K IS in TROUBLE by Gary Clement

Published in 2024 by Little, Brown Ink.

An NPR Best Book of the Year.

K is a 10-12 year old boy living in an unknown European city in what appears to be the late 1800s. K Is in Trouble is a graphic novel that tells of his misadventures. 

In a series of stories, K runs into trouble with a talking fish, he meets a talking insect, and finds an intelligent crow. But, his real difficulties are with adults who don't listen. The adults at school don't listen, the police don't listen, the mayor doesn't listen, and his parents especially don't listen. 

I liked the art, but the stories were so-so. The last story is the best by far. 

I rate this graphic novel 3 stars out of 5. Not bad, not great.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: K Is in Trouble by Gark Klement. 

HELL BENT: HOW the FEAR of HELL HOLDS CHRISTIANS BACK from a SPIRITUALITY of LOVE by Brian Recker

Published by Penguin Audio in 2025.
Read by the author, Brian Recker.
Duration: 6 hours, 40 minutes.
Unabridged.
 
My cousin reviewed Hell Bent on Goodreads and his review made me very excited to read it as well. 

I just re-read that review and I am still excited to read the book he described. The actual book is solid, but took a long time to get going and seemed like it was put together in an odd way - almost backwards and I think that diluted its strength.

Recker starts with a lengthy discussion of what happens if you fall out of your tribe's accepted truths. In this case, his tribe is American Evangelical Christianity, but you may have had a similar falling out with another group. For example, I have had a falling out with a lot of friends and family because I left my political tribe (I am a never-Trump Republican.)

This part was simply too long for me. I was far more interested in the actual discussion about the relative strengths and weaknesses of those that argue in favor of a Biblical case for an actual hell as a place of eternal torment for unbelievers. 

Recker looks into the Bible verses and looks at their context, not just the isolated verses. He follows up with a look at church history and sees where the actual teachings of the church changed over time. Recker delivers those arguments quite well and then shows how bad that the pro-hell argument really is for the ongoing growth of Christianity. 

I liked this book and think it has a well-earned place in any discussion of the topic. I rate this book 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Hell Bent: How the Fear of Hell Holds Christians Back from a Spirituality of Love by Brian Recker. 

THE PRICE of HONEY (Deadly Ambition Collection #1) by Liane Moriarty

Published by Amazon Original Stories in 2026.
Book 1 of the Deadly Ambition Series.

Synopsis

The Deadly Ambition Series is a collection of six short stories about people who push too far in pursuit of their ambitions and reap the tragic rewards. 

Honey Becket is the fourth wife of a naracistic tech billionaire. Technically, she is his widow. The story begins with Honey Becket riding in an Uber on the way to her husband's elaborately staged funeral. 

This is a near future sci-fi story - there is discussion about how rare it is that the Uber driver is an actual person and not a self-driving car. Artificial Intelligence is clearly a much larger part of day to day life than it is in early 2026. 

Honey Becket is not against technology, but she still enjoys doing things for herself. When she gets to the funeral, she goes against the plan and invites the other three ex-wives to sit with her up front.

And that's when things get interesting...

My Review

What I like best about this story is the character of Honey Becket. She was a makeup artist before they were married. He frequently referred to her perfect breasts. She was the latest "type" of woman in a series of women. She was supposed to be the pretty one - a trophy wife.

And she is so much more.

This story surprised me - I was expecting a sappy emotional story and it was so much more.

I rate this short story 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: The Price of Honey by Liane Moriarty.

THAT BEAR ATE MY PANTS! ADVENTURES of a REAL IDIOT ABROAD. by Tony James Slater

Originally published in 2012.

Tony James Slater is a restless Englishman who loves to go out and see the world. The problem with all of this going out and seeing the world is that it costs a lot of money and he doesn't really have a lot of money.

Slater wanted to see South America so he applied to work at a wild animal rescue in Ecuador in exchange for food and a bed in a bunkhouse.

Slater has almost no experience working with animals and absolutely zero experience working with wild animals - but the rescue center is powered by an enthusiastic but largely unskilled labor pool, so he fits right in.

That Bear At My Pants is written in a series of small chapters (more than 60) that are also broken down into smaller sections. Its design makes it perfect as a bathroom reader. 

His experiences reminded me of a much more wild and dangerous version of my experiences working at a summer camp almost 40 years ago. That camp also was powered by an enthusiastic but unskilled but largely unskilled labor pool.

The only real downer to the book was the author himself. While he writes very clearly, the book is an autobiography and I did not find him to be a very likable person. He often attempts to make jokes that fall flat because he is not so much funny as he is obnoxious. 

The best example of his worst behavior invloves one of his fellow volunteers - a rich girl who bounces in and out of the rescue center two different times during his stay. She is obnoxious, difficult, spoiled and a know-it-all in the worst sort of way.

But, what James dislikes most about her is that she is ugly. He mentions it over and over - nearly as often as he mentions her bad behavior. He states that he would understand her behavior if she were a pretty young lady, but since she is ugly, her spoiled behavior is indefensible. (p. 131)

He is that blunt about it - calling her "a troll" that "must have fallen out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down, and then had the tree jump up and down on her screaming, 'Die bitch, die!'" (p. 132)

He goes on about her looks so many times. Look - I don't mind if he hates this obnoxious young woman, but going after her for her looks is petty and small and, for me, unforgivable. 

I won't even discuss his long term open affair with a married woman with children.

Like I said, the book could have been a lot of fun - but he's that guy that everyone knows who says a lot of stuff because he thinks he is funny, but he's just a big jerk. People read books to get away from guys like this.

I rate this book 2 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: That Bear Ate My Pants! Adventures of a Real Idiot Abroad.

REVENGE of the TIPPING POINT: OVERSTORIES, SUPERSPREADERS, and the RISE of SOCIAL ENGINEERING (audiobook) by Malcom Gladwell

Published in 2024 by Little, Brown, and Company.
Read by the author, Malcolm Gladwell.
Duration: 8 hours, 25 minutes.
Unabridged.

Malcolm Gladwell delivers another immensely entertaining and informative rambling discussion of, well, so many things in Revenge of the Tipping Point.

Ostensibly, this is a look at the opioid epidemic, but Malcolm Gladwell's style always reminds the reader that the world is inter-related and complicated and so very interesting.

I plowed through this 8 hour audiobook in just a couple of days. I listened whenever I could and, honestly, I forgot that this was supposed to be a book about the opioid crisis during the 2nd hour and I did not remember he directly came back to the topic during hte 7th hour. In the meantime we had discussed medicare fraud in Florida, Cheetahs in zoos, the dangers of monocultures, Los Angeles as the country's epicenter of bank robberies, COVID superspreaders, vehicle emmissions, and more.

It was all so interesting and he does tie it all together. Also, we learn about unintended consequences in the last half hour.

This is my 8th review of a Gladwell book and I rated them all as 4 or 5 star books. I always think hard about listening to a new one because I know I am about to be immersed into a complicated, riveting set of stories and that's a commitment.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: REVENGE of the TIPPING POINT: OVERSTORIES, SUPERSPREADERS, and the RISE of SOCIAL ENGINEERING by Malcolm Gladwell.

THE DIRECTOR SHOULD'VE SHOT YOU: MEMOIRS of the FILM TRADE (audiobook) by Alan Dean Foster

Published in 2024 by Tantor Media.
Read by Stephen R. Thorne.
Duration: 7 hours, 1 minute.
Unabridged.

Alan Dean Foster is a prolific sci-fi author. He has written over 50 sc-fi novels, but he is probably most famous for his numerous novelizations of sci-fi movies and TV shows, such as the original Star Wars movie (ghost written for George Lucas), Alien, Star Trek: The Animated Series, Krull, and The Last Starfighter.

The Director Should've Shot You is the story of Foster's experiences as the man who Hollywood turns to to write novelizations of sci-fi movies. He talks about how that system (usually) works, the odd experiences, his interactions with directors, producers, and faceless stuidio executives, and his various thoughts of the strengths and weaknesses of the various projects. 

My experiences with Foster as a young reader start with his two Star Wars books that he wrote when George Lucas  and his team were finishing the original movie.

As I noted, he ghost wrote the novelization of the first movie for George Lucas. He  also wrote the original sequel to the original Star Wars movie - a book called Splinter of the Mind's Eye. George Lucas asked Foster to make Splinter of the Mind's Eye a smaller story when compared to sweeping epic of the original story just in case the first movie turned out to be a bust. Lucas hoped to make a cheaper movie and recycle some of the original props and costumes in order to eke out a little profit. The runaway success of Star Wars made that plan unnecessary. 

We were so starved of Star Wars material back then. I must have read the novelization of the original Star Wars movie more than 10 times. This was back in the days when you could only see Star Wars in the movie theaters. It hadn't been played on TV yet and there were no VHS, DVD, or streaming releases. But, we had the books, the collectable cards, the toys to remind us of the story and it was an endless source of conversation.

I remember reading and discussing Splinter of the Mind's Eye until Lucas released the eventual sequel, The Empire Strikes Back. We were searching for any indication of how the stories might continue and we were trying to figure out how the Star Wars universe worked and all we really had were two little paperback books writen by Alan Dean Foster. That cover was excellent.

I must have read all of his novelizations of the Star Trek animated stories because I read everything Star Trek that I could find when I was in high school.

If you are looking for a complete autobiography of Foster, this isn't it. He offers a decent autobiography up to the point where he starts writing the movie novelizations and then it's pretty much all about those novels. That was fine by me - Foster is a critic and a fan at the same time and it was a fun listen.

The book is almost worth reading just to see what 1970s TV show paid him to write a novelization of a very special two episode story arc. It was certainly out of his normal area of expertise.

Now, I am seriously thinking about re-reading Splinter of the Mind's Eye.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: THE DIRECTOR SHOULDVE SHOT YOU MEMOIRS of the FILM TRADE by Alan Dean Foster.

STAR TREK PICARD: NO MAN'S LAND: AN ORIGINAL AUDIO DRAMA (audiobook) by Kirsten Beyer and Mike Johnson

Published by Simon and Schuster Audio Originals in 2022.

Performed by a full cast, including Jeri Ryan and Michelle Hurd.

Duration: 1 hour, 39 minutes.

Unabridged.

Synopsis

Set immediately after the Star Trek streaming show Picard: Season One, the audiobook No Man's Land is an adventure featuring the characters Seven of Nine and Raffi. 

With the collapse of the Romulan Empire comes the rise of local Romulan warlords who are trying to assert their control over the Romulan territory and, just as important, lay claim to the Romulan brand. 

A Romulan who has taken the title Emperor is conquering/leveling various planets in an attempt to establish himself as the successor to the Romulan Empire. It looks he is heading towards a planet that is secretly holding a massive collection of written materials, museum pieces, and other cultural relics of the collapsed Romulan Empire. 

There is a mad scramble to remove the relics, led by an ancient, kindly professor of unknown origin and Seven and Raffi are heading in to the chaos...

My Review

The audio in this book is excellent. It is a multicast performance with 12 different actors and the typical Star Trek special effects, very much like an old-fashioned radio drama. With all of the narration describing space battles and simple things like pouring a drink being replaced by sound effects, this makes for a very quick story. It's not an epic story, it feels much more like a solid Star Trek: TNG show storyline. That was fine by me - I like that show a lot.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Star Trek Picard: No Man's Land: An Original Audio Drama.