March Books
Apr. 5th, 2015 08:10 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
dantheman23.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
christianreaderBy the way, what the heck happened to March? 0_o Freaking month evaporated on me...
Eats, shoots & leaves : the zero tolerance approach to punctuation
by Lynne, Truss
This was a little disappointing. It's all about the decline of western civilization vis-a-vis deteriorating punctuation. In the beginning of the book she says something along the lines of there are two kinds of people who notice this: people who shrug and go “Well that's language, it's always changing” and people who get up in arms about it. I'm most definitely in the first camp, so most of it comes across as the old person yelling at the kids on the lawn. And at various points she dials it back and acknowledges that language has always been fluid. But then next paragraph she's back ranting about Oxford commas (which I personally couldn't care less about). And the topper is everything she says is bogus anyway, since she's British and all her punctuation is wrong anyway. 2.5/5
The Enemy [half audio, half printed]
by Lee Child
Started this one on a road trip as an audio book and ended up finishing the printed version. It's actually a prequel; we get to hear about Reacher back when he was actually in the army. I've always thought he didn't really seem like the military type the way he's written, and he seemed even less so in this book :p I don't know, I can't buy he would have made it to major without getting booted from the army. Anyway, this was a pretty good Reacher novel, although the end reveal whodunit part was a little convoluted. But lots of good action as usual. 3.5/5
Persuader
by Lee Child
This time Reacher goes undercover, infiltrating a mob family and running into an old enemy. And (spoiler!) he actually loses a fight! Well, basically. I mean of course he actually wins in the end, but really the guy kicked his butt. Anyway, I'm really enjoying this series and plan on reading some more soon. 3.5/5
Day
by Elie Wiesel
After reading Night I was really looking forward to reading more of Wiesel's work, but this was not nearly as powerful. It's a fictional story of an Israeli terrorist plotting to assassinate a British officer for retaliation. It just didn't hold my interest, especially following the first book, which was just so moving. Probably won't be finishing up the trilogy (Dawn is the final book) 2/5
Gray Mountain
by John Grisham
The latest from the legal thriller master was one of my least favorite of his books. But Grisham is such a talented writer that even the least of his books is worth the read. A young New York lawyer is laid off and has to intern at a small legal clinic in the middle of West Virginia coal country in order to have a shot at keeping her job. I think the biggest problem was this book seemed like just an excuse to talk about the coal industry and the environmental implications of it. 3/5
Cannery Row
by John Steinbeck
I somehow had never read this book before. A short (185 page) book by my favorite author? Count me in! It's about an interesting group of characters that are based on people Steinbeck knew growing up. Their stories are interesting, but ultimately the book is about how people cope with life when it can sometimes be lonely and depressing. It's about community and people trying to fit into the world. Very good book, another worthy effort by Mr. Steinbeck. 4/5
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
by Douglas Adams
It had been so long since I read this series that I had basically forgotten all of it. Very embarrassing when other geeks start making references and I have no idea what they're talking about! I read it back in high school, almost 30 years ago, time for a reread! And as Jessica pointed out, I'm 42 this year, so it's perfect : ) The book is still great, with lots of laugh out loud parts. I love the deadpan delivery of so many of Adams' lines. Definitely an all-time classic. 5/5
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
by Douglas Adams
The continuing adventures of Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect continue to impress and amuse. I'd say it's not quite as good as the first book, but still right up there. I have all 5 books in one nice collected leather edition (that I bought new in 1991 and am now reading for the first time :p) so the stories are all kind of running together in my head, but Hitchhiker's was definitely a little bit better. It's all fantastic though. 4.5/5
Books for March: 8
Books for 2015: 17
Eats, shoots & leaves : the zero tolerance approach to punctuation
by Lynne, Truss
This was a little disappointing. It's all about the decline of western civilization vis-a-vis deteriorating punctuation. In the beginning of the book she says something along the lines of there are two kinds of people who notice this: people who shrug and go “Well that's language, it's always changing” and people who get up in arms about it. I'm most definitely in the first camp, so most of it comes across as the old person yelling at the kids on the lawn. And at various points she dials it back and acknowledges that language has always been fluid. But then next paragraph she's back ranting about Oxford commas (which I personally couldn't care less about). And the topper is everything she says is bogus anyway, since she's British and all her punctuation is wrong anyway. 2.5/5
The Enemy [half audio, half printed]
by Lee Child
Started this one on a road trip as an audio book and ended up finishing the printed version. It's actually a prequel; we get to hear about Reacher back when he was actually in the army. I've always thought he didn't really seem like the military type the way he's written, and he seemed even less so in this book :p I don't know, I can't buy he would have made it to major without getting booted from the army. Anyway, this was a pretty good Reacher novel, although the end reveal whodunit part was a little convoluted. But lots of good action as usual. 3.5/5
Persuader
by Lee Child
This time Reacher goes undercover, infiltrating a mob family and running into an old enemy. And (spoiler!) he actually loses a fight! Well, basically. I mean of course he actually wins in the end, but really the guy kicked his butt. Anyway, I'm really enjoying this series and plan on reading some more soon. 3.5/5
Day
by Elie Wiesel
After reading Night I was really looking forward to reading more of Wiesel's work, but this was not nearly as powerful. It's a fictional story of an Israeli terrorist plotting to assassinate a British officer for retaliation. It just didn't hold my interest, especially following the first book, which was just so moving. Probably won't be finishing up the trilogy (Dawn is the final book) 2/5
Gray Mountain
by John Grisham
The latest from the legal thriller master was one of my least favorite of his books. But Grisham is such a talented writer that even the least of his books is worth the read. A young New York lawyer is laid off and has to intern at a small legal clinic in the middle of West Virginia coal country in order to have a shot at keeping her job. I think the biggest problem was this book seemed like just an excuse to talk about the coal industry and the environmental implications of it. 3/5
Cannery Row
by John Steinbeck
I somehow had never read this book before. A short (185 page) book by my favorite author? Count me in! It's about an interesting group of characters that are based on people Steinbeck knew growing up. Their stories are interesting, but ultimately the book is about how people cope with life when it can sometimes be lonely and depressing. It's about community and people trying to fit into the world. Very good book, another worthy effort by Mr. Steinbeck. 4/5
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
by Douglas Adams
It had been so long since I read this series that I had basically forgotten all of it. Very embarrassing when other geeks start making references and I have no idea what they're talking about! I read it back in high school, almost 30 years ago, time for a reread! And as Jessica pointed out, I'm 42 this year, so it's perfect : ) The book is still great, with lots of laugh out loud parts. I love the deadpan delivery of so many of Adams' lines. Definitely an all-time classic. 5/5
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
by Douglas Adams
The continuing adventures of Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect continue to impress and amuse. I'd say it's not quite as good as the first book, but still right up there. I have all 5 books in one nice collected leather edition (that I bought new in 1991 and am now reading for the first time :p) so the stories are all kind of running together in my head, but Hitchhiker's was definitely a little bit better. It's all fantastic though. 4.5/5
Books for March: 8
Books for 2015: 17
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}