Everything's Eventual by Stephen King

Fiction
Paperback
464 Pages
2002

Yes, that is right. All I am reading is Stephen King and Terry Pratchett. It is good stuff.

Continuing into my re-reads of Stephen King I found a good collection of King's stuff for cheap in a bookstore. My hey day of reading King was through the early 90's and this hadn't come out so I decided to try a new book.

This is a collection of short stories. King starts the book with an introduction on how the art of the short story is dying and that he enjoys them. These stories are a collection of things released over the last 20 years or so. I had only read one before, The Little Sisters of Elyria.

My favorites include: The Man in the Black Suit, a story about a old man telling a tale from his youth.  Everything's Eventual, A young man has the ability to kill people by writing them letters. He soon finds there are people willing to pay for an ability like that. That feeling, you can only say what it is in french,  A woman is on a car trip and starts having a distressing case deja vu. 1408,  Every writer has to have a story about a haunted hotel room, though I would argue he already did with The Shining. Riding the Bullet, A young man buys a painting at a garage sale and soon regrets his decision.

It is nice to be able to sit down and get an entire story in a short amount of time. They aren't all the greatest, but overall it was enjoyable. I have read other short story books by King and I would say I probably enjoyed the other a bit more overall, but this one was still worth my time.

2 Emotional/Intellectual - I admit a couple of the stories drew me in, but overall with short stories is hard to become invested.

4 Style/readability - King is easy author to read, but he doesn't dumb things down for us. It is often like having a storyteller right there for you.

2 Long Term Impact - King is one of the most famous writers of all time. Anything he writes will be influential for years to come. This will be one of his lesser read books.

8 out of 13. This feels right. Any fan would find this worth reading. If you are just trying king out I suggest some of his novels instead.

Keep Turning Pages

Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett

Fantasy Fiction
281 pages
Paperback
1988

I didn't read all these Pratchett books in a row, I am just catching up on my summer reading reviews. This book was released on a year after Mort and already the writing is improved.

We follow the actions of a coven of witches, Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Magrat, the young witch. The King is Dead and evil man has taken his place. The Kings ghost roams the castle trying to understand that he is really dead. The kingdom is upset. Not just the people in the kingdom, but the land itself. It rolls and grumbles, something isn't right. The Wyrd Sisters need to work to make things right.

This is the introduction to the witches story line that continues for many books. I had heard that this wasn't Pratchett's best work. Though, it may not be his best I really enjoyed it. Pratchett has a fun way of picking on people without coming off as mean.

3 Intellectual/Emotional - The witches are lovable and I am excited to read other things involving them.

3 Style/Readability - A good beginning to another Pratchett storyline. I look forward to more great writing.

4 Long Term -  I am not sure how many other books are in the series, but I know that the Witches are some of Pratchett's most loved characters. I am sure they will be loved for years to come.

10 out of 13. I think anyone looking for a light hearted fantasy read would enjoy this. Mandatory for a Pratchett fan.

Keep Turning Pages

Mort by Terry Pratchett

Fiction

Around 300 pages

Paperback

1987

I am slowly, but surely reading through all of Pratchett's book. I have always enjoyed the random appearances of Death and thought this would be a good one to dive into. 

Sometimes even Death needs a break. This is why he decides to get an apprentice. Mort needs a job and after everyone else is taken to their new careers, he is left alone in the square. When Death shows up and offers him the job he decides it is better than nothing.

We follow Mort as he is learning the tricks of the trade and also see what Death might do if he had a day off.

2 Intellectual/Emotional - Death is the best character in a book and the humor is worthwhile.

3 Style/Readability - This is still early in Pratchett's career. There is still great writing here, but not quite the greatness of his later work.

2 Long Term Impact - This will be overshadowed by his other work, but still worth reading for Pratchett fans, which really should be everyone.

8 of 13. That is a little harsh. I would give it a bonus point, but it just didn't stick out in anyway.

Keep Turning Pages

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

Non-Fiction

478 pages

Trade Paperback

2003

I had read A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson in the past and really enjoyed it. My wife had suggested reading this one as well and I finally got around to making it happen. I admit that the book didn't seem all that appealing, I was pleasantly surprised.

The book is really a study of the history of science. It starts by looking at who and how we discovered what we know about the universe. From there it starts to look at the earth and how it developed. Then it starts to look at things smaller than the eye can see. It starts to look at the development of life and eventually how we as humans are a part of all of that.

I was very engrossed with the beginning of the book. Bryson has a way of writing that is both easy to read, but also makes clear somewhat hard to understand ideas. He does this mostly through making comparisons, such as relating the size of our solar system to the map that hangs on every elementary classroom wall. If we were to really have it as displayed in the classroom the map would have to go on for miles.

I won't say I was surprised, but there is a tremendous amount of our scientific history that I knew very little about. I read with intense interest through the first 3 parts of the book. The scientific advances in understanding the atom. Making comparisons involving the molecule, cells, particles, and all the other tiny things that we can see really opened up my eyes, as it were.

The end of the book that focused on the evolution of life on earth and then focusing on human evolution was not quite as interesting, but maybe that was because I had a better understanding of this already.

5 Intellectual/Emotional - Unless you have a doctorate in scientific history I imagine there is something for you to learn from this book.

3 Style/Readability - Bryson ability to translate in layman's terms is a skill that is needed in a book like this. But I did start to lose interest towards the end.

2 Long Term Impact - I would hope that this will influence others writing about ideas, but I sort of doubt it will. That said I imagine he will influence those in the future and the information will always be worth a read even as time goes on and some of the ideas are proven wrong.

10 out of 13. I really didn't expect to like the book as much as I did. If you are looking for something that might educate you a bit this is a great place to start. I think anyone knowing what they are getting into would find this to be worthwhile.

Keep Turning Pages

On Deck: The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers