Thursday, August 13, 2015

Ten 10-word Book Summaries

  Like an idiot, I decided that this year would be the year I would set myself a Goodreads challenge and read at least a hundred books. I’ve read eighty-one books so far (including picture books and short stories. I have no shame.), and wanted to figure out a way to review some of them without actually writing any reviews. Then I read these ten-word summaries over at The Quiet People and decided to try some of my own, because it’s an awesome idea. Here we go (warning: some of these summaries might be spoiler-y):

Artemis Fowl (Artemis Fowl, #1)  Batman by Brian Augustyn  A Monstrous Regiment of Women by Laurie R. King  Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer: A twelve-year old criminal mastermind holds a fairy for ransom.

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight by Brian Augustyn: Batman tracks down Jack the Ripper in a Victorian Gotham.

A Monstrous Regiment of Women (Mary Russel & Sherlock Holmes #2) by Laurie R. King: Mary Russel and Sherlock Holmes get married. To each other.

Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer: Cross-dressing, pirates, and true love while in the Royal Navy.

Watchmen  Batman and Son by Grant Morrison Rot and Ruin (Benny Imura, #1)  Still Star-Crossed 

Watchmen by Alan Moore: Superheroes in crisis, alternate history, and murder. Lots of murder.

Batman and Son by Grant Morrison: Meet Damian Wayne. He’s a twit. Batman battles ninja were-bats.

Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry: Zombie hunters rescue a redheaded girl from other zombie hunters.

Still Star-Crossed by Melinda Taub: Rosaline falls for Benvolio, and Prince Escalus falls for Rosaline.

Godspeed  Habibi

Godspeed by Charles Sheffield: Treasure Island in space, without aliens. (And without a heartwarming theme song by John Rzeznik.) Could have been better.


Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye: Moving to Israel is tough, especially when you’re a Palestinian.


  What have you been reading lately? 

10 comments:

  1. I've only read Artemis Fowl, but that summary was perfect! These all sound rather concise and witty, so I definitely appreciate them. :) Nice work, Alex!

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    1. Thanks! It was hard to boil them all down to just ten words, but fun, and definitely a good exercise!

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  2. Oh, I LOVED your take on this post! As someone who focuses on YA novels, it's really interesting to read a version that includes other genres. Rot and Ruin sounds intriguing... actually, they all sound pretty intriguing, but that's probably because the ten word reviews force you to be a little mysterious!
    Beth x
    www.thequietpeople.com

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    1. Thank you!! Your post was so cool that I had to try one of my own. It's tricky to give just enough info in ten words, so I'm glad you found them intriguing.

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  3. Ooh, these summaries are fabulous. "murder. lots of murder." and "Meet Damian Wayne. He’s a twit." Habibi sounds like a FANTASTIC retelling of RnJ, especially since Shakespeare's side characters were his best.

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    1. Definitely. My favorite character from Romeo and Juliet is actually Mercutio, since he's the only one who seems to have his head screwed on right. I also LOVE Maria and Feste from Twelfth Night.

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  4. Wow - this must have been so hard only being able to use 10 words to summarize everything, but you did absolutely wonderful! Thanks for sharing this - definitely going to have to read some of these too! <3 Fabulous post!

    ~ Zoe @ Stories on Stage

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    1. Thanks, Zoe! Some of them were harder than others, but it was a super fun exercise. And I do hope you read some of these books--they're all worth checking out!

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  5. This is a fabulous idea! I'll have to try this sometime. I haven't read any of these yet, so thanks for the suggestions! *adds ten books to TBR pile*
    --Rebecca at The Silver Flute

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    1. Thanks! I'd recommend all of these books; some of them weren't quite my thing, but they were all worth trying.

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