The Book of Goodnight Stories by Vratislav Stovicek(re-read) I got this book a long time ago because I had it as a kid and I wanted my kids to have it. There are 365 stories, one for each day of the year, although a lot of them are multi-parters, and each day is only about 250 words. I have fond memories of this book, but on the re-read, it started becoming hard to get through. The stories I remember as a nine-year-old weren’t as full of whimsy and wonder. The tales weren’t diverse and magical. They started getting samey (right around August, I believe) and it’s not as much a…
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The Books I Read: March – April 2017
I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga(unfinished) I love Barry Lyga, but I had to stop after twenty-five percent. There was too much telling and not enough showing. The story’s about a teenager who knows all the serial killer tricks because his father was one. So there’s analysis, backstory, and thinking, but not much action. Too much of the text is setup for the ongoing series, not the current story. I wanted to know what’s happening with the murder now, not ten years ago. It would have been better if the text was presented in flashbacks so there was more immediacy, instead of recall. The narrator is just not interesting enough…
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The Books I Read: July – August 2016
Far Far Away by Tom McNeal Fans of Neil Gaiman will love this book. The closest I can call it is a modern fairy tale, but that word gets thrown around so much it’s become meaningless. I’ve never used it until now (I think). It felt like a combination of Stardust and Holes. Jacob Grimm has become a ghost and, after traveling the ethereal plane, attaches to the only boy who can hear him. A lonely boy struggling with a single Dad with a failing business. The thing keeping this good book from being a great book is that nothing happens until about 66% through. The first fifteen percent, the…
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The Books I Read: January – February 2012
Holy Smoke. Last edition, I read seven books in five months. This time I read eight books in two months! Thanks eReader, but it also probably helped that I was reading at work too. Onto the books! More exclamation points!! Lightning by Dean Koontz(re-read) My wife picked this for book club because it was one of her favorites growing up. I liked it too, and you know what’s weird? The character has the same name as her. I don’t get to read books I’ve previously read too much. I’ve got so many on my to-read stack, the idea of repeating books seems negligent. I would re-read books if I could,…
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The Books I Read: June – August 2011
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss Before George R. R. Martin released his latest doorstopper, this was the big epic taking up every fantasy geek’s time. My interest became piqued when Penny Arcade made a joke about the second book in the trilogy. As was my friend’s, who let me borrow the first book, The Name of the Wind. I loved it right away. The book is framed story about the life of a boy/man named Kvothe, a son of traveling actors. After his troupe is killed by a supposedly mythical person, he has to learn how to live and survive alone. His primary goal is to learn…
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My First Fan Letter (that I wrote, not one I received)
I don’t really like to write letters to people I don’t know. I don’t feel any need to try and interact with people I look up to. I figure they’re so high up there, they don’t need me interfering. Plus there’s always the awkwardness of that caste difference. What would Stephen King have to say to me? I haven’t published one novel, and he’s killed an entire forest. But there was one author I felt like he was accessible enough to write to–Barry Lyga. He’s the guy who wrote “The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl”, the one that made me think about “Blood: I Live Again” (which I…