More New Books

More new books that I have been voraciously reading lately. I keep picking them up.Star Trek: A Flag Full of Stars by Brad Ferguson. This is the second book in The Lost Years saga between the end of the five-year mission and the start of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. This one wasn't anywhere near as good as the first in the series but it was worth reading. Another really really slow start but the climax was good. Kind of makes me timid to start the third and last book in the series, but all three are by different authors. No Spock or Bones, but I guess that really does play into how ST:TMP starts. Also, did you know Kirk was married before the movies? Makes a good argument on how he became an admiral, something Spock said later being "a waste of material" and "a mistake to accept promotion." That's the one thing I really like about some of these Star Trek novels, finding more itty bitty character development things and how the rest of Trekkies interpret it.
MechWarrior: Roar of Honor by Blaine Lee Pardoe. I like picking up these BattleTech books from the library, as they are apparently out of print now. Plus, I would hate to pay $8 for one. Free at the library is the perfect price (which is probably why they don't make them anymore, another strange problem between the price of paperbacks that I have talked about before when I mentioned the John Constantine: Hellblazer novel a while ago). Anyway, this one was a simplistic story about a regiment of the Mechwarriors having to hold their own on a remote world. I just like the concept about these science fiction robotic machines piloted by people and fighting. I love Robotech and Voltron and this is up the same alley, sort of. I especially like these novels because you can pick them up and put them down anytime an each is completely self-sufficient.
The Invaders Plan by L. Ron Hubbard. All right, I hate myself for this one, but I don't care. There's a long story behind this one. The summer before I was a freshman in high school, they had this ten book series at the Somonauk Public Library. I remember picking up the first one because it looked like a cool science fiction book and the fact that they barely had anything in that library, one small room that was still in the police station building. I tried reading it then but I never finished it and I never picked up any of the others in the series. Looking back, I always, for some reason, wanted to read them, just because they're science fiction and looked cool. I attributed not finishing it to the fact that it was about 550 pages, which was huge to me back then (even though later that same year I read It by Stephen King, clocking in at well over 1,000 pages, so it couldn't have been the length). Now I just know that it is a horrible book. I picked it up again, this time at the Normal Public Library, thinking I could do the ten-book series now. No. It is absolute garbage. I only read 490 pages--that close to being done and I just could not read anymore of it. It was one of those books that I picked up and literally fell asleep five pages later. I literally read myself to sleep every single time I picked it up. I would pick up another book inbetween and I would not fall asleep. It was this book. The story is so slow, about an alien culture wanting to infiltrate and conquer Earth. However, the characters are cliched and trite and the situations boring beyond belief. Horrible. Terrible. Sucks, actually. I can't believe I wasted time reading it but I guess I had to prove it to myself before I just completing abandoned the idea.
A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning and A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket. My daughter Morgan has read this entire series and, as I was looking for a series after the horrible Hubbard catastrophe, I wanted something simple and good, plus I need to read more Young Adult literature to connect with my students. The first one was excellent. These are books that you can read fast and easily and have really good climaxes. I can see that as being one of the biggest draws to these books, the good climax. The Reptile Room wasn't as good as the first one but still a good read. I have picked up the next few from the library and will try to get through the entire series. I like reading these for some insights into Young Adult literature and what kids like to read. They are just fun books.