool Review

Title: Wool Author: Hugh Howey Date Purchased: 10/24/2017Price Paid: $2.11Date Finished: 6/5/2021Rating: 4/5 Back in the good old days of the Book Club, we used to tease my good friend Ben about his selections. “Hey Ben, which dystopian novel did you pick for us this time?” This good-natured ribbing was brought about because, well, Ben likes a good dystopian novel. One of his picks was […]

Fiction Review Rule Three
June 15, 2021

The Goldfinch Review (Rule Three)

Title: The Goldfinch Author: Donna Tartt Date Purchased: 10/24/2017Price Paid: $5.29Date Finished: 5/29/2021Rating: 0/5 Life is short, you know? It’s a weird thing to have to remind yourself, but I think readers can find themselves trapped and this is something we need to keep in mind. This is why I created Rule Three to begin with, and yet I still have to remind myself of […]

Review Science Fiction
May 28, 2021

Angel Station Review

Title: Angel Station Author: Walter Jon Williams Date Purchased: 10/5/2017 Price Paid: $1.05 Date Finished: 5/19/2021 Rating: 3.5/5 One of the more interesting choices that a science fiction author can make revolves around the use of language. If we look at this through a very wide lens, we might be able to boil it down to two choices: speak of things in the same way […]