The Institute (review, no spoilers)

 The Institute by Stephen King was the first book from my grab bag that I have completed reading. It is the story of a boy who is kidnapped and placed in a facility for gifted children.  I gave it a 2.75/5 stars. 

Pros:

• The author was easy to read, clear and used some interesting details.  
  
• The main character is easy to invest in emotionally. 

Cons:

• There is an epigraph that tells us the story will be about exploited children. I don't like stories about child abuse and would not have chosen this on my own. 
• The plot unfolds very unevenly with some good pacing in some parts and what seemed to be repetitive chapters in others. There were three chapters in the middle of the book that could easily have been summed up in one without losing plot or character meaning. I found a few other areas where I wanted to skip ahead but didn't. 
• One big con was that more than once the author inserts real time 2019 political comments into the story unnecessarily. He names the politician by name and uses insults. 
  

The grab bag by nature might contain some books I don't like or would never have chosen.
The Institute is a "science fiction horror thriller" genre book. I did not see that coming when I requested the science fiction / fantasy genre grab bag. I may have to qualify my next grab bag with "no horror" We'll see when I finish my 5 books. 
I am currently listening to "The Eye of the World" alongside my other books. So far, I like it, but I've only finished 3 /25 discs. 
Next up - The Martian by Andy Weir. 

Grab Bag Sides and updates

When I started this blog, I thought I would just stick to writing about the books in my grab bag(s), plural, assuming I do more than one. But I already had several books going on the side, so it seems sad to ignore them. 
First though - The grab bag books.
I started "The Terminal" right away. I am about halfway through the book. Again, this is my first Stephen King book. I won't say too much, but I feel the 2nd half will go quickly. He has that easy-to-read fast-paced style that draws you in. 
The "Eye of the World" (Robert Jordan) is going slower. I am out of touch with listening to books on CD. or CDs in general. I've finished the first of 25 discs, and I am curious to uncover what CD-playing resources are available to me. I realize I can use streaming audiobooks, but for now I want to try the CDs. I have one of those retro style all-in-one turntable/radio/cd players which I enjoy. I just need to hopefully connect my Bluetooth headphones to it and I can listen on the couch. 

Record player is under the lamp

The story itself is one of those epic novels that spans millennia. I already know it is the starting book of a series. 
Secondly - the books I was already reading. I am fine reading several books at once. I'll write more when I finish them

• "Meditations" Marcus Aurelius - I've been dipping into this for a long time but have not read it through. I always feel stronger after I've read in this. 
• "Down to Earth" Rhonda Hetzel - I read her blog (which she recently ended) off and on and she was inspiring. She writes about sustainable living and lives in Australia. 
• "Unaging" Robert Friedland - a book bought on a visit to a local (Louisville) true bookstore. I enjoy learning about what helps our brains stay alive through aging. 
• "Make, Sew and Mend" Bernadette Banner - my daughter and I watch her You Tube channel regularly. She sews by hand and a foot-powered sewing machine. She shows you how (and why) you can sew just about anything. I love that she uses repurposed fabric. 
• "Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death" James Runcie - I've been following the PBS adaptation of his books on Grantchester. Mystery is probably my favorite genre.

My first grab bag

 Today, I picked up my first grab bag of books from the library after hearing about the program last week and deciding to give it a try. I filled out an online form that asked which genre I wanted in my grab bag, and I chose Science Fiction/Fantasy—a genre I enjoy but haven’t read much of. 

None of the books or authors in the bag were familiar to me. I had heard of a couple of the authors by name but had never read any of their books.

I felt a mix of excitement and curiosity, as it was a unique experience to have someone else pick books for me without knowing what they were, aside from the genre. The library checked out the books to my card, placed them in a clear plastic bag, and set it in the usual pickup area for requested books. 

My excitement grew as I carefully opened the bag and snapped photos of the books to share with my daughter. I looked at them in order, starting with the first book I saw.

Game of Thrones by George R R Martin

 

Eye of the World by Robert Jordan (CDs)

The Institute by Stephen King

Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel

The Martian by Andy Weir

Today was my volunteer day at the library, giving me a chance to sit at my desk and open the bag right there instead of waiting until I got home. I spent my time working on scanned images of old scrapbooks, letting Acrobat run OCR on over 250 pages while I read my first book. 

I decided to start reading Stephen King's "The Institute." The large print version was a bonus, and I'll share my thoughts on the first chapter later. I found out that the genre for this book is science fiction - horror thriller. Not my usual cup of tea, but we'll see. 

On my drive home, which takes about 30 minutes plus a couple of errands, I started listening to the first CD of Robert Jordan's "The Eye of the World" audiobook set (25 CDs). My 2014 Camry still has a CD player and is the 2015 version narrated by Kate Reading and Michael Kramer. I'll share more thoughts on it later. 

I'm excited and thinking this might be a good reason to start a new blog.