book blog – Page 2 – A Book & A Beer

Top 5 Bookish Habits

Posted on February 18, 2020by J.W. Martin

Top 5 Tuesday is created by the always prolific Shanah, the Bionic Book Worm, and this week we’re looking at bookish habits. This was a tough one to figure out, because I’m so blind to the habits I have. They all blend into my daily life so seamlessly, it’s hard to see that they exist at all. Upon a closer look, here’s what I discovered:

Constantly Rearranging Bookshelves

Right now, my book are arranged in two sections. Read and unread. The read are arranged by genre, and the unread by the ones I want to read most. Though there’s nothing saying that next month I won’t rearrange by author name, or alphabetical by title.

Getting More and More Books Even When I Have Too Many to Read

Whether I’m cruising NetGalley for yet another ARC, or falling for another Amazon book sale, I can’t seem to stop myself from adding more and more books to my pile.

Getting My Hackles Up When People Diss Reading

“Why bother reading? I’d rather wait for the movie to come out.” Cue roaring laughter from people that don’t realize they’re making themselves sound like dumbasses. I’m not going to begrudge anyone who doesn’t like to read. But the people who have their cute little quips imply reading is stupid, pointless, for losers, or anything else makes me see red. I don’t like hunting, but I don’t talk shit about it. I don’t like figure skating, but I don’t talk shit about it. Why some people talk about not reading like it’s something to brag about is so far beyond me. Would these same people brag about not using math since being in high school?

Buying Additional Copies of a Book Because of a New Cover

This isn’t a common one, but it’s been known to happen. With those books that are the absolute top of my list, I can’t resist buying additional copies with a better cover. Witness the first copy I bought of The Art of Racing in the Rain, and then the second. (and no, I didn’t stop at 2 copies…)

Using Goodreads More Than Any Other Social Media

I can’t remember the last time I was on Facebook. I’m not interesting enough to post much on Instagram. I’m too old for Snapchat and TikTok. And twitter might be the only one that comes close to claiming as much of my time as Goodreads.

Fun fact about this post: Not sure if this counts as a hobby, but there is ALWAYS a book next to the toilet…

All Books Reviews

The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood — Spoiler-Free Review

Posted on February 11, 2020by J.W. Martin

THE UNSPOKEN NAME
by A.K. Larkwood

Tor Books
February 11, 2020

From Goodreads:

What if you knew how and when you will die?

Csorwe does — she will climb the mountain, enter the Shrine of the Unspoken, and gain the most honored title: sacrifice.

But on the day of her foretold death, a powerful mage offers her a new fate. Leave with him, and live. Turn away from her destiny and her god to become a thief, a spy, an assassin—the wizard’s loyal sword. Topple an empire, and help him reclaim his seat of power.

But Csorwe will soon learn – gods remember, and if you live long enough, all debts come due.

The good people at Tor Books and NetGalley provided me with a digital ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Unspoken Name was a fascinating premise with some great characters, but despite a plethora of glowing reviews from the rest of the world, the plot just didn’t come through for me.

The premise is a young girl, chosen to be ritual sacrifice, given a chance at the last minute to escape death and become something far greater. A life spent helping, and learning from, a great and powerful wizard. (No. Not the wizard of Oz.) Under his training, she’ll become a warrior, spy, and assassin, though the degree she does any of those things is up for debate.

I was in love with this premise. It showed so much process, but I found it to be full of half-truths. And very quickly, the book becomes about something else completely. But more on that later.

The characters were fantastic. I enjoyed them all. Deep, developed, and all with their own lives and backstories. These weren’t just people waiting in the wings until the novel needed them. However, after getting to know them, they started to do things that completely went against their nature, at least as far as I understood it. Gave me the impression that many of their decisions were based purely on plot development, which made everything feel just a little cardboard.

I usually enjoy when a book can surprise me. This book did that a lot, but not in a good way. Most of twists and turns didn’t make sense to me, which as I said above, the characters had something to do with. But also, you’re told this book is one thing, and it ends up being another all-together.

With the amount of love this book is getting, I feel like I’ve missed something. I would suggest you take my review as a grain of salt (or less) and try it out yourself.

Fun fact about this post: Yesterday I said I was going to cut down and requesting ARCs, and then requested two more ARCs. I hate myself.

Books Reviews

JAY-Z: Made in America by Michael Eric Dyson – Spoiler-Free Review

Posted on February 5, 2020by J.W. Martin

JAY-Z: MADE IN AMERICA
by Michael Eric Dyson

St. Martin’s Press
November 26, 2019

From Goodreads:

JAY-Z: Made in America is the fruit of Michael Eric Dyson’s decade of teaching the work of one of the greatest poets this nation has produced, as gifted a wordsmith as Walt Whitman, Robert Frost and Rita Dove. But as a rapper, he’s sometimes not given the credit he deserves for just how great an artist he’s been for so long.

This book wrestles with the biggest themes of JAY-Z’s career, including hustling, and it recognizes the way that he’s always weaved politics into his music, making important statements about race, criminal justice, black wealth and social injustice. As he enters his fifties, and to mark his thirty years as a recording artist, this is the perfect time to take a look at JAY-Z’s career and his role in making this nation what it is today.

In many ways, this is JAY-Z’s America as much as it’s Pelosi’s America, or Trump’s America, or Martin Luther King’s America. JAY-Z has given this country a language to think with and words to live by.

The good people at NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press provided me with a digital ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I’ve always had respect for Jay-Z. I haven’t been a listener since the beginning, but I started tuning in about 15 years ago. Anyone who can get to the top of the charts and stay there for DECADES is certainly doing something right.

What this book did was show me the side of the story I wasn’t paying attention to. The personal side of Jay-Z. The political side. The entrepreneur. The freedom fighter. The movement leader.

It was so interesting to read about who influenced him and who he’s influenced since. It also talked a little about the beefs he’s had and dug into what rivalries are all about in general. They aren’t nearly as personal as they might seem (not all of them, anyway.)

My absolute favourite aspect of this book was a breakdown and a deciphering of many of his lyrics.

Truthfully, the meaning in his songs wasn’t buried as deep as I make it seem. I was just terrible at understanding them on my own. If I was a little more curious, I might have looked up things like blight hustle vs bright hustle, but I never did.

The references get for more impressive when reading about the reasoning behind them. Any musician can drop Andy Warhol’s name because they heard someone talking about him and knew he was an artist. It’s completely different when you read about Jay-Z’s interest and ownership in fine art. It’s not just a name drop for him. When he says Warhol, it’s a calculated reference.

While this isn’t an official biography by any means, it’s such an interesting read for anyone who’s interested in Jay-Z, rap culture, or the music industry as a whole.

Fun fact about this post: This book brought Jay-Z back into my regular playlist.

All Life Wrap-Ups

January 2020 Wrap-Up

Posted on February 3, 2020by J.W. Martin

January is over? Already? Finally?

On one hand, I can’t believe it’s already February, but on the other hand it feels like Christmas was 6 years ago. How does that happen?

Anyway, it’s been a while since I did one of the monthly wrap-up thingies, but I did a ton of reading (more listening) this month. Then there’s the Cheapskate Challenge to check in with, and my very first use of an awesome bookish gift from my wife!

Books I read this month

TEN! I don’t think I’ve ever read that many books in a single month before. To be fair, the majority of them were audiobooks, but even so… TEN!

	Strange Exit by Parker Peevyhouse Digital ARC
	The Girl in the Tower (Winternight #2) by Katherine Arden Audiobook
	The Scorch Trials (The Maze Runner #2) by James Dashner Audiobook
	The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson Audiobook
	The Long Walk by Stephen King (as Richard Bachman) Audiobook
	The Shining byStephen King Audiobook
	The Winter of the Witch (Winternight #3) by Katherine Arden Audiobook
	Mr. Monster (John Cleaver #2) by Dan Wells Audiobook
	Obsidio (Illuminae Files #3) by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff Hardcover
	Own the Day, Own Your Life by Aubrey Marcus Audiobook

The Cheapskate Reading Challenge

After the first month, I’m happy to see that my score for the Cheapskate Reading Challenge is 20!

For anyone looking for an easy way to keep track of the points for the books you read, I’ve built a simple spreadsheet, available for anyone who would like to use it. All you need to do is:

Hit ‘Make a Copy’ or you won’t be able to enter any data.
Then just enter your book titles and select the category of each book from the dropdown menu.
The spreadsheet will assign each book the proper amount of points and give you a running tally.

What I’m Reading Next

Lastly, I made my first use out of the most thoughtful and creative gift from the holiday season. My wife, whose creative endeavours never cease to surprise, made me a reading scratch ticket.

Each rectangle has a book title underneath. Leading up to the holidays, my wife talked to some of people that know a bit about what I might be planning on reading soon, and she even convinced me to re-arrange our bookshelf by ‘read’ and ‘unread’ in order to put to right kinds of books on the ticket. Book number one, Iron Gold!

How was your January? How are you doing the Cheapskate Reading Challenge? And how is February looking for you?

Fun fact about this post: On a side note, look at how immaculately clean Iron Gold is without its dust jacket. There’s no way it’s going to be that clean by the time I’m done reading it. No way!

All First Impression Friday Memes

First Impression Friday – Wanderers by Chuck Wendig

Posted on January 31, 2020by J.W. Martin

Welcome to another First Impression Friday. In case this is your first time, here’s the rundown:

• Based on this sampling of your current read, give a few impressions
and predict what you’ll think by the end.
• Did you think you’d love and ended up hating it? Or did you think
you’d hate it and wound up loving it? Or were you exactly right?
• Link back to Storeys of Stories so I can enjoy reading all the
First Impression Fridays out there!

A decadent rock star. A deeply religious radio host. A disgraced scientist. And a teenage girl who may be the world’s last hope.

Shana wakes up one morning to discover her little sister in the grip of a strange malady. She appears to be sleepwalking. She cannot talk and cannot be woken up. And she is heading with inexorable determination to a destination that only she knows. But Shana and her sister are not alone. Soon they are joined by a flock of sleepwalkers from across America, on the same mysterious journey. And like Shana, there are other “shepherds” who follow the flock to protect their friends and family on the long dark road ahead.

For on their journey, they will discover an America convulsed with terror and violence, where this apocalyptic epidemic proves less dangerous than the fear of it. As the rest of society collapses all around them–and an ultraviolent militia threatens to exterminate them–the fate of the sleepwalkers depends on unraveling the mystery behind the epidemic. The terrifying secret will either tear the nation apart–or bring the survivors together to remake a shattered world.

Let’s talk about Wanderers by Chuck Wendig.

So, I’ve got the audiobook version for this one. I already knew it was a big book, but I was still pretty surprised the first time I opened it up and saw it was 32+ hours! That’s easily double and triple of “normal” audiobooks. But don’t let that scare you away.

The first few chapters have been dynamite. Not a ton of action, but intrigue is everywhere. Each paragraph fills my mind with more questions that I can’t wait to get the answers to. My inner monologue on this one has basically been:

“What? Why is… ohhhhh. Awesome. Hey, wait. Who’s that? Why are they…? AWESOME!”

Definitely looking forward to more and more and more.

My Prediction: 4+ stars

Fun fact about this post: Chuck has been one of all-time favourite bloggers (terribleminds.com). In fact, I was reading his blog posts way before I read any of his books!

Books Reviews

Pivot by L.C. Barlow – Spoiler-Free Review

Posted on January 28, 2020by J.W. Martin

PIVOT
by L.C. Barlow

Self-Published
May 16, 2013

From Goodreads:

For some, the Devil introduces himself as an average man. For others, he crushes their souls and makes them bleed. For Jack Harper, the Devil renders himself a savior. But things are changing.

Once a loyal follower of Cyrus and an accomplished killer, Jack Harper now begins to question everything. There are new, strange forces at work that are intruding on Jack’s kills, abilities, and very being. Maybe, though, deep down Jack has been waiting for this intrusion, and maybe Cyrus is not as powerful as he seems.

The good people at NetGalley provided me with a digital ARC of Pivot in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I didn’t know what to expect with this one. The description was pretty vague, but the book pulls you right in showing you a young girl (who I thought was a boy for half of the book since they only ever call her Jack) being trained in the art of killing. Pretty cool, right?

Jack’s training is being conducted by a cultish leader, which sounds creepy, but picture that leader being charismatic and irrefutably likeable. Evil, sure, but you kind of like listening to him talk. Like Negan.

So creepy cult happenings going on everywhere, and you think you know what’s going on and have a grasp of everything and the stakes. Then a supernatural angle is brought in. Powers. And everything changes again.

Despite the constant shift, this isn’t a story full of twists and turns. I found myself surprised a few times, but there were no moments that shocked me. Twists were brought on slowly. At the beginning of the reveal, you don’t know anything, but before the reveal is done, you’ve figured it all out. Always interesting, but always a bit like slipping into a warm bath.

I feel like the characters were a bit lacking. The main few were pretty good, but anyone else was flat and often single-serving. They didn’t seem to have a life, or even an existence, outside of what our main characters needed them for.

This book would be a good fit for fans of Supernatural or Constantine. It was definitely a fun read, though I’m not sure if I’d be in for a sequel unless I knew certain characters would make a return…

Fun fact about this post: This might be the latest I’ve ever been reviewing an ARC…

All Memes Top 5 Tuesday

5 Books I NEED to Read in 2020

Posted on January 14, 2020by J.W. Martin

It’s Time! It’s the first Top 5 Tuesday of 2020! Shanah has some awesome topics cooked up already. The first one being the 5 books I need to read in 2020. This has been the first topic of the year for a while now, and I thought it would be ~~depressing~~ fun to look back on the last 2 years of these posts, and see how I ~~failed~~ did.

Strange Exit by Parker Peevyhouse – Spoiler-Free Review

Posted on January 8, 2020by J.W. Martin

STRANGE EXIT
by Parker Peevyhouse

Tor Teen
January 14, 2020

From Goodreads:

Seventeen-year-old Lake spends her days searching a strange, post-apocalyptic landscape for people who have forgotten one very important thing: this isn’t reality. Everyone she meets is a passenger aboard a ship that’s been orbiting Earth since a nuclear event. The simulation that was supposed to prepare them all for life after the apocalypse has trapped their minds in a shared virtual reality and their bodies in stasis chambers.

No one can get off the ship until all of the passengers are out of the sim, and no one can get out of the sim unless they believe it’s a simulation. It’s up to Lake to help them remember.

When Lake reveals the truth to a fellow passenger, seventeen-year-old Taren, he joins her mission to find everyone, persuade them that they’ve forgotten reality, and wake them up. But time’s running out before the simulation completely deconstructs, and soon Taren’s deciding who’s worth saving and who must be sacrificed for the greater good. Now, Lake has no choice but to pit herself against Taren in a race to find the secret heart of the sim, where something waits that will either save them or destroy them all.

The good people at Tor Teen and NetGalley provided me with a digital ARC of Strange Exit in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This the second Parker Peevyhouse novel I’ve read and while I’m convinced she has an adoring audience, I don’t seem to fit in.

I really like the premises she comes up with, but the novels never hit me the same way. I’m a very linear reader and I get the impression that Strange Exit would be enjoyed a lot more by non-linear readers who can follow the story no matter how many times it jumps off the track, does a 180, and backflips into something else.

Most of the time I was reading this book I just found myself confused. Confused where the story was going, and confused with why the characters did what they did.

The resolution brought the experience up a little, just because I was able to make a bit of sense out of it, but overall this book just wasn’t up to my expectations.

I wanted to like this book, I really did, but unfortunately I just couldn’t.

All Cheapskate Reading Challenge

The Cheapskate Reading Challenge

Posted on January 4, 2020by J.W. Martin

UPDATE: For anyone looking for an easy way to keep track of the points for the books you read, I’ve built a simple spreadsheet, available for anyone who would like to use it. All you need to do is:

Hit ‘Make a Copy’ or you won’t be able to enter any data.
Then just enter your book titles and select the category of each book from the dropdown menu.
The spreadsheet will assign each book the proper amount of points and give you a running tally.

Reading challenges are a great way to give you a little extra motivation. However, the ones I’ve been doing the past few years aren’t always the best for reading the books that have been sitting on my bookshelf long enough to collect a respectable layer of dust.

This year, I looked for something to specifically pointed toward reading books that I own. And while challenges like Beat the Backlist were very close, I still wanted something a little more specific. So I’ve come up with a challenge of my own: The Cheapskate Reading Challenge.

If your bookshelf has way too many books on it that you just haven’t been able to get to, I encourage you to join the ranks of the cheapskate. The challenge has been designed to not get in the way of various programs you might be involved in. ARCs, subscriptions, library books, it’s all good here.

Basically, the Cheapskate Challenge is a point system to be played out over the year with the main goal to have a score in the black and not in the red. Here’s the breakdown.

Those with Audible, or Scribd, or KU, or any other number of subscription services might not like that they give ZERO points, but let me explain. There’s great value in those subscriptions. It’s an efficient way to spend money, but it still ends with money being spent.

Books that result from a gift (whether you’re given a book or a gift card) can be considered a book you already own.

If you like this challenge, please feel free to join in and tell your bookish friends who have bookshelves filled with shame. Also, feel free to use all graphics included in this post and declare that this is the year you’re finally going to read those books on your shelf. Shout it out in the comments and come back once in a while to let us all know how the challenge is going.

Fun fact about this post: I know I’m a little late to the party to be putting a reading challenge out there, but it just came to me yesterday!

All First Impression Friday Memes

First Impression Friday – Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood

Posted on January 3, 2020by J.W. Martin

Welcome to another First Impression Friday. In case this is your first time, here’s the rundown:

What if you knew how and when you will die?

Csorwe does — she will climb the mountain, enter the Shrine of the Unspoken, and gain the most honored title: sacrifice.

But on the day of her foretold death, a powerful mage offers her a new fate. Leave with him, and live. Turn away from her destiny and her god to become a thief, a spy, an assassin—the wizard’s loyal sword. Topple an empire, and help him reclaim his seat of power.

But Csorwe will soon learn – gods remember, and if you live long enough, all debts come due.

Let’s talk about The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood.

This is a big, beefy book that I received as a digital ARC. It’s certainly not the biggest book I’ve ever read, and probably not the biggest I’ll even read this year, but it’s still intimidating. Especially because every single character has a name that I’m too dumb to be able to pronounce without the help of the pronunciation guide (which is about 15 digital pages long!)

But beyond all my crybaby nonsense, this book is gripping. The chapters are long and the description is thick, two things that usually drive me away, but in the case of this book I just want more and more and more.

An odd concern that’s never come up before, and probably won’t apply to most readers, is that I can see where it might be heading and it’s in a very similar direction to a book idea that’s been dominating my free thoughts for the past month. For someone trying to bust into the writing world, that’s very concerning. What if my ‘original’ idea is just like this book?!

I’m just hoping that it steers away from that direction and that I’m only seeing it as a possibility because of my own story. I’m also hoping that if it does prove to be just like my idea that the temper tantrum that will follow won’t affect my rating of The Unspoken Name.

Constantly Rearranging Bookshelves

Getting More and More Books Even When I Have Too Many to Read

Getting My Hackles Up When People Diss Reading

Buying Additional Copies of a Book Because of a New Cover

Using Goodreads More Than Any Other Social Media

Fun fact about this post: Not sure if this counts as a hobby, but there is ALWAYS a book next to the toilet…

THE UNSPOKEN NAME by A.K. Larkwood

Fun fact about this post: Yesterday I said I was going to cut down and requesting ARCs, and then requested two more ARCs. I hate myself.

JAY-Z: MADE IN AMERICA by Michael Eric Dyson

Fun fact about this post: This book brought Jay-Z back into my regular playlist.

Books I read this month

The Cheapskate Reading Challenge

What I’m Reading Next

How was your January? How are you doing the Cheapskate Reading Challenge? And how is February looking for you?

Fun fact about this post: On a side note, look at how immaculately clean Iron Gold is without its dust jacket. There’s no way it’s going to be that clean by the time I’m done reading it. No way!

My Prediction: 4+ stars

Fun fact about this post: Chuck has been one of all-time favourite bloggers (terribleminds.com). In fact, I was reading his blog posts way before I read any of his books!

PIVOT by L.C. Barlow

Fun fact about this post: This might be the latest I’ve ever been reviewing an ARC…

Top 5 Books I MUST Read in 2018

Invictus by Ryan Graudin

DID NOT READ

Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill

DID NOT READ

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

READ IT!

All Rights Reserved by Gregory Scott Katsoulis

DID NOT READ

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

DID NOT READ

Top 5 Books I MUST Read in 2019

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

READ IT!

Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff

READ IT!

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

DID NOT READ

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

DID NOT READ

An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield

Top 5 Books I MUST Read in 2020

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Sabbath by Mick Mamatas

Darkdawn by Jay Kristoff

Iron Gold & Dark Age by Pierce Brown

Wanderers by Chuck Wendig

Fun fact about this post: I now consider all 12 unread books on my MUST READ THIS YEAR list. Hold me to it. Please. Someone has to.

STRANGE EXIT by Parker Peevyhouse

Fun fact about this post: I know I’m a little late to the party to be putting a reading challenge out there, but it just came to me yesterday!

My Prediction: 4 stars

Fun fact about this post: And before you ask, YES, I had this idea BEFORE I started reading this book. Sheesh. Give me a little credit.

THE UNSPOKEN NAME
by A.K. Larkwood

JAY-Z: MADE IN AMERICA
by Michael Eric Dyson

PIVOT
by L.C. Barlow

Invictus
by Ryan Graudin

Sea of Rust
by C. Robert Cargill

Nevernight
by Jay Kristoff

All Rights Reserved
by Gregory Scott Katsoulis

A Darker Shade of Magic
by V.E. Schwab

The Lies of Locke Lamora
by Scott Lynch

Godsgrave
by Jay Kristoff

The Perks of Being a Wallflower
by Stephen Chbosky

Scythe
by Neal Shusterman

An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth
by Chris Hadfield

Gideon the Ninth
by Tamsyn Muir

Sabbath
by Mick Mamatas

Darkdawn
by Jay Kristoff

Iron Gold & Dark Age
by Pierce Brown

Wanderers
by Chuck Wendig

STRANGE EXIT
by Parker Peevyhouse