Tag / Brad Meltzer

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Book 16 (of 52) – The President’s Shadow

The President's Shadow - Brad Meltzer

The President’s Shadow – Brad Meltzer

After a 2 year hiatus, Brad Meltzer returns with the latest installment of his Culper Ring series.  In this installment, archivist Beecher White tries to find out the truth about his father’s death while working to keep the president safe from an unknown assailant.

Meltzer tweaks his formula of the little man going up against the Washington DC power structure, this time having Beecher more or less working with the government.  Similar to his last book, the one knock I have against this book is that it assumes that you have read the previous entries in the series, with little in the way of proper introduction for returning characters.  A perusal of the early reviews on Goodreads.com show that this was an issue for new readers.

I assume the next book in the series will be coming out sometime in 2017.  I’ll be waiting.

by admin

2013: The Year In Books

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With another year coming to an end, it is time to take a look back at the 18 books I read over the past year, 6 overall less than last year but the same total if you exclude the graphic novels.  Of those 18, 5 were non-fiction and, of the 13 novels, 5 were TV show tie-ins.  Only 3 of the books came from the “to-read” drawer, and 7 were e-books, which was a new category for me last year.

 

A majority of the books I read this year were by authors I’ve never read before.  The 11 authors that I read for the first this year were:
Alan Sepinwall
Joe Hill
Rebecca Forster
Sarah Silverman
Kimberly McCreight
Andrew Gross
Ben Mezrich
Tina Fey
Ron Rapoport
David Mack
Dustin Diamond

The ghost writer for Richard Castle was the only author I read multiple times in 2013.

The five books that I read this year that were released this year were Richard Castle’s Deadly Heat, Kimberly McCreight’s Reconstructing Amelia, Brad Meltzer’s The Fifth Assassin, Warren Ellis’ Gun Machine, and From Black Sox to Threepeats, edited by Ron Rapoport.

Finally, the breakdown by month.  Being off again for most of December certainly helped pad the total a tad bit.

Continue reading →

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Prolific Authors 2013

bookshelfWay back in December of 2011, I took our first look back at the authors I have read the most dating back to high school.  Since that time, I’ve read 34 books from 31 different authors.  I don’t think there is going to be much movement since then, but it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much in that time.  Once again, we will be limiting ourselves to the now 47 authors from whom I have read more than one book.

Author Name Current Total 2011 Total Difference
Nancy Holder 13 13 0
Christopher Golden 12 12 0

No change to these two, who owe their totals mostly to Buffy and Angel tie-in novels.

Greg Rucka 12 11 1
Stephen King 10 9 1

Both of these long time favorites increased their total by one book.  Rucka’s newest is due out next summer and is already pre-ordered.

Michael Jan Friedman 8 8 0
Brad Meltzer 8 7 1

Brad Meltzer pulls into a tie for the top 5 with another author of tie-in novels, mostly Star Trek: TNG and Lois & Clark. Continue reading →

by jim

Book 3 (of 52) – The Fifth Assassin

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The Fifth Assassin – Brad Meltzer

When I finished Brad Meltzer’s last book 2 years ago, I noted that the ending seemed rife for a follow-up.  His latest picks up the threads left behind and strings together another tale of Beecher White, the latest member of the fabled Culper Ring, as he tries to protect the man who has vowed to take him down: the President of the United States.

Meltzer again follows his formula of the little man going up against the Washington DC power structure, but it once again works for him.  The one knock I have against this book is that it assumes that you have read The Inner Circle, and read it recently.  This one throws you right into the action with little in the way of introduction for the returning characters.  Once you catch up with what’s going on, though, it is full speed ahead.

Judging from the ending, the story of Beecher White is destined to be a trilogy, so it looks like there will be another two year wait before we get the end of the story.

by admin

52 Books in 52 Weeks – 2013 Edition

It’s hard to believe, but it is time to start year four of the goal to read a book a week for the entire year, totaling 52 books in 52 weeks.  In year one, I only made it to 8 books.  Year two doubled that total.  Last year, thanks to the inclusion of graphic novels, I managed to improve again, finishing with 24, which was still short of the ultimate goal.  Judging by my totals thus far, I’m predicting 32 books for this year, since I seem to be going up by 8 every year.

I’m going to give it another shot this year.  I got a few new books for laying around, so I’ve got a pile to start with.  As a reminder, the rules I am using are:

  • You can count a book as read as long as you have completed the book in 2012 and at least 50% of that reading takes place in 2012
  • Any book counts as long as you’re not embarrassed to count it.
  • Poetry collections do indeed count.
  • Re-reading a book is okay as long as it isn’t done this year. (Reading Twilight twice in 2010 only counts as 1 read)
  • Audiobooks also count.

Thanks to my new iPad and the Kindle app, eBooks will be part of the equation this year, and my first book of the year may end up being the Screech autobiography by Dustin Diamond that I picked up electronically for $0.99.  There is also a new Brad Meltzer novel coming out in a few weeks that I’d like to get my hands on.

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Prolific Authors

Since I haven’t finished a book in a while (although I should get one done soon), I thought I would take a look back at the authors I have read the most.  Since I started keeping track, I have read books by 181 different authors, but we will only be looking at those whom I have read more than once.

Author Name Total
Nancy Holder 13
Christopher Golden 12

Most, if not all of these are due to Buffy and Angel tie-in novels.

Greg Rucka 11
Stephen King 9

Strange that these two are bunched together, as I have read all of Rucka’s non-tie-in work, and I haven’t read anything by King in years. That may change next year, though. Continue reading →

by admin

Book 8 (of 52) – The Inner Circle

The Inner Circle - Brad Meltzer

Brad Meltzer returns with another tale of an ordinary guy who gets swept up into an extraordinary situation.  This time, the guy is a archivist for the National Archives and the situation involves a girl from his past, the President, the secret cabal of insiders protecting his secrets, and the other secret cabal protecting the nation’s secrets.

For a 450 page book, this was a quick and exciting read.  Meltzer certainly has a formula, but it is one he uses to great effect.  The ending certainly seems to leave things open for a follow-up, which, according to Meltzer’s appearance on the Nerdist podcast, we have to wait at least 2 years for.  Personally, I think it is worth the wait.

Taking an overall look at the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge, I have once again fallen considerably behind.  But, I have already tied last year’s mark of 8 books, so I am far ahead of the pace.  I think I’ll end up somewhere around 20, which isn’t great, but better than the 1-3 books per year I’d been reading before the challenge.