meg reads and reads

Title: The Martian Author: Andy Weir This was my second audiobook, and I enjoyed it immensely. This is very much a science science-fiction book, meaning that Weir is either a scientist by nature or did a ton of research for this book, but either way, it is realistic and compelling and absolutely mind-blowing. I know a lot of people have already read this or seen the movie. I had never read it and have not seen the movie, so all of this was a complete surprise to me. I had no idea what this was about or what was going to happen, and it was wonderful. Mark Watney is a botanist-turned-astronaut on the first manned-mission to Mars. After a mishap on Mars, his crew, thinking him dead, inadvertently leave him behind, and he is forced to figure out how to survive. He figures out how to grow potatoes on Mars, how to have continuous clean drinking water, how to make sure he doesn't run out out of air, and ultimately how to communicate with Earth to let them know, "Hey, I'...

Title: Maul: Lockdown Author: Joe Schreiber I guess this is one of the last books written before Disney acquired Star Wars and wiped out the Expanded Universe (EU) as canon. I was having a hard time finding a list of Star Wars canon books written in order (rather than in chronological order by timeline), so I just started with those published in 2014 and went from there. The book itself is basically interesting. We have Maul on a mission from his Sith Master, Darth Sidious, to infiltrate a prison and acquire a piece of technology from someone who is hiding in said prison (on such a level that he is nearly mythological) and deliver it to what is essentially a cult led by a former Jedi called the Bando Gora--all without using the Force. The former Jedi leader of the Bando Gora, Komari Vosa (a former apprentice of Dooku), is not Sith either. She's just something else. There's also a whole side plot about how Maul is being used as a chess piece by Darth Sidious and ...

Title: The Secret Garden Author: Jennifer Adams Being a mom is hard sometimes. Ora has been really difficult this evening. No matter what we did, we could not make her happy. She had a long nap. She didn't want dinner. She didn't want to be held. She didn't want anything. It was beyond frustrating, and I was starting to wonder if she didn't feel well. She eventually started watching Boss Baby and calmed down a bit. But as we started getting the kids ready for bed, I sat down with her and read this book. My mom bought Ora a set of these a while back, but she prefers the stuff her older brother looks at generally. She enjoyed reading it. She especially enjoyed the page about "Poppy"--the flower, of course. She calls her grandfather (my dad) "Poppy," so I'm sure that's what she was thinking about. She wanted to linger on that page, though, so we did. Reading to our children is so important. I don't just say that as a literatur...

Hi everyone! I posted a podcast today featuring Chelsea Effect's new song "The City" (out April 17). To hear it, please follow the link . You can also just search MBeckelhimer Book Reviews on whatever podcast app you choose to use, and it should come up. In the podcast, I discuss briefly reading Dr. Seuss to Ora and her "reading" it back to me. Here's a photo. And here's a photo taken after eating Chinese food with Mandi Perkins in NYC in 2011. The rest of my photos seem to be lost to time. I can't find them anywhere. I used to have photos of me with Anderson.Paak and his guitarist Jose Rios and everything, but I can't find them. Oh, well. Check out the podcast for the full story.

Title: Rose Madder Author: Stephen King I have complicated feelings about this one. I was a little disappointed after a couple of really awesome King novels, and this one ended up falling flat in a lot of ways. I think this is mostly because parts of it just seemed to drag out. I have seen other reviews of this book that thought it was good minus the fantasy element, and while the actual way the fantasy element enters the story a bit far-fetched, it's no more far-fetched than any other books or movies with the collision between "reality" and "fantasy." I honestly thought the fantasy portions were smart and are largely what ended up saving the story for me. The book centers around Rose, who has been married to Norman for about 14 years, and he is horribly abusive. Some of the descriptions of the abuse are graphic, including the description of when he caused her to have a miscarriage through one of his beatings. She finally gets up the nerve to leave him...

Title: Late Last Night Author: Lilian Darcy This was a lovely and quick read. It takes place in the '90s and centers around Kate, a high school teacher who is also a nearly full-time caregiver to her brother and sister-in-law's, like, one thousand kids or whatever. She is mentally exhausted and scattered and keeps getting speeding tickets, because she is so distracted as she drives home from work. Without giving too much away, especially since it's such a short book, there's a rather nicely written love story, but the plot culminates in a tragic event that takes place on the high school's prom night. This event only brings Kate and her love interest closer together. Then we fast forward almost 20 years, and we see a more modern version of this couple. I know this is book one of a series, and I am looking forward to the later books. I didn't realize that it is a tie-in to another book series by the same author, so I'm looking forward to getting aro...

Title: No Tomorrow Author: Luke Jennings Ho...ly....crap. If you refer back to my review of the first Killing Eve book , you will know that I was not a fan. And I'll have to say that, in spite of the fact that this book was altogether much better written than the first, I still wasn't feeling it at all. But the last third of the book really hooked me. I am absolutely obsessed now. I'm still in the middle of watching Season 2 of the show. I'm interested to see if they take this turn with it. If not, I'm still in. I'm still amazed that they turned such a mediocre Book 1 and turned it into one of the best shows I've ever watched. I really enjoyed how Jennings fleshed out the characters and finally brought them together. My head is still spinning. I don't know what to say! This was going to be a three-star book for me, but, like I said, the last third of the book really reeled me in. I have to give it four out of five stars. Well done, Mr. Jen...