After the fun Olympic Games read-a-thon, I’m back to my regularly scheduled reading…
As a reminder, here is how I rate my books:
- (★★★★★): Loved it
- (★★★★): Really liked it
- (★★★): Liked it enough
- (★★): Didn’t care for it
Another few notes: I will warn if there are any spoilers with (start spoiler) and (end spoiler) so you know when to stop reading and pick up again if you don’t want to ruin the book for yourself. I no longer go out of my way to watch adaptions, but will continue to mention them and their general critiques (from Rotten Tomatoes) in my reviews. Finally, you can always check out my book review index page if you’re looking for my extremely important opinion on any book in particular.
The Indifferent Stars Above by Daniel James Brown
Rating: ★★★★
Genre: Non-fiction, history, survival
GoodReads rating: 4.19 / 5 (11,000 ratings)
Medium used: E-book (borrowed from library via OverDrive)
Warning: This books contains graphic description of illness, injuries and maladies.
Thoughts: I was reading and greatly enjoying In the Heart of the Sea when I was camping in Cannon Beach and my special friend suggested this book as it’s a quite similar story of survival against all odds. I really liked this book as well, but I found some of the tangents a bit off-topic and the book unnecessarily descriptive at parts. Still, an interesting tale and I highly recommend this book.
Other adaptations: There have been a few different film and TV adaptions, none of them considered “must-sees.”
No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
Rating: ★★★
Genre: Fiction, thriller, crime
GoodReads rating: 4.12 / 5 (140,000 ratings)
Medium used: E-book (borrowed from library via OverDrive)
Summary: When Llewellyn Moss finds drugs and money surrounded by dead bodies and takes the $2 million, he finds himself hunted by a formidable killer as the Sheriff Bell tries to keep up.
Thoughts: I’m quite torn about this book. I really enjoyed the multiple points of view as we can see what’s going on with Moss, Chigurh and the Sheriff as the story comes together, but it was kind of slow and superfluous at parts (mostly the sheriff’s narrations) and it’s my pet hate when authors don’t use quotation marks in dialogue!
Other adaptations: Obviously, this is widely accepted as one of the best movies ever made. The Coen Brothers are untouchable and Javier Bardem gives a chilling performance as a stone-cold killer with a questionable haircut.
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams
Rating: ★★★
Genre: Sci-fi, comedy
GoodReads rating: 4.21 / 5 (226,000 ratings)
Medium used: E-book (borrowed from library via OverDrive)
Thoughts: This book is doing what I wanted it to: a fun read and the comedy almost made it a four-star book. I’m not a big sci-fi fan and I think a chunk of the world-building didn’t go anywhere or make me laugh, I would have been okay with minimal descriptions.
Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams
Rating: ★★★
Genre: Sci-fi, comedy
GoodReads rating: 4.20 (nice) / 5 (191,000 ratings)
Medium used: E-book (borrowed from library via OverDrive)
Thoughts: This was almost a two-star read unfortunately. I have the same problems with this book as the last one but even more so: a shaky plot, too many diversions and the comedy continues to fade. The only redeeming factor was the fly/rabbit bit and jokes about how much cricket sport sucks. I don’t think I’ll be finishing this series as I’ve been told it just gets weirder and somehow less plot-focused.
Have you read any of these?
Photo by Radu Marcusu.