Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

 

8/10

I finished reading this about 5 months ago. I enjoyed it. It's one of those books that is so unique that I can't think of any other book quite like it. Kind of like how there's no other book like 1984, for example, even though both are what smart people call dystopian novels. It's one of those books where people love to say how it was written so long ago but could have been written yesterday based on the accuracy of predicting how the world would become. This book gets a 7/10 on the premise of the book alone. 

This story deals with genetic engineering performed by a futuristic society and its manipulation of the populace where they all appear to be perfectly content. The main character thinks a bit outside the box and some fun discoveries are made. Some very interesting dialogue takes place toward the end of the book involving one of the leaders of this society. I liked the story for the most part, the writing was good, and there was quite a bit of lessons to be learned throughout. At the end of the book, there were a few things I wish Huxley could have pursued further or other routes that seemed ripe for the taking but weren't which is the reason for the 8/10. Fun read though. And I liked it better than 1984.

The Death Cure by James Dashner

 

6/10

I finished reading this with Mallory about 5 months ago. Finishes the trilogy in mostly underwhelming fashion. My 6/10 is pretty generous but I tend to try really hard to enjoy the books I read unless the book gives me no choice but to dislike it. This one was teetering on that edge but it didn't annoy me too much despite the writing style that's gotten to wear me out a bit. Five months later, I honestly don't remember much about this book so I can't say much about it. Trying to get caught back up with this blog so I can write up a quick review while the book is still fresh in my mind. But some books are more memorable than others. And a finale trilogy book probably should have been more memorable than this one is. Oh well, it was better than Book 2 at least.

The Mortal Messiah - Book 1 by Bruce R. McConkie

 

8/10

I finished reading this about 5 months ago. It was solid, as is to be expected from Bruce R. I always enjoy his scriptural analysis and commentary. He's very comprehensive. The main thing that bothered me was that the first 1/3 of the  book seemed to be still covering the pre-mortal Messiah. The chapter about Jesus beginning his ministry comes on page 435 of a 505 page book. So most of this book is mainly setting the scene and surroundings and very early life of Jesus and you don't get to much of the good stuff which is Jesus and his ministry. I think I'll enjoy the rest of the Mortal Messiah books much more for that reason. Still enjoyed this one overall though.

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

8/10

I read this about 6 months ago. This book was very good. I love good writing combined with good storytelling. And Wilkie Collins is excellent at both. I enjoy his style of telling the story from multiple perspectives. The characters were fun and interesting as well. This was a mystery involving a stolen cursed gem which seemed impossible to solve. It was fun to see the story evolve and every theory snuffed out. What actually ended up happening was pretty far out there in the believability department but it was well handled overall. Turns out this was one of the earliest detective stories. Maybe the first? It's a fun one and another winner from Wilkie.

Wilkie Collins' books I've read, ranked:

1. The Woman in White
2. The Moonstone
   

 

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

 

8/10

I read this with my kids about 6 months ago. This was a book that the entire elementary school read together last school year and so I read several chapters with the kids each night. It was really good and could have easily gotten a 9/10. I went with the 8/10 just because it is elementary level reading after all and some minor writing stylistic issues. But it was an enjoyable story mixing in several old Chinese folktales and was actually quite touching at the end. The selflessness of the main character was pretty inspiring. The whole book had this gentleness about it that I quite enjoyed. Overall a good experience reading this together with the whole crew.

The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

 

5/10

I finished this book back in February. I read this one with Mallory. This one was super uninteresting to me. The story felt so directionless. Everything is overly vague with no resolution whatsoever. Mystery to a story can be a useful tool but in this book it's just annoying for some reason, almost like you feel like the author himself doesn't know what's going on either and so he just leaves everything unanswered. The main character passes out at the conclusion of every other chapter. The writing isn't great. It wasn't in the Maze Runner either, but I gave it a pass since the story and its setting were interesting enough. I probably would have given this one a worse ranking except my daughter really likes these books and her enjoyment for them makes me like them slightly more than I otherwise would if I was reading it by myself. Not much else to say. I read it several months ago and honestly don't really remember much about it.

Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell

 

8/10

I'm ba-ack! Not sure why I got out of the groove of posting my books, but the further I got behind the harder it was to make a post. Hopefully I can knock out some posts real quick to get caught back up. The posts will probably be short and sweet because I don't remember as much about my reading experience since it's been so long. Doesn't make for a very interesting post, but I need to jot these down. For posterity.

I read this book several months ago. I had mixed feelings on this one. I liked the story and the great detail about the incident where he and three others were caught behind enemy lines and pinned down with seemingly no way out. And, as the title of the book implies, the author is the only one to make it out alive through a series of incredible events. You can't help but respect the sacrifice of these men. Lots of heroes in this one.

The part that bothered me about this book is how the author kept taking little stabs at Democrats and making politics part of the story in such a negative way. Few things annoy me more than the negativity of politics, so I didn't enjoy that part of the book. But in the end, it was a very enjoyable and inspiring book and I'm glad that I read it.