Get Your Latest Books and Reviews, curated by me

Get Your Latest Books and Reviews, curated by me, Andy Zach. These are books I’ve read and reviewed this month, or someone else has.

I finished my most recent review the other day on Goodreads:

Get Your Latest Books > Forge Master

Ascending should have been the easy part…

But after being thrown into the void, Thorn finds himself stranded in a strange world filled with even stranger creatures.

Together with his cute battle pet, the mysterious god beast Hati, and a sentient AI named Eve, Thorn must forge a place for himself in this new world. Unfortunately, the local guilds all have other ideas.

Oops. Protagonist Thorn has just ascended to a higher magical world–but the wrong one.

That’s good, for the Empress is out to kill or enslave him.

Meanwhile, Thorn is on a deadly jungle planet where the animals are all more powerful than he is, the magic works differently, and most of his past abilities don’t work here. Thorn focuses on just surviving, until he can get to civilization.

He gets there and faces the fact he has no money and no resources. He does have blacksmith skills, however.

Read and find out where that gets him.
Andy Zach
Author 10 books
85 followers

Not a typical zombie story!

Overall    5 out of 5 stars

Performance    5 out of 5 stars

Story    5 out of 5 stars

Based on the title and the cover, I originally thought the detective was going to be a zombie back in the 30s or 40s. That wasn’t the case, but it was still a hilarious amateur detective story and I loved the absurdity of it all.

It’s a short read (or listen, since I listened to the audiobook), but is packed with Sam in crazy situations with all sorts of zombies. His string of good luck is as unlikely as the conundrums he finds himself involved in, but somehow it works for him.

Phil Blechman was the perfect choice for Sam’s character. Lauren Testerman did a great job channeling Lisa, the poor woman who has to manage Sam and all his antics.
Ysobella Black
06-10-23

Book of Hosea (Bible #28)

I read through the Bible every year. I just finished Hosea, a small prophetic book. Genres of Bible books are always unclear: you have your choice of history, theology, prophecy, and poetry. Often, they’re all combined in one book. Still, the next book is remarkable.

by Hosea

it was amazing

bookshelves: bible

Read 7 times. Last read June 27, 2023.

Wow! Even if you don’t want to read the Bible, this book is interesting.

Set in the waning years of the kingdom of Israel, just before its deportation to Assyria, the prophet Hosea is told by God to marry a prostitute! As an author, I love that kind of hook! Hosea obeys and has some children by his wife, Gomer. Each one has a symbolic name. Altogether, his marriage to a whore, his children, and their names are a final message and warning to Israel, before death and captivity.

The message? Israel, married to God since Mount Sinai, has been like a prostitute to Him. The children’s names? Judgment or Vengeance–for God will judge Israel. ‘No mercy’, for He will not show mercy to them. ‘Not My People’, for Israel will not be His people anymore.

Then, following this stern message, God adds:

Yet the number of the children of Israel will be as the sand of the sea, which can’t be measured nor numbered; and it will come to pass that, in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’ 11 The children of Judah and the children of Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint themselves one head, and will go up from the land; for great will be the day of Jezreel. (‘God Will Sow’ this is a valley in Israel where the city of Megido is–or the valley of Armageddon).

And that’s just the first chapter of 14!

Highly recommended. Read it now, in any translation. It’s a one-sitting read.

P.S. Hosea’s marriage to Gomer turns out well.

June 27, 2023
Andy Zac h
Author 10 books
85 followers