kbrsuperstar's reviews
846 reviews

Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction by Grady Hendrix

funny informative lighthearted fast-paced

2.75

How do you write an entire book about '70s and '80s horror and only mention Stephen King in passing. The longer the book goes on, the more bizarre this becomes. There's one line about Cujo, and a couple mentions of other books but... it's just weird, right? The rest of the book is okay, it's somehow overstuffed and underwritten, like a BuzzFeed list that never ends, and it is genuinely funny — but the complete and utter lack of Stephen King seemingly undermines the whole rest of the book's premise. 

Skeletons by Will Penny, Alison Zai

funny lighthearted fast-paced

5.0

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: The High Country by John Jackson Miller
Did not finish book. Stopped at 1%.

Yeah I'm not feeling this audiobook narrator, oh well 

Kung Food: Chinese American Recipes from a Third-Culture Kitchen: A Cookbook by Jon Kung

funny inspiring medium-paced

2.0

I picked this up after hearing an interview with the author. His voice really comes through and it is fun to read but there's a lot of specialty ingredients to track down (very few substitutes are suggested) and more than a few of the recipes feel gimmicky. I guess that's kind of his thing, like that's what he does in his tiktok videos but ehhh hard pass on Faygo Orange Chicken for me. 

The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge [Abridged] by David McCullough

informative slow-paced

3.75

Having listened to the abridged audiobook, I can't even imagine how long the unabridged version must be 😵‍💫 Getting to the end of this book made me feel like I'd reached the finish line of a marathon. 
The technical descriptions of how all the engineering bits worked were not something I could easily grasp to be quite honest and more than once I found myself pausing the book and looking at Wikipedia. The best parts were the stories about Boss Tweed and I kind of wished I'd picked up a book about him and Tammany Hall instead. 

Dinner in One: Exceptional & Easy One-Pan Meals by Melissa Clark

4.5

I really liked this cookbook — nearly every recipe offers ways for you to adapt it to include more protein, add extra veg, make it vegetarian etc. The only thing I didn't love was that there's an entire chapter for instant pot recipes and no indication of how to adapt those if you don't have one. Otherwise though the recipes are all easy to follow without being boring or basic and generally don't rely on you picking up unusual ingredients (or if it does, it gives you an easy substitute).

Dessert Person: Recipes and Guidance for Baking with Confidence by Claire Saffitz

challenging

3.0

Guess I'm just not...
(•_•)
( •_•)>⌐■-■
(⌐■_■)
... a dessert person

The Autobiography of Benjamin Sisko by Derek Tyler Attico

adventurous lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I read the Kirk autobiography when it first came out and thought it was amazing but since then, this series has been mostly disappointing - and unfortunately that includes this one. To start with, it suffers from the same issue that made me DNF the Janeway book: the ridiculously idyllic pastoral childhood chapters. Sisko never encounters or has ever heard of a transporter - a device used in his family's hotel - until he's 7, he never eats replicated food or wears replicated clothing, his mother homeschools him and his three siblings for no clear reason AND still manages to run an entire hotel (I don't live in the future but as a former homeschooling parent I call shenanigans on that). There are a few fun appearances by characters we know throughout the book (although

Pulaski as a pediatrician(?) in New Orleans

was a weird choice) but all the stuff about DS9, arguably the main reason to read this book, is jammed into the last 15% of the book and feels rushed. Lastly and maybe most importantly, the end was kind of infuriating to me and honestly made me hate this book a little:

the afterword reveals that everything you just read was actually written by Benny Russell, from Far Beyond the Stars. Yeah, what the fuck, right?

Star Trek: No Man's Land by Mike Johnson, Kristen Beyer

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Good but not great, a bit slow in places especially when figuring out plot points that seem pretty obvious. It does fill in a lot of the relationship dynamic between Seven and Raffi and it's a bit more understandable to see where they end up. 

Legends of the Ferengi by Ira Steven Behr, Robert Hewitt Wolf

lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A

2.0

This might be the second-worst Star Trek book I've ever read. All the worst parts of the Ferengi - "hyu-mon" and awful 90s style jokes and endless oomox remarks - condensed into one with bizarre old-timey sound effects like jaunty saloon piano and things going "boi-oi-oi-oing!!" 

The last straw for me was (and I know these books aren't canon BUT)

saying that Nog got involved in a dom jot gambling ring at Starfleet Academy?? He absolutely would not! 😤

Anyway that's two hours of my life I'm never getting back