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troysennett's reviews
346 reviews
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
2.5
I read Angels and Demons when Elliot was born because it seemed like I might need something silly and brainless as I adjusted to becoming a parent. Taking this one to the hospital with me for the birth of our second is a bit of a personal in-joke, and I plowed through it before we even got discharged. I've got some stylistic issues with Brown — the perspective changes come a little too fast and hard in the first half, with essential information left out seemingly at random just for later reveals, and it all starts feeling pretty contrived by the final act. Hard to argue with the pace and the cultural impact this had though.
James by Percival Everett
4.0
A remarkable exploration of code-switching, the performance of identity, and the power of language to confirm and subvert expectations.
Someone Who Isn't Me by Geoff Rickly
3.0
I guess I shouldn't be surprised that Geoff Rickly is a great writer, but I kind of am. His prose is just as effective as his lyrics. Someone Who Isn't Me lives in a really strange space between fiction and memoir, where truth seems like a secondary concern. It's a little frustrating as a huge fan of the band — I want more actual detail about the making of the albums because I find that stuff interesting, but that's obviously not the story that he's interested in telling. I do wonder how this reads to someone who isn't familiar with the band and the story of Collect Records. Like, how odd would it be that Martin Shkreli, of all people, just shows up for a minute?
Fire & Blood: 300 Years Before a Game of Thrones (a Targaryen History) by George R.R. Martin
2.0
Took me almost two months due to going back to work after paternity leave, and it was kind of a slog outside of the Dance of Dragons parts. HBO definitely picked the right parts of it to focus on for the adaptation.
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
3.0
More of a short story collection than I expected, but Bradbury captures that feeling of waking up to the world and starting to understand your place in it as perfectly as anyone ever has.
The Starved Rock Murders by Steve Stout
2.0
Written by a local reporter shortly after the events, so it doesn't have the new information that came up around the HBO series and people digging into this case again over the past few years. I love rural Illinois history, so that aspect of it worked for me, but it's pretty dry around the trial (all books like this are) and has this thesis about how this investigation changed homicide investigation forever but doesn't really dig into that as much as I would have liked.
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
2.0
My first Hemingway. I had avoided him for years because the person who was probably most influential on my tastes hated him, and I think she was probably right. Didn't really enjoy his prose style or these characters much at all, and it doesn't help that I read a far superior World War 1 novel a few months ago. The ending was brutal and also maybe not what I wanted to read while my wife was pregnant.
Cherish the First Six Weeks: A Plan That Creates Calm, Confident Parents and a Happy, Secure Baby by Helen Moon
Baby prep.
In retrospect, this set some unrealistic expectations for me, but it still had a lot of good information.
In retrospect, this set some unrealistic expectations for me, but it still had a lot of good information.