Category: Books

Post elbow surgery I suddenly had the urge to read a dog book. So, The Art of Racing in the Rain it was.

I’m very glad I chose this one, it was great!

While it had many extremely sad moments, especially to start things off I couldn’t put it down. Long have I been a sucker for anything dog related. With the entire story told through the eyes of a most wise dog named Enzo, I was hooked.

Another cool aspect was the racing references and analogies. I’ve never been one for racing, but the author explains it so easily that I feel like I get it. I might actually stop to watch now next time a big race is on TV.

If you’re looking for a fine light summer read, I do highly recommend. Though be warned it does have some very sad moments in there.

A well written book from a dog’s perspective, very enjoyable.

I figured I’d give a little bit of American history a shot at my last library visit. American Heroes caught mt eye, so I gave it a shot. It looked like something Scumbag would read.

I gotta say, it just wasn’t for me. While there were some interesting and new facts for sure, it was a bit too academic for what I was expecting. I just never got into it.

I’ve always preferred world history over US for some reason, and this may of had something to do with it.

The book was well written with focus given to individuals who traditionally don’t get the spotlight when discussing early American history.

If you’re a US history buff unlike myself you’d probably want to check this one out. Otherwise get a cool dog book which I am doing now.

After reading many fine works of fiction, I found myself a bit stumped at what to read next. So I walked around the library a bit and figured I was due for some nonfiction. Eventually I guess I found myself at the biography section (and the very squeaky floor of the library).

I remember hearing much of Pistol Pete growing up with his crazy passes and scoring. So I figured why not, let’s give Pistol a shot.

What a fine treat this turned out to be. Towards the end it gets pretty sad and downright tragic with his early exit from life. Even though I knew he died much too young, it was still very sad to read.

I also found it very interesting how much they focused on his father Press early on. I hadn’t realized how much Press had contributed to basketball as well as Pistol had.

This was very well written and I found myself rooting for him at times, especially when he was in the NBA. This was a good, solid read even if you’re not into basketball nor have any idea of whom Pistol Pete was.

Took me almost three weeks, but I finally finished up A Dance With Dragons. This was definitely a lengthy book, and I was eager to find our how things were fairing up in northern Westeros.

Again, nobody is off limits in this series, with some pretty major twists coming at the end. I think I see when this tale is going, but I’ve incorrectly thought this in the past, so who knows.

By the end of the book, it’s official: winter has come. So now I’m really looking forward to what happens next, but figure I will have to wait a long time for the next book to be written.

More good stuff, but I gotta admit I do have to check with the charts at the end of the book to make sense of all of the subplots and storylines going on. It’s some pretty massive stuff going on.

A Feast for Crows was a bit different than what I was expecting after reading the first three installments of the A Song of Ice and Fire series. It didn’t focus on the characters I’d gotten used to from previously. Very little Jon Snow, Daenaryes, etc.

The amounts of characters and various stories going on is getting a bit crazy. Early on I found it to be a bit confusing with the Dornish folks, but about midway through all was beginning to make sense again to me. That’s also when things started to pick back up for me.

It’s interesting to see the shift from one king, to five kings, now to pretty much three queens. Just when you think you know what direction things are going in, things tend to get mixed up a bit which keeps things interesting.

While this has been my least favorite of the books thus far, it was still an enjoyable read. Onward to the fifth book!

Continuing with the Game of Thrones reading, I just finished up Storm of Swords. I do believe this was the longest book I’ve read to date. It was pretty massive and the poor binding was a bit tough to handle with all the pages.

It continued with all the good stuff that got me eagerly through the first two. Again, I still find it surprising how no character is off limits to being killed off. I guess I should be used to it now, but it still surprises me.

In fact, not many of the characters from the first book are still around by the end of this one.

The whole magical and mystical stuff has really increased now. It really does make for some interesting stuff. It’s getting a bit Lords of the Ringsish with all the monsters and beasts. I also did enjoy the the various side stories joined up or overlapped at points, Like Bran and Samwell.

Despite weighing in at half a ton, it was a fine read.