What I'm Reading - September 2014

I've been reading a lot recently! Here is the next installment of what has been on my Kindle these past few months.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

I actually read this book a really long time ago and didn't take the time to write about it here, so I've probably forgotten some things about it.  I remember liking this book overall - it's kind of a fantastical look at the modern world.  There were some twists that I didn't see coming, and by the climax of the story I was definitely sucked in, but the beginning was a bit slow going for me.  Recommended, but probably a bit long for some people.

The Fracking King by James Browning

I got this book as part of the Kindle preview program, where Kindle users get a free download of one of four books each month.  It was a very easy read, but not very well written, and not the world's most engaging story.  The characters weren't very deep, but I would say this is good beach reading - light and easy but not super deep.  The whole premise of the book as well was a bit strange, and not necessarily very realistic.

The Barkeep by William Lashner

This was another book I got from Kindle First.  Like the one discussed above, it was very light reading - not super compelling, but also interesting enough that I read the whole thing.  It was an easy read, and I got through it very quickly.  Recommended for beach reading (not till next year, I guess) or reading while drinking.  Interestingly, each chapter is named after a different cocktail.  It would be fun to play a drinking game with this one, and it goes by so quickly that it would be easy to get really wasted while reading.

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

I read this in translation from the original French, obviously, but I got it for free since it is in the public domain, and I'm not sure of the translator.  This book has a plot that is generally exciting, especially since I had never seen the movie and generally didn't know what it was about.  However, in my opinion, it was far too long, and I got really bored about 1/3 of the way through and stopped reading it for a few months.  When I came back to it, I read another third before getting upset about one plot point - at one point, the story's hero rapes a girl, and it is presented as really no big deal, whatever, hahaha.  This bothered me a lot, and so I took another break from reading it.  In the end, I just finished it so I could be done with it.  But it is a good story, so I would perhaps recommend watching the movie or something like that, so you can get the benefit of the story without the long-windedness or the nonchalant rape.