All posts by Superfast Reader

Quintessence by David Walton

American Literature

Synopsis: In an alternate version of Europe during the pre-Elizabethan years, with the Inquisition raging in Spain, an alchemist and a scientist and a headstrong girl bonded to a magical creature travel to the edge of the world to find quintessence, a substance that can unlock the powers of the universe. Review: Quintessence was great fun, a novel that felt as deeply “researched” as any historical novel, and with a fully realized magical world that kept unfolding until the very last pages. Catherine, the girl…

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Bad Pharma by Ben Goldacre

American Literature 1 Comment

Synopsis: Subtitled: How Drug Companies Mislead Doctors and Harm Patients. Review: In Bad Pharma, just as he did in Bad Science, Ben Goldacre proves more than capable of making science accessible to non-science minded people like me. I do some work in the health care field, on a clinical level, but my ability to interpret research for myself isn’t as developed as I’d like it to be. I felt like I learned a lot about critical analysis, and finally I understand Relative Risk and the…

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The Daylight War by Peter V. Brett (The Demon Cycle, Book 3)

American Literature

Synopsis: As Ahmann Jardir amasses an army to fight the demon war he believes is coming soon, Arlen Bales refuses to be called the Deliverer even while the people around him beg for a hero to save them from Krasia and the threat coming up from the Core. Review: The Warded Man was such a strong debut that I will continue to believe in, support, and read Peter V. Brett–despite my disappointment with this third installment in a series I’m heavily invested in. The Daylight…

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Escape Theory by Margaux Froley

American Literature

Synopsis: After the apparent suicide of a popular senior, boarding school peer counselor Devon starts wondering if there was something more going on and decides to find out the truth about the boy she loved from afar. Review: Escape Theory is smart and well-written, with varied characters and an interesting setting. Devon is haunted by an encounter she had with Hutch, the suicide whose friends and girlfriend she’s now counseling, and because that one night stands out in her mind as a defining moment, she…

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A Thousand Pardons by Jonathan Dee

American Literature

Synopsis: When her marriage breaks apart after a spectacular midwife crisis, a mom discovers a natural talent for public relations. Review: A Thousand Pardons isn’t quite the fictional juggernaut its marketing copy made it out to be. It’s a mostly engaging character study that never quite pulled me in. It kept a certain level of distance from the reader, and that’s a technique that just doesn’t do it for me. Many thanks to Random House for the review copy.

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The Fate of Mercy Alban by Wendy Webb

American Literature

Synopsis: When her mother dies, a woman from a privileged family uncovers a family secret that threatens them all. Review: I had high hopes for The Fate of Mercy Alban, thinking it would be like a Kate Morton book only with ghosts. But I had to stop reading about three-quarters of the way through. I was already frustrated by the flatness of the characters and the plotting. I gave up when I was presented with an unpublished manuscript by a man who was supposed to…

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Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart by JD Greear

American Literature

Synopsis: Subtitled: How To Know You Are Really Saved. Review: Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart is written for evangelical Christians who wonder if “praying the sinner’s prayer” is enough for salvation. Greear offers a cogently written exegesis of the Reformed view of justification by grace through faith in Christ to deepen the believer’s theological understanding of the “once and for all” nature of salvation. My favorite example is this–if you want to know whether you sat down in a chair, you don’t look back…

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Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss

American Literature

Synopsis: Subtitled: “How the Food Giants Hooked Us.” Review: Salt Sugar Fat explores the processed food industry in such well-researched detail that anyone who reads it will no longer be able to view grocery store food as actual food. My family has been moving closer to a diet composed of real foods for quite some time now, but still have some dependence on packaged foods (especially cereal). While I don’t think I’ll ever achieve 100% homemade status, we are slowly but surely eliminating processed food…

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The Brain in Your Kitchen by David DiSalvo

American Literature

Synopsis: Subtitled: A Collection of Essays on How What We Buy, Eat, and Experience Affects Our Brains. Review: I read the essays in The Brain in Your Kitchen with interest, but have to admit I was disappointed that they weren’t expanded up on. It was just a collection of reprints–not that I had ever read them before, but I felt a little cheated. The essays were thought-provoking but the execution of the book itself felt more like an amuse bouche than a meal.

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The Shining by Stephen King

American Literature 1 Comment

Synopsis: Dysfunctional family gets collective ass kicked by haunted hotel. Review: I think The Shining is probably my favorite Stephen King book–and that includes the Dark Tower books. And I’m always tickled at how different it is from the Kubrick movie–and how I can love them both as complete works without needed them to resemble one another. My husband decided he’d give King a try, having never read any of his books, and asked me which one. I didn’t hesitate before recommending this one to…

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