Once again, it’s time to review the books I read in 2015 as part of the #35Project. Much like last year’s post, I’ll list the book and a sentence about what I thought of the book.
This year’s list of books are a little different in terms of the mix. There’s some “sci-fi” this year, a touch of young adult and my favorite, legal suspense/drama ala John Grisham. Surprisingly, I did not read any of Grisham’s books this year for no real reason outside of simply not picking up the physical book. I was just lazy.
Instead, I found myself reading almost exclusively on my iPhone and iPad. I don’t think there was a title on this year’s list that I didn’t read the actual book for. There are good and bad aspects of this. Having a phone with a book gave me the opportunity to ready anywhere I wanted like during lunch at the softball field bleachers during the summer or while I waited for a meeting to get started. The freedom of not carrying a book was actually very nice.
The bad side of this was reading at night. The glow from the screen and my inability to put the phone down because I was so engrossed in the story meant there were many nights I didn’t get a full night’s sleep. There is absolutely truth to the notion of using an electronic device at night disrupts your sleep pattern. I experienced it first hand and made myself stop.
As to titles this year, I found myself stumbling upon a number of titles I may not have known about before (another benefit of reading on your phone and getting suggested titles at the end of the book. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to find Grisham-like books from fellow Domer Mark Gimenez. Not only did I enjoy the stories, they were also set in my home state of Texas so I had an immediate connection to the locations he used as a backdrop. I’ve worked my way through most of his catalogue and plan on finishing the rest of his books this year. you can learn more about him and his work at his website www.markgimenez.com.
(Side note: Mark has a new book, The Absence of Guilt, for 2016. I’ve already pre-ordered it and will be reading it as soon as it comes out. I think you should get the book as well.)
Moving on, here is the 2015 #35Project Book List One-Sentence Reviews:
- “Plan B” from Jonathan Tropper: Crazy story of friends coming together to help someone who doesn’t know they need help.
- “Shopgirl” from Steve Martin: Interesting story but too slow resulting in a lengthy amount of time to finish it.
- “The Color of Law” from Mark Gimenez: Exciting book about a Texas lawyer, A. Scott Feeney, who defends a poor black woman ala To Kill a Mockingbird, his life is turned completely upside down in the process and somehow you can’t help root for him.
- “Accused” from Mark Gimenez: A. Scott Feeney is back in a weird turn of events, finds himself defending his bitch ex-wife who I would have just left to rot.
- “The Abduction” from Mark Gimenez: Don’t fuck with the granddaughter of a former special forces soldier because he will fuck you up.
- “The Common Lawyer” from Mark Gimenez: When challenged, you can always find yourself doing the right thing no matter how much money is thrown at you.
- “Con Law” from Mark Gimenez: Loved this story as it was set in Marfa, TX and had direct ties to ND Law’s Charles Rice.
- “The Martian” from Andy Weir: Read the book and it’s even better with a hell of a ending that wasn’t in the movie.
- “Ready Player One” from Ernest Cline: Reading this made me long for the great video games of the 80’s and 90’s but also made me hesitant about virtual reality and the possibility of being completely sucked in.
- “The Girl in the Spider’s Web” from David Lagercrantz: Just a little too jumpy for my tastes and was vastly different from the other titles in the series.
- “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” from Jesse Andrews: Love the style of the writing and it was a great story of dealing with death and growing up.
- “The Perk” from Mark Gimenez: I love how the main character played football at ND but more the exciting story set in the Fredricksburg area in Texas.