Reviewing the First 10 Books Read of 2021
The X’s are my Sexxy rating system. XXX is the highest rating.
Book 1: The Stand by Stephen King
Reread | Audio
Finished: 1.11.21
Book Synopsis: M-O-O-N spells deadly virus pandemic wipes out humanity; epic good vs evil end of days battle. AKA, 2020
My Synopsisexxy: Epic storytelling. Though some aspects of the book don’t resonate well now, this is still one of my favorite novels—all-time, and SK
Rating: XXX
Book 2: Airframe by Michael Crichton
Audio
Finished: 1.24.21
Book Synopsisexxy: Mysterious plane crash from Hong Kong to Denver—94 injured, 3 dead. Female protagonist who works for the airplane manufacturer must solve the mystery of the crash all while avoiding shadow threats, industrial espionage and shady coworkers.
My Synopsisexxy: It was ok. Not one of my faves. But I’m not sure if that’s b/c it was audio and I listened while I was working and my mind wandered a lot, or b/c it just wasn’t that great. I will have to read the physical book. Or listen again but when I can focus more on it.
Rating: X 1/2
Book 3: Star Wars: Dark Force Rising (Thrawn Trilogy.2) by Timothy Zahn
Reread | Audio
Finished: 1.28.21
Book Synopsis: Epic SW trilogy that follows Return of the Jedi. All the original characters are there; Luke, Leia, Han, Lando, Chewbacca, C-3PO, R2-D2. And some fantastic news characters; Admiral Thrawn, Mara Jade, Talon Karrde, and more!
My Synopsisexxy: If you love SW you will LOVE this series. I LOVE SW.
Rating: XXX
Book 4: Armada by Ernest Cline
Audio
Finished: 1.29.21
Book Synopsis: If the movie “The Last Starfighter” mated with the movie “Pixels”, Armada would be the love child.
My Synopsisexxy: The premise should have made this an enjoyable and fun read. Though it was fun, it lacked sorely in substance. IDK if it was b/c it was audio and I was working while listening, and therefore didn’t absorb the material well, but it felt disjointed. Because I enjoyed and loved Ready Player One so much, I was expecting more from this book.
Rating: X 1/2
Book 5: The Case of the Missing Marquess (Enola Holmes.1)
Paperback
Finished: 1.30.21
Book Synopsis: Younger sister of Sherlock & Mycroft Holmes engages in sleuthing shenanigans and hijinks.
My Synopsisexxy: Another cool concept that was a bit of a let down. I watched the Netflix movie adaption and thought it brilliant. So I was super excited to read this book. I wanted to love it, but sadly only liked it. I think maybe b/c it was the first book in the series and therefore a building block. I will definitely read the subsequent novels in the series. If books 2 & 3 are meh, I will probably forego the remaining books in the series.
Rating: X 1/2
Book 6: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Reread | Audio
Finished: 2.3.21
Book Synopsis: YA dystopian nerd, and gamers wet dream with a lot of 80’s & 90’s references.
My Synopsisexxy: This is just a fun as fu(k and enormously enjoyable read. As a nerd it checks off all the boxes on a nerdy checklist; anti-social, 80’s & 90’s references to cartoons, toys, video games, comic books, books, movies and music. Classic underdog David vs Corporate asshat Goliath in an über virtual reality world, story.
Rating: XX 1/2
Book 7: In the Woods by Tana French
Audio
Finished: 2.15.21
Book Synopsis: Ireland Murder detectives with lovely Irish baroque’s investigate a grisly murder of a young girl.
My Synopsisexxy: I love a good murder mystery/crime drama, and this was a good one. My one complaint is that it felt like too much was going on. To the point I felt lost at times. But that may have been b/c it was audio and while I was working.
It was like a Guinness—stout and filling. (Shameless Irish simile. It was shyte. I regret nothing)
I did like it enough to add the second book in the series to my TRL.
Rating: XX
Book 8: Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Sexxy Read-along | Ebook
Finished: 2.15.21
Book Synopsis: If the book, “Rebecca” mated with the movie “Gaslight”, Mexican Gothic would be the love child. Female protagonist’s slow descent into madness from being driven mad by a man (naturally).
My Synopsisexxy: Loved this book! Deliciously creepy, dark and foreboding. The book exudes the same dark and ominous atmosphere of supernatural mystery thriller as the aforementioned book & movie. I love the main protagonist, Noemí. Morena-Garcia does an amazing job of crafting a suspenseful plot and strong character driven story. It was a tense, riveting, engrossing and addictive story that had me saying—despite my eyes being heavy with sleep—“just one more page. One more chapter...”
Rating: XX 1/2
Book 9: Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi & Yusef Salaam
Hardcover
Finished: 2.21.21
Book Synopsis: “A powerful YA novel in verse about a boy who is wrongfully incarcerated.”
My Synopsisexxy: A timely and poignant story written in beautiful lyrical prose. Zoboi and Salaam (of the Central Park Five now Exonerated Five) offer readers a glimpse of the stark contrast of our justice system and how it treats whites and non-whites. Written from the perspective of the protagonist in prose. It’s so beautifully written. Heartbreaking, real, and hopeful.
Rating: XXX
Book 10: Eternity’s Wheel (InterWorld.3) by Neil Gaiman, Michael Reaves, Mallory Reaves
Audio
Finished: 2.22.21
Book Synopsis: YA sci-fi novel about saving the InterWorld, multiverse and “everything in between”.
My Synopsisexxy: 1 kid, Joey Harker, from our earth, has doppelgängers all over the multiverse. They all have the same name but with various spellings, and physical iterations. They all are part of the InterWorld task force that protects InterWorld and the multiverse. There’s time travel, space travel, magic, science, aliens, binary entities, and a lot of confusion. The first two books were quite enjoyable. I don’t know if it’s b/c it’s been years since I read book 2 and subsequently lost interest, or b/c it was audio, or both, but this finale was not as enjoyable.
Rating: X
