Reviews for February theme: Books with a one-word title

[Book Concierge]

Read any good books lately that fit our monthly theme?

Here's the place to share your opinions / reactions / recommendations.

This month's theme was suggested by Koren -
Books with a one-word title

Happy reading!

.

[Donna]

Apollyon is book #5 in the Left Behind Series, dealing with the end of the world as foretold in the Bible. The series was included on the PBS Great American Read List, and so made it onto my To Be Read list. I started with book #1, and have become strangely addicted to the series and plan to read them all.

[[deleted user]]

I read the Left Behind series when it came out in the 1990's. Very good series, I should consider reading it again.

[Donna]

My teenage children read the series when it came out, but for some reason I didn't. I'm glad I was nudged to read it now.

[Carol]

Hangman by Jack Heath
Timothy Blake series Book #1
3.5★

A 14-year-old boy vanishes on his way home from school. His frantic mother receives a disturbing ransom call. It's only hours before the deadline, and the police have no leads. Enter Timothy Blake, codename Hangman. Blake is a genius, known for solving impossible cases. He's also a sociopath - the FBI's last resort. But this time Blake might have met his match. The kidnapper is more cunning and ruthless than anyone he's faced before. And Blake has been assigned a new partner, a woman linked to the past he's so desperate to forget. Timothy Blake has a secret, one so dark he will do anything to keep it hidden. And he also has a price. Every time he saves a life, he takes one

The character of Timothy Blake comes across as being the result of a breeding between James Bond and Dracula. Overall he is brilliant at solving puzzles be they kidnappings and murders or crosswords and Rubik's cubes. Timothy is more than just interesting...he's a puzzle that no matter how hard the reader tries to see a reason for "what he is...it just slips through the mind...which is probably a good thing. I really liked the writing style of this author but you need to be willing and able to suspend your disbelief for some parts of it and just go with the flow. I look forward to meeting Timothy again...just not in a dark alley.

[Koren]

Becoming by Michelle Obama
5 stars


I was pleasantly surprised that this book was not political. When she does express her opinion about politics it is very brief. This is more about her thoughts about how people and events in her childhood formed who she is, her love for her husband and children and career and balancing all of these things while being very much in the public eye. The one thing that struck me is that she is not always as confident as she seems but does a lot of soul searching and fights to overcome her insecurities. She is a very positive person and looks for the good in everything and everyone and if you were expecting any complaining in the book you wont find very much.

[Donna]

Armada, by Ernest Cline

This book is NOT a sequel to Ready Player One, though the story is similar. Our protagonist is Zack, a high school video game expert. Imagine his surprise when one day he looks out the window to see a spaceship --- the exact spaceship he has been fighting in his favorite video game. Aliens have come to take over the world! But how did they become featured in his video games?

The story was not as good as Ready Player One, but it was quite good. I gave it 4 stars, but 3.5 is probably more accurate. An extra half star was given because it fits the "one word title" theme, and apparently, not many of the books on my reading list do! :)

[Carol]

IQ by Joe Ide
3★
East Long Beach. The LAPD is barely keeping up with the neighborhood's high crime rate. Murders go unsolved, lost children unrecovered. But someone from the neighborhood has taken it upon himself to help solve the cases the police can't or won't touch. They call him IQ. He's a loner and a high school dropout, his unassuming nature disguising a relentless determination and a fierce intelligence. He charges his clients whatever they can afford, which might be a set of tires or a homemade casserole. To get by, he's forced to take on clients that can pay. This time, it's a rap mogul whose life is in danger. As Isaiah investigates, he encounters a vengeful ex-wife, a crew of notorious cutthroats, a monstrous attack dog, and a hit man who even other hit men say is a lunatic. The deeper Isaiah digs, the more far reaching and dangerous the case becomes.

IQ…Isaiah Quintabe…may be LA’s answer to Sherlock Holmes. He’s a discreet, unlicensed investigator who finds missing people… recovers stolen property… and unravels puzzles too delicate or perplexing for the police to handle. He may be considered by most people as a little eccentric since he has a live chicken named Alejandro wandering around his house as well as a receipt for dispatching said chicken. There was a time in his career that IQ took payment for his work in any form presented. The author Joe Ide…a Japanese-American who grew up in the same type of neighborhood as his IQ character…writes with streetwise lingo that… be warned… some readers will absolutely find offensive. However there is local color and empathy interwoven with the offensive language as well as descriptive humor. As previously mentioned not everyone is going to want to proceed past the 2nd chapter. I admit I had my doubts. I stuck it out with “IQ” …met him on his turf…and found he is straight forward and really likable individual. I will say I have never read anything quiet like it.

[Donna]

Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse


Another classic listed on PBS's Great American Read that I can check off my list. It is short, which is one of the better points, AND the one word title. Actually it was thought provoking and I can see why it is included on the list. If you want to read what I really thought, go to the page for this book here on Goodreads and read the first review (written by Kemper). I laughed and laughed!

[Koren]

Transparent by Don Lemon
3 stars


If you watch CNN you are aware of who Don Lemon is. In this book he tells about his childhood, his molestation by a neighbor boy, and how, as a black man, he has had to work twice as hard to get half as far as others. He only spends a few pages talking about coming out as a gay man. Most of the book is about his career. I'm not sure why the book is called Transparent, as I found he was very secretive about his personal life, but then again, when I did a google search, there isn't much there either. Written in 2011, it would be interesting to see an updated version or a new book that talks about the last few years of politics, as he was just starting at CNN when he wrote the book. As Lemon was the victim of one of our presidents personal attacks, it would be interesting to see his take on this.

[Koren]

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
3 stars


I had mixed emotions while reading this book. There were times I hated it and times I loved it and couldn't put it down. First of all, the author is going through a lot in her life. The death of her mother and a divorce have thrown her for a loop and she came up with the idea of hiking the Pacific Trail alone with no hiking experience. The result is one catastrophe after another over the course of several months. She goes back and forth between telling us about her past and telling about her hiking experience. She comes across some interesting people. She doesn't always have the highest moral principles but she does not give up and I admire that. I really could have done without the story about her mother's horse. That was horrible.