The Battle of the Labyrinth

Title: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - The Battle of the Labyrinth

Author: Rick Riordan

Pages: 361

Genre: Fiction

Grade: B+

Synopsis: Camp Half-Blood is in a more precarious position than it was even the year before. The Titan Lord is growing stronger and his supporters are utilizing an underground labyrinth designed by the great architect and inventor Daedalus. Whoever is able to figure out how the maze works first will be in the best position to attack the camp or fight off the attackers in the case of the half-bloods.

My Review: I think that this was probably my favorite book of the series so far. There are still a number of corny, juvenile dialogues, but the story as a whole seemed more cohesive. As always, the book was tough to put down and easy to finish in a couple of days.

The Hunt for Red October

Title: The Hunt for Red October

Author: Tom Clancy

Pages: 480

Genre: Thriller

Grade: B+

Synopsis: The Red October is a brand-new Soviet submarine with a new quiet propulsion system. The captain of the Red October has hatched a plan with his officers to defect to the United States, with the new submarine. When the Soviets realize what their captain is planning on doing, they send every available submarine, battleship and anything else that floats to try and track her. The Americans, including Jack Ryan, see the whole Soviet navy racing to their shore and are trying to piece together their intelligence on the matter to find out whether or not they are under attack.

My Review: I read this book back in high school, but I didn't remember a lick of it. It's a fast-paced thriller with lots of twists and turns and eye-opening to the life of a submariner. The premise is realistic (at least it was during the cold war) and the submarine chases and battles are intense and dramatic.

The Wednesday Letters

Title: The Wednesday Letters

Author: Jason F. Wright

Pages: 5 discs

Genre: Fiction

Grade: B-

Synopsis: Jack and Laurel Cooper own and run a cozy bed and breakfast. After thirty-nine years, they die in each others arms in the master bedroom and their children all return home for the double-funeral. They children find out that every Wednesday since their marriage, their dad has written their mother a letter and she had kept them all. From reading the letters, they find out that their family is not what they thought it was.

My Review: The story is nice and all, but it never really clicked with me. I'm finding it tough to put a finger on what I didn't like in the book, but I just found it ever so slightly irritating. That being said, there were parts of the book that I quite enjoyed, but the story was a bit predictable.

Einstein: His Life and Universe

Title: Einstein: His Life and Universe

Author: Walter Isaacson

Pages: 19 discs

Genre: Biography

Grade: A-

Synopsis: Albert Einstein was born in the German Empire (in 1879), educated in Switzerland and died as an American (1955). This recent biography is one of the first to be released after his personal letters and correspondences were released to the public. Every aspect of his life is examined from his early childhood (he never failed math), his time at the Zurich Poytechnic, his difficulty landing a job as a professor, his outspoken political ideologies and his time in America. 1905 is known as a miracle year in physics when Einstein, working as a patent clerk published four papers where he discovered the photoelectric effect, special relativity and the equivalence of mass and energy (e=mc^2) as well as a paper exploring Brownian motion. Over time, Einstein truly became a superstar in the realm of physics. Eventually, the Jewish oppression in Germany was too much and he emigrated to America in the early 1930's where he had a position at Princeton University and continued to search for a unified theory of the physical world.

My Review: I imagine that a biography on Einstein would be fairly difficult to write and keep interesting for the majority of readers, but Isaacson has done just that. There is enough explanation of Einstein's thought experiments and breakthroughs that the non-physics reader is able to have an idea of what is being discussed, not understand it though - if was often joked that only 3 people understood relativity in the world (at the time of Einstein) and nobody knew who the other two were. I'm not sure that we have a comparable scientist living today. Einstein lived during the golden-age of physics when many of the physicists and scientists were known the world over. His popularity was fairly easy to accomplish with the new York Times virtually covering his every move. I was very impressed with Einstein, but every genius seems to have a dark side, and while Einstein's is pretty tame, it is still there. One complaint with the book (which others may appreciate) is that each chapter seemed to be written as a free-standing work, which means there was some minor duplication of material that had already been covered. One of the better biographies that I have read.

The Titan's Curse

Title: Percy Jackson & The Olympians - The Titan's Curse

Author: Rick Riordan

Pages: 312

Genre: Fiction

Grade: B

Synopsis: Percy Jackson is sent on a quest to find his friend Annabeth with Thalia, the daughter of Zeus, and two of Artemis' huntresses, Zoe Nightshade and Bianca Di Angelo. They're also trying to locate a dangerous monster that would be able to bring down Olympus before the Titans can find it.

My Review: Just like every other book in this series, some of the dialogue and character interaction in this book is cringeworthy, but the author does a masterful job of tying ancient Greek mythology into today's world. Another easy, enjoyable read.