Books 16-18 plus Two More

I am continuing to read books from my list, but my latest cruise with my brother slowed me down a bit. I did complete books 16-18 but I am having trouble finding at the local libraries #19 & #20. Some shuffling of the list may occur... 

Here are my short reviews of the last five books I have read...

#16 Cloud Atlas

This is the third novel written by British author by David Mitchell. I added it to the list because I had seen the movie starring among others, Tom Hanks and Halle Berry.  The fantastical speculative fiction book consists of six interconnected nested stories that take the reader from the remote South Pacific in the nineteenth century to the island of Hawai'i in a distant post-apocalyptic future. The author has said that the book is about reincarnation and the universality of human nature, and the title references a changing landscape ('cloud') over manifestations of fixed human nature (the 'atlas'). 

I liked the book very much and give it a 3.0 (Great). There are many connections made throughout the nested stories and time, and has a  roughly similar structure to Frankenstein. The movie was strange and I did not catch all the nuisances, so I figured reading would help. Let me just say, the movie's script followed the book really well, and I still had confusion, but enjoyed being in that state.

The movie had certain actors playing a character in all six times including Hanks and Berry. The list of time and places include:

• 1849 - South Pacific
• 1936 - Cambridge/Edinburgh
• 1973 - San Francisco
• 2012 - London
• 2144 - Neo Seoul
• 2321 - Big Isle, 106 winters after The Fall

I would recommend Cloud Atlas...

#17 The Secret History

The Secret History is the first novel by Donna Tartt, published in 1992. It is set in New England and tells the story of a closely knit group of six classics students at Hampden College, a small, elite Vermont college based upon Bennington College, where Tartt was a student between 1982 and 1986.

The Secret History is an inverted detective story narrated by one of the students, Richard Papen, who reflects years later on the situation that led to a murder—this having been confessed to at the outset, but with all other events being revealed sequentially.

I was upset that I knew who the killers were from the start but she writes the book in such a way that it really does not matter. I ended up liking the book and I give it a 3.5 (Great to Excellent). Any book that takes place in Vermont must be good (and that is quite the connection to my life)

If you like this kind of story, I recommend you to try it

#18 The Count of Monte Cristo

The Count of Monte Cristo (French: Le Comte de Monte-Cristo) is an adventure novel by French author Alexandre Dumas (père) completed in 1844. It is one of the author's more popular works, along with The Three Musketeers. 

Of course, whenever I heard about this book my connection was the sandwich at Bennigans. I never realized it was such a great book. Of course, getting revenge is not always the best solution, but man, the Count really screws with people's lives to get back for his wrongs.

The reader is left with a final thought: "all human wisdom is contained in these two words, 'Wait and Hope'".

I give the book a 5.0 (Must Read)

Extra #1 Stiff

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers is a 2003 non-fiction work by Mary Roach. It details the unique scientific contributions of the deceased.

In the book, Roach gives firsthand accounts of cadavers, a history of the use of cadavers, and an exploration of the surrounding ethical/moral issues. She places each chapter's content into a historical context by discussing the history of the method of using a cadaver she is about to witness.

I will admit, she has a pretty good sense of humor and writes it well. Kind of a gruesome topic but she makes it readable. My connection is with the author, she was born in New Hampshire. I knew that was some kind of sick New England humor.

"You can't get there from here."

I give the book 3.5 and recommend it to my friends who get this kind of humor. Plus, she does discuss a lot of things that you could do with your body after you die.

Extra #2 Grunt

Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War, is a non-fiction work by Mary Roach, released in June 2016.   It covers the subject of scientific research for the military and some of the less well-known aspects of the lives of soldiers. Instead of focusing on the science that can kill (guns, bombs, drones), Roach focuses on the science of saving lives and improving the quality of a soldier's life.

I only read it because I liked the previous book (Stiff) so much. This is a good read but not quite as good as the first one. There is a lot of good information. I worked 34 years as a government contractor, specifically the Air Force. That is my connection to this book.

I give the book a 2.5 and recommend it if you know people in the military.