Published writer, compulsive reader, Old School Whovian, Match Game enthusiast, NKOTB fan, data hoarder, and - surprisingly, given that list - married with four kids. Welcome to my take on life, fatherhood, entertainment, and whatever strikes my fancy. Enjoy!
When I say someone can write, I mean they can WRITE, and for #victorlavalle you can add bold. Italics, and underline to that word. I liked this book about parental loss and the enduring power of fairy tales, but I have to admit that for a book that's partially about magic, it seemed to drain a little of Lavalle's. There was just something a little off with the book, a flaw only visible from the corner of your eye but throwing off the picture all the same. It's well worth your time, but this won't go down as his best IMO.
This was a sci-fi novel set among the nobility of an Empire on the verge of collapse. Scalzi is good, but I do grow weary of everything - no matter how weighty - including comedic touches. I don't read Douglas Adams for a reason, bub. Still, give it a read.
Up until the last few pages I loved this tale of psychological terror, even though, as a blurb on the cover promised, I couldn't say *why* I was so affected. But shaken I was, stopping every few pages out of fear for what the narrator was sure to endure next. No spoiler here, but the ending is relatively renowned and applauded; I agree with its necessity but despair of it all the same. That knocked the book down a peg for me. Still, well worth a read. #IainReid
I was happy to see a new book by the great #LawrenceBlock, even if it was a novella, and even happier to welcome the character of Matthew Scudder back after a ten year absence. Unfortunately, I didn't care much for the work. I thought the story was thin at best, with a villain that could have been thwarted without a PI's help, and some of the dialogue was downright pretentious. Worth a read if you're a fan, but skip it otherwise.
This is great news. I"ve been a fan of the 1869 team since reading the novel "If I Never Get Back" by Darryl Brock when I was a kid.
CINCINNATI (AP) — The Cincinnati Reds are fashionably celebrating the 150th anniversary of the professional baseball-pioneering Red Stockings team.
Joey Votto and crew will play games in 15 sets of throwback uniforms, including a navy blue and a red-pants “Palm Beach” version, during a season-long celebration of the city’s baseball heritage highlighted by the undefeated 1869 Cincinnati team that barnstormed coast-to-coast in post-Civil War America. Baseball’s first openly all-salaried club, the Red Stockings popularized eye-catching uniforms with knicker-style pants and bright red socks while elevating the sports with a variety of innovations.
An isolated married couple is visited by a man who declares the husband has been conscripted for a government program and must depart indefinitely. In his place, the man will install a replacement spouse, identical in every way, until his return. A disturbing, philosophical novel that I recommend highly.
Book #4 of the year is a supernatural crime tale that's worth reading. Not so much for the plot, which is solid but not original, or the subject matter, but for the pure quality of #JosephFink writing. In another era, one where genre work was less tolerated, the man would be writing about Daisy and Gatsby and showing up on high school reading lists. Instead, he's writing about yellow-fat monsters, and *still* making you stop every few chapters to admit his talent. Read it. @aliceisntdead
Book 3 of 2019 was the sequel to book 2 of the year (Marathon Man). "Brothers" was enjoyable but as believable as bad fan fiction. Not the greatest finale for Goldman's career as a novelist.
RIP fantasy writer Ursula K Le Guin. I read A Wizard of Earthsea in a sci-fi class in high school, and enjoyed it.
