Honest and unbiased book reviews.
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Even though I always have a few books on the go, I'm always looking for new books to read. Feel free to share your opinions on the books I review or request books for future reviews!
Borrowed the audiobook for this tale from my local library - and couldn't stop listening! This story is fast-paced and gets right to the point, without feeling rushed.
Our main character, a dwarf, enlists the help of a man rumored to know the location of secret gold-filled cave on a mysterious isle. We quickly learn that this small man is not to be underestimated, for he holds many secrets... but so does the man he hires to be his guide.
The end comes quickly and surprisingly, with a twist you feel you should've seen coming. If you get the chance, definitely give this short story a read!
Everyone is familiar with the Einstein poster they saw hanging in their science class room. Lots of people have heard of such famous names as Bohr, Schroedinger, Madame Curie... but few have actually taken the time to get to know these pioneers of science as actual people. To discover the ups and downs of their personal lives and travel with them throughout their prestigious careers. This book bridges that gap and takes the reader on a truly impressive journey.
The most amazing thing about this book is the extensive number of lives it follows throughout it's many decades. The reader finds oneself constantly immersed in a whirlwind of academic failures and accomplishments, personal successes and embarrassments, professional highs and lows - every prominent name you might be familiar with from a science text book is scrutinized under this book's microscopic eye. All these life stories are intricately woven together into a delicately balanced tale that reveals to the reader how we have come to the scientific understanding we have today. It provides an inside look into what fueled these great minds and what encouraged them to continue to question our understanding of the world around us.
If you've ever wished to steal a peek behind that rigid curtain of science that insists all scientists be boring and stuffy, then you are in for a real show. The book does not "dumb down" it's topics. It appeals to the nerd and layman alike. I feel that this book could truly be used as a tool to show the average person a side of science they could relate to, while also enlightening the scientific audience to a side of their scholars they might not be familiar with.
After reading Dust, I was super excited to read some more stories by Allison M. Dickson. And so I dove into this story with high expectations. The first page was filled with excellent descriptions that painted a vivid mental image. You can tell the author loves using metaphors and is very skillful at putting them to use in her stories. But by the end, unfortunately I just didn't enjoy this one as much as I had hoped.
Basically we have the local "haunted house". This house was the scene of a horrible massacre, where a senator killed his own family. It has sat empty for quite some time and as expected, has been overtaken by vermin. Someone has decided to purchase the house and clean it up, so the local exterminators have arrived on the scene to clear out the infestation. There is Wes, an inspector who rarely works in the field anymore but wants to personally oversee this job, and there is Oscar. Oh Oscar.
I think he is one of the main reasons I couldn't enjoy the story. He seems to be so painfully inept at his job that it was hard for the story to maintain one iota of believeability. Sure, he's cleaning out a house that was the scene of gruesome murders. I'll give him that. I would be jumpy too. But he freaks out a little too easily. Not only does he panic, attempt to run away and has his foot go through the moldy floor, he then kicks a hole in the wall in the process of freeing his foot. As the new homeowner, I'd be pretty ticked off.
Things go downhill from here for our unfortunate exterminators. Turns out this house is infested beyond their wildest imaginations. Since it is a rather short story, I'm going to use spoiler tags for a moment:
So after Oscar's freak-out, he regroups outside the house and then decides to find his partner. Wes should've been in the backyard securing the windows, but Oscar only finds his tool kit and an open window. Upon further inspection, he hears wheezing noises coming from the basement - which he believes to be his partner, possibly wounded. He hurries to the basement, BUT OH NO!!! The battery in his flashlight AND cell phone are almost dead! See what I mean about Oscar? Obviously long abandoned houses aren't going to have a lot of lighting, yet he is utterly unprepared. Before his lights go out, he does see that the basement is filled with human bodies in various levels of decay, including the body of his partner. I would run at this point. Run very fast and very far and never look back. But I'll let you read the book to see what Oscar does.
I have to say, the ending almost makes up for the rest of the story's shortcomings. It makes your skin crawl. It makes you want to stock up on Raid. But overall, I feel that the story relies too much on your fear of bugs instead of being a truly good read. I am still looking forward to reading more stories by this author though!
I'm such a sucker for "end of the world" stories. Especially ones involving alien intervention. So naturally, I didn't even need to finish reading the description to know I wanted to read this. I got as far as "A hungry alien substance has traveled to Earth following a doomed Lunar mission", and hit the download button.
Those who know me, know that I hugely prefer print books to digital books. It's not even a competition. But I have to admit that I have stumbled across some pretty neat books that I never would have read if not for the digital version. This is one of those.
The story is told from Clyde Jackson's point of view. A lucky survivor of the mass destruction caused by some sort of alien space dust, he is cooped up in his panic room. Although he has plenty of food, water, and booze, his main concern is keeping the room free of the invasive killer dust. We never really find out what it is, although it's hinted that it could be the result of an alien contaminated Kuiper Belt object colliding with the moon ten years previously. This is one theory circulating the internet while the failed Lunar mission is on it's return flight back to Earth, shown to Clyde by a wound-up young man in a diner.
I very much enjoyed that the author shared with the readers where she got the idea for the story. She says learning of the possibility of human material remaining on the moon, combined with the movie Apollo 18, was the reason for writing this story. It really focuses on a part of space exploration that certainly deserves some thought.
I would've loved for this book to be longer. It's a great story idea that could easily be inflated into a full novel - which I would read in a heartbeat!
This isn't really a book I would normally go for, but the description piqued my curiosity. I went into this book with very limited knowledge about Prohibition, but walked away with a huge appreciation for how it affected the lives of so many - the public, the mobsters, the cops. But this is certainly not just a history lesson. It is also the personal adventures of Dutch Schultz, and his rise to be one of the top mobsters of the Prohibition era.
"January 17, 1920: Prohibition, the government's greatest gift to the criminal world"
Boy, is this ever true!! I had no idea that it enabled so much crime and corruption! And this book tosses you right into the middle of it all. You learn the operations and workings of various well-known mobsters and get to see exactly how they amassed their fame and fortunes. The power and money behind these crime lords is poignantly shown when describing the funeral of one mobster - a 100+ car funeral procession (35 cars just containing flowers!), thousands of attendants, mob bosses clamoring to send the best flower arrangement. At one point, Dutch is pulling in $35,000 A DAY. I'll let that soak in for a minute. $35,000 A DAY. There are tons of people out there right now that make that much money ANNUALLY! He employed a math whiz who enjoyed a cushy paycheck of $10,000 a week. I'd love that sort of employment opportunity.
I also learned that tax evasion is apparently the Achilles heel of mobsters. Who knew? The government may not be able to convict you of any other crimes you've committed in your crime career (due to "disappearing" witnesses or tight-lipped detainees, etc), but if you don't perform your civic duty and pay taxes - they'll GETCHA! Unless of course, you are Dutch Schultz. In that case you will just breeze through the trial and come off looking like a hero. Twice.
This was an enjoyable read. It is one of those rare books that I honestly think would hold any reader's interest, regardless of their usual choice of genre. The story is interesting and gripping. The "poor kid rises above his past to make something of himself" story is told without coming off as cheesy, and despite Dutch's apparent lack of compassion for those around him, I still found myself rooting for him throughout the book.
The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains: A Tale of Travel and Darkness with Pictures of All Kinds by Neil Gaiman
