Bragan reads ALL THE BOOKS in 2013, part 3

Continued from part 2, and continuing on with my (most assuredly doomed) attempt to read ALL THE BOOKS in the second half of the year.

Just to recap, here's a list of my reading for the year thus far.

The first quarter:

JANUARY:
Cold Days by Jim Butcher
Aetheric Mechanics: A Graphic Novella by Warren Ellis
The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution by Sean B. Carroll
The House With a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs
And Another Thing... by Eoin Colfer
What Would MacGyver Do?: True Stories of Improvised Genius in Everyday Life edited by Brendan Vaughan
Christine by Stephen King
ChronoSpace by Allen Steele
Inflight Science: A Guide to the World from Your Airplane Window by Brian Clegg
Kim by Rudyard Kipling
Some Kind of Fairy Tale by Graham Joyce
The Walking Dead Chronicles: The Official Companion Book by Paul Ruditis

FEBRUARY:
The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
Animal Wise: The Thoughts and Emotions of Our Fellow Creatures by Virginia Morell
The Curse of the Blue Figurine by John Bellairs
America Again: Re-Becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't by Stephen Colbert
The Resurrectionist by E.B. Hudspeth
Holmes and Watson by June Thomson
The Hour Before Morning by Arwen Spicer
Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
The Man Who Lied to His Laptop: What Machines Teach Us About Human Relationships by Clifford Nass, with Corina Yen
Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian
Simon's Cat in Kitten Chaos by Simon Tofield
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

MARCH:
Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things by Randy O. Frost & Gail Steketee
Anonymous Rex by Eric Garcia
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson
Complete Zombies vs Robots by Chris Ryall & Ashley Wood
The Treasure of Alpheus Winterborn by John Bellairs
The Vacuum Cleaner: A History by Carroll Gantz
The 1984 World's Best SF edited by Donald A. Wollheim
Doctor Who: The Visual Dictionary by Neil Corry, Jacqueline Rayner, Andrew Darling, Kerrie Dougherty, David John and Simon Beechcroft
The Postmortal by Drew Magary
Impossibility: The Limits of Science and the Science of Limits by John D. Barrow

And the second quarter:

APRIL:
The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz
Economix: How Our Economy Works (And Doesn't Work) in Words and Pictures by Michael Goodwin, illustrated by Dan E. Burr
The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett & Steven Baxter
Uranium: War, Energy, and the Rock That Shaped the World by Tom Zoellner
Reached by Allie Condie
The Bible According to Mark Twain: Irreverent Writings on Eden, Heaven, and the Flood by America's Master Satirist by Mark Twain, edited by Joward G. Baetzhold & Joseph B. McCullough
Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon
The Infinite Resource: The Power of Ideas on a Finite Planet by Ramez Naam
The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
If People Were Cats by Leigh W. Rutledge
Them: Adventures with Extremists by Jon Ronson

MAY:
My Life As a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland
The Wild West on 5 Bits a Day by Joan Tapper
Days of Atonement by Walter Jon Williams
Parasite Rex: Inside the Bizarre World of Nature's Most Dangerous Creatures by Carl Zimmer
The 1988 Annual World's Best SF edited by Donald A. Wollheim
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester
Reawakened: A Once Upon a Time Tale by Odette Beane
Britten and Brülightly by Hannah Berry
Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything by James Gleick
Lost Encyclopedia by Paul Terry and Tara Bennett
Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
Asteroid Rendezvous: NEAR Shoemaker's Adventures at Eros edited by Jim Bell and Jacqueline Mitton
Amsterdam by Ian McEwan

JUNE:
Curse of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz
What's the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America by Thomas Frank
The Infernals by John Connolly
The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich
Super Pop!: Pop Culture Top Ten Lists to Help You Win at Trivia, Survive in the Wild, and Make It Through the Holidays by Daniel Harmon
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: 12 Stories They Wouldn't Let Me Do on TV edited by Alfred Hitchcock
Drop Dead Healthy: One Man's Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection by A.J. Jacobs
Un Lun Dun by China Miéville
I Know I Am, But What Are You? by Samantha Bee
Post Captain by Patrick O'Brian

Yeah, my reading habits aren't described as "eclectic" for nothin'!

And now, on with the July reading!

71. The Skinner by Neal Asher



The ocean world of Spatterjay is home to some of the most vicious life forms imaginable, and the worst of them are the "leeches": large wormlike creatures that feed by taking chunks of flesh from their living prey. The leeches also transmit a virus which makes the lifeforms it infects very nearly immortal, able to survive unbelievable amounts of physical damage and regenerate lost tissue. All the better to be fed upon again and again, you see. And here's the real kicker: the virus is also capable of infecting humans. Although, if you're not careful, you might not be entirely human anymore when it gets done with you...

I got this book last year through the SantaThing exchange. (And I'm afraid the fact that I'm only getting to it more than six months later really says something about the state of my TBR.) I have to confess, I wasn't too sure about it when it showed up on my doorstep. I'd never heard of this book, or its author, and from the cover and the description, it looked like it might be the sort of SF novel that's right up my alley, but equally well might be just mindless. poorly written cheese. Turns out, I really should have trusted my Santa's tastes! Because it was a surprisingly enjoyable read.

The world-building requires some suspension of disbelief, but once you've managed that -- and I found it pretty effortless -- the result is kind of cool. The descriptions of Spatterjay and its ecosystem are vivid enough to make it feel very much like a real place, albeit not one I'd ever actually want to visit. The plot is fairly complex, with lots of different (but ultimately related) agendas coming together, and a gradual revelation about events in the story's past and how they've shaped events in the present. While the characters are far from nuanced and deep, they at least all feel like people with interesting stories. And there's both a lot of fun action and some very effective horror elements. (The worst of which, by the way, have less to do with Spatterjay's gory ecosystem, and more to do with sentient beings doing things to each other that... Well, let's just say this probably isn't a novel for the faint of heart.)

I see there are also a couple of sequels to this. The next volume is definitely going on my wishlist.

Rating: 4/5

Aha! Found you!

The Skinner doesn't sound like my cup of tea, but enjoyed reading your review.

The descriptions of Spatterjay and its ecosystem are vivid enough to make it feel very much like a real place, albeit not one I'd ever actually want to visit.

Me neither! "Spatterjay" is fun to say though. XD

Hello!

And, yes, "Spatterjay" is a ridiculously fun name. :)

Gruesome! Your review gives a nice foretaste of it.

Not quite for me, but glad you enjoyed it.

Yes, it's probably not for everybody. :)

Neil Asher is an author new to me, he sounds interesting, one to look our for at the book swops or library sales.

Apparently he's written quite a few books, several of them set in the same universe as The Skinner, and none of which I'd heard of before. But I'll be keeping my eyes open for more of his stuff, too.

It was fun to review your reads of the year - what variety!

Thank. It was fun to read them, too! :)

Enjoyed reading your review of The Skinner. Glad it was much better than suggested by the cover - that really is a bad one. I'd almost wonder if it was self-published.

Sadly enough, I've seen much, much worse covers on better SF novels. This one, I will say, does look slightly better in person that it does scanned and posted here. And at least it depicts things that are actually in the book, which is never remotely guaranteed. But it didn't inspire me with huge amounts of confidence.

My son brought this one home from the library a few weeks ago, The Seven Deadly Sins of Science Fiction.
This cover gives me the creeps - but in a fun way, I guess.

Hey, I actually have that book! Only in an omnibus edition with a follow-up anthology, which has the most boring cover imaginable:



I like the creepy one better. :)

I like the creepy cover better too! At least your book has some "virtue" in it .... ;)

The sins are probably more fun, though! (I haven't actually gotten around to reading it yet, so I can't say for sure.)

72. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer



William Kamkwamba is from a small village in Malawi, where very few buildings are wired for electricity, and even those are subject to frequent blackouts. Like most people in Malawi, his family are farmers, but from a young age he was extremely interested in technology, often taking radios apart to see how they worked. Then, when he was in his early teens, the country was stricken by a terrible famine. Unlike many, his family survived, but it took all their resources to do so, which meant his parents could no longer afford the fees charged by secondary schools in Malawi and he had to drop out. Afraid of falling behind if and when he was able to return, William began studying from English-language textbooks he found in his village school's tiny library, which led to him teaching himself the basics of electrical engineering from a physics book. Those books also introduced him to the concept of a windmill, to which his main reaction, essentially, was, "Hey, if I built one of those, I could listen to music on the radio any time I wanted! And maybe even run a water pump to irrigate the fields so we could grow more crops and avoid another famine." So he did, MacGyvering the thing together using homemade tools and parts scavenged from a scrapyard. And it worked.

Most supposedly "inspirational" stories strike me as emotionally manipulative and just tend to put me off, but this, this sort of thing, to me is genuinely inspiring. Not only is it a wonderfully impressive example of technological ingenuity and drive, as well as a testament to the power of knowledge and learning, but it's also a demonstration of how people anywhere can help to improve their local communities. And while I read this mainly because I was interested in the story of the windmill, I also found the earlier chapters, describing Kamkwamba's childhood and his experiences of living through the famine, extremely interesting, as they offered me a first-hand look at a place and a culture I was almost entirely unfamiliar with.

Rating: 4/5

>19 bragan: What a cool story!

yes, very cool

It is very cool, and he's been doing more cool things since then, too. He's been involved in bringing education and technological and economic improvements to lots other people in his village and others.

A very nice story and lovely review, Betty!

Thank you!

73. The California Roll by John Vorhaus



Radar Hoverlander -- he repeatedly insists it's his real name -- is an expert con artist. When he's approached by a woman who asks him to teach her grandfather the tricks of his trade, he immediately knows something's up; the woman in question is clearly just as well- versed in those tricks as he is. But he's intrigued enough to stick around and see where things are going, even as he grows increasingly unsure whether he's playing along or just being played. But the more he peels back the layers, the more difficult it becomes to know exactly what the game is, or whose side anybody is on.

It's a fun romp of a book. The plot is over-complicated, and arguably it cheats a bit towards the end, but it's entertaining. As are the characters (who are also complicated and prone to cheating). Plus, there's something about cons and con artists that's just inherently fascinating.

In other contexts, I think I might find the writing style a little annoying. It's full of show off-y vocabulary and highbrow wordplay and semi-obscure references in a way that that kind of screams, "Ooh, look how clever I am!" But as first-person narration, coming from a guy whose self-identity and livelihood both depend on his conviction that he's smarter than you, it works. It's amusing, rather than annoying. In fact, it's surprisingly hard not to like Radar. I'm left with the slightly uncomfortable feeling that he could scam me out of a couple hundred bucks, and I might not actually mind all that much.

Rating: 4/5

>15 avidmom: - That is a pretty horrible cover but #16 looks like it could be the cover for a book called The History of Communism. I think there was some link on another of the threads to a blog with horrible sci-fi covers.

#19 sounds like a really great story.

>26 DieFledermaus:: That was probably this blog, right? Some highly entertaining stuff on there!

And The California Roll was not a perfect novel, but it was enjoyable enough that I've already ordered the sequel.

I'm left with the slightly uncomfortable feeling that he could scam me out of a couple hundred bucks, and I might not actually mind all that much. The best people to know, yes really they are.

74. Ideas and Opinions by Albert Einstein



A collection of essays, speeches, letters, and other random bits of Albert Einstein's writing, first published in 1954, but compiled from previously published material.

The book is divided into five sections: "Ideas and Opinions" (a catch-all category with several subheadings), "On Politics, Government, and Pacifism," "On the Jewish People," "On Germany," and "Contributions to Science."

Not surprisingly, the science section is the longest, and contains the most substantial material, covering not just relativity and its implications for our conception of space and time, but also other historical scientific breakthroughs and some quite extensive musings on the relationship, both philosophical and practical, between mathematics, theoretical physics, and reality. Many of these pieces cover more or less the same ground, so they can get a bit repetitive, but I generally found them interesting. They could often be hard going, though; I must confess that my rusty, twenty-year-old physics degree and I got lost more than once.

Most of the rest of the book is dominated by Einstein's political ideas, particularly his devotion to the causes of pacifism, disarmament, international government, and the establishment of a homeland for the Jewish people. These parts are more of a hodgepodge than the science section, with quite a few pieces consisting only of a paragraph or three without much in the way of useful context. And, like the science essays, they tend to be somewhat repetitious. Some pieces, certainly, are well worth reading in their own right. (I was particularly interested in Einstein's discussion of his thoughts on religion, which are complicated, subtle, and idiosyncratic -- much more so than you'd think from the out-of-context quotes that theists and atheists alike enjoy trotting out in attempts to claim him as one of their own.) But I think that, overall, this volume is likely to appeal mostly to people who already have a specific personal interest in Einstein, or in the history of the causes he espoused. It did, however, make an interesting "further reading" companion to Walter Isaacson's excellent bio, Einstein: His Life and Universe, which I read a few months ago. And it did impress me strongly with just how much of an idealist Einstein truly was. Whether that idealism might be more fairly called visionary or naive, I can't really say -- probably a bit of both -- but I do have a lot of respect for it.

Rating: 3.5/5

75. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman



This is a short fantasy novel about a seven-year-old boy, and the women down the road from him who are clearly more than ordinary humans, and a monster who follows the kid home from elsewhere and infiltrates his family... and that description does not remotely do it justice. It's a beautifully written, devour-it-in-one-sitting book that's genuinely scary, but also full of wonder and half-glimpsed mysteries and poignant emotional truths. Not to mention a young protagonist I can identify with incredibly well. Partly that's because he's exactly the kind of bookish child I was (and still am, inside my adult self). But it's also because Gaiman clearly remembers what it's like to be a child -- not childhood as filtered through our adult perspectives, or as it's presented to us in children's books, but the full, complex reality of it -- and he makes me remember what it was like, too, and wonder how I ever forgot.

Gaiman's written some amazing stuff, and while I think the Sandman comic series is still his most impressive achievement, this is my new favorite among his novels.

Rating: I debated over this one, but I think I'm just going to go ahead and give it the seldom-used 5/5.

Nice review of the Gaiman book :)

Thanks!

You have put this Gaiman on the wishlist.

I hope you like it as much as I did, if and when you get to it!

So far I've listened to The Graveyard Book, Neverwhere and Coraline. He has narrated them himself, and the narrations seemed perfect for the books. I think you can take the "if" out of the equation. I think it is only a matter of when. :)

Enjoyed reading your thoughts on The Ocean at the End of the Lane

>35 NanaCC:: I've never listened to any of his books on audio, but I did once see a video of him reading one of his short stories, and it was great. So I'm not in the least surprised that his narration is perfect on the novels, too.

>36 baswood:: Thank you!

I've just downloaded this on audio, spurred by your review. I listened to him reading The Graveyard Book and his voice definitely added to the enjoyment (although his accents are a bit dodgy!)

76. Nim Chimpsky: The Chimp Who Would Be Human by Elizabeth Hess



Nim Chimpsky was part of a rather scientifically dubious experiment intended to study the ability of chimps to learn language. As part of this experiment, he was raised by humans, lived with humans, and many ways acted like a human... except, of course, for the all ways in which he was still very much a chimp.

Nim's story is an interesting and often emotionally affecting one, and it raises a number of thought-provoking questions about the ethics and the underlying assumptions of experiments like this, and of animal experimentation in general. But Hess often seems much less interested in the chimp, or in the science, than she is in the researchers. A disproportionate amount of the book involves gossipy details of their personal lives: who had an out-of-control ego, who was feuding with whom, who was sleeping with whom, who was smoking pot, etc., etc. etc. (The answer, by the way, is that everybody was smoking pot and everybody was sleeping with everybody else. Because it was the 70s.) I suppose this might have been vaguely interesting, in a tawdry reality TV kind of way, if Hess were really bringing these people vividly to life with her prose, but mostly I just found it dull and kept wishing she'd get back to more worthwhile topics.

Rating: 3/5

>27 bragan: - Heh - I think that was the one. So many horrible covers!

Glad to hear you liked the new Gaiman. I'm sort of regretting not being on top of things and getting tickets when he was here - they sold out pretty quickly. Definitely want to read this one but maybe when it's out in paperback. Agree with you about the Sandman series - still my favorite of all his stuff.

Didn't they make a documentary about Nim Chimpsky? I'm remembering a preview. Also - laughed out loud at this -

The answer, by the way, is that everybody was smoking pot and everybody was sleeping with everybody else. Because it was the 70s.

Interesting review of Nim Chimpsky. The documentary, too, focused on the human beings and their motivations, letting each one condemn themselves out of their own mouths.

It was an interesting contrast with Nim's very direct emotional reactions, which seemed to make everyone fall in love with him.

I thought this added an extra twist to the idea of trying to teach an animal language, since the humans who had language seemed to use it largely to deceive themselves and others and to justify themselves.

I would definitely recommend the film, as long as you're prepared (a) to be upset, and (b) for the focus to be as much on the human motivations than on the experimentation itself.

>40 DieFledermaus:: Oh, I'd be regretting that, too! Not that Gaiman is likely to ever make an appearance where I live. Sometimes being close to the middle of nowhere is annoying.

I hadn't heard of the documentary -- it seems it came out after the book did -- but I just looked it up. It's called Project Nim, and Netflix has it, so maybe I'll check it out sometime.

>41 wandering_star:: That actually sounds like a more interesting take on exploring the humans' motivations than what Hess did, which did often seem just sort of gossipy or perhaps even like a case of "I've learned all this stuff about these people, and, by god, it's all going in the book!" than an attempt to draw some kind of interesting emotional contrast. (Although maybe she intended to do something like that and was just too subtle about it for me.)

I think I once read an article about Nim Chimpsky, or maybe about the movie, and did find it upsetting.

And yes, those were the 70s alright!

Love the title of the book: Noam Chomsky indeed.

>43 rebeccanyc:: It is kind of a disturbing story, in a number of ways, both obvious and subtle.

>44 baswood:: The people who named the chimp certainly had an apt sense of humor, whatever else one might say about them. :)

Glad netflix has it - might check that out. Great review.

77. Zone One by Colson Whitehead



Mark Spitz -- not his real name -- is a sweeper. Meaning that it's his job to search room by room through the empty buildings of the walled-off section of Manhattan known as Zone One looking for any stray zombies the military might have missed in their initial attempts to reclaim the city for living humanity. Mostly all that's left are stragglers, that small percentage of the undead who, rather than shambling around biting people, simply freeze in place in some bizarre tableau of the actions they performed in life. When he's not shooting stragglers in the head, Mark Spitz contemplates his past and his PASD -- that's Post-Apocalyptic Stress Disorder, natch -- and carefully avoids envisioning a future.

This is most definitely a literary zombie novel, one in which subtle reflections on the human condition take center stage over plot and action, and in which every sentence is carefully crafted and evocative. It's a combination I like, one that might seem unlikely but feels like a natural fit to me. And what it's doing, it does really well.

My only complaint is that... Well, this is a novel that, in one way, feels very grounded in modern American culture, a post-apocalyptic scenario in which tacky chain restaurants serve as nostalgic reminders of the former world, and humanity's attempts at reconstruction come with corporate sponsorship and catchy optimistic theme songs. Which is clever and great, except that those cultural touchstones are weirdly vague. Familiar brands and companies are described at length so that you have no doubt what they are, but always referred to in generic terms, like "the multinational coffee concern." Or else their identities are ambiguous, leaving you wondering just which tacky chain restaurant you should be picturing. Or they don't quite correspond to anything familiar in a specific way, leaving the vague feeling that this universe is not quite our own, in more ways than just being one of those zombie apocalypse scenarios where nobody's ever heard the word "zombie." No doubt this is largely for legal reasons, but it did make things often feel very slightly off to me and sometimes more difficult to connect to than they should have been.

Despite that quibble, it's an impressive book, beautifully written, thought-provoking, and affecting. And having finished it, I find myself reluctant to pick up anything else for a little while, as the ending lingers with me.

Rating: 4.5/5

Great review of Zone One, Betty. I'll move it a bit higher on my TBR list.

I'll be really interested to hear what you think when you get to it.

Well, you make Zone One sound great.

Look at what you've done, bragan, you've got even kidzdoc planning to read a book about zombies!!!!
(OK A "literary zombie novel" but still .....)

ETA: I finished Inside Scientology a few days ago. My mind is still boggled.

avid - I had to quit reading that one (scientology) it was just too silly.

>50 avidmom:: Nothin' wrong with zombies! :) (And, by the way, for those who like their zombie novels well-written and literary-flavored, I also recommend The Reapers are the Angels.)

I do see that Zone One seems to have gotten a lot of very mixed reviews here on LT, and not just from people who don't seem to be able to wrap their heads around the idea of "literary zombie novel," so, as they say, your mileage may vary. But I still say it's good.

Inside Scientology is indeed pretty boggling, isn't it?

Yeah I was thinking tho Bragan, that there was a hard time in my life when I think I was pretty desperate and therefore very susceptible to something like Scientology, so ......there is a weird feeling of safety I think in some black and white thinking that can attract desperate people.

Yeah, I'm sure there is. It's funny, because half my brain can't understand why anybody would ever buy into even mainstream religion, never mind something as out there as Scientology, because it all seems so unbelievable to me. But the other half really does understand it, I think: safety and security, the comforting feeling of knowing the answers and knowing what's expected of you, a sense of community and feeling special because you're part of a special group, the desire to believe that you've found the key to solving all your problems and being the kind of person you want to be...

well said!

78. Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach



Mary Roach has carved out a great little non-fiction niche for herself by taking broad, generally interesting topics (sex, death, space travel, the idea of the human soul) and exploring their weirdest, quirkiest, and least-known aspects, all while demonstrating a consistent willingness to address matters not usually discussed in polite society with forthrightness and humor. This book, which covers the digestive system from the mouth the, uh, other end, is no exception. It's funny, interesting, and full of random bits of information to which the only appropriate response is, "No way, seriously?!" Among other things, it introduces us to people who do things like taste-test rancid olive oil or perform fecal transplants for a living, and answers lots of questions you probably never thought to ask, like: What do they put on kibble to make it palatable to cats? What happens if you swallow a whole shrew? And can you actually die of constipation? Not to mention some of the more out-there experiments on digestion that doctors and scientists have done over the years. Like the guy who stuck his tongue through a hole in his patient's stomach, matter-of-factly reporting what it tasted like. Disgusting? Yes, often. But somehow, it's difficult to mind too much.

I still think Stiff and Packing for Mars are easily Roach's best books, but this one is certainly a worthy addition to her oeuvre. I look forward (albeit with more than a little trepidation) to seeing what she turns her attention to next.

Rating: 4/5

79. Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan



Fifteen-year-old Liga has suffered terrible abuse, sexual and otherwise, at the hands of her father. When he dies, she experiences a brief period of relief, only to find herself subjected to still more suffering in the form of a brutal rape by five young men who regard a girl alone as an easy target. Hurt and full of despair, she goes into the woods with the intention of committing suicide, only to encounter an unexpected magic that sends her into another world, a world free of danger, fear, and unkindness, where she can raise the two daughters who resulted from her abuse in peace. But that world is not exactly real, and it is not possible to stay there forever.

Although you wouldn't guess it from that description, this is based on the fairy tale "Snow White and Rose Red." (Not to be confused with "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," which is an entirely different story, featuring six more dwarfs than this one.) It's an odd fairy tale, really, and it perhaps makes for a bit of an odd novel, but it's an absorbing one. It's very well written, with compelling characters and a subtle sense of fairy tale enchantment, and by the end I found it rather emotionally affecting. But it's also a disturbing story, full of distressing events. Needless to say, those who find descriptions of sexual assault and related horrors unbearable to read should stay away. Those scenes generally aren't exactly graphically depicted, but, man, they don't need to be. And the novel's constant depiction of men -- of most men -- as dangerous sexual predators is deeply depressing, and, for me, at least, almost got to be a little too much.

Rating: 4/5

80. Permanent Emergency: Inside the TSA and the Fight for the Future of American Security by Kip Hawley and Nathan Means



Kip Hawley was a key figure in the founding of the TSA, and later returned to serve as its administrator, so saying that this book represents an inside view of the agency is something of an understatement. Since, like many Americans, I don't exactly have a high opinion of the TSA, I was curious to see what he had to say for himself.

Well, this book does provide some insight into what exactly goes on in the TSA's bureaucratic mind, and perhaps even makes me feel somewhat sympathetic towards the human beings who make it up. And Hawley is pretty straightforward about the agency's imperfections and problems, which is refreshing, even if he doesn't really address many of my own personal concerns. (E.g., the question of what constitutes a reasonable tradeoff between security and civil rights, a subject he barely touches upon.)

The book's effectiveness, however, is often hampered by its writing style. It reads like the authors felt compelled to follow a formulaic notion of what non-fiction is supposed to be like these days: full of semi-fictional dramatized conversations and an obligatory description of everybody's hair color as soon as they're introduced. This kind of works in the chapters where they're discussing the moment-by-moment developments as the agency deals with a particular terror plot. (The one, as it happens, that led to us having to put all our liquids into baggies.) But in many other cases, it merely felt clunky and distracting, and if the goal was to bring immediacy and a sense of engagement to the narrative, it was counterproductive for me. I would much rather have just had Hawley's perspective on his experiences and his considered thoughts and opinions presented in his own words, rather than some half-hearted attempt at making things read like a (not very good) novel. There are only a couple of chapters that really deliver that, though, which is just enough to make wish we'd gotten an entire book full of it.

Rating: A slightly stingy 2.5/5

(Note: This was an Early Reviewers book, from the June batch.)

Too bad - sounds like an interesting topic.

I see other reviewers seem to have liked it better than I did... I think I've just kind of run out of patience for this particular style of writing, when it's not done well, or not suited to the subject matter.

I haven't read anything by Mary Roach. I have Stiff on my KIndle. I may have to give it a try.

I heartily recommend Stiff. It takes a subject that I personally find really off-putting and squicky, and actually makes it interesting and enjoyable to read about, and much less disturbing to contemplate than I ever thought it could be.

81. Revenge of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz



Book number three in the Spellmans series, featuring private investigator Izzy Spellman and her wacky friends and relatives. In this one, Izzy deals with an unconventional living situation, a mysterious case, strange changes in her brother's behavior, parental pressure about her future, some minor blackmail, her crush's likable new girlfriend, and the fact that she keeps not being able to find her car. Like the previous two books, it's very light and fluffy and more concerned with humorous character stuff than with plot, but I've been in a stressy mood lately, so that's exactly what I wanted. I'd say that overall I enjoyed this one more than the first book, but not quite as much as the second one. And I will definitely be reading number four.

Rating: 4/5

82. The Pocket Book of Ogden Nash by Ogden Nash



A compilation of light, humorous verse from Ogden Nash. These poems range from the cynical to the sweet, and mostly deal with the little quirks and foibles of everyday life: marriage, the joys and insanities of raising children, dealing with annoying houseguests, and so on and so forth. They were originally published over the course of several decades, I believe, with the earliest dating back to the 1930s. Some of them still feel wonderfully fresh and relevant, while others are more dated, either because they feature no-longer-current cultural references, or because they describe a rather old-fashioned way of life. (The latter is particularly true in the verses about relationships between husbands and wives... They're not exactly offensive or anything, but they definitely come from an era when expectations were different.)

Nash's style is entirely unique. He twists and tortures the English language into all kinds of ridiculous shapes, forcing words to rhyme whether they like or not, making puns that have no legitimate right to exist, and cheerfully ignoring the idea that there's any limit at all on how many syllables ought to be packed into one line of poetry. Sometimes the result is hilarious and delightful. Sometimes it's just silly. And, surprisingly often, I honestly could not make up my mind whether it was brilliant or terrible. Which I suppose is in itself kind of fun. Although 200 pages of that sort of thing might be a little bit much.

Rating: I am having immense trouble deciding what rating to give this. The best pieces are marvelous, but the collection as a whole might really fall more into the "not bad" range. Let's all it 3.5/5.

Love that review of Nash!

Thanks!

Ogden Nash! Beyond eclectic :)

You liked Zone One significantly more than I did; probably boils down to the sci-fi because I enjoy Colson Whitehead and am eager to read more by him. And then we totally agree about Gulp and even our favorites by Mary Roach. I enjoyed catching up.

Haven't read Nash in ages, but I agree he can be fun, although a little goes a long way!

>67 detailmuse:: "Beyond eclectic" is what I aim for. :)

And I will admit that I'm sort of well-disposed towards zombie stories, even if they are a bit overdone these days. I can see where that might make a difference to how much one enjoys Zone One.

>68 rebeccanyc:: Yes, probably I should have spread it out more!

83. The Telling by Ursula K. Le Guin



An observer is sent from Earth to study a world whose official government has embraced a doctrine of progress and control, to the extent of erasing their own history and repudiating their traditions. But when she makes a visit to a rural mountain area, she discovers that there are people who preserve the old ways, practicing a gently spiritual form of religion that the new regime has not entirely wiped out.

I can't exactly say that Le Guin's handling of these societies is heavy-handed or clunky. She's too good a writer for that, and she does make a point of adding in a bit of complexity. But, still, I could never quite manage to fully believe in either of these cultures, or to accept them on their own terms. It was never, ever far from my mind that the author had invented these societies to contrast with each other, to compare with our own societies on Earth, and to make some sort of point about what she believes to be good and bad in human civilizations, and that awareness made me feel a bit too detached from it all. I did find a few aspects of the traditional culture she describes to be interesting, appealing, even mildly insightful. But, for me, it just never quite came together into something satisfying or particularly profound.

It wasn't an unpleasant read or anything, and I'm not sorry I picked it up. But it's definitely not the first Le Guin novel I would recommend to anyone.

Rating: 3.5/5

Well said.

The Telling is an Ursula le Guin book that I have not come across before, thanks for an excellent review.

Thanks, both of you!

The Telling doesn't seem to be one of her works that's gotten a lot of attention. Sadly, there's probably a reason for that. It's a bit reminiscent of novels like The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed (and, indeed, is set in the same universe), but compared to those, it's very slight and not nearly as memorable.

84. Machine of Death edited by Ryan North, Matthew Bennardo, & David Malki



There is a machine that, given a sample of your blood, will return a piece of paper with a word, or a few words, printed on it, telling you what you're going to die of. Not when. Not where. Only how. The predictions are often ambiguous or even downright cryptic. Sometimes they're self-fulfilling. But they're always, always right.

Each of the short stories in this collection takes that as its central premise, and takes off from there to explore the idea's social, personal or philosophical implications... or simply to have fun with it. Individually, I don't think any of these pieces is especially brilliant. Probably very few of them would stand on their own particularly well outside this anthology. But the premise is so morbidly wonderful, and the way the various authors explore it from different angles so fascinating, that I found the book as a whole completely compelling, in a nifty more-than-the-sum-of-its-parts kind of way.

Rating: 4/5

I think it's best that most of us don't know how we are going to die, but a great idea for a collection of short stories.

I think you're probably right. And, really, a lot of the characters in the book would agree.

Yeah but I think I might like knowing how THEY will die! Might check that one out.

I really liked many of the stories in Machine of Death. My problem is that they began to run together since I was taking so much time between stories. It was kind of fun looking forward to the twist each author was able to spin for their story.

>77 mkboylan:: There's an interesting variety. Everything from boring old cancer and heart attacks to being eaten by lions. :)

>78 stretch:: I read the whole thing fairly quickly, which also maybe caused things to run together a bit, but not in a bad way.

I listened to them as podcasts - not sure if all the ones from the book are available that way? But I agree, I really liked the variety of ways that authors had interpreted the idea. Good not to try and make it too uniform.

I know I listened to one or two of them as podcasts on Escape Pod (or possibly one of its sister podcasts), which was part of what interested me in the book. I don't know if any of the rest of them are available in podcast form or not.

85. Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain by Maryanne Wolf



This book is divided in into three sections. In the first, Wolf focuses primarily on the history of writing and the evolution of different kinds of writing systems. Her main thesis seems to be that reading, unlike speaking, is a skill that does not come naturally to humans. It has to be learned, which requires us to rewire the neural circuitry of our brains. There's remarkably little actual brain science here, though, as she discusses said circuitry primary in very broad, vague terms. Which I found a little disappointing. Still there is some interesting stuff in here. I particularly appreciated the insight that the alphabet, with its representation of individual sounds, is actually a pretty brilliant invention, not one that's intuitively obvious at all. There's also some thought-provoking discussion of Socrates' opposition to written language, and the extent to which his arguments are relevant today, as the reading of print books becomes increasingly replaced by the very different reading experience of the internet.

The second section focuses on how children learn to read. Again, not a lot of actual neurological science here, except for one section on what happens in the brain as we read, which she seems to half-expect readers to skip as "too technical." She spends a lot of time talking about the stages kids go through as they learn to read, which mostly contains nothing particularly surprising. More interesting, or at least more important, are the impassioned points she makes about the importance that reading to small children has to their later literacy development, and the fact that this puts impoverished children without much access to books (or to adults with the time and ability to read to them) at a huge disadvantage. She also contends that reading expands kids' horizons and makes them more capable of empathy. It's not at all clear to me how much of that is based on any actual science, and how much on her own biases as someone who grew up as a reader. But as someone who also grew up reading, I am naturally inclined to agree with it.

Section three is about reading difficulties and dyslexia. This seems to be Wolf's biggest area of expertise, both personal -- she has a son with dyslexia -- and professional, and it's also the meatiest and most detailed. In this case, she does discuss a lot of what happens in the brain that (perhaps) causes dyslexia. There aren't a lot of answers here, as it's not all very well-understood, and dyslexia isn't even a very well-defined problem. But the questions themselves are interesting, as is her assertion that dyslexics tend to be creative in ways that would have put them at an advantage, rather than a disadvantage, in pre-literate societies and can still to some extent do so today.

Bottom line: It's not quite the book I was hoping it would be, but it was worth reading.

Rating: 3.5/5

It does sound interesting but maybe more interesting for people who actually teach reading - like something my retired reading specialist aunt would really like.

I'm always able to readily agree about any positive attributes to reading!

Love the title. How could you not read it?

I don't think it's meant to be aimed specifically at teachers, but it is rather more teaching-centered than I expected.

And, yes, the title was kind of irresistible!

Speaking of children and reading...

86. Figgs & Phantoms by Ellen Raskin



I absolutely adored Ellen Raskin as a kid, so when I found a set of three of her books recently, going cheap, I couldn't resist picking them up and revisiting her. This is the first of the three I've read. It features Mona, a rather sullen girl who is deeply embarrassed by her wacky family of former Vaudeville performers -- all but Uncle Flo, the bookseller, to whom she is extremely close. When her uncle dies, she is devastated, and goes to look for him in her family's own private version of heaven.

This wasn't my favorite of Raskin's books from my childhood, but the fact that I remember it at all says something about the impression it made on me. And I can see what I liked about it as a kid. It's weird and quirky, and a little bit poignant. And it expresses an appreciation of books, which is something I've been a sucker for since I was old enough to read. As an adult, though, I don't know... It was almost a little too relentlessly quirky, and I'm not at all sure what to make of the heaven stuff, which I probably just took completely in stride back then. So, while it was interesting to take a look at, it was probably never going to do for me at forty-two quite what it did for me at eight.

Rating: 3.5/5.

Glad to read your review of Proust and the Squid, which has been on my wishlist since 2010...although I'm not sure i knew what it was about. Sounds relevant for me as a parent more than as a reader...

So, I'm catching up with your eclecticness from April...almost 230 posts. You have been mixing in a lot of books I'm quite interested in, like Einstein's writing, and the Infinite resource and others. I've requested the Gaiman from my library (although I'm number 173 on the waiting list). Anyway, enjoyed catching up, hopefully I can stay caught up now.

I don't think it goes into parental and educational issues in all that much more detail than it goes into the neurological ones, but there are probably some aspects that are particularly relevant to parents. (And some that would be especially relevant to parents of kids with reading disabilities.)

Also, hello, and welcome back to my eclecticness! :)

Thanks, I've missed your thread.

Great review of Proust and the Squid. I did buy it, but I'm not sure when I'll get to it.

>70 bragan: - What Le Guins would you recommend for someone who has only read The Left Hand of Darkness? I really liked that one and wanted to read more by her (well, also read some Catwings books when I was a kid). I was thinking The Dispossessed and maybe The Lathe of Heaven since I remember seeing a movie version of that a long time back.

Machine of Death sounds pretty interesting - definitely an intriguing concept for a book.

Good review of Proust and the Squid - it does sound different from what I was thinking it was about.

Those probably aren't bad places to go next with Le Guin. I wasn't as quite enamored of The Dispossessed as a lot of people, but it is interesting and thought-provoking and probably works nicely as a follow-up read to The Left Hand of Darkness. It's been ages and ages since I read The Lathe of Heaven, so I'm not sure I remember it well enough to recommend it, but I do remember enjoying it. If you're interested in fantasy at all, the Earthsea books are my personal favorite of her writings. Her shorter stuff is also worth checking out, so possibly The Wind's Twelve Quarters. I don't remember all the stories in that one, but the ones I do are well worth reading.

87. Doctor Who: Shada by Gareth Roberts



In 1979, Douglas Adams wrote an episode of Doctor Who that was never finished, due to a strike at the BBC. The story has since appeared in various iterations: there was a video release featuring narration by Tom Baker to summarize the unfilmed scenes and, later, an animated webcast version featuring the Eighth Doctor in place of the Fourth. Adams himself also cannibalized bits of the plot, integrating them into Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. Well, here's the latest version: a full-length novel adaptation by Gareth Roberts, who has fleshed out Adams' script significantly, as well as making a few changes. (Reasonably enough, I think, especially as Adams apparently wrote the original script very quickly and was reportedly not entirely happy with it.)

I enjoyed this, honestly, rather more than I was expecting to. Roberts writes in an amusing, often noticeably Adams-eque style (complete with Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in-jokes), but he largely manages to avoid making this feel like a forced or overly imitative Adams pastiche. And some of the dialog is both pure Adams, and pure Doctor Who. The result is a lot of fun, even (or perhaps especially) for those of us already familiar with the story.

Rating: 4/5

88. Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe by Greg M. Epstein.



Religious people who've been brought up with the belief that all morality comes ultimately from God sometimes have difficulty with the idea that it's possible for atheists to be good people. Without a god to answer to, the argument goes, there's not much stop you from committing rape, murder, theft, or any other nasty act that might enter your head. And if you don't believe in a Higher Power, then clearly you've got nothing good to live for, and are unlikely to spend your time doing anything but wallowing in decadent hedonism.

It's all nonsense, of course. Atheists don't have any higher proportion of axe murderers than any other segment of the population, and I personally have never attended a single depraved orgy. No, most of us nonbelievers have our own moral compasses, and it is in fact entirely possible to base a moral philosophy on compassion and respect for one's fellow humans, and on the desire to make life as satisfying and meaningful as possible for ourselves and those around us, without reference to divine edicts

This, more or less, is Humanism, and it's the subject of this book. Author Greg Epstein, a Humanist chaplain at Harvard University, discusses such topics as Humanist ethics, the historical roots of Humanism, different ideas about what it means to live a meaningful life without a god, the potential for Humanism to play a community-building role in people's lives in the same way that religions organizations do, and the importance of Humanists participating in interfaith understanding and cooperation.

That last is especially worth taking note of. Epstein, unlike many of the so-called "New Atheist" authors, does not regard religion as an enemy. He has little liking for the more extreme and intolerant varieties of religion, but he regards liberal congregations of any faith as the natural allies of Humanists. He's also not interested in arguing the existence or non-existence of God or engaging in coldly logical debate, preferring to focus on the more human, emotional aspects of what it means to live a good life, and on defining Humanists in a positive way based on what they believe in, rather than what they don't.

I do have a few quibbles here and there. Most notably, I look a little askance at the sleight of hand it takes to get that "one billion" figure in the subtitle. Epstein starts off the book by coming very close to defining a "Humanist" as anyone who does not believe in a well-defined deity but who does possess a sense of morality, regardless of how they self-identify. But the set of Humanist principles he later describes, broad though they might be, are surely not subscribed to by all of the billion (or, more realistically, half-billion) people fitting that description, especially inasmuch as they also embody a liberal, progressive political philosophy. In fairness, Epstein never actually gives the impression that he thinks he's speaking for all non-theists everywhere. But I think a more careful exploration of his definitions would probably have been a good thing.

I do in general agree with those principles myself, however, and overall I do like Epstein's clearly heartfelt attitude, even if we may disagree on a few details. Some of his descriptions of the part a Humanist community can play in people's ordinary lives (e.g. wedding and funeral services) are honestly quite moving, and I say that as someone who is not particularly big on ritual and who always vaguely distrusts the word "community."

Still, I don't think there was all that much here that was really new or particularly revelatory for me, personally. But I think it may be a good starting place for people who have abandoned or are questioning the faith they were raised with and struggling with the question of what that means for their own moral lives. It also might be of interest for those looking for a softer, less confrontational alternative to atheist writers like Dawkins and Harris.

Rating: 4/5

More interesting stuff here!
He has little liking for the more extreme and intolerant varieties of religion,
Yeah. Me either.

>94 avidmom:: They are not, I think, very likeable in general. :)

That's a good point - for those looking for something less confrontational.

I have a lot of respect for people like Dawkins, but I also think that often that confrontational approach can be counterproductive.

Interesting. I have this book on my wistlist from 2010 (from Stretch and Club Read's long lost, and missed, bobmcconnaughey). My worry is that like you I wouldn't find that much "that was really new or particularly revelatory".

Well, I did still find it worth reading despite that fact. I may not have learned much of anything that I didn't already know about humanism, but it was interesting to get Epstein's personal perspective.

I had to go back to see what I said about the book from 2010.

It certainly is the softer side of atheism for sure and I kind of liked the whole community building aspect, but otherwise not a lot of information for a non-believer, since it is likely that we have already reached a place where morals and the like are established parts of our lives. The thing I took from the book that was kind of big for me at least was the affirmation of what I was already thinking. Sometimes it is nice to read something that doesn't push the boundaries, not the best idea for growth, but can be reassuring none the less.

I have seen a couple of interviews with Epstein backing away from the whole Billion thing in the title. In the interviews he qualifies his statements by stating that he can only speak from his own experiences and for the people he personally knows and that the non-religious portions of society are like any other grouping of people, no one label fits all.

I went and looked at your review of it, too! Which I thought was a good one.

And, yeah, it can be kind of nice, on occasion, to have your own values and beliefs affirmed, to get a little concrete reassurance that there are lots of other people out there who feel and think the way you do. Obviously, you don't want that in your life exclusively, or it leads to the dreaded echo chamber effect, but sometimes it's nice.

I did get the impression from Epstein that he really wasn't attempting to put himself forward as speaking for all unbelievers at all, even if he may have made a misstep or two in conveying that. (And I do have to wonder whether the whole "billion people" thing wasn't actually his publisher's idea to begin with.) But it's good to know he recognizes that explicitly.

Great review of Good Without God, which sounds quite interesting. I've always found the idea that non-religious people are inherently amoral to be a very dubious claim; axe-murderers they certainly aren't (or no more than religious people).

I seem to recall reading somewhere that the crime rate among atheists is actually lower than the general population, although even if true, that probably has as much to do with socioeconomic status as anything.

I also think people who regard non-believers as inherently amoral generally have an extremely limited experience of them.

89. Fiend by Peter Stenson



I love a good zombie novel, so this seemed right up my alley, but I must admit, I felt a little uncertain going in. The premise seemed, well, a bit gimmicky, as if perhaps the author emerged from a marathon of AMC's greatest hits thinking, "Hey, The Walking Dead and Breaking Bad are both massively popular shows. If you could somehow combine those two, you could make a mint. Wait, I've got it! A novel about meth addicts during the zombie apocalypse!" For all I know, maybe that was in fact Stenson's thinking, although the author bio on the dust jacket says he is himself a recovering meth addict, so more likely he's just writing what he knows. Either way, it doesn't matter, because it works.

This is, to begin with, a pretty solid zombie apocalypse novel: suspenseful in the all the right places, occasionally moving, and appropriately bleak. It puts a few interesting original spins on the usual zombie tropes, too. Nothing hugely groundbreaking, but it's enough to keep it from feeling by-the-numbers, which is nice. But it's also an effective novel about drugs. The main character is an interesting mixture of decent, intelligent, caring human being and messed-up, sell-your-grandmother-for-a-hit junkie loser, and the conflict between those two sides of him is really what's at the book's heart. Sometimes painfully so, but that's no bad thing.

Basically, turns out it was right up my alley, after all.

Rating: 4/5

(Note: This was an Early Reviewers book, from the May batch.)

90. Breakpoint: Why the Web Will Implode, Search Will Be Obsolete, and Everything Else You Need to Know About Technology Is in Your Brain by Jeff Stibel



Jeff Stibel's main thesis here is that complex networks, such as human brains or ant colonies, tend to follow a particular pattern. They go through a period of initial growth, rapidly adding more ants or more neurons, then reach a point where the growth is no longer sustainable and decline in size until they reach an equilibrium. From that point on, their resources go into quality rather than quantity, becoming smarter and more efficient with what they already have. Stibel believes this is also true of successful social media sites, and that it is bound to be true of the internet in general.

The comparison between brains, anthills, and the internet is an interesting one, although it's not one that was new to me, and his analysis of it all, while fine as far as it goes, isn't particularly deep. Also not particularly deep are his thoughts about what this pattern means for the future of the internet. Certainly, there's nothing anywhere near as sensationalistic and doom-laden as the subtitle implies. He's not predicting the complete collapse of the World Wide Web, or anything like that. His conclusions, in fact, mostly involve changes to the way we use the web that are already in the process of happening. I don't think anybody would dispute the fact that, when searching through the vast sea of knowledge that exists out there on the web, more is not always better, and what we increasingly need is smarter ways to find the knowledge we want without getting bogged down in too much information or overwhelmed with distractions.

Stibel also talks a bit about currently under-development technologies to allow us to interface our minds directly with computers, which isn't particularly relevant to his thesis, but is kind of cool. He also includes a chapter at the end about what he admits is a tangential topic, discussing the ways in which the internet can be used as a model for artificial intelligence or may even be considered a form of artificial intelligence itself. Which is an intriguing idea, but, again, not explored in any great depth.

Bottom line: This was perfectly readable, and the premise was reasonable, but I was somehow expecting something a bit... more.

Rating: 3/5. Which may be slightly stingy, but, meh.

(Note: This was an Early Reviewers book from the July batch.)

Breakpoint isn't drawing my curiosity...

>106 dchaikin:: I wouldn't discourage anybody from reading it, but I really don't have any particular desire to recommend it, either.

91. Blood Lite, edited by Kevin J. Anderson



This anthology of humorous horror stories was a very mixed bag, more so even than most anthologies tend to be. There were several stories I really enjoyed, a number of amusing but forgettable pieces, and, sadly, a generous handful of duds. Perhaps that shouldn't be too surprising. Comedy and horror are difficult genres to combine effectively, although when it does work, the results can be terrific. I'd say most of the stories I especially liked in this one do a good job of combining their humor with actual horror, rather than just the trappings and tropes of the horror genre. Cases in point: Joe R. Landsdale's "Mr. Bear," which initially put me off with its unpleasantness, then somehow won me back again with even more unpleasantness, and Will Ludwigsen's "A Good Psycho is Hard to Find," which made me laugh out loud, immediately made me feel like a horrible person for laughing... and then made me laugh again. It's just a pity they weren't all like that.

Rating: 3/5

I'd buy that book and keep it around just to have it. LOL!
Love the cover.

I'm a bit indifferent to the cover, but I have to admit to a fondness for the title. :)

92. The Avengers: The Inside Story by Patrick Macnee, with Dave Rogers



I adore The Avengers. I don't mean the superhero movies, although those are fun, too. I'm talking about the 1960s British secret agent TV show. And so is Patrick Macnee, who played the inimitably stylish John Steed. In this book, he talks about his time on the show (and on its sequel, The New Avengers), interspersing his own reminiscences with quotes from other people involved in the production, and sometimes from critics. It's a bit rambly, and the casual sexism of the 60s is enough in evidence to occasionally make me uncomfortable. But it's interesting, and Macnee's discussion of the good and bad aspects of working on The Avengers, and of his own problems and shortcomings, feels very honest. There's also lots and lots of nice, glossy pictures, which I appreciated.

Rating: 3.5/5

> I used to love that show!

I still do! I picked up a box set of all the Emma Peel episodes ridiculously cheap a while back, and have been slowly watching through them when I don't have anything else to watch. They're still great fun.

93. Ring by Stephen Baxter



There's an old, not-all-that-funny joke that goes like this: A woman attends an astronomy lecture, and afterwards she approaches the speaker, looking agitated. "Did I hear you correctly?" she says. "Did you say the sun was going to die?"

"Yes," the astronomer replies. "In about five billion years."

"Oh, five billion!," says the woman. "Thank goodness! I thought you said five million!"

Turn those figures around, and you basically have the plot of this book. Thanks to a little wormhole-assisted time travel, humanity discovers that the sun, and every other star around us, is evolving a thousand times faster than it's supposed to, and in five million years the universe will be nearly uninhabitable, at least for our form of life. So they send a ship into the future the slow way to try to do something about the survival of the human species.

It's pretty much a typical Stephen Baxter novel: extremely hard hard SF with some interesting, cosmic-scale ideas, coupled with a painfully thin and slow-paced plot, immense amounts of clunky exposition that fails to properly capture the wonder of the scientifically nifty things he's describing, and one-dimensional characters whose only significant form of interaction with each other consists of physics lectures.

Oh, and I never realized just how unbelievably annoying it is when someone, real or fictional, repeats the name of the person they're talking to every two sentences until I had to put up with about a hundred pages in a row of one character constantly doing that to another -- who, of course, had a stupid and unwieldy name, just to make things maximally irritating. It got to the point where I was fantasizing about killing the offending character slowly and painfully while repeating her own name to her every thirty seconds just to see how she liked it. Probably this would have lowered the odds of the human race's survival significantly, but, damn it, it would have been worth it.

Sigh. I don't know why I keep reading Baxter's stuff. Or, no, really, I do. Partly it's that I've already accumulated a bunch of his books somewhere and keep thinking, well, I have them, so I should read them. But mostly it's because the first book of his I read was The Time Ships, and, man, that one captured that good, old-fashioned sense of wonder for me just perfectly. I keep longing for a repeat of that reading experience from Baxter, and just keep not getting it. Whether that's because he only had one really good book in him, or because I read it when I was much younger and more easily satisfied, I don't know. But I think it is finally time to give up on him now. Well, except maybe for that Doctor Who novel...

Rating: 2/5. Although, man, I was seriously tempted to dock it another half star just for Ms. I Am Going To Keep Calling You By Name Even Though You Are Literally the Only Person in a Million Light-Years That I Could Be Talking To.

That was a fun review - especially the angry part!

Thank you! I must confess, I had almost too much fun writing it. Especially the angry part. :)

I am not a scifi fan, but you always make me laugh with your reviews of them.

Thank you! Although I'm afraid that wasn't exactly a shining example of the genre...

You must have really not liked the Baxter book as you gave it just 2 stars. Thanks for the warning.

>119 baswood:: Yeah, I normally rate a bit high, I think, and try to find at least something to like in every book. Ring did have some cool ideas, but mostly I spent the entire time I was reading it wishing I was reading something else instead.

Hi - catching up - and giggling already with Nana and Avid!

103 - I used to love showing my students the stats the PEW Foundation had correlating levels of education, income, etc. to different religions. That is some fun stuff and it made lots of them cranky on a pretty conservative campus. Lower education equals more fundamentalism.

105 - "From that point on their resources go into quality rather than quantity" is exactly what Nicholas Carr says in The Shallows is the process being stopped by the internet too much info effect. There is that pruning process that happens to the brain that puts energy into deeper thought by cutting out that unused excess. That means that kids raised on too much electronics won't be as deep thinkers. That's the theory anyway. It's interesting. I don't know about the physical part of it, but I sure experience that when i dump too much info into MY little pea brain with not enough processing time.

P.S. I miss Emma Peel. When I was a teenager I thought she was the most wonderful woman.

>121 mkboylan:: Hello!

The Shallows is on my wishlist somewhere. I vaguely remember reading the original article the book was based on and having a lot of trouble making up my mind about how much I did or didn't agree with it, so it seems like it should make for an interesting read. And it does sound like the points he's making are at least somewhat related to Stibel's. I do know that studies have been done that show that, no matter what we might think, multitasking actually makes us worse at everything, and based on my own personal experience, I don't think there's any doubt that less really can be more when it comes to the question of how much you should try to shove into your brain at once..

>122 mkboylan:: I had -- and have -- such a huge crush on Emma Peel. Which is extremely weird, since I am a heterosexual female, but she is just that awesome. :)

94. Biting the Wax Tadpole: Confessions of a Language Fanatic by Elizabeth Little



Elizabeth Little is deeply, delightfully in love with languages, and her infectious enthusiasm shines out from every page of this fun little book as she takes us on a whirlwind tour of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and all the other components of human speech. Along the way, she introduces us to some of the weirdest and most wonderful examples of how different languages work, from Arabic's pattern of creating new words by swapping out an existing word's vowels, to the staggeringly complicated things Navajo does with verbs, to the way Thai uses a different word for "three" depending on whether you're talking about three books, three boys, or three cigarettes. Personally, I find all this fascinating but there's no doubt that any discussion of grammar can get pretty dry if it's not written properly, so Little's breezy style, entertaining pop culture references, and amusingly self-deprecating anecdotes about her own experiences with language-learning are extremely welcome and keep things moving along at a fast, entertaining clip.

Definitely recommended for anybody with a streak of linguistic nerdiness in their soul.

Rating: 4/5

Enjoyed your review of Biting the Wax Tadpole I think I might enjoy that. Can you become more nerdish as you get older I wonder, it certainly seems so in my case.

I'm going to have to look for Biting the Wax Tadpole; it sounds like a book I'd really enjoy.

>125 baswood:: I believe one can become more nerdish with age, yes. Although considering the high level of nerdiness with which I started out, for me personally that may be difficult. :)

> 124

from Arabic's pattern of creating new words by swapping out an existing word's vowels..

This was one of the hardest things for me about learning Hebrew. (The vowel-swapping is a common factor in Semitic languages.) Even more frustrating is that sometimes some letters of the original word will disappear in some vowel inflections. Imagine if the past tense of "love" was "ved."

As nerdy kids we might have been embarrassed by our nerdiness but once one gets older, I think we wear our nerdiness like a badge of honor. Young or old, however, the truth is "Nerds are IN!"

Looking for the thumbs so I can "like" your comment, avid mom.

Avidmom, does your son agree? :P

>128 JDHomrighausen:: I first encountered the fact that some languages do that in Guy Deutscher's The Unfolding of Language, and it kind of blew my mind. I cannot imagine trying to learn a language that works that way. But I am just constantly impressed by the variety and inventiveness of human languages, and the ability of the human brain to handle all those arbitrary rules.

>129 avidmom:: Yes, indeed! I wave my nerd flag with pride!

95. The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There by Catherynne M. Valente



The sequel to The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making sees our hero September returning, just a little more grown up, to Fairyland, where she must confront her own liberated shadow. As with the first book, this is, on the surface, a charmingly written little fantasy story with lots of adventure and whimsical imagination, but one with lots and lots depths lurking below it. Rather like Fairyland itself, really. This is one of those books that I think can be enjoyed equally well by both children and adults, although the experience of reading it is bound to be very different for each. In either case, I heartily recommend it.

Rating: 4.5/5

>132 bragan: Coming from a family of self professed nerds, I support your flag waving.

>134 NanaCC:: Excellent! Nerds, unite!

96. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender



Young Rose Edelstein has a strange ability: whenever she eats, she can taste the history of the food's ingredients and the hidden emotions of the cook. Which can be a difficult and confusing thing, when you live in a family with secrets to keep.

It's a really inventive premise, one that works very nicely as a metaphor for the ways in which children pick up on the emotional undercurrents that surround them. And it's generally well-written, with an interesting twist or two and a few touching moments. But somehow, I just never felt like I was connecting to the story or the characters as much as I should have. As if there were a faint sense of artificiality about the whole thing that prevented me from fully entering into the novel's world.

I think there's a number of reasons for that. For one, I spent far too much time unsure whether this story was taking place in the 1950s or the 2010s or sometime in-between, until a passing reference to computers several chapters in nailed it down at one end, and the realization halfway through that nobody had a cell phone nailed it down in the other. The sense of place -- it's set in LA -- is better, but even so, there's a sort of vagueness to the whole thing, a lack of any real specifics to ground it all. More problematically, I think that's also to some extent true of the characters. Bender tries to give them all individual quirks and histories, but, ultimately, they mostly still felt to me more like collections of generic character traits than people: the distant father, the unfulfilled mother, the introverted brother. Despite the main character's perceptive abilities, I never felt like I was seeing deeply into any of these people. Maybe that was meant to be part of the point, I don't know, but it was just never quite satisfying.

Rating: 3.5/5

97. Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes by Stephen Jay Gould



A collection of essays, almost all of them originally published in Natural History Magazine, covering various topics in evolutionary biology and related fields. These are from the early 1980s, so some of them are a bit dated, but they're still very much worth reading. Gould is a lucid, thoughtful writer, and his subject matter is always intriguing, at least for those of a scientific mindset. He isn't simply popularizing scientific concepts or offering up interesting scientific factoids for his readers, either. There's a lot of original thought, analysis, and argument here, whether Gould is attempting to dispel over-simplistic myths about important people in the history of science, contesting the popular notion that extinct species are necessarily failed or "inferior" species, or -- a favorite theme -- pointing out the ways that biologists often fail to sufficiently take into account the role that chance and contingency play in evolution. Fascinating stuff.

Rating: 4/5

I haven't read Stephen Jay Gould in years, but I used to love his books. Thanks for reminding me about him.

Nice review of Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes, Betty. I think I have this book in a box of uncategorized books, so I'll look for it soon.

I'd read a couple of his other essay collections, but also not for many years. I'd forgotten how good they were.

>136 bragan: Reminds me of LIke Water for Chocolate - but in reverse.

These are from the early 1980s, so some of them are a bit dated,
I read that sentence and all of a sudden felt very old. HA!
It's not something I would read but liked your review, love that title, and that cover picture is pretty cool!

>141 avidmom:: I haven't read (or seen), Like Water for Chocolate, but I think I have seen that comparison made.

And, yeah, that sort of statement makes me feel old, too, but, well, science marches on!

98. Captain Vorpatril's Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold



The most recent novel in Lois McMaster Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan series, this time starring not Miles, but his cousin Ivan. Which I enjoyed; Ivan's a fun character and it was nice to see him getting his own story at last. Said story is, I think, a little uneven. It starts out looking like it's going to be something of a plot-heavy spy romp, then settles down for a while into a leisurely, low-key romance before a new development halfway through starts things up again. Everything before that midpoint is pleasant enough. But what comes after it is Bujold at something close to her top form, with spot-on character touches, lots and lots of slyly funny dialog, and a truly unforgettable climax.

Note: Although it does pretty much stand on its own, plot-wise, this is definitely not the place to jump into the Vorkosigan Saga. I recommend taking it in chronological order, starting with Shards of Honor.

Rating: 4/5

99. I'm Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen by Sylvie Simmons



I love Leonard Cohen. I love his gravelly voice, which really should not be lovable and yet somehow manages to be incredibly sexy, and all the more so as he ages. More importantly, I love his lyrics. His rich, complex, darkly poetic lyrics that blend sex and spirituality and humanity and pain together in ways that touch both the intellect and the emotions. So I couldn't resist picking up this biography for a look back over Cohen's life and career, and I'm happy to say that I was not disappointed.

Which is interesting, actually, because I have some general preferences when it comes to biography: usually, I like it best when the writer's personality largely disappears in favor of a sharp focus on the subject, and when it's made clear in the text where the biographer is drawing all her conclusions and assertions from, even -- or perhaps especially -- when describing the thoughts and attitudes and emotional states of the person she's writing about. Sylvie Simmons isn't particularly careful about doing that, and she adds a fair amount of her own personal analysis of Cohen's work. But somehow, for this particular subject, that subjectivity feels right. And it certainly doesn't hurt that, in my opinion, at least, her thoughts on Cohen's art are apt and insightful, and often quite beautifully phrased.

Some aspects of Cohen's life -- the ones with the most relevance to his poetry and his music -- are explored in considerable detail, while others -- his relationship with his children or his sister, for instance -- are largely left private, which strikes me as appropriate. But all in all, it adds up to a portrait of a complex and fascinating person, and I found it a surprisingly compelling read. It's also a rather thought-provoking one, as I find myself pondering the extent to which knowing more about the origins of these songs and the man who wrote them does, or should, affect my own responses to them. It's also prompted me to go back and listen to a lot of his music again, and to fill in the inexcusable gaps in my album collection, which I think would be enough to justify the book's existence all by itself.

Rating: 4.5/5

I love Cohen's music (music + poetry) too, but I'm generally too chicken to read about people I like--meaning mostly whose art/professional work I like. (Been sitting on a book of interviews with Tom Waits for years now.) WHAT IF THEY TURN OUT TO BE HORRIBLE IN SOME WAY!

>145 LolaWalser:: Heh, yeah, that's always a danger. I do try to keep the art and the artist separate in my mind, at least to some extent. Theoretically, if they turn out to be horrible it shouldn't really matter. It doesn't change their art, and maybe there's something interesting and worth knowing in the idea that a person you disapprove of can produce art you love. But in practice... Well, knowing about the person does influence your perception of their work. It's just hard for it not to.

As for Cohen, he does come across as a flawed person in certain ways, but I think perhaps they're flaws that inform, rather than detract from his work. (Except that, just maybe, I didn't actually want to know that the reason his vocals on "Leaving Greensleeves"are so, um, unusual is because he was falling-down drunk on Korean liqueur when he recorded it. :))

>145 LolaWalser:: But Tom Waits never hides anything - you know what to expect. G'wan, read them! I love Tom Waits.

Great review of I'm your man: The Life of Leonard Cohen. If it encouraged you to go back and listen to some of the music then that has got to be a good thing. I will add this one to my wish list.

I may be exploring the limits of how much Leonard Cohen music a person can listen to in one week. Apparently the answer is "a lot."

#149

There was one week in mid-nineties when I had "Death of a Ladies' Man" on every waking, at-home hour! And I remember playing to death "I'm Your Man" when it came out... first year of university.

#147

Good point--there's so much in their lyrics. Nah, it's almost like... I actually like the distance between the reader and the author/artist. (This seachange brought on by the combo of the wreck of traditional publishing and advent of social media is thoroughly upsetting to my mind.)

>150 LolaWalser:: Funnily enough, Death of a Ladies' Man and I'm Your Man were the two Cohen albums I didn't actually own. Well, OK, two out of three. I didn't have Recent Songs, either. But I have now rectified that!

#151

Oh, I hope you like them (how could you not). There's some scandal surrounding the release of "Death of a Ladies' Man"--I think it was done without Cohen's consent or something--Phil Spector was the producer (a character)--it sounds rather different from anything else I've heard of Cohen's. Uncredited Bob Dylan chimes in on "Fingerprints". It is more likely than not that everyone involved was a bit high.

My fave on that is "Paper Thin Hotel". (It was PERTINENT. :))

>153 bragan:: I do, indeed, like them! Although Death of a Ladies' man is... weird. It sounds pleasant enough, really, but it's just not very him. I think Cohen's voice and lyrics work best with very simple arrangements.

According to the bio, Cohen himself asked Spector to produce it, but later regretted it, for a number of reasons, and claims not to like the album. And, yes, apparently everyone involved was frequently high. Or very liquored up. Or both. Well, hey, it was the 70s. :)

145 - LOL I am SO with you, and I get what people are saying in the following conversation. I actually think for me it very selfishly depends on just HOW MUCH I love their work, but their behavior does make me cranky sometimes and ruins it for me. I'll have to think of some good examples.

Oh - Jackson Browne. I love his lyrics and music but the domestic violence ..............hard not to think about.

>155 mkboylan:: I confess I know nothing about Jackson Browne. Including, weirdly, what he actually sings. In my mind, he is forever "that guy who, whenever I hear a song on the classic rock station and have no idea who does it, always turns out to be the guy whose song it is." :)

well the irony is it's his protest songs I like. vs. domestic violence. sheesh.

Oh, that is rather... dissonant.

Guess I don't know too much about Jackson Browne, except for the songs they play on the classic rock station here and the fact that he was very instrumental (along with David Bowie) in getting Stevie Ray Vaughan's career going. I hadn't heard of the domestic violence story. That's disheartening. :(

100. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield



Vida Winter is a fantastically popular novelist, and famously reclusive. When she does grant interviews, she gives each reporter a different, and clearly fictional version of her life story. But as she nears the end of her life, she claims to desire, at last, to tell the truth. And she's decided to tell it to a woman she's never met, the bookish young Margaret Lea. Which comes as quite a surprise to Margaret, who considers herself only an amateur biographer, never having published much more than a pamphlet. But of course she agrees, and is treated to tale every bit as strange and shocking as any of the Gothic novels on her bookshelves, a story full of secrets, scandal, madness, and death, not to mention a decaying mansion, creepy twins, and, just possibly, a ghost.

Really, it all ought to be a bit too much, a bit over the top. And maybe it is, a little. I'm not sure I ever felt like I fully believed in any of it. But it captured my attention, regardless, and pulled me right along to the end with at least one "But I don't want to put it down and go to bed!" moment along the way.

Rating: 4/5

That sounds really good! Love that book cover.

It was about what my reading brain needed at this point, I think. And, yeah, isn't the cover great?

This book has 642 reviews - that's a lot of reviews.

It appears to have been a ridiculously popular book.

sounds fun.

You make The Thirteenth Tale sound appealing. I have a copy, but it does seem like another lifetime ago when I wanted to read it.

Not sure how I got a month behind but catching up on numerous reviews and nerd fanfare and the really depressing news about Jackson Browne...and I liked him a lot, even saw him concert...actually I saw him right about the time when thing with Daryl Hannah happened...

The Thirteenth Tale was kind of fun. And appealing, if it's the sort of thing you're in the right mood for, I think.

>166 dchaikin:: Welcome back to my thread! Sorry you arrived only to get depressed about the Jackson Browne thing. :) I'm thinking LolaWalser does, perhaps, have a point. Maybe sometimes it is better not to know too much about people whose work you like.

101. SuperFuel: Thorium, the Green Energy Source for the Future by Richard Martin



It's painfully obvious that we need more sources of energy that don't involve fossil fuels. Nuclear power certainly qualifies, but comes with some fairly obvious drawbacks. According to Richard Martin, however, those drawbacks don't need to be anywhere near as bad as they are currently are: nuclear plants that use thorium fuel, with the right reactor design, have the potential to be more efficient and much safer than the current uranium-based models, while generating much less toxic waste and, effectively, no by-products that can be used in bombs. And the only reasons that we aren't already using them, it seems, have much less to do with technological limitations than with historical accident and plain old inertia.

This is, I think, a subject well worth considering. Yes, there are reasons why nuclear power is an unpopular idea, but with the world's energy situation being what it is, I don't believe we should allow knee-jerk impulses to cause us reject any possibilities out of hand. Most likely there is a place for nuclear power in the future. If that's true, and if Martin's analysis here is anywhere remotely near accurate, thorium really does seem like the way to go. So it's good to have a book like this, agitating for government and industry to take a second look at the possibilities inherent in this technology. I hope it gets the consideration it deserves.

That said, the book itself didn't excite me overmuch. It's rather dry in many places, and a bit breathless at the end, with its big, concluding speech about the overwhelming importance of thorium to America's future. And I had the odd feeling at the beginning that Martin just didn't quite know where to start -- with current advocates of thorium power? with the physics of reactors? with the history of the nuclear industry? -- and thus took a few chapters to settle down into some kind of coherent structure. Probably some of that is due to the awkwardness of adapting and expanding a short article -- in this case, a 2009 piece in Wired -- into a full-length book. Personally, I strongly recommend reading that article and then picking up the book only if it leaves you with a deep, burning desire to learn more. Which it very well may.

Rating: 3.5/5

(Note: This was an Early Reviewers book, from the August batch.)

102. Redshirts by John Scalzi



It's difficult being a low-ranking crewman on the Universal Union ship Intrepid. They keep getting killed off in horrible, and often utterly ridiculous, ways, while the bridge officers -- who you'd think shouldn't even be on these dangerous missions -- survive against all odds. There are lots of other things about their lives that don't make any logical sense, either. It's almost as if they were characters on some kind of badly written TV show...

This is a very silly story, but it's a lot of fun, and the premise, even if not 100% original, is clever. It also made me laugh out loud surprisingly often. Whether it deserves the Hugo win it just picked up, I don't really know -- it seems awfully slight for that -- but it was certainly well worth reading, especially for an old school Star Trek fan like yours truly.

Rating: 4/5

Well, that's it for the third quarter! Please join me for the rest of the year on my new thread..