Friday Review: A Few Books I’ve Read

Going forward with trying to do some catching up with reading and reviews here on the site, here are a few mini-reviews of some of the things I’ve read:

The Undone Life of Jak Dreadth by Shawn Speakman: This short work is a prequel to Speakman’s novel The Tempered Steel of Antiquity Gray. In this story, we learn some of the background of Jak Dreadth, who is the son of one of the privileged families of Erth. Until the invaders come, bent on conquest, and Jak is pushed into battle as the pilot of an attack mech. Unknown to him, there is intrigue afoot and he is forced down in the desert wilderness, and left to die. Until he is found by an old woman who may be a sorceress or just a wandering outcast. Together, they navigate the stark wilderness, learning about family both blood and found, friendship, and loyalty. It was a decent read, with plenty of action and suspense, and an interesting prequel to the novel. 4 of 5 stars

Atomic Habits by James Clear: Yes, the blockbuster self-help book of a few years ago. I did find it an interesting read. Clear’s explanation of habits and how they shape our lives, whether we are aware of everything that has become habit or not, was a bit of an eye-opener. And his strategies for changing those habits that we now find perhaps holding us back, and implementing new, better ones were probably the best ideas I’ve seen on this in a long time. I found it useful and still use many of the things I learned reading it. 5 of 5 stars

The Road to Roswell by Connie Willis: Francie comes to Roswell, NM for a friend’s wedding to a believer in alien visitations to Earth. Practical-minded Francie knows aliens don’t exist, but she tries to be polite for her friend. Until Francie is abducted by an alien, and becomes convinced that he is not an invader, but a lost soul in trouble. Along with a ragtag group of new-found friends, Francie is determined to help the alien with his trouble, assuming she can figure out what that is. I enjoyed this one. It was a good read with a “they’re not all bad” take on aliens and a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor along the way. Men in Black, Elvis impersonators, casinos and gamblers, and more make this a fun story. 5 of 5 stars

Undead Sexist Cliches by Fraser Sherman: This one looks at all those sexist, misogynistic cliches and arguments that simply refuse to die. You know the stuff- men are superior in intelligence, women don’t want equality, they want to dominate, it’s genetics or God’s will or some other nonsense that gets disproven over and over, but never really goes away. With references and citations to back up the arguments, this book tries to dispel those “ideas” once and for all. An interesting read, and I learned a few things along the way. 4 of 5 stars

Those are some of the books I’ve had on my to-review list for a while. I still have a few to go, and will get to them soon!

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My latest book is a collection of very short stories, half science fiction and half fantasy, called “Crossed Wires and Other Very Short Stories”. I have also written a few other short pieces, another collection, two novels, and an urban fantasy series. You can find most of them at Smashwords, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and wherever e-books are sold. A few are also available from Amazon in paperback. My novel, “Circle Unbroken” is also on Kindle Unlimited, if that’s your reading preference. You can find out about all of them here.

There are also some stories you can read here on my site, mostly the yearly Halloween short I write, but there are a few others. You can read them from here