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The Unsophisticated Review of Without Fail
Without Fail is the next book in the Jack Reacher sequence. I forget which number we are on now. This time trouble comes and finds Reacher while he is helping out an older pair of musicians. A member of the Secret Service, who happens to be an ex-girlfriend of Reacher’s brother Joe, tracks Reacher down in order to ask him to perform an audit of the Secret Services safety procedures used on the Vice President-elect, to make sure they are as secure as possible. Reacher is pretty certain that there is a hidden reason behind what he’s being told. Sure enough, not all is as it seems and, at first, Reacher is playing an exciting game against an unknown enemy, but then it takes a turn toward the serious, and his gloves come off.
We also get a glimpse into Reacher’s past, his relationship with his brother, and his thoughts about his father. We see that Reacher has deeply hidden feelings about both his father and his brother, and both a deep understanding and total cluelessness about how his brother felt about him.
This story is full of action, hidden agendas, government agencies, conspiracies and every other possible element of Washington DC possible. It is fast-paced and exciting, and I didn’t want to put it down. I didn’t actually put it down unless I was working, come to think about it. I would definitely recommend continuing the series, as I have, and I cannot wait to start the next one.
If you’ve read Without Fail, or any other Jack Reacher book, let me know in the comments. I’d love to see your thoughts this far into the series.
4/16-An Unsophisticated Reading List
I’m pretty excited about my books this week. I’m gonna read 2 Jack Reacher books, Without Fail and Persuasion, H is for Homicide, and Code Girls, a story I have been looking forward to reading for weeks. I had planned on reading Ghostlands, but Code Girls is due back at the library sooner, and I think I should be able to read it pretty quickly.
Also, I’m sorry for not getting this post out on Monday, as usual, but I forgot to set it to post after I left for work…
Are you reading anything interesting or exciting this week?
Happy Caturday!!!
It’s Saturday, which means cat cuddles and reading time at my house. It also means unexpected naps, due to this incredibly cuddly monster…
Yes, that is my head hiding behind Tiny. He is perched on my chest like it’s the best mattress ever. I tried to get a better picture of him for you all, but he seems to have gotten shy all of a sudden…
 But don’t believe that silliness for a second, he is exceptionally outgoing and loves attention from everyone.
Miles on the other hand, loves having his picture taken,
but will hide from all humanity that isn’t mom or dad, so if you were to come over you would probably never see him.
And then Spot, you would almost definitely see him, and see him, and then watch him stay in the same place for the entire time you would be at my house. In fact, I often leave for work in the morning and come home to find him in the exact place I left him. I’m not sure he moves for anything less than the possibility of food.
This is one of his two preferred places right now. He likes either on the couch right where he is in this picture, or in my chair on the fuzzy blanket I have. Sometimes, when he wants the blanket. I get cuddles.
I would love to see your fur (and furless) babies too. Show me in the comments below!
The Unsophisticated Review of Annihilation
This month for my book club we read Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer. Annihilation is a short post-apocalyptic novel set in an unknown part of the world. An all woman team, made up of a biologist, an anthropologist, a psychologist and a surveyor, has been sent to explore Area X. Our narrator, the biologist, starts out more focused on her surroundings than her team, because that is why she is there. The biologist does not really care about the rest of her team mates, at least not compared to exploring new ecosystems. While exploring their surroundings the team comes across a tunnel, or as the biologist prefers to think about it, a tower. this is where things start to go sideways for the team. The biologist notices a sudden change in the way she sees things, but doesn’t tell anyone. Other things start to seem very wrong with the team, and the biologist isn’t sure how much is them and how much is her changing.
This book was… unsatisfying. The majority of it was incredibly interesting, but the end felt like a cop out. I an going to read the rest of the series, because I need closure and I’m hoping I’ll be able to get it by finishing the series.
I’m not sure I would recommend this book yet. I’ll let you know after I finish the series.
The Unsophisticated Review of G is for Gumshoe
In G is for Gumshoe, by Sue Grafton, my hero, Kinsey Millhone, (seriously, she is, like, the coolest ever!)Â is the target of a hit, because of a simple missing person’s case she had taken on earlier in the year. She didn’t want to take the threat seriously, but then one of the other people involved in the case was killed, and while she was investigating a possible missing person case out of state someone shoots out her tire and then rams her car.
Yeah, that’s right. This book is a two-for, jam-packed with excitement, death threats, and hospital visits. The second case is a case of a missing elderly mother, a case easily solved at first, but then becomes much more complicated as Kinsey is around her client more and more. A case of a missing, then not missing, person becomes a missing person again, because, well just wait until you meet her. Kinsey also plays matchmaker and has a match set up for her too. I’m telling you, Grafton threw everything but the kitchen sink into this story and made it work!
This is a must-read. I know I say that every time I read, but the Alphabet Mysteries get better with every book. Kinsey is literally my hero. She is brave, even when she is wet herself scared, strong, and so very confident. She and I are of an age, and, honestly, I’m jealous of her confidence and skills, and that she is doing what she wants to be doing, and making money doing it. So, seriously, go read this book. Read it now.
And, if you want to know why I am reading my way through Sue Grafton’s Alphabet you can find out more here and if you want to start at the beginning check out this post.
The Unsophisticated Review of Running The Books
Running the Books, by Avi Steinberg, is a fascinating look into a part of the prison system rarely looked at: the library. In the library Avi worked with a wide range of convicts, from pimps to murderers, and he discovered things about them and about himself.
Avi began life as an Orthodox Jew, but left the religion during college. When we first meet Avi, he saw himself as a failure within his community, because he had both left the faith and grossly underachieved as an adult. Avi was a journalist of sorts, writing obituaries for the New York Times, and he liked it mostly. However, after a run in with some of the people he grew up with, he felt that something was missing in his life, so he became a prison librarian, and his life changed forever.
Avi experienced things no normal librarian sees. He helps a pimp study to become a chef, and another write his memoirs. He essentially becomes a counsellor to his prisoners, and we get to watch these relationships develop.
I really enjoyed this book, even though it took me a whole week to read for some reason. Watching Avi come into his own as both a librarian and as a member of this strange prison society he has found himself in was amazing. Learning how the prison library system works was also fascinating, as I love all things book and book related (with the occasional exception of movies based on books). I definitely recommend giving this book a read, even if non-fiction isn’t usually your thing.
4/9- An Unsophisticated Reading List:Last week take 2
So, for some reason, Running the Books took a week to read. I was able to finish it over the weekend, and I’ll get you all the review tomorrow. This week I’m going to finish the rest of last week’s plan, plus my book club’s scheduled book, once it arrives in the mail. Finding the original edit of Annihilation, by Jeff VanderMeer, was surprisingly difficult. Also, Without Fail has gone temporarily missing, so it may not be my next book, as it usually would, but I will find it.
Are you all reading anything amazing this week?
UPDATE!!!!!
I finally found Without Fail. Where? you might ask… I found it in my car, against the front passenger door. It tried to jump for a puddle when I opened the door to put my groceries in the car… But it is safe and sound, see:
Also, Annihilation finally showed up. I will start it after I finish G, so I can for sure have it done before Friday’s meeting. I’m still sad that I couldn’t locate a copy at one of my bookstores, but no one had the right edition…
4/2 An Unsophisticated Reading List
This week I will be reading G is for Gumshoe, Ghostland, and the unpictured Without Fail. I will also be finishing Running the Books, which, so far, is really good.
Also, be prepared for more cat pictures and maybe puppy pictures as well. My brother-in-law got a tiny puppy and I may have to inflict her on you all.
Good luck this Monday!
Happy Caturday!
It’s Caturday, everyone! I’m happy/jealous if you are off. I’m slaving away at my day job today (Gotta pay the bills somehow.), but I thought the world should see how my boys took care of me this week, while I was under the weather, so here you go!
Not pictured: Spot. He couldn’t care less that Mom felt like death. All he knew was that dinner was late, and this is unforgivable.
The Unsophisticated Bibliophile 