Kyle Erickson

This was probably a 4 star book to me, but it gets five stars because of how much I like Holmes and how usually Christian/spiritual stuff grates on me, and Holmes manages to make the religion and spirituality sections feel honest and refreshing, instead of boring and irritating. I think this is a good book for Christians, athiests, or anybody in between, especially if you have an open mind.

In regards to the non-religion stuff, it was still all very good. Pete is funny and likeable, and while I wish he had delved a lot more into his early standup days (especially considering he's doing a show about them), I can understand why he didn't and overall the book satisfies.

I love Friends, and wanted to love this book, but the info about the show was very surface-level. Even so, I was tempted to give this book four stars. But the last two chapters were awful. The writer clearly had an agenda and felt compelled to shoehorn in a “Me Too” segment which added nothing and really came over petty. She also threw some shade at Jerry Seinfield, who she obviously doesn't like, and just had to get some barbs in there. (She says he's said awful things lately about Bill Cosby and autism. If she did the slightest bit of research, she would know that Seinfeld is autistic and that he didn't defend Bill Cosby.)

Criticizing a show that is beloved is fine. I enjoy a long hard look at things we love. But criticizing it for being made in 1994 and not 2018 is very weird.

“I have hated words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.”


I dont have a review. I love this book. I am in tears.

“I am haunted by humans.”

This book is very light and breezy, I finished it in two sittings. I highly recommend the audiobook, because Poehler is fantastic and the guests she brings in help lend more comedy to the readings.

This book was fun, but I guess I was hoping for a little bit more than a surface read. She does offer moments of seriousness when discussing creepy men in the workplace, being taken seriously as an actress, and how much work it takes to become successful, but this is by and large, a comedy book. Which is absolutely fine- it made me laugh out loud several times. I suppose my issue is just that I wanted more of...well, anything. Her personal life is not discussed at all beyond Tina Fey, the milestones of her career are mentioned very briefly- Parks and Rec gets an amusing chapter dedicated to it, and her passion for her work definitely shines through, but I wanted more.

Amy Poehler is great, and if you like her, you should read this book, but it probably won't change your perception of her.

Bonus points for this passage: (paraphrasing) “The Wire is one of the best shows of all time and I've watched every episode at least twice. One year for Christmas, Aziz Ansari gifted me a signed Omar Little poster that said “Amy, you come at the king, you best not miss”; apart from my children and my mom's jewelry, this is the only thing I would grab in the event of a fire.”

I loved this book.

Every single page had something illuminating/funny/thought-provoking/amazing/interesting. An oral history at 320 pages is a good length, however I wished for another 100 pages easily (Abrams had thousands of unused pages).

If you love The Wire, you will love this book. If you liked The Wire, but didn't watch it closely enough/watched it too long ago to understand the subtleties that helped craft it into one of the best (in my personal opinion, THE best) shows of all time, you will like this book. If you never watched The Wire, go watch the goddamn Wire and stop reading this review. If you watched The Wire and didn't like it, we can't be friends.

The book was filled with many great tidbits, but here's a few short quotes that stuck out to me:

David Simon: Sometimes a story needs its vegetables

David Simon: The audience is a child. If you ask the audience what they want, they'll want dessert. They'll say they want ice cream. They'll want cake. You ask them what they want next, they'll want more ice cream, more cake. “You like Omar?” “yeah I love Omar, give me more of Omar.” No, I want to tell you a story, and the characters are going to do what they're supposed to do in the story, and that's the job of the writer. That's the storyteller's job. You don't write for anybody except the story. The moment you start thinking about the audience and the audience's expectarion, you're lost.”

Andre Royo: He really understood that the audience was starting to change and appreciate not being treated like they're stupid. Nothing has to be spelled out. They can stick with a story even though there's forty characters. All of a sudden, The Wire became that show where there's a hierarchy. If you say you like The Wire, that means you like reading books. It means you give a fuck about the human race. It made you feel like you went out and bettered yourself when you say, “My favorite show is The Wire.” All of a sudden, people look at you differently, it became a badge of honour to tell somebody, “Have you heard about The Wire? You got to watch The Wire.”

I have not seen Jenna Fischer in anything, (Scrolling through her IMDB, I have actually seen Hall Pass and That 70s Show, but don't remember her in them)although I started The Office before finishing the book, to see some of her acting in it. I didn't have any sort of attachment with the author and bought this book entirely because I am considering the actor's life.

This book was incredible. So much useful information in an entertaining and accessible way. This book won't make you an actor, but it'll make you understand what you're in for. I even found the quotes from other actors on the side of the pages to be informative and inspirational.

Jenna is also very funny and relatable in this book, and tells you just how hard of a life it is but also why it's worth it for the right people. Every aspiring actor should read this atleast once. I know I'll read it more than that.

I tried for over roughly two weeks to get into this book. It kept frustrating me and I would put it down. It gets one star from me only because I could only make it 73 pages in before I gave up; it is entirely possible It could have gotten better/I could have gotten used to it with more time.

But there's a lot to read, and if something is this hard for me to give a chance, it shouldn't deserve my attention.

The main thing that irritates me about this book, I guess, is that unlike most historical fiction, it doesn't transport you to the place and time it's supposed to. It doesn't FEEL like you're in the mind of an Ancient Greek, it doesn't FEEL like you are in ancient Afghanistan. It feels modern. I think that this is intentional, a theme by the writer to say something akin to “war is the same no matter when it takes place” but for me it falls flat. The nicknames of the soldiers grates on me too- I realize soldiers probably had nicknames, but these ones feel so modern that it is almost as if the author used them so he didn't have to use any Greek names (he uses “Macks” instead of Macedonians as well).

The use of the words “dames” at all, let alone during serious moments, is jarring and takes you out of the time and place. I also don't think some of the cultural aspects of the Afghans that they are describing would have been around yet, I believe he is describing parts of Islam, nearly a thousand years before it crops up.

And there are no historical characters in this, just mentioned. At least so far. That is not inherently a bad thing, but having familiar characters even in supporting roles help put the story in perspective and make it easier to invest.

This might not be a bad book. I'm not sure. But it's not for me.

Okay, this was a re-read in anticipation for the third book being released next month, but I originally read this before I had ever reviewed anything and didn't have anywhere to unload my thoughts.

I found my first time through this book a bit difficult, because I was expecting something different. By the end, I found it one of the most thought-provoking and enjoyable things I'd ever read. And that's a big problem with this book, I think, because this low rating is ludicrous. It's marketed as an Asian Game of Thrones essentially, and it is absolutely not that. Comparing this to Martin is an insult to both Martin and Liu, both fantastic writers interested in telling stories very differently.

My first time, I was pretty new to adult fantasy-only having read A Song of Ice and Fire and American Gods before. And I may have DNF'd this book in the first 150 pages due to expecting it to be like them. Liu introduces a bunch of characters in a very clinical, matter-of-fact way near the beginning and many of them are killed after a chapter or two. I was a novice, and I was frustrated- who are the main characters!? What is this guy doing?! I kept going for one reason, and that was because as a teenager, I had read and loved Romance of the Three Kingdoms a lot. I had read it three times minimum by the time I graduated middle school. I lived and breathed ancient China. And while it is not best for easy marketing, the two books that The Grace of Kings most easily relate to are Romance of the Three Kingdoms and The Illiad. Liu's prose reads like a blend of the epic poetry associated with Homer's tales (and, in an obvious homage, the only bit of “fantasy” in this book is a pantheon of Gods overlooking the characters and intervening on behalf of their favorites) and with the clinical, birds-eye view sweeping history style of ROT3K.

This style won't be for everyone, but Liu's prose is wonderful, gorgeous and thought-provoking, and if you give it a chance to get you into the flow of the story, the payoff is well worth it. The second time through, the main characters were immediately obvious to me- I struggled to understand how I couldn't have known who the focus was on in my naive first time. Kuni Garu and Mata Zyndu are both introduced in the first two chapters and get large expository background setting scenes.

The Grace of Kings is a retelling of the fall of the Qin dynasty and of the Chu-Han contention. Kuni Garu is our Liu Bang, Mata Zyndu is our Xiang Yu, even down to his double pupils, and nearly every military, political, history, or background scene is essentially a recreation of something that happened in history (with some exceptions-I'll get to that in a minute). I could give you a summary of this book and a summary of the fall of Qin, blank out the names and they'd hit all the same major points. I've seen some reviews point this out as a gotcha moment: Liu is just writing out a history book! It's uncreative! Blah blah blah! This is dumb and I can't take you seriously if you think this way. A story is in its telling, and what Liu chooses to focus on, what to change, what to highlight, how to characterize these larger-than-life people (there's a reason it makes for good “fantasy”: These people are so legendary that they feel like fantasy characters), and how he chooses to blend philosophy, politics, idealism, poetry, invention, economics, sexism, and imperialism together into this story is promised to always give you something to think about.

You can tell what he's interested in by the way he writes the military scenes: despite most of this book being about a series of rebellions and wars, there are almost no “fight” scenes. The action is told in a clinical, by-the-books way: “X moved here, and attacked here, Y did so-so maneuver and won.” It is NOT the most interesting way to write war, but what Liu is focusing on are the characters, the ideals behind why these people are choosing which side, how each battle affects the world, political situation, and characters around it. Every line of this book seems riddled with subtext. Having read Liu's short stories, I know that the man thinks through every word and that no sentence is wasted. I particularly loved the two characters Dafiro and Ratho-brothers who occupy a type of Guildenstern and Rosencrantz relationship to the main plot.

I've seen Liu state that he wanted The Grace of Kings to feel like a history of a nation, and it really does, but in the most modern way imaginable. For one thing, the way he involves the female characters should really show historical fiction writers that their excuses run thin. So much historical fiction reduces any and all women as tangential to the male leads, citing that's how it was back then. It does take Liu more than half the novel to work the female characters in (besides Kuni's wife Jia, a standout character), but once he does, they are varied and integral. My favorite secondary character is Gin Mazoti-a gender-swapped Han Xin, one of the greatest Chinese strategists. Mazoti is introduced quite late in the book but has a large presence. This is reminiscent of ROT3k again- that book introduces characters the moment they are needed and never beforehand. Anyway, Liu states his intention was to have GoK feel like a history to a more modern-style in Wall of Storms. Having started WoS already, I can immediately see what he means-his style is very different. This reminds me of the Wheel of Time and how Robert Jordan first did a giant homage to his influences before branching off and doing the stuff he really wanted to get to.

All of my ranting aside, I feel like I barely scratched the surface of what I can talk about with this one. More of you should read it, so I can talk about it. If my giant novel can't convince you, what can?
I'll end with a quote that explains, somewhat, the title of the series, and is also one of my favorite moments:

“You'd compare yourself to a weed?” He asked.
“Not just any weed. A dandelion is a strong but misunderstood flower. It cannot be defeated: just when a gardener thinks he has won and eradicated it from his lawn, a rain would bring the yellow florets right back. Yet it's never arrogant: its color and fragrance never overwhelm those of another. Immensely practical, its leaves are delicious and medicinal, while its roots loosen hand soils, so that it acts as a pioneer for other more delicate flowers. Best of all, it's a flower that lives in the soil but dreams of the skies. When it seeds take to the wind, it will go farther and see more than any pampered rose, tulip, or marigold.”

This book was very breezy to get through and the pictures were amazing! If you've seen My Octopus Teacher or just like ocean stuff, this book is definitely worth it. Craig and Ross's journey into the waters is inspiring, and some of the things they've seen make me jealous I don't live near an ocean.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review!

DNF.

This book reads like those Facebook posts you see from acquaintances that got involved in a pyramid scheme and they have to constantly hype their product but everyone knows its trash. “With AQUALUNG 3000, I can BREATHE through my KNEECAP, which allows me up to 2,000 PERCENT more OXYGEN!!”

I'm sure there are things to be gained from this book....if you read it in 1950.

“When it comes down to it, you only have two choices. Get busy livin, or get busy dying.”

Okay so this is one of my favorite films ever and for some absurd reason, I have never read the original novella. It was fantastic. It's better, I think, after having seen the film, which is rare - but I could imbed so much of Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins' charm, but it doesn't really matter - this novella is just simply excellent. It is now my go to recommendation for people to try King if they don't like horror. Speaking of, any time I read King books like this, it makes me so sad that some people will never try any of his books because they don't like “horror books”. Their loss, though.

“I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, do you?”

This novella is a brilliant coming of age tale. I'm annoyed I waited so long to read it.

This was such an intense memoir. Jesse Thistle had a rough life, and from him to go from where he was to where he is now is astounding. It's a short, easy read that will make you think about the people who slip through the cracks. I do wish that Jesse had been more introspective throughout, though. He got a little introspective at the end, but he spent most of the book being awful to his family, friends, and strangers. While it's obvious he regrets his behavior, he doesn't spend any time dwelling on any of it. I mean, his grandparents shun him and I honestly thought they went above and beyond trying to help him, and Jesse the teenager was being a huge ass to everyone around them, and he never really reconciles with his culpability with this. (I understand his childhood trauma is a BIG reason he was like this. But trauma doesn't give people an out to be consistently awful to the people who love them, and even though he was a teenager, Jesse the author never owns up to his end, either).

His writing style was a little rough, but highly effective. I personally dislike when memoirs do really early child years with very vivid detail, and this one did that too, but it worked better than normal because his childhood was pretty awful, making me think these specific instances were burned into his memory. But other than those early chapters, I thought he was brutally honest and Jesse is incredibly resilient to go through all that he did and decide to turn his life back around and graduate school.

My complaints, though, are nitpicks to an incredible story. Highly recommend.

Easily my favorite of this trilogy.

DNF @28%

This was such a chore. I love Spartacus but the writing style of this book was very tedious - third person present - and it had an insane amount of POVs. At first, I thought it was not repeating any pov characters but then we started getting repeats so we were just left with an absurd amount of POV characters that I couldn't differentiate from each other.

Technically did not read this, because I read it all in Fire and Blood. However, I just went through and looked at all the gorgeous artwork and it absolutely deserves five stars for being beautiful. Looking forward to an abbreviated reread of F&B using this book instead.

This book was awful.

I am a huge Five Finger Death Punch fan, and thought I would love this book. I came away still liking the band, but not liking Jeremy Spencer.

His dad, an actual author, helped him write it and it still comes off as a 14 year old's writing style. I suppose Jeremy wanted to keep the way he actually speaks intact, but it paints him as perpetually immature.
The book is gross; painfully gross, and for the record I have read and liked The Heroin Diaries and Tommyland, both of which are also pretty gross. The narrative is told from two ends- one chapter from his childhood, one chapter as an adult trying to form a band, etc. This is not necessarily a bad choice in general, but was poorly executed. For one, his foray with drugs and girls as a teenager leads directly into extra douchey forays with drugs and girls as a member of FFDP. The result is skin-crawling. I also have a personal preference for stories to be told mostly linearly, so that might have had something to do with it.

Overall, Jeremy comes across as a brat who wanted to write a book about how he's no longer a brat. He pays lip service to how awful he was when he was younger and blames the drugs, but even as a sober author, continuously brags about his sexual conquests in portapottys and closets. “Way cool!”. He berates singer Ivan Moody at any opportunity, then says something nice about him, and then lashes out at him again. The band's current bass player, Chris Kael, who is arguably the most interesting and positive member of the band, is mentioned exactly one time.

The book ends in a weird spot as well, SPOILER

The entire book builds to his crazy drug addiction and then he has an overdose and almost dies. He passes out, and the final chapter is him basically going “Wild, huh?! Oh I didn't die, but I'm still cool! And no more drugs, bye.” End Spoiler

Don't buy this book if you want to read a fascinating memoir. You should only buy this book if you want to hear Jeremy Spencer's self aggrandizing stories. It gets two stars only because I was somewhat interested to hear the origin of the band.

Wow, Stevie Van Zandt has led an interesting life and did a lot of things that I had no idea about! He comes off as a little arrogant and jaded in this, but he also comes across as thoughtful, wistful, and introspective at times. I greatly enjoyed this. The stuff with Bruce Springsteen was VERY superficial, and I get the impression that he has a complicated relationship with Bruce that he doesn't like talking about. Still, the stuff about his solo work, politics, and acting career were varied enough to keep me constantly interested. I wish there was a little bit more Sopranoes stuff, it seems like Stevie wanted to skim past the two things he's most well known for to highlight some other stuff he wishes he got credit for. Like for instance, helping Nelson Mandela get released.....by recording a song? I get what he was going for but maybe his self-importance got in the way here. I do recommend this memoir, though, if you like Van Zandt or like rock/actor memoirs!

Very powerful short story. I don't think I understand all the thematic significance going on here but I was very moved regardless.

This is a unique, beautiful story. I highly recommend giving it a try.

Look, is this series peak literature? Perhaps not.

Does Uhtred son of Uhtred (son of Uhtred) know how to spin a tale that gets me hyped as fuck? Absolutely.

It's been 8 years since I read this book and several years since War Lord came out and I've read anything following Uhtred. This book reminds me why he's one of my favorite characters and why this series gripped me so much.

Also Cornwell writes the best battle scenes. For sure. The end of this book I knew what was going to happen and I still was sitting there like “holy shit”.

Wyrd bið ful aræd!

DNF 20%

This is fucking terrible. It's like the subreddits r/im14andthisisdeep and r/menwritingwomen combined with a letter to Penthouse. Atrocious on every page.

This book is just so fucking good and I feel genuine sadness for the people who don't like it because there aren't any wildfire explosions or surprise beheadings. I admit to the Greyjoys chapters being a bit of a chore this time through, but the rest of the plotlines just absolutely sing out. The end of this book reminds me of just how much is about to pop off in Winds and I'm distraught all over again we still don't have it.

By the way, friendly reminder that the gap since we've last had a Sam chapter turns 18 this year. GIVE US A TASTE, GEORGIE BOY. JUST A TASTE. THE GAP HAS A DRIVER'S LICENCE AND I WANT TO KNOW ABOUT OLDTOWN

Read this book 8 times, did it remain my favorite book?

Yes

Hey, you. Yeah, you. The person reading this. Don't scroll. DON'T SCROLL. Read this.

Take 20 minutes of out of your busy schedule. Wheel of Time and Murakami will still be there later. Just take 20 minutes to appreciate this. And then give it to someone else.

Honestly, not much else to say. The quotes themselves inside the book are pretty “basic” like you'd find all over the internet. But packaged with the art and the writing style, it's simple but very effective. It'll put a smile on your face. I have a dead, shriveled heart, and it put a smile on mine.