Steve's Book Stuff

Read my full review here.

Find my full review here.

Read my full review here.

An interesting and readable overview of the UFO phenomenon and the search for intelligent life in the universe, but ultimately it disappointed me. The author maintains a “just the facts” journalistically neutral approach, which can at times frustrate, and the book lacks a coherent arc. Find the full review on my newsletter.

Invisible Trillions is a timely and important book for anyone interested in the problems of our modern system of capitalism, its lack of transparency, its embrace of secrecy, and, above all, the challenges it poses to democracy itself. Find my full review here.

A quick read and an important book providing the first-hand account of the January 6th riot from the viewpoint of one of those who defended our Capital. Find the full review on my newsletter.

The book follows a single ship from commissioning to sinking and beyond. That approach is unique (at least in my experience) and made a great frame for Palin’s storytelling. If you are not familiar with the Ross or Franklin expeditions then this Michael Palin's Erebus would serve as an excellent introduction. Find the full review on my newsletter.

Broadway Butterfly novelizes an unsolved murder from the 1920s and tracks its shady characters all the way to the White House. Find the full review on my newsletter.

An excellent biography of Samuel Adams. The book drags just a bit in the middle but is nevertheless a compelling read for what it reveals about how the American Revolution was birthed. Find my full review on my newsletter.

The latest Murderbot Diaries novel by Martha Wells is out today, and so is my review. I found the story to be an excellent evolution of Murderbot's journey, and a great addition to the series.

The latest book in the Murderbot Diaries series is out next week, and I was fortunate enough to snag an advanced copy to read and review. But first I needed to catch up on the series. Reviews of books 5 and 6 - Network Effect and Fugitive Telemetry - are up on my site today. Check them out!

RATING: Five Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Four Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

So enough about me. You can dive into the review at the link, and feel free to sign up there if you are interested in getting my book reviews in your inbox. I will be moving back to my (mostly) Tuesday and Thursday postings.

The third book in Neuvel's SFF 'Take Them to the Stars' trilogy. Love his books but this one let me down a bit - some plot holes, and I felt the ending didn't fully satisfy the build up from the first two books. And the hero of this book seemed less fully fleshed out than her predecessors. Nevertheless a fun read with a fantasy story line tied into real world events. Four Stars.

Read the rest of my review on my blog!

Right up front I want to tell you that this is not my usual read - it's a full-on romance novel. People have strong reactions to the romance genre - they either love romance books or they hate them. And I get that. The last romance novel I attempted to read was about a million years ago. In my teens one of my sisters left a romance novel, based in Australia's Outback, laying around the house. I was intrigued enough by the setting to give it a try. I was a rabid reader of American Westerns at the time and wondered how a book set in the Australian Outback would compare. But I didn't get far in the book - hated it in fact - and found that all that "bodice ripping" stuff was NOT for me. I do have to admit though that in my later years I've become a sucker for love stories - particularly gay love stories. Just not so much in my reading. The profusion of gay love stories on television and in movies over the last several years has been great to see. "Love, Simon" and "Heartstopper" and stories like them have caught my attention on the screen. A lot of the people who follow me on Bookstagram are big readers of gay romance, and I've seen KJ Charles' novels popping up quite a bit on Insta and the other socials. It was through those posts that I became interested in Charles' "Will Darling Adventure" series and thought that at some point I should give them a try. They are action-adventure stories while also being gay romances. So when a KJ Charles title showed up on NetGalley I decided to give it a try. It's not part of the Will Darling series, but is the first of a new series - the Doomsday Books. It's has turned out to be a good introduction to KJ Charles... Read more of my review of The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen on my blog. The book will be available this Tuesday, March 7th.