Unasked-For Book Reviews

What a sweet book this was. I listened to the audio version and kept finding myself smiling at the narration. If you're looking for a positive book with both fantasy, and well written characters, then I recommend this book. I hope you enjoyed this unasked for book review.

This month, the sci fi/fantasy/speculative fiction/horror book club I'm a part of is reading " Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre " by Max Brooks. Max Brooks is Mel Brooks son and the author of the novel, "World War Z". This is a good book; well written and researched. It's in the same writing style as "World War Z"; told in journal entries, and interviews. I wasn't initially all that fond of the protagonist at first, but her character develops and is a good narrative observer for the reader. The descriptions in the book are vivid and pop off of the page. The title kind of tells you what's going to happen, so it's not that much of a surprise how the sh$#t eventually goes down, however, the book is so good I couldn't turn away from it. This is a book I would certainly be willing to add to my physical library collection. I ended up listening to is as an audio book, which was also a joy. This audio bo...

If you've read my most recent unasked for book review, about the book " Ancillary Justice " by Ann Lecke, you'll know that I enjoyed it enough to start the second book in the trilogy. Well, I just finished the third book today , and I'm happy to say I greatly enjoyed it. The three books are, " Ancillary Justice ", " Ancillary Sword ", and " Ancillary Mercy ". I liked how this trilogy ended, and enjoyed the journey getting there. A recommend for sure. The Imperial Radch Trilogy by Ann Leckie

It’s been a while (I’ve been busy) but I just finished another book and feel the need to share my review of it; unasked for, not needed, and yet, still shared (lol). Today’s unasked for book review is of “ Ancillary Justice ” by Ann Lecke. So first off, I didn’t know what ancillary meant until I read this book. I had to look it up. It means “1. of lower or secondary class or rank: subordinate, subsidiary. 2. Providing additional help or support: auxiliary, supplemental.” Once I knew the meaning of half of the books title, I was ready to dive in. This sci-fi book is bonkers. Here’s the synopsis, “On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest. Once, she was the Justice of Toren—a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of soldiers in the service of the Radch, the empire that conquered the galaxy. Now, an act of treachery has ripped it all away, leaving her with one fragile human body, unanswered question...

Unasked for book review, " Notes From The Burning Age " by Claire North. The burning age is now, or soon will be. A time of excess that brings about cataclysmic climate disaster. Centuries in the future, in an idyllic world that reveres the natural world and gives back to it, our story begins with three children. But like anything involving human beings, things don't stay idyllic. I very much enjoyed this novel, though I wonder if I would have finished it so quickly if I had actually read it instead of listened to it. There are areas in the prose that get a bit ponderous with the main characters inner monologues, however, it's an enjoyable story overall and I really liked how it ended. Another recommend. This concludes today's unasked for book review. PS - When I read this book, I immediately saw it in my minds eye as an anime style movie.  Think Princess Mononoke. This inner visual motif/theme never waivered, and I believe, really aided in my enjoyment of t...

Unasked for book review, " The Affair of the Mysterious Lette r " by Alexis Hall. This book is what Anno Dracula wanted to be, an original, unique book that pays homage to other Victorian literature, instead of becoming a pastiche, like Anno Dracula did. The book takes place in a different world/reality from ours and has magic. Shahrazad Haas, a consulting Sorceress and version of Sherlock Holmes, though female, magical and brown, has a new roommate, Captain John Windham. Through Captain Windham's narrative is a fun and humorous detective novel, that happens to be full of magic, adventure, vampires, and mad Gods. A fun read, and I wish this book was a series. Alas, it's a stand-alone. I recommend it.

I've got a bit of insomnia and was thinking about enjoyable books I've read and thought I'd give an unasked for book review on the novel " Seveneves " by Neil Stephenson. A little back story: This book was recommended by two friends/colleagues the year it came out, 2015. It was also on the New York Times bestseller list, so another plus. I went out and bought it, and being pregnant at the time, and always tired, put it on my bookshelf and promptly forgot about it. Fast forward a few years, and I'm perusing a best of Sci-fi list and see the name "Seveneves" on it. The name clicked and I went to check my bookshelf and there it was. Well, I wasn't as exhausted anymore and remembered it was recommended and decided to read it. I couldn't remember what the book was about and decided to go in blind. I open the book and this is the first sentence: "The moon blew up without warning, and for no apparent reason". Whelp folks, I wa...

Unasked for book review - " The Stardust Thief " I listened to this book on audio. I liked how the audio had three different actors, each switching between the three main characters of the book when chapters switched to the characters POV. I enjoyed this book, which bases some of its premise off of the 1001 Arabian Nights and the character Shahrazad. It's full of djinn, magic, and adventure. My only quibble is that I thought the entire trilogy was already published when I started the book. Alas, book two doesn't come out until next year. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

So, I just rewatched the intro to the animated movie " Beauty and the Beast " for the History of Animation class I'll be teaching in the spring. I love this intro., (and the movie) which uses the multiplane camera to great effect! But let's pause for a minute to discuss how SHADY the enchantress is who put a curse on the Prince/Beast. (Disclaimer: This is an "Unasked for movie review". No one is asking for my opinion, but I'm giving it anyway). 1. Some stranger roles up to his (the Prince's) house and demands lodging. 2. He's 11 years old. 3. He doesn't seem to have his parents anymore. 4. Let me reiterate, a stranger roles up to his house demanding lodging. (Yes, I know, castles and keeps sometimes acted as Inns in some capacities waaaaaay back in the day. But he's 11.) 5. Then, said stranger, mad that she doesn't get the answer/actions she wants, curses him and says if he can't find someone to love him in 10 year...

I can't recall if I wrote an unasked for book review for the novel " The Library at Mount Cha r ", by Scott Hawkins. I don't believe I did. This is the first book I read for the scifi/fantasy book club I'm a part of, and I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this book. I went in knowing nothing. Reading the synopsis doesn't give you a real inkling of what you're getting yourself into when you read this book, but it's also a good description. It's interesting because the book does it's best to defy genre. If you must classify it, it would be forced into horror, though it straddles fantasy as well (just not the LOTR type of fantasy) I think this last paragraph of the synopsis on Goodreads really summarizes the book well, "The Library at Mount Char is at once horrifying and hilarious, mind-blowingly alien and heartbreakingly human, sweepingly visionary and nail-bitingly thrilling—..." If you like a good horror/fantasy ...

Today's Unasked for Book Review is the Hunger Games prequal book, " The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes ". This was an interesting one, as the book was written after the original trilogy, and is basically the origin story of the villain Coriolanus Snow. We first meet Snow as an old man in the original Hunger Games trilogy, and President of Panem. I enjoyed the book. It does a fairly good job of showing how someone who was okay and could have been very positive and good, though he always had tendencies towards selfishness, could go full evil when taken under the mentorship wing of a psychopath, be horribly traumatized by war and survival, and raised in a totalitarian society. I felt like the very end, with his full decent into evil was a bit rushed, simply because of the person he turned against, but was still plausible. It will be interesting seeing this on film, since a movie version of the book is currently in production/filming. There is a lot of i...

  Vintage unasked for book review. Vintage, because I read this book when my maternal grandmother was still alive, and we were still going to my grandparents for the holidays as a family; I was in my early to mid 20s. The book, " Bridget Jones's Diary " by Helen Fielding. It's been a minute, so the complete contents of the book are a bit fuzzy. What I do remember is that, 1. Couldn't put the book down, even when we got in the car to leave Erie, PA. 2. I don't recall getting carsick. What I do recall is laughing;, spontaneously and often. Seriously, if you have the time, and love to laugh, check this gem out. There's a reason it was an international best seller and had three movies made.

  Ok, so, a new unasked for book review. I just listened to another book in the Murderbot Diaries series. Technically it's book 8, entitled " Fugitive Telemetr y ", but chronologically it's book 7. I got the order of how to read the books here: https://www.howtoread.me/the-murderbot-diaries-books-in.../ Anyway, I can't express adequately how great these novellas are. My reasons for loving them: 1. They're hilarious. They literally make me laugh out loud while listening to them in my car. I look like a crazy person. I don't care. 2. They are very cleverly written, exploring deep themes like sentience, corporate greed, slavery and trauma all in a futuristic setting with smart, and snappy prose that is, as I mentioned, really funny. It's clever because the reader and/or listener might not even realize these are the themes. I love this author. 3. I'm listening to the audio books (through my library app; it's free people!) And the actor the...

Today, October 24th, my unasked for book review is on " Dead Wake " by Erik Larsen, which is a non-fiction book. I'm listening to the audio version. My review is, the sinking of the Lusitania was waaaaaaaaaay more F'd up than I ever could have imagined. Super traumatic and upsetting. No wonder it propelled America into WW1. I highly recommend it though. I think people should know this history. This concludes today's unasked for book review. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22551730-dead-wake?fbclid=IwAR0lFXDM8PA6giHV8Ah1IRN4QKEEJ_bibPWhQDFAJ8gVN31ASi5-ZbVSzv8

  Today's unasked for movie review is for " Samaritan " starring Sylvester Stallone. This movie is pretty goofy, but I knew that going in, so I'm not mad about it. Erik*, however, is not amused. * Erik is my husband, who I “forced” into watching this movie.

  Todays 'Unasked for Book Review' is for the novella " All Systems Red ". This book is the first in a series called the MurderBot series. I LOVED IT! It's well written, witty and funny. I listened to the audio book which is only 3 hours (like I said, it's a novella), so it's a short read. I now must read/listen to more murderbot books.

  Today’s Unasked for Book Review is on the novel “ Upgrade ” by Blake Crouch.    I really, really enjoyed this book! The premise is really interesting, as are the characters and plot.   I feel like this book is what the movie “ Lucy ” wanted to be.   I’d explain more, but I forgot what the premise of the book was when I started listening to it (I checked the audio book out from the library) and it was a really pleasant surprise, having the story unfold with no knowledge of what it was about.   I highly recommend this gem.   This concludes today’s unasked for book review.

  So, in todays Unasked for book review, I’m critiquing Anno Dracula by Kim Newman. Honestly, I felt this book was pretty goofy.  Its synopsis is, what if Dracula, from the novel Bram Stokers Dracula, won against Van Helsing, Mina Harkness, and crew, and then married and turned Queen Victoria (into a vampire)? It’s a pretty interesting premise, and the book had some interesting parts. However, it reads as a pastiche mashup of Dracula and Victorian era characters and historical figures.  If you’re not a fan, or just informed, of the literature and historical figures of that time, you’ll miss a lot of historical and character references. Now, I do know quite a bit about Victorian Era characters, and a bit about that era’s historical figures, but I admit to not finding their inclusion in the novel all that interesting. Like I said, the premise is interesting, and kind of reminds me of a Victorian era True Blood, but I found many of the main characters just plain uninterestin...

  So, here's an unasked for TV review for Westworld season 4. I think I'm enjoying season 4 so much for similar reasons to why I loved season 1. Is season 4 derivative of season 1 and 2? Yes. But the aspects of one and four that I particularly love are the unfolding mystery. I do so love a mystery, and trying to figure out what's happening. It's really engaging for me. Also Thandiwe Newton's character Maeve is my favorite, and the character Charlotte Hale's wardrobe is fire. This concludes my unasked for TV review.

  Today's "unasked for book review" is on the novel " 1906 " by James Dalessandro. This is a work of historical fiction, written like a series of journal or diary entries. The book starts several days before the earthquake hits. I liked the book well enough. It was well written, and I liked reading about San Francisco, revisiting streets and establishments that are still around today (many rebuilt). But there was a lot of corruption in San Francisco at the time, so there are some pretty despicable characters in the book. Some of these characters are a composite of real people, others are real people who lived at the time. Sooooo, I kind of couldn't wait for one of the most horrific natural disasters to hit the modern world, to happen. Terrible, I know. That's where I was mentally with all the time spent on the corruption prior to the earthquake. (Children sold into sexual slavery, people Shanghaied into slavery on ships, and more). I just wasn't me...

  Next, in unasked for book reviews: I read the novel " T he Power " by Naomi Alderman. The premise is that suddenly teenage girls develop electricity powers. They can activate these electrical powers in grown women. Only women have this power. The novel starts out really strong, with some dark content, but nothing I couldn't get through. And then, about 3/4 of the way through the book, it took a hard left into FUBAR land. I'm kind of traumatized. There should be a warning on the front. This concludes my current segment of "unasked for book reviews". PS – It’s now a TV show on Amazon Prime.   I’m slightly terrified of watching it.

I'm currently listening to the audio book of Ursula LeGuin's " The Left Hand of Darkness ". This book reminds me of the sci-fi novel " Solaris "; not in the content, but that both novels seem to be a philosophical exploration of themes, society, and/or culture. I am enjoying " The Left Hand of Darkness " more than I enjoyed " Solaris ". Mostly, I think, because "Solaris" has intolerable main characters, and "Left Hand" does not. I wouldn't call it a fun read though. Like I said, it's more an exploration of the philosophical, and so can be dry and hard to get through at times. But I am greatly enjoying the exploration of themes. This has been my unasked for, and possibly unwanted, book review. Until next time, good night.

I read a lot of books and watch a lot of movies.  I like to share my reviews of these books (and movies).  No one is asking for my reviews, and yet, I'm giving them. This blog starts as a compilation of what I posted on Facebook over the years.  I hope to start adding real-time reviews soon.  In the meantime, please enjoy these unasked for book reviews, and the odd movie review, from my archives on Facebook.