The Maze Runner by James Dashner

 

7/10

I finished reading this a few months ago with Mallory. Mallory absolutely loved it. It does have a really good and interesting premise and is exciting pretty much throughout. I wanted to like it more than I did. But the writing wasn't great and the slang language constantly throughout was off-putting to me. The character development is sub-par and I didn't fall in love or really care for any of the characters. But the story really is pretty fascinating and keeps your attention and interest enough for it to overcome most of its shortcomings. I always have been more of a fan of a good story over great writing (although I prefer both, obviously). But I'd rather read a book like this than one of those smartsy-fartsy, well-written stories where nothing happens (I'm looking at you Mrs. Dalloway). Also, when my child really enjoys a book that we're reading, it always helps me enjoy it a little more along with them. 

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

 

9/10

Finished reading this about a month ago. Mallory picked it for me to read, but my six-year-old Brandon saw it and was super interested in it. He's obsessed with the Titanic and George Washington, so learning about Mt. Everest is very on brand for Brandon. So I read the entire book to him. We both loved it, although he certainly had moments of disinterest. I found it completely fascinating and as good of a picture of the Mt. Everest experience I could imagine. Add to it the fact that there was some intense drama with lives in the balance, with several being lost, and this was one of those books that is hard to put down. The story of Beck Weathers was totally unbelievable, something I would have scoffed at if this were a fiction novel, and yet he somehow managed to survive after being left for dead multiple times. I knew Mt. Everest was a dangerous climb but I didn't fully realize just how frequent death was, basically every year to some degree. I feel bad for those who lost their lives but they seemed to be doing what they loved. I enjoyed getting to learn more about the mountain and it gave me some of the adventurous spirit that I had as a youngster, making me want to go out and do some hiking.

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

 

7/10

I read this about a month ago when my kids brought it home as part of a reading challenge from their elementary school. We read about 20 pages or so every night and finished the book in a couple weeks. It was a good book and a quick read based on the short chapters and spaced out writing on each page. Ivan is easy to root for and the other animals complement the story nicely. Not too much overall drama other than the slow realization of the poor living conditions Ivan and the others have been in most of their lives without them completely realizing it. It was a fun story for the kids.

The Passover by Ron Millburn

10/10

I read this a few months ago when my old man sent this to me for my B-day. It's his second little booklet that he's had published and it is solid as expected. It points out several nice connections between the Jewish Passover and the Savior. The symbolism is there and this does a nice job of breaking it down. I had been introduced to several of these previously in my Dad's blog, but it was nice seeing it drawn out in this book. I also enjoyed that he was able to get in my Grandpa's favorite saying about things being longer than the Ten Commandments. Looking forward to the next book, whenever that may be.
 

The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie

 

9/10

I really liked this one. I finished this a few nights ago and cruised through the second half of the book as it was hard for me to put the book down as the plot thickened. This type of sleuthing is what I was expecting when I started reading Agatha Christie books which I didn't get it with the other two I'd read (but this was my first Hercule Poirot story). I just thought this was so well done. It had everything you could ask for in a murder mystery. I really liked the psychological aspect of the story where Poirot tries to understand the mind of the crazy killer. I also liked that Poirot had to struggle through the mystery as he often seemed at a loss. And I always like a nice twist ending and this one was really nicely done and set up really well by Agatha Christie. I can see why she's considered the Queen of Mystery as it was really masterfully done.

Really glad that I didn't give up on Agatha Christie as the first two were minor letdowns. I knew I had to read a Poirot story before giving up. I may just keep my focus on Poirot stories for future Agatha Christie books. Poirot > Jane Marple, at least from what I've seen so far in my limited exposure.

Agatha Christie rankings:

1. The ABC Murders                                                                                                                                       2. 4:50 from Paddington
3. At Bertram's Hotel

A Preface to Paradise Lost by C.S. Lewis

4/10

Back-to-back C.S. Lewis books and back-to-back 4/10 ratings. I finished reading this yesterday. It was actually a really quick read, especially for a literary criticism type book that I usually slog through. So maybe I should give it bonus points for that. It's just I didn't particularly enjoy anything much about this book. I was hoping for a more specific breakdown of particular passages and themes, but the whole first half was about epic poetry in general and talking about Homer and Beowulf and books I've never read. So that was a disappointment. And then I was hoping for a few better Christian related insights but ended up not seeing eye to eye on a lot of his interpretations. The idea that Eve was attempting murder by wanting to get Adam to eat the fruit too was a bit of a stretch I thought. I was disappointed in his interpretation of Eve and her motivations. 

I thought Milton's book was pretty darn close to restored gospel principles and just expected C.S. to be right there as well with his interpretations, but it just wasn't meant to be. My favorite chapter was actually early on before he got into the Paradise Lost analysis portion of the book. It was a chapter of him arguing against someone who said only poetics could criticize poetry. It had some classic C.S. Lewis burns by his unrelenting logic.
 

That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis

 

4/10

Finished this last week. Took me forever to get through this one. Mostly the first half of it. I started liking it a little better about halfway through when the N.I.C.E.'s schemes started to materialize, but then it petered out again toward the end for me. This is the third book in C.S. Lewis's space trilogy. I had read the first two like 15 years ago and didn't love either one. So I could never get myself to get to this book but also wanted to just so I could complete the trilogy. I ended up liking all the books about the same. But if I had to rank them, I would probably rank them in order of the shortest book to the longest book. This book definitely could have been much shorter. It had some interesting moments and ideas but those were overwhelmed by too much dullness. Glad to have finally completed the trilogy though.

Aftermath by Chuck Wendig

 

7/10

Finished reading this on January 1 to ring in the new year. It was ok. I was being pretty generous with the 7. I was leaning heavily toward a 6. I don't like the herky-jerky writing style that some people have. It was the same thing with the book Merlin. Just abrupt, super short sentences throughout the entire book. The plot was slow in developing and it seemed like new characters and storylines were being introduced every chapter. I actually started reading this with Mallory and it is the first book ever where she requested we stop and read a different book. She only made it about 125 pages or so. 

The story ended up being alright and I never actually dreaded having to pick the book up like I sometimes do with books I dislike. So that itself guarantees it to be at least a 6. And I enjoy the Star Wars universe enough that it got tipped to a 7 in the end. I didn't love any of the characters too much. I guess Jas and Sinjir were my two favorites but there wasn't too much particularly intriguing about either one. I'll read the next two books in the trilogy eventually, but don't know how soon that will be.

Star Wars book rankings:

1. Lost Stars

2. Aftermath