The Crafted Book

Making Money,  by Terry Pratchett Discworld Series, book 36 My rating: 7/10 Ever since Moist Von Lipwig fixed the Post Office, he's been bored, but is the job of fixing the derelict and mismanaged Royal Mint really what he wants? Plunged headfirst into the fortune and danger of the world of economics, he must keep the bank out of the wrong hands--or his own life will be on the line. First of all, I'm going to call the main character, Moist Von Lipwig, "John", because those words should never-- ever --be a name. With that out of the way, let's take this apart. The books about John are always fun, with excitement and mystery and races against all odds, and I loved the premise. I also loved the end, which has the perfect twist right before the last bit. If I were just judging by these things, this book was definitely a ten. Now, the name. Pratchett is normally very good with naming, keeping the names normal and the humour in its proper place- the writing!- bu...

Flash Fiction Forward,  by James Thomas and Robert Shapard My rating: 6/10 This collection of vivid, minimalistic stories tells many creative ideas and theories. From a date with a neanderthal to a phone scamming operation to a mesmerist, these flash fiction pieces will have you hooked. While it's true that flash fiction can sometimes be hard to engage with, and it's certainly not for everyone, I did enjoy this book. If you're not looking to read the whole book straight through, some of the best stories are Sashimi Cashmere, Traditional Indian Style Garage, Fruit Series, Travelling Alone, Quill, and Three Soldiers. My all time favorite from  Flash Fiction Forward  is a tie between The Orange and The Death of the Short Story. They were both very creative and well written, as well as poignant and balanced. However, not all the stories were as good as those ones, and I have to say that most of them seemed to end the same way: with depression about life, or death. ...

Becoming,  by Michelle Obama My rating: 10/10 Former First Lady Michelle Obama tells the story of her previously unknown personal life in stunning prose. Covering everything from childhood, law school, and romance to work-life balance, the campaign trail, and her children, she lays out her life, decisions, and identity with impressive clarity. This book had a lot of insight about Michelle Obama finding her identity- which includes her struggle with race and gender. She talked about bringing more racial diversity to the table where she worked, and about the push back she received for the color of her skin. Becoming also contained a lot of ideas that seem really important right now about gender equality- including her sharing her experience as First Lady, having to deal with sexism from all across the board. I enjoyed that she was able to bring these issues into the light and talk about how these factors influenced both her and other women in politics. One pleasant aspect ab...

Going Postal,  by Terry Pratchett Discworld Series, book 33 My rating: 10/10 By all rights, Moist von Lipwig should be dead, hanged for being a conman- so how is he here, in the office of the ruler of the city, being employed as the Postmaster of Ankh-Morpork's derelict and nonfunctional postal service? The new Postmaster tries to get the Post Office back on its feet, uncovering the corruption, controversy, and danger of the world of the clacks system on the way. I loved this book, and it definitely deserves place among my favorite Discworld books. Underneath witty writing, not-so-subtle jabs at the government, and Moist's humourous adventures, lies a deeper layer of meaning; Moist struggles with identity, his former cons, being tied to a job, and love. It also provides commentary on modern life- letters vs. emails, big corporations vs. smaller ones, the government, etc. Although the plot and writing were great, what really stood out to me was the premise. Over the las...

Thud!,  by Terry Pratchett Discworld Series, book 34 My rating: 8/10 Tensions between the trolls and the dwarves are rising as the day of the battle of Koom Valley rolls around again, and just what City Watch Commander Samuel Vimes doesn't need is the murder of an important and respected dwarf. Even with all his work, he manages to get home daily to read Where's my Cow? to his young son, but his hunt for the killer is leading him deeper and deeper into a dark mystery- and he soon learns there are things more dangerous than dwarves hidden inside the mines. While I must admit that I have a special soft spot for the City Watch books in the Discworld series, that's not the only reason I rated it an eight. This is without a doubt the darkest book so far, out of the 33 I've read, and while it is somewhat unfamiliar territory for him, his skill did not abandon him. His books range on a scale from almost putting humour above plot and writing to a much darker side of thing...

Monstrous Regiment, by Terry Pratchett Discworld Series, book 31 My rating: 8/10 When Polly Perks' brother goes missing, presumably captured in the war between Zlobenia and Borogravia, Polly must cut her hair and leave her work as a barmaid to find him. Pretending to be a man, she joins the army and is added to a small regiment called "the Ins-and-Outs", in which she soon discovers there are more secrets than hers alone. The main reason this story has such a high rating is the strong female leads. Although he has some strong female characters, like Tiffany Aching, Susan Death, and the witches, he is not famed for all the women he writes. The writing in this book is also done very well, incorporating his trademark humour into the writing without letting it overly influence the plot.  That said, there are things that still need work.  I did not give this book a 10/10. He still includes some stereotypes about women, and though I would include an example, it would ...