Book Review: Douglas Adams’s Mostly Harmless (Book 5 of 5)

Yay! The last book is done! The last book is done! Now I’ll be able to get through books faster and bring you guys more beauty reviews and book reviews. I usually linked the previous posts about this series for you guys in the post, but I have to hurry up and get this post out because I have an online interview soon.

This last novel felt really flat to me. As you guys know, from my last novel post, I enjoyed the last novel a bit more because Arthur got a love interest. Well, she’s already gone now. Poof! Man, Arthur just can’t win. Basically, this novel wraps up the series by seeing what would would have happened if Trillian never went off with Zaphod. This version of her is known as Tricia. Unfortunately, her other timeline version (Trillian) still exists as well. Meanwhile, the Volgons (who originally blew up the Earth in the first novel) are cooking up something sinister in order to get all our characters together in order to finish what they started.

You can probably see where this ending is going, which makes for a very depressing series. I give this novel 1 out 5 stars and gave the overall series a 2 out of 5 stars. Some of the more interesting characters are also M.I.A. by the end of the series (Marvin is dead and Zaphod is gone). As I mentioned before, my main problem with this series is that I was expecting more science fiction and I got more humor. I also found the story line to be quite confusing and I had to Wikki every novel after I had read it. All and all, I’m glad I am done and can move on. But I certainly understand the popularity of the interesting humor of this series.

Special Halloween Post: Young Zaphod Plays It Safe

Hey guys! Back from another bit of hiatus. It’s been a really bad week for me, but it’s been turning around. I’ve been busy with freelance writing as usual, and because of that I’m behind on my reading. I actually finished the short story, Young Zaphod Plays It Safe days ago, but was so down and tired I never made the post about it. So, I’m here on Halloween to do that.

As for my plans for Halloween, the fiance and I stocked up on treats yesterday. We have a cherry pie and lemon bread. We plan to eat those while watching horror movies. We are also going out to eat and Christmas shopping.

I don’t plan to review Young Zaphod Plays It Safe because I really didn’t like the story. But I will talk about it because it is a part of my series of posts on the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series.

Young Zaphod Plays It Safe is a short story that plays as a prequel to the series. Zaphod isn’t President of the Galaxy yet and is working as a salvage ship operator. He takes a couple of bureaucrats with him to look for any dangerous happenings that might be on a crashed ship. This ship was actually supposed to be sucked into a black hole because one of the “designer people” aboard the ship is actually so benign that they are quite dangerous because no one suspects them to do anything harmful. It turns out that once they get there the designer person as escaped and is actually the cause of the events of the first novel.

I actually had to read the Wikki page on this story after I read it because I just didn’t get it. I only have one more novel in the series to read, so I’ll be quite happy to get to my other books. The next book review post will be the last of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series.

There will be some beauty reviews coming your way as well. Happy Halloween everyone!

Book Reviews: So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish by Douglas Adams (Book 4 of 5)

Hi all! I know I have been missing in action a lot lately. I’ve taken on more freelance writing, so naturally I’m usually burned out on writing by the end of the day. But I finished the 4th book in the series today, so I’m back with another review! I know I promised you guys a video post, but I’ve been so swamped with writing that I don’t know when that will be. However, I’ll have a lot of beauty reviews to post up soon, so maybe I can try doing one on the webcam.

For those of you that are just joining me on these book reviews, I’m doing something a little different with this book series. Usually, I post a review on Goodreads first and then bring it here. But since I bought the series in one big collection on my Kindle, I thought it would be easier just to write individual reviews of each novel here and just give an overall star rating on Goodreads once I finished the whole thing. You can read the reviews for the first three books here, here, and here. Now, let’s move on to book 4 of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish.

I have to say so far, I really like this one the best. That’s probably because it deals mostly with Arthur Dent’s budding relationship with a lady by the name of Fenchurch. This one deals with some issues from the first book, basically Fenchurch and Arthur feel connected because they are 2 out of the 3 people on Earth that actually know that the Earth had been previously destroyed (and then reassembled). The only thing that is different about this Earth is that all of the dolphins have left for another dimension. Fenchurch and Arthur ban together, fall in love, and go look for the missing dolphins.

Even though I did enjoy this book, the plot was still ridiculous (as the whole serious is) and I found myself being bored at times. I would still give this book a 2/5 stars on Goodreads.

The next part of the collection is actually a short story followed by the final novel. So, I’ll read the short story first, just in case I need to read it to understand the next book. That means you’ll be getting a new review very soon!

Book Reviews: Douglas Adams’s the Restaurant at the End of the Universe (Book 2 of 5)

Hi guys! I promise I didn’t disappear off the face of the Earth again. Like I’ve said before, I’ve been a bit swamped with my freelance writing and that has been holding my posts up. What may also help bring in more posts is the fact that I just got a new wireless keyboard. The keyboard on my laptop was starting to fade out and I had to click buttons on the on screen keyboard for the longest time! You can imagine how tedious and frustrating this can become after months of it. So, I found a wireless keyboard and mouse (my mouse has completely died on the laptop) combo for just $12.50 on Amazon. Well, my uncle found it for me. He’s so awesome.

Before we get to the review, I will just be updating you on what’s been going on and what you can expect to see sometime soon. I’m still waiting to find out the results of my library exam. For those of you that might not know, I took the exam so I could go work at a library. Fingers crossed. I really want that job!

As for my beauty reviews, once I use up the the Vitamin E and Aloe Vera line for the Body Shop, I am going to do a compare and contrast review. But to be perfectly honest, I have since discovered LUSH and I am in LOVE! There will be LUSH reviews after that.

Now that we’ve got all of that out of the way, let’s get to this book review! For those of you that are just joining me on these book reviews, I’m doing something a little different with this book series. Usually, I post a review on Goodreads first and then bring it here. But since I bought the series in one big collection on my Kindle, I thought it would be easier just to write individual reviews of each novel here and just give an overall star rating on Goodreads once I finished the whole thing. Now, let’s move on to book 2 of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

I really do love science fiction. But these books just aren’t doing it for me. Like I said in my previous review, I think it’s because logic and plot take a back seat to humor and absurdity in this series. I tend to like books that are more driven by plot and character development. Something that I can relate to. However, my fiance loves this series because he’s a goofy guy!

However, I have to give the second book props because it did hold my attention a lot longer than the first book did. The antics of the actual Restaurant at the End of the Universe did get me laughing. Although, I don’t know if I could actually eat a cow that wanted to be eaten and could tell me so.

Once the crew actually left the restaurant, I found myself getting bored again though. Towards the end, the crew are separated from one another and I was very upset that Marvin the Paranoid Android (my favorite character) wasn’t mentioned again. I was worried that something might have happened to him. But my fiance assured me that he is in the third book again.

Even though this book was slightly better than the first, I would still rate this book a 2/5 stars on Goodreads.

I will see you guys tomorrow with a special announcement.

Book Reviews: Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Book 1 of 5)

I have a feeling I’m going to get a lot of heat for this, but here I go. My fiance stumbled upon the Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy one day while we were cruising Books-a-Million and decided to get it. He is a big fan of the film. I was also intrigued by it because book one is on my 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list. This version of the book (the Ultimate) is all 5 of Douglas Adams’s novels in one, so it saves time and money. So, I resolved to read the large book when he was done. However, not long after he bought it, Amazon was selling it for a mere $3.99. I took the bait.

I will not be giving a Goodreads star rating this time here on WordPress. I would prefer to review each novel individually and then give a star rating of the novel on its own, Since, I have the Ultimate as the book listed on Goodreads, it would take a long time to actually read the whole book and write a REALLY long review. By reading and reviewing each novel individually, it will be less confusing.

This book just did not do it for me. I’ll pause while I wait for people to stop throwing things at me. My fiance loves it, and I can honestly see why. The random type of humor that this book follows would be right up his alley. However, I am an avid lover of science fiction and I really feel that the science fiction aspect of this novel takes a back seat to the humor. I also feel that the plot really takes a back seat to the humor as well.

I will be finishing all 5 books because I have to finish what I started. But I will not be reading the sixth book by a different author. Unless, by the end of it, I really start enjoying the series. I will say this though. I feel like I have a connection with Marvin the Paranoid Android. I would give the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy 2/5 stars.

A little 90s pop culture tidbit for you, Radiohead loved this series so much that they named a song “Paranoid Android,” The music video scarred me for life as a kid, but I love the song. The cartoon is of Swedish creation and is called Robin. I have all of the shorts on my iPod.