2019 Goodread's Challege

I've upped my prediction to 30 and included the top ten classics in my challenge.  I've offset that ambition with 8 or so books from the Debt Collector's season that are all very short books.  But then compared to the classics I'll be attempting... the number of pages I'm attempting is the largest every, I think.

I was told to make plans... don't plan results.  So the plan for the 2019 Challenge of 30 books is as follows:

The Art of War

The Art of War by Sun Tzu

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read The Art of War by Sun Tzu translated by Lionel Giles in 1910 as it had been suggested to me in a variety of ways for decades and this afternoon I thought, just do it and get it off this list of things other people think I should do.

Chapter one caused me to remember As A Man Thinketh by James Allen. For the record that actually is one of the best "self-help", "spiritual-growth", "wisdom-obtaining" books in the last century and I suspect there have been 2000 books written every year since that says what "As A Man Thinketh" says, except they didn't say it as well or as concisely.

After chapter one of The Art of War my natural habit of "thinking" kicked in to high gear and I started asking myself, "What?" and "Really?"

Love and War

Love and War by David Archer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Again, I really liked another Sam Prichard Mystery. This book. That would be four stars. I liked its writing, and Mikael Naramore's reading of it. I'm reviewing both the ebook and the audio-book.

In this book we open with Sam singing in the shower with joy of his upcoming nuptials. Which reminds me of a review of the previous Sam Pricharcd novel, “ Death Sung Softly”. I’m reminded because I mention the previous novel is a “musical”. This book is also a musical in the same ways. The audio-book sings, the ebook has the lyrics and links to the singing, but it isn’t as extensive a musical as “Death Sung Softly” where Sam became the lead singer of band who hired him as a private investigator to find their missing lead singer.

I digress.

The Goodreads blurb tells more spoiler info than I like to provide in order to encourage folks to read a book. My additions will, however, spoil it further, sorry.

Wraith - Debt Collector 10

Wraith by Susan Kaye Quinn

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The story, as short as it is, remains exciting. This book is very much about establishing Wraith, who she is. I give it three stars for some "internal-editor" reason I may remember to mention, but I do recommend the season and all the books in it as I've grown to respect Susan Kay Quinn as a person trying to do some remarkable things with her writing. I do pray I will write something about this at length at some future time.

This second season likely will be about Wraith's "growth", if my editor-critique-gut is working. This "Season" will be about Wraith going from being a mainly naive debt collector to accepting the reality of actual "good guy" debt collectors (as far as such a thing can be imagined). While Wraith will have some exceptional qualities, the events will shape her from one barely surviving situation until the next until she finally "gets it"- and my great hope is that Susan Kaye Quinn allows her to survive the entire season. I do know for a fact that Mr. Quinn does have the writer's courage to make remarkable literary decisions, even as monumental as killing off primary characters.

I would like to mention differences from Debt Collector Season One and Season Two. Season one was about Lirium, a "government" worker "life debt collector" doing legitimate "government" -- work that must have been a foresight written into Obama-care or the UK health system. BTW, he makes a cameo appearance in this story.