The Tiger's Wife

Recently, I finished the Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht. The author certainly has a way with words, that I for lack of a better way to say it, consider flowery. At times the stories within the book are addictive and her descriptions keep you coming back to see the end of the piece however at other times the descriptive nature of things were distracting. I found the concept of the Deathless Man interesting, and the mute at her grandfather's village an interesting tale. But overall I felt disappointed at the end of the book. It felt I was being lead on a journey and in the end I wasn't brought anywhere. Overall I do recommend reading the book as it is certainly a nice change from the ordinary however if your looking for a fast paced adventure or an otherworldly mystery you may be a little let down. Just my opinion.

The Lost Throne

I recently finished The Lost Throne by Chris Kuzneski. It was pretty good, in fact I prefer this book to the Paul Christopher Templar series by far. Although I don't believe it's quite up to Steve Berry, in my opinion, it's still a worthwhile read and I am sure to look for more in the Payne and Jones series. Despite the contrived convergence of the characters and events the story kept moving and didn't dwell on needless detail or side story. The main characters were likable and mostly believable. The book inspires more interest in Greek islands, Turkey, and the Orthodox monasteries. Overall I highly recommend it to anyone looking for an enjoyable, historical, fast paced book as a great escape from reality.

A Song of Ice and Fire

I have a 120 mile round trip commute to work most days and some weekends. During the ride I recently completed books 1 - 5 in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series by George R.R. Martin. I downloaded them from Audible.com. I loved every minute and listening made the drive so much better. Roy Dotrice read all but the 4th, "A Feast for Crows" and was simply amazing throughout, not that John Lee's rendition was poor by any means however once you've listened to Mr Dotrice's voice and intonations you do become entranced. There are some unnecessary lengthy descriptions and some over the top sexual content throughout the series but the stories and characters are fantastic and I'm looking forward to the eventual release of the next book, "The Winds of Winter." And yes I realize its been about 7 months since the last post!