Reading Recap, week 45

Short and sweet

All links go to my videos about the books.

Audiobooks

I AM STILL ALIVE by Kate Alice Marshall. Really compelling thriller about a girl who finds herself in a HATCHET-type situation, but it’s more complicated than that; her family situation is bad, she’s recovering from a car crash, and her father is involved with insurrectionists who want to take his whole family out. Started a little bumpy but very good by the end. I was completely invested. 5 stars.

THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. This is a short “poem” but not the rhyming kind (honestly I can’t tell what qualifies something as a poem any more, I swear that word just gets thrown around.) The historical accuracy is good although I don’t think there actually was a dueling-bros thing going on for the affections of Priscilla Mullins. Basically it depicts Myles Standish and John Alden as competing for Priscilla’s love, in a situation that gets complicated due to miscommunications. The Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special was based on this. I liked it.

HERETIC'S GAME by Robert Kroese. Second in the Cross-Time Crusade series. An adequate installment with a few strong moments and a good ending. I’ll read the third one. 3 stars.

THE PROBLEM WITH LINCOLN by Thomas DiLorenzo. Offers a perspective that I’ve heard about Lincoln but not explored in detail, namely that he was a tyrant and his actions provided legal precedent for governmental depridations against citizens during the Westward Expansion and World War Two. I’ll have to dig deeper. 3 stars.

I should also finish a book I’m listening to on Jefferson Davis next week. It’s not super riveting, but it’s pretty good, and I’ve generally been curious about who he is and how he ended up as the Confederate president. Most Civil War biographies are focused on officers since it was largely a military conflict but there was definitely a political side.

Print and Comics

PROJECT MAYFLOWER by Richard Stone. Finally finished this beast that my brother gave me for my birthday. It was actually short and tightly written, I just don’t sit down for print books as much as I want to. The video will go live on 11/3, so check the channel. 5 stars.

REDCOAT #7 by Ghost Machine. This was a touching epilogue to a great arc, it really sets up Simon Pure as the de facto leader of the Unnamed warriors going across time. It’s nice to see a character grow and for his reasons to make sense. 5 stars.

Next Week

Well, we’re in November, so it’s Mayflower season. I’ve got a few other books to dig into, so I will. Mainly you can expect me to finish that Jefferson Davis book, and Absolute Superman #1 comes out on Wednesday, and I’m looking forward to that.