Quick Book Reviews Blog

The history of our universe is, relative to us at least, virtually so infinitely long that we could not hope to learn it all in a single lifetime. Thankfully though, us humans aren't the kind to be bogged by such challenges, and we have been trying to retrace the universe's history and understand how humanity has come to where it is today, and how we have come to know all that we have.

The influence H. P. Lovecraft had on the world of literature, art, music and other kinds of media is rather hard to overstate; countless have inspired themselves from his timeless and horrifying works generally centered around unstoppable and indescribable t errors lurking beneath this world , generally leading his characters into madness, leaving them to a fate worse than death. It is rather hard to choose one single work as being the quintessential one which should be read by all, which is why Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories by H.P. Lovecraft was put together.

It is not uncommon for geniuses to be so far ahead of their time that some of their most celebrated works were shunned back in their times. For instance, take the literary classic Ulysses by James Joyce, a real game changer, one of the true pioneers of modernism, helping to bring about a new era in literature.

The experience of immigration is one that is rather hard to convey in its entirety, with all the troubles, thoughts and emotions in brings about; it is one of those things that needs to be lived through personally so as to be absorbed completely. Nevertheless, it would be unrealistic and rather unreasonable to ask everyone to become an immigrant for the mere sake of making them understand; thankfully, numerous authors have taken it upon themselves to translate this experience into words, and that is what Cristina Henriquez did, at least in part, in The Book of Unknown Americans .

Virtually every writer out there is going to have a different story to tell about what got him or her started down the path, and what finally gave them the push to take it to the next level. Admittedly, some of these stories are going to be a bit more banal than others, but there is certainly no shortage of extraordinary ones, such as that of Joanna Rakoff, at least if it was all as detailed in My Salinger Year .

Most of the wars we hear about are either against some kind of concept, such as the war on drugs or the war on terror, or wars which are fought on land, in the sea, and in the air. However, there are more subversive and covert wars happening out there, or at least, that is the premise of The Ascendant , Drew Chapman's debut novel.

Lines of Departure by Marko Kloos is a direct sequel to Terms of Enlistment , though the former can certainly be enjoyed with no knowledge of the latter. Nevertheless, I do recommend reading the books in order. In any case, this time around we follow once again Andrew Grayson as he finds himself assigned to a ship bound to some distant colony, one where humanity's worst nightmare won't ever find them.

An overwhelming majority of people rightfully consider themselves as being peaceful citizens who wouldn't be capable of committing acts of unspeakable terror. There are many who believe that they are incapable of doing such things because their nature simply won't allow them to, no matter what happens.

Detective novels generally follow rather capable protagonists, even if some of them are doomed on occasion or ridden with numerous flaws and such; their minds are, in an overwhelming majority of cases, intact. When a detective story takes a turn like Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey does, things get quite interesting indeed.

Drive by James Sallis was certainly, in my opinion at least, a rather noteworthy novel, which goes double when viewed through the eyes of noir enthusiasts. Though the fate of Driver is forever sealed as the one who goes down in a Tijuana bar at 3 AM, there were still many adventures to be had and trails of corpses to be left between now and then.

Amidst the many questions we ask ourselves when man-made tragedy beseeches us, the following one is often found amongst the forerunners: why has no one stopped it? The human nature can certainly be a curious one, and in Chronicle of a Death Foretold Gabriel Garcia Marquez explores that aspect of it. We follow the journey of a man who returns to his hometown twenty-seven years after the brutal and public murder of Santiago Nassar.

There are two sides, at the very least, to the world of politics. First, there is the one made to be presented to the public, sanitized and crafted to perfection... and then there is the other side, the one where decisions are made, the one where things get seedy and dirty. There are countless stories boiling behind the scenes of politics, far too many for us to ever know about them all. In Blood Feud , Edward Klein delves into perhaps what is one of the more interesting behind-the-scenes stories, that of the rivalry between the Obamas and the Clintons.

Maps have held a rather important place in most of human history, serving as indispensable navigation tools through this vast world, and in some cases, leading to something very specific, something most people hope to be treasure. What many people do not realize is that the maps themselves are often worth a fortune, and are more important than the destinations they allow people to reach. And so, an entire criminal underworld was formed around the idea of stealing rare maps.