A life of books . . .
I read this after a coworker passed it on because he knew I loved books and this is a book about a book theft from a world class library and then set in a bookstore featuring mostly authors and booksellers. I mean come on that’s like catnip to a book blogger, right?
Unfortunately, this book was 100% forgettable. I’m not sure if it has to do with it not being a legal thriller or if it has to do with the weird split narrative. But whatever it was I just wasn’t feeling it.
I took quite a few days before writing this review because I wanted to be thoughtful in my critique and honest in what did and didn’t work.
It’s always a little bit harder to write a response to a novel when it’s the author who reaches out to you to review their work.* I know how much of themselves authors put into their books and to then put it out in the world, I mean come on that’s more nerve than I’ll probably ever muster, so kudos to all of you out there brave enough to do it.
I’m going to start with what didn’t work, and then end on a high with the things that I really enjoyed about this work. So, stick with me because there were DEFINITELY some highlights!
Continue reading “Book 728: Where the Boys Are – Christopher Murphy”
I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this. When the publisher reached out to me about an ARC I liked the synopsis and loved the fact Lepionka co-hosts a podcast called “Unlikeable Female Characters”, so said sure why not.*
I don’t know if it’s worth noting (but clearly, I’m noting it), the first thing I noticed on Goodreads is I am one of very few men who have read this book prior to release. I don’t know if that means we’re not the target audience or if it was just a coincidence, but I thought it was interesting.
Continue reading “Book 723: Once You Go This Far – Kristen Lepionka”
By no actual planning on my part I’m posting this on the release date of The Names We Take, which never happens. To be completely honest, the publisher sent this to me months ago and I just now got around to reading it, but hey things work out for a reason.* I liked the idea of the publisher, Ooligan Press, which is a student run press at Portland State University that concentrates on Pacific Northwest Writers and because the blurb was interesting and they’d clearly spent some time perusing my blog I accepted the galley.
Talk about a gut punch of an ending.
The Dark Tower picks up immediately where Song of Susannah ends and not only does it punch you in the gut in chapter one, but it continues to pummel you for the next 700+ pages! And honestly, I wouldn’t have expected less from something of such epic proportions. I can’t talk about this without spoiling it so don’t read any more if you haven’t read it and have any intention of reading it. (You can read the recommendation if you want though.)
Continue reading “Book 680: The Dark Tower (The Dark Tower #7) – Stephen King”