Sunday, July 6, 2025
Trapped!: The Story of Floyd Collins – Robert Murray and Roger W. Brucker --------------- 4.5 Stars
Sunday, June 8, 2025
The Idiot: A Novel - Elif Batuman ------------------ 1.5 Stars
A Pulitzer Prize finalist from 2018, I had read people really enjoyed The Idiot. They said it was clever, funny, and an interesting read. Well, I did not find myself with the same impressions of the book as many of those who enjoyed.
This story is a bildungsroman focusing on a Turkish immigrant beginning her first year at Harvard. The book tells the story of her experience in college and, later, trip to Hungary. That's it. That's the plot.
As you can guess from my rating, I really disliked this book. While I know that the plot wasn't actually why it was so liked, I did think it might have a bit more... something. I've read many, many books when the plot is not the central focus of the novel, but this one probably is the most disappointing of all of them. Truly, it felt like nothing ever happened.
Now, all this could be forgiven if the other areas of focus - character building, prose, dialogue, ideas, etc.- were interesting. Unfortunately, I struggled to enjoy any other aspects of this book as well. Perhaps it has to do with me struggling to identify with the main character; it is true that I am not a college age Turkish immigrant at Harvard. However, I've enjoyed so many books with characters and people that are dissimilar than me. I don't think that's it.
I can only explain it as one of those things that happens with "art" sometimes where the "in" people (critics, other writers, etc.) determine that a piece is actually much better than any average observer would actually feel it is. I'm sure there was things that I missed that perhaps were clever, thoughtful, or funny that added something to this novel. But I believe that any average reader picking this up would hate it. And, in many ways I felt like the idiot continuing to stick with it even though I never enjoyed any part of it. But, I continually hoped it might get better and felt obligated to finish it. Perhaps I am wrong and you did or would enjoy this more than me. If that's true, that's great. But for me, this one just didn't resonate. They're not all winners!
Saturday, May 10, 2025
Hard Rain Falling - Don Carpenter ----------------4 Stars
Sunday, April 20, 2025
The Playground/The Overstory - Richard Powers ------------ 3.5 Stars/4 Stars
o cause harm to these things. Both books have a few main characters with seemingly unrelated timelines and stories that do come together at the end. Finally, both books really do have some amazing prose and storytelling.
Saturday, March 29, 2025
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - J.K. Rowling ----------------- 4 Stars
Unless you've been living under a stone for the past quarter century, you know who Harry Potter is and you know about the many books and movies (and everything else that go with it). So, no point in summarizing the book. Rather, I'll share my mid-40 year old thoughts about this first HP book - it was pretty dang entertaining!
Sunday, March 9, 2025
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - John Berendt ---------------- 3.5 Stars
Sunday, February 2, 2025
The Premonition: A Pandemic Story - Michael Lewis ----------------- 2.5 Stars
I've really enjoyed books written Michael Lewis. I've read a few and was so impressed (review from a few months ago) with Going Infinite, the story about Sam Bankman-Fried, I figured I'd enjoy The Premonition: A Pandemic Story. Unfortunately, it was my least favorite Lewis book to date.
Wednesday, January 8, 2025
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind - Yuval Noah Harari --------------- 2.5 Stars
On my list to read for a while, I was excited to finally tackle Sapiens during the Winter Break. I actually started it in early December and figured it'd be an engaging read that I would get through quickly. Well, I was wrong in a couple ways.
Coming in at nearly 600 of fairly dense writing, I struggled to get through and enjoy this book. It was odd though, when I was reading it, I often was interested and did find it engaging, but I really struggled to read in long bursts and want to pick it back up day after day. Taking over a month and a half to get through (while having larger amounts of free time than normal), I was a bit surprised this book didn't resonate with me more fully.
If you are not familiar, the book has a great premise. Here is it as Amazon writes it better, "From renowned historian Yuval Noah Harari comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity’s creation and evolution—a #1 international bestseller—that explores the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be “human.”
One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one—homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us?"
Really, its a history of humans; a subject that seems fascinating. And many parts of the book really are fascinating. I learned a ton about the biology of people, the evolution of Sapiens, and became more much more aware of how many things have changed. I think this book does an amazing job offering perspective about our current world and living while also making you realize just how big and long our universe has existed.
I also will say that Harari's writing style is enjoyable. Again, for a nearly 600 page retrospective about the history of humans, he does a fairly good job of keeping the reader engaged through an informal, and occasionally funny, writing style. It actually reminded me a lot of a Bill Bryson book I love titled, A Short History of Everything. Bryson's book was much more science focused and bit more humorous, but similar all the same.
Ultimately, I don't know if I struggled to engage with this book because other things preoccupied me (tv, phone, family) during Winter Break or it just a book that I would have struggled with regardless of place and time. I am thinking more and more it's the latter. I usually fly through books when I have some time away and usually read multiple during previous Breaks. It's also odd as I tend to prefer books about people and politics rather than other areas of non-fiction. But again, this book never could make an impression on me.
So, I leave it to you to decide what you think. With a 4.3 Goodreads and 4.6 Amazon rating, it's clearly a book that many enjoy (and a Obama and Bill Gates summer reading pick!). And, the content was great and I actually did learn many things. However, I never felt super excited to get back to it and stay engaged with it.

Wednesday, November 27, 2024
Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering - Malcolm Gladwell ---------------------- 3 Stars
Saturday, November 9, 2024
Yellowface - R. F. Kuang ------------------ 4 Stars
Overall, it's a fun and thought provoking book that really does have some interesting takes. Like any good piece of satire, I left thinking differently about a few things. That, plus, a super fast read via a non stop page turning story, leads to a 4 star review.
Saturday, October 19, 2024
Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon - Michael Lewis ---------------- 4 Stars
I've read and reviewed a few of Michael Lewis's books and normally find them quite interesting. The other thing that I find remarkable about them is how quickly he is able to churn out content that is topical and timely. He got particularly lucky with this new book, Going Infinite, as it's basically a biography of Sam Bankman-Fried, who just this summer was convicted of multiple crimes and sent to prison. Besides landing at a perfect time that's newsworthy, it's a pretty fascinating read by itself.
As shared above, this book basically shares the life and times of Sam Bankman-Fried, at one point, one of the richest people in the world who built his empire on cryptocurrency and some fuzzy math. Starting with his somewhat atypical upbringing and navigating through his arrest last year, Lewis does an admirable job of covering his life. Almost always appropriately giving time to what should be covered, I left with a pretty good feel for Bankman-Fried's history.
Unfortunately, I did not leave with a great sense of why Bankman-Fried did much of what he did and exactly what crimes he committed (and if he even knew he was committing them). Now, this is not due to the author's lack of skill or attempt to try to convey this information; rather, it's because Bankman-Fried is a bit of an enigma. And, beyond that, it is clear that Lewis has a different viewpoint of him than most other people (including those in the judicial system). If you'd like to get a shorter read of the book, that has a few other conclusions drawn based on the last year since it was published, check out Lewis' fascinating article in the Washington Post.
And, while I really did enjoy the book and thought it moved at a great pace and was a simply fascinating exposé about the main character, I struggled to follow perhaps 10% of what was shared. Now, this is not new or different from his other books. He's a smart guy and he has no problem using technical jargon and assuming the reader has a similar level of knowledge of things than he does (this reader, absolutely, does not!). While this might take away from parts of the book as it's hard to understand exactly what happened, it also adds to the allure and mystery. It also can be explained by the fact that even the people who are experts in this are and intimately involved don't necessarily always understand what is going on.
SIDE NOTE- for those not familiar, Bankman-Fried is in jail for taking a bunch of people's money. Lewis in the Post piece, basically says Bankman-Friend never actually stole people's money and it's still available it and could be given back to people. The idea that this isn't even a known fact of this point shows you how confusing all this is.
Anyway, as someone who knew very little about this person or what was going on with his trial, I found this book really interesting. Sam Bankman-Fried is one of the most fascinating people and what occurred the last few year was an incredible and meteoric rise to fame and wealth. If reading, just know that you might have to push through some parts that don't make any sense (but don't be discourage, they don't make sense a lot of people, even those involved!)
Sunday, September 29, 2024
Chain Gang All Stars - Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah --------------------- 3.5 Stars
Chain-Gang All-Stars has received some wonderful accolades after its release last year. After hearing about a few of them, I thought I'd give this book a read. And, while it did feel repetitive and a bit arduous at times, the plot and focus was unique.
In a dystopian future in America, a private prison system exists, and criminals are pitted against one another in death matches as they seek their freedom. This book is focused on two exceptional woman gladiators who are excellent killers (and characters) who struggle greatly within the system they are forced to kill The book follows them along with some secondary characters who both question the structure they exist in along with others who work to keep it in place.
I found the book fascinating when I started. Once I understood the set up the novel and how things were different in this fictional future, I was pretty interested. The set up and start of the novel really was excellent. The author did a great job also introducing the key characters and explaining the major players that would be important as the book went along. I also thought the last 10% of the novel was great too. While they set up the final battle, and you kind of knew what was coming, there was well written enough, with enough of a surprise, to make the ending really satisfying.
Unfortunately, I found the middle third of the book a bit repetitive and slow. I almost felt like the author knew how the novel would start and how they wanted to end it and then had to figure out the middle mid-writing. For me, it was simply too long with too many side stories and details provided that were really unnecessary. I felt the author couldn't decide if she wanted to round out and really introduce and provide great stories about these secondary characters or just wanted them to existed generally. Unfortunately, she split the difference and did neither well.
What was perhaps most welcome, surprising and noteworthy about this book was how well the author leaned into describing and educating the reader about all the ills and problems of our modern prison sentence. Offered as one of the worst democratic countries in the world in this regard, the litany of footnotes shared real facts about the horrors that is our prison system for so many individuals. Besides clearly humanizing those behind bars, the author also does a great job of showing how similar they are too so many others. I was amazed by a number of the facts about individuals throughout American history who were unfairly treated and prosecuted (of course, most are people of Color). It left me doing more than a few deep dives to research more.
While I didn't find every page of this book fulfilling, and it suffered from some slow chapters, I do recommend this book strongly. This book is different, entertaining, and has a perspective and viewpoint about something. While it's violent and may push people out of their comfort zone, more books are needed like this.
Friday, September 6, 2024
Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy -------------------- 1.5
Well. I'm clearly a fool. Here are words I wrote upon reviewing Cormac McCarthy's The Road on February 22, 2009., "...but after two books I think I am done with him." Ugh, why didn't I remember that and listen to myself? Instead, here I am, 15 YEARS LATER, giving the same review I gave then.
a great piece of dialogue.
Wednesday, August 28, 2024
The Club Dumas Paperback –Arturo Perez-Reverte ----------------- 3 Stars
Saturday, August 3, 2024
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - Agatha Christie - 3.5 Stars
Like many, I was first put on to Agatha Christie many years ago with her famous And Then There Were None. I remember really enjoying that story, even though it was nearly thirty years ago that I read it. It was such a great mystery and clearly showed how wonderful of a storyteller Christie is. Recently, I came across an article listing the Murder of Roger Ackroyd as they most underrated book she wrote and another great mystery novel, so I gave it a shot. Pretty happy I did.
Of course, like any good sleuth, I did figure it out about half way through. Unfortunately, I read a newer edition that included two prefaces that probably gave away too much information about the killer (I will not do the same for you but do suggest you just start the novel if you get the same copy). And, like And Then There Were None, Christie does such a super job of smartly giving you only what you need to keep guessing while also enough to stay full engaged.
Sunday, July 21, 2024
Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters Paperback - Mark Dunn ------------ 3 Stars
Clever, creative, original - just same words that come to mind after finishing the bizarre but somehow quite interesting, Ella Minnow Pea. Released in 2022, I had read the premise of the book and thought it seemed like something I had not seen before; happy I gave it a try.
As noted above, the book is about (per Amazon), "Ella Minnow Pea is a girl living happily on the fictional island of Nollop off the coast of South Carolina. Nollop was named after Nevin Nollop, author of the immortal phrase containing all the letters of the alphabet, “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.”
Now Ella finds herself acting to save her friends, family, and fellow citizens from the encroaching totalitarianism of the island’s Council, which has banned the use of certain letters of the alphabet as they fall from a memorial statue of Nevin Nollop. As the letters progressively drop from the statue they also disappear from the novel. The result is "a love letter to alphabetarians and logomaniacs everywhere" (Myla Goldberg, bestselling author of Bee Season)"
Not sure about you, but the line, "as the letters progressively drop form the statue they also disappear form the novel." This, I thought is interesting; is the author really going to stop using certain letters in his prose (yes!)? Is it going to be weird and hard to read (again, yes!). Is it not something I've seen before (of course, yes!).
It's a weird book but pretty interesting and I think satire(!?). One huge plus, it's super short (Amazon says 208 pages but it took me like 2 hours to finish). Like a long short story or maybe "novella" length. This helps as it's all letters between people, and as I noted, reading a book without certain letters is hard to do! The book has got some funny parts too and has a pretty great ending.
Sunday, July 7, 2024
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow - Gabrielle Zevin ------------------ 4.5 Stars
Sunday, June 30, 2024
The Hunting Party - Lucy Foley ------------- 3 Stars
Sunday, June 16, 2024
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest - Candice Millard -------------------- 2.5 Stars
The River of Doubt sounded like a really exciting book to read. As Amazon describes it, "At once an incredible adventure narrative and a penetrating biographical portrait—the bestselling author of River of the Gods brings us the true story of Theodore Roosevelt’s harrowing exploration of one of the most dangerous rivers on earth." Well, from that description, I thought it would be a really exciting and enthralling novel to read. Unfortunately, it fell well short of my expectations.
And, to be clear, there were parts of the book I really enjoyed. Some of the biographical pictures offered about all the other characters besides Teddy were particularly interesting. Learning about his son, Kermit, was something new, and the leader of the Brazilian contingency. I also appreciated the lead up and set up the eventual adventure in the Amazon. Learning about how the trip came together, why Roosevelt wanted to take part, and how undiscovered this area was (a little more than a hundred year ago) was worthwhile. Learning about the Native Brazilians who lived in the Amazon, and truly understood how to live in harmony with the jungle, was great. Finally, I really appreciated his vivid and detailed descriptions of life in the Amazon. While I knew that it was a beautiful and unique place, I really didn't appreciate all the dangers and threat that existed; especially as you tried to navigate an unknown river with the technologies that existed a century ago.
Unfortunately, I found the book flat on the whole. While there were some highlights, as noted above, I didn't find the writing all that captivating. I also thought the author could have used a better editor, especially in the middle of the book. With hundreds of pages dedicated to the specifics of their time in the Amazon, it became draining and dragged on. Too many chapters seemed repetitive to the chapter before. And, while I appreciate that I'm sure that's what it felt for those on this incredible journey (times a million), as a reader in my comfortable home, I am most looking to be entertained. I also wish I got more about Roosevelt. Perhaps there weren't enough specific details that could be used (or his journal was lacking), but learning about one of the most famous presidents of all time thought about things would have been illuminating.
Overall, it's a decent book and one a reader would like if fascinated with adventure stories and/or the life of Teddy Roosevelt. And, while much of the book is a bit slower than desired, it's still a great story about one of the most surprising pieces of unknown (at least to me) history from the past century.
Saturday, June 1, 2024
Don't Believe It - Charlie Donlea ------------------- 3.5 Stars
Been on a bit of a role lately reading these "modern" thriller books with typical plot twists near the ending. Don't Believe It can be added to the laundry list and is pretty similar to the rest of them. Not a super deep book with a lot of meaning on life. Rather, it's a pretty engaging page turner that is pretty hard to put down. Unfortunately, I found this one really struggled to nail the landing.
This one is a typical murder mystery type with an aggrieved girlfriend put in prison for the death of her fiancee. The book's main protagonist is a documentary filmmaker who's rise to fame is based on getting innocent people out of jail. So, she hears the story about this woman in prison and works to tell the world about her case. The story is told in parts as a typical fictional narrative while being interspersed with text from her real time "documentary" airing about this crime. As the story moves along, you get more details revealed throughout the book which helps you begin to piece together what happened. Of course, you get a typical twist ending, and the nice pretty bow of everything explained by the end.
As you can tell from my fairly annoyed commentary, I really didn't love the book. And, I actually found a couple parts in the past quarter of the story, particularly annoying. I won't go into the specifics of what they are and spoil parts of the book for you, but I found the author took some shortcuts to get to the ending and made some odd choices around character and plot. And while I understand it's a book of fiction, the book is based in reality yet a couple of things near the end seemed so unrealistic that I found I really didn't enjoy how it concluded.
Yet, even with those challenges, the book still earns 3.5 stars as I couldn't put it down when reading it. Even from the start, I found it an engaging read that had a great pace. The characters were pretty flat and, honestly, pretty dislikable across the board. Nonetheless, my rankings are based on level of engagement, and I found it a fun, albeit frustrating, novel.