Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Rapid Fire Mini Reviews #2

"All That is Solid Melts into Air" by Darragh McKenon. Very good! Interwoven stories set around a struggling family in Moscow and a doctor recovering from a divorce, all set around the Chernobyl disaster. It made me want to find out more about that cataclysmic event. However I wouldn't recommend reading it while eating because the descriptions of people suffering from radiation was roooough.

"My Hands Came Away Red" by Lisa McKay.I wanted to like this more than I did. I felt like there was maybe one too many main characters. There wasn't enough time for character development for all of them so they fell a little flat. But the concept of the story and the plot I thought was great.

"Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes. Heartbreaking, interesting and very deserving of the awards it has won.

"Travels on the Lost Continent" by Bill Bryson. I generally like Bill Bryson. I hated this book. His attitude is snobby and bad and everything was beneath him. I'm glad I didn't start with this book or else I'd probably not have read any of his others.

"Alias Hook" by Lisa Jensen. This book is most most excellent. The only reason I didn't do a review is that there are so many other reviews out there about this great book. Read this one and throw shade at Peter Pan forever!

"Narrow Door at Colditz" by Robert L Wise. The fictionalized account of POW's attempted escapes/escapes from a camp that is housed in an ancient castle on a mountain near the Czech border. (From B&H Publishing) I couldn't really get past the writing style with this one.

"Mr Chartwell" by Rebecca Hunt. A huge black dog is the manifestation of depression that haunts Winston Churchill and a young librarian who has experienced tragedy. I didn't know what I was getting with this book at first but I loved it. So recommended.


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4 comments:

  1. I would never have thought of reading a book about Chernobyl, although that sounds fascinating.

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    1. It was! All the characters were sent there only days after it happened so it was really interesting to hear about all the confusion because no one knew what the heck was going on!

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  2. I really want to check out Alias Hook. Again, the reimagined fairy tales totally suck me in, and I have a weird affinity for all things Peter Pan. (Side note, if you like the Peter Pan story, check out The New Adventures of Peter and Wendy on youtube, it's a fun retelling where Peter and Wendy our around our age and living in Neverland, Ohio and hilarity ensues. There's about 14 short episodes and they're currently writing a season two. It's oddly delightful and hilarious.)

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    1. It's really really good! Peter Pan isn't my most favorite (I think it has something to do with the Dad, he's terrible and then he's awful to Nana!) but I thoroughly enjoyed this.I'm totally suckered in to the retelling fairytales too! Neverland Ohio sounds really funny, Peter can't have student loan debt right?

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