Confessions Of A Bookaholic
Read After Mine. Absolutely read this book after you read MINE by Brett Battles. This one tells the story of how the Reclaimer came to Earth and how it wound up at the facility in Colorado. Short (roughly 1/3 the length of MINE) and told in a couple of different ways, it sheds light on the initial attempts to understand the Reclaimer. Very enjoyable read that adds depth to MINE.
This review of Mine: The Arrival by Brett Battles was originally published on May 1, 2018.
Not my usual fare, but great nonetheless. Took me a while to get into this book, due to it staying in the kid years for quite a bit, but then it picks up and turns into a solid action/ mystery with a nice twist at the end. Stick with it early and you’ll be rewarded later. 🙂
This review of Mine by Brett Battles was originally published on April 30, 2018.
Mesmerizing. I only knew of Padma Lakshmi due to her work on Top Chef, but that was enough to get me to buy and eventually read this book. In it, she paints the story of her life beautifully, even during the worst of tragedies. This is a very well told autobiography, even if you’ve never heard of her before. Very highly recommended.
This review of Love, Loss, and What We Ate by Padma Lakshmi was originally published on April 22, 2018.
Passionately Poignant Prose. Prepare yourself for the most intense roller coaster of this trilogy. Prodigious tale to wrap up the trilogy, but suffers from the same need of an editor as its predecessors.
This review of The Other P-Word by MK Schiller was originally published on April 18, 2018.
Freaky Fiance Fate. In The Other C-Word, we get a bachelorette party scene where the mother gets drug out to the party by all of her daughters, one of whom is the bride. Little do we know that mom actually meets someone that night. This tale begins a year later, when mom – the lead of this book – runs into this same man again. We get a flashback to show what happened that night from mom’s perspective, and then we’re back to the present day to see mom’s new relationship. Overall a great addition to this series, with more at stake than the first book, from a variety of angles. Still needs an editor though.
This review of The Other F-Word by MK Schiller was originally published on April 17, 2018.
Constantly Clever, Complete. And no, I’m not going to *c*ontinue with the C’s. But this was a great tale of a very broken girl and the man who brings her out of her shell. Loved the constant play with words, reminiscent of one of my favorite scenes from How I Met Your Mother. Epilogue felt a bit rushed though, as did the ending generally. Still a great tale, looking forward to the continuation.
This review of The Other C-Word by MK Schiller was originally published on April 16, 2018.
Same Great Adventure, Less Formatting Issues. In this fourth installment of the BREAKTHROUGH series, we get even tighter action than the first three, even more gut wrenching drama, and yet more players in the mix. Overall a great addition to the series, though this reader is beginning to wonder just how long the series will continue. Start with BREAKTHROUGH, but by the time you finish this one you’ll still have enough questions to bring you back for the next one.
This review of Ripple by Michael C. Grumley was originally published on April 15, 2018.
Great Story, Suffers Same Formatting Problem As LEAP. In this entry into the BREAKTHROUGH series, Grumley doesn’t have near the revelations of the previous two books – though there are a couple thrown in, they just don’t have the impact of the previous books – but manages to raise the stakes even more. Our team faces genuine peril this time, with one major character actually dying – and staying dead through the end of the book. Other characters feel like cannon fodder when introduced, and are never really fleshed out to be much more than that. Whereas the previous two books left on a bit of an ominous cliffhanger of the reader knowing more was to come but the characters not, this book leaves us with the characters having a clear direction – even if they don’t know exactly where they are going. Arguably the weakest book of this series, but still an excellent read that promises even more to come.
This review of Catalyst by Michael C. Grumley was originally published on April 14, 2018.
Great Tale Poorly Formatted. Overall, this tale was a great followup to BREAKTHROUGH, starting a few months after the end of that tale with many of the same characters involved. All of the elements that made BREAKTHROUGH so great continue here, and some more excellent elements get added as well. But there were so many formatting issues when jumping between scenes in chapters! So many that I just couldn’t ignore it and had to ding the book a star just to bring them to attention. Overall a truly great tale, loving this series. Just needs a better editor.
This review of Leap by Michael C. Grumley was originally published on April 11, 2018.
Starts Slow and Easy. Then WOW. The build in this book starts as a low simmer. You meet up with a man getting out of the ocean onto his boat in the Caymans. You meet a research team in Antarctica. You meet another research team trying to learn how to talk to dolphins in Miami. … And then all of this begins coming together. When it does… sci-fi done with some things that seem reminiscent of things, and other things I’ve never seen. It was a great combination and produced a great story.
This review of Breakthrough by Michael C. Grumley was originally published on April 6, 2018.