Book Review - Relic (Pendergast, Book 1) by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Sales on Audible are a great chance to try out new books and new authors without risking too much. I've both found some new favorites from this and lost precious hours from my life I will never get back. But how else are you going to discover new gems?

Relic (Pendergast, Book 1) by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child is a science fiction monster thriller. It is available as an eBook, Audiobook, and those paper things your grandparents used to read.

The Good

Twist. This book is about a monster that is loose in a museum, and the authorities have to both get everyone out and subdue the beast. The twist comes in the nature of the beast and the revelations at the end. They are worth reading thru to the end for.

Pendergast. It's funny this character is the name of the series, because he plays such a minor role in the story and has less page time than the main characters. And yet he is the most interesting character somehow.

The Bad

Pacing. This book moves slowly. The pacing isn't so slow the reader becomes bored, but it does take effort to pay attention to the story.

Characters. The characters are really bland and formulaic. They read like copies of common characters I've read before with nothing new added and the execution of the characters not as well done.

Story. The story is good but nothing special.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I wish the authors had put as much thought into the story and characters as they did the twist, because THAT would be an incredible book I couldn't put down.

Overall

Relic (Pendergast, Book 1) by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child has a really great twist and take on the science fiction monster genre, but isn't as strong in the interesting characters, intriguing story, or exciting action departments. The story is a little slow throughout, even during the "intense" action scenes. None of the characters are all that memorable or elicit much of a reaction as they are fairly common stereotypes with fairly common motivations and character arcs. The saving grace is the twist on the monster and epilogue where the repercussions are explored. I give this book 4 out of 5 eReaders.

   

 

Book Review - I Hear You: The Surprisingly Simple Skill Behind Extraordinary Relationships by Michael S. Sorensen

It's always nice to find someone who knows what they are talking about and can educate me on a subject I'm not as familiar with as I'd like to be.,

I Hear You: The Surprisingly Simple Skill Behind Extraordinary Relationships by Michael S. Sorensen is a non-fiction book of advice on how to improve relationships thru listening and validation. It is available as an eBook, Audiobook, and those paper things your grandparents used to read.

The Good

Advice. This book offers great advice about how to validate others and truly listen instead of jumping to solutions or judgement, something we naturally want to do. The author provides many examples to help illustrate the point and teach the lesson.

Length. The author wisely chose to make this a short book and avoid padding it with unnecessary filler to make it look bigger and more authoritative.

The Bad

Narration. The author narrates this book himself. He does a good job, but could put a little more enthusiasm in his voice so it wasn't so flat.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

A few more examples in other situations. He tended to stick to very similar situations.

Overall

I Hear You: The Surprisingly Simple Skill Behind Extraordinary Relationships by Michael S. Sorensen is a quick read that offers excellent advice on how to listen to others and make them feel important. It provides great explanations and examples both what to do and what not to do and why. I highly recommend this book and give it 4.5 out of 5 eReaders.

    

 

Book Review - Young Mozart by William Augel

I'm a big fan of independent comics, music, and clever jokes. So to find all three in one book was a HUGE find!

Young Mozart by William Augel is a graphic novel featuring daily and Sunday comics about a young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It is available as an eBook and those paper things your grandparents used to read.

The Good

Jokes. The jokes are pretty funny. While they are specific to Young Mozart and his challenges in a previous century, they are relatable to a modern audience, even a non-musical one.

Artwork. The artwork is really fun and cartoony. It's got a great rhythm.

Design. Being a designer myself, I always notice the design of a book, and this one is so well thought out and clever with musical staffs covered in whatever trouble Mozart is dealing with and full page illustrations with a clever concept.

The Bad

...

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I'd have liked some of the sequences to go on a little longer.

Overall

Young Mozart by William Augel is a fun, well-drawn graphic novel containing both daily comics and Sunday comics featuring a young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The jokes are pretty funny. While they are specific to Young Mozart and his challenges in a previous century, they are relatable to a modern audience, even a non-musical one. The design of this book is so well thought out and clever with musical staffs covered in whatever trouble Mozart is dealing with and full page illustrations with a clever concept. I highly recommend this book and give it 4.5 out of 5 eReaders.

   

 

Movie Review - Scooby-Doo! Wrestlemania Mystery

I've been a Scooby-Doo fan for as long as I can remember. I haven't been a fan of all his incarnations, but they have been fun to see different ways he and his gang can be reinterpreted.

Scooby-Doo! Wrestlemania Mystery is a 2014 direct-to-video action comedy film featuring Scooby-Doo and the gang. If it were rated, it would be rated G and is appropriate for all ages.

The Good

Visuals. This movie has really nice character designs and background designs. It has the right balance of cartoony and realism to make the WWE wrestlers look like real people but still like they fit in Scooby-Doo's world.

Story. The story is one of the strongest for a Scooby-Doo tale with some real thought to motivation and twists. It's still not going to win any awards.

Action/Animation. The animation is really well done with the wrestling looking smooth.

The Bad

Opening Titles. The song wasn't great and there was no logic or reason to show the villains from the first season. They don't make an appearance here. It looked more like an anniversary title sequence than WWE.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

A little more wrestling.

Overall

Scooby-Doo! Wrestlemania Mystery is a fun direct-to-video movie appropriate for all ages--safe for the youngsters and entertaining for the older crowd. The animation is very smooth and fluid, the character designs are both cartoony enough to be Scooby-Doo and realistic enough to make the WWE wrestlers look like actual people, and the story is much stronger than most direct-to-video cartoons with actual thought put into motivation and twists. While nothing groundbreaking, it is a lot of fun with the usual troupes one expects from this kind of movie. I give this film 4 out of 5 Boxes of Popcorn.

   

 

Book Review - Liquid Rules: The Delightful and Dangerous Substances That Flow Through Our Lives by Mark Miodownik

I love well-written science books, which are hard to find. I had read a previous book by this author and enjoyed it, so I decided to try another.

Liquid Rules: The Delightful and Dangerous Substances That Flow Through Our Lives by Mark Miodownik is a nonfiction material science book. It is available as an eBook, Audiobook, and those paper things your grandparents used to read.

The Good

Storytelling. The subject of liquids, or any material science, could get pretty dry and pretty academic pretty quickly. The author used a trip in an airplane across the ocean and discussed the different liquids he encountered to form an interesting narrative.

Information. This book has a lot of good information presented in an interesting and easily digestible form.

The Bad

Sidetrips. The book is pretty short, and yet the author wastes a lot of time on side trips that don't relate to the subject but the author wanted to talk about anyway. I wish he'd used the time to discuss more liquids.

Narration. The narration was good, but not great.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I wish the author would have stuck to the subject matter instead of drifting off onto unrelated topics.

Overall

Liquid Rules: The Delightful and Dangerous Substances That Flow Through Our Lives by Mark Miodownik is an interesting look into liquids, their properties, and how humans use them. The author uses the framing device of an airplane trip across the ocean to move from liquid to liquid, which was pretty clever. The author can't help but push his Climate Change biases down the reader's throat even though they have almost nothing to do with the subject of liquids, which was kind of annoying. If you are interested in learning more about liquids in a random order, I recommend this book and give it 4 out of 5 eReaders.

    

Book Review: The Reversal (A Lincoln Lawyer Novel Book 3) by Michael Connelly

I watched the movie The Lincoln Lawyer and thought it was good but not great, so I had no interest in reading any of the books. I do love the Harry Bosch stories by the same author and accidentally bought one of his Michael Howler books on a sale from Audible. What a great mistake!

The Reversal (A Lincoln Lawyer Novel Book 3) by Michael Connelly is a fiction legal thriller. It is available as an eBook, Audiobook, and those paper things your grandparents used to read.

The Good

Story/Mystery. The story begins with an inmate who gets released from prison because the California Supreme Court reversed his conviction due to new DNA evidence. Michael Howler, a defense attorney, is convinced to be the independent prosecutor for the DA and has to cross to the other side. The story is intense from the beginning with each new reveal only pulling the reader further and further in. While there aren't any big twists or shocking reveals, each step is completely engaging and absorbing.

Characters. The author does a really good job exploring the personal lives of many of the main characters and advancing the story of Harry Bosch and Michael Howler growing a little closer after finding out they are half brothers and their daughters are cousins.

The Bad

Narration. The narration was good, but not great. It was the only weak part of the whole experience.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I would like to have seen what Harry Bosch does after the end of the book.

Overall

The Reversal (A Lincoln Lawyer Novel Book 3) by Michael Connelly is one of the best fiction books I've read in a long time. The story is intense from the beginning with each new reveal only pulling the reader further and further in. While there aren't any big twists or shocking reveals, each step is completely engaging and absorbing. Even when events or twists turn out like you guess, you're still interested because they are handled so well. I highly recommend this book and give it 5 out of 5 eReaders.

     

Movie Review - Poor Little Rich Girl (Shirley Temple)

I first saw this film when I was in Elementary School. At the time I hated old movies and anything in black and white (oh, how things have changed). But for some reason I loved this movie and watched it over and over again on VHS.

Poor Little Rich Girl is a 1936 live action comedy film featuring Shirley Temple. If it were rated, it would be rated G and is appropriate for all ages.

The Good

Acting. Everyone in this film is incredible. Shirley Temple charms the pants off the audience, and the adults all play their roles perfectly.

Visuals. This movie is very well shot from the costumes to the scenery to the composition to the storytelling at the beginning without any narration.

Music. The songs are so catchy you'll find yourself singing them without realizing it.

Story. The story is engaging from the first frame of the film to the last. It's very linear and logical and has to many interesting characters and adventures along the way. Even though the ending it pretty obvious, there is so much tension and suspense that you're excited when it comes.

The Bad

...

What I Would Like to Have Seen

A sequel.

Overall

Poor Little Rich Girl featuring Shirley Temple is nearly a perfect film. The characters and acting are superbly done. The story is completely engaging and engrossing. The songs couldn't be catchier. Why hasn't this gotten a blu-ray release? I give this film 5 out of 5 Boxes of Popcorn.

    

Blu-ray Review - Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

I'm a huge Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fan, but the idea of them crossing over with DC or Marvel characters never seemed like a good idea. The first comic book mini-series this film is based on was pretty disappointing. But Amazon had the rental on sale, so I thought, "What the hay?"

Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a 2019 direct-to-video action superhero film featuring the DC Comics hero Batman (created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger) and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird). It is rated PG-13 for language and violence and is appropriate for teens and up.

The Good

Story and Pacing. This movie had a solid story that made sense, wasn't contrived, and moved logically from one scene to the next. The pacing was deliberate and slow enough to develop the story but fast enough to never become boring.

Animation and Art Direction. While this wasn't my favorite look for the characters, it worked really well for the story and the movie.

Action. The fights were so fun and so well done showcasing so many characters and most of their abilities and unique traits. It was fun to see Batman and Shredder so evenly matched and such a long struggle to fight each other without a quick resolution.

Titles. The titles were gorgeous with black and white cityscapes and colored characters in front. The end credits with famous comic book covers recreated with Batman and the Turtles were also very clever.

Fan Nods. There were a lot of easter eggs and nods to the fans as well as references to previous incarnations both in film and print of the characters that really made the world rich.

Voice Acting. All the voice casting choices were new, but they felt classic.

The Bad

Violence and Swearing. I get this movie is meant to appeal to an older audience, but the action and sophistication of the story would have done that. The extreme violence and cussing actually detracted from the film.

Science of Ooze/Mutagen. The fact that the ooze works instantaneously and can only be cured within a short window makes absolutely no sense. Everything else was well thought out and well considered. The major McGuffin of the story not being well considered was kind of strange.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I wish the Batmobile had been a cooler design.

Overall

Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is one of the best animated films I've ever scene. The story is solid and well considered, the action is fast and fierce and showcases each character's unique abilities, the voice casting sounded classic, and the titles were gorgeous. Even though this film was targeted to an older audience, the amount of violence and harsh language detracted feeling contrived and forced. I give this film 4.5 out of 5 Boxes of Popcorn.