Expressing Myself: Book review

So, 21 books read this year by end of April. I don't have stats from previous years, but I think this is prolific even for my standards :P

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Rating scheme is based on goodreads:

★★★ liked it

★★★★ really liked it

★★★★★ amazing

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Cometh the Hour ★★★★

Archer continues to use his own tropes again and again. This book itself shuffled between court hearings and weddings with a dab of politics. He builds it up just to deliver the punch line :P The series feels like an expanded version of 'As the Crow Flies' with plots from his other books added.

Wanted a fast and easy read and got that, especially second half after I had warmed up to Archer's style. Was good to see subtle plots connected in more ways than one. Little hints sprinkled throughout the book to prior events helped in recalling previous books and now can't wait for final book to bring a close to Clifton saga

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The Seven Minutes ★★★★

Would have liked to give it 5 stars, but the ending was short and abrupt (we do get the explanation and loose ends are wrapped up nice and tidy - but outside of courtroom drama)

First half of the book is massive build up to the case that then plays out in court. We get POV from both sides - while that prepares the reader in advance, the author still manages to introduce elements of surprise. Seasoned readers would spot many of the twists easily and yet the detail and depth of treatment by the author keeps us engaged

It's funny in hindsight that I had judged the book by its cover and wouldn't have read it if my friend hadn't pitched in with his raving review. I had read couple of books by Irving Wallace before and liked them as well. By the end of book, I actually wanted to read 'The Seven Minutes - by J J Jadway'

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Binary ★★★

Short read, can be finished in single sitting. Writing wasn't sophisticated as can be expected from an author's early work. Decent story and interesting to read about use of computers in early 70s

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Deep Wizardry ★★★

I kinda liked the story and philosophical conversations were great.. But like the first book in the series, the writing puts me off - I often read just a page or two before I got bored. I even started and finished 'Binary' around halfway stage before coming to finish this one

And like others have noted in the reviews, I liked the mix of sci-fi and fantasy too..

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Bonus Links

For you Harry Potter fans, check out these amazing links: mugglehustle and Pottermore Infographics
Short reads
Fantasy quotes
If you are in Namma Bengaluru, come join our monthly Quora meetups. Apart from getting to meet nice people, we exchange books - I picked up three of them in April meetup and gave my copy of 'The Seven Minutes' :)