Kyle Erickson

Very very good. Also because Cosmere fans are straight up ridiculous people I am saying here and now that this book does not spoil any other Cosmere book. ANY. COSMERE. BOOK.

I said it, and I meant it. I will fight you, insane people.

Unfortunately, Malfi just might not be an author I enjoy. This is my third and my least favorite of his. The first half of this book was incredibly boring to me; I didn't care about any of it. The second half is a little better but at that point I had checked out and just wanted it to be done.

I love Friends, and wanted to love this book, but the info about the show was very surface-level. Even so, I was tempted to give this book four stars. But the last two chapters were awful. The writer clearly had an agenda and felt compelled to shoehorn in a “Me Too” segment which added nothing and really came over petty. She also threw some shade at Jerry Seinfield, who she obviously doesn't like, and just had to get some barbs in there. (She says he's said awful things lately about Bill Cosby and autism. If she did the slightest bit of research, she would know that Seinfeld is autistic and that he didn't defend Bill Cosby.)

Criticizing a show that is beloved is fine. I enjoy a long hard look at things we love. But criticizing it for being made in 1994 and not 2018 is very weird.

This was a really cool mystery book where I liked the central mystery and thought it was added to by the imaginative worldbuilding and interesting characters. The central relationship between the MC and his mentor was well done, obviously inspired by Holmes/Watson but different enough to be doing its own thing. Tainted Cup isn't a new favorite, but I enjoyed the entire journey and I will definitely read the next one.

So, I don't love where the macro story in Sun Eater is going, I think, but Ruocchio is such a good writer that it doesn't matter that much. This book is crazy and definitely mind bending and thought provoking, but some of the answers to the questions we are getting are in directions that I have little to no interest in. There is also a major character introduced in this one that I think didn't really land. They are more of a concept of a character, than a character themselves. Ruocchio's side characters have always been a relative weakness of the series.

However, the last third or so of this book was absolutely wild, top tier entertainment and mind-blowing reveals, creepy imagery and some of the best characters in the series. As always, the character writing for Hadrian is just incredible, Hadrian is very very old and he feels his age. And as always, Ruocchio's prose is fantastic.

Not my favorite of the series like it is for some people, but not my least favorite either.

Not sure what I feel about this one yet, but once again Tchaikovsky is unique and interesting. The first half of this I found somewhat dull as it felt like it took forever to get to the actual story. I was tempted to DNF and then everything clicked and I loved the last third. It helped me appreciate the setup in the first half more but I still think it could have been done a bit more efficiently.

This novella examines portal fantasy and the effect of fiction on us, and is definitely in conversation with Narnia and Tolkien (both of which are name dropped several times), but I also found it remiscent of Winnie the Pooh, if Christopher Robin had abandoned 100-Acre Wood and left Pooh and the others to fend for themselves. It also reminded me quite a bit of Stephen King, both in some of the plot reveals but also in the dialogue.

Tchaikovsky continues to impress me, even with the things I like less.

7/10 I think?

I loved this way more than I expected. It was quite a page turner. My takeaway from this book is just how hard it was to actually make something like the MCU and how Kevin Feige really deserves a lot of the credit for it. This book in general is pretty pro-Feige; for good reason - a large portion of the book sets up a conflict between the scrappy, entertainment-minded underdog Kevin Feige and billionaire toy-minded, petty Marvel CEO Ike Perlmutter who is basically a real life cartoon character.

The difference in philosophy between these two makes the behind the scenes drama really compelling, and made me really respect Feige as a conciliator with great patience and his eyes on the goal. Ike Perlmutter is the worst.

Beyond that, though, there was also just a lot of cool information about the various MCU projects; and the book offers a pretty compelling reason why Post-Endgame has not been working out very well for them. In fact, Robinson et al made me cautiously optimistic for upcoming MCU content for the first time in a little while due to how recent changes have affected Marvel. We'll see how it goes.

Overall, highly recommended for MCU fans, film fans, or just people who want to know about how Hollywood/the film industry etc works.

I really wanted to like this book, but it fell short quite a bit and I honestly wonder why it was turned into a book, because it really feels like a bunch of journal entries.

Firstly, I feel manipulated by the author tying this book so clearly to Lost and getting a bunch of the actors from Lost to promote her book. It was the reason I wanted to check this out, and while I knew it would be a more personal memoir and not Lost-centric, I thought it would atleast have some behind the scenes stuff occasionally. Unfortunately, there is nothing. Instead, she just kept pointing out scenes from Lost that mirrored how she felt. It felt extremely ham-fisted to me.

But on the non-Lost front, I also struggled with this memoir because, while the author is dealing with depression and depression is hard and different for everyone, she does not come across as very likeable at any point (and I say that as someone who was depressed for 10 years) and her reasons for falling into depression-‘I want to be famous and I'm not, instead my husband is'- is just very shallow and her reactions to her kids/husband's behaviors are usually quite rude and self-centered.

The problem is, at the end of the book she reaches some sort of clarity, but it is set 11 years ago. I feel that she could have included some more current insights into why she was acting that way, or how she feels now. Another squandered aspect is that part of her depression is due to the unrealistic criteria put on actresses and the constant doubt and ridicule they are put through, and I think this isn't really dived into but is just briefly mentioned as reasons why she's insecure.

Ultimately, this book was a whole lot of almost interesting. I'd probably have given it 3 stars if it didn't pimp the tenuous Lost connection so hard.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

8/10

Sanderson is my favorite author but unfortunately this one didn't really work for me. It is initially pretty interesting and I liked the humor, but I just think the things Sanderson is best at - character, plot, reveals, worldbuilding, magic- are all severely lacking here. The humor got old fast in the face of rising stakes. The book is not bad by any means, but it's a bad Sanderson book to me. I appreciate him trying something new and I know some people will really enjoy what this is, but by the second half I was basically forcing myself to finish.

4/10

A fun little novella about how stories and legends change over time. The Tigers constantly interrupting was fun. I might have enjoyed the first one a bit more, but they're both still easy, enjoyable reads.

7/10

DNF

Did not appreciate the style of this book at all. It reminded me of KJ parker at his worst, but stuffed into the mindset of a teenager who thinks they're better than everyone else. The Three Kingdoms inspiration was so blatant, which is fine for a retelling, but sometimes made me roll my eyes (“Red Phoenixes” instead of “Yellow Turbans”) and it felt like the beginning of this book was so lacking in context if you are unfamiliar with the source (it basically starts in the middle of Changban, which is the middle of a conflict that starts a decade earlier).

Also the book gender bent everyone into women, which can do interesting things but even the soldiers were all women so I was just left wondering what all the men were up to.

Also the names were stupid. Why did some people have Chinese inspired names and others just have names like Cloud or Lotus.

This book is very good and I would encourage everyone, but especially those with children, to read it. However it's also frustrating because the evidence seems so clear that we are headed towards a bad result and we will just not course correct in any sort of meaningful way. I hope this book inspires A) a small amount of parents to be more intentional with their kid's level of screens, B) a small amount of people to be more intentional with their own level of screens, and C) more research and books into this topic which will hopefully result in D) some actual change on a societal level.

But we'll see.

It's fine...everything is fine

An entertaining book but my issue is that the main character feels like any of the main characters from the previous first person trilogy from KJ parker I've read. Zany and sardonic and arrogant. If you had told me this was the same person form 16 Ways to Defend a Walled City I would believe you.

And unfortunately, it's just not a character type I like that much. This voice was maybe a bit better than that trilogy, but I still struggled with it.

Although, I did audio for this one and I think the narrator, while technically good, is mismatched for this book. So I will try the second one physically and see if that helps.

Alternative titles for this book:

Complaints and Grievances

Paul Stanley: Pointing The Finger

Paul Stanley: The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived

Another enjoyable entry for this series. I made the mistake of reading out of order, so some of the plot was spoiled for me, but the central mystery was still enjoyable. I'm a sucker for all things Crassus and Spartacus, so even though the rebellion is happening off-page, the political aspect of the effect on Rome was also enjoyable.

Look, I can be magnanimous. But I can also be petty. Today I'm petty.

This is a very good memoir that is thorough and well written and at times poignant. But I have one major gripe that I recognize is extremely pedantic, unfortunately it bothered me and I cannot be anything other than what I am.

Geddy named this book My EFFIN' Life. Ya know, fuckin. And throughout the whole book, he keeps saying “that would be EFFIN cool” and “I'm not EFFING playing” and “it was seriously EFFIN weird” etc etc etc. This already bothered me, you're a fully grown man who is talking about doing cocaine and being mean to your wife and all sorts of actual flaws a person could have but you can't say fuck, that's going too far!!! I'll just say the hooked-on-phonics version of this swear so you know what I mean but I still look squeaky clean (but here's my chapter about cocaine addiction!). But sure whatever.

BUT THEN. After a very emotional segment about Neil Peart's diagnosis and death, covid happening, his mother's dementia, his mother's death, and Taylor Hawkin's death, he FINALLY says fucking. But for any of these emotional topics? No. “I would have to mess around with a fucking song sometimes”. That's when he uses it. So whyyyyyyyyyyy do I have to listen to you act like a six year old on a playground whose mommy is gonna get willy willy mad at him if he says a naughty poopoo word for the rest of the book?

Anyways the book actually was very good. Any Geddy Lee or Rush or just rock fans should read it. This will not bother you, because you are normal. Or maybe you're not normal, but you'll still not be bothered by this. I'm the only person. I will bear my pedantic, ridiculous burden, and dock a star from this very good memoir over its lack of swearing.

This book was awful.

I am a huge Five Finger Death Punch fan, and thought I would love this book. I came away still liking the band, but not liking Jeremy Spencer.

His dad, an actual author, helped him write it and it still comes off as a 14 year old's writing style. I suppose Jeremy wanted to keep the way he actually speaks intact, but it paints him as perpetually immature.
The book is gross; painfully gross, and for the record I have read and liked The Heroin Diaries and Tommyland, both of which are also pretty gross. The narrative is told from two ends- one chapter from his childhood, one chapter as an adult trying to form a band, etc. This is not necessarily a bad choice in general, but was poorly executed. For one, his foray with drugs and girls as a teenager leads directly into extra douchey forays with drugs and girls as a member of FFDP. The result is skin-crawling. I also have a personal preference for stories to be told mostly linearly, so that might have had something to do with it.

Overall, Jeremy comes across as a brat who wanted to write a book about how he's no longer a brat. He pays lip service to how awful he was when he was younger and blames the drugs, but even as a sober author, continuously brags about his sexual conquests in portapottys and closets. “Way cool!”. He berates singer Ivan Moody at any opportunity, then says something nice about him, and then lashes out at him again. The band's current bass player, Chris Kael, who is arguably the most interesting and positive member of the band, is mentioned exactly one time.

The book ends in a weird spot as well, SPOILER

The entire book builds to his crazy drug addiction and then he has an overdose and almost dies. He passes out, and the final chapter is him basically going “Wild, huh?! Oh I didn't die, but I'm still cool! And no more drugs, bye.” End Spoiler

Don't buy this book if you want to read a fascinating memoir. You should only buy this book if you want to hear Jeremy Spencer's self aggrandizing stories. It gets two stars only because I was somewhat interested to hear the origin of the band.

The style of this book was more engaging than I thought it would be going into it. I've never read a novel that was told exclusively through journals and letters. The characters and their slow unravelling of exactly what was happening to them was very well done. Stephen King's Salem's Lot was one of my all time favorite books growing up, and made me fall in love with the horror genre. It's nice to see the original inspiration and the various parallels between the two stories. Definitely the best of the “classic” horror books I've read.

This book was okay...I was a little put off by the title not being at all what the book was about, but I got over it. It's basically a short history of the Beatles, intercut with Lennon's killer and why he did what he did. Somewhat engaging but I imagine if you're already passing familiar with the Beatles history, you can skip this.

This is a review in the form of a question:
Why can't drummers write good books??

I enjoy a good musician memoir. I've read most of the notable ones. The first one I ever read was Slash's when I was 14 and it changed my life. Since then, I read Steven Adler's and both of Duff's, so I had to read Matt Sorum's autobiography as well. Unfortunately, Matt is pretty pissed about not being included in the reunion, and it shows. This book is just gripes, sex stories, bigger gripes, drug stories, bigger gripes, and times in which Matt Sorum saves the day and nobody thanks him for it. The only chapters I read with any sort of interest are the Use Your Illusion tour chapters, because that tour was chaos.

But I should have known this book would be bad, because there's a deeper, secret truth: drummers can't write good books. Wait, I hear you saying. That seems not true! Alas, I go where the data points tell me. And after reading terrible books from Steven Adler, Tommy Lee, Jeremy Spencer, Joey Kramer, and now Matt Sorum, I am left to the inevitable conclusion: drummers shouldn't write books. There it is. Five data points out of an entire sea of drummers :p can't argue with that!

But for real, skip this book unless you're a GnR superfan.

This was a good overview of the Roman Empire. My only complaint is that there is SO much going on in the Empire that it should have been longer, most topics got extremely brief mentions. If you just want a general idea of this period, not a bad choice at all.

This book was very breezy to get through and the pictures were amazing! If you've seen My Octopus Teacher or just like ocean stuff, this book is definitely worth it. Craig and Ross's journey into the waters is inspiring, and some of the things they've seen make me jealous I don't live near an ocean.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review!

Enjoyable, breezy (in style, not subject matter haha) book about some atrocious Roman leaders. Caligula, Nero, and Commodus take up a lot of space in this discussion, rightfully so, so it was nice to get to hear more about some of the lesser known monsters. My only complaints are it was VERY brief for most of them, and that for some reason, the author occasionally told the story out of order. (For example, skipping Tiberius's reign/Sejanus's villainy and then circling back after Commodus's death to discuss Sejanus and Macro?)

If you just want to hear about some awful Romans, or if you want to participate meaningfully in the debate about who the worst is, this book is for you. - Commodus, obviously. Why is this even debated?