Quick Book Reviews Blog

Joe Hill smashed into the world of literature as a missile would, gaining tremendous amounts of popularity for his rather original horror novel, Heart-Shaped Box . With Horns , Joe Hill returns to us with yet another original premise, though admittedly it is far less dark than the previous one. In any case, Horns tells the story of a young man named Ignatius who, upon waking up after a night of hard drinking, makes a startling realization: rather big horns seem to have grown on his head overnight. At first, they feel like nothing but a burden as their unsightliness doesn’t really do Ignatius any favors.

Those of you who know John Hagee probably either hate him or love him. He is the very opinionated senior pastor of the Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, and recently he has written a book titled Four Blood Moons . Before venturing onwards, I should warn you that the book I am going to discuss is nonfiction and pertains to the reality of those who belong to Christianity .

Cockroaches by Jo Nesbo, despite being published very recently, is advertised as actually being the second novel in the series, speaking in terms of the order in which events occur. I was worried that this sudden jump back in time would work against Nesbo and throw some chaos into his timeline. However, to my surprise and relief this book felt more like an episode isolated from the rest of Nesbo’s adventures, giving this book the ability to stand on its own, even if Harry Hole hadn't become a renowned name in criminal literature.

Throughout human evolution there are few constants to which one can hang on to, but without a doubt one of them is our propensity for war and violence. Though our methods may have changed over time, the need, demand and desire for humans to become warriors remains strong, leading many to take the path of the soldier.

Jo Nesbo’s The Leopard is another novel in the Harry Hole series, this time focusing on our beloved protagonist as he tries to escape the demons from his past by retreating to Hong Kong, otherwise known as “as far away as possible”. However, things don’t go Hole’s way as Oslo is need of him once again; a new and rather deranged psychopath killed two young women, drowning them in their own blood.

It seems to me that these days mystery novels can be generally divided into two categories: the ones which strive to bring back the charm of the older classics, and the ones trying to take things in new directions. Each category certainly has its own merits, and The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag by Alan Bradley fall into the former of the two, in my opinion of course.

There are plenty of books out there which explore what the world would have been like had Hitler been successful in his endeavors during the Second World War . Some of them weave together a narrative in which the world is explored in great detail, while others try to remain as down-to-Earth, factual and logical as possible, clearly describing possible scenarios which could have arose had things been different.

Elmore Leonard is perhaps one of the most widely-recognized authors to specialize in criminal fiction and thrillers. His stories are generally fast, brutal and grizzly, with the ugliness of this world being shown just as it is. With Fire in the Hole Elmore Leonard brings to us nine different stories, each one revolving around lowlifes, a specific crime they commit, and how they try to escape justice, though it should be mentioned they only prevail very rarely.

We read plenty of books throughout our lifetimes, and sadly, most of them end up being forgettable, with only the titles being retained by our minds. However, very rarely, we end up stumbling on a piece of writing that touches us to the very core, challenging our perceptions of the world and making us rethink about what is in front of our very eyes. For me, The Teachings of Don Juan by Carlos Castaneda is such a book.

Though slavery is certainly a part of American history many people would like to forget about, there is no denying that it was there, and pretending the contrary would only lead to the repetition of the same mistakes, no matter how far down the line. The best we can do is explore that period in time and try to understand it as best we can… perhaps that is the reason for the influx of novels which discuss the lives of slaves in large households. The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd is a book along those lines, though there are a few factors which lead me to rank it above most of its peers, but more on that below.

The beginning of the twentieth century was a rather awkward time for the United States of America. It was a period of transition during which many changes and reforms were taking place, re-sculpting the face of the country in the process. Amongst other things, the government enters a legislative stalemate, giant companies are born for the first time from surprising mergers, money becomes much more important in the world of politics, terrorist attacks happen on the streets, and countless other inventions in the realm of technology completely revamp and tremendously accelerate life for the people.

Intelligence is perhaps one of the most important aspects of warfare, whether today or in the past. Yes, having greater numbers, better equipment and superior training can certainly lead one to victory, but knowing what to expect, how to react to it, and how to confuse the enemy is just as important in my eyes. As a matter of fact, it can be argued that much of the Second World War was fought through spies and counter-intelligence officers, with information being one of the, if not the most coveted possession for military leaders.

We often take what we see for granted, in the sense that we feel as if the world in front of our eyes is the ultimate reality, and that it will never change. However, what we forget is that what we see is just our own, personal perception of the world, and it can very well change in the blink of an eye, forcing us to reconstruct or rearrange our personal reality.

Most of you are probably familiar with Greg Gutfeld from his work as the host of Red Eye, a nightly show on Fox News, or through some of his other books, such as The Joy of Hate for instance. In any case I believe it is important to understand the kind of person Greg Gutfeld is before diving into a rather popular book of his, The Bible of Unspeakable Truths .

It seems that the mystery genre has become a bit saturated lately with murder mysteries where the protagonists are either journalists or actually working with the police force… and it makes sense; after all, who better to solve murders than the people who have been trained for it? However, this search for realism has left a void in the world of murder mysteries; there are very little sleuths left out there, and that disappoints me. Sleuths are generally more interesting to see work as they have to rely much more on their own minds and senses and less on technology and laboratories.

The Dreyfus affair is something which shook the foundations of humanity’s notion of justice, demonstrating that even with the most advanced justice system (or so it was believed at the time, at least), humans are open to errors of judgement through illogical discrimination and plain old racism. As a matter of fact, the doings of that affair were stranger than fiction, with Dreyfus being accused of spying and executed, all while the true culprit was still at large. An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris would be best-described as a novelization of the events which took place.

As I already mentioned it before, there were countless stories that took place during the Second World War , so many in fact that it is wishful thinking to believe they will all be unraveled one day. The story of the Monuments Men is one of the most under-discussed ones in my opinion, being virtually forgotten, even by the history buffs. Well, The Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel and Bret Witter brings to us this forgotten timeline of the past, detailing the true story of how regular men risked their lives one day after the next for the sole sake of preserving the world’s greatest art works by preventing them from falling into Nazi hands .

Charles Krauthammer is known by many of you as being one of the most reasonable and intelligent political commentators out there. He never tries to blindly preach his ideals without any support, always seeking to reach the truth, even if it does contradict his beliefs. For more than thirty years the man has provided us with unprecedented insights into various facets of American life, and Things That Matter , a book written by Krauthammer himself, is a compilation of the best ones.

Most of us know Ann Patchett for her greatest masterpiece, Bel Canto (at least according to popular opinion), but the truth is that so far, she had a very long and eventful literary career, and stretching even further, an eventful life in general. Deciding to share at least some of the wonders she experienced during her time on Earth, Patchett decided to write an autobiographical book, and it is titled This is the Story of a Happy Marriage .

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides is best-classified as being an epic family saga, but that wouldn’t exactly do it justice, for it offers a very interesting and perhaps even unique take on the whole thing. What does that mean? Well, for starters, our protagonist and narrator was born as a girl… but then ended up growing into a boy due to a genetic defect covered up as a family secret many years ago.

After the ordeal he endured a while ago, inspector Rebus was allowed back on the force, albeit with a demotion. As he is making his way through a mundane car crash case, news reaches his ears that a case from thirty years ago is being opened once again. What’s worse, Rebus and the men who operated under him at that time are the ones placed under suspicion, as it is believed that they have helped a murderer elude justice for their own, selfish reasons.