Review 93: Ohio

Ohio by Stephen Markley
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book was not an enjoyable read. I thought it was a bit of a mystery, but that part didn't show up until very late into the book. I mean very late. So do not go in thinking this is a typical mystery. The book is very dark and gritty.

Too much of this book was looking back at high school, with the jocks and the popular girls, yet not in your typical teen-bopper sort of way, but bleak, tends towards sadistic way. And the book got even darker as the secrets are revealed. Is this how people in small towns live now? At least the youth in these days post great recession? I didn't know what was going down this road, where the book was leading, and just wanted it to end and quickly powered through.

There was a moment, an aspect that was curious, the layers in the book. The way the stories were layered. We have four different points-of-view with the current day to flashbacks. I appreciated the different sections, adding to each layer their own part of the overall story.

Overall the book felt like something that appeals more towards guys. Of course, all books for all people, but it felt like it was written by a guy that other males would enjoy more than women.

I don't like giving low ratings on books as there is such time and efforts by the authors going into these works they give to readers. Yet this is not to the three star level for myself. Not all books are wonderful, and these lesser books raise up others that are more enjoyable. And of course, each to their own.

Review 92: The Giver of Stars

The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

This was an enjoyable book about the pack-horse librarians in Kentucky during the depression era. Having read earlier this year another book on a similar topic I had a little concern that the two would be similar. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson focus was upon one of the librarians and dealing with poverty and racism towards the librarian as a blue person.

This book, in contrast, was more about the beginning of the library and all of the women librarians working in it, particularly a British woman, Alice, and the main organizer, Margery. Alice is recently married to the son of the town’s mine owner and finds herself in complete contrast with her father in law. The book is about the library, and more so about the women running it and how much they change and learn about themselves as being the bringer of books to the rural community.

This book didn’t have the rural, and poverty feel to it as one may expect. It felt more like town and middle class women. Even though Margery was living a distance away, it was still easy walking distance.

This is the first book I've read by Moyes, so I didn't know what to expect from her writing. It seems her books are generally more romance related, which isn’t the type of books I tend towards. Since that is her writing tendency it makes sense that this book is more concerned with relationships than the social structures.


I listened to the audiobook and found the narration was superb and a great way to read this book.

Review 91: The 33 1/3 B-Sides

The 33 1/3 B-Sides: New Essays by 33 1/3 Authors on Beloved and Underrated Albums by Will Stockton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

These are short essays each by a different author on a favorite album that wasn’t one that was popular with the masses, the “B sides.” The small book features 55 different musicians (counting the introductions.) If you enjoy music these essays will remind your favorite album and how it affected you.

Many, or at least the ones I read, seem to feature the author reminiscing back to their youth, when music first started taking hold, and the album they listened to over and over, that became a constant.

I didn’t read this entirely, just dabbled here and there with the artists I’m familiar with. I tried reading one or two of ones I don’t know and it didn’t do much for me. I love the concept of the series and will be looking for one of the full-length books dedicated to a favorite artist.


Thanks to Bloomsbury Academic and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

Review 90: Influx

Influx by Daniel Suarez
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

What if our technological inventions were way more advanced than was commonly known? What if these inventions were being controlled by a secret organization that ensures these innovations are kept secret and out of public knowledge? This is the premise of this book. John Grady discovers a way to control gravity, "invents" an anti-gravity mirror, then falls into the rabbit hole of this secret organization. What happens keeps you guessing.

There are moments of explaining the technology, and other moments of pure thriller chase type scenes. I loved the premise and how the book wasn't predicable for most of the book, until it was with some aspects that seem to occupy many other books. Have to say the chase scenes were slightly unique due to the technology enlisted, but same premise. Still, the book is a decent read.

Review 89: Every Stolen Breath

Every Stolen Breath by Kimberly Gabriel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow, this book is a fast paced nail bitter. The main character, Lia is trying to finish what her Dad started, and got him killed. She wants his killers brought to justice. Chicago is under the threat of The Swarm, who attack seemingly random tourists by a mob of teenagers beating up a person to death. Lia's wants to prove her dad was killed in retaliation in trying to find the out who at the head of The Swarm.

Before we come to the conclusion of the book more people will die, Lia is convinced she is next, yet trying to figure them out before they take another victim, or herself.

This is the type of book you don't want to put down. While it was exciting and full of tension, I often wanted to scream at Lia. She makes poor choices, she gets herself into situations that perhaps more rational people would not be in. Yet, with the PTSD going on, you can almost forgive her. Add in a unique quality to the book, the level of Lia's asthma. It makes you think she would take it easier in life, but she doesn't let anything hold her back.

If you like thrillers, this is not a book to miss.

Review 88: The Clan of the Cave Bear

The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book is a classic, I've heard about it for years, was recommended to me to read it, and finally have read it. I found it difficult to get into the book, was ready to stop, but around the half-way mark I gave into the story and started to enjoy it, yet...

The story is of a young girl who lost her clan, then found by another, but of another type of people. This is so long ago we are talking about pre-homo sapiens girl (Ayla) being found by a Neanderthal clan. She is born of "the others" and looks ugly, huge, and has all sorts of differences, but she eventually is accepted. Her differences, and acceptance, is a major problem with Broud, the next in line to be clan leader. The story is about her growing up, exploring the differences between her and the adopted clan.

The story, plot and characters were interesting enough. My problem became the writing style. So often I was taken out of the story by modern words and descriptions that these ancient humans would have no understanding, no comprehension. Take for instance: a totem piece added to Ayla's bundle, called a fossilized gastropod cast or a fossil cast of a gastropod. That is modern language. Then there's calling a baby born dead as still born, or the elderly having bouts of rheumatism. just to name a few examples.

This type of language peppered the story and every time I was taken out of the suspension of belief. This makes me not want to continue the story. I feel like I've read enough. I like the idea behind the story, just not the way it was told.



Instead of continuing Auel's series, I'm going to stick with a series I've enjoyed, while not quite as long ago, it has some of the same underlying features of ancient peoples, living in their world: North America's Forgotten Past The series of books, authored by husband and wife team of anthropologists, take you into their world and you live in it.

Review 87: Diary of an Eco-Outlaw

Diary of an Eco-Outlaw: An Unreasonable Woman Breaks the Law for Mother Earth by Diane Wilson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The author is a plucky person and writes in a chatty style. The book isn't a diary, nor is it a clear concise book. I'm not sure what it is, other than a book full of tales about the author's antics in trying to get some action on behalf of the polluters to help out the people they harm.

There is no beginning, middle, nor ending, the book is a wandering path of things that Diane did. Most of the middle part of the book seems to follow what she did one thing after another, but as she likely does in life, it jumps around a little too. This doesn't help the book; nothing is ever resolved. Nothing came to a conclusion. I'm sure it's part of her wishes otherwise as well. I love the passion she has and the spunk and complete fortitude to go out and do something, anything. She says often she never plans, just does it, and doesn't matter if she ends up in jail.

Most of her protests are against the major polluters in her backyard in Seadrift Texas: Formosa Plastics, Union Carbide, and Dow Chemical who bought or merged with Union Carbide. And then there's the BP oil spill near the end. She also tries to get justice for the Bhopal residents that are still having health issues, and dying, from one of the worst environmental disasters in the world.

The book is very readable. Might make you take another look at plastics in our lives. The problem isn't just after using them and ending up in the ocean, it's also quite toxic to produce to the environment and the workers.

Review 86: The Story Hour

The Story Hour by Thrity Umrigar
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a unique book. The story was told by alternating points-of-view, with the main one being an Indian immigrant, Lakshmi, who at first is portrayed as stupid, and her command of English awful. Lakshmi's sections are then written in a way that is difficult to read, using words like "leaf" instead of "leave" and other odd words or phrasing. I knew this was not going to be a book I could read if the whole book was written in this manner. It wasn't and reading of that broken style did get easier. Yet...

there is something about the writing style that I did not like. It is not just this author, but many others, use an omniscient point of view with an abandon, and it diminishes a story. For example, in this book we are kept to two main characters Lakshmi and Maggie, a psychologist who helps Lakshmi. Nearly the entire book is just their perspectives, then near the end we get other character's point of view, very briefly and only once or twice. It feels a little like cheating on the author's part.

Overall the story was curious enough, there were some wild tales told by Lakshmi and she, and others, had significant changes in their character. There wasn't quite enough for Maggie's side in her growth, and for being a psychologist not enough insight. The way Maggie is portrayed in doing her psychology was completely in correct, even if she didn't blur lines. Her character is hard to believe, I know it's fiction!

The book was good enough, not spectacular, yet it had aspects that made it worth the time to read. A mild recommendation.



I received a free copy of this book at a library conference. I was not required to write a review, but felt like it and, of course, the above opinions are my own.

Review 85: The Stranger Game

The Stranger Game by Peter Gadol
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Since I was reading a couple of non-fiction serious books I needed something easy and light to read before bed. I found this book lingering on my bookshelves. The writing is definitely easy to read, simple language and sentences. The main character is a woman that I found not quite believable in the character, she just didn’t ring true. Also her on again, off again boyfriend of many years didn’t feel fully male, and I don’t think the author was trying for gender displacement or anything, just they weren’t written well.

The story, the plot, was based around this weird game that takes over Los Angeles area, called The Stranger Game. It is about following and making connections with a stranger, but never approaching them directly. It is about stalking, but randomly and not pursing very far. Until the game changes, and keeps changing. The ultimate goal in the plot seems to be about who is in on the game, and why would people end up attempting murder.

The book sounds creepy, and in parts it achieves it, but not entirely. It should be. Perhaps the writing style is too simplistic, or the tension isn’t drawn out just right.

What I found appealing in the book was looking at how isolated everyone is in their lives. How this isolation makes people do extreme things, like constantly following strangers. At one point it is observed that couples play the game together, then they seem to be letting go and finding some childishness, like skinny dipping in a stranger’s pool. Yet this isn’t fully explored in the text either.

Overall it is a simple book, that falls short of the goals, but it’s a quick read and was quite a counter to the other serious non-fiction books I was reading at the time.


Book rating: 2.5 stars


I received a free copy of this book at a library conference. I was not required to write a review, but felt like it and, of course, the above opinions are my own.