Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering? 2.0

Books, Films, and DVDs enjoyed (or not) this month:

♦♦♦♦♦ = Excellent! Highly Recommended. If there’s an added “+” then you know you can’t miss!

♦♦♦♦ = Not bad. Missing some key elements that would’ve made it better.

♦♦♦ = Meh. Nice filler. Take it or leave it.

♦♦ = Danger, Will Robinson.

♦ = Holy Crap! How did this ever see the light of day?

These ratings are, of course, based on personal preferences as well as professional opinion. So…here ya go!

PICK OF THE MONTH

BOOK

• The Ghost Brigades – Science Fiction – John Scalzi ♦♦♦♦♦+ This fast-paced interstellar military drama meets and exceeds the high expectations set by its predecessor, Scalzi’s acclaimed Old Man’s War (2005). Shifting focus from seniors in young bodies to infants in old bodies, it follows Jared Dirac, a superhuman soldier, from unusual birth to ambiguous death. Dirac is an altered clone of Charles Boutin, a military scientist who betrayed humankind to alien aggressors, and the Colonial Defense Forces’ only hope of finding Boutin lies in transplanting his memories into Dirac’s brain. When the transplant seems to fail, Dirac is sent to Special Forces, known as the Ghost Brigades for their habit of creating new soldiers from the DNA of the dead. His indoctrination there comes in handy when Boutin’s memories begin to surface. Scalzi pays gleeful homage to Ender’s Game, The Forever War and Starship Troopers. A brilliant concept, brilliantly executed. Highly recommended. (Shannon, I definitely recommend this series for you! )
• The Broken Window – Thriller – Jeffrey Deaver ♦♦♦♦♦+  In bestseller Deaver’s entertaining eighth Lincoln Rhyme novel (after The Cold Moon), Rhyme, a forensic consultant for the NYPD, and his detective partner, Amelia Sachs, take on a psychotic mastermind who uses data mining—the business of the twenty-first century—not only to select and hunt down his victims but also to frame the crimes on complete innocents. Rhyme is reluctantly drawn into a case involving his estranged cousin, Arthur, who’s been charged with first-degree murder. But when Rhyme and his crew look into the strange set of circumstances surrounding his cousin’s alleged crime, they discover tangential connections to a company that specializes in collecting and analyzing consumer data. Further investigation leads them to some startlingly Orwellian revelations: Big Brother is watching your every move and could be a homicidal maniac. The topical subject matter makes the story line particularly compelling, while longtime fans will relish Deaver’s intimate exploration of a tragedy from Rhyme’s adolescence.  If you’ve ever wondered or been even the slightest bit paranoid about your identity being stolen, this  book will keep you up at night.  One of the best of Deaver’s long career.

JUNE READS

• The Pact – Drama – Jodi Picoult ♦♦♦♦
• Now You See Him – Drama – Eli Gottlieb ♦♦♦
• The Ghost Brigades – Science Fiction – John Scalzi ♦♦♦♦♦+
• The Tower of Shadows – Fantasy – Drew Bowling ♦♦½
• The Blue Religion – Mystery – Various (Anthology) ♦♦♦
• Odd Hours – Supernatural Suspense – Dean Koontz ♦♦♦♦♦
• The Legend of Colton H. Bryant – Non-Fiction – Alexandra Fuller ♦♦♦
• The Broken Window – Mystery – Jeffrey Deaver ♦♦♦♦♦+
• Wolf at the Table – Non-Fiction – Augusten Burroughs ♦♦♦♦

UPCOMING READS

• Flesh and Spirit – Fantasy – Carol Berg
• Breath and Bone – Fantasy – Carol Berg
• The Wise Man’s Fear – Fantasy – Patrick Rothfuss
• Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines – Non-Fiction – Nic Sheff
• The Reapers – Thriller – John Connolly
• Where Did I Leave My Glasses? - Non-Fiction – Martha Weinman Lear
• Child of God – Drama – Cormac McCarthy
• The Border Trilogy – Drama – Cormac McCarthy
• In Odd We Trust – Supernatural Suspense/Graphic Novel – Dean Koontz
• The Boy Who Killed Caterpillars – Drama – Joshua Kornreich
• The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread – Drama – Don Robertson
• Butcher Bird – Fantasy – Richard Kadrey
• Letter From Point Clear – Drama – Dennis McFarland
• The Killing Moon – Thriller – Chuck Hogan

JUNE DVDs and FILMS

• Friday Night Lights: Season 1 – Drama ♦♦♦♦♦
• Friday Night Lights: Season 2 – Drama ♦♦♦♦♦
• OT: Our Town – Documentary ♦♦♦♦♦

UPCOMING DVDs and FILMS

• The Golden Compass – Fantasy
• Charlie Wilson’s War – Historical Drama
• The Kite Runner - Drama
• Into The Wild – Drama
• The Brave One – Thriller
• War, Inc. – Political Comedy
• Star Trek XI - Sci-Fi
• Batman: The Dark Knight – Action/Adventure
• X-Files: I Want To Believe – Drama/Sci-Fi
• Rambo – Action/Adventure
• The Lost Boys 2: The Tribe – Horror
• The Tracy Fragments – Independent Drama
• Stop Loss – Drama
• Dark Knight – Action/Adventure