SOTR1989 Book Blog

  The Omen David Seltzer   Released: January 1st, 1973 My 27th book for 2024 was David Seltzer’s “The Omen”. Coming down to the wire on 2024 Reading.  I slacked way too hard the first 6 months of the year, and now need to do some serious reading to get caught up.  3 more books to go. I've never seen the original Omen movies.  The only reason I decided to read this book (and presently, the sequel) is because I saw the prequel last year while working with one of my clients.  We went to the movie theater in downtown Vancouver, WA, and saw "The First Omen".  I felt the movie was pretty good and set a lot in motion.  It was only later that I found out that it was a prequel on a whole series of movies featuring the character Damien who is apparently the anti-Christ. The book reads pretty well.  You get a good sense of the characters in Robert Thorn, his wife Katherine, their "son" Damien, and some other notable characters.  Even though I have ...

  James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me Christopher Wood   Released: January 1st, 1977 My 26th book for 2024 was Christopher Wood’s “James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me”. I've been meaning to go back and reread the James Bond novels, and while "out of order" to some extent, and not an actual Fleming novel, I definitely wanted to read this one before year's end.   “Why do we seek to conquer space when seven-tenths of our own universe remains unexplored?” I love this quote.  It feels very literary in nature and fits the Stromberg character quite well.  The quote gives a great glimpse into his aspirations and motivations.  The irony of the quote is that the next James Bond adventure literally took him into outer space.   The book and the film are both full of great quotes, and things that stand out.  It plays out as a nice classic, and I really appreciate the storytelling. Ian Fleming penned the original "The Spy Who Loved Me" novel back in 1962....

Rambo III David Morrell   Released: January 1st, 1988 My 25th book for 2024 was David Morrell’s “Rambo III”. I remember the first time I heard of Rambo.  My uncle had the box set at his house.  He was a fan of the Stallone movies from back in the 1980's.  Around 2007/2008, Walmart released them on DVD, and I picked them up to check out and watch in my dorm room. The first time I saw Rambo 3, I was sitting at a house my dad and I rented in 2008.  I had the movie playing on my Lenovo laptop.  I still remember the militaristic-style music playing in the background.   It was not as serious or intense as the first 2 but still had its merits.  It was my favorite Rambo movie for a time.  I remember the scene where Trautman gets kidnapped and the Russian voice goes "Drop your weapons.  You cannot escape.  Drop your weapons!".  The fight at the beginning was pretty intense as well.  Subtle nods to Stallone's other masterpiece,...