I want to write more about books as I’m reading them and I should always take the time to write about books I finished. I’ll just try to get 5 points down or something like that.
1. I need to finish this trilogy (along with a few other series): I remember seeing the subway takeovers for “The Force” a few years ago when I lived in New York. I didn’t buy the book then but now I want to read all of his books. But I’ll definitely start with the rest of the Cartel trilogy. I’ve read the first book of a few series in the past few months: ”Fourth Wing”, ”Hyperion”, ”Red Rising”, and now “The Power of the Dog”. I’ll likely jump right into ”The Cartel” (Book 2).
2. Now that’s how you weave stories together: I don’t read a ton of fiction, but it’s been a while since I’ve read something with the stories of multiple characters coming together so well. It’s been over a decade since I first read “Hyperion” and I remember it coming together in “The Fall of Hyperion” but it doesn’t quite happen in book 1. “The Power of the Dog” is tied up nicely on its own. I actually sort of don’t want to read book 2 because I worry about what might happen to characters I’ve grown attached to.
3. Always cool to know places in books (so having both New York and San Diego in it is a treat): Major cities I’ve lived in: Seattle, San Diego, New York, and San Francisco. Most of the time it’s New York I’ll get a kick out of seeing in media. (Top of the list for me is from Succession: My wife and I met at the “You are not serious people” karaoke bar on 32nd street in New York.) This one had a lot about San Diego. Though it’s a different time from when I lived there, I enjoyed mentions of Horton Plaza, Fashion Valley, Chula Vista La Jolla, etc.
4. No character is black and white (well except one): Cops with twisted motives. Honor amongst thieves. Governments and churches in cahoots. Multiple times through the book, Winslow’s able to quickly make you care about what happens to characters. He goes through their upbringing and you see the paths taken that eventually justify decisions that would otherwise seem crazy. Then there is one character who is pretty much evil. Gives other characters the creeps. Gives me the creeps.
5. If you love Narcos and Sicario, “The Power of the Dog” is a no brainer: My path to this: Dune 2 came out and I watched with my wife then we decided to go through all the [[Denis Villeneuve]]’s movies we hadn’t seen. Started with ”Prisoners” (chilling), then “Blade Runner 2049” (awesome), and then “Sicario” (loved it). Each one got me into Reddit and YouTube explainer rabbit holes. ”Sicario” got me of course reading about the CIA—beginner level stuff like I only learned from the movie that they don’t operate domestically. At some point a comment said something like “Read ‘The Power of the Dog’ to learn more about how the cartels rose to power.” I’m glad I did.
Other current books I’m reading: Finishing up Andrew Huang’s “Make Your Own Rules”, started Junji Ito’s “Uzumaki” and don’t know if I’ll finish it because it’s creeping me out at night already, and I also started Ryan Higa’s “How to Write Good” because I want to read more books by YouTubers since I’m enjoying Andrew Huang’s book so much.