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Review: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling My rating: 5 of 5 stars Thanks to insomnia this morning, I am now done with book 2. Ms Rowling has hit another one out of the park. While the beginning seemed a bit repetitious for a series that I doubt would have had many…
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Review: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling My rating: 4 of 5 stars What can I say that hasn’t already been said? This is a good middle grade book that hits a lot of topics that are important for children and resonant to adults: fitting in, feeling different, when courage and bravery serve…
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Review: Alternity
Alternity by Mari Mancusi My rating: 3 of 5 stars There are a few things in this book that are a bit on the nose – for example, there’s a distinct Moon theme going on with a bunch of things and the main characters are Skye and Dawn. However, the deeper you get into the…
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Review: This is How You Die: Stories of the Inscrutable, Infallible, Inescapable Machine of Death
This is How You Die: Stories of the Inscrutable, Infallible, Inescapable Machine of Death by Ryan North My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book was more than just more stories in the Machine of Death world. It was also the Machine of Death in fantasy worlds and science fiction worlds and all kinds of…
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Review: The Rapture of the Nerds: A tale of the singularity, posthumanity, and awkward social
The Rapture of the Nerds: A tale of the singularity, posthumanity, and awkward social situations by Cory Doctorow My rating: 3 of 5 stars Once, a long time ago, I starting reading The Illuminatus Trilogy. I’m not sure why, but I think someone who was also into scifi had recommended it to me. Between its…
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Review: The Sagan Diary
The Sagan Diary by John Scalzi My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is best read right after the original trilogy so you can get all the references. As these are Jane Sagan’s BrainPal diary entrees, Scalzi doesn’t over describe the references. It’s much more poetically written than other Scalzi stuff I’ve read, so it…
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Review: Questions for a Soldier
Questions for a Soldier by John Scalzi My rating: 3 of 5 stars Full of inside jokes for readers of the first trilogy and a chance for Scalzi to expand on Perry’s thoughts which would have been too awkward to fit in during the original narrative. View all my reviews
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Review: Tiger Eye
Tiger Eye by Marjorie M. Liu My rating: 4 of 5 stars I set out to see if I could enjoy a romance book. I got this Marjorie Liu book for free from Barnes and Noble in a Friday giveaway. The cover promised a cheesy romance, but I knew going in it was Liu who…
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Book Report 2015 Q2
A mixture of a growing Ebook library, tracking my goals in Goodreads, and Calibre’s ability to generate a catalog have made me decide to start tracking things quarterly in the book dimension as well. Here’s my second report. Total Ebooks: 417 (increase of 54 books) Total Unread: 313 (increase of 45 so I’m reading them…
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Review: Machine of Death: A Collection of Stories About People Who Know How They Will Die
Machine of Death: A Collection of Stories About People Who Know How They Will Die by Ryan North My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book is, in a way, not what you think it’s going to be when you read the premise. Essentially it’s a dozen or so Oedipus Rex stories – in the…
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Review: Just the Tips
Just the Tips by Matt Fraction My rating: 5 of 5 stars This book is like the 90s movie Booty Call. It’s funny in a really dumb, immature way. What’s sad is that the tips in all those women’s magazines should be treated with about as much seriousness as these tips, but some people actually…
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Review: Old Man’s War Boxed Set 1
Old Man’s War Boxed Set 1 by John Scalzi My rating: 5 of 5 stars I have rapidly become a Scalzi fanboy. I’m proof of the sentiment behind Scalzi’s new $3 million deal – when someone reads one Scalzi book, they read them all. I don’t believe it discounts what I’m going to say, but…
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Review: The Happiest Days of Our Lives
The Happiest Days of Our Lives by Wil Wheaton My rating: 4 of 5 stars I haven’t read a lot of autobiographical books, but this is one of the more entertaining ones I’ve ever read. I think part of that has to do with Wil Wheaton’s writing style – I particularly enjoyed his teen-to-adult filters.…
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Review: How I Proposed to My Wife: An Alien Sex Story
How I Proposed to My Wife: An Alien Sex Story by John Scalzi My rating: 5 of 5 stars That was an unexpected short story. For one thing I went into it thinking it was the story of how Scalzi proposed. But once it was clear it was fiction, it still took me by surprise…
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Review: Super Mario Bros. 2 (Boss Fight Books, #6)
Super Mario Bros. 2 by Jon Irwin My rating: 4 of 5 stars Like other Boss Fight Books, it’s a great look back at a classic game. What was most interesting to me is that Doki Doki Panic actually started off as a prototype of Super Mario Bros 2. Since as all gamers my age…