Lately I have been reading more often again. It makes me very happy.
In October I read The Cuckoo's Calling, and that's about it... not much in October.
In November I read The Haunting of Hill House, Texas Gothic, and The Introvert Advantage.
This month, I've read Hyrule Historia, Dume Messiah, and am half-way through Children of Dune, and still have over half of the month left.
So, without further ado, a few brief reviews:
The Cuckoo's Calling is fantastic! I'm not a big mystery guy, but JK's writing style is very well suited for the genre. The book has a fantastic story, well-developed characters, and a strong voice. It's the next logical place for Rowling to go after the casual flop of The Casual Vacancy, however amazing The Casual Vacancy was, it's not what people were wanting from the author of Harry Potter. The Cuckoo's Calling is. (Except I'm sure others were wanting more in Harry's world. Now we wait.) 5/5
The Haunting of Hill House is a great story for Halloween... that I read right after Halloween. The story takes a while to pick up steam, but it was just laying the groundwork for the rest of the story. Its small ensemble of characters are very well developed, particularly Eleanor (who is the lens through which we view most of the story). 4.5/5
Texas Gothic is purely fun. Amy Goodnight was a strong protagonist, and her love interest was definitely in the Mr. Darcy archetype. It was a fun paranormal mystery, and I can't wait to read the sequel (or off-shoot, a story told by one of the secondary characters: Amy's cousin Daisy). 4.5
The Introvert Advantage is a decent book about those of the introvert persuasion. It was good to read about different things that different introverts experience, and recognize a few of the patterns in myself. The book touts itself as telling the reader "How to Thrive in an Extrovert World" on the front cover, and it definitely falls short of that. Good book to learn more about introverts, or see patterns in yourself (and know you're not crazy), but it will not tell you how to "thrive in an extrovert world" as it claims. 4/5
Hyrule Historia is a history about the games in the Legend of Zelda franchise. It is broken up into 3 chunks. First, info about the beginning of the series (the story of which was told in Skyward Sword, the newest installment in the franchise at the time this book was published). Second, the chronological telling of the entire story, which is a phenomenal feat in itself as there are over 20 installments in the series, each fitting in a different area, and a point in which the series deviates into 3 different timelines. Last, character and location sketches from throughout the whole series. This was an amazing book that tells the complete Zelda story (as we know it), but don't read it if you don't mind story spoilers from the series. 5/5
Dune Messiah is the 2nd installment in the Dune series. I absolutely loved the first in the series, and I fear that my appreciation of the first book made the 2nd book pale in comparison. It was still very good, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the first book. The pacing is still definitely slow (like the 1st), but it pays off in the end. 4/5
I'm almost exactly half-way through Children of Dune, and enjoying it very much. It's a little better than the 2nd so far. I think that one of my favorite aspects are the excerpts of other "books" at the beginning of each chapter. Each excerpt is taken from a book or speech written by someone in the plot. This same thing is used in the first 2 books in the series as well, but I feel like Herbert really got it down by the 3rd book.
One of my favorites has to be the following, which is still very applicable today. It reads...
Governments, if they endure, always tend increasingly toward aristocratic forms. No government in history has been known to evolve this pattern. And as the aristocracy develops, government tends more and more to act exclusively in the interests of the ruling class--whether that class be hereditary royalty, oligarchs of financial empires, or entrenched bureaucracy.
In the story, the government is serving the ruling class (of which the protagonists are a part of, though they stand for those not of the ruling class) at the expense of all others. I feel like this same principle is evident in many systems -- governments and otherwise -- today. Those in power promote themselves.
But I digress. It is a great book, which has captured my imagination.
