Mike's Books

  Hella by David Gerrold 3 Stars Hella is an interesting story set sometime in the future of an earth colony living on a distant planet where everything is really big. But while the story is entertaining and the writing is good, it just didn’t grab me. It’s clearly a young adult book but isn’t billed that way at all that I can see. And there are some aspects of the book that I found particularly troubling. One other reviewer described Hella as having a “social structure that has evolved past where we are now in terms of gender and sexuality.” I’m not sure evolved is the word I would use though. In this world, people are able to change their gender back and forth at will, and they often do so when they are very young children. It seems to me that issues of gender identity are far deeper than wanting to be like an older sibling or wanting to pee standing up (which were the reasons for a very early-life gender change for the book’s hero). And by the end of the book the 13-year-old hero ha

The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington   by   Brad Meltzer   and Josh Mensch   4 Stars   I found The First Conspiracy to be a very interesting account of a little known and seldom written about aspect of the American Revolution: a British plot to turn colonists (and especially colonial soldiers) to the British side and (possibly at least) to capture and perhaps kill George Washington and other colonial generals.   I won the book in a Goodreads giveaway, so first of all I’d like to thank Goodreads, the publisher, and the author for a chance to read and review the book.  When I entered the giveaway I didn’t realize that this was a “Young Reader’s Edition” of the book.  I was apprehensive when I first saw that but still found the book very interesting and informative.  The only major concession to “Young Reader’s” I noted was the very short chapters.   Highly recommended. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44280876-the-first-conspiracy https://www.book

Widows (Dolly Rawlins #1) by   Lynda La Plante   4 Stars   Widows is a terrific crime thriller, where the heroines are three recently widowed women who come together to attempt the robbery their husbands died trying to pull off.  It starts a little slow and dragged for me a bit by the time I was about halfway through, but it finishes with a bang.  Can’t wait for the sequel!