Patrick O'Brian, Master and Commander. I've always wanted to read this series, knowing the excellent reputation it has. And I can see where the reputation comes from - it's carefully written, clearly very thoroughly researched, and action-packed. But it was also very dry, and the characters were not compelling or well fleshed out. I'm told that's a problem that is resolved in later books, so I may try the next one, but this first one failed to wow me.
Celia Hayes, To Truckee's Trail. I didn't get very far into this one, finding it filled with some of the major pitfalls of the self-published work. To wit, no editing, no proofreading, and it was impossible to tell whether the book was supposed to be historically accurate, based on history, or sheer fiction. From what I could gather, the author wasn't sure about that, either.
Margaret Sidney, The Adventures of Joel Pepper. My least favorite Pepper book ever. Joel's a mischievous imp, always getting into trouble, making trouble, and never listening. He doesn't improve, he whines his way through the book, and I found my impression of my least favorite Pepper had dropped significantly by the end of the book.
Vonda N. McIntyre, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan. I'd read this a number of times as a kid and lost track of my copy, so Lou found me a new one. And it did not disappoint. The book hits all the important points of the movie's plot, but it adds a depth of characterization and a level of background detail that make the characters truly three-dimensional.
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