ThatBookIsOnFiyah

5/5 stars. First of all, a big thank you to Joe Berne for the audiobook review copy. Wayne Farrell is doing some amazing work with this series, and I look forward to continuing with his narration! In Turn Two, we returned to Earth with Rohan and met his mother. In this novel, Rohan’s father visits Wistful. Berne does an excellent job of blending backstory with the ongoing action of Rohan’s life. Here, he encounters a stark-raving mad soul-eating vampire who is thousands of years old. How will Rohan deal with this new threat while trying to learn why his father has suddenly shown up in his life? I never imagined that I would enjoy a superhero science fiction story set on a far away space station, but this series is quickly becoming one of my go to reading pleasures! Berne delves deeply into humanity through non-human (or part human) characters that are quickly becoming like family.  Thank you JCM Berne for sharing your imagination with us. Highly, highly recommended!!

  4/5 stars. The Book of Fallen Leaves is the debut novel by Mr. Tamaki. It features multiple points of view from three families that make up the ruling class of this Japanese-inspired world, with the focus on a disgraced brother (Sen) and sister (Kai) whose father tried to overthrow the emperor, and a girl (Rui) from their father’s household servants who was saved with Sen on the night of their father’s death. We drop into this world on the brink of another civil war that will directly involve these two siblings and Rui. At first, I struggled with this story, primarily because of names – I struggle with Asian names and have a challenging time keeping characters straight in my head initially. Once I got the names organized in my brain, the story flowed along nicely, with outstanding prose, and the last hundred pages were an absolute whirlwind of battles, action, and significant events. In addition, we meet demons and gods along the way and discover some interesting reveals about ou...

  4/5 stars. This story is an interesting mix of historical facts and fiction.  In a time (2026) when the President of the USA flaunts the Rule of Law at every turn, this story makes some intriguing points - about the history of 9/11, its aftermath, the Iraq War, and how one decision to ignore valuable intelligence could have escalated the US invasion of Iraq. The author did a very thorough job of maintaining good historical research and sticking to those facts, while blending plausible fiction into the story about Rumsfeld and his political career. Mr. Cooper has created a believable scenario where Donald Rumsfeld, as Sec of Defense under George W. Bush, could have become President. He has also used true facts to develop the justification for his fictional trial of Mr. Rumsfeld by the International Court at The Hague. This was an enjoyable read and I recommend it to anyone who has a fascination with history, particularly modern US History, as I do.  I also want to thank ...

  4/5 stars. I listened to the Audible edition of this book because I had seen a lot about it after I read Dungeon Crawler Carl and then started the Bobiverse. Many people online recommended ExForce as similar to these. I was reluctant to get it until I saw it included with my Audible subscription. At first, I was put off by RC Bray’s unique voice, but it really grew on me, and I now know he is many people’s favorite narrator. I have since purchased the next three audiobooks. Overall, I am impressed with the military aspects of the storytelling and I enjoy the story, especially when our main character, Joe Bishop, finds a super-intelligent A.I., nicknamed Skippy. The story moves along quickly from beginning to end, but I especially like the military technical language that the author uses throughout - it made the story feel very immersive. The characters are beautifully written, and Joe is an excellent protagonist who is thrown into one demanding situation after another. Skippy is ...

4.75/5 stars. The second entry in the Kindom trilogy brings back most of the characters from book one, but several of them are not the same people they were before. The political ramifications continue to ramp up, with several groups wanting to take control of the government, and our heroes battling to save the innocents. Esek, Six, and Chono are pursuing one mission, while Masar, Jun, and Liis have other matters to deal with. The story takes a couple of interesting turns, but the tension and excitement never let up. Jacobs has done an excellent job with this sequel, and especially with the middle book of the trilogy. So often, the middle book lacks the same impetus as the first and last books of a trilogy, but this one has no such concerns. Jacobs is writing a space opera that could be drawn from the last three thousand years of world history. This story is about a displaced race of humans that must fight for the survival of their people and their culture as they search for a home fo...

5/5 stars. I wish I could rate it higher. This novel might be my favorite that I have ever read! A modern classic. Danielewski has created a masterpiece of modern literature set in the guise of a coming-of-age ghost story about two young people trying to save a pair of horses from slaughter. Having just finished the book (listening to the audio and reading along with the physical book), I still have quite a bit to process about it. There are moments from the tale that I will replay and reread again and again. Susan Dalian does a magnificent job with her narration. Her voice is what I hear when I think of Landry Gatestone and the amazing way MZD constructs this book. This novel will stay with me for years to come. There are many references to Greek mythology, and I understand there are many Easter eggs to MZD’s other stories, but the story itself feels like a Greek myth in its own right. There are moments when the reader will laugh, cry, be afraid for the main characters, despise othe...