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June 2016 Report

So, here’s what happened here in June, 2016.

Books Read:

Eleanor & Park Guilty Minds The Ghost Rebellion
5 Stars 4 Stars 4 Stars
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie The Highwayman Cheap Shot (Audiobook)
3.5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars
We're All Damaged Steel Victory Where'd You Go, Bernadette
5 Stars 3.5 Stars 4 1/2 Stars
Unshakable Let There Be Linda So Long, and Thanks For All The Fish
3.5 Stars 4 Stars 5 Stars
The Heist The Cuckoo's Calling The Asset
4 Stars 4 1/2 Stars 4 Stars
The Quest for Merlin Hexed Reformed Dogmatics, Volume 2
3 Stars 4 Stars 5 Stars
The Rook The Question of the Felonious Friend      
5 Stars 4 1/2 Stars      

Still Reading:

Revelation and Reason From the Finger of God Eighty Days

Reviews Posted:

How was your month?

In Medias Res: The Asset by Shane Kuhn

as the title implies, I’m in the middle of this book, so this is not a review, just some thoughts mid-way through.

—–

The Asset
The Asset

by Shane Kuhn

This is not the Shane Kuhn you know. Well, sort of. This is a standalone thriller about Airport/Airplane Security, Terrorism, and the USA’s efforts to keep the friendly skies, well, friendly. It’s not as fun and funny as The Intern’s Handbook or Hostile Takeover (or whatever they’re called in your part of the world). BUT it is just as well-written and suspenseful — and a little easier to believe, actually.

There are hints, suggestions, indicators, and other things pointing to an immanent terrorist attack on the U.S., and not enough people are taking the situation seriously. At least, least that’s the point of view of Kennedy, the security expert and protagonist, who is taking it very seriously. Taking place over 64 days (not a spoiler, that’s literally the 2nd line — although, there could be some action that takes place after that). Will Kennedy be in time to stop it? How will he? this is a pulse-pounder, a nail-biter, a “oh, crud — do I really have to go to work tomorrow? Do I actually need to sleep before then?” kind of book.

I think I’d prefer it to be harder to believe than the other two books, come to think of it.

I’m almost at the mid-way point of the ARC (with thanks to Simon & Schuster and Shane Kuhn) and I’m telling you now, you want to pre-order this, get on your library’s wait-list, or whatever (legal) thing you do to get your hands on a book. It comes out on July 12, you want to be ready for it.

May 2016 Report

So, here’s what happened here in May.

Books Read:

Still Reading:

Reformed Dogmatics, Volume 2 Revelation and Reason From the Finger of God

Reviews Posted:

How was your month?

March 2016 Report

So, here’s what happened here in March (a transition month for me personally, so not as much happened as I’d like…)

Books Read:

Morning Star A Prayer for Owen Meany God's Glory Alone—The Majestic Heart of Christian Faith and Life
5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars
Risen Dead is Better Glittering Vices
3.5 Stars 4 Stars 1 Star
Got Luck Elphie and Dad go on an Epic Adventure Reformed Dogmatics, Volume 1
4 Stars 3 Stars 5 Stars
A Devil in Hong Kong Once a Crooked Man The Shootout Solution
2 1/2 Stars 3.5 Stars 4 Stars
Fire Touched The Red Storm Chaos Choreography
4 Stars 4 Stars 4 Stars
The Last Dream Keeper A Far Out Galaxy Heroes and Villains: Pawn in the Game
4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars

Still Reading:

A Light to the Nations Calamity    

Reviews Posted:

How was your month?

February 2016 Report

So, here’s what happened here in February.

Books Read:

The Miracles of Jesus The Prince of Tides Guardians
4 Stars 2 1/2 Stars 3.5 Stars
Confessions of a Clumsy Christian: Unqualified The Highly Capable The Batgirl of Burnside
2 Stars 3.5 Stars 3.5 Stars
The Relic Master Thing Explainer</a The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
DNF
4 Stars 4 1/2 Stars
Glory Veiled & Unveiled Some Assembly Required Talking to the Dead
3.5 Stars 3 Stars 4 Stars
No Problem, Mr. Walt Freedom's Child Steal the Sky
3.5 Stars 3 Stars 4 Stars
The Story of Lucius Cane        
3 Stars        

Still Reading:

Reformed Dogmatics, Volume 1 Morning Star    

Reviews Posted:

How was your month?

Opening Lines – Morning Star

We all know we’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover (yet, publishing companies spend big bucks on cover design/art). But, the opening sentence(s)/paragraph(s) are fair game. So, when I stumble on a good opening (or remember one and pull it off the shelves), I’ll throw it up here. Dare you not to read the rest of the book.

Deep in darkness, far from warmth and sun and moons, I lie, quiet as the stone that surrounds me, imprisoning my hunched body in a dreadful womb. I cannot stand. Cannot stretch. I can only curl in a ball, a withered fossil of the man that was. Hands cuffed behind my back. Naked on cold rock.

All alone with the dark.

It seems months, years, millennia since my knees have unbent, since my spine has straightened from its crooked pose. The ache is madness. My joints fuse like rusted iron. How much time has passed since I saw my Golden friends bleeding out into the grass? Since I felt gentle Roque kiss my cheek as he broke my heart?

Time is no river.

Not here.

In this tomb, time is the stone. It is the darkness, permanent and unyielding, its only measure the twin pendulums of life — breath and the beating of my heart.

In. Buh . . . bump. Buh . . . bump.

Out. Buh . . . bump. Buh . . . bump.

In. Buh . . . bump. Buh . . . bump.

And forever it repeats.

from Morning Star by Pierce Brown

DNF – The Relic Master by Christopher Buckley

The Relic MasterThe Relic Master

by Christopher Buckley

Hardcover, 372 pg.
Simon & Schuster, 2015
Read: February 10 – 15

I would love to know what made Christopher Buckley think, “You know what the world needs? A satire about a Christian relic dealer in 1517…” I also wonder what would drive me to grab it (other than that’s what I do every time I see his name — since the 80’s). But I did, and I gave it the old college try.

The history is pretty good. But I wonder if I’m too critical, I’ve spent so much time recently listening to lectures, reading about, the religious atmosphere of the time — that might have hurt my appreciation for his take on the period (then again, most of his satire is contemporary and I lived through that without problems). In that light, I should say that I really appreciated his characterization of Johann Tetzel. But I just couldn’t care about the characters, the story — any of it. There was none of Buckley’s wit, or his voice — nothing that made me a fan of his other work. Honestly, I’m not sure how he could’ve kept those things with a historical fiction, but the book sure needed that. Yes, it’s entirely possible, that if I’d stuck with it a bit longer, I’d have sung a different song, but life’s too short and my TBR pile is too high.

So, for the first time since January 2011, I’m abandoning a book. I might come back to it at some point, I’d like to actually read it. But not now.

(not really a review, but I felt like I should say something)

January 2016 Report

(I need to think of a catchier name for these posts…)

So, here’s what happened here in January.

Books Read:

Indexing: Reflections The Book of Unknown American Sex & Violence in the Bible
3.5 Stars 3.5 Stars 3 Stars
The Next to Last Word The Odd Fellows Society Hidden
3.5 Stars 3 Stars 3.5 Stars
In Defense of the Moth The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy The Sabbath
3 Stars 6 3 Stars
Songs of a Suffering King Sing a New Song Winter
3 Stars 4 Stars 4 1/2 Stars
The Storms of Deliverance Lessons from Tara Three Slices
3.5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars
Staked The Intern Missing Mona
4 1/2 Stars 3 Stars 4 Stars

Still Reading:

Reformed Dogmatics, Volume 1 The Miracles of Jesus

Reviews Posted:

How was your month?

Opening Lines – Staked by Kevin Hearne

Head & Shoulders used to tell us that, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” That’s true for wearing dark shirts, and it’s especially true for books. Sometimes the characters will hook the reader, sometimes the premise, sometimes it’s just knowing the author — but nothing beats a great opening for getting a reader to commit. This is one of the better openings I’ve read recently. Would it make you commit?

I didn’t have time to pull off the heist with a proper sense of theatre. I didn’t even have a cool pair of shades. All I had was a soundtrack curated by Tarantino playing in my head, one of those songs with horns and a fat bass track and a guitar going waka-chaka-waka-chaka as I padded on asphalt with the uncomfortable feeling that someone was enjoying a voyeuristic close-up of my feet.

from Staked by Kevin Hearne

November 2015 Report

So, here’s what happened here in November.

Books Read:

You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) Suspect Career of Evil
4 Stars 5 Stars 4 Stars
The Sword of Summer Satan’s Awful Idea Never Tell
4 Stars 3 Stars 3 Stars
The Promise Blameless Any Other Name
4 Stars 3 Stars 3 Stars
The Burning Room The Shootout Solution Hit
3 1/2 Stars 4 Stars 3 1/2 Stars
Living into Community Owen on the Christian Life My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry
2 Stars 3 Stars 4 Stars
The Fate of Ten Where it Hurts Girl Waits with Gun
4 Stars 3 Stars 4 Stars
 How the Gospel Brings Us All the Way Home Unseemly Science Rules for a Knight
3 Stars 3 1/2 Stars 3 Stars

Still Reading:

The Christian In Complete Armour Indexing: Reflections Given for You

Reviews Posted:

How was your month?

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