Review: Forward the Foundation

Forward the Foundation by Isaac Asimov
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I quite enjoyed Asimov's stories of Selden the mathematician smoothing the road to the future of the Empire. While the first book in the pre-Foundation series felt more like a Western, with a good man just trying to get his work done, this one felt deeper, more thoughtful. I haven't read any of this series, so I'm looking forward to "Foundation" because of this.

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Review: Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make—and Keep—Friends

Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make—and Keep—Friends by Marisa G. Franco
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I read this for tips on making friends, and mostly what I got out of the book was that Mom was right all along.

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Review: My Favorite Derby Stories

My Favorite Derby Stories by Billy Reed
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This was a number of newspaper and magazine columns by a long-time thoroughbred racing writer from Kentucky. It was what you would expect from a mid market columnist. He looked for the odd angle and captured the personalities involved. These stories were very much about the people of racing, not so much the horses. Entertaining, but in a quaint way.

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Review: The Tales of Beedle the Bard

The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

It was OK overall. Quite short, with very big text and wide margins. The most interesting bit was the analysis by Dumbledore being quite lengthy and academic-sounding (and footnoted!), but even that got old by the last story. To the good, an extremely quick read.

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Review: Trust Me

Trust Me by John Updike
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As always, Updike writes short stories that you immediately feel part of, and that draw you to the conclusion. Enjoyable writing.

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Review: Where'd You Go, Bernadette

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Given the ads for the movie that I've seen over the years, I assumed that Bernadette was just a flake that disappeared. I was pleasantly surprised that her character was written with much more depth than I had expected. I enjoyed the backstory of Bernadette, and the bits about Microsoft and Seattle were somewhat funny. But the plot and the modern epistolary nature of the book just fell flat for me. I haven't seen the movie and I do wonder if the architecture aspects are a focus -- that would be a plus I believe.

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Review: Rounding the Mark

Rounding the Mark by Andrea Camilleri
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Our police inspector is getting older, and that makes this a bit more interesting than the previous installments in this series. Montalbano takes on a James Bond style house infiltration, but has medical issues along the way. In other parts of the book, he delays his detection to enjoy a good meal. Montalbano is getting more interesting and lifelike. I do have a nit to pick here, though. On the audio, his underlings on the police department are voiced as if they were the Three Stooges. I keep expecting a "Nyuk, Nyuk" to be uttered. And there are so many underlings to chose from for the action, and all seem to be written a bit differently, it reminds me of an old Our Gang reel. That is probably my least liked part of these stories.

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