Stephen Graham Jones - The Buffalo Hunter Hunter

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

First hundred pages, this book was 5 Stars, next hundred, 4 Stars and down from there.
This is a hefty book at well over 400 pages and it has so much Native American vernacular and general dense writing that you have to really focus so it's slow going.

Pros:
- Incredibly inventive story/plotline
- Visual writing for most of the book, you can picture it easily

Cons:
- Meandering timeline made it hard to follow
- Way too ambitious, it needs to lose 100 pages and a chunk of story

I can't recommend it as a read but man it could be a cool movie.


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Wally Lamb - The River is Waiting

The River Is Waiting by Wally Lamb
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A very solid 4.

A powerful novel that hit me hard as a father. Redemption never really comes into play but dances along in your peripheral vision. Punishment and regret are at the top. I could relate (in a much milder way than what the protagonist did) to a powerful mistake but being the one away from the epicenter and not left behind. Those are two very different experiences and it's devastating to any relationship because of the gulf between them. The ending made me cry. A great piece of literature.

Why not a 5?
1. It was a tad too long at 460ish pages, while it didn't necessarily feel too long, it certainly could have lost a little bit of weight here and there.
2. The beginning, while short, wasn't that great but it more than made up for it.
3. The plot twist felt uncalled for when it happened, but the author pulled out of that nosedive like a pro. Why did I count off for it? I still don't necessarily like it.
4. There was a bizarre one page (maybe two, I don't have the book in front of me) aside? I don't even know what to call it. But it was confusing and 100% unnecessary.



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Ian Bogost - The Small Stuff

The Small Stuff: How to Lead a More Gratifying Life by Ian Bogost
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

1 rounded up to 2 because it was a small and short book.

The writing is clear but there wasn't really any advice on how to gain more gratification. It was just example after example of losing gratifying experiences.
Maybe I missed something. Either way, this should have been a blog post, not even an article.

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Joshilyn Jackson - Missing Sister

Missing Sister by Joshilyn Jackson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

It was ok. Could have been better. Despite being a, thankfully, short book, it seemed to drag on by constantly ruminating on her sister and her death. Yes, I'm aware that's what drives the book, but to be reminded of it nearly every page was laborious.

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Lisa Jackson - Not What it Seems

Not What It Seems by Lisa Jackson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I'm rounding it up to 2 stars because it's not really terrible. I actually didn't finish it, and I rarely post my DNFs as complete but in this case, I read nearly all of it. The idea behind the book was pretty solid. It was just poorly executed. I wonder if the author, who's written nearly 100 novels has a team or interns. This was written as if an amateur did it. Odd exclamation marks, simple mistakes (SCAD as Savannah School of Arts and Design) Wouldn't that be SSAD?? Anyway, it wasn't compelling enough for me to push through to 400 pages. I do think with a really good screenwriter it could be made into a decent movie.

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One of the few remaining good things about America is no more.

RIP Dolly 

Douglas Stuart - John of John

John of John by Douglas Stuart
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I really disliked this book.

It was rated relatively highly and had some nice blurbs but I don't get it.
- It's long by at least 100 pages.
- It reads slow as molasses in Antarctica
- Most of the characters are unlikeable (some of this is not their fault)
- It's set in 1990s rural Scotland so there's so much vernacular that goes undefined. I don't mind looking up an occasional word but this book simply wasn't good enough for me to do it every few pages.

Hard, hard pass on this one.


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