Braden Dowdy

Fascinating history of the monarchy. I started this book because I found myself realizing that I knew nothing about the foundation of the UK/England and I can't imagine that any author could do a better job than this. Somehow made 1000 years of real-life history interesting. It is definitely dense and repetitive, but in small doses you'll make it through.

Age range: 18+
Unless some high-achieving high school history buff has the time, I just can't imagine a teenager being interested in this.

Did you know Shel Silverstein wrote “A Boy Named Sue”? Or that Johnny Cash's last 4 albums were produced by the same guy who produced the Beastie Boys? I sure didn't.

Reading a biography like this, of someone who has lived so many different chapters of life and so much of it in public view, who brushed shoulders with so many greats, is always really interesting to me. Reading about his perspectives on his music and his desire to live his life for God in the later years really made me feel like I could understand this artist. Reading about his repetitive spirals into drug addiction and the ways he abandoned his family over and over again made me think twice about the idea of boundaries and rest. Thought-provoking, insightful, and inspiring.

The only drawback was the pacing. I felt like the author included every detail, every concert date, every city and name. In the last fifth of the book, when Cash was practically bedridden and had stopped performing so many live shows, it was much more enjoyable. Having to read every city he stopped in over a 40+ year career got old. But, I really did like the little shout out to Spartanburg, SC, so maybe it was worth it.

Age range: 17+
Cash (and various members of his family and entourage) had serious drug problems. Plus, the author doesn't pull any punches talking about his unfaithfulness to his wife in the early years.

Lots of really great content in this book for processing and handling the emotional impact of a cross-cultural move. I think that the processing homework for each chapter was a little too intense for the size of the chapter and would have preferred just a simple reflection question. This book almost lost a star for me because of the editing, though. There were some noticeable grammatical errors.

An unbelievable epic novel that spans the history of Brasil from shortly before the Portuguese discovery, to the 1950's. I thought this book was fascinating, and thought that the author did an excellent job crafting believable characters for each era of history.

Age range: 18+
Beyond the length being a barrier to younger readers, there is mature content that would not be appropriate.

This is another one of SK's non-horror books and I figured I'd really like this one since I liked The Stand so much. It was good, definitely got better as the book went on - in the start when there was lots of character-building, the bad guys were just a little too depraved to be enjoyable reading.

But then, as the story got rolling, I couldn't put it down. I was just so CURIOUS to see how it ended and what would happen next. If you've read The Shining, he uses a similar tactic in this book by giving certain characters psychic visions of what is going to happen. You don't know when or how, but you can just feel it coming and it gives a super fun pressure and intensity to the book.

Age range: 18+
Violent. Gross at times. If you still want to read it, do your research on triggers warnings.

I love a good standalone fantasy novel. The world Sanderson creates is unique, like nothing I've ever heard of before and features an engrossing protagonist. Highly recommend.

Age range: 10+
Perfectly appropriate for younger readers, if a little scary. I'm not sure of the re-readability of this one for adult readers, but I think it's original and interesting enough to hold a reader's attention at any age.

In high school, this was hands-down my favorite book. I reread it a few times in a year because I liked it so much. Reading it now as an adult makes me realize that, while you've got to admire the level of detail and commitment that the author (like Halliday himself) put in, there are more important things. I want more out of a book than just leveling up past stages in a video game.

Age range: 16+
More mature content than I had remembered.

This book was so good!! 1000% worth the read! Comparing it to The Whistler, the characters were so much more memorable and the action was so much more up-close and personal. It was tense and suspenseful, and it just kept escalating and escalating until I just couldn't stop reading.

Age range: 17+
More violent, more description of the relationship between 2 of the characters. Probably not for kids, but nothing crazy.

I've never read a book like this. The boy (main character) undertakes his quest and along the way learns that if you look hard enough at the world, you'll end up seeing God. Every story ever was written by the same hand. Every part of the universe is just trying to live out its Personal Legend, and together those legends combine to form the Soul of the World.

As fiction, it wasn't shockingly entertaining, but I liked the plot. As a modern-day proverb, I felt uncomfortable and unsure how the story matched up with what I actually believe. I think if you dig through the hundreds of “easy” interpretations of this book that end up being lies, you might find one that has some truth to it.

I'm not sure about Paulo Coelho's spiritual background, but I would be very interested to read an article about how he was influenced by different religions.

Age range: 16+
This felt like a book you might read in a high-school lit class. Younger readers probably wouldn't be able to digest the story very well.

I was pretty disappointed about this book. The first two were fun and interesting, and I really liked getting to know the characters. But in this book, I felt like the whole thing was just different characters giving long preachy philosophical statements, which weren't even interesting. The amount of plot movement could have been fit on 30 pages. Just not great.
Plus, who writes 60-page chapters? That's messed up.

Age range: 16+
Confusing, boring, definitely need to be older to subject yourself to this.

This book is a spectacular surprise, like finding a $100 steak on an all-you-can-eat buffet. It's a YA novel, but written in a way that respects young readers: it challenges them with advanced vocabulary, it trusts them to be able to follow a more complicated plot, and it actually invests in each character's story arc. I put age ranges on my reviews, and most books written for this age group have a cap on how old someone could be and still be interested in it. This book has no cap.

Plus, special mention for the illustrations. Honestly magical.

Age range: 10+
Not only are there no concerns about the content of this book, I feel like this is a valuable book to read as a child.

The creativity that Mull displays when creating this world and designing the characters that populate it is incredible. Even though it is clearly written for younger readers, the inventiveness makes it appealing for a reader of any age who enjoys the genre.

Age range: 10-16
Younger readers may not be able to handle the length. Older readers might find the characters too juvenile, but the world is interesting enough to potentially make it worth your while.

There is something inexpressible in these books that makes me wish for more out of life. I love the characters and the setting and, maybe most of all, the descriptions of the food! What even is a cordial? I don't know, but I want one.

Age range: 10+
Older readers may find it a little juvenile, but if you're in the mood, it's worth the read.

This book was so fun to read! It's still crazy to me that the author was a Mormon missionary in Brasil, and he showed it a lot more in this book. All of the characters spoke Portuguese, and the whole book was about how humanity should interact with a new alien species when we're colonizing the universe. Super interesting, great characters, 5 stars!

Age range: 16+
May be confusing to younger readers. It gets a little philosophical at times.

The second installment continues where the first left off, without feeling that there is any major conflict during the story. It introduces a major new antagonist, but only sets the stage for subsequent books.

Age range: 10+
Younger readers may find it a little scary. Older readers may find the tone a little juvenile.

This book was different from anything I've ever read. The first 100 pages (aka chapter 1) were full of new terms and information that I couldn't quite understand and just had to power through and hope it would make sense down the road (and it did). I loved the style of the book: it took 7 pilgrims and each chapter was them telling their stories of why they were chosen for the pilgrimage. In terms of “real-time” plot, not much happened in the book, but in terms of character development it was unmatched. I loved getting to know the world the book was set in through all of the characters' stories!

Age range: 18+
Some characters have got a good bit of violence in their past, plus some other mature themes. Nothing crazy, but not a YA sci-fi novel.

3.5 stars rounded up. This was a good follow up to the first book, but honestly hard to understand. A major character is able to see into and move through the AI datasphere/metasphere and you just kind of have to read it lightly, like the author is making up words and not trying to read it like hard science fiction where things like that might be understandable. The pacing was tough, going back and forth between all these different high-stress POVs with chapters/sections that ended with cliffhangers. But I did read it a lot faster than I would have otherwise.

Plus, a big theme of this book had to do with a battle/conflict between the human god and the AI-created god, most of it off screen and just kind of hinted at, but it was just kind of strange to read. Not sure what the author really believes. But, all in all, entertaining and glad I read it.

Age range: 18+
If you read the first one, this one's no stronger. All the same stuff. War and violence and pain.