It was basically a non-OA branded rehash of OA (which is free!). Also, it was 90% memoir and 10% actionable advice. In short, it was...fine? But it toIt was basically a non-OA branded rehash of OA (which is free!). Also, it was 90% memoir and 10% actionable advice. In short, it was...fine? But it took me SO long to read, because it was boring and not terribly insightful. Oh, well. ...more
What an engaging, fascinating read! I loved the Onkali and how Butler examined humanity through its interaction with these aliens. I WAS frustrated thWhat an engaging, fascinating read! I loved the Onkali and how Butler examined humanity through its interaction with these aliens. I WAS frustrated that so many of the human characters were so determined to "remain human" rather than become something new (I'd totally mate w/the Onkali. TMI? Maybe. But I would.), but...that response is realistic, I suppose - and probably why it frustrated me. ...more
As a Puerto Rican, this book got me riled up! It read like a novel - though sometimes like a poorly-written/edited novel. Still, it's well-researched As a Puerto Rican, this book got me riled up! It read like a novel - though sometimes like a poorly-written/edited novel. Still, it's well-researched and taught me history about my parents' birthplace of which I was unaware. It illuminated a mission for me and my writing - MAKE PUERTO RICANS VISIBLE....more
I really enjoyed this, despite initial skepticism. This was a great, nuanced take on Coriolanus Snow as well as an introduction to some wonderful new I really enjoyed this, despite initial skepticism. This was a great, nuanced take on Coriolanus Snow as well as an introduction to some wonderful new (old) characters: Tigris, Sejanus, and the indelible Lucy Gray. I could've done without the on-the-nose epilogue, but other than that, this was a great read.
I came to the book already a fan of The Hunger Games trilogy, but I'd be curious to know what someone who's never read The Hunger Games books before might think of the whole story reading them in chronological order starting with this one! If anyone has done that, let me know! ...more
I'm a HUGE fan of Simon Pegg, and I was thrilled when I learned he was putting a book out. And there was a lot to love about this book. He is surprisiI'm a HUGE fan of Simon Pegg, and I was thrilled when I learned he was putting a book out. And there was a lot to love about this book. He is surprisingly candid, and paints a wonderful picture of his life growing up and into the performer/writer he's become.
The one negative about this book? For some reason, he felt the need to incorporate fake "chapters" of a sci-fi book in which he is the star, which alternate with the real chapters of the memoir. Not only were they boring, and not a terribly good idea for a story, but they took away from the memoir bits that were actually really interesting. It was as if he didn't trust his own story enough, and I wish he would have as his story was why I got the book in the first place. I would recommend skipping those chapters and focusing on his memoir. Those are a very enjoyable read, AND includes a pretty intellectual dissection of Star Wars....more
Heinlein's sci-fi classic delves into some really intriguing ideas about religion and romantic/sexual relationships. However, this vision of the "futuHeinlein's sci-fi classic delves into some really intriguing ideas about religion and romantic/sexual relationships. However, this vision of the "future" is still horribly dated (particularly where women are concerned), and it reads less like a novel and more like a treatise on these ideas occasionally broken up by quotes as "dialogue."
Jubal Harshaw is one of the most interesting characters I've ever come across, not to mention the fact that he seemed to embody most of the things I personally believe. It was the first time I ever came across "Me" (ideologically, at least) in a book, and that was nice. But on the whole, there's very little characterization, and the characters don't actually progress or earn anything as if they were actual people.
I'm glad I read it, because it's such a well-known classic and has had so much influence. But it's wasn't exactly a "fun" read, and I couldn't wholeheartedly recommend it....more
This book, by one of my favorite authors, certainly gave me a lot of food for thought (no pun intended). While it didn't convince me to become a vegetThis book, by one of my favorite authors, certainly gave me a lot of food for thought (no pun intended). While it didn't convince me to become a vegetarian, it DID make me reevaluate where I will make my meat purchases. I'm definitely more interested in buying from local farmers who treat their animals well, and taking the time to do research on where I get my food.
My only real problem with the book was that, while it was well-researched, Foer doesn't really seem to know what kind of a book he wants this to be. It's like it's trying to be a autobiographical novel AND a non-fiction book exposing the evils of factory farming, and it doesn't do a great job at either. I wish Foer would stop being so "quirky" all the time and just speak. And the thing is, I first fell in love with his stuff BECAUSE of the quirkiness. But we're both getting older, and I'm kind of wondering if he can do anything else?...more
I'm marking this book as "read" even though I haven't finished it, because it's more of a reference book than a book that you read straight through. FI'm marking this book as "read" even though I haven't finished it, because it's more of a reference book than a book that you read straight through. For my "official" review of it, check out the write-up I did over at Tor.com:
There’s something about Nicole Krauss that, while I like her work, bothers me.
I’ve enjoyed Nicole Krauss’ writing ever since I read her first novel, MThere’s something about Nicole Krauss that, while I like her work, bothers me.
I’ve enjoyed Nicole Krauss’ writing ever since I read her first novel, Man Walks Into A Room. I was fascinated by her insights into memory loss and what that does to a relationship, because I’d seen what Alzheimer’s Disease had done to my family at the time, and while her novel was about memory loss of a different sort, many of the repercussions were the same. I loved that book, and immediately fantasized about being the one allowed to adapt it into a screenplay. :)
I enjoyed her second novel, A History of Love, too. But this story had less of an impact on me because of the voice and style she chose to tell it. Perhaps it was because I was used to her husband Jonathan Safran Foer’s style, and it seemed very much like him (making the reading experience visual by using things like lists and charts as part of the narrative, etc), but I felt like she was doing a ventriloquist act. While I enjoyed the characters (particularly the brother, who I thought was underused), and appreciated the story she was trying to tell, it didn’t feel like a natural progression from Man Walks Into a Room, nor did it sound like her voice from what I’d gathered from short stories of hers I’d read.
So, I recently picked up her latest novel, Great House, because I respect her talent as a writer, and was hoping that this book would be more her own. Great House tells the stories of three groups of people that are all connected by an old desk. Once again, Krauss is adept at capturing certain emotional situations – getting older, memory loss, life as a writer – with precision and elegance. There were passages where I recognized myself in what she was describing so much that I had to put the book down, because my heart was racing. The problem I have with this book, though, is that it’s told from the point of view of three different characters, but they all pretty much sound the same, and they all sound “literary.” Rather than have distinct voices with the distinct cadences that come with being at different stages in life, or different education levels, they all sound the same level of poetic and have the same self-awareness.
What’s strange is that, looking back, her first novel was probably really rough. But it also seemed to be a book that wasn’t trying so hard. It was telling an interesting story in an insightful way with characters I cared about, and I loved it. It seems, though, that once that book did so well, her subsequent novels seem to be trying so hard to be art that they forget to be stories. In A History of Love, all the characters are bound together by a manuscript they have in common. In Great House, there’s the desk. She seems to be settling into a formula where story doesn’t matter (There’ll be this central thing that unites the characters, which will allow me to tell the story Magnolia-style, being really insightful about characters and emotions, but not having anything actually happen except that someone, you know, ends up with this thing). Which is interesting, considering that Man Walks Into a Room told a story that was also insightful, and her short story, “Future Emergencies”, managed to tell a story that was bigger than her characters – it was about the post-9/11 world.
Thing is, I really do love Nicole Krauss’ writing. I just wish she put it to better use. I wish she would get out of her comfort zone a little more and risk sounding a little less polished. I’ll probably pick up her next novel, too, but if it’s about a disparate group of people bound together by a central object, I quit....more
I have been preaching the gospel of The Hunger Games since I started reading the series recently, recommending it to everyone I know (even one person I have been preaching the gospel of The Hunger Games since I started reading the series recently, recommending it to everyone I know (even one person I didn’t know!). Catching Fire is the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy, and I bought it while I was still reading the first book, because I knew I’d want it immediately. However, after The Hunger Games, I read My Sister’s Keeper first, because I didn’t want to rush the series. Now, I’m down to one book left, and I already miss it. It’s been a long while since a book has affected me like this.
Catching Fire focuses on Katniss Everdeen’s post-Hunger Games life, and the changing political climate in Panem. The “catching fire” of the title refers to Katniss having been a spark for revolution in the first book, and the idea for revolution now spreading like a brush fire across the country. Catching Fire was a slower, but more thoughtful read than the first. Whereas The Hunger Games sped along, because there was suspense in whether or not Katniss and her friends/family would survive, Catching Fire was more about exploring ideas and fleshing out relationships. It also raised the political stakes, and forces you to ask yourself what you would do in Katniss’ place. Would you stand up against oppression, or would you keep your head down and worry only about your own survival? The answers aren’t simple, and Katniss isn’t a cookie-cutter heroine who is a paragon of activism. She’s a strong girl, but she is also scared and more experienced with taking care of herself than she is with worrying about the larger picture. She is learning to think beyond day-to-day survivial to the kind of world she’d like to grow old in and raise children in.
I also love what Collins has done with Peeta, who matches Katniss in complexity. Honestly, I don’t understand the appeal with Gale. I sort of imagine him as Katniss’ Jordan Catalano – like, yeah he looks great leaning up against a locker…but he can’t read, you know? Granted, he’s a bit more than that, and they’ve been best friends forever, but still. I’m Team Peeta.
There are also some wonderful new characters in this book. Finnick Odair and Johanna Mason are both deceptively shallow at first, but stick with them. They are intriguing additions to the world of the Hunger Games.
The world of this trilogy gets more complex and mature in this book, and the slow simmer of most of the book gives way to a huge boil at the end when the stakes are raised even higher for everyone.
Collins has amazed me once again with Catching Fire, and I can’t get Panem and its inhabitants out of my head. I’ll be reading another book before reading the final installment, Mockingjay, because I’m just not ready for this story to end!...more
I had this book on my shelf for several years. It was one of those things where when it came out, the book was really popular and everyone was talkingI had this book on my shelf for several years. It was one of those things where when it came out, the book was really popular and everyone was talking about it so I picked it up with every intention of reading it only to have it get lost on my To Be Read bookshelves. After a healthy diet of sci-fi/fantasy-related stuff (and a token “chick lit” book for good measure), I decided I needed to get back to some good ol’, normal contemporary fiction.
Leave it to me to choose the contemporary novel off my shelf that is science fiction in the truest sense – fiction that incorporates current scientific advancements.
I was fascinated by the topic brought up in My Sister’s Keeper: do parents have the right to conceive a child in a test tube for the sole purpose of being a tissue match for a sick child they already have? And if so, do they have the right to continue to expect that the new child continue to donate organs and marrow and platelets without being asked? Does the child have the right to say no if it means the death of their sick sibling? Anna, the 13 year old protagonist of the book (the “designer baby”conceived to be a match for her sister, Kate, who has a rare form of leukemia), thinks that she should, and so she goes to a lawyer and sues her parents for medical emancipation.
Jodi Picoult does an amazing job of examining all sides of this issue by skillfully creating her cast of characters. She allows each character to narrate different chapters in the novel, and each has a distinct, lived-in voice. From 13-year-old Anna, to her mother Sara (40s), to her sarcastic lawyer Campbell, to her older brother Jesse, Picoult pulls off a hell of a ventriloquist act as she careens her characters through a desperate chain of events in which Kate’s life and Anna’s freedom hang in the balance.
In addition to the strength of the characters, Picoult brings the events of the book to a logical conclusion without it being at all predictable. In fact, the ending of the book slapped me in the face! I didn’t see it coming in quite the way it did. Yet, when it happened, I realized that it couldn’t have happened any other way.
My Sister’s Keeper is a book that had me crying as I read the ending on the subway, and had me thinking about it long after I put it down. If you’re looking for a book that will make you examine your own moral and ethical compass as well as make you feel deeply for the characters involved, I’d highly recommend this one....more
It’s the first book in the latest Young Adult trilogy that’s sweeping the nation. There’s already a film in the works, and when the last book in the sIt’s the first book in the latest Young Adult trilogy that’s sweeping the nation. There’s already a film in the works, and when the last book in the series, Mockingjay, came out a few months ago, the internet burst with excitement. That excitement was the first I’d ever heard of this series, and after several friends insisted, I decided to give the first book a whirl. This is quite possibly the first time I’ve ever thought that the hype should have been more. The Hunger Games is an intelligent, nuanced story featuring an amazing female protagonist that I hope every young girl makes her role model. Katniss Everdeen is a wonderful character, and Collins doesn’t shy away from putting her through hell. The story of The Hunger Games is surprisingly dark and political for a YA book, and the first-person present tense narration makes it a nail-biting read. I’ve already purchased the second book in the series, Catching Fire, and I know I will love it. The Hunger Games proves that not all YA sci-fi/fantasy fiction has to be painfully written, vapid, or feature helpless girls and glittery vampires....more
Ever since I read her fabulous short story collection, How to Breathe Underwater, years ago, I’ve been looking forward to a full-length novel by JulieEver since I read her fabulous short story collection, How to Breathe Underwater, years ago, I’ve been looking forward to a full-length novel by Julie Orringer. Her prose is elegant without being snooty, if that makes any sense, and she’s really great at capturing the voices of young women. So, I snatched up a hardcover copy of The Invisible Bridge the second it came out. It tells the story of a young, Jewish architecture student named Andras who falls in love with an older woman in Hungary just before the beginning of WWII, and the novel follows the couple through the war and its aftermath. I hate to say it, but I was a bit disappointed in this book. Perhaps it was the years of waiting for it, but it just didn’t live up to my expectations of what Orringer would or could do. At the start of the novel, it completely pulled me into the world of these characters. No lie – I found myself going to cafes more often just so I could read this book and feel like I was in Europe. (I’m so fucking pretentious and lame) The love story between Andras and Klara was interesting in the way that their age difference mattered then in a way it wouldn’t matter now (she wasn’t even 10 years older), and their personalities were such that watching them navigate their relationship kept me intrigued. But then The War Came. And that’s kind of the problem with historical fiction about WWII. There are just so many books set there, particularly books about the Jewish experience of it, that unless there is a real reason why this particular story needs to be told in this particular way, the whole thing falls flat. And so once it becomes yet another litany of hardships and horrors, it became clear that there was no reason for this story to exist except that Orringer wanted to tell the story of her family. That is a goal I greatly respect, but it doesn’t make a book interesting. There was one character, Andras’ best friend, Polaner, who was interesting because he was gay in addition to being Jewish. His portions of the story were fascinating and all too brief. I almost wish the novel would’ve been about him instead. Then The Invisible Bridge would have a reason to exist instead of being a superfluous Holocaust novel....more
I’ve been a Jennifer Weiner fan since her first novel, Good in Bed. Certain Girls is sort of a sequel to that book, in that it goes back to check in oI’ve been a Jennifer Weiner fan since her first novel, Good in Bed. Certain Girls is sort of a sequel to that book, in that it goes back to check in on Cannie Shapiro, now married to the love of her life, and the mother of a daughter who is about to celebrate her bat mitzvah. What I like about Weiner’s books is that she doesn’t sacrifice intelligence when using the conventions of “chick lit” (a term I hate, but it’s a term that, when you say it, people sort of know what you mean). Her characters aren’t catty and only interested in men and designer shoes. They tend to be regular women who are smart and ambitious and have very real, normal concerns. Cannie, however, is her most successful character in this way, and I feel like it has something to do with Cannie being her most autobiographical character. Both Cannie and her story have a depth to them that books like In Her Shoes don’t. I think Little Earthquakes comes close, but that has so many characters in it that it became a little unwieldy. Certain Girls also focuses on Cannie’s daughter, who is trying to become her own person in the shadow of a very overprotective mother, and she too is a believeable character. It was refreshing to have the narration ping-pong between Cannie and her daughter, getting to see Cannie (and ourselves) through someone else’s eyes. Not only was the story very true-to-life, but the ending was completely unexpected sad in a way that real life is often unexpected and sad. I would highly recommend reading Good In Bed and Certain Girls back to back....more
I had an awesome experience on the subway as I read this book when a woman noticed the cover and said “I have a friend in there!” Turns out, her frienI had an awesome experience on the subway as I read this book when a woman noticed the cover and said “I have a friend in there!” Turns out, her friend was author Cat Valente, and this girl (Veronica? Victoria? It was a “V” name, and we sadly didn’t exchange info or anything) was a huge Doctor Who fan. We ended up talking about fandom all the way to the end of the line, which was where we both were going, and it was really nice! It was nice to be able to talk to a complete stranger about something that, on the surface, seems incredibly silly, but means more to you than you even realize. Chicks Dig Time Lords is the first non-fiction book I read this year and has to do with women in Doctor Who fandom! I am so glad this book exists. Each of the essays about Doctor Who – by academics, fans, sci-fi writers, etc – analyzed a different aspect of fandom from a feminine perspective. From treatment at conventions to representation on Doctor Who itself, to involvement in fandom via fanfic or cosplay, they all reveal very personal connections to fandom, sometimes criticizing aspects of it, but more often than not celebrating its existence and celebrating the fact that women have always played a role in fandom, even if it hasn’t always been acknowledged specifically. Our numbers are growing every day, and books like this are a way for us to all come together, look each other in the eye and say, “I knew I wasn’t the only one!”...more
After The Sparrow, I wanted to continue on my sci-fi novel kick. My friend, Jean, who isn’t really the biggest sci-fi fan recommended this book to me After The Sparrow, I wanted to continue on my sci-fi novel kick. My friend, Jean, who isn’t really the biggest sci-fi fan recommended this book to me saying it was awesome and totally “up [my] alley,” so I gave it a whirl. What an intense, weird, hilarious, awesome, brutal, manic-depressive, testosterone-fuelled, craze-fest this novel is! I loved the directness and forcefulness of the prose. I loved the sense of humor. And the concept – a guy thinks that a sci-fi author’s book is a direct message to him from the Creator of the Universe telling him that he’s the only one with free will in the world and everyone else is a robot – is phenomenal. Dwayne Hoover is wonderful in his dysfunction, and Kilgore Trout, the sci-fi author, is an amazingly honest character. Waiting for them to meet as you know they will is as exciting as waiting for two cars that you see speeding toward the same intersection to crash. I’m lucky that the token penis owner that I read this year was the wonderfully crazy Kurt Vonnegut....more
As usual, Jennifer Weiner is great at telling a story, and even better at creating characters I care about. It seems, though, that in order for one toAs usual, Jennifer Weiner is great at telling a story, and even better at creating characters I care about. It seems, though, that in order for one to really enjoy this book, one needs to either be, or have been, a mother. I feel like I've enjoyed Weiner's other books more than this, and it's possibly because I related more personally to "Good In Bed" and "In Her Shoes." I might think of this book differently if and when I ever have a child.
This book has a lot of great ideas....but it should've been a non-fiction book. I would've enjoyed this a lot more had I not had to suffer through a "This book has a lot of great ideas....but it should've been a non-fiction book. I would've enjoyed this a lot more had I not had to suffer through a "story." ...more
I was never as into Angel as I was into Buffy, and reading about what happens to Angel after the end of the show didn't make me any more interested. BI was never as into Angel as I was into Buffy, and reading about what happens to Angel after the end of the show didn't make me any more interested. Beta George is ADORABLE, and Spike is a quality character as always. But honestly, unless you're a die-hard Angel fan, there's really not too much to this comic....more
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