I’m very behind on my reading list this year. But I managed to get through a few over the summer. A very mixed bag of genres but that’s a good thing. Like what you like, but it’s good to step out of your comfort zone every once in awhile. I certainly did with the first two books on this list. But enough pleasantries, here are some quick reviews of what I read over the summer.
Ghost Fleet – P.W. Singer & August Cole
After reading a couple dramas and a fantasy earlier in the summer I thought it’d be a good idea to get back into my thriller genre. This one was suggested to me awhile back from a friend that’s in the Air Force. I’ll be honest, it wasn’t good. Positioned as the “new” Tom Clancy, Ghost Fleet falls in that category of techno-thriller that feels more like a research paper than a novel. Characters are two dimensional, and the heart of the story felt very shoe-horned in. The writing feels like you’re reading a technical manual, which I know some people like in this genre, but this was too much even for me. The authors clearly love the Navy which is great, and did their homework (looking at their backgrounds it all makes sense), but it was to the point of being distracting. Yes, Clancy can spend chapters on the inner workings of a boat motor, or cleaning a gun, but at least there’s a focused POV. Ghost Fleet bounced around, which is generally fine, but only if you have interesting characters to bounce around to.
The Way Of Kings – Brandon Sanderson
I wouldn’t say fantasy is my top genre but I like to dabble. I’d read the Mistborn series by Sanderson and very much enjoyed it. So I decided to start at the beginning of his massive universe with The Way Of Kings. Overall, I really liked this book and will continue the series, BUT holy shit it took me forever to finish. Characters are intriguing, interesting, and unlike Ghost Fleet, it bounces to them and you have footing with who you’re with. Sanderson also has a great flow to his writing, even though this book took me a long time to finish (to be fair, it’s 1100 pages), I didn’t find myself skimming which I sometimes do if I feel the mid story slog coming on. The idea the focus on this story is small but he still wrote so much is mind blowing to me. It’s just about a bridge crew carrying damn bridges in an epic battle (among other things yes, but that’s the jist of it). I picked up book 2 in the series and will sloooowly pick away at that one. I probably won’t review it until early 2027.
The Monsters Of Templeton – Lauren Groff
Monsters of Templeton is an interesting one. It’s fairly removed from my wheelhouse. But when it comes down to it it’s a mystery about a woman finding who her real father is. It has a literary feel to it. I generally enjoyed the writing and the main character, who was interesting / funny, and her mother. Thought those scenes and banter carried a lot. There’s this background plot about this monster that lived in the town lake that kinda plays a role, it’s a weird sub-plot. My only gripe was the middle became a slog. Found myself skimming a lot while the main character did research on the history of her family. Some sections were tedious to get through and I don’t think added much to the overall mystery. Jumping back to letters written between two characters from the 1800s for multiple chapters felt like a chore to read through. Although, I think the primary demographic for a book like this probably enjoys that. Similar to the primary demographic for a Tom Clancy novel enjoys the research paper level details about how to clean a boat motor. You like what you like, and that’s fine.
This book is soooooo far out of my wheelhouse to read that it’s not even a joke. Long story short, it’s about a woman going through her mid life crisis and sexual freedom (sorta). The writing is great and has an easy flow to it. Think I finished this book in a few days. The main character while, not the greatest person, is very funny and kept me engaged. There are scenes that had me laughing and then had me feeling cringey. Which to me, is great writing if you can evoke those reactions from one chapter to the next, while staying consistent and true to the character. It doesn’t shy away from being graphic in sexual content either. Which has a bit of a shock and awe vibe. I think if you swapped the main character with a male character the reaction to this story would be wildly different. But overall, I enjoyed it. I didn’t quite know what I was getting into but I didn’t hate it. Am I going to read more like this? Eh, hmm, probably not. Unless it comes highly recommended or from a close source, like this one did.
