REAMDE Book Review – Neal Stephenson

How do you write a review for a 1,000 page book full of complex plot lines and complicated characters without spoiling the whole thing? Not sure, but I’ll give it a try.

REAMDE is, like I said in my first update, a story that begins fairly simple but quickly spirals out into a series of events spanning several weeks. Every character has no idea what they are getting into, and often throughout the seemingly unrelated sub-plots, they are all operating on different levels of information, and from different locations. The fascinating thing is how they all come together in the end, for a huge and action packed finale.

This book is written in a way that gets you attached and interested in every single aspect of the plot, from a hacker in China to a mountain cat in Iowa. It’s incredibly engaging, and forces the reader to think hard about what connections every detail mentioned has to the plot. I would confidently recommend this to anyone looking for something long to read, that will still manage to keep them going even several hundred pages in.

Book Update: The Electric Kingdom

In the book The Electric Kingdom two groups of adventurers are traveling together to a similar destination. While in a forest they get cautious and decide to get out as soon as possible. When they get out of the forest they will part ways and continue their adventure in their own groups.

enders game

enders game is about a kid named ender who is a genius and is sent to a military program where he tries to make friends and alliances

the story is interesting from the jump and keeps you locked in

‘Salem’s Lot Book Update

‘Salem’s Lot by Steven King is a horror/mystery story about a small town that starts to have a lot of problems flying around when two boys go for a walk in the woods and only one comes out. The book has many interesting characters, and we get to see a little bit of each of them as the book switches perspectives in between them all so that, while the characters might not know what is going on, we the reader are able to piece the puzzle together based on the information that we can gather from the many different points of view that we get. One of the most complex characters in the book is Ben Mears, the main protagonist who the story starts with and seems to revolve around most. He is a dynamic character because of how he changes from when he was younger and more carefree, to being mature and more modest, as well as how he grows to be accustomed to the town since he had just moved in. He is also a round character, in that he shows that he has many different feelings and shows them throughout the book. Ben is an author, and most of his worries revolve around finishing his writing, but he can also make time to have fun with his neighbors, help others out when they need, and be a very responsible person when he needs to be.

Overall, it is a very interesting book, and the characters are very well made. It may take a while before it starts to pick up the action, but it is still a very good read.

The Loop Reading Update #5

The Loop, by Ben Oliver, takes place in the future where one man and the government control everything about people’s lives. The book follows a 16-year-old named Luka Kane who’s been wrongly imprisoned in a nightmarish prison, called the loop, where the prisoners are tested on horrible experiments, brutally tortured, and in solitude every day until they die. But shortly after being in the loop for two years, things begin to change, and the daily routine of the prisoners begins to change.

The group finds a way to escape from the loop by climbing the giant wall of their recess area. While trying to get down from the wall, one of the group members falls and breaks her ankle. This creates a conflict in the group as some people want to go find their family, while others want to help the injured friend and look for painkillers. Luka decides to go with the group that wants to help the injured friend to find painkillers. While looking for the painkillers Luka and his friends get split up as a group of Smilers, the people that are infected with this weird virus that turns them into murderous machines, chase them.

The book is amping up the action and it is getting very interesting now, I highly recommend it.

Lord of the Flies review

Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a classic novel that follows a group of British schoolchildren during world war 2, after their plane crashes onto an uninhabited island. At first they are all content to be without adults and have fun and live a productive life under the rule of charismatic leader Ralph. After many days on the island however, with no sign of rescue, things take a turn for the worse for the boys as violent hunter Jack butts heads with Ralph, until eventually everything spirals down to a chaotic and bloody ending that teaches us a valuable lesson on how easily society can crumble.

Overall I enjoyed it a lot and would recommend reading this classic story.

The Dragonfly Effect book review

Gordon Korman’s 3rd book in this series was good, but not the best out of the trilogy. To me, the book felt like a lost opportunity to tie up loose ends and end the series with a bang. Even for a children’s fiction book, some events didn’t seem plausible or almost as if the author included them in the plot just so something could happen. Random characters from previous books kept being randomly inserted into the plot line, which may have been the author’s version of tying up all loose ends and trying to tie everything back together. The climax also seemed much shorter than most, and only occurred because the story would not have made sense otherwise. It was overall a good book, but I’m not sure it was worth reading. If you are looking for something to keep you occupied for a few hours this is the perfect fit, but otherwise it would be better to invest your time in a more intricate book.

The Loop Reading Update

The Loop, by Ben Oliver, takes place in the future where 1 man and the government control everything about people’s lives and even the environment. The book follows a 16-year-old named Luka Kane who’s been wrongly imprisoned in a nightmarish prison where the prisoners are tested on horrible experiments, brutally tortured, and in solitude every day until they die. I just started the book and it is already very interesting.

Will it work?

Colleen Hoover’s book, It Ends With Us, is a fantastic book. I am over 100 pages into the story, and the characters are going through significant development, such as new relationships. Ryle and Lily have been deciding to finally date. Lily refused to date Ryle, but after some thinking they decided to start dating. Now Allysa (Ryles sister) isn’t a big fan of this, although she wont say it. I am also learning a lot about Allysa this week. Lily was invited to dinner with her mom, so obviously she is bringing ryle. But so far its not going so well. Will this relationship even work out? Or are Lily’s negative thoughts going to get in the way?

The State of Fear By Michael Crichton Book Update #2

The State of Fear, written by the late Michael Crichton is a science fiction novel about the global warming crisis, only that a group of people is about to make it so much worse. As stated in the last update, people around the world have been gathering supplies for a destructive weapon, with many people being killed in the process. For instance, a seller in Vancouver declined a mysterious man’s offer to buy a submarine. Once the man left, he left his cellphone, in which the seller grabs it and tries to give it back to him, but is electrocuted and dies. A man named Peter is a lawyer for a millionaire named Morton who is involved with a company who is trying to save global warming. Morton won an award for his dedication to stopping global warming but then gets incredibly drunk. Once he had to get up for his speech he announced that he no longer supports his global warming push. After that rough speech, Morton speeds off drunk in his car and gets into a car crash and has either died or gone missing. This book has me very intrigued and I can’t wait what happens next.

Rebound Book Review

Rebound written by Kwam Alexander was a very good book. Charlie Bell is the main character and also the most complex. We see how he changes during the course of the book and we see many different sides when he goes to visit his grandparents. At the beginning of the book you need a little bit of patience but it picks up quickly. Charlie Bell has an internal conflict that relates to his external conflict, he’s going through a lot of changes in his life and demonstrated that with his actions. I would recommend this book to any reader but especially to people who are into basketball. We see how Charlie Bell found a love for basketball and connects a deeper bond with his grandparents but overall I enjoyed the book and would recommend it for anyone.

Solo – Reading update

Solo by Kwane Alexander has main character Blade Morrison in a tough spot. After his rock and roll star dad, Rutherford Morrison embraces Blade at his graduation as Blade was about to give a speech. This puts Blade in an already broken relationship with his dad. But during a party thrown by Blade’s older sister, Blade shuts down the party after it gets too crazy. His sister then in a fit of rage tells Blade that he’s actually adopted! Blade then is in search of his biological mother in Ghana, Africa. Before he leaves for Africa he tattoos his girlfriend’s name on his arm, only when he sees her one last time before his flight he catches her cheating on him with her ex. In shock he leaves in hopes of never coming back to Hollywood. The book is in the format of a series of poems that tie to the larger story. similar to Crossover, or Rebound (Also written by Kwane Alexander). The book is amazing and I highly recommend if you enjoy music.

Their Eyes Were Watching God (Reading Update #2)

So far I have seen a lot of Growth in Janie’s character. A lot in her live has drastically changed. From where we left off she started to realize the way she was treated by her husband was not love. He began to try and mask his own insecurities by trying to shine a light on hers. He would purposely try and put her down and make her feel small and helpless. But, then he began to get sick and tired. That didn’t stop him from continuing to shame her.

Eventually he got to the point where he was close to death. He was the Mayor of the town and a very powerful and authoritative man s this effected the town greatly. On his death bed Janie was able to confront him about the way he treated her and how he was the insecure one. I think this provided closure for Janie and overall made her more confident, reassured women.

After his death Janie was able to start living her best live. Her husband had restricted her from doing things that made her feel young and like her self. So she was able to start embracing those things about her. Eventually she met a new man who truly loves her and cared for her. They moved out of the town and Janie is now thriving and happier. Honestly I think the best thing for Janie might have been to be on her own for a little bit longer. But, I am happy that she is flourishing and growing as a character.

The Leavers (Up to page 149)

I’ve gotten to part 2 of the Leavers, and it’s gotten a lot better in the recent chapters. A few chapters into part 2, the perspective switched to someone else, and while I was confused about this at first because I thought we didn’t know who this was, it turned out she was actually Deming (Daniel)’s mom, Polly. Deming’s mom has been a bit of a mystery after the first few chapters, and getting to see some of the story from her perspective is cool. The story shows a lot about her life raising Deming and, at least so far, it looks like Polly liked to raise him. Even though it was tough, she decided to keep raising him. This is kind of confusing.

The reason this is confusing is because, in the present, Polly abandoned Deming. So, I’m gonna keep reading because I want to know if there was a real reason Polly left Deming. The book usually goes from boring to interesting and then boring again, but since it’s interesting, It’ll probably get a bit boring after I find out why Polly really left Deming, but I’m still going to finish the book.

Film, Alcohol, and Alcohol Poisoning

As I approach the end of Hollywood by Bukowski, I look back in retrospect at the events Bukowski’s alter-ego, Henry Chinaski, lived through while writing his first screenplay and having it adapted into a movie. I have come to realize that I will miss the experience of reading this for the first time. Although it hasn’t become my favorite book, there is this aspect of it that I really identify with. I can’t exactly put my finger on it. Maybe it is how Bukowski incorporates film into this narrative, or his passion for writing, or how real the characters feel. I don’t know. All I do know is that I am glad this was my first impression of him. To be quite honest, I was expecting this to be very politically incorrect and extremely explicit, since he is known for his misogynistic, graphic content. However, I was pleasantly surprised. I think adding those elements would make it excessive and too contrarian-like.

Overall, I would understand if somebody else gave Hollywood a bad review, but I enjoyed it because it resonated with me and I liked the topics it included in its plot. This will be the first of many Bukowskis for me.

Harry Potter Book Review

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling is an amazing book that invites the reader to a magical story that introduces us to the main protagonist, Harry Potter. Harry’s story starts off with his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, they are not the nicest people. Harry became an orphan at a very young age and was left with the last resort of Harry’s mothers sister, Aunt Petunia. One morning, Harry goes to do his normal chores, wash the dishes, make breakfast, and to fetch the mail. Although one morning when Harry was grabbing the mail, he noticed something strange. This time, he had gotten a letter… but he had never gotten mail ever before in his life. He had but utterly surprised because he somehow had gotten accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, when he didn’t even know he applied for it. With resistance from Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon on his decision on going, Harry was easily convinced to be escorted by a representative of Hogwarts, Hagrid. After little to no time, Hogwarts became his home, a place where he could be himself, explore his capabilities, make new friends, and find happiness.

Dune Book Review

The book Dune by Frank Herbert is a complex novel which has the reader see through the eyes of a third person to see multiple sides of the story. The characters Paul and Lady Jessica, son and wife of the Duke Leto have the powers of the Bene Gesserit, a powerful political group which can read some minds and control what people do. They have just obtained knowledge of a traitor when they arrive on Arrakis, The two are suspicious of people in House Atreides after an assassination attempt on Paul. Will they find the traitor in their ranks and find out who is trying to kill Paul?

The Book Thief – Book Update

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is a novel that follows a young girl in Germany before and during WWII. At this point in the book, the young girl, Liesel, is getting settled into her foster home. Her and her father have formed a wholesome bond and Liesel’s mother loves her, even if it doesn’t always seem like it. Liesel has also started to learn how to read and has developed a passion for books and knowledge. This is a really interesting book with many different plot points, I would definitely recommend.

A Little Life – Book Update

Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life, is a story about four friends from college navigating their way through life, overcoming their past traumas, and the one special person that connects them all. It’s very hard to get into the details of the book without spoiling it, so sorry if that explanation is very vauge. I’m nearing the end of the book and I’m loving it so far. I personally enjoy character-based novels a lot more than those focused on plot, but I can see the writing being very tedious for others. Rather than following one specific storyline, the story instead jumps around throughout the characters’ lives over decades describing their life experiences. The author takes her time setting the details of the story, making sure to describe every little detail as thoroughly as possible. I don’t think I’d recommend this book, despite how much I’m enjoying it, to anybody who thinks they may get turned off by this long, slow, and descriptive writing style. It also gets into some incredibly upsetting and disturbing content later on, and I cannot exaggerate enough how much I recommend looking into it before picking it up.

It Really Isn’t Summer Without You – A book review

Jenny Han’s It’s Not Summer Without You was a good book. After reading the first book in the trilogy, readers are easily hooked, wanting to know what will happen to Susannah, along with Belly and the boys. After Susannah’s death, the vibe of the book shifts. There is nobody to console the boys or act like a second mother to Belly. After finding out Conrad and Jeremiah are going to lose the summer house due to their dad they have to fight alongside Belly to save it. A lot of tension arises after finding out this news, which further strains everybody’s relationships.

All of the characters become more and more complex as the book shifts perspectives every few chapters or so. Overall, I really recommend this read to anyone who likes an easy read and would like to be hooked into a good series of books.