Book reviews written by raindog517

Cry, the Beloved Country - Alan Paton (Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations)

by

Rated 5 stars

“Beautiful...a moving story. A bold piece of literature considering the era in which it was written. Should be required reading in all schools.”

raindog517 wrote this review 6 days ago. ( reply | permalink )

Any Empire

by Nate Powell

Rated 1 stars

“I...um...I just didn't get it. Nicely drawn, but I really didn't see the point to it”

raindog517 wrote this review Thursday, January 12, 2012. ( reply | permalink )

“Took me 2 months to finish it (a side effect of reading a book with "old" language, having a 14 month old and it being so thick anyway) but I loved every moment of it. As a writer myself, I've tried to channel his brilliance...but fall painfully short. ”

raindog517 wrote this review Monday, January 9, 2012. ( reply | permalink )

Danny, the Champion of the World

by Roald Dahl

Rated 5 stars

“My 9 month old son is named Danny & he's the champion of MY world! I bought him this book and of course, he can't read it yet...BUT I'm hoping that when he is old enough to do so, he'll appreciate the beautiful message in it about the love between a father and son. I know I did”

raindog517 wrote this review Friday, August 19, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

Cocaine's Son: A Memoir

by Dave Itzkoff

Rated 2 stars

“I was disappointed, overall. The book has some great messages at the end about forgiveness and how we have to keep living life as well as letting others live theirs. That being said, it lacked emotion for me. I didn't feel that Mr. Itzkoff delved into the horrors of drug addiction enough to make this a book about his father's problem. Basically, this is a story about a tumultuous father-son relationship and the coke addiction seems a sidebar at best. ”

raindog517 wrote this review Friday, August 5, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

Freedom

by Jonathan Franzen

Rated 3 stars

“I'm listening to the audiobook version right now...so far so good. I have to say, however, I really don't care for the characters all that much. However, I don't think one is necessarily SUPPOSED to like them. I suppose time will tell”

raindog517 wrote this review Monday, July 25, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

What the Night Knows

by Dean Koontz

Rated 3 stars

“What I know about this book is that this is a much better effort than what I've seen in the past few years from Dean Koontz. The last book I'd read by him was Your Heart Belongs to Me: A Novel and it had been nothing but one big Aesop's fable wannabe. Preaching against everything from assisted suicide to smoking pot all the way up to listening to the Grateful Dead.
Mr. Koontz lightens up a bit on the righteousness in this book. In the process, he makes for a despicable villain who is both mentally and physically grotesque. Along the journey are some side characters who are less than reputable and make for good side villains. I like that he delves into the spirit world a bit more and I found this reminiscent of Hideaway.
Now, all that being said...I really feel Mr. Koontz should stay away from children as characters. It seems as if every child in his novels is incredibly genius or highly "precocious" and not to the point of being cute. It's to the point of being obnoxious and I want to reach into the pages and throttle the little tyke!
Regardless, this is a great ghost story and I would recommend it. ”

raindog517 wrote this review Wednesday, May 18, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

Death Troopers

by Joe Schreiber

Rated 3 stars

“I love Star Wars, although I've never really gotten into the whole "expanded universe" aspect. In some ways, I feel like if it's not part of the movies then somehow I'm...well, cheating. If there's no reference to it in the other movies then who is someone else to come in other than Mr. Lucas and decide what happened?
Now, that said, I enjoyed this book quite a bit. Mr. Schrieber darkened the Star Wars universe quite well. Made it bloody, ugly and frightening. Let's not kid ourselves...deep space would be a terrifying place and he certainly capitalizes on that. Lastly, we've all heard the old adage that one can't judge a book by it's cover. Yet, in this case with a severed Stormtrooper head on the cover...judge away! ”

raindog517 wrote this review Monday, March 7, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

Whatever Happened to Janie?

by Caroline B. Cooney

Rated 4 stars

“Ms. Cooney does a fine job of capturing the "What if" of a most unusual scenario; What if a missing child came home? She truly makes the reader ask questions pertaining to what really IS family and where really IS home? In such a scenario, the lines may be more blurred than one thinks! ”

raindog517 wrote this review Friday, January 14, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

The Gift

by Richard Paul Evans

Rated 2 stars

“Syrupy, predictable and too sweet...also, Nathan Hurst comes off as a wuss. I mean, he's stark naked on this woman's massage table and he doesn't try to seal the deal? I know, I know..."I'm missing the point" Still...not how a single guy would act. ”

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