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The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

"It's so easy to jump into Tolkien's Middle-Earth and accompany Bilbo on his epic quest. The tried and true "Hero's Journey" structure shows the Hobbit going from a quiet and polite Gentleman to a quick-witted and salty little Burglar. A good re-read and re-introduction to Tolkien's sometimes hefty descriptions."  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Pros: Tolkien does have an undeniable wit to his writing/Gandalf is one salty B****.  Cons: The 13 Dwarves and trying to keep them all straight/Though it helped created depth to Middle-Earth, the whole, Thor, of Thrain of Thror King Under the Mountain, title dropping got really, really old.  Full Review: Bilbo Baggins, a comfortably wealthy and polite Hobbit is enjoying his morning pipe when an old man in a gray cloak, holding a walking stick stops at his door, quite unexpectedly. Bilbo wishes him a good morning, as is courteous and the old man proceeds to ask him all sorts of questions, as to why this morning should be good. The conve...
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The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

"Reminiscent of Go Ask Alice, we see Charlie's life through the form of letters written to an anonymous friend. And akin to Go Ask Alice  it had a curb-ball in there that completely blindsided me. I can see why it's a modern classic because there were some truly quotable moments but overall I was generally underwhelmed."  ⭐⭐ Pros:  Chbosky's truth about how we all have an ending, it's up to us whether it's good or bad, definitely stuck.  Cons:  Charlie’s awkwardness is painful/It took awhile for me to get used to the flow of seeing Charlie's life through the letters/Charlie came off as flat and emotionless though all he seemed to do was cry/That plot twist 3/4s of the way through the book hit me completely by surprise.   Full Review:  Charlie is quiet and observant. The book is told in the form of letters to an anonymous person that Charlie was told was "nice and would listen." And he goes on to start the story of his life, when he was in Mid...

Abhram Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith

"Though the idea seemed ridiculous, once I got into the plot, I was impressed with Grahame-Smith's blending of fiction and non-fiction and his unique take on the tried-and-true subject of Vampires."   ⭐⭐⭐ Pros:  Grahame-Smith tackled the topic of Vampires and their history in an original and subtle way.  Cons:  The ending, to me, had a giant loophole that they didn't close. Perhaps you're just supposed to accept it and enjoy it, which I did but at the same time, it left me wondering.  Full Review: Smith is simply going through the motions. He works in his Father in Laws store and plays around with the idea of one day actually finishing that novel but, for the most part, he's just getting through the days. His days are filled with clientele coming in to comment on how quaint and cute the small-town country store is but there's one customer, a regular, that's always stood out to Grahame-Smith.  He's quiet, buys the same things and pays in cash and Sm...

All Systems Red: (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells

"Murderbot, a Security Unit assigned to a survey team on an unnamed planet just wants to watch his programs and be left alone. But when things start to go weird and people start dying around him, well, he has to do the job he's been contracted to do. It's never that simple though and he's begrudgingly dragged into a life or death struggle. It had potential but unfortunately in the end it fell a little flat."  ⭐⭐ Pros : I liked and related to how Murderbot just wanted to sit and watch his "programs" all day but work kept getting in the way.  Cons : Everything was very surface level, even Murderbots own feelings, it all felt rather shallow/The motive didn't feel strong enough. I feel like since it was a novella there wasn't enough time for real character growth.  Full Review :  Murderbot is an organic/mechanical Security Unit (SecUnit) assigned to a team of surveyors on an unnamed planet in the middle of God knows where. SecUnit doesn't know an...

The Liberated Bride by A.B. Yehoshua

"Yochanan Rivlin is the "Rabbit" Angstrom of Near Eastern Studies at Haifa University. A passionate but flawed man, unable to let go of things. Especially why his sons marriage dissolved after only a year, with no explanation. He goes off in search of answers and stumbles into one misadventure after another. Yehoshu caught me with Ofer and Galya's story but the subplot of Samaer's term paper and Rivlin's job as a professor was boring enough to almost DNF this one a couple of times."  ⭐⭐⭐ Pros:  Honestly, I was as curious to find out why Ofer's wedding ended as Rivlin was. Yehoshua managed to hook me with the letter from Ofer to Galya, just as I was thinking of DNFing it cause it might be boring, he threw that at me and it worked/Hagit was a good but never heeded voice of reason.  Cons:  Rivlin is a very selfish man, very similar to "Rabbit" Harry Angstrom from the series by John Updike/He's a bit of a blithering idiot who gets what he d...

Better Than the Movies (Better Than the Movies #1) by Lynn Painter

"It had a very, "10 Things I Hate About You" feel and parts of it were fun but honestly, Liz was one of the most painfully clueless MCs I've come across in a long time. Like, come on girl, wake up. This one was a struggle but I needed to see how it ended 🙄." ⭐⭐ Pros:  Liz and Wes' banter was, of course, witty and charming.  Cons:  I felt like I didn't know Liz as a character. Her childhood felt glossed over and hence her infatuation with Michael Young just seemed to come out of the blue/Liz is probably one of the most infuriatingly clueless characters I have ever come across.  Full Review Elizabeth (Liz) Buxbaum is hitting the most memorable, movie moment time of a young girls' life. High School Graduation! Her Senior year is winding down and it's almost time for prom, so naturally Liz's head is full of day dreams of the most romantic prom-posal ever, offered by none other than Michael Young.  He's recently moved back to town and Liz jus...

Many Waters (Time Quintet #4) by Madeleine L'Engle

"Dennys and Sandy, the twins are whisked away to the Andte-diluvian days where they get to be part of history, or at least, Biblical history. It was almost like a prequel to Noah and the Ark with the occasional Unicorn, of course. L'Engle does like her Unicorns."  2 Stars Pros:  Dennys and Sandy, the twins, finally get their own adventure./It was an interesting look into the Apochrypha. I would've thought L'Engle would have shied away from such controversial subject matter. Angels having pre-martial relations with human women, goodness me.  Cons:  Mr. Murry's magical tesser-acting computer certainly took things literally but, I guess it's the whole, "be careful what you wish for" message/ Though Dennys and Sandy were the protagonists, I didn't feel like we really, actually got to know them.  Full Review Sandy (Alexander) and Dennys are finishing up Hockey practice and go home to make themselves some nice hot chocolate, since its mid-winter in...