The Lost World by Michael Crichton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
“Too much change is as destructive as too little.”
“What really interests me is whether God had any choice in the creation of the world.”
The Lost World is the follow-up book to Jurassic Park. It picks up after the spectacular downfall of the first island where the park was built. We find ourselves with Ian Malcom again and there are weird, mysterious lizard-like creatures that are washing up on the shores of Costa Rica. Where are they coming from? Is there some kind of…Lost World? Using this island to try and discover more about extinction and what causes it drives a lot of people’s decisions. The novel is based on a rescue mission. Several people travel to Site B where the dinosaurs for the original park were created. Obviously, some people die but who will survive? How did the dinosaurs survive? What will happen to the island?
Michael Crichton wrote another great book continuing in the vein of Jurassic Park. I love the science that was brought in and a lot of it was fascinating. The explanation of extinction as a science, the history of species on this planet including the rate of extinction, Red Queen phenomenon, and the information around the “edge of chaos” for complex systems just left me wanting to know more. It is fascinating and I love when books teach me things and introduce new topics. Early on, there was a whole monologue from Malcolm explaining how “human beings never think for themselves, they find it too uncomfortable…we are stubborn, self-destructive conformists.” I love it when books add a different way of looking at humanity and describing some accurate notions that most people don’t ascribe to or even know. It hit the nail on the head that money drives everything now. “People aren’t studying the natural world anymore, they’re mining it. It’s a looter mentality.” The movie had some major differences from the book including Sarah Harding. She was described as young and having black hair in the book. There were characters that were totally not in the movie like Levine, Doc Thorne, and kids. A bunch of characters were eliminated to simplify the movie. Eddie in the book was only like 24 years old and the little speech about the “nerve-conduction velocity” was given to him in the movie. It wasn’t his in the book. The author also gave a much better explanation of Site B than the movie did. It cleared up a lot of things, and it made it all make more sense. I wish it was included in the film. This book had a good antagonist (apart from the dinosaurs) in Levine because he was an ass. He was smart though and had one or two good intentions. He frustrated me and made me want to reach through the book and punch him. I also found the repeating chapter names frustrating. There were lots of words that came up that I took note of. This includes locus, atavistic, diffidence, imperious, friable, sequela, and integumental. This is exactly the type of book to read on the plane or if you loved Jurassic Park. It was a quick read that I was excited to finish. The pacing was good and it was intriguing. Even though it was not as good as the first one, I do recommend this one.
View all my reviews
Tag: fun
European Gay And Learning Love
The Guncle Abroad by Steven Rowley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
“The trouble with children is that they’re not returnable.”
“’The most terrible poverty is loneliness.’”
“Chocolate like this was good for the soul, and the finer things good for the heart.”
“Feelings for adults are like treasures. And by that I mean we should bury them.”
The Guncle Abroad brings back our favorite gay uncle and his family. This time they are in Europe preparing for a wedding. Patrick, Maisie, Grant, and Greg all make a return but all a little bit older. It has been five years since the events of the first book and Patrick is about to be 50. Greg is looking to get remarried. Maisie is a teenager and Grant is becoming his own person. Greg again asks Patrick to take the kids for a bit so they travel around to several countries in Europe before landing at the destination of the wedding in Italy, on the beautiful Lake Como. There are hijinks and fun and learning aplenty. We get to meet some great new characters including a launt! Will the wedding go off without a hitch? Who will learn all about love and family? Will Patrick handle turning 50?
I thought that Steven Rowley wrote another great book but I don’t think it was as good as the first one. I still loved it though! There were returning and new characters but still everyone was fresh, exciting, relatable, and realistic. The first book had grief as the topic that permeated everything whereas this book had love. It was minutely too lovey-dovey but very manageable. No nausea from being too sickly sweet thankfully. The first thing I noticed though was before I even started the book. The jacket summary mentioned the kids being teenagers but Grant was only 11. It also had two minds about whether Patrick was actually 50 or not. But I quickly got back into the swing of things with smiling at the pop culture references, especially ones that I love and identify with. Page 5 had a mention of The First Wives Club and the judgement from the cover quickly turned to excitement about the novel I was about to read. I knew I was in for a treat in all its gay glory. The wit and snark are pure treats. It is just clever and funny. Grant talking about gay men and lesbians marrying because they are both gay. I also learned that the Bellagio in Las Vegas is based on a real location in Italy…on Lake Como! There was a mention of a movie that I loved that I feel that not a lot of people know about and that is RRR. It is so good! There was also this whole part where they went on The Sound of Music tour in Salzburg and I recognized all the details because I did that too! It was an amazing time and I would love to do it again. I could spend weeks in Austria. Reading it was like being back there and it was so vivid. It bears mentioning again but Steven continued making me laugh out loud with the witty, sarcastic, and funny back and forth. There was a joke about fathoms in response to the depth of “Twenty thousand leagues under the sea” and “’By the way, stay away from mimes, they’re all hands.’” In addition to the laughs, there were plenty of thoughts that were thoughtful and life-lessony like “there’s nothing money can buy that beats life’s free joys with the people you care about” and “growing older, as they say, was not for the faint of heart.” The paragraph on page 156 was all about our relationship with our phones and especially as a person who knew life before smartphones, was very relatable. There was a lot of spitting of bon mots. This book had a lot of words that I wrote down because I enjoyed reading, learning, and speaking them out loud. They are marchesa, dyspeptic, panoply, funicular, vivacity, and mellifluous. I also loved how instead of tourists, we were provided with more elevated terminology like itinerants, birds of passage, and bon vivants. I highly recommend reading this too. This is exactly the type of book I recommend if you read the first one or want some gay wit and fabulousness!
View all my reviews
Best Friends Discover Love And Sultry Scenes Of Sex
Him by Sarina Bowen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
“Good thing he’s not a traffic cop, because he’s sending enough mixed signals to cause a ten-car pileup.”
Him is about two friends who meet at hockey camp and become friends. They made a bet on a shootout which caused one to cut the other off for years. Now a chance encounter at the Frozen Four brings them back into each other’s lives. They quickly become friends again and have six weeks to figure out what is going on between them. They are coaching teenagers to improve their hockey skills while navigating their own relationship. One is on his way to Toronto to play in the NHL and one is supposed to be headed for Detroit. This is a fun will they/won’t they book that keeps you enthralled from beginning to end.
I plowed through this book in a single day. I kept wanting to read more and more. There were plenty of hot scenes. It was well written, and this is the second gay romance I have read recently written by two female authors. I don’t know how they do it but they do an excellent job at describing things in a way that makes you feel like you are the one participating. One thing that I found myself doing throughout though, is trying to keep track of which name belonged to which character. I wrote it down but I still found myself flipping back to when the chapter started to remember if it was Wes or Jamie. Wes was the forward and Jamie was the goalie. Wes is gay and Jamie is straight. Wes has tattoos and breaks rules. Jamie has a huge family and loves coaching. The difference between each of their families is vast and it makes you feel for each of them. I loved how the book was written from both viewpoints, and it really helped to build the tension and see it from each perspective. The sex scenes were very sultry and provocative. I found myself frustrated at times with each of them and wanted them to just get over their hangups. I kept putting it down needing to move on to do something else but I found myself reaching for the book again and again so I can see what happens. I bet you could easily finish this in a single day. I cannot wait to read the next one.
Affiliate Link:
https://amzn.to/4lFOuHp
View all my reviews
Royal Reading Revelations And The Jubilation Of The Written Word
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
“’You don’t put your life into your books. You find it there.’”
The Uncommon Reader is a fictitious story about Queen Elizabeth II and her discovery of her love of books and reading. She stumbles across a traveling library because of her dogs and meets a young gentleman, Norman. The Queen ends up taking a liking to this young man and invites him up from the kitchens as one of her aides. He starts off suggesting books for her to read and becomes a person that she discusses books with. Not everyone associated with the royal household is fond of her newfound love of reading. It ends up distracting her from her duties and diminishes the excitement she used to get from them. Now, she is found with a book in her hand always. We follow her through her journey and how her love of reading morphs due to her surroundings and external pressures. We learn a lot about books, reading, and how they can affect things.
Alan Bennett is so clever and witty. This book was funny and very relatable. I laughed out loud especially when Kama Sutra was mentioned. I love reading so much and I found myself nodding along with the nuggets of wisdom that were sprinkled throughout this great piece of work. I love how nonchalantly gay authors and subject matter were just rolled into the conversations with Her Majesty. I do not remember stopping to look up as many words while reading a book as I did with this one. There were so many words that I loved too like Opsimath and Amanuensis. It was so well written and very intelligent. There were lots of mentions of writers and historical notes. The author did bring in some tension and not likeable characters which helped to drive the story and make me care more. I was just thinking let people be and enjoy what they enjoy without hurting others. I wish this in the real world too. Reading and books were talked about beautifully. It was a sort of love letter to the written word. A ton of things that were said I thoroughly enjoyed. “What she was finding also was how one book led to another, doors kept opening wherever she turned and the days weren’t long enough for the reading she wanted to do.” It really speaks to what reading can bring into a person’s life and how they can benefit from it. “Books are not about passing the time. They’re about other lives. Other worlds.” It brings you in contact with things and places and people you might not have otherwise been introduced to. This book took no time at all to read as it was short and perfectly delightful. I highly recommend people who love books and reading pick this up to have a lot of our thoughts about our love of reading reflected back on us in charming ways.
Affiliate Link:
https://amzn.to/4ed0n53
View all my reviews
Clever Codes, Cryptograms, And Creating Close Friends In New Places
Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Book Scavenger is about a girl named Emily and her love of puzzles and books as well as her friend James who loves codes and puzzles. She has recently moved to San Francisco (not ‘Frisco) because her family moves around a lot, practically every year. It is their thing and they have been doing it her whole life. The parents have a whole blog about living in all 50 states. Emily is part of an online book community that is all about leaving clues and finding books. A book finds its way into Emily’s hands and a scavenger/treasure hunt begins. You can find clever code-breaking, close confrontations, and compassionate connections.
What a fun book! I know I am not the intended audience for this book but I enjoyed it so much. Jennifer Chambliss Bertman wrote an engaging and engrossing, wonderful piece of work. I kept on wanting to read to find out what happened next and to find out what was at the end of the path. Surprisingly I liked the main character even if it is a children’s book. She wasn’t too annoying as you could expect from a child. The one thing that made me shake my head was that SHE WRITES IN BOOKS! Unforgiveable. She was young and had a bit of self-centeredness which contributed to the conflict within the story. It made me waver a little bit in liking her but it was only for like a second. Her friend and sidekick James was awesome! He was quirky and smart and a good friend. Also, Steve was just creative and not cheesy at all. I loved that whole idea and how Jennifer interjected Steve into different situations. I was not a fan of Mr. Quisling (I am guessing you pronounce it like Quizling) as he just seemed like an asshat of a teacher. Overall, I would highly recommend this for younger readers and even for adults that love adventure stories with codes. It has a literary element as well bringing in classic authors and a little history.
Affiliate Link:
https://amzn.to/4iPx9tx
View all my reviews
Intrigue, Codes, and Fun at Bletchley!
The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a very fun read! I do start out a little annoyed by one of the characters. I get the typical precocious young person character, but I did find myself saying shut up and listen in my head once or twice. Maybe it is because I am getting older or something. She did grow on me, and I definitely found myself on her side through the remainder of the book though. The mystery of finding out the truth and following clues/riddles is a genre I like. Can I figure it out? Do I want to figure it out? Code breaking and the intelligence aspect is intriguing. It is a quick and enjoyable read. It kept me engaged and I wanted to keep going to find out what happens. I finished it within a day. The bones of the setting and story are based in truth including Bletchley Park and Alan Turing with World War II going on. I love when books do that. They add fictionalized elements to something historical that is interesting already. There were many topics I had to look up and get some more real-life information on including buildings and people. I love learning which is one reason I love to read. The sibling relationship was relatable and believable. There were several supporting characters who I enjoyed such as Colin, the local boy, and his mom. The author created a couple characters to create obstacles and it helped create tension. It is definitely a young reader novel but it is still worth it as an adult. It is easy and entertaining.
Affiliate Link: