Book Review: The Martian
The Martian by Andy Weir is an exhilarating tale of survival, ingenuity, and the human spirit set against the unforgiving landscape of Mars. From the very first page, the reader is thrust into the dire predicament of astronaut Mark Watney, who finds himself stranded alone on the red planet after a mission goes catastrophically wrong.
Book Review: Greenlights
McConaughey’s autobiography is the model of what a good biography should be: totally indicative of the subject in tone and form. McConaughey is known for his casual air and easy manner of speaking and the book, in this way, doesn’t disappoint. Even though the physical book itself is very well-made and beautiful, for the best experience, listen on audio to get his own narration. It will have you feeling alright, alright, alright.
Book Review: Tress of the Emerald Sea
Brandon Sanderson’s Tress of the Emerald Sea is an exciting and refreshing departure from his usual epic fantasy works. Set in the Cosmere (Sanderson’s massive interconnected universe), it tells the story of Tress, a young woman living on a secluded island surrounded by a mysterious sea filled with dangerous spores. When the love of her life, Charlie, is kidnapped, Tress sets out on a daring journey across strange and magical lands to rescue him.
Book Review: Alive Day
Sam Brown’s Alive Day is a heart-wrenching, deeply moving memoir that takes readers through the emotional and physical journey of a soldier returning home after surviving a life-changing injury during his service in Afghanistan. Written with raw honesty and vulnerability, Brown chronicles not only his recovery from the devastating wounds he sustained but also the mental and emotional toll that war leaves behind long after the physical scars have healed. His story is a testament to resilience, but it’s also a reminder of the everyday struggles veterans face as they transition back into civilian life—battling not just with their bodies, but with their identity, their relationships, and their place in the world.
Book Review: Kafka on the Shore
Haruki Murakami is one of those authors whose writing completely alters your viewpoint on certain topics. He typically employs magical realism into his style, writing grounded stories with great characters, but with a hint that there are other forces at play not always apparent to the reader or clear by the end of the story. He’s been writing seemingly forever, but produces novels somewhat rarely. Also, the length of his books varies widely, which I can appreciate. Murakami tells the story that’s there; he doesn’t keep expanding a novel for the sake of it. Likewise, sometimes he produces a massive tome, like 1Q84. Kafka on the Shore never felt like a burden to read from a length or prose perspective, but it’s the story and characters that made it so.
Book Review: Secrets of Churchill’s War Rooms
I received this book from a family member who was cleaning out some old books and thought it looked interesting. During WWII, Winston Churchill and his government often used underground bunkers to run the country and this book is the story of how those war rooms came to be, what they were like, and how they were used.
Book Review: Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson
Elon Musk has led a fascinating life, touching industries such as cashless payments, electric vehicles, rockets, boring tunnels, brain chips, and social media. This particular biography leans heavily (almost half the book) on his acquisition of Twitter, since that coincides with the time Isaacson was shadowing Musk.
Book Review: Ghosts of Honolulu
Mark Harmon’s Ghosts of Honolulu takes readers on a journey to discover the origins of the NIS and later NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service). From the outset, Harmon’s prose is engaging enough, pulling readers into the setting of Honolulu. The author paints a pretty vivid picture of the islands and Pearl Harbor pre- and post-attack.
Book Review: Shadow and Bone
Shadow and Bone follows Alina Starkov, a cartographer and orphan serving in the army of a fantasy world, who unlocks a magical ability within herself. The Grisha, the magic users of this world, have elemental abilities, but nothing like our main character, who is thrust into a game of life and death based on what she can do.
Book Review: The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England
The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England is the second of Brandon Sanderson's Secret Projects from his record-breaking Kickstarter Campaign. It's the only one of the Secret Projects that does not take place in Sanderson's interconnected world, the Cosmere, and as such, it feels much different than some of his other work.