Ash (Asher Benson #1) - Jason Brant

Jason Brant came onto my radar because of his YouTube channel where he watches bad movies with his wife and friends. I didn't know he was an author, but apparently, he has a lot of books out there. Many of them are horror, which isn't my thing, but the summary of this book sounded interesting. It falls into the "diet book" category. It's listed at 215 pages. 

Ash was injured in Iraq, and now he hears the thoughts of the people around him. He uses booze to dull the voices at the end of the day, and his life is a mess. One day, he walks into a bank and stops a robbery. After that, his life takes an interesting turn. Now, he's wrapped up in some strange government group that wants to track down someone with powers stronger than Ash's, and they can't do it without Ash. But they also don't seem to be very good at doing anything when he does find his target.

Ash is kind of a putz. I found it interesting that when he made a link to the target, he didn't have any questions for the man. He didn't really trust the people he was working for, but he decided to antagonize the person who could've answered some of his questions. Later on, I understood the snarkiness and sarcasm, but at least initially, I would've thought Ash would've been at least a little curious.

My favorite character, hands down, was Drew (his girlfriend Melissa sounded like a shrew, and I was upset he still had her at the end - he deserves better!). He didn't put up with any crap from Ash, but he was loyal to the end. It was the kind of friend Ash needed, and he didn't get enough credit. A close second would be Nami. She had a spirit that made me smile a few times.

I liked the plot, even though I found it sad that so many innocent people were dying all over the place. The action scenes are very detailed, which is something I don't see very often, so props for that. I wasn't always 100% sure what exactly was happening, but I got the gist most of the time.

The series has two other books, Madness and Asher's War. I don't know if Drew returns, so I don't think I'll actively look to read these. Ash by himself would probably drive me crazy. Without Drew to balance him out, I'm not sure I would've rated this as high as I am. I did appreciate that it's not longer than it needed to be. The author wasn't trying to hit a page count here, and he just told the story and let the page count fall where it may. Combining that with the plot and my man Drew earns Ash a Good Book! review.

A Kim Jong-Il Production - Paul Fischer

Choi, a South Korean actress, was kidnapped and taken to North Korea. Shin, a filmmaker, was kidnapped later and joined her after going through a much more uncomfortable welcome. He was put into prison where he tried to escape. Eventually, the two were reunited, and they formed a film company.

After eight years, they were able to escape and get away. It took that long to gain the amount of trust and for circumstances to align in such a way they were able to make it to an American Embassy. After that, they were reunited with their family, and they spent some years in the states before making their way back to South Korea.

Unfortunately, their story has undergone a lot of scrutiny. Some people claim they weren't kidnapped at all, and that Shin purposely went to North Korea so he could make films again. Events don't really line up to support that scenario, but people will believe what they want to.

The author has done what he can to portray the facts as they were able to be verified. As with anything like this, there isn't going to be 100% verifiable sources for something like this. Most of the story comes from Choi and Shin, but their stories line up with other events of the time. The author went so far as to use Google maps, visit North Korea and contact any people mentioned by Choi and Shin. If they were unavailable, he tried to get in touch with someone who knew them. I give him credit for that.

I found the book to be interesting. The weird way things worked in North Korea was fascinating and sad at the same time. It was also sad to think of the poor people left behind who were punished when Choi and Shin escaped. Shin's life after leaving North Korea wasn't super amazing, and that's a shame. I'll give it a Good Review!

Gunner and the Dumbo - Dwight W. Follett

When I picked up a few books on Coachwhip.com, I picked this one up as well. It's a children's book from 1945 and tells the tale of Gunner, a Boston Terrier, who is part of a bomber crew in the Pacific. He goes on a mission to bomb battleships when things go wrong on the way back. Gunner is vital to the survival of his crew.

The pictures in this book are adorable. It's probably not for small children, and the labels used aren't appropriate today ( ex. "Jap"). The story was so good, and I loved it. I was a bit bummed to learn it wasn't a true story, because it seemed like it could've really happened.

The book is still available digitally on Coachwhip. It's super cute, and I really liked it. It's short, cute, and Gunner is a real (fictional) hero! Good Book!

The Phantom Coach and Other Stories - Amelia Edwards

This is a set of six stories - The Phantom Coach, An Engineer's Story, A Service of Danger, The Story of Salome, Was it an Illusion? A Parson's Story, and How the Third Floor Knew the Potteries. I wish I could remember how/why this ended up on my list, but it's been on there too long...

They're all pretty short, so I won't go into the details of them here. I will say they're all ghost stories. Some of them are better than others, and my favorites were An Engineer's Story, the Illusion story, and to a lesser degree the Pottery one.

There's not much more to say since they're so short. If you're in the mood for some quick ghost stories, you might enjoy these. I found them a pretty good investment of my time. The whole thing is only a little over 100 pages, so I wouldn't spend oodles of money on it. I somehow had it in a Word document, so I don't even know where it came from. Anyway, wherever this literature came from, it gets a Good Book! review.

White Plague (Joe Rush #1) - James Abel

This paperback was a pick from the HPB run, but it was one of Mom's.

A submarine is struggling after a fire. It's up in the Arctic, and the only icebreaker is a research vessel. Joe is convinced to take his team and investigate the strange illness that has broken out. The Arctic is becoming a contested area since the ice is melting to the point where it can become a thoroughfare, so it's important to get to the submarine before anyone else does.

Once they finally find the sub, the situation is dire...and complex. The illness that has broken out is mysterious, and once they figure out what it is, they fear what it means for not only the members of the submarine, but the crew of the icebreaker as well.

I found this book to be very interesting. It's been a bit since I've read a book in this genre, and I really enjoyed the way this one was put together. I wish Joe and the Major could've cleared the air with the truth, but it didn't matter. The writing style flowed well, and I couldn't wait to see what happened next.

This is the first of a four-book series. The other three are Protocol Zero, Cold Silence and Vector. I wouldn't mind reading more in the future. Good Book!

Helmet for My Pillow - Robert Leckie

I picked this one up a while back. When I purchased Band of Brothers, I got The Pacific as well. We haven't watched it yet, but this book is one of the inspirations that was used for the series.

Leckie was with the 1st Marine Division while they were battling in places like Guadalcanal and Peleliu. Much of the book felt surface level and seemed to be focused on explaining the brig, time on leave and fighting the jungle.

That all changed in the last 10% of the book. When Leckie explained what happened on Peleliu, I felt like he really went in depth of what he went through. He lost a lot of friends and was injured, The epilogue was a peek into his mind as well. 

Overall, the book was okay, but there's something about it that keeps it from pushing over into a good book review. I appreciate Leckie telling his story, it didn't really resonate with me most of the time.

May they rest in peace...

Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

Okay, so this is one of those books that theoretically I should have read a long time ago. We've had this really cool version of it since I was a kid. We used to have another classic, but it's gone, and I don't remember what it was. Wuthering Heights is a story that, on the surface, seems like it would be right up my alley. But, I had a sense that it was not a happy ending kind of story. Maybe it was something I heard.

Hindley and Catherine are siblings. Their father brings home an orphan named Heathcliff, and they all grow up together. Catherine and Heathcliff become close, but Catherine marries a neighbor for questionable reasons. Later, Catherine becomes ill, and Heathcliff marries Catherine's sister-in-law because he's a jerk. The next generation becomes playthings for Heathcliff's revenge plans, and it seems that no one can stop him.

This book made me angry. I hated everyone in it, and that doesn't happen very often. Usually there's at least one or two characters that I can at least tolerate to root for. In this, they all sucked. Everyone was either whiny, selfish, spoiled, made numerous bad decisions or turned a blind eye when others did. I kept thinking the best thing that could happen to these people would be for an earthquake to swallow up both estates and be done with them. The end wasn't even really that happy. The "couple" was unevenly matched with one of them still mocking the other. Ugh.

I don't know why people love this book. To each their own. Heathcliff is not a sympathetic character. He reminded me a little of Edward Rochester from Jane Eyre (funnily enough written by Emily's sister Charlotte). The difference is that Rochester had an arc during the book where he underwent a change. Heathcliff just went downhill and stayed there. I was not a fan of this one. Having a character to root for is a must for me, and without that, I just couldn't enjoy it.