Vacation Wrap-Up Part 2!

This is the second part to my vacation wrap-up with the normal novels I read this past week. There is a video for this as always if you’d rather listen than read, channel is linked on the side bar!

    The first novel I finished was more an collection, The Whole Art of Detection by Lindsey Faye. I loved this. We all know I love Sherlock Holmes stories, the originals and the adaptations. Characters similar to him or inspired by him. I’m down for all that. I think if you’re looking for something that really does the original stories honor and respect and gives you more adventures without doing something hugely different this is what you want. A good chunk, if not all, of these have been published in the Strand Magazine previously (which makes me want a subscription with a passion if this is the quality of stuff they’re putting out). These stories give us more Sherlock, adding little details and more depth to the dynamic duo’s relationship that I didn’t know I needed till now. Really, if you love the originals I highly, highly recommend this.

Next I picked up another one of the background filler stories from the new Star Wars canon with Guardians of the Whills by Greg Rucka. This, like The Perfect Weapon, a few weeks ago is not something I say is absolutely necessary but a really fun way to dip in and get more background. It follows Baze and Chirrut on Jedah prior to the events of Rogue One and kind of gives you a background on how they know Saw Gerrera. It’s a younger age group kind of book so it’s also a quick read. I enjoyed it and do recommend it for younger readers or anyone who really wants to get their hands on as much Star Wars as they can.

   Finally I read another book for younger readers with Jack and the Geniuses : At the Bottom of the World by Bill Nye the Science Guy and Gregory Mone. I think this one was a good, but not perfect read. This follows Jack and his two foster siblings who have managed to work it out so they live on their own, supervised only by a representative from the foster system. This was probably the most unbelievable part of this book, and these kids did some cool stuff. They become involved with a tech guru and end up in Antarctica to help judge a competition for water filtration. There was some clunky parts and some stilted dialogue here, but once you got used to it it was a fun and rather engaging read! I’ll definitely be picking up book two. Probably my favorite part about this was the science which is explained at the end, all of it seeming to draw from real life people/experiments/developments. This is a book I wish I’d had as a kid. I also would note that though his foster siblings are geniuses Jack himself is not. This means that as the narrator the story is more approachable and I think would be great for kids, even those who don’t like science. This was a super cool read.

A pretty good bunch overall! I say pick up all three of these if you find them interesting, I really enjoyed them. Tried them? Have thoughts? Let me know!