Saturday, July 14, 2018

Mini Book Reviews-- Silent City, Believe Me...

Here is the second set of my mini book reviews....


Silent City by Alex Segura

This is the first book in the Pete Fernandez series. Pete is an alcoholic sports columnist for the Miami Times who's barely keeping it together. His father died a year ago and his fiancee left him and now he has nothing and hardly anyone except for his buddy Mike. A colleague begs him to look into his daughter's disappearance. But all is not what it seems. Soon he finds himself digging into decades old serial killer and running for his life.

Segura sets up the hot humid nights of Miami perfectly. I loved seeing this side of the city. Pete is also relatable. He's a hot-mess but still someone you could sit down with and have a good conversation. I'm reading the second book in the series and will probably continue to read all about Pete and his investigative exploits.


Believe Me: A Memoir of Love, Death, and Jazz Chickens by Eddie Izzard

Listen to this one read by Izzard himself! He actually does a real-time recording where he Googles info and asks his director for things. He adds extemporaneous footnotes throughout! It's a wild listen. I enjoyed learning more about Izzard and how the death of his mother when he was a very young boy shaped him. His philosophy is to do hard things and work hard at everything you want to do in life. Boom! Fascinating fellow and a fascinating journey his life has been and I assume will continue to be!


The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish

Wow! You definitely need to listen to Ms. Haddish read her memoir. While there isn't a cohesive story arc in this memoir, it has passion to make up for it. Her life has been hard. There are experiences she shares that are absolutely horrifying. But she is one of the most optimistic people I've read about. She never let any of her experiences keep her down. I have a new-found respect for Ms. Haddish and will continue to enjoy following her career. Listen for her song at the end of the book...it's hilarious!


The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora by Pablo Cartaya

This is a juvenile fiction book that I read with my son. Arturo lives in a small close-knit Cuban-immigrant community in Miami. His abuela and mother run the family restaurant called La Cocina de la Isla. They want to expand their restaurant by buying the city-owned land right next door. But a developer named Wilfrido Pipo wants that land to build a giant exclusive apartment building and put La Cocina out of business. It's a story about family and community. We both loved the coming-of-age story of Arturo and how he handles a new crush, a death in the family, and bringing together everyone else in the community to battle Wilfrido Pipo.

Cartaya even offers up two family recipes at the end of the book! I'm looking forward to trying them soon.

*all pictures are taken from the Goodreads.com website

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