Tag: NonFiction

Catch-Up Quick Takes: A Few May/June Books

The point of these quick takes posts is to catch up on my “To Write About” stack—emphasizing pithiness, not thoroughness. This time, I’m covering a few books from the end of May and June that I just don’t have that much to say about.


A Line to KillA Line to Kill

by Anthony Horowitz, Rory Kinnear (Narrator)

DETAILS:
Series: A Hawthorne and Horowitz Mystery, #3
Publisher: HarperAudio
Publication Date: October 18, 2021
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 8 hr., 50 min.
Read Date: May 26-31, 2022
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(the official blurb)
If you were to ask me: “HC, what do you think of the Hawthorne and Horowitz series?” I’d tell you that I love the concept, I think Hawthorne is an intriguing character and that I really enjoy Horowitz’s fictionalized version of himself. And that’s true in theory.

I’m just not so sure about the practice. I had a hard time finishing this, and more than once thought about quitting. I’m glad I didn’t–the solution was pretty clever and the resolution was satisfying.

Hawthorne regularly annoyed me–and I found his antics held no charm for me. It’s a good read, but I can see my time with this series coming to an end soon (I can also see being won over soon, too).

(none of this is a reflection on Rory Kinnear, who did his typically good reading).
3 Stars

Hellbound Guilds & Other MisdirectionsHellbound Guilds & Other Misdirections

by Annette Marie, Rob Jacobson, Iggy Toma (Narrator)

DETAILS:
Series: Guild Codex: Warped, #2
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Publication Date: September 13, 2021
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 8 hr., 12 min.
Read Date: June 6-7, 2022
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(the official blurb)
This does a great job of interweaving the events (and characters) of Demon Magic and a Martini and Taming Demons for Beginners into the events of this adventure–I love seeing the way Marie is creating a multi-faceted world here.

This time out, our petty criminal turned aspiring MagiPol Agent tries to help out his friend, Agent Shen, who had got him out of that life of crime. She needs a big win to stay in her current assignment and not be transferred to the last office on Earth she wants. Their snooping gets them on the trail of some of the shady demon contracts the aforementioned books were about and then we’re off to the races.

There’s some really good character development for Kit Morris here–especially when it comes to learning how to use his magic. This is a common tie between these series–all three protagonists are on a similar path. Given the varied amount of knowledge they all had going into it (totally unaware; not-that-experienced-but-fairly-aware; or a lot of academic knowledge, but little practical) keeps the series distinct, yet similar–which I really appreciate.

I do prefer the other magical threats these series covered before they all focused on demons. But I’m still enjoying the ride (rides?), so I’ll stick with these a little longer.
3 Stars

How to Take Over the WorldHow to Take Over the World:
Practical Schemes and Scientific
Solutions for the Aspiring Supervillain

by Ryan North

DETAILS:
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Publication Date: March 14, 2022
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 10 hr., 3 min.
Read Date: June 7-9, 2022
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(the official blurb)
I’m clearly a sucker for popular-level science books with a humorous presentation (which means I really need to give Mary Roach another try, I know). In this one, North focuses on the kinds of cutting-edge science that a comic book/James Bond supervillain would use to take over the world, destroy large parts of it, accumulate power to themselves, etc.

He covers such things as cloning a dinosaur (sorry, Jurassic Park, it’s just not possible…), creating a new island to use as a secret base, becoming immortal, pulling off the perfect heist, and more. The punchline to the book is essentially that a supervillain is going to have to work hard to out-do what humans are doing already when it comes to destroying the planet.

Depressing conclusion aside–this was a fun book, and exposed me to a lot of things I never would have considered before. I’m not sure I retained as much as I would have liked to–but that’s on me, not North (who, by the way, was a perfect narrator for the material). It also means that I’ve got a good reason to listen to it again or to pick up the hard copy to refer back to. Recommended.
3 Stars

Their Dark DesignsBatman: Their Dark Designs

by James Tynion IV with too many artists to list for this kind of post

DETAILS:
Publisher: DC Comics
Publication Date: November 8, 2021
Format: Trade Paperback
Length: 264 pgs.
Read Date: June 18-25, 2022
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(the official blurb)
I don’t read a lot of graphic novels/collections of individual comics lately, and don’t know what might appeal to me. I basically read whatever Lashaan Balasingam mentions that seems interesting. He recently posted about the last volume in this series and it got me curious.

This was a lot of fun–check out the blurb for details. I really enjoyed Tynion’s take on these characters (including the new ones)–if this is how he always writes the Dark Knight, I could be satisfied reading him for years. Most of the art was dynamite (a couple of the pencilers left a little to be desired). Simply put, this is exactly what I want in a comic series.

My major mistake is that I didn’t see that my library doesn’t have the 4 volumes that tell the rest of this story. I don’t want to spend the money on these, but not knowing how the story is going to resolve is a little maddening.
3 Stars

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Dusted Off: The Tyranny of Clichés: How Liberals Cheat in the War of Ideas by Jonah Goldberg

The Tyranny of Clichés: How Liberals Cheat in the War of IdeasThe Tyranny of Clichés: How Liberals Cheat in the War of Ideas

by Jonah Goldberg

Hardcover, 320 pg.
Sentinel, 2012
Jun. 27 – Jul. 10, 2012

Not much to say about this that’s not in the publisher’s description. This is a pretty good read–plenty of things I disagree with or quibble with, but even more that I can pretty much agree with. But all of it is pretty darn entertaining. Goldberg’s one of the most enjoyable political writers of our time, there’s more than a few chuckles to be had in the midst of his analysis. Which isn’t to say he’s taking things lightly–he’s dead serious about this stuff, he’s just found a way to be witty while he does so.

I found it a lot easier to handle the outline of every chapter–introduce cliché and how it’s used, give historical context (usually not how it’s used today), apply this to today’s debates–if I limited myself to 1-2 chapters a day. Otherwise it was just too much of the same thing.

—–

4 Stars

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