Recent Reads

More books I've recently read.... (links are to Amazon, in case you want to get them for yourself. And if you do, you're helping my coffee fund, so thanks!)

Have a Nice Day by Billy Crystal and Quinton Peeples

The President's having a bad day. And that's before he learns it's to be his last day on earth. This was a nice story that was fun to listen to. I think it was a polished table-read so there are a lot of different voice actors including a few well-known celebrities, which is a nice treat you don't get too often.  

Once More Upon a Time by Roshani Chokshi

The fairytale life has fallen apart, but the now separated couple must embark together on a journey through an enchanted land before time runs out. A nice use of the buddy/quest framework.

Nut Jobs: Cracking California's Strangest $10 Million Dollar Heist by Marc Fennell

An interesting investigative piece that really benefits from the Audible format because of the ability to include interviews and relevant ambient sound that helps you better understand where you are in the journey.

Second Skin by Christian White

A girl is killed in an accident, and then her mom dies. Years later, a young girl claims to be the reincarnation of the mom, knowing things she seemingly shouldn't know. It's an interesting take and I was really curious to learn how they were going to wrap this up.  Supernatural? Something else? Kept me guessing.  I enjoyed it.

The Second Life of Nick Mason (Nick Mason #1) and Exit Strategy (Nick Mason #2) by Steve Hamiton

Nick Mason is a bad guy, but not a really really bad guy. We're supposed to root for him.  He's exchanged one kind of prison for another after a drug lord gets his prison sentence dropped and he's free, but only so far as the drug lord's leash. The phone will ring, and when it does, whatever he's told to do, he must do. So Nick becomes a killer. But he's still the good guy of the story, so we're supposed to want him to succeed, but also get out of the life he's agreed to. But he still leaves a trail of destroyed lives in his wake and emerges time after time nearly unscathed. It's popcorn/airplane reading. I don't know if there are more books, but #2 seems to be a fine place for me to find my exit from the series.

Alexander X: Battle for Forever (Book 1) by Edward Saviq

Alexander ages slowly. In a lot of ways, he's only 15, but he's been alive for 1,500 years. It's not quite time travel, but it's close enough to the genre to pique my interest but also receive the extra scrutiny I reserve for time travel books. Alexander has met everyone famous. He's not a time traveler, but somehow he was always at the right place at the right time.  This bugged the crap out of me. So often we don't recognize big events until they're already upon us, or in some cases, in retrospect. But Alexander was somehow always in the right city and with the right people to even as a 10,11,12-year-old, be known by and friends with the famous adults throughout history. This was dumb, unnecessary and really distracting to me. Book 1 is essentially his origin story and first fight to introduce his nemesis.  By the time I got to the end of book 1, I wasn't interested in knowing where things went.  It was interesting enough, but not interesting enough to continue onto book 2.

Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline

I really enjoyed Ready Player One. I loved the references, I enjoyed the story.  It was a lot of fun. So when I heard that RP2 was available for pre-order, I said "Yes, please."  I guess the joke's on me because I paid full price for RP2 and then didn't even finish it.  It's almost as if Charlie received the Chocolate Factory but then morphed into one of the other bratty children and lived in his penthouse with even less concern about the state of things than Willy Wonka was. RP2 works too hard to find 80s references that weren't used in RP1 and then works just as hard to explain those references to you, worried that you won't otherwise get them. A number of other reviewers complained that it was "woke" - I don't like that term, but I would say that it tries to approach some of the current hot topics but does so clumsily, with a heavy hand, from a character (and possibly by an author) who wants to address the issues but is too far removed. I also think when RP1 came out, it was a kindler, gentler time and we were OK with OASIS (the Facebook-stand-in) being the world's preferred - and partially benevolent - online meeting place. Now with Facebook's toxicity and repeated missteps (not to mention that it's clear Zuckerberg has embraced the dark side with relish), it's also harder to imagine such a place, without it being a toxic cesspool.  So, yeah, I eventually dumped this and really recommend against it.

The Missing Sister by Elle Marr

The motivations of the characters in this book make no sense. The Paris authorities seem to lack basic common sense or procedural standards that any viewer would know after watching even a few episodes of any cop drama on TV.  Characters disappear.  Seemingly important characters are introduced really late. Convoluted and complicated backstories are slowly teased out through flashbacks. Everyone is suspicious and untrustworthy but also safe enough to be alone with if the story needs it. In short, this is a mess. I gave up.

Stuck by Chris Grabenstein

Kid doesn't age while everyone around him does. The characters were annoying and felt too childish and too grownup at the same time. Lots of sound effects. I see this is the second book from the same author that I've abandoned for the same sorts of reasons.  Don't recommend.