Book Reviews

Building Bridges Between Japan & New Zealand

iCon-Steve Jobs by Jeffery S. Young & William L. Simon: Very interesting book and it pulls no punches about Steve Jobs, Apple, Pixar and Disney; and others as well. Well written and worth reading even if you are not interested in Apple. In short this man is a success because he is a visionary, hard worker, team player and a family man but he had to learn this the hard way!!

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown: many people told me this was not as good as the Divinci Code but in fact it moved a lot faster and was a better read as far as I was concerned. Dan obviously loves European settings and religious overtones but he tends not to state an agreement or disagreement with anything which is refreshing. It is an adventure for beginning to end and just when you have the bad guy all figured out you will be wrong as it is not the one you think. Great book.

The Broker by John Grisham: This book kept me liking John's work-it is a really exciting book and although absolutely impossible for it to take place or to end up the way it does it is entertaining until the end anyway. This man can spin a yarn like few others and this is a really good one.

Davinci Code by Dan Brown: I wish it was a four or five star book but it is not-his earlier work is much better. It is still a good book but a slow mover in places. I love history but the overtones into Davinci are just not true and it is a novel and so we do not expect them to be such but it seems he is zealous in this novel to make us believe that they are really true, it goes on and on and over and over on this point and at times I just wanted to get on with the book. Still pretty good.

Harry Potter: Half Blood Prince by J. K. Rowland: I was not impressed with the book before this one (Order of the Phoenix) but this one is different. It is an incredibly moving ending (I cried) and also is just exciting from beginning to end. Definitely king of the Harry Potter series and worth the read but...alas you must read The Order of the Phoenix to get this book.

The Bourne Supremacy by Robert Ludlum: Well during the reading of this book I saw the movie by the same name and the two are not even the same story-why? Well they are set in a different country, his wife doesn't die and so on...but the book is fairly good but gets a bit long in the middle and fails to keep you on edge the whole time which is a shame, a few pages less and it may have worked better-it is just to long and complicated.

The Wastelands (Dark Tower III) by Stephen King: This book is not as good as Book II in the series but it is a good book; better than book one though. The characters are developed and the surprise about Jake kept me up reading all night-could not put it down until I knew what happened to that character but then after that a little bit of a let down; especially with the whole train thing. If you read the first two in the series then you are going to have to read number III for sure-an exciting ride.

Harry Potter-The Order of the Phoenix: Well this is a long book and quite a thick one. The first half is slow and tedious but the story set up through all of that is quite worth it but it only makes for a good book after all. Be warned, the last two chapters will make you stay up and read everything as you can not put the book down by then.

The Drawing of the Three (Dark Tower II) by Stephen King: This has to be one of the best books I have ever read!! It is compelling, the development of the story and the characters are absolutely compelling. You have to read book I to get to book II but it is worth the ride for sure. The end is one of the best I have read in a long time and the authorship and clever mind of Stephen King stands out to make him one of the most compelling authors of our time. It took him 17 years to get to Book II but it is worth it!!

The Gunslinger (Dark Tower I) by Stephen King: This not a spooky book at all. It is about (as the title says) a Gunslinger. An interesting book and part of a series 6 books of which the last is still being written. A good book but I am finding the second book in the series a lot more interesting than the first book. Still a good read.