I don't usually read so much on my e-reader, but I was travelling to the Republic of Georgia for a week, so it helps keep my luggage weight down. Also, I usually re-read books that I've enjoyed on my e-reader, but this time I decided to read books that I hadn't been able to find. This is always risky as I sometimes think a good book puts me in a good mood and vice-versa. I manager five e-reads in this time: two great, two good, one bad. Overall, the trip was just OK, so it might just match the average rating of these books.
#31: I Catch Killers - Gary Jubelin (4/5)
Police non-fiction, new (Neilson-Hayes library sale), discard
A detailed autobiography about the career of a detective in Sydney: though childhood, training, cases, love affairs, murders, and media exposure, sometimes less detail can be more interesting, especially when there are loose strings at the end.
#32: The Executioner Always Chops Twice - Gary Jubelin (4/5)
Historical non-fiction, new (Neilson-Hayes library sale), keep
A series of short stories about odd or botched executions in various styles, sprinkled with even short snips from other executions, all of which are entertaining in 2025 and a reminder than our ancestors faced grisly times and grislier deaths.
#33: THX 1138 - Ben Bova (3/5)
Sci-fi novelization, new (bookstore along Route 66), keep
Carries the typical themes of dystopia of its predecessors, but perhaps with a bit more violence, a bit more characterization of the underground world, and a longer drawn out conclusion, albeit with a predictable end.
#34: The Accusation - Bandi (3.5/5)
North Korean fiction, new (Neilson-Hayes library sale), discard
A series of fictional short stories based on an anonymous author's experiences living and working in North Korea; though privileged, the stories reflect the absurdity of the country, sometimes with more tongue-in-cheek humor than nuance, which, of course, even includes the Supreme Leader.
#35: The Business - Iain Banks (4/5)
Fiction, re-read (haven't read my favorite author in a while), keep
Though the trope of "large, nebulous company with its own agenda that rakes in billions" is a bit tired, Banks focuses more on characters and witticisms that propel the story forward while the actual plot merely rides the momentum.
#36: Tower - Bae Myung-hoon (4/5)
South Korean sci-fi, new (e-reader), want to buy
In a series of short stories, a 674-storey sovereign state isn't without its satirical nuances, including a certain famous dog, who is mentioned in every story and adds an even more a more absurd element is an already absurd book.
#37: Enon - Paul Harding (4.5/5)
Non-fiction, new (e-reader, loved his novel Tinkers), want to buy
A gut-retching tale of grief following a couple's loss of their old child, yet the story only covers the sympathetic father's downward spiral as the further marital separation causes him to deal with loss and grief in his own way: through more pain and addition.
#38: Fail-safe - Eugene Burdick & Harvey Wheeler (2.5/5)
Nuclear fiction, new (e-reader), don't want to buy
Reading this only a month after Dr. Strangelove, about 50% of this novel is so similar that if you had read them years apart, you'd think they were the same novel; however, Fail-safe is more procedural and descriptive, rending it functional and banal, overall detracting from the cold reality of possible nuclear destruction.
#39: You Should Have Left - Daniel Kehlmann (2.5/5)
German horror novella, new (e-reader), don't want to buy
Yet another story about a haunted house in which a family spends a few days ... why has this become popular?
#40: Wayward Pines 1: Pines - Blake Crouch (3.5/5)
Fiction, new (e-reader), might want to buy
A secret service agent awakens with memory loss in small town, the residents of which offer little more than a smile and from which any communication or escape attempt fails; indeed, something fishy is happening when he learns from the bartender of his dead colleague who had been assigned to find, and even fishier when he meets another partner, only more advanced in her years than possible.
#41: The Investigation - Philippe Claudel (4/5)
French fiction, new (Neilson-Hayes library sale), keep
I thought this'd be yet another amorphous, ill-intent company book (this time called The Firm), but the actual plot of the story follows the unlucky Investigator as he tries to start his investigation into The Firm's suicides, only to be met with one absurd situation after another and another, a series which tickles the funny bone.
#42: Lost Horizon - James Hilton (2.5/5)
Fiction, new (Neilson-Hayes library sale), discard
Written in 1933, this novel carries with it the sense of the great British Empire and its sense of adventure, though the latter eclipses the former as the stiff language adds layers of boredom to a scene that could evoke much more awe that what's presented; indeed, the supernatural conclusion is a further let-down.
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