Labyrinthia (Ann Birdgnaw)

This book feels much shorter than the previous ones in the series; this one feels like a repeat and rushed. I barely know much about the world or planet, and the ending leaves many questions because it is majorly destructive. At this point, I'd expect that readers must have read the previous books, so seeing more character developments and backgrounds in their real-world would be great, like the previous books, because they are almost non-existent here.

I also expected it to go in a different direction this time, with the reveal of the grandfather, the new knowledge about how the device works, and Mikey's involvement in the situation. There are some great touches for the character's struggle, but otherwise, everything feels almost detached and gone almost as soon as they are introduced.

It has a lot of potential for exciting story development, but once again, the formula repeats. For once, I was hoping that they don't always land in a situation where the kids always manage to save society or do something major that needs a lot of suspension of disbelief, but then again, I grew up reading The Famous Five and others where they always seem to be involved in sticky situations and come out well. It's for fun, and the book has it. As usual, it is entertaining, especially for its intended audience.

3.5 rounded up

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Crete. Wonders of a glorious land: A different Greece travel book

This is certainly a different travel book because it's not the kind of travel book that casual travelers would want to bring along for holidays or casual visits. However, if you are interested in the history of the place, this book is for you.

Sometimes I feel the book is all over the place and wish that it focuses on certain interests instead, it doesn't have to cover everything that ends up with an imbalance of details. Between the historical background of the culture, the architecture, snippets of the present, some mythology, and bits of stories that appear here and there make it confusing for me. Sometimes it feels like an information dump when the history is told at a very fast pace, with a plethora of names and backgrounds; sometimes a certain thing is explained in detail (some delicacy, some fountain). Yet, there are no pictures of them, while I see many pictures explaining one architectural style. Sometimes an important event was mentioned and skipped without details, while others have pages of them. It could be due to the limitation of the sources. All these create a lot of imbalance in my reading experience because there are parts when I stumble to lighter reading that is fitting as a travel book with some interesting details, while other times it's a fast pace history that lumps hundreds of years in a few sentences.

Sometimes the author gives tips about the historical places in current time but imho, there are not enough of them to be a travel book. I respect the passion reflected in the work. Still, personally, I categorize this as more about the historical/cultural background of the place instead of a travel book, but that is me.

I do appreciate the first chapter's introduction. That helps when I read about them later, and it shows what kind of book one should expect. Writing this kind of book and consolidating every piece of information requires a lot of work and research, and the writer has my admiration for that. And Crete sounds like a wonderful place.

4 out of 5

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A Tale of One Weird Glove

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A Tale of One Weird Glove

I want to keep my life in order and start clearing stuff I don't need around the house. My goal is to live with only the things that I need. Things that I have used for the last decade. But as usual, it's hard. Two of the hardest ones for me are books and things with memories, with the honorable mention of 'things I might need.'

I have a drawer full of cables that might be useful one day, clothes for special occasions or days when comfort is not the main objective (which is almost never). I have extensive stationeries since I used to need them for work, boxes full of pieces of fabric, paints, papers, strings, cardboard, and wood for art and craft that look like a collection of junk. I have sports equipment that I no longer use frequently, but I still hope that someday I will get back to that.

I have a cheap construction glove with lumps of hardened white glue that I still keep because it's something meaningful to me. I was one of the early participants of underwater hockey group in my place, and we didn't have proper equipment back then because the sport was so new.

To sum it up briefly, the sport involves chasing a puck with a short wooden stick at the bottom of a swimming pool (ideally 3 m/10ft deep at least). As divers, my spouse and I had all the equipment needed: fins and masks. The organizer provided the puck and sticks; we only needed to pay for our pool tickets. So we were there every Friday evening if my memory is accurate, it was almost twenty years ago, and I'm sure you don't care about this detail, but it was on a weekday after work. 

Divided into two teams, every member had to defend its 'goal box', defined by only some object marking or trying to launch an offensive to score a goal. And, of course, we needed to sink and hold our breath. The black and white teams, each with a few members, would be on different sides of the pool (we took half the pool). We trod water and shouted in primitive excitement, 'White ready!' or 'Black ready!' (terms we still use in our household whenever we are getting ready to go somewhere). The game supervisor would indicate the start, and the frenzy would begin.

We needed to flip, or whatever the best way to reach the middle bottom area where the puck was. It was not easy to dive down with people around you. Fin to head? Check. Fin to face, mask popped off, hand smacked, out of breath, disorientation, fogging mask: check, check, check, check, check, check. I don't follow the sport's progress after our time, but I am sure there are rules and regulations to prevent most of those, or at the very least, excellent skills. We were not that. We were chaotic in piranha style but played for fun and in good faith. Water also slows down movement, so it's not that bad when you are kicked in slow motion. Try that.

Anyway, it was our weekly sport for a time, and this guy, one of the organizers, decided to make something very creative for the regulars. It was intended to protect us from the most frequent altercation: accidental hand smacking since we fought over the control of the puck with very short wooden sticks. It was very thoughtful of him and proved to be useful.

However, the sport grew in popularity, and we began to have too many participants. When we started, it was a sport based on something we enjoy, simple, fun, healthy activity and hang-out without social pressure that fit well for most. We just said hello, played, joked, and goodbye. Unfortunately, it became more like a social gathering with too many people and too little sport, so we stopped going.

So this weird glove, almost unidentifiable by those who don't know, was made with very good intentions, a gift from a kind-hearted acquaintance, for good, simple, fun times in my younger days.

It stays. I am not getting rid of it, not yet. So are hundreds of my books. I will read them all one day. I promise.

Efficient and Divine: Honey Locust (Gene Kendall)

Honey Locust is a sequel to the tale of Mason MacKay. Having read the first book quite recently, the plot flows without any hiccup for me as most details are still fresh in my mind.

I like this book better than the first one, although I still feel indifferent to the main characters. Imho, all the side characters have better developments, while the main character remains almost the same throughout this book. However, all characters are more consistent and feel more personal, well rounded with clear motivations and their own personal struggles.

The story intertwines and is slowly woven together. There are no dull moments, and the will to pick up the book again between reading remains high. Maybe because this is the second book, everything feels familiar since the beginning, or it is well-written and keeps up with the pace and revelation. The subplot and switching between characters' PoV work well and believable. Some are annoying with the purpose of exactly that, so they do the job. I wish to feel more attached to the main characters, but instead, side characters steal the show for me; unfortunately, they only exist as plot devices. Not so much a fan of some references, too, sometimes it disrupt the story, but overall, I enjoy this book. This is the third book I have read from this author, and this is my favorite out of three.

4 out of 5 dry Mormon's birthday party

The Vitruvian Mask (BJ Sikes)

 

I have mixed feelings about this book.

 

 Vitruvian Mask starts strongly, readers are presented with an interesting world where the timeline is set in the past, yet we learn about modern technology exceeding current time. We follow the journey of a heavily pregnant scientist, Adelaide Coumain, in a trying time when science has been outlawed, and she has to endure the man-dominated world without certainty in the future for her and her baby.

 

 We learn about the father of the baby, snippets of her work and how she survives after the collapse of her working world. She is unable to keep her newborn and practice science. She has to resort to lowly work to escape the law and poverty because of the new regime that annihilates everything that resembles science. By everything, I mean everything. Except, cough, a lift in an artist's home, is mentioned clearly in the story as something that can help disabled veterans move between storeys. If running water is considered a sin, lift sounds like something mechanical and doesn't fit as well into the world familiar with prosthetics and weather machines but not architectural advancements. I could be wrong, but it would be good to clear this up as it sticks out.

 

However, while I enjoy the story, the plot gets stagnant and goes almost nowhere for most of the book's middle part. There are repeating scenes that would be powerful to emphasize the story if everything else is on good balance. Imho, there are way too many redundant scenes like her colleague's mocking, her daily activities, her inner repetitive thoughts and questionable judgements, while there are other neglected stories that scream attention. The plot barely moves, and readers are none the wiser about the potentially very interesting world. Besides some brief mentions here and there, I don't know much about this thing she has been fussing about, The Automated Dauphin, of why she thinks it is something great because it's such a drastic concept even in the current world. I don't know much about the real impact out there when everything has turned abruptly to 'natural', and the motivation of the regime (and blind commoners who buy into what it is selling despite their obvious needs) is very questionable at best. And I also know nothing about the other side of the non-science healing properties.

To me, the ending feels unsatisfactory, but maybe I have kept my expectation very high at the start of the story because it has a lot of potential. I guess it could work for now if it's not presented as the unrealistic best resolution for everyone.

As said, the world is interesting, and the story is very well-written. I just wish for a better balance with other interesting ideas and a more realistic build to the ending involving important roles from barely seen characters.

3 out of 5

Efficient and Divine: Almost Heaven (Gene Kendall)

The idea of this book is intriguing. We are following the transformation of the character as his storyline unfolds layer by layer.

I like the fast pace, the willingness to create impacts, and the body counts along the way. The tightly woven of interlocking flows between scenes and characters are established firmly. There are enough revelations and mysteries; it was not a difficult read for me. The author manages to handle some sensitive topics delicately, and personally, I don't mind others that are more jarring.

Spoiler review ahead. This is a totally personal review based on how I felt during the reading experience. 

I wish to feel more connected to the main character. It started really well. I like and understand him up to around one-third of the book, but eventually, I feel detached, and in the end, I feel indifferent to him. That may be the intention; I don't know. There are a couple of factors that don't flow well for me. Again, it is minor and could be unimportant to others, but they stand out for me. I find it difficult to believe that a character like Mason, which I relate to in many ways, would have the kind of job he has, that an organization that capable would take that long to locate him, and the clarity of Lester's motivations. I wish for richer backstories of Mason's "before" to make it a complete circle because the transformations and triggers feel underdeveloped. The story also feels less intimate because I felt like I was reading the characters from afar, not getting into their heads.

The mysteries and the way the plots make readers follow along are great. The deliveries, the punches, and some unpredictability are well-written.

3.5 of 5

Paranormal Noise (Marco Santucci)

 This book is a unique view into the world on the other side.

Not the kind of book I usually pick up; this is the first time, actually. Last and this year, I explored books in genres I would never read before and was pleasantly surprised by many.

I have lived long enough to learn that there are many things out there that we don't know, and open-mindedness is the wisest way to live. I stayed and explored strange places. People I trust, including my Dad, had experienced unexplainable stuff. I like how the author offers his opinions as opinions, and even though there are mentions of religions and beliefs, there is no agenda.  

The book is an easy read, although sometimes I find the usage of 'he said I asked etc' very heavy, but I understand they are needed for the content. It feels honest and genuine as well.

My favourite quote is: The problem is that all the man-made religions that pit one against another, each trying to prove that they are the sole possessors of "the truth" and must be the only ones going to Heaven. In the end, none of those matters. Not all the good works, the millions of Watch Towers distributed, or all the Rosary Beads in the world, and the list goes on.

4.5