Christian Reader - Book lists, discussion, writing

Hi! It's been several months since I posted any kind of book list, so this covers the last three months of the year. I felt all year that I wasn't reading very much, but in the end my total was fine. Not as high as some years, but totally acceptable.

( Hoozah! )


Books for Oct - Dec: 11
Books for 2016: 55

I feel like I had a decent year for reading. I really enjoyed the Bernard Cornwell stuff (thanks to the gal at work that introduced me to it!) and am looking forward to reading more of his stuff. This year is bringing just a few changes so I don't know what my reading will be like this year but hopefully I can hit at least 50 books again.

Odd Thomas
by Dean Koontz

I'd never read anything by Koontz before but I know he's a popular and prolific author. My Dad lobbed this one at me, telling me several times it was “weird”. He said it wasn't bad, just very weird. Turns out it's not really that weird (it does deal with supernatural stuff, which Dad isn't really into) and I LOVED it. Great book, read it in 2 days. Odd (that's the main character's actual name) has the ability to see and be seen by deceased people. Yes, like Sixth Sense but as he says at the beginning of the book, he sees dead people but he does something about it. An encounter with a very strange man leads to a plot to attack a busy mall and Odd must race to save the innocents, including his girlfriend who works at the ice cream shop. Lots of twists and turns and overall a real page-turner. Hope the rest of Koontz's stuff is as good as this one was. 4.5/5

The Burning Land
by Bernard Cornwell

I had a monumental struggle trying to read this book; long story but I eventually ended up actually buying it. Buying a book! 58 cents on Amazon ; ) I'm going to pass it along to the gal at work who got me into the series. This series continues to rock. It's interesting because there is lots of foreshadowing and prophecy stuff that lets you know some of the big stuff that's going to happen but there continue to be plenty of plot twists to keep you surprised. 3.5/5

Death of Kings
by Bernard Cornwell

Next book in the series. This one built up to one huge battle at the end with some good twists and turns. Only a couple books left in the series. 3.5/5

The Pagan Lord
by Bernard Cornwell

This one takes place 10 years after the end of the last book. Uhtred is getting up there in years and a tentative peace has come over the land, but a devious plot and bold attack shatter the peace. Uhtred finally makes an attempt to take back his rightful home as well. 4/5

Forever Odd
by Dean Koontz

The followup to Odd Thomas, I didn't like this one nearly as much. This time Odd's best friend is kidnapped by an evil woman who knows about his powers and he must track them down and rescue his friend. The blurb on the cover calls it a “marvelous cat-and-mouse game” but it just felt simple to me. Not much going on, barely anything having to do with the paranormal stuff, and almost no interaction with any of the characters introduced in the first novel. I hope the next book is a lot better. 2.5/5

The Empty Throne
by Bernard Cornwell

Uhtred continues his long journey to his fate, as a powerful ruler dies and creates a power vacuum that needs to be filled. Meanwhile, the Danes are slowly being driven out of Britain, and the vision of the new land of Engaland is becoming closer to reality. Only one more book left in the series, but I'm worried it's not actually completed yet. Pray that the next book ends the series... 4/5

Warriors of the Storm
by Bernard Cornwell

Nope, not the last book in the series! Good read, but Uhtred hasn't even started on his main quest to recapture his home land. But at the end of the book he was heading north, so the next book may be the one that wraps it all up. I was afraid my favorite character was going to die in this one but he didn't so all is well. 4/5

Brother Thomas
by Dean Koontz

Third book in the Odd Thomas series. I wasn't totally into this one at first and I thought I might be done with the series but it got better and better as it went along and when I finished it I was eager to read the next one. Odd decided to hang out at a monastery for a while to try to get some R&R but of course he eventually finds supernatural trouble anyway. Probably the strangest of these books so far, at least until the reveal, when everything is explained and tied together nicely. 3.5/5

The Collectors
by David Baldacci

This is the second book in the Camel Club series. It felt like it took my library FOREVER to get it to me but it was worth the wait. This time the Club is up against a spy ring that uses rare old books to communicate government secrets, a corrupt defense contractor, several murders, and a charming female con artist. Liking this series a lot and the library already got me the next one in the series ; ) 4/5

Books for July: 9
Books for 2016: 32

The Secret Garden
by Frances Hodgson Burnett

What a great book. The story of a snotty little girl who has to go live with her uncle in a large estate. When she hears of a secret garden that has been off limits for 10 years since the death of the uncle's wife she vows to find it and along the way transforms into a new and better person, along with her cousin who mistakenly thinks he's an invalid. There's a third child who uses his knowledge of the outdoors to help them along. Just very well-written, very charming and a great story. There's a reason they're classics! 4/5

Sword Song
by Bernard Cornwell

Fourth book in the series and still loving it. This time the king's daughter is kidnapped and Uhtred tries to rescue her on his own. The book ends with a chaotic battle where no one is really sure whose side they are on and who is fighting who. 3.5/5

North and South
by Elizabeth Gaskell

This Victorian-era novel (you may recognize the name from the television adaptations) is about contrasts and differences. Margaret is a snooty girl forced to leave her plush southern estate and live amongst the dirty factory workers of northern England. The events that follow reshape her and her vision of the world around her. If you like Jane Austen this book is right up your alley. 3/5

Nine Innings
by Daniel Okrent

One of those books that I really enjoy but can't recommend to anyone else. Orkent takes a totally humdrum regular season baseball game and analyzes every aspect, every at-bat. He goes into details that a typical fan never would know or hear about. Well, an average fan in 1982 at least. A lot of the stuff he goes over is pretty common knowledge for a baseball fan, but there's still a lot of good stuff in there. A lot of great detail, especially on the mental battle between the pitcher and hitter. Fun to read about some of the players from that era who are now Hall of Famers, broadcasters, or managers. 4/5

Books for May: 4
Books for 2016: 21

Never got around to posting Feb books so here's two months worth. Heck, almost too late to post March books ; )

American Assassin
by Vince Flynn

Chronologically this is the first book in the Mitch Rapp series. It goes all the way back to Mitch's training and recruitment. It's pretty fun reading about Mitch when he was you know, still sort of human instead of the supernatural beast he eventually becomes. All the old gang shows up too of course. Good stuff. 4/5

Term Limits
by Vince Flynn

This was Flynn's first novel and I knew going in it wasn't a Mitch Rapp book. But to my pleasant surprise it took place in the same fictional world, meaning that while Mitch wasn't there a lot of the other characters from the series, like Irene Kennedy, Thomas Stansfield, Scott Coleman, Stan Hurley, etc. (I just felt like listing them). The premise is that a group of fed-up former soldiers try to force the government to start actually running the country via assassinations. Sounds like an idea whose time has come. Very good read, and I'm kind of glad I read it after the Mitch novels. 4/5

Kill Shot
by Vince Flynn

The second book chronologically, in this book Mitch has already become a scourge to terrorists. So much so that they set a trap for him and set him up to take the fall. But of course Mitch survives and exacts his revenge. I really like these prequels, it's fun to take it back to when Mitch was just dealing with terrorists and not having to fight his own government. 4/5

The Guards
by Ken Bruen

I read a collection of short mystery/thriller stories by “up and coming writers” and Bruen wrote the only interesting one of the bunch so I decided to check out this book. It was OK, I wouldn't mind reading more of his stuff sometime. He's Irish and it takes place in Ireland, so there's a lot of Irish slang and terms to spice things up. Apparently “guards” is what they call the cops; this was about a former cop fighting his own demons while trying to help others as a private investigator. Definitely not the superhuman, perfect leading character that often appears in these kind of books. 3/5

The Last Man
by Vince Flynn

An extremely high-level CIA operative has disappeared and Mitch Rapp has to try to track him down before any of the devastating information he has on the CIA comes to light. Mitch suspects something isn't right, and the answer ends up being even worse than anyone had feared. This was Flynn's last novel before his death, and I hoped the series would continue with the same intensity with a new author. 4/5

Modern Romance [audio book]
by Aziz Asani

An audio book?! Been forever since I listened to one. It's not at all what you would expect from Asani; it's basically all about how the internet, technology, interconnectedness, and our shrinking world has effected dating. Not a topic that really matters to me too much, but it was interesting hearing all the different takes on the issues and the methodologies he and his researchers used. 3/5

The Survivor
by Kyle Mills

This is the Mitch Rapp novel that was written after Vince Flynn died...and it might be my favorite of the series. Mills takes up right where Flynn left off, continuing the Rapp style of intrigue and action. He wrote the characters a little more human and believably, and overall I think his version of Rapp's world might be a little better. Looking forward to his second effort in the series, due out this year I believe. 4/5

Rogue Lawyer
by John Grisham

I know a lot of people didn't like Grisham's latest offering because it wasn't exactly like his previous legal thrillers, but I really liked it. At this point Grisham has sold so many books and made so much money that he's kind of figured “heck with it” and started taking some political stances in his books; he figures if it pisses a few people off it doesn't matter at this point. Grey Mountain was about environmental issues (coal mining in particular) which didn't do much for me, but this one takes on the fascist police state we live in now, a topic near and dear to me. I loved how he pointed out some of the awful things that are happening right under our noses in the name of security and safety now. One of my favorite Grisham books ever. 4.5/5

Takedown
by Brad Thor

This is the second book in the Scot Harvath series I've read. They're OK but nothing great; CIA/special forces/terrorist kind of thing. They're supposed to be “thrillers” but there isn't much thrill in them; lots and lots of description and very little action. SO much talk about geography and positioning; the end fight takes place in a building in New York and he spends an unbelievable amount of time talking about the entrances and exits to the building, the streets around it, etc. Yawn. Won't rush to read any more. 2.5/5

Books for Feb/March: 9
Books for 2016: 13

High Heat
by Lee Child

This is a short story that takes place when Jack Reacher is 16. It's totally ridiculous. The regular Reacher stories really push the limits of suspension of disbelief as it is, but you can sort of give it the benefit of the doubt when he's an mature, 30 or 40-something year old man with decades of experience. But here the 16 year old version accomplishes all the same things: beating up bad guys, outsmarting gang leaders, and making amazing observations. Poor effort by Lee Child on this one. 1.5/5

Deep Down
by Lee Child

Another short story, this one takes place in Washington D.C. and has Jack investigating a possible spy involved in an arms deal. It was OK; I think the Reacher character isn't very well suited to these short stories. A full-length novel is needed to develop the background of the story, the other characters, and the mystery itself. 3/5

Confessions of a Wall Street Analyst
by David Reingold

This is the kind of book that I found pretty interesting but wouldn't recommend to anyone else. The subtitle of this book is “A true story of inside information and corruption in the stock market.” Reingold was a buy-side analyst of the telecom sector during the late 90s/early 2000's when the whole dot.com bubble built up and burst. Looking back it's hard to believe/remember we went through all that. Anyway, this book was a very good inside look at what goes on in the market and how the big boys have advantages the individual investor can never match. Even the last thing the author says in the book is that individual investors shouldn't buy individual stocks! It goes pretty deep into the inner workings of finance, but I find all that pretty interesting. The book seemed a little self-serving, Reingold paints himself as an angel amongst a den of thieves, but overall I believe what he was saying. One of my co-workers saw the title and her response was “Corruption on Wall Street? Well, duh!” :p 4/5

The Summer Game
by Roger Angell

This is considered a classic sports book that I recently found out about. It's basically a series of collected articles Angell wrote as a sportswriter in the late 60s/early 70s. I was a little unsure about it at first, but his writing style is very entertaining and very witty. It was so interesting to read his thoughts and the general feeling about the first indoor stadium (Astrodome), Astroturf, expanded playoffs, giant lighted scoreboards, and other things we take for granted now. 3.5/5

Memorial Day
by Vince Flynn

Although this plot has been done approximately 475,332 times (“Oh noes, the terrorists have a nuke!”) this book in the Mitch Rapp series was still great because of Flynn's detailed and entertaining writing. I also liked that his new wife was only mentioned once in passing; she's kind of annoying and the whole dynamic between them isn't really contributing much to the series. Great read 4/5

Make Me
by Lee Child

Well, now I'm totally caught up on this series. I won't even talk about the plot at all since it's a current book in a very popular series, but it was definitely something different and interesting. Now I'm one of those poor souls that has to wait around for the next Reacher book to come out : / 4/5

Books for November: 6
Books for 2015: 67

The Affair
by Lee Child

This novel takes us back to the very end of Reacher's military career; it takes place immediately before the first book in the series. It was fun seeing lots of allusions to various staples in the Reacher world such as him buying his first travel toothbrush, making the decision to buy new clothes instead of washing his old ones, not bothering with a bag or suitcase, deciding there was a lot of country out there for him to see, etc. So I liked that, but the story itself was not up to par. The pacing was a little off, the mystery wasn't that mysterious, and even the fight scenes weren't up to snuff. Still good, but not up to the usual Reacher standards. 3/5

The Year of Fog
by Michelle Richmond

My parents lobbed this book at me. Abby takes her fiance's 6 year old daughter to the beach, looks away for a minute, and little Emma is gone. She spends the entire rest of the book looking for her, trying to figure out what happened. I started this at work yesterday on my break and ended up staying up late last night to finish. I was tempted to skip to the end just to see how it resolved. Very compelling book that looks at memory, relationships and the strain they come under, determination, and tough decisions a parent has to make in that situation. The end was a little flat, but not enough to take away from what is a great story. 4/5

Wanted Man
by Lee Child

Ah, now this is a good Reacher book! While hitchhiking Reacher stumbles into an undercover FBI operation and a terrorist organization. He ends up taking the bad guys on single-handedly in order to pull off a daring rescue. Great Reacher novel: nice little mystery, good pacing, nice action-packed conclusion. I think I'm down to three books in this series : ( : ( : ( 4/5

Never Go Back
by Lee Child

...and yet I keep plowing through them. Been on a bit of a dry spell with the library; everything I've ordered is taking forever to get so I keep going back to Reacher (I snagged the last few books from a book exchange). In this book Reacher finally makes it to Virginia to meet Susan, who we were introduced to several books ago and he's been trying to meet in person ever since. Of course when he gets there she's in trouble and Jack had to break her out of prison, figure out a conspiracy, and kick butt along the way. 3.5/5

Separation of Power
by Vince Flynn

The third book in this series wraps up the ongoing storyline started in the first book. I know the series really jumps around chronologically; I keep seeing lists online of the chronological order of these books. This one was really good and I read through it pretty quickly. I just realized recently that these remind me a lot of the Tom Clancy books as far as style, realistic use of military jargon and specs, tone, etc. Looking forward to reading more about Mitch Rapp and his exploits. 4/5

How to Write a Damn Good Mystery Novel
by James Frey

Frey's How to Write a Damn Good Novel is a really helpful guide and one of the books I've added to my collection, but this one didn't jive with me as much. Partly because the mystery I'm thinking about writing is a little different than the standard novel so some of his advice wouldn't fly. I also kind of read it disjointedly; a reread may be in order at some point. Heck, maybe I'll even pick it up someday to add to the collection; I'm sure it would offer some help for mystery or non-mystery writing. 3/5

Timeline
by Michael Crichton

I love the concepts of time travel and alternate dimensions. Most of my favorite episodes of Star Trek: TNG involve one or the other, and I'm always ready to watch more shows or movies that have them. But after reading this book and the Time Riders series from earlier I've realized that while I love time travel and alternate dimensions on screen, it's not so great in books. The reason is because on the screen you're only got an hour or two to tell the story, so it has to be crisp and tight, but with a book the author can prattle on as long as he likes. And the problem with that is instead of a book about time travel what you end up with is a book that's 10% time travel and 90% adventure in some other timeline or era. In this case it was some college students traveling back to medieval times to rescue their professor who was trapped back then. As usual for Crichton books everything was very well researched, but almost the entire book was spent following the kids in the past, and there was very little actual dimension hopping involved. So it ends up being basically a story taking place in the old times, and I wasn't particularly interested in following all the nobles and their schemes and all that. Just didn't hold my interest. 2/5

Books for September: 7
Books for 2015: 55

Someday I'll write an entry that isn't my monthly books, I promise ; )

Green River, Running Red
by Ann Rule

Anne Rule has led quite the life. She is a true crime writer who used to wok at the Univeristy of Washington as a psychologist. While she was there, and already writing true crime stuff, she had a partner she worked with; that partner turned out to be Ted Bundy! How weird is that? This book however, is about the Green River Killer, who it turns out she lived about a mile from 0_o So bizarre. The GRK was active when I was a kid, and I remember hearing about him at the time. I also remember when they captured him but hadn't really heard many details. This book tells the whole story of Gary Ridgeway, his victims, and the circumstances surrounding them. Fascinating read. 4/5

One Shot
by Lee Child

Our buddy Jack Reacher is back, this time trying to figure out the truth of an ex-marine sniper who apparently killed several people in a planned shooting. Glad I got into this series, and even though I'm only about halfway through it I'm already getting sad thinking about finishing it. 3.5/5

Angela's Ashes
by Frank McCourt

[Yes, I've joined The Finer Things club from The Office] Wow. This book...I don't know if I can even convey how powerful it is. It's the author's memoir of his childhood and upbringing and it is jaw-dropping. Talk about dirt poor. His parents came to America separately at the beginning of the Great Depression, Frank was born here, then they moved back to Ireland. And if you thought things were tough in the U.S. in the 1930's, Ireland was even worse. I wanted to reach through the book and strangle the father, because whenever he made money (which was rare) he spent every penny on getting drunk at the pub. Just a total alcoholic loser. Not the most uplifting book ever, but an incredible read. Really puts your “Wah, my iPhone won't update to the newest version” first-world problems in perspective.

So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish
by Douglas Adams

Eh, while Hitchhiker's Guide is a classic and something that I should read every few years, the rest of the series isn't nearly as good. It took me weeks to get through this one because I just wasn't into it. It still had some moments, but wasn't nearly as fun or humorous as the original. 3/5

Young Zaphod Plays it Safe
by Douglas Adams

I don't know if I ever read this one before. It's a very short story; Zaphod helps find a crashed ship that has an incredibly dangerous thing aboard that can't ever be allowed to escape. And of course it does, but we never find out exactly who it was (we know it was a person). I didn't get it so I looked it up and apparently it was an allusion to Ronald Reagan! Weird. 3/5

The Hard Way
by Lee Child

This was a really good Reacher book. I liked the mystery, I liked the resolution, I liked the action. This series just gets better and better. 4/5

No Country for Old Men
by Cormac McCarthy

I'd seen this book on all kinds of recommendations and lists so I decided to give it a whirl. When I saw the back cover was comparing it to people like Joyce and Melville I was like “Oh crap...”, but it wasn't that bad. Even after finishing I'm not too sure what I think of it. It's ostensibly about a man who finds a bunch of money from a drug deal gone bad and trying to get away with the money while being chased by a very bad man trying to recover it. But it's not really about that at all; it's more of a “slice of life” look at a group of people with the events as a backdrop. The story itself plays out very oddly, and it isn't necessarily my kind of book, but it was definitely interesting and I'm glad I read it. One of the more peculiar books I've ever read. 3.5/5

Books for May: 7
Books for 2015: 26

Fugitive
by Phillip Margolin

I screwed up and didn't get my books from the library before the hold expired, so I had nothing to read. But I spotted this at the book exchange at work and after taking a second to remember the author I grabbed it. I've read a couple of his books and really liked them; I always meant to read more of his work. I was totally into this one at the beginning but by the end my enthusiasm had waned. I don't know if I've just read too many murder-mystery type of books or if it's because of the weather or if it was just the book itself, but it all seemed very paint-by-the-numbers and “been there done that.” 3/5

Three and Out
by John Bacon

The back cover says “College basketball has Season on the Brink, high school football has Friday Night Lights. Now college football has Three and Out.” I think that's a good description. Bacon spends an entire year with the Michigan Wolverines: their practices, meetings, road trips, hanging out with the players, even a memorable workout. The reader learns a lot about college athletics/football, and the U of M culture. Highly recommended to all you sports fans ; ) 4/5

The Rosie Effect
by Graeme Simsion

I loved The Rosie Project, but the sequel was a bit disappointing. I enjoyed the first half, but towards the end there was just too much going on, too many extraneous characters, and the focus went away from Don and his uniqueness, which is the draw of this series. The situations were not very believable, and people were acting out of character. It's wide open for another book and I'd probably read it but I won't be as enthused about it. It feels a lot like The Hunger Games: one really good book that should have been a standalone. 3/5

Books for February: 3
Books for 2015: 9

Fun! Here are my answers:

1. How many books did you read in 2014? (If you don't keep track, you can give an estimate.)  76

2. Which did you read more: physical books (or on Kindle) or audiobooks? Mostly printed books, maybe 20 or so audio books and the rest were printed.

3. What were your favorite books from the year?
My favorite book this year was The Martian [audio book] by Andy Weir

Honorable mentions include:

Waiting to be Heard [audio book] by Amanda Knox
World War Z by Max Brooks
No Plot? No Problem! by Chris Baty,
The Road [audio book] by Cormac McCarthy

4. Favorite new authors that you hope to continue reading in 2015? If Andy Weir
writes anything else I would love to read it. I also enjoyed what I read by Lois Lowry.

5. And for fun: do you own an e-reader? If so, what kind? I don't own one.