#0017A Firefly Lane - Kristen Hannah

Another book from the NYTimes Best Seller List. I try to go between that and by books that someone suggests. This is because I want to get to read things that I would not normally read. I think I should stick to things that I like.

Firefly Lane is about a thirty year long friendship between an over protected shy girl and a beautiful, can't wait to grow up wild child. This book just goes throughout their lives from the 70s to the 2000s. It's really hard trying to explain this book. One of the girls' mom is a druggie and keeps leaving her with her grandma and she's just kind of dumb. Some of the things that she does to her best friend is just awful.

It's good book if you like those "friendship" books. I don't necessarily like them, but it was okay. 3 stars.

#0020K: High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

Let me start by saying that I started this book because I wanted something sort of mindless that could be read in a day. I've had this book for awhile, and felt like I should have read it long ago. Truth be told, I probably shouldn't have read it at all & I certainly hope the movie was better.
Hornby's writing style is... nothing special. Easy enough to read, but easy enough to skim as well. The page layout even left something to be desired. There was a lot of empty space, possibly to make the book seem longer.
The story line was also nothing too great. Typical almost-middle-aged dude in a dead end job trying to make sense of love and previous romances. The only reason I finished this novel was because I was already 200 pages in.
2 stars. And that's being generous.

#0019K: The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

This book has been on my "to read" list for about a year now. It was much funnier than I anticipated and quite a pleasure to read. This was my second novel by Bulgakov, and I must say that his writing style is very easy-going, unlike the density found in most Russian novels.
The premise of The Master and Margarita centers around the devil coming to Moscow and stirring things up with his compatriots, one of which is a black cat named Behemoth. The devil, Woland, turns out to be a world-class prankster and sends many of the characters to the mental institution thanks to his tricks. The Master is a character that is met inside of the institution & Margarita is his former and future lover.
Intertwined in the main story is a story about Pontius Pilate. I can't really say much about that other than it is quite moving and worth the read.
4.33333 stars. I'll need to read this a few times. I have a feeling it will mean more and more each time. Highly recommnded.

#0016A The Chronicles of Shyra: The Stone of Time - Joe Naff

I haven't read a really fantasy book in awhile. I had to get used to different languages and reading about dragons on a normal basis. Not that that's bad at all. You always have to get into a different frame of mind when you read any fantasy or science fiction book.

Shyra is a young princess of Sorenia who on her birthday sets out on a coming of age adventure; which is really riding in a carriage to the next town of Breman. That is not an adventure at all. Little did Shyra know that their vacation...I mean "adventure" gets inturrupted by an army of analets that take her and her best friend Gaiden to Sorenia's enemy castle of Desia. The book follows Shyra and her friends as they are off to find the Desa stone that can control time itself and hopefully bring peace to the world of Darium.

I feel like I'm not explaining this book well. So much happens on each page. The book held my attention well and there is plenty of action in each chapter, but just a little predictable. Maybe I just figure stuff out well. 3.5 stars

#0015A The Savior - Eugene Drucker

Here's another book that Krissy and I have both read. Ditto.
3.5 stars

#0018K: Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card

I'm just going to put this picture up again and not say too much since Alyse just covered this novel. I thought it was interesting to read this in sequence with Ender's game. Ender is still a main character, but it takes place 3,000 later. Through the wonder of space/time travel, Ender is only 35 years old at this point. That's over 20 years worth of character development missing. I appreciate the continuity, though. Ender chaged a lot, but it wasn't outside of the realm of his personality. I was able to fill in the gaps and draw my own conclusions, which probably added to my relationship with this novel. 3.5 stars, I think, is my final verdict.

#0014A Riding Rockets - Mike Mullane

Amazing. Just amazing. This book had me literally out loud and I normally don't when I'm reading a book. I might chuckle, but never laugh out loud.

I said at in my introduction of this blog that I am not really into non-fiction. Guess what this book is? Nonfiction. One of my friends suggested this book awhile back and it seemed interesting enough just by the front cover. Did I mention is was amazing?

Mike Mullane is a retired astronaut. In this book he goes into every detail (it seems) about his twelve years working and flying for NASA. The stories are hilarious and quite shocking. He goes into waiting on his first flight into space, to watching his fellow astronauts/friends die on missions, to more outrageous stories. He talks about everything there is to becoming/being a true astronaut. Some things you really don't want to know about, but it's mostly part of his sense of humor. This book will have you laughing and in tears. I loved it, loved it, loved it.

OMG 5 stars