June Books
Jul. 1st, 2015 11:59 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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christianreaderNothing to Lose
by Lee Child
This Reacher book was a total page-turner and I finished it very quickly, but despite that it was still a little unsatisfactory. The ending was a bit blah for me I guess. That may be partly because I figured out what was going on pretty early on in the story, so there wasn't a lot of mystery left. Still though, love this series. I'm actually over halfway done with it now, which is a little sad. Always sucks to run out of books in a great series. When I started this series I listened to the audio book versions, and since those take a lot longer to get through I figured it would be a long time before I got to the end of the Reacher books. But now that I'm reading them instead of listening I'm really flying through them. 3.5/5
The Princess Bride
by William Goldman
Of course I love the movie like everyone else (yes, Jessica everyone!) but I had never read the book. Now, I know it's a total cliché when people say “Oh the movie was better than the book!” and it's always true that everyone always likes the movie more than the book, but in this case the book was actually better than the movie! Really, it's true. I know that's a totally new one, but in this case the book was better. I of course had to watch the movie again after finishing the book and while it's still great, it's different after reading the book. My co-worker who lent it to me called it “smaller” after you've read the book, and I think that's a great description. The movie stuck very faithfully to the source material, but had to leave a lot of things out. I was also struck by how perfect the casting was for the movie. It's hard to imagine anyone else in those roles...well except for Princess Buttercup. Robin Wright is pretty but maybe not to the level described in the book. 4/5
Bad Luck and Trouble
by Lee Child
Reacher's past comes back as the special investigative unit he worked with in the army is bring hunted down and killed. He teams up with the remaining crew and together they try to stop a madman from unleashing havoc on the world. This one almost read like a Tom Clancy novel, with the bigger scale and higher stakes involved. One of the better Reacher books methinks. 4/5
Ninja: First Mission
by Chris Bradford
I read the Bradford's Young Samurai series and really enjoyed it, even though it was meant for younger readers, and decided to give this one a shot. It was fun, but it's meant for really young readers. Probably won't read any more of this series (especially since my library doesn't have any more :p) but I would definitely recommend it for younger readers. 3/5
The Great Train Robbery
by Michael Crichton
Like a lot of people, all I know all Crichton is Jurassic Park (well and The Andromeda Strain I suppose). This was very highly rated but I didn't know what to expect; turns out it's a really good book. It's the fictional account of a daring robbery of a gold shipment from London in the late 1800's. Kind of an Ocean's 11 for the 19th century. I loved all the little obstacles that the main character had to overcome to complete the job, and it was fun figuring out what he was doing and why. 4/5
The Stepford Wives
by Ira Levin
I used the term “Stepford Wives” in a recent Yelp review and I realized that I've never actually read the source material. One of those terms that enters the lexicon and everyone uses it but no one has actually read where it came from. The book is pretty short, but it packs a lot of suspense (well, if you didn't know the story beforehand) and intrigue. It's really a brilliant story and well worth the read. 3.5/5
Zero Day
by David Baldacci
One of the managers at work lent me this book. The hero is a 6' 4”, 240 lb, military policeman who woks as a lone wolf, isn't interested in advancing his career, and is a skilled fighter. His Dad was in the army and his brother isn't dead, but is locked away for life for treason. No, no, no his name isn't Jack Reacher, it's John Puller. Puller and Reacher? Is this guy serious? I don't know how Lee Child hasn't sued the crap out of this guy. Anyway, the story was about bad happenings in a small West Virginia coal town. It was like reading Gray Mountain by John Grisham (which came out later, admittedly) with Jack Reacher as the main character. It was a decent read but didn't exactly feel original! 3/5
Time Riders
by Alex Scarrow
I'm trying to avoid reading any more YA stuff, and I don't read sci-fi much anymore because I've read so much of it but this series sounded like so much fun I decided to try it. And I'm glad I did! In the year 2066 time travel is perfected but it's immediately realized that it's so dangerous it needs to be shut down completely. Time Riders work to restore any problems that are created by rogue time travelers. Three kids are recruited to be the next team, but before their training can even begin they are embroiled in a major time disaster that threatens to erase all of humanity. I found myself scanning and flipping pages as fast I could to see what happens next, guess that's a good sign ; ) 4/5
Books for June: 8
Books for 2015: 34
by Lee Child
This Reacher book was a total page-turner and I finished it very quickly, but despite that it was still a little unsatisfactory. The ending was a bit blah for me I guess. That may be partly because I figured out what was going on pretty early on in the story, so there wasn't a lot of mystery left. Still though, love this series. I'm actually over halfway done with it now, which is a little sad. Always sucks to run out of books in a great series. When I started this series I listened to the audio book versions, and since those take a lot longer to get through I figured it would be a long time before I got to the end of the Reacher books. But now that I'm reading them instead of listening I'm really flying through them. 3.5/5
The Princess Bride
by William Goldman
Of course I love the movie like everyone else (yes, Jessica everyone!) but I had never read the book. Now, I know it's a total cliché when people say “Oh the movie was better than the book!” and it's always true that everyone always likes the movie more than the book, but in this case the book was actually better than the movie! Really, it's true. I know that's a totally new one, but in this case the book was better. I of course had to watch the movie again after finishing the book and while it's still great, it's different after reading the book. My co-worker who lent it to me called it “smaller” after you've read the book, and I think that's a great description. The movie stuck very faithfully to the source material, but had to leave a lot of things out. I was also struck by how perfect the casting was for the movie. It's hard to imagine anyone else in those roles...well except for Princess Buttercup. Robin Wright is pretty but maybe not to the level described in the book. 4/5
Bad Luck and Trouble
by Lee Child
Reacher's past comes back as the special investigative unit he worked with in the army is bring hunted down and killed. He teams up with the remaining crew and together they try to stop a madman from unleashing havoc on the world. This one almost read like a Tom Clancy novel, with the bigger scale and higher stakes involved. One of the better Reacher books methinks. 4/5
Ninja: First Mission
by Chris Bradford
I read the Bradford's Young Samurai series and really enjoyed it, even though it was meant for younger readers, and decided to give this one a shot. It was fun, but it's meant for really young readers. Probably won't read any more of this series (especially since my library doesn't have any more :p) but I would definitely recommend it for younger readers. 3/5
The Great Train Robbery
by Michael Crichton
Like a lot of people, all I know all Crichton is Jurassic Park (well and The Andromeda Strain I suppose). This was very highly rated but I didn't know what to expect; turns out it's a really good book. It's the fictional account of a daring robbery of a gold shipment from London in the late 1800's. Kind of an Ocean's 11 for the 19th century. I loved all the little obstacles that the main character had to overcome to complete the job, and it was fun figuring out what he was doing and why. 4/5
The Stepford Wives
by Ira Levin
I used the term “Stepford Wives” in a recent Yelp review and I realized that I've never actually read the source material. One of those terms that enters the lexicon and everyone uses it but no one has actually read where it came from. The book is pretty short, but it packs a lot of suspense (well, if you didn't know the story beforehand) and intrigue. It's really a brilliant story and well worth the read. 3.5/5
Zero Day
by David Baldacci
One of the managers at work lent me this book. The hero is a 6' 4”, 240 lb, military policeman who woks as a lone wolf, isn't interested in advancing his career, and is a skilled fighter. His Dad was in the army and his brother isn't dead, but is locked away for life for treason. No, no, no his name isn't Jack Reacher, it's John Puller. Puller and Reacher? Is this guy serious? I don't know how Lee Child hasn't sued the crap out of this guy. Anyway, the story was about bad happenings in a small West Virginia coal town. It was like reading Gray Mountain by John Grisham (which came out later, admittedly) with Jack Reacher as the main character. It was a decent read but didn't exactly feel original! 3/5
Time Riders
by Alex Scarrow
I'm trying to avoid reading any more YA stuff, and I don't read sci-fi much anymore because I've read so much of it but this series sounded like so much fun I decided to try it. And I'm glad I did! In the year 2066 time travel is perfected but it's immediately realized that it's so dangerous it needs to be shut down completely. Time Riders work to restore any problems that are created by rogue time travelers. Three kids are recruited to be the next team, but before their training can even begin they are embroiled in a major time disaster that threatens to erase all of humanity. I found myself scanning and flipping pages as fast I could to see what happens next, guess that's a good sign ; ) 4/5
Books for June: 8
Books for 2015: 34
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Date: 2015-07-01 07:25 pm (UTC)Not everyone likes Princess Bride!!
I think I'm going to write a series about a guy named Joe Grasper who is a big military guy! I've not heard of any books like that yet.
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Date: 2015-07-02 07:31 am (UTC)I'm writing a story about Jim Stretcher. He's a former army policeman who likes to kick butt while he investigates people. I'm using Lee Child's Cliff Notes as an outline.
no subject
Date: 2015-07-08 03:37 pm (UTC)