by Richard Cummings
Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell is not the typical formulaic novel you’ll find on the bestseller lists these days, but does its uniqueness make it worth your time? Read on to find out.
Why did I choose to read Utopia Avenue in the first place? Well, after just consuming The Other Mrs by Mary Kubica and The Wives by Tarryn Fisher, my diet begged for some variety.
In this review of The Other Mrs. by Mary Kubica, I’ll tell you why this book may leave you feeling either deceived, scared, or intrigued. Or perhaps all three…
I chose to read The Other Mrs because it kept popping up in my Amazon recommendations list. You know the one. Where it says “Customers who read this book also read”. It looks like this:
In this book review of The Wives by Tarryn Fisher, I’ll tell you three things: Why you’ll like it, why it will annoy you, and why it may surprise you.
First, let me confess a disservice I’ve done to Tarryn Fisher, the author of The Wives. I typically do not read books of a similar genre consecutively. I find this unfair to the second undertaking. It’s as if you’ve just scratched an itch that you’ve had for a long time… the second scratch will will never feel as good as the first.
When I saw that Scott Turow had released a new book entitled The Last Trial, I felt like an old friend was coming to town and I looked forward to their arrival with pleasant anticipation.
I’m grateful to Scott Turow every time he writes a book — they arrive too infrequently and pass too quickly.
It all began back in 1987 with Presumed Innocent, a legal thriller with just the right proportion of character development, plot intrigue, and great writing. I was equally absorbed by his follow-up The Burden of Proof and then found myself looking forward to each new release by Scott Turow.
The very reason I chose to read Normal People by Sally Rooney was the ordinary title — definitely not click bait!
Of course, I put more in my decision to read a book than a quick glance at the title but it was initially the title of Sally Rooney’s book — Normal People — that interested me.
I guess I had a contrarian thought after seeing the title: any author that takes such a big risk with an unappealing title must know the inner-beauty of their work.
In this review of Camino Winds by John Grisham, I might tell you what you do not want to hear but I will also tell you something else that you do want to hear – you will enjoy this book!
Often, I tell my readers why I chose a book. A book is always a time commitment and so we want to choose wisely.
No such decision making process is required when a new John Grisham book comes out — I will read it.
I generally avoid series books with a recurring protagonist and, in this review of Due Process by Scott Pratt, we’ll see if this avoidance is justified.
Why do I avoid series books?
I suppose I tend to see series books like endless movie sequels — products of lazy minds who want to earn big money with audience familiarity.
We learn a lot about ourselves from the books we read and the books we choose. In this book review of Oona Out Of Order, we’ll see what revelations await.
I put in a decent amount of time selecting the books I choose to read.
As you may have read in my other book reviews, I commit to finishing every book that I start. Once the first sentence is consumed, I’m in it regardless, much like the youthfully naive bride and groom at the altar.
In this book review of Saint X, I’ll tell you why this is a book that gets better after it begins but won’t leave you disappointed when it ends.
Wait, you ask, does that mean that Saint X has an awesome ending and I won’t be disappointed or does it mean I won’t be disappointed when it ends because I’ll finally be done with it?
Well, just as you won’t win the stuffed animal until you make the basket, you won’t know the answer to that question until you get to the end.
Where the Crawdads Sing has kept its place on the bestseller list for a long time. I didn’t want to read it but it wouldn’t go away. Every week, it’s there again – inescapable.
Why didn’t I want to read it?
As I viewed the Amazon page for the book, I found three compelling reasons to NOT READ Where the Crawdads Sing:
(1) It was a pick of the Reese Witherspoon Hello Sunshine Book Club — what is this? I like Reese, but seriously, does every celebrity have to have a book club?