On Reading (#3)

Round 3 of book reviews:

The Truth by Terry Pratchett
Would Recommend If: you like books, stories about the news, or Terry Pratchett.
I'll admit it: I am addicted to reading discworld books. They're clever and hilarious and I love how the world has developed over the series and ... GAH IT'S JUST SO GREAT. The Truth is no exception - you get a glimpse of a side of Ankh-Morpork that we don't often see (pre-industrial revolution, at least), and a glimpse into what the rest of the city is like outside the University and the City Watch (which will always and forever be my favorite books, with Tiffany Aching and the Moist Von Lipwig coming in distant 2nd and 3rd). Realizing now that this won't make much sense if you haven't read any discworld books. You should read some.

Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett
Would Recommend If: same as above, except replace news with witches and theater.
I really wasn't kidding, I'm trying to read all of the discworld books. After completely skipping the Witches books first time around, I'm diving in with Wyrd Sisters. Which is basically any Shakespeare play told from the perspective of the witches. Loved this, and loved learning more about Lancre.

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu
Would Recommend If: you like time travel but don't like science fiction.
To be completely honest, I was disappointed by this book. It had so much promise - but did not deliver. I wish there had been much more time travel things and much less existential crisis things. The main character is a Time Travel Technician. HOW COOL IS THAT? But we barely see him do his job before he loses his mind and we're forced to go with him. I barely made it all the way though this book.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia
Would Recommend If: you liked the Mortal Instruments series? I don't know. Maybe if you kinda liked Twilight but didn't really?
I don't know why I keep on subjecting myself to poorly executed YA paranormal romance series, but I do. The idea for this book was AWESOME: magic that turns you good or evil on your 16th birthday and all of it set in the deep south. And this book stays nicely away from a lot of YA romance tropes: has a male narrator, no love triangle, everything isn't magically 100% OK at the end of the book. But ... I don't know what it was that made me so frustrated with this book. It might've been the pacing or the fact that it is verrrry obvious that whoever wrote the book has never lived in the south and doesn't know a whole lot about how people talk/act. I bought the 2nd in the series, so I'll probably try reading it, but I really don't have much hope for it.

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton
Would Recommend If: I have no idea, really. This book is not something I'd normally read, so I don't have a whole lot to compare it with.
This book was really interesting and a bit out of my comfort zone. I don't normally read World War II mysteries, but my mom enjoyed it and suggested I read it, so I did. I liked the structure of the book and I liked where she took it - not where I thought it was going to go, but a more realistic idea of what happened to people who lived in London during the Blitz. War torn London has always been fascinating to me and this book has re-piqued my interest. I'll definitely be reading more of this sort of book, and I'd probably pick up another book by Morton.