Sci-Fi Book # 32 - The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein

Do you ever read something that is highly acclaimed and you totally do not get why? That's my experience with The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. Maybe to me the story wasn't that interesting and the characters not engaging enough. After a while it seemed to just be a forum for the author's political beliefs. It makes me think that when I finally get around to re-reading Stranger in a Strange Land I may not love it the way I did as a teenager. C

Horror Book # 26 - Books of Blood Volume 5 by Clive Barker

Yep, I'm still slowly making my way through the Books of Blood series. I think this collection might be a bit better than some of the previous volumes. I enjoyed each of the four stories and unlike last time, I actually read most of them in just one sitting. As a whole I'm surprised at how much I like the stories in this series. A-

Horror Book # 47 - The Running Man (The Bachman Books # 4) by Stephen King

So yeah I skipped one of the Bachman books and went right to The Running Man. I had read somewhere that it was set in 2019 so I figured now would be a good time to read it... but as it turns out the movie is set in 2019 and the book 2025.  Regardless, I enjoyed the book- it was a nice quick fun read. It was pretty much what I expected - set in a dystopian future a guy has to survive a reality game show in which he is being hunted down. It may not be great literature but I was entertained. B+

Book # 76 - For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

Generally I've enjoyed the Hemingway books I've read but as for For Whom the Bell Tolls I could take it or leave it. The story is about a guy on a mission to blow up a bridge during the Spanish Civil War. My biggest gripe is that it takes forever to get from the setting up of the premise to the actual destruction of the bridge. It is basically 400 pages of waiting around and planning. I did like the very end of the book though. Let's say this gets a B.

Sci-Fi Book # 17- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

I know I saw the movie 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea as a kid... probably a few times... but while reading this book I realized I remember nothing at all about it other than the giant squid attack. Well, I enjoyed the book. It wasn't quite what I was expecting. There really wasn't that much conflict in the story, probably because the narrator pretty much enjoys his time as Nemo's captive and is having a good time. But it was still a fun read other than the numerous digressions about the different types of fish seen on the voyage. A-

Book # 42 - Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Somehow I managed to read the shortest book in the longest possible time. Really, Of Mice and Men should be read in one sitting. Two tops. Yet I took a month. But now that I'm caught up on watching GOT I can start reading a bit more now (hopefully). And as everyone should already now, this book is great. A.

Elevation by Stephen King

Somehow I took over a month to read a book that should probably be read in an hour and a half. Calling Elevation a novel is being pretty loose with the term "novel". Chalk up this decrease in reading to my effort to catch up on Game of Thrones - the show not the books.

So what to say about this book? It was okay - really it is so short it didn't leave much impression. It is about a guy that starts losing weight but not mass. Why is never explained and the ending is pretty much what I expected. And there is a bit of a theme of acceptance of others thrown in there too. Let's say B-.