Book Reviews

Drop the Phone, Read a Book

Book	Comments	Date Read	Rating
The Alchemist Paulo Coelho	---------------------- Favorite quote:	Dec. 4, 2022 - Dec. 18, 2022	★★★★★
Rest You Merry [Peter Shandy #1] Charlotte MacLeod	---------------------- Favorite quote:	Feb. 1, 2025 - Feb. 12, 2025	★★★★★
The Luck Runs Out [Peter Shandy #2] Charlotte MacLeod	---------------------- Favorite quote:	Feb., 2025 - May, 2025	★★★☆☆
Stranger in a Strange Land Robert A. Heinlein	The first 2/3 is really great, and then it loses it when it gets into the sex cult stuff. ---------------------- Favorite quote:	Oct. 21, 2026 - Aug. 7, 2025	★★★☆☆
Red Sands Paul B. Thompson & Tonya R. Carter	---------------------- Favorite quote:	??? - Apr., 2026	★★★★☆
How to Do Nothing Jenny Odell	---------------------- Favorite quote:	??? - May, 2026	★★½☆☆
The Four Agreements Miguel Ruiz	---------------------- Favorite quote:	Feb. 16, 2026 - Jun. 26, 2026	★★★★☆
World War Z Max Brooks	This is the book that got me back into reading. It's written in such an interesting and unique way that grabs your attention and won't let go. The flow of the book is really well done as he introduces a topic in one interview that gives information jussssttt slightly needed for the next one, despite being seemingly completely unrelated. The level of technical details are insanely impressive and really makes you feel like you're reading a non-fiction story about a zombie war. He clearly spent a lot of time fully fleshing out this world and the logistics of EVERYTHING in his mind. It covers daily life, combat, food, animals, military, mental health, entertainment, and everything in between. ---------------------- Favorite quote:	May 2, 2026 - Jul. 9, 2026	★★★★★
The Martian Chronicles Ray Bradbury	The reason I even heard about Ray Bradbury was because of video about hidden Fallout 3 lore which talks about a short story they referenced/easter-egged into the game called “There Will Come Soft Rains”. It sounded interesting, so I looked up what book it's in and all I got back was a collection of 100 of his short stories. Ever since then, I've just been buying any books he's written since he seemed like a cool author, and I stumbled upon Martian Chronicles, The Painted Man, and most recently Something Wicked This Way Comes. I decided to start with Martian Chronicles. THE REVIEW This book is truly incredible. It takes a bit of getting used to at the beginning. Kind of boring honestly but you grow to like it quickly, as it ramps up in intrigue. Every chapter is a whole different story, while interconnecting at parts. The book is entertaining but also amazingly philosophical. It makes you think about religion, life, capitalism, the senselessness of war, right vs wrong, and everything in between. He describes how time sounds, smells, and looks. He talks about two friends meeting across time. Most people tell a story, but Bradbury tells a story and then shows what happens after the story, what happens before, and the small, seemingly unimportant things that happen during it. He references past characters without explicitly telling you - you have to just remember the (generic) names and characteristics. Finishing this book felt like coming off a shroom trip. I feel like a genuinely changed person. God. What a wonderful and beautiful and wonderful book. I choose the Martian chronicles as my first Bradbury book simply because it was the first one I found, and as I reach the penultimate chapter, the title seems a bit familiar to me... but I'm not sure why. I see it has the asterisk indicating a copyrighted work, so I'm guessing it's just referencing some old work I've heard before. I start reading and notice similarities, and then it hits me. This is the story that made me get into him in the first place (mentioned in the intro)! Crazy, crazy coincidence. I know it seems mundane but that was so wild to me. The first book I find and read by him happens to be the one that inspired me to get into him unknowingly. After reading about the Nuclear war and how earth was destroyed it probably should've clued me off but it didn't. Either way, I was hyped. ---------------------- Favorite quote: blah blah Pg. XX	Jul. 10, 2026 - Jul. 19, 2026	★★★★★
Before the Coffee Gets Cold Before the Coffee Gets Cold Toshikazu Kawaguchi	This book was okay... The good parts - The story was interesting, and I did grow attached to the characters. I enjoyed their stories and how they all changed turns being the focus of the story. I even did tear up at the Alzheimer's part, which is rare for me from a book. I also liked the tidbit about the daughter coming back in time to take a picture with her mother before you even found out what happened. Now the bad parts - It might be a translation issue, but it sort of felt like it was written by a middle schooler. The grammar was very simple and the sentence structure seemed a bit unnatural. It also repeats itself A LOT and restates information that doesn't need restating, such as the rules. The characters were lovable but kind of boring and lacked any depth. Everyone is perfect and attractive and kind and caring. And even Hirai's imperfection is just to push the story forward and make you feel more emotional when her sister suddenly dies. I know I'm being nitpicky now, but even the point where Kei looks like the blood drained from her face, it then says “seeing her this way made the blood from Nagares face drain too.” (224) And then like 5 pages later, Kohtake's blood drains from her face because "she's never seen Kei look like this" (229). Like come on bro, use a different way to show that someone's shocked. I'm not sure if it's because I was jaded by this point, but the last chapter felt forced. By then I was burnt out of the sad emotions, and it felt like the book was trying to make you sad to hide its lack of everything else. The whole part about the school girl appearing in the café kind of spoiled the ending too, because it was so clearly Kei and Nagare's daughter that it ruined the fear and anticipation to see if her child lived during their chapter. And finally the logistics of the time travel don't really make sense. Sometimes people come from the past and appear in their world, but when they go to the past, shouldn't they already know that that was going to happen then? Or even Hirai going back to see her sister. She was simultaneously behind the counter, but also at the table. That doesn't make sense. Are there different dimensions or timelines? ---------------------- Favorite quote: blah blah Pg. XX	Jul. 21, 2026 - Jul. 27, 2026	★★☆☆☆
The Lucky Ride Yasushi Kitagawa	My girlfriend got me this book for Christmas and introduced it as “a fictional self help book”, and after reading it, I see what she means. The main character is a dreadful, annoying, miserable person who I couldn't stand... but following him on his journey really does show you that it's best to stay positive and change your outlook on life. The only negative is that it definitely does read like a Japanese book - overexplains things and describes things very bluntly. I wasn't a fan of the “living in a way where you save more luck than you use” talk, since it was saying how “luck” was just staying positive and open to good opportunities in the first place, and you can't really choose how to "spend" it. I really did like the ending though, and I want some closure on how Wakiya knew about the Soba shop… the epilogue was also very nice. Definitely a book that I plan to read again as time passes. Random fact: I read this while playing old school RuneScape and read while my inventory filled with fish. I finished it in less 48 hours. Great method. ---------------------- Favorite quote: blah blah Pg. XX	Jul. 29, 2026 - Jul. 31, 2026	★★★★☆
The Replacement Brenna Yovanoff	Very good book. Good gothic creepy vibes. A perfect read for around Halloween time. The story was very engaging and well-written, and I really enjoyed the world building - so much so that I actually wished it was a bit longer so we could learn more about characters like The Morrigan and the zombie girls. I wanted a bit of their backstory and how they came to be this way. Really my only gripe is that the ending felt half-assed and rushed. The good guys have insane plot armor and make a bunch of dumb decisions but always make it out fine. Tate - a 16 year old girl - takes out a beast hellbent on torture and suffering literally named "The Cutter" by whacking him a few times and only got a cut on her shoulder. Mackie then kills the big baddie by just stabbing her in her shoulder one time. And yet these were the people supposedly running this town for centuries. ---------------------- Favorite quote: blah blah Pg. XX	Aug. 8, 2026 - Aug. 13, 2026	★★★★☆

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