I borrowed this book from one of my colleagues at work, Rachel, with whom I share a love for books by Christopher Paolini. I started The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm on January 4 and finished it on January 16, 2019.
I loved this book!
I love the Eragon series!
This book is not that, but includes some of the same characters in short stories. What this is not - a continuation of the Eragon books as you know them. It doesn't wrap anything up, tell us in linear terms what happens next, or offer any sort of closure of the things unresolved from the Eragon books.
What this is - a collection of short stories, unrelated, that include some of the characters we already know and some new ones we are just meeting.
I thought the stories were quite entertaining. The characters are well developed. The stories are entertaining. You'll read stories about Murtaugh, Angela, and the Urgals, and have bits of Eragon in each.
If you are expecting another Eragon-like book - this is not that. If you like the way and style Paolini writes and his characters, you'll probably like this. Don't go into this with too many expectations - keep an open mind, and I bet you'll like it.
So, after finishing Gang Leader for a Day, I started another book, but then the husband brought home the newest Vince Flynn book from the library. I put the other book on pause and devoured this one. I started it on December 29 and finished it on January 4.
First - I loved this book
Second - Mitch Rapp books follow a recipe / they are formulaic
Third - I don't care
As I was thinking about what to write about this book, the first thing that came to mind was "the sky is falling." This book finds the formerly evil turned good(ish) guy Grisha at home in Costa Rica with danger afoot. Of course Mitch and his boys are there to save the day.
As they try to figure out why danger came after Grisha, we get glimpses into things going amok for the Russian president. We all know that these things will turn out to be related, and they are, of course. Over the course of the book, we find out just how bad the sky could fall. I can't give too much away here (I hate spoilers) but yet again the shit hits the fan and Mitch and team + Grisha are there to not let it hit the fan and splatter too much of a shitstorm.
There is always a political element to the Mitch Rapp books that seems frighteningly founded in reality. I think to myself, the author definitely researches things for the book, how real are some of the scenarios that are written about? Maybe I don't want to know.
This book was extremely entertaining, fast paced, somewhat predictable (from the formula/recipe standpoint), but I don't care. I loved it.
I needed a book and didn't have one, so The Husband picked one off the shelf for me - Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh. Apparently this one is one of his faves. I started it on 12/2/18 and finished on 12/25/18.
Another interesting read. This is the true story of Sudhir Venkatesh and his becoming a gang leader for a day in Chicago. Sudhir was a sociologist student who ends up befriending a gang leader in one of Chicago's notorious housing projects.
Sudhir spends a lot of time with the gang leader, JT, and comes to have unprecedented freedom and access to people in these housing projects due to JT's protection. Sudhir learns about the inner politics and workings of the projects and gangs and how they help (and hurt) the communities.
One day, Sudhir is given the reigns of the gang and becomes a gang leader for a day and realizes how it's quite difficult.
It was a pretty fascinating read shedding light onto a way of life that is completely foreign to me. If you are looking for first-hand insight into a completely different world, give this a read.
The Husband and I saw the movie of the same title and I decided I wanted to read the book. We were dumbfounded and entertained at the same time by the film. The main actor, John David Washington, brought such swagger to the role. We couldn't help but think - how did this even really happen. Well - the book rings a lot of truth compared to the book by Ron Stallworth. I started this book on November 24 and finished it on December 1.
This is the true story of the first African-American member of the Colorado Springs police department, and how he basically singlehandedly infiltrated the local (and to some extent, national) chapter of the KKK. With the help of some of his colleagues in the force, Stallworth gathered evidence of the events and practices of the local chapter and even befriended Mr. Duke himself.
It seems too fantastic and funny (in a horrifying way) to really be true. But it is. The movie was entertaining as was the book. I'm not sure if it benefitted me to see the movie first and then imagine John David Washington and his mannerisms while reading the book, or if it would have been better to read the book first. Regardless, I liked the book, I liked learning history in an entertaining way, and I would recommend it to others.
So, after finishing the Widow Clicqout on November 1, I started Alone on the Wall by Alex Honnold on November 6 and finished it on November 24. The husband and I saw the film Free Solo and learned that Alex, the subject of the film, had also written a book, so immediately we requested it from our local library (shoutout to the library!).
If you don't know who Alex is or what free soloing is, they will both blow your mind. Free soloing is rock climbing with NO ROPE. Yes - you have no protection or aid to prevent you from falling to your death. Alex is a free solo climber and among many other things he's climbed without ropes, he climbed El Capitan in Yosemite... without a rope. Up he scurried, up up up, about 3,000 feet he climbed by himself and without a rope, and in under 4 hours.
Talk about the cohones on this guy. The book, Alone on the Wall, is co-written by David Roberts, and in it Alex talks about his experiences with free soloing, what drives him, what motivates him, and you get glimpses into the impacts this has on others in his life from interviews and commentary provided by those people talking to David Roberts.
Alex is a very unique individual with a somewhat warped perspective of his climbing. In the film, as in the book, Alex discusses risk at length. He admits that he does see his climbing as risky, but he does everything that he can to mitigate and solve for the risk factors. Mostly by lots and lots of practice and memorization of the route so that he is as prepared as he can possibly be to achieve the climb without a rope or any other kind of protection.
Free soloing is not the only type of climbing he does, but it seems to be what he enjoys most - being alone on the wall.
I'm not really a rock climber at all. I've spent a tiny amount of time on indoor rock climbing walls and it's fun and all, but I'm not sure I would ever want to do even the smallest of climbs without a rope.
There's a line in the film where Alex (I think, or it could be Tommy Caldwell) says "everyone who has made free soloing a part of their life is dead now." Can you imagine having a calling in life that could possibly kill you? This is how Alex lives. Even if you're not a rock climber, this book will entertain and probably make you shake your head in disbelief, and think to yourself, or possibly exclaim out loud, "This guy is fucking insane."
After finishing (and loving) The Last American Vampire by Seth Grahame-Smith on October 27, I started The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It by Tilar Mazzeo on October 28 finishing on November 1.
I love reading on vacation. The uninterrupted time to just read, nap, and read some more is marvelous. This vacation was to Maui - 4 nights and 5 days in paradise. If you need a place to stay, check out the Andaz Maui - it was HEAVENLY - seriously, we didn't want to leave. It was perfection.
Not surprisingly, this book is about Veuve Clicquot champagne and the woman behind this empire. I had no idea that this champagne has been around since the French Revolution. Well - Veuve Clicquot hasn't been around that long, but Barbe-Nicole, the woman who is Veuve Clicquot has been around since then. Barbe-Nicole was born into a wealthy textile family in the Champagne region of France. She married the son of a wealthy textile company and aspiring wine-maker. Her husband met an untimely death, and the new widow, Barbe-Nicole, with her newfound freedom to take control of her life and run a business, gambled, lost, gambled, won, and gambled and lost and won some more to make Veuve Clicquot the champagne brand we all know (and love) today.
It was very uncommon in the 1800s for a woman to be able to work, let alone, run a business at all. Being a widow, Barbe-Nicole was in the unique position to have the freedom that married and unmarried women didn't have to do this. This book is about the amazing story of how her champagne empire came to be.
The book started slowly and sort of reads like a history doctoral thesis paper and the timeline jumps around a little, but once I was maybe 100 pages into the book, I really started to get in to it and into Barbe-Nicole's story.
Here's an excerpt from a letter Barbe-Nicole wrote her great-granddaughter in the mid-1860s:
"I am going to tell you a secret... You more than anyone resemble me, you who have such audacity. It is a precious quality that has been very useful to me in the course of my long life... to dare things before others... I am called today the Grand Lady of Champagne! Look around you, this château, these unfaltering hills, I can be bolder than you realize. This world is in perpetual motion, and we must invent the things of tomorrow. One must go before others, be determined and exacting, and let your intelligence direct your life. Act with audacity. Perhaps you too will be famous... !!"
If you like history, if you like champagne, if you like reading about strong, audacious women (and need a little inspiration), read this book!
After finishing The Push on October 12, I had a few days with Chernow's Hamilton again (still not nearly done yet) and started The Last American Vampire by Seth Grahame-Smith on October 18 finishing on October 27.
This is follows Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter from 2011. While I loved the book, the movie wasn't so hot - total bummer. The Last American Vampire picks up with Henry Sturges, the vampire who was friends with Lincoln, and tells the tale of his (Henry's) history throughout history - he's over 300 years old, after all.
This book was satisfyingly entertaining and funny and thought-provoking in a purely fictional way. It was absurd, yet I couldn't put it down. So many historical figures come into the book: Teddy Roosevelt, Virginia Dare, Howard Hughes, J.P. Morgan, Mark Twain, Nikola Tesla, Bram Stoker, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and more.
I really liked how these historical people and happenings were re-imagined to include vampires. There are photos through the book also re-imagined to include vampires in them.
Clearly, Seth Grahame-Smith has an active and vivid imagination and can tell a great story. If you like history and you like vampire stories - pick this up - it's so good! The Husband just finished it and loved it too.
