Review: Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History

Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History by Erik Larson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There is a reason I studied history in college. I just love a good story and history is filled with them! Scary stories, stories that tell us where we've been and where we could be again if we don't freakin' learn our lessons. This book was amazing. It was the story of one man's complete belief in his way and that his way was right. About another man who wanted to find out more, why, how. About stupid American politicians who didn't want to listen to foreigners because they were right...seriously listen to the people who have been there longer than you....uhg history! It's about learning to not dismiss amateurs cause sometimes they get things right. It's about trusting your gut, listening to your wife, getting away from the freakin' water- omg the water is coming towards you go the other way! It's about learning from your mistakes and trying to figure out what more could be done. It's just a really good book.

Now this is Erik Larson's first book of this kind- where he takes a subject researching all the moving pieces and puts together a story out of it- I believe and so it's not as detailed as some of his later works, but it's still so good! It was fascinating to hear how the weather bureau was founded, about the signal corps, how weather stations were originally set up and where. It was also cool to see how if things had happened just slightly different Galveston would have been "Houston"- if that was the case maybe I'd hate Houston a little less today... I just really enjoyed it. I don't know a lot of weather and meteorology and storms but now I have an interest.

Another thing this book gave me was a new irrational fear to add to my list! Drowning inside my own house! OMG how awful that must have been! Again hopefully I will never live by the sea but if I do if water is slowly coming up to my house over you know a 12 hour period...I would go in the direction AWAY from the water...that makes sense right? Loved this book. I recommend to anyone who list history, to any Texan, for anyone who hates Houston (or Galveston), for anyone who loves Houston (or Galveston) and for anyone who has ever lived by a body of water...yep.

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Review: This is the Story of a Happy Marriage

This is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was about to say this book only made me cry three times but then I read the last page. Goodness this woman is a wonderful writer- storyteller and has had a very interesting life. I've never read any of Ann Patchett's novels and this is a collection of Essays she's written over her time as a writer. They cover everything from school, friendships, marriage(s), nuns and dogs. This book has been on my to read list for two years and I'm glad I read it now instead of when I added it. I don't think I would have seen it the same way.

My favorite essays are "The Sacrament of Divorce", "The Right to Read", "Introduction to The Best American Short Stories of 2006", "The Bookstore Strikes Back", "This is the Story of a Happy Marriage" and "The Mercies". Honorable mention to all the ones about her dogs- omg the tears and the ones about her grandmother. There's a lot of good stuff in here.

Several of her essays address the readers specifically and I loved a quote where she said that once the book is in the readers hand the author should stay out of it cause the relationship is now between the book and the reader not the author and the reader. I agree! I've always felt bad for authors who get pestered about their characters after the book is finished, if they'd had more to say don't you think they would have written more? Tangent.

Anyways I liked this book a lot and would recommend it. I'm not sure if I'll read any of her novels, I'm such a fan of her essays now I want more of those- she talked about how her novels are all made up stuff and her essays were written because she was trying to make a living as a writer so I don't know...

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Review: Wind/Pinball: Two Novels

Wind/Pinball: Two Novels by Haruki Murakami
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So basically Murakami has always been amazing. These were his first two books/novellas really and they were amazing. I loved it! It's like seeing him find his voice and style as a writer. This is the first time these we published in mass in English and I'm so happy to have been able to read them finally! There's also a super cool introduction where Murakami talks about how he initially wrote in Japanese but didn't like it so he then wrote it in English and translated it into Japanese! How cool is that! He said once he did that he liked his writing much more. He started writing after going to a baseball game and just had the thought that one day he'd be a famous writer, so he better start now. At the time he and his wife owned a jazz bar! He's just fascinating I need to read his memoir too, but I just loved these stories and love his writing.

All the usual Murakami themes and motifs are there- music, a story inside a story, women who are smarter than men, men who are absolutely useless and way too old to be going through identity crisis, cats, weird sex dreams, other literary references (quotes, retelling of other's stories, reading at all), minimalist stuff (apartments, design), trains, and food- eating always plays a role. It's just so fun to see these things told over and over again and it never seems repetitive or boring.

This books fits in the larger scheme of his Rat stories. A character without a name but Rat, who effects other's lives without really living his own, or by just being passive in his own. The first book he was just a side character and in the second I'm not even sure who he was. But that doesn't take away from anything.

If you've never read Murakami and are wanting to get into it I still highly suggest Norwegian Wood as your first, but these as a close second because if you don't like this you're probably not going to like where Murakami goes in his late works either. YAY!!!

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Review: Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Most Murakami books I only want to read once, I'd read them again if I could read them for the first time again but I can't. I think this one I could read again. The coming of age story of a 36 year old man. Tsukuru is haunted by the abandonment of his best friends 16 years earlier, his entire adulthood was shaped by the fact that they left him without reason. It wasn't until a girlfriend told him he deserved to know why that he finally decided to get to the root of the problem. The first half of the book focuses on the time right after his friends left him in flash backs between high school, college and present. The second half is his journey to track down his old friends and ask them why. Through the asking of why he learns more about him self and the world than he had in the previous 16 years.

It was really good. It has all of Murakami's regular characters- music, whiskey, fixation on breasts, dreams, and trains. All of Murakmai's books feel very comfortable because you know all those things will be there. Another thing that's always there is the sad and kinda pathetic male character. A male character without any really outstanding characteristics. Plain, boring men. Men with jobs and good lives all around but nothing exceptional about them. Meeting them once you would't remember them- Tsukuru is no exception here. Why did his friends find him such good company? Why does his girlfriend like him so much? He leads such a boring life and has literally NO INTERESTS. Then there are the women in Murakami's stories that are always so damaged- there's always a woman with some sort of mental illness or a woman who has been damaged by men- always. In fact mental illness does seem to always be involved too- depression, suicide.

I loved the book, it was not a feel good book. It wasn't a horribly depressing book either. Also spoiler alert- the ending is very unsatisfying but I don't think there was another way out that would have left me satisfied. Another book that just makes me want to read more. I found this one light enough to where I don't feel like I need 6 months off Murakami like I did with 1Q84 and Wind Up Bird...those took a toll on my mind...

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Mid Year Book Report 2015

I would say my reading dramatically increased the year I got my Nook and Joined Goodreads.

Guess what year I'm talking about...in 2008 I actually ready 15 books but that was also the year I started grad school.  So at the end of 2009 I bought my first of many nooks and joined Goodreads in the Summer of 2010.

But this isn't about my Goodreads love affair which I'm sure I've talked about before...but my book reading this year a little past the half way point. And I will kinda compare it to previous years...

So every year I set a reading challenge. For a few years it was 50+ and I hit it but these last two years I've brought it down a little. Last year just to 30 (which was a very surprising sprint for me at the end I didn't think I'd make it) and this year back up a little to 40.  As you can see I'm behind. Why am I so behind? It's driving me nuts! But I'm in a book rut. I can't find things I want to read. I can't find as many book that I can just read in 2-3 days because they're than enrapturing.  I remember in 2012 and 2013 I would just put books away! I could devour two books a weekend and I just found so much I really wanted to read.  This year that just has not been the case.  I'll start a book get about 50-75 pages into it and just give up, can't finish it, it refuses to hold my attention.  I feel like the few books I have read have taken me very little time because they were fast paced and fairly easy.  So lets break down what I've read so far.

Out of 13 books only two 5 Star books.  BOTH non-fiction. And one I didn't even read I listened to the audio book of. It was an amazing audio book, but an audio book non the less.  Next we have a good number of 4 Star books. We have a leadership book, 4 alien/dystopian/other worldy books, a crime fiction book and then a general fiction.  None of these books were 5 star material but they all were good and I enjoyed them for what they were. Oooh one of those kinda alien books in that group is totally a short story that doesn't belong here but is here because I finished it...ooops. If I hit my goal I'll figure out a way to remove it later. 3 Star books are just average to me, I didn't hate them and I don't regret reading them but they're just like eh they're there.  I have a Liane Moriarty fun not-yo-mama's chick lit style book and then a YouTube personalities book...both were delightful and I think of them both fondly but just 3 stars.  The the last book is a 2 star. I hated this book. I'm upset I wasted a week reading it. Everyone else in the world loves this book but I did not. A Girl on a Train...uhhg.

Three out of these 13 are audio books and that's okay. I like audio books when I drive back and forth to San Antonio and I have done that A LOT this year. I'm surprised there isn't another one in there... oh there is 4 audio books- good job. So that helps, I'll probably knock out another 2-3 books via audio book before the year is through.

Looking at the books like this none of them seem to go together, I don't have a cohesive theme or trend. I don't every year but some years I do- some years I read a lot of Mysteries or a lot of Sci-Fi and some years it's just all over the place. I think if I had one theme that I just was really enjoying at the moment I could read book after book like that but I'm not.  There has actually only been one book that I just had to get back to and needed to know the ending of and I was pretty bummed when it was over.  But I usually look forward to reading and starting new books and this year I'm just blah. I choose to vedge and watch TV or YouTube instead of reading...hopefully it's just a half year funk...and I'll snap out of it soon.

PS Something I'll probably write about a little more at the end of the year is how I remember books a few months after reading them.  I've been looking back on how I rated books last year or the year before and wonder why I gave it such a lot rating when I remember it so fondly and recommend it to everyone! I think sometimes when I review a book immediately after I finish it I'm more critical vs if I let it sit a while and then think back on how the book made me feel.  Anyways more to come on that.

May the Fourth- Star Wars Original Trilogy: Jedi

Last weekend I did this > Star Wars Prequel Trilogy

Monday I did this > Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope Blog Post

Wednesday I did this > Star Wars Original Trilogy: Empire

And tonight- Friday I'm doing this!

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

Released: May 25, 1983
Rated: PG


And we start off with some poor Imperial worker getting the shit scared out of him when Vader comes and tells him the Emperor is coming.
Then R2-D2 and C-3PO go to see Jabba 
Yah you suck at rescuing people Leia....but that's okay.

Luke shows up- full Jedi knight now apparently...delusions of grandeur yada yada yada 
The one guy's sad that he killed his monster creature.
Everyone looks older...
Awww the redesigned Sarlacc creature.... so sad....what was wrong with the gaping hole with teeth?
Does everyone enjoy Lando as much as I do? I hope so
37 minutes in, no clear drinking game identified...
Hey it's the Emperor. Does he has a cane?
And yay Luke keeps his promises! But sad cause Yoda dies...or returns to the force or whatever he said in Episode I...

Everytime someone dies? Lots of people die in this one right?
44 minutes in seriously bored...
Didn't I used to like Return of the Jedi? Okay fine I still like it, but...
Oh good, ghosty force Obi-Wan...let's have a heart to heart
Yah Luke call him on his bullshit
Obi-Wan takes all the credit what about Qui-Gon/Aslan/Zeus/Ra's
Yay Admiral Ackbar!
"Good luck, you're gonna need it" - I say this all the time and no one gets the reference...it makes me so sad. My dad does...
PAUSE... we interrupt this viewing to go Paint with a Twist...
Okay, we're back and Chewie is flying casually...
My dad's dogs are about to make their debut! Shitzu's make adorable rebels!
So Stormtroops can't shoot or fly...so what are they good for again? I feel like they were so much more competent when they were the Jedi's Clone Army...
I mean they did rescue the Jedi forces several times... then the Empire takes them over and the suck, besides their quantity.
Seriously Mark Hamill looks old...
I agree with R2 it is pretty there.
Oooh look it's the Ewoks!

They're just to cute to be anything else. Adorable, I just want to cuddle one! But then I remember they're people in suits...and that's not okay.
Poor Han so worried about Leia...poor Leia so trusting of small woodland animals...
Lol, yes Chewie because something dead in a tree is the perfect thing to mess with!
EWOKS! Lots of them!
I like the pretty grey haired one...
So like all of the Cannibal Scene in the 3rd or 2nd Pirates movie is taken from here right? Which Pirates was that? At World's End? I think so...or Dead Man's Chest...dammit I get those confused.
And they're able to immediately make clothes appropriate for Leia...
Awwww the baby Ewok is adorable.
Shock em R2! Get 'em!
She died when you were born! That's like really very young not just regular young...
Oooh I wonder if in the new trilogy Leia will be a Jedi too! Oooh!
Vader is so totally slacking on the killing...geesh...
Did any other Jedis wear black besides Anakin? I don't remember seeing any of the others besides father and son...
Don't you bring Obi-Wan into this!
Uuhhg still 30 more minutes...I'm over this. I'll finish it in the morning...

Okay last time...
So why does Vader have to pick up the Emperor, why didn't he use the Force or a light saber...
Use the Force Luke your dad is mostly machine and heavy...
Also why does Vader die so easily when everyone else lives forever it seems? Is he dying of a broken heart like his wife?
So how does Luke know that Jedis are burned? Seriously does he just like know Jedi shit and not have to be taught?
Will he teach his sister? I have so many questions!
Also when you kill the Stormtrooper/Clones leader how do they know who to follow?
Also the new clips at the end piss me off still...All of them.
Uuuuhgg.



So these movies are just fun. Good entertainment, okay story, but really fun. I love the cheeseyness of them after being on the shelf for 30ish years so it's just fun. I enjoyed this whole re-wartch from the Prequels to the Original and am looking forward to the December release of the new ones! Although I'm a little disappointed it's not may when the other 6 were all released in May...I think that was cool. Now to get back to studying for my LSAT in less than a month now.

May the Fourth- Star Wars Original Trilogy: Empire

Monday I did this > Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope Blog Post

Now two days later I'm doing this. I can't not finish a project once I start!!!!

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

Released: May 21, 1980
Rated: PG

I've mentioned this before but Star Wars especially Empire Strikes Back always makes me think of Clerks! And the Clerks cartoon- it's Hoth Cold also what about those independent contractors. Anyways like the others I'm going to take this whole blogging thing very seriously and share my thoughts as we go along. Warning I had a long day and my wine glass is very very full, I'm using the medium size glass tonight, I have normal, medium and large (the large holds a full bottle...we're not there yet).  Let's watch!

Scrolling words again...
Oooh look doesn't start with a battle- yay!
Oh wait did they say why we're on Hoth? How they got to Hoth? I should start paying attention

Drinking game? Every time someone references the cold? or Skywalker...hmmmm choices
Yah cause building a tent in that is going to be easy...
Rouge 2 is super excited to claim that he found them
Shoot it! Shoot it!
Maybe I don't really understand military strategy- okay I know I don't understand military strategy- but I feel like this is a bad one- like in the early episodes of Battlestar Galactica when they just kept jumping till the were found- is that what the rebels are doing? Sad.
Why do people keep arguing with Vader? When will they learn?
Why are the explosions green and pink?
Dagobah (yes I looked up how to spell it) is kinda boring... I'm trying to remember the Eddie Izzard Star Wars jokes, they always cracked me the f' up.

The Empire is British and the Rebels are American...Accents are so very special.
Man Luke's little fighter carried so much stuff!
Oh old Yoda- it's so weird seeing him like this right after the prequels.
I happen to like nice men? Keep telling yourself that Leia- Leia lies!
Poor worm doesn't get to eat today.
My cats have abandoned the cause...
Oh no Bobba Fett's voice is different on my DVDs it's one of the dubbed ones- sad day! Empire and Jedi are the most obnoxious of the remastered ones...uuuuhg already dreading seeing Hayden at the end of Jedi NOOOOOO!
Everytime the Force is Strong is mentioned! (Hoth drinking game is no longer working- an hour in clearly)
Is it time to go to Cloud City yet? - also dude why is yoda's mouth like neon green?
YES Vader Death!!!! Everybody drink!
Handstands always help me use the force too. Seriously though Yoda's green is very inconsistent... very distracting it is
Lando!
Also Empire isn't as long as Episode II & III but I feel like it tells more stories without annoying me as much- like this whole Cloud City story is my favorite!
Poor 3PO. Hi Vader.

At least they brought 3PO's parts to Chewie in jail.
Yah Lando we really shouldn't make deals with Vader...never a good idea.
Han you look pretty good for someone who has just been tortured.
Oh good Han is going to share his true feelings with Leia soon.
And douche.
It's nice how carbonite floats so easily through hallways.
Oooh it's a trap another good drinking game!
Oh another Force reference...my wine glass is getting empty
Awww that's nice Boba calls him Captain Solo.
Oh good R2 just do some spins right in the middle of the fire...seriously
Lol, Luke sucks at deflecting flying objects
R2 gets electrocuted a lot, maybe that's why he spins in the face of laser fire...
3PO isn't as punny as he was in Episode III
Father son time! And my favorite Empire meme!!!

I think we'll just end it with that...

I always laugh when Vader sees the Falcon fly away and turns back to see who's to blame. I crack up.

Vader death? We can only assume.

Much fancier artificial hand than his dad got.

The end. Till Friday and I'll watch Jedi. 

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

Released: May 25, 1983
Rated: PG
To be watched...