Book Talk and Stuff-Part 5

It has been a while since one of these posts as I have not had the time to devour books as much as I would like (don't you just hate that?).

So the first title up is The Martian by Andy Weir which I really enjoyed! It has been a long time since a book kept me up during the wee hours of the morning.

The Martian

The Martian deserves more than 5 stars- a Hab full is more like it! The opening line of this book is the funniest and most interesting I’ve come across, ever! 

“I’m pretty much f**cked”. 

Yep that’s the first line. How could I not keep reading? An astronaut stranded on Mars, and his crew and the rest of the world think he is dead!

Mark Watney is a trooper and impressively resourceful. My goodness, the man grew potatoes on Mars! It’s been a while since I’ve read a novel that made me emotional. I cheered for Mark from beginning to end; I was sad when he broke down and cried; I laughed out loud at his wit (the man has an incredible sense of humour). And I nearly yelled out loud when he was finally rescued (wait, I’m pretty sure I actually yelled out loud). The technical terms and some of the calculations in the story gave me cross-eyes occasionally but hey-so trivial compared to what Mark was enduring! I highly recommend this novel!

Lethal

It’s hard for me to write the review I really want for this book. I’ll just say the story was suspenseful, had the right amount of action and tightly written. Lethal features a hot line in it, that will burn in my brain for a long time. There was a scene in this book, that after it unfolded, my mouth was hanging open and the words WTF promptly rolled out- very few books have had that effect on me. Lethal is a VIP member of my "Titan Reads" shelf. Loved it! Okay, I’m done now...

Master of the Game

I read this one many years ago but it still lives strong in my mind. The story spans a couple generations and is masterfully told. From the woman who has to be the most manipulative of characters I have ever come across in a book- enough to make her own son homicidal- to the dirty, not so little secrets and ruthless agendas. This book is on my “Titan Reads” list.

**

I was reading A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman but I put it aside for later and not because I didn't like it, I loved it from the first chapter but I was reading it along with another title and A Man Called Ove seems to be the type of book that needs your full attention. I have added Outlander and The Girl On The Train to my list of books to be read and also The Wayward Pines series.

So, moving on from book talk onto "stuff", one of the movies I saw recently was The Nice Guys with Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling. The pairing of Crowe and Gosling worked quite well in my opinion and the film was funny, crazy and not cookie-cutter material at all. I laughed so damn hard I nearly ended up on the floor! Or did I actually hit the floor? Anyway, Matt Bomer played a really good bad ass and The Nice Guys is one of those movies I will definitely be re-watching.

I am glad for the summer rain-my pot garden loves it but so do the weeds which are growing like annoying aliens on steroids. And slugs and snails are greedy, slimy little bastards! Some of my plants look like colanders! Oh well, I guess I just have to go with the flow, nature's flow that is.

Off I run to do some plotting for my new novel and I hope you visit again soon.

Cheers!

Olivia