Review: Living with a SEAL: 31 Days Training with the Toughest Man on the Planet

Living with a SEAL: 31 Days Training with the Toughest Man on the Planet by Jesse Itzler
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I think this whole book could be filed under the "don't try this at home" category. But since it wasn't me doing the suffering, this was kind of entertaining. I have to give him credit for sticking with it and giving himself this challenge in the first place. It's a fast read. Give it a look.

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Review: My Life on the Road

My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Although she's had a profound influence on the lives of modern women, this is my first concentrated exposure to any of Steinem's work. I never read Ms. magazine but about halfway though this book I ended up signing up for their newsletters. I was a little surprised that this book took place so much in the 70's and 80's but really had no good reason for this. It's a story of her life, not her present moments. She has some wonderful stories about the people she's met over the years. The ones I enjoyed the most were not her stories about them but the stories they shared with her. I confess, this book gave me a hankering to hit the road again and learn something about this country I don't already know.

This review is in exchange for a free copy received through GoodReads First Reads.

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Review: Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Star Wars: The Force Awakens by Alan Dean Foster
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Not a whole lot different from the movie, pretty faithful actually. There were a few extra scenes that would be fun to have show up in a director's cut. Doesn't really help too much in the speculation of plot theories for the next two films.

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Review: Fates and Furies

Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

I didn't really get interested in where this story was going until after I started reading part 2. I've heard about this before, how people can spend their whole lives together and never really know each other. It's amazing and rather sad. I hope that if I ever find someone generous enough to put up with me, we would actually know one another.

Interesting read.

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Review: The Program

The Program by Suzanne Young
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I didn't realize I only downloaded a sample of this book so I got cut off at the end of chapter 14. I'll have to finish it when I can get it discounted or from my library.

I finally tracked down a copy at a library and was able to finish this. I have to admit, I found the first part much more interesting than the rest of the book but it's an interesting idea and scarily plausible. I'm on the library waiting list for the next book.

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Review: Ridiculous

Ridiculous by D.L. Carter
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The title pretty much sums it up, in a good way. This was a very fun book to read. If you enjoy Regency period novels with a twist of humor, this is for you. Entirely unbelievable, but fun anyway.

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Review: The Tsar of Love and Techno

The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This has the feel of a collection of short stories, but it is all really very interconnected. I wasn't sure I was going to like a book that has part of its setting during a very depressing period of Russian history but it ended up being very good. Considering the amount of sadness, it was very beautiful. It reminded me of wandering around an old, abandoned building. I have another book of Marra's laying in one of my TBR stacks, I'll definitely have to dig it out and give it a read. He has a really beautiful way of weaving a tale and I can't wait to read more.

This review is in exchange for a free copy from bloggingforbooks.com.

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Review: Infinite Jest

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Well, I certainly feel a sense of accomplishment after reading this one. It had been sitting on my shelf for years, taunting me with its excessive vocabulary. I thought I'd be able to get it done during some extra time off I had after Thanksgiving. I'm not sure if it was naivete or hubris that allowed me to think that would be enough time to get through it all. Normally, I read one or two books a week. It took me over a month to finish this one. Here's what you need to know if you want to tackle this: You're going to want to be in some sort of zen reading mode. There are a lot of characters and the timeline doesn't always progress in the way you might like it to go. It will be very easy to get frustrated and give up if you don't just go with it and let the story carry you along. Back story and plot details will eventually make themselves known, it just might take hundreds of pages. You'll need to be able to concentrate on this, you can't just passively read. There are 100 pages of end notes. Some of these notes are chapters long and have their own footnotes. The sentences can be paragraphs long and the paragraphs can go on for pages. If your attention span is not in the right place, this book will chew you up and spit you out. The last tip I can offer, have a dictionary or dictionary app handy. You'll swear he's making up some of his words but he's not and it is fun to get to know them.

Good luck.

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