Book Review #746 - Pet Sematary by Stephen King

Sometimes dead is better....When the Creeds move into a beautiful old house in rural Maine, it all seems too good to be true: physician father, beautiful wife, charming little daughter, adorable infant son -- and now an idyllic home. As a family, they've got it all...right down to the friendly cat. But the nearby woods hide a blood-chilling truth -- more terrifying than death itself...and hideously more powerful.

My Rating: 3/5

This is my fourth Stephen King novel and even though I planned to read his works in publication order I caved as I felt like reading this one.

I watched the film adaptation of this book years ago and was rather disappointed by how much of the movie I remembered whilst reading this book.

The characters in this book had way more character development than the previous King books I have read especially with the Creed family as a whole.

Lou Creed constantly made questionable decisions throughout but I felt like I couldn't judge him for this as I wasn't completely sure that I would not have done the same thing had I been in those situations.

This book examines death in a very deep and unique way. The need to accept what is dead when there are options otherwise is a fascinating one no matter what the risks.

Book Review #745 - Soundless by Richelle Mead

For as long as Fei can remember, there has been no sound in her village, where rocky terrain and frequent avalanches prevent residents from self-sustaining. Fei and her people are at the mercy of a zipline that carries food up the treacherous cliffs from Beiguo, a mysterious faraway kingdom. 

When villagers begin to lose their sight, deliveries from the zipline shrink and many go hungry. Fei’s home, the people she loves, and her entire existence is plunged into crisis, under threat of darkness and starvation.

But soon Fei is awoken in the night by a searing noise, and sound becomes her weapon.

My Rating: 3/5

This book sounded so unique and of course being written by Richelle Mead I had to give it a go.

This book was set in China which I thought would have been an element I would enjoy as I don't think I have read many, if any books set there. However, I found that apart from the characters names the book could have been set literally anywhere in the world. There was no Chinese culture elements at all which was disappointing.

I liked the relationship between the protagonist and her sister although it felt like an overdone trope in YA literature where the protagonist has to save a sibling.

The main issue I had with this book was the lack of world building. I feel like Mead is used to writing long series and so is able to take her time with world building and so in this book it just never developed enough.

I did enjoy what little world building there was and I feel like this book had the potential outline to make a decent trilogy where things could have been built upon and not rushed. The amount of development needed to make a coherent story was too ambitious to fit into one small book.

Book Review #744 - Living in a Material World: George Harrison by Olivia Harrison, Mark Holborn, Paul Theroux and Martin Scorsese

Drawing on George Harrison’s personal archive of photographs, letters, diaries, and memorabilia, Olivia Harrison reveals the arc of his life, from his guitar-obsessed boyhood in Liverpool, to the astonishment of the Beatles years, to his days as an independent musician and bohemian squire. Here too is the record of Harrison’s lifelong commitment to Indian music, and his adventures as a movie producer, Traveling Wilbury, and Formula One racing fan. The book is filled with stories and reminiscences from Harrison’s friends, including Eric Clapton, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and many, many others. Among its previously unpublished riches are photographs taken by Harrison himself beginning in the mid-1960s. It is a rich tribute to a man who died far too young, but who touched the lives of millions.

My Rating: 4.5/5

I had just finished watching the documentary on Netflix that this book is a companion to when I discovered this book at my local library so of course I had to borrow it.

Firstly, George Harrison is my favourite Beatle and as I was quite young when he died and he is in no way as prevalent in pop culture as John Lennon I really enjoyed learning more about him the person rather than the quiet Beatle.

I loved that the book seemed to cover all aspects of his life without delving into the personal stuff and through that we got to see the many layers to his personality.