The Next Book On My List

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein Stranger in a Strange Land chronicles the life of the man from Mars, Valentine Michael Smith, after being brought back to his home planet, Earth. Born to scientists who died during an expedition to Mars, Mike, a human, was raised by martians.  He understands their language, mannerisms , way of life and community. He was discovered when a second expedition was sent to the planet over two decades after his birth. The discovery of Mike sparked the curiousity of every human on earth and he was brought back to his home planet. Once there Mike had to adjust not only physically but mentally to this new planet. He had to adapt to the language, the movement, the lifestyle and the presence of other humans, not to mention the fact that he had never seen a woman until arriving to earth. Mike tries to adapt as best as he can to his new surroundings while also introducing his way of life and understanding to others.  ...

Silver Girl by Elin Hilderbrand Meredith Delinn is the most hated woman on earth, after her husband, Freddy, has stolen billions of dollars in a Ponzi scheme through his business. Now she is under investigation, as well as her oldest son, in the conspiracy that she thought was her life. She has been black balled and shunned and has nowhere to turn. Desperate and alone Meredith reaches out to Connie, her best friend who she hasn't talked to in three years. Connie has been alone since the death of her husband two and half years earlier. Connie is well aware of the situation surrounding Meredith and Freddy which has been all over the news for months. Freddy’s business was partly responsible for the parting of ways between Meredith and Connie and they both hope that enough time has passed and the friendship can mend. Connie takes Meredith out of New York to Nantucket where Connie stays during the summer. Here Meredith can hide, or so she thinks. But when you are the most hated...

The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult Jodi Picoult is an author who can write anything and I’ll read it. I’ll see that she has new novel released and without any hesitation the book will be purchased.  With that being said I didn’t know what I was getting into when I began this novel. I didn’t expect to get thrown into the horror that is the Holocaust. I didn’t expect to start crying on the couch when the SS officer recounted shooting hundreds of people simply because they were Jewish. I didn’t expect to put the book down because I couldn’t handle the Holocaust survivor, tell of the horror she lived through. I was completely unprepared and it left me raw. So let me prepare you. This is not a story to be taken lightly. It is a credit to the amount of research she put into this story and her talent as a writer that I was able to show such emotion when reading this book. But this is a fictional account of real events. What’s in the pages I just read wont compare to what people act...

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling) So what do you when you are the world renowned author of the Harry Potter Series and everyone wants you to keep writing books like Harry Potter? You create a penname and release your newest novel under that name, which should then give you a shot at having a career outside of Harry Potter. The cover, of course, was blown and everyone knew immediately after the release of The Cuckoo’s Calling that it was written by JK Rowling, and not the debut author, Robert Galbraith. Even though the attempt at obscurity failed the book was a success. Much like her other novel, The Casual Vacancy , JK Rowling stepped out of the realm of magic and into the real world, one of celebrity obsession, drugs, race relations, and murder.                 A young model fell to her death in an apparent suicide and her troubled brother has a hired a wounded veteran, now a priva...

                  That’s exactly what it has felt like the last couple of months while reading nothing but Stephen King since. I’ve said more than once that Stephen King is my favorite author and this year I wanted to experience just his thought process through only his novels in chronological order. It was an experience I can barely explain. I don’t know of any other author whose ideas, and stories blend in the ways that his did without being a part of a series. If it wasn’t for The Dark Tower series, where Stephen King voiced that all of his novels came from the same universe, I would have never thought of taking on this project. But now, I don’t know what took me so long!                                       ...

So it’s been a rough couple of months. There were a lot of personal things going on in my life that made it hard for me to keep up my reading pace, let alone write an update on my journey through Stephen King. I am getting back into the groove and I am finally ready to update you on what’s been going in the mind of Stephen King. The following reviews are short (very short) and pretty much my view on each novel so far. You will probably recognize a fair number of these books because they are pretty famous movies. Before you even ask, to me all the books are better. Let’s begin. Thinner Another Richard Bachman thriller, this one deals with the cost of crossing the wrong person. It could literally cost you your life. Probably one of my favorite Bachman books. Translated well to film. It Definitely a coming of age story, with a terrifying twist. Kids in Derry disappear and this group of kids figure out why. I will admit that is not my favorite King. I didn’t care for the w...

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer             Jon Krakauer is an experienced climber who was offered the chance of a lifetime to climb Mount Everest , expenses paid, to write an article for Outside magazine. He made it to the top of Mount Everest and back to base camp alive, but he was one of the lucky ones. Nine other climbers died that day on Mount Everest . Another three died soon after. A rogue storm blew through the mountain with little warning and the unlucky ones perished trying to achieve their dreams.           The Mount Everest Disaster is described in detail by one of the survivors, Jon Krakauer. He describes what it was like for him that day, and the preceding weeks trying to prepare to climb Mount Everest . He explains the choices one had to make to survive, and what it was like to wait, not sure of how many would return ...