All the Books.

"A beautifully illustrated and also fun and informative look behind the scenes of Lee's artistic process while he helped bring Middle-earth to life. Covering Peter Jackson's films and an illustrated edition of Tolkiens' novels, every single page in this book was stunning."  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Pros: The artwork, obviously/Lee’s narrative is educational and fun/The memories he shares show just how much work everyone put into these monumental films. Cons: Non-Fiction can get a little dry at times but honestly, Lees' writing flowed pretty well overall/There were parts of the books that he mentioned that I wasn't familiar with so I had trouble picturing them but that just gives me more reason to go back and read the series again 🙌.  Full Review:  The look into the mind of an artist was a very unique and fun way to explore Middle-earth. Lee explained his process. How instead of lists, he sketches out little thumbnails of what he'll draw first. And thus began our ...

"T "The second installment in Pierce Brown's epic Space opera skips ahead a few years and shows Darrow's continuing integration into Gold society. There's agendas upon plots upon schemes as well as love, loss, betrayal and death. Pierce Brown doesn't miss a beat and that ending is truly insane."  Pros:  Fast paced and action packed, it still had the same heart shattering plot/characters as the first/That ending, like, whoa... Cons:  Sometimes there were a few too many characters, hard to keep everyone and all their dealings straight.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Full Review:  ***Disclaimer - If you have not read Red Rising  by Pierce Brown, please do so and then feel free to read this post at your leisure. That way, you'll know what I'm talking about 🙌.*** Darrow broke all the rules at the end of Red Rising  by storming Olympus. After crushing the Institute and swearing himself to House Augustus, Darrow spent a year on the Augustus estate. Things were good, peaceful bu...

"Red Rising by Pierce Brown is an epic and gritty space opera that follows Darrow and his attempt to make the last words of his wife, "break the chains", a reality. He will be the hammer that shatters their golden shackles. The first test is surviving the Institute, a school where the best and brightest of the Aureate, the Golds children go to prove their merit. And Darrow knows he must win but nothing prepares him for the trials he'll face, the choices he'll make or the friendships he'll form. This is my third read and the series just keeps getting better."  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐  Pros - A cast of truly likable characters and all for different reasons/Sevro, the quiet, keenly observant, loner/Roque, the gentle poet/Cassius, arrogant but charming/Darrow's guilt at their friendship is truly heartbreaking at times/The idea of colors was an interesting catch, Reds, Pinks, Blues, Greens and the most powerful Golds.  Cons - The 12 Houses of the Roman Pantheon in the Inst...

"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...

"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...

"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...

"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...

"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...

"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...

"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...

“The apocalypse is looming when a random South American Dictator threatens Nuclear War. Of course, Charles Wallace is the only one who can stop it!  It's all tied into the descendants of Meg's mother in law, Mrs. O'Keefe, Calvin's mother.  With the help of a Unicorn named Gudior, Charles Wallace is off to save the day. This was another head scratcher and I'm not holding out much hope that the series will start making sense." 2 Stars Pros Time travel, to me, is far less surreal than whatever was going on in #2. So this was an easier read. Cons: Megs constant questioning starts right on page 1, at least she’s consistent/I do love how Mr. Murry is on speed dial with the President/The various timelines got very confusing and all the Brans/Maddocs/Maddox/Gwens/Gwyns and the multiple Zillah and Zillies were extremely frustrating. I had no idea who I was reading about at the end.  Full Review:  Years have passed and all the Murry children have grown. Dennys and San...

"It had such potential but then the indignant Boston Brahim enter the scene and we're thrown into a world of literature, proofs and translations with the occasional homicide thrown in to keep up the intrigue. I kept reading cause I was curious but this was an almost DNF on multiple occasions simply for the fact that it just went on and on. Honestly, it was hard to keep track and to care about the characters in the end." ⭐ Pros: It was definitely an interesting and unique premise/The mulatto police officer, Nicholas Rey, he was kind, intelligent, an easily likable character and I wanted to learn more about him but Pearl was too focused on the bitter arguments against literature at the time instead of building character.  Cons: All the indignant old men and “Good God” exclamations. It was all a bit pretentious./This book made me feel like Niles and Frasier Crane were solving a mystery./Parts of this book literally put me to sleep.  Full Review Set shortly after the Civil ...

"Part Fantasy/Part Coming of age story, this was an interesting one from Ness. It had his dark, gritty realism but at the same time, the storyline with the Indie kids ended up just being overdone and confusing."  2 Stars Pros:  Ness touched upon some serious issues with his characters, mental health/anxiety/OCD/Eating Disorders but he handled it all in a realistic way. He didn't sugarcoat anything, which was tough at times but I think it added to the story.  Cons:  The fantasy story of the Indie kids being told in summary at the beginning of each chapter was unique but also, just kind of felt rushed and trite.  Full Summary: Mike is just weeks away from graduating high school and having his whole life change. His sister Mel, his best friend Jared, the love of his life but he's never told her, Henna, everyone is preparing to up and going their separate ways. And there's that whole thing with the Indie kids always causing some sort of magical mishap. It'll be a ...

"The dark but necessary conclusion to Yancey's series. It brings everything to a close but the cost is always high. Yancey handles it all in gently heart breaking way. Post-apocalyptic YA Sci-Fi at its best."    Pros:  Yancey does wrap it up well with a pretty good bow, one of the times a rare ray of light shines through this overall very dark series.  Cons:  Not a con per se but reading this series through now as an adult, it is dark. Like, sure, the protagonists are mostly teenagers but, it can get heavy at times, so tread lightly/Though there were some truly deep parts, the ending did go on for a bit.   Full Review: This is one of those times where I feel obligated to say that if you haven't read the first two books in the series, then stop here. Go back and get a copy of The 5th Wave and then please, proceed...  ***SPOILER ALERT*** It's been 6 weeks since Cassie and company escaped Urbana, Ringer was captured, tormented and freed and the Alie...

"A direct continuation of The 5th Wave  and Yancey goes even deeper, never pulling any punches and leaving the reader feeling shocked and horrified but at the same time, like the characters, somehow, still hopeful. I'm excited to see how the Series ends in The Last Star. " 5 Stars Pros:  Basically picking up right where The 5th Wave  left off, we follow Ben/Cassie in their attempts to lay low and survive after the cataclysmic events of the first books ending/The scene between Poundcake and Grace was absolute perfection.  Cons:  Some of the scene with Ringer were very surreal and a little hard to follow, a little repetitive but it didn't take away from the book too much, sometimes it went on for a little too long though.  Full Review: Cassie has found her little brother Sam, along with Ben (Zombie) who is Sam's commanding officer and the rest of Ben's unit. Once they realized what was happening, they went rogue and they know it's only a matter of time befor...

"A dark, gritty, unflinching look at how the world descends into chaos when Aliens finally invade. Yancey pulls no punches and there were times that this book was so intense that I had to remind myself that it was fiction. It was a tough read but a powerful one, one that has stayed with me for a long time." 5 Stars Pros:  Though she has her moments of naivete, for the most part, Cassie is a relatable, strong protagonist and her loyalty and love are endless, the same with Ben Parish/Ringer is a mystery that I hope will be solved.  Cons:  This book is extremely dark and violent at times, so brace yourself. It's not a con precisely but it gets deep and depressing at times.  Full Review: It's finally happened.  Aliens have invaded the Earth.  But it wasn't with ray guns, or Death Stars or blowing up the White House, "Independence Day" style. Instead, the mother ship slips into our orbit, hovering above the Earth like a green, lidless eye and for ten days, no...

"Epic fantasy in every sense but a bit too epic at times. Though I liked most of the characters and Rollins was good at pacing at the beginning, for some reason, once they all reached Havensfayre, everything got kind of complicated, cerebral and hard to follow. I think there was too much happening to too many people all at once. It was an interesting read but by the end, I just needed it to be done." 2 Stars Pros: I do always love the lax, underestimated underdog character like Kanthe/ Rollins didn’t pull any punches, he killed off characters left and right. Cons: I felt like I learned more about the world than the characters, there were brief glimpses but it was overwhelmed with Nyx and her ability to "sing" to creatures, to "feel" them and "bond" with them/There was a lot happening all at once, to a bunch of different people, so it got confusing as to who was where/when/It went on for far too long. Full Review Nyx was abandoned at birth in th...

"Essentially, the war between Good and Evil is constant and its up to our intrepid heroes to once again, fight Fallen Angels to try and save the life of the ailing, Charles Wallace. This book was WAY out there and honestly, once the jaded and bitter principal of the grade school, Mr. Jenkins showed up in multiple forms, I just kind of gave up and finished it to see if it would make any more sense but it never really did."  1 Star.  Pros:  Proginoskes was a fun bit of snark at times. Cons:  L’Engles literalness, nothing was imaginary but at the same time it was hard to remember what was real and what wasn’t cause you have Proginoskes always transporting Meg five ways from Sunday to different places/I was so overwhelmed by everything going on that whole characters names were lost on me, like the teacher, Blajeny/Meg's CONSTANT questions and the lack of actual action/More than once I wanted to scream at the book that I didn't care if they were on a different plane of d...

"The tried and true story of "good versus evil", L'Engle's approach was a unique, peppering inter-dimensional travel into the mix. But in the end, the characters Meg and Charles Wallace were a bit much and the lack of explanation, especially about Mr. Murry and how he just happened to land on Camazotz and become a prisoner of IT, left me wanting more information and not getting it." 2 Stars Pros:  The idea of a Tesseract is an interesting one, though very complex based on the fact this is a young readers book.  Cons:  Meg was very shrill and also very opposite. When speaking with IT, she argued saying that the least he could do was give them some food and then when he gives them food she refuses to eat it, she was really kind of obnoxious/Also, the end, what saves everyone made sense but, it was a bit of a letdown.  Full Review It's a dark and stormy night and Meg can't sleep, so she goes downstairs to the kitchen to find her youngest brother, Charle...

"As Europe falls to the Nazis. Josef Kavalier is the only one of his family to manage to escape to New York City, where he stays with his cousin, Sammy Klay. An instant friendship is formed and soon that friendship is a team. Together they create one of the best selling comics of all time, The Escapist. This had so many different amazing moments and others that were just, soul crushing. It was a heavy, heavy book but a beautiful one as well. "  4 Stars Pros:  Sammy and Josef, you can just picture them, one short, the other tall, eager Sammy and quiet, contemplative Josef. They were a pair that just worked/The ending 💯. Cons:  The over and over heart break of Josef , like, dear Lord, Chabon, give the kid a break/It was sometimes so emotionally heavy that I'd have to put it down and take breaks.  Full Review: Josef manages to escape German occupied Prague with the help of his former teacher, Kornblum, who taught him the arts of sleight of hand, escapism and lock picki...

"It had potential, and I liked Keeble's sardonic voice, for a bit, but after awhile it all got repetitive and the story got overly complicated and hard to follow. This book was purely for research purposes and it was a struggle to get through, kind of like, Summer Reading 👍."  1 Star Pros  Keeble's voice is sardonic and offbeat and I appreciated it, at first. It eventually started to grow old though. Like, her obliviousness just became tedious eventually.  Cons:  So much was happening in this novel, all of it at the same time and it all just got very confusing. It needed to focus on just one thing/The protagonist is so unforgettable that I had a hard time remembering her name for this review.  Full Review Xanthe Jane Green loves Vampires. She's a read all the books, seen all the tv/movies, knows all the characters, all the myths, all the legends. Vampires are her life. And when she wakes up in a coffin and realizes, through a befuddled conversation with her app...

"The final book in The Expanse series, Corey brought everything to a nice, solid conclusion. There were mind bending hallucinations, shared consciousness and all the insanity that comes along with the Protomolecule but it's the end game and James Holden is determined to see everything through to the finish. I'm glad I got the chance to follow the crew of the Rocinante on their truly epic journey." 4 Stars Pros:  They got the band back together/The pork pie hat 🤫❤️/It was a satisfying end to the series.  Cons:  Proto-Molecule, who killed the creators, like, super epic, far flung, mind bending kind of stuff at points, very trippy to read.    Full Review Extreme measures are being taken to get Teresa Duarte back in the hands of Laconia. She’s shipped on the Rocinante for a year and to Jim’s surprise, has become an integral part of the crew. But through all of it, they're still on the run from the strongest military force in the history of time. Jim knows a ship is...

"I think the lesson of this book is "think before you speak." Other than that, I felt like it was the author trying to show off her knowledge of different religions but Marlowe, the protagonist, wasn't smart enough to realize how to interact with these different Pantheons. And she never, ever learned. This was just a poorly written, badly edited, underwhelming book and I just wasn't impressed. " 2 Stars.  Pros:  The book itself was beautiful, the pages were bound with blue edges but the story was severely lacking.  Cons:   Dial back on the melodrama can we please? Marlowe's first reaction of, pitching a fit and telling Caliban to go away, that she never wants to see him again, leads to him disappearing, DUH. You have to think before you speak when dealing with humans and deities.   Full Review Marlowe grew up dirt poor, never had any friends and was raised by an overbearing, abusive, religious zealot of a Mother. The only comfort she finds is in the form...

"A simple, honest, touching story about a boy and his dogs, hunting raccoons in the foothills of the Ozark mountains. It has faith, love and loyalty and it hit just as hard as an adult as it did when I was a kid."  3 Stars Pros:  Billy's love for his pups, Old Dan and Little Ann is the most pure and genuine love there is and there's never any doubting it/Touched upon the idea of God/Heaven/Faith in a tender and respectful way.  Cons:  I had trouble with the passage of time in this novel, I was unsure of how much time had passed between chapters, so all of it seemed to happen very quickly, it was a little jarring at times/I do not approve of hunting unless you're using all parts of the animal and need to kill said animal to survive, even then, I'm not a fan of it, so the whole constant hunting of small woodland creatures was a bit cringe-worthy.  Full Review One night, on his way home from work, Billy Coleman witnesses a dog fight. He, at first, can't help ...