orangerful (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
orangerful) wrote2018-03-02 11:26 pm
orangerful) wrote2018-03-02 11:26 pm
books read in February 2018
LOL sorry for spamming you all with posts this evening!! Just had things to say and it felt easier to spread them across multiple entries rather one long rambling post. Decent month for reading, though getting sick slowed me down a LOT.
Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I want to know how much the 2016 election effected Shusterman's writing or if this is one of those strange cases of life imitating art. I don't think I have read a 500 page book this quickly in a LONG time.
While Scythe set up the world, 'Thunderhead' lets us finally live in it. More thoughts on life, death, and also how easy it is to become dependent and *trusting* of technology.
I actually liked Rowan and Citra a lot more in this book too, perhaps because I prefer them apart rather than together.
Shusterman reminds me of Michael Crichton, in the sense that he knows how to tell a great story, fast-paced and mixed with enough pseudo science to make you feel like it could happen...even if his character development isn't the best. But I'm not here for the characters so much as I am here for the thoughts on what a world without death would really mean. And how much I should worry if Alexa does gain self-awareness and decide to run my life for me.
4 Kids Walk Into A Bank by Matthew Rosenberg
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I'm not even sure how to describe this except REALLY GOOD. Moments of humor, heart, and it is easy to see yourself as these teens, straddling that line between childhood and adulthood.
Read this if you've enjoyed that whole retro/80s vibe that Stranger Things has but want more of a crime twist rather than demigorgons.
Lovely by Jess Hong
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book is lovely. Everyone in it is lovely. Let's all be lovely together.
It is that simple.
Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit by John E. Douglas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Fascinating read that is still releveant over twenty years later. It was eerie to read the profiles of the different killers and then turn on the news and see that the description of recent mass shooters line up exactly. But, as Douglas says in the final few pages, the key to stopping these horrible violent crimes is stopping criminals from being made and that means taking care of each other and being a positive force in the world.
Highly recommend this to everyone.
Mis(h)adra by Iasmin Omar Ata
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
3.5 stars
I liked this book and I might have liked it more had I not just read Lighter Than My Shadow which also dealt with a mental illness and the process of learning to live with it.
Still, great true story that will raise awareness about people who suffer from things like epilepsy and the stigmas associated with it along with the struggle of an "invisible" ailment.
There was a lot here to like but I am even more excited to see what comes next from Ata because I feel like he has more stories to tell.
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Probably 2.5 stars.
When I read this as a teen, I assumed I was too unsophisticated for the humor or, perhaps, too American to understand it all. But reading it again, I had all the same issues with the pacing and the plot-twist. Nowhere near as funny as the sequel or HHGttG series.
I'm going to read The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul next which I have very fond memories of so I'm hoping it holds up after all these years!
View all my reviews
Thunderhead by Neal ShustermanMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I want to know how much the 2016 election effected Shusterman's writing or if this is one of those strange cases of life imitating art. I don't think I have read a 500 page book this quickly in a LONG time.
While Scythe set up the world, 'Thunderhead' lets us finally live in it. More thoughts on life, death, and also how easy it is to become dependent and *trusting* of technology.
I actually liked Rowan and Citra a lot more in this book too, perhaps because I prefer them apart rather than together.
Shusterman reminds me of Michael Crichton, in the sense that he knows how to tell a great story, fast-paced and mixed with enough pseudo science to make you feel like it could happen...even if his character development isn't the best. But I'm not here for the characters so much as I am here for the thoughts on what a world without death would really mean. And how much I should worry if Alexa does gain self-awareness and decide to run my life for me.
4 Kids Walk Into A Bank by Matthew RosenbergMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I'm not even sure how to describe this except REALLY GOOD. Moments of humor, heart, and it is easy to see yourself as these teens, straddling that line between childhood and adulthood.
Read this if you've enjoyed that whole retro/80s vibe that Stranger Things has but want more of a crime twist rather than demigorgons.
Lovely by Jess HongMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book is lovely. Everyone in it is lovely. Let's all be lovely together.
It is that simple.
Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit by John E. DouglasMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Fascinating read that is still releveant over twenty years later. It was eerie to read the profiles of the different killers and then turn on the news and see that the description of recent mass shooters line up exactly. But, as Douglas says in the final few pages, the key to stopping these horrible violent crimes is stopping criminals from being made and that means taking care of each other and being a positive force in the world.
Highly recommend this to everyone.
Mis(h)adra by Iasmin Omar AtaMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
3.5 stars
I liked this book and I might have liked it more had I not just read Lighter Than My Shadow which also dealt with a mental illness and the process of learning to live with it.
Still, great true story that will raise awareness about people who suffer from things like epilepsy and the stigmas associated with it along with the struggle of an "invisible" ailment.
There was a lot here to like but I am even more excited to see what comes next from Ata because I feel like he has more stories to tell.
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas AdamsMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Probably 2.5 stars.
When I read this as a teen, I assumed I was too unsophisticated for the humor or, perhaps, too American to understand it all. But reading it again, I had all the same issues with the pacing and the plot-twist. Nowhere near as funny as the sequel or HHGttG series.
I'm going to read The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul next which I have very fond memories of so I'm hoping it holds up after all these years!
View all my reviews
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