October 2010
7 posts
5 tags
Side Jobs: Stories From the Dresden Files, by Jim...
A sweet collection of short stories that begin before Storm Front and end after Changes. Most of these are just fun additions to the storyline, but Backup, The Warrior, and Aftermath serve to give us a better understanding of key characters and events that Dresden could not be aware of. I give the book 4 stars because there’s more fluff than meat for the price of a hardcover book, but...
6 tags
Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
I’d been waiting 15 years to read this book but never got around to it. It should be right up my alley as I’ve enjoyed books by both authors as well as Douglas Adams. But I slogged through the first half of the book with little more than a couple of chuckles, and wanted to give up long before I did. Technically it’s still on my to-finish list, but with so many other books on my...
4 tags
Rage, by Stephen King
Like a sinister Breakfast Club. Much better than I expected it to be.
Rating: 4 out of 5
4 tags
Spider-Man: The Darkest Hours, by Jim Butcher
I think most people who read this book will do so because they’re fans of Jim Butcher, and know that the author of The Dresden Files could write Spider-Man with half his quick-witted snark tied behind his back. I wasn’t sure if it would be an exciting book though. I’m not a fan of Black Cat or Rhino, and have never heard of the Ancients (it’s been a while since I collected...
4 tags
A Maiden's Grave, by Jeffery Deaver
Now that’s what a thriller should be! Non-stop from beginning to end, every page filled with suspense. There’s a reason Jeffery Deaver is my favorite mystery writer.
Rating: 5 out of 5
5 tags
UR, by Stephen King
A fun novella that takes a simple (and relatively common) idea and turns it into a much longer and more interesting story in the buildup. Nothing particularly special here, but it’s a good read nonetheless.
Rating: 4 out of 5
4 tags
The Passage, by Justin Cronin
This one is tough to judge. The beginning and ending are both very good, and really engrossing. But the middle half of the book is really slow and hard to slog through. I feel like this book could have chopped about 40% out of it and been much better. Hard to like or recommend a book that I so often considered dropping. My advice for anyone picking this book up is to know that the first 25% or...
