As the sun made an appearance for 2 weeks and was then quickly followed up by the dreaded Euros, June was a productive month reading wise for me. I’ve mentioned before that I am no longer an avid reader but I’m doing my best to get back into it. I managed to get through 3 books in June which isn’t a large amount but considering I haven’t read anything beyond an article on Forbes for months, I’m quite pleased with myself.
The first book I finished was Guy Martin’s second book When You Dead, You Dead. Guy Martin’s first book is an overview of his childhood, racing career and his general day to day life whereas this book focuses predominately on his TV escapades and racing. He talks about the making of the second season of Speed with Guy Martin - which you should definitely watch if you haven’t already – as well as the preparation for his Wall of Death record attempt. He also ponders whether he still wants to race motorbikes and seems to battle with himself throughout the entire book.
It’s really interesting to be able to see a little more into Guy Martin’s world and the way he thinks. If you were to read this book without really knowing about Guy Martin, you’d probably think he’s just being an arrogant, ungrateful imbecile at parts but considering he’s not a showman and has never strived for fame, a lot of the points he makes in the book are very understandable. Weirdly, I kind of hope the people who bombard him at events read this and stop crowding him so much. I just want the man to have more time to take pictures of his dog so he can include them in his next book (should he write one).
The second book I read was American Sniper by Chris Kyle. I saw the film adaption and thought it was brilliant so, when my other half bought the book, I was excited to read it. Despite my excitement, I actually struggled to get through American Sniper. While I figured the film would be a little different from the true story, I didn’t think the difference would be as big as it is.
I thoroughly enjoyed being able to read the words written by a man hailed as an American hero but the story lacked something for me. I felt like I was reading the same thing over and over again and, to be fair, I guess I was. There’s not exactly much you can write when you’re fighting the same people in the same place for a long period of time. It’s a shame as I was ready to love this book but it just wasn’t for me.
Cross Justice by James Patterson was the final book I read in June and this was finished very quickly. There are very few books that I find difficult to put down but I couldn’t get enough of Cross Justice; I just needed to know what happened next.
The story is one of those far-fetched plots that has a one in a million chance of actually happening but is just too good to ignore. It focuses on Alex Cross, a man who finds himself returning to his hometown in North Carolina 30 years after he moved to Washington following the death of his parents. The reason for his visit is he's trying to help prove his cousin’s innocence. His cousin has been accused of a heinous crime but it’s not just the crime Alex Cross uncovers. There are so many different twists and dead ends that it’s impossible to say “I’ll go to bed after this chapter”. There’s so much to this story that I’ve already forgotten a few parts despite only finishing it a couple of days ago. I think that’s a good excuse to read it again!
I don’t think I could recommend Cross Justice and When You Dead, You Dead enough; both of them are excellent books and really enjoyable to read. As for American Sniper, well, if you’re really into reading about the Iraq war from a Navy SEAL’s perspective then I would urge you to read this but otherwise, I’d advise you to just watch the movie instead. I’d also advise you to watch Speed with Guy Martin and Guy Martin’s Wall of Death. Basically, I’ve just turned a post about reading into a post about TV. That’s a talent I can brag about right?
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