Book Review: Red Harvest

Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Not as good as Maltese (or at least, I didn't think so), but as always I am blown away by Dashiell Hammet's talent in writing a novel.  He's just.... amazing.  Truly.  His descriptions create a vivid picture and never, ever feel cliche.  His dialogue and use of slang fitting the setting (time period and crime etc.) is believable and authentic.  The story is always intricate and gripping.

If you like crime novels, or just really, really amazingly well-written books then pick up something by Dashiell Hammet.


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Book Review: The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord

The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Well, this was my first time reading a space-themed Science Fiction book. That being said, I don't have a wide range of books to compare this to in its own genre. However, I can say that aside from a few flaws, I found myself enjoying this book.

There are a few things that turn me off from a lot of science fiction. One big one being: not being able to pronounce the names of the characters or places. This book, was no exception. However! The story line and the characters themselves kept me interested enough to overlook this personal pet peeve.

I appreciated the characters, the circumstances that brought them together, and the way they took a horrible event and tried to make something good come from it.

An entire planet has been destroyed. Most of the inhabitants -- dead. The majority of the survivors are male. Trying to save their species, the Sadiri, requires some creative solutions. A team of individuals (some from the dying race, some not) get together to travel the planet (a melting pot of a place) in search of people with strong genetic links to the Sadiri. Hoping to convince these peoples to try to help save the endangered race. Love, danger, and hope abound in this novel.

I don't feel like I wasted my time. I was pleasantly surprised that even though this was an adult novel it was clean aside from some swear words. Glad of that, to be sure. There were some brief innuendos near the end, but nothing I found terribly cringe-worthy. And, at the end of the day, it's pretty impressive that a book from a genre I don't find appealing held my attention and was super enjoyable.

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Book Review: Masquerade by Janette Rallison

Masquerade by Janette Rallison
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So fun. A nice, light read that could be categorized as clean... no swear words or sex scenes, though there was some... innuendo, I guess you could say. Not really, but a little hint here or there. It's a book about actors and Hollywood and those types of situations/people/values so it's to be expected, I suppose.
I prefer books where if people were married once are now divorced instead of widowed... that way I never feel like they are being either a. unfaithful to their dead spouse or b. never fully able to love their new boyfriend/girlfriend. If they are divorced they feel... free to love again. Maybe that's weird.
p.s. I bought this as an e-book (Kindle for PC) for... $2.99... so, good deal, as well.

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Book Review: Mr. Chartwell

Mr. Chartwell by Rebecca Hunt

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Hm. Well. This book was an interesting take on depression. Rebecca Hunt uses the figure of a large, black, beastly dog over turning and overtaking people's lives to attempt to illustrate the despair and life-owning horror that is depression. I really thought the imagery et. al was interesting and fresh. I like the language of her writing, but was often bored and slogging through. I was determined to finish reading and I did, but it was difficult.
I find, by searching google, that Churchill referred to his depression as 'the black dog' and so it is not as creative as I imagined; however, she makes it literal and yet imagined and therefore brings his 'black dog' to life.
I don't know. I  mean, it was interesting, and the relationship between the characters and depression was interesting.... I suppose you could really, really discuss it at length and talk about how perhaps people with depression hate it and yet are comfortable with those feelings -- they are resigned to it. And there's the refusal to talk about it and acknowledge the proverbial 'elephant (in this case a big, black dog) in the room which goes along with the stigma in society of it being a weakness and not to be discussed...
Overall, I found this book to be good at showing us perhaps what people who suffer with depression are dealing with, but also slightly boring and difficult to slog through. I think it wasn't a waste of time, and it really  made me think, but it was also just... boring. If it sounds interesting to you, you may want to give it a chance, but if not I don't know that you're missing anything.



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Book Review: Curduroy Mansions

Corduroy Mansions by Alexander McCall Smith

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The characters in this book are (aside from Eddie) extremely likable. There are a lot of characters, though and so there were a lot of stories going on. Far too many, in my mind. This is only in the sense that there wasn't enough time devoted to each story and the endings were so open. I like it a lot more knowing there's another book because that means I don't have to let the ending ruin the book for me. It was still pretty slow and it was nice and cozy but a little dull at times. A nice read and a cozy read. All in all not necessarily a book you should seek out and desperately need to read, but if you do you will probably enjoy it.



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Book Review: Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I don't know how to rate this book. It was actually a really good story but it was really filthy and shocking in parts. Multiple rapes are described in full detail... oh my goodness. I just wish I had been warned.
The cover makes it look like a YA book and I always thought it was. Be warned. It isn't. It definitely isn't.
It was a really intriguing story, but even though story and the characters lend more to an adult audience. The theme is very grown-up as well.
A good read, so it's worth reading if you don't mind some R-rated stuff.
The 'F' word is said over and over.
Really, if you don't mind that -- this is a well-written and interesting book. If you do mind... well. I would avoid it or at least be forewarned.



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Book Review: The Wednesday Letters

The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This was a nice book with nice stories, nice characters, and a nice moral.

It read pretty quickly and was entertaining. It was, by no means, a waste of time.

It's a story about siblings whose parents have just died. They find out that their dad wrote every Wednesday through all of their married life. They learn things they didn't know about their parents and they learn some things about themselves, too.

Each of the 3 children are going through a toughtime (the synopsis on the book jacket promises) and are helped by their dad's words. That part was diappointing because you really only hear about and watch the problems of the younget son. The other problems are pointed out sort of but never fully examined or repaired. So I think the author could have delved deeper into all of the kids or the publisher could have focused the synopsis on the kid that is really the main character (outside of the parents).

Overall it left me feeling happy and glad I read the book.

If you enjoyed Tuesdays with Morrie and books that are similar you might just want to give this one a chance.



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