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January 4, 1993January 28, 2017 One Man Book Club

The Talisman by Stephen King

5 out of 5 stars

This was my first Stephen King book. I remember it being weird. I also remember it being good.

That pretty much sums up most of what Stephen King has written.

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Dan Grover is the book-loving dad of six reluctant readers and the founder of One Man Book Club, a place for fellow parents and other content-conscious readers to find books they (and their kids!) will love.

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Happy Friday Book Club! It's #worldreadaloudday today! Did you know that 66% of kids ages 6-11 say that reading together is fun? I think the other 34% just haven't read a story with me! What are you reading to your kiddos this weekend?

#TheHodKing (#TheBooksofBabel, #3) By: #JosiahBancroft My Rating: FIVE out of FIVE stars! Once could be an accident. Twice could be luck. Three times means it's the real deal. Book 1, Senlin Ascends, was an indie darling that spread by word-of-mouth like wildfire. It was eventually picked up by Orbit and found it's way to the masses. Book 2, the Arm of the Sphinx, continued and improved the story. Book 3, The Hod King, sealed it. The Books of Babel are the real deal! If you're late to this party, there's still time. It's a planned four-book series, and book four has yet to be published. (Fingers crossed for a 2020 release!) You're going to love this series. It might be the most original thing I've read since Bilbo found that ring. In this world, the Towel of Babel isn't just Biblical...it the cultural, financial, and thought center of the world. To most, the Tower and its fabled wonders, riches, and treasures are a mystery; a wonder of the world that inspires imagination in children and passion in adults. How tall is it really? No one knows. Want to visit? Take your life savings and make the trip. What to do when you get there? Don't worry, the travel guide books will tell you everything you need to know. Maybe go for your honeymoon? Dull and stiff, boring and proper, small town and naive school master Thomas Senlin decided to do exactly that. Of course, this is the Tower of Babel we're talking about. Minutes off the train, Senlin and his newlywed bride are separated in a mass of humanity. Poor Senlin learns quickly the Tower is nothing like he imagined as he ascends in search of his lost beloved. Surprise: the Tower of Babel, wonder of the world, isn't the center of all things glorious...it's the center of all things wrong with humanity. How broken do you have to be before you can rise? Senlin's about to find out. Review continues in the comments below 👇🏼 #onemanbookclub #bookstagram #readersofinstagram #dadswhoread @booksofbabel

#Beartown (Book #1) #UsAgainstYou (Book #2) By: #FredrikBackman Translated By: #NeilSmith My Rating: Four out of Five Stars Spoiler alert. Beartown and Us Against You are not about hockey. It's about teenagers growing up the hard way. It's about their parents who are trying their best but still feel inadequate. It's about how cruel people can be. It's about how resilient we are. I've got to be honest. I didn't expect what I got with Beartown and Us Against You. I was expecting a story about a small-town hockey team and the distractions that happen on their way to beating their Goliath. Actually...that is exactly what this story is about. It's just their Goliaths are different than what I thought they would be. Beartown and Us Against You are not about hockey. Both books are tremendously well written. Like, out-of-my-mind good. I don't know whether to congratulate the author or the translator. Both, I guess. There are many characters with an equal number of points of view, and it adds to the story instead of bogs it down like you might expect with a less talented author. They're endlessly quotable, too. Try these on: "Being a parent makes you feel like a blanket that's always too small. Not matter how hard you try to cover everyone, there's always someone who's freezing." (Beartown) "What does it take to be a good parent? Not much. Just everything. Absolutely everything." (Us Against You) So, ya. Well written is an understatement. These are up there with Markus Zusak, for sure. [Heads up, I'm going spoil the middle of Beartown. Not the end of either book. Just the middle of Beartown. I'm going to reveal two key plot elements that blindsided me and impacted my feelings about the story. These plot elements are also important for anyone interested in the content advisary of Beartown and Us Against You. Stop here if want to stay surprised. You have been warned.] These are both powerful stories, but they are also both so, so hard to read. Getting through Beartown nearly broke this dad-of-daughters heart in two. No, that's wrong. It did break my heart. Review continues in the comments below 👇🏼 #onemanbookclub #bookstagram #readersofinstagram

#Dragonflight (Dragonriders of #Pern, #1) By: #AnneMcCaffrey My Rating: Four out of Five Stars I was feeling sentimental, so I thought some classic 60's fantasy about dragons would be just the thing to scratch that itch. My itch was scratched. The story was cool. Humans have colonized a distant planet, where too late they discovered every 200 years a passing star would cause "thread" to rain down for 50 years, destroying vegetation and causing the planet to become unsuitable for humans. The over time, the humans develop dragons that can destroy the Thread as it falls, thus protecting the planet. The dragons and their riders become heroes. Unfortunately, due to the 2 century gap between passes, the people forget the value of the dragon riders. When the red start moves closer, it takes those few who remain faithful to the old beliefs to restore the people's faith in dragons and their riders. The story was full of 60's sexism, and I didn't love that. I'm always on the lookout for great fantasy with strong female characters I can share with my favorite young female readers, so I was happy to see this story had a female lead AND had a female author. The female lead is strong and does save the day in the end, but the sexism is so thick it's hard to focus on anything but that. This book feels more like an example of outdated cultural norms instead of the example of a strong female lead I was hoping for. But at least there were dragons! No language. No violence. Sexism aplenty. Sexual situations. 14 and up. Happy Reading! #onemanbookclub #bookstagram #readersofinstagram #dadswhoread

#AllSystemsRed (The #Murderbot Diaries, #1) #ArtificialCondition (#TheMurderbotDiaries, #2) #RogueProtocol (The Murderbot Diaries, #3) #ExitStrategy (The Murderbot Diaries, #4) By: Martha Wells My Rating: FIVE out of FIVE Stars I love big stories pack into little pages. A conflicted AI with a past so tragic he calls himself Murderbot...but that's private. As long as no one discovers he's hacked his governor module, he can pretend he's just doing his job as security for some boring scientists collecting samples on a boring planet and watch endless TV shows when no one is looking. But what will happen when the humans learn his secret? This story was a lot of fun. Scyfy. Mystery. Sabotage. Reluctant heroes. Alien planet. Robots. Feelings? How does great Scyfy packed into books that can each be read in a day sound? Ya--you're going to want to check this one out. Hmmm... Murderbot has inspired me. How about a poem? Ode to Murderbot Murderbot, Murderbot! Fierce friend, Fierce foe, How do I love thee? You must read on to know. Murderbot, Murderbot! You are a machine designed to kill, But you hacked your own governor module. Are you deadly still? Murderbot, Murderbot! Yes, you remain lethal, now that you've gone rogue. Now? Now you make your own choice. And what do you do? You want to be alone, hiding from your feelings, viewing TV shows no longer vogue. Murderbot, Murderbot! If you only understood--people will relate to you! It is true! You are a killing machine with social anxiety and a conscience. What to do, what do to? Murderbot, Murderbot! Yes, the choice is hard, but you're a survivor! Discover who you are! Learn your place! Believe in yourself! You are a bad-guy-butt-kicking robot Macgyver! Murderbot, Murderbot! You think you're just Murderbot, you don't even expect a "hello," but the lesson, the one lesson to learn is this: You're more human than than most humans I know. Review continues in comments below 👇🏼 #onemanbookclub #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #dadswhoread

#TheBlindAssassin By: #MargaretAtwood My Rating: Three stars out of five [Cue the music] This is the book that ne-ver ends! Yes, it goes on and on my friends. Some people started reading it, not knowing what it was, And they'll continue reading it forever just because This is the book that ne-ver ends... [Go ahead and sing that a few times just for me. End music] My senior was assigned this one for AP Lit. I gamely joined as a buddy read as I usually do, and yikes! This book was hard to get through. Margaret Atwood is a magnificent writer, to be sure. Her prose is beautiful. Her descriptions are perfect. Her characters are layered in just the right ways. There was a lot to love in The Blind Assassin. It's a long burning mystery, for one. There are clues revealed along the way, but you don't discover the whole story until you arrive--eventually--at the end. There's a story within a story, and that adds an interesting twist. But, dang! There is detail overload here. Hundreds and hundreds of pages of details. Hidden in the details are important bits and clues, but sadly my brain was too numb to catch many of the nuances I'm certain were there. It's a sad story, too. Expect an ending, just don't expect it to be happy. There's some language, there's some sex, and there're are adult situations. Child abuse is a theme. Lots for me and my senior to talk about. She's bored with the book and just wants to know the big reveal at the end. If you're a fan of Margaret Atwood and appreciate a very slow-burn mystery with a depressing ending, you'll probably love this book. I just wanted it to be over. Happy reading! #onemanbookclub #bookstagram #readersofinstagram #dadswhoread

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