Reviews and Comments

My mother recommended this book to me, so I came into it without knowing a since thing ahead of time. 20 pages in I thought “wait is this a vampire romance? Oh no it’s a vampire romance.”

So yeah it’s a vampire romance, in very much the post-Twilight mid-00s fashion, which feels intensely dated now. It’s a long book with a lot of historical detail which can be fine in some places and overly descriptive in others. Too many things happen at random in the plot, which makes the dramatic payoffs seem unearned. Worst of all the leading vampire hero is stalky, imperious, and controlling, and I detested him from start to finish.

One extra star because I do have a soft spot for romance, and when the plot moves along without being too preposterous it can be un-put-downable. But really, ugh

I started #7 this month and apparently completely forgot that I read this book or what happened in it? I love this series but this is not the best book in it. There are many important events that happen very fast, but it's a transitional book without a lot of depth, especially character-wise.

My original 1930’s version Nancy Drew re-read continues with book #3. The formula becomes more established in this book, with the suspense in the plot dialed up and with some real action throughout, with every chapter ending in a cliffhanger (this technique kept me awake much too far into the night when I was a kid.) But the characters continue to be either totally wonderful or totally evil, and overall the story felt more predictable and slightly flat. On the other hand, way less casual racism!

I am a big fan of fantasy on the weird side and this book is definitely in that genre. The world-building ideas (universe-building, really) are super interesting and new, but the book is structured in a way that reads to me kind of jerky and forced, and the first quarter or so is especially disjointed (it makes more sense if you go back after reading the whole thing). It feels like a first novel, which is is, and although I didn't totally love this book I'm interested enough in the author's talent with ideas that I'll keep an eye out for what he does next.

I have complicated feelings about this book, which I read when I was just starting my career in tech and re-read this week after 30ish years. On the one hand: it is a super-compelling nerd fable, and some of the best layman's descriptions of computer engineering ever written. On the other: A total blueprint for for how to sign tech workers up for abusive working conditions, and convince them that it is all about the passion. I need to sit with it for a while.

I seem to remember I was the most obsessed with this specific book in the Nancy Drew series, because SECRET PANELS and HIDDEN PASSAGES were just the coolest thing ever. I was so disappointed when I could not find a single hidden passage in the suburban house I grew up in.

This is the original 1930 version of the book in facsimile. Like The Secret of the Old Clock it is really dated, with horribly racist character portrayals, and yet it is a fast and fun read. There is actual danger in this book as well, with Nancy's father kidnapped and held prisoner midway through, and the parts where Nancy is exploring the secret passages are genuinely scary.

Well no wonder the Sherlock Holmes canon is so popular; this was a super fun read. There is an abrupt turn in the middle where it turns into a completely different book (a western! With mormons!), which is not that bad a story and eventually makes sense as backstory for the mystery, but the unexplained shift is deeply puzzling. None the less: fun!

I'm not actually sure why this ended up in my Kindle books list. DNF