If It Bleeds by Stephen King

If It Bleeds was one of the last books my mom ever bought. Sadly she never got to read it. And everytime I think about reading it I'd think about how my mom never got to read it. Anyway, I did read the first story of the four a couple of years ago and thought it was subpar King. So then it sat on the shelf... and sat... and finally I picked it up and finished it pretty quickly. The other three stories were all pretty decent. None of them are really scary though. One of them is about an author- which is a bit of a King cliche. And another picks up the story of Holly Gibney after the events of The Outsider. Overall a bit of a mixed bag but entertaining enough. B-

Sci-Fi Book # 38- Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire is one of those sequels that just finds a way to have the protagonist go through the same unlikely once-in-a-lifetime scenario that occured in the first installment. Kind of like Die Hard 2. So we end up with basically The Hunger Game: All Stars. And yeah it isn't the most beautifully written book but it is entertaining in a silly way. B.

Star Wars: The High Republic- Path of Vengeance by Cavan Scott ,

 Another Star Wars High Republic book checked off the list. I liked it well enough. B

The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl

 I've found that with most rock autobiographies they end up being exactly as you'd expect in regards to the person's personality. Jeff Tweedy seems like a regular guy, Keith Richards is the coolest, Morrissey is pretentious, Dylan is mysterious, Pete Townshend overthinks everything, etc. And as expected Dave Grohl comes across as the luckiest guy in music and super nice. I enjoyed his stories, though the last half of the book is mostly stories of how he's met the coolest people (Paul McCartney, Pres. Obama, AC/DC, John Fogerty, Tom Petty, etc). B+

Sci-Fi Book # 43 - The White Dragon - The Dragonriders of Pern Book 3 by Anne McCaffrey

Well I can cross this off the list now. I guess it was better than book two? The whole thing just meandered around without much of a plot or antagonist. At least there was a central character in this one, but it just seems weird that F'lar and Lessa are just background characters here. At least now I can stop reading about these dragons with magic powers that their riders don't seem to be able to take advantage of. C+

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu

 

Well, How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe sure took me by surprise. I was expecting something a bit silly, especially after the first few pages, but this was probably the most touching book I've read in a while. Sure it is about a time travel machine repairman that gets stuck in a time loop but really it is about re-examining your childhood relationship with your parents through the lense of adulthood and seeing how their failures and successes impacted their lives. I see on Goodreads that opinion on this book is quite split. Ah- those are the best books! Highly recommended. Maybe you'll love it, or maybe hate it. A. 

Sci-Fi Book # 28 The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I didn't really feel like I need to reread The Hunger Games... but it is on the list. For something I read 15 years ago I surprisingly remembered quite a bit of it. And yeah, the plot is pretty good even if maybe a bit derivative. It isn't an all time classic but I can see why it was so popular. A-