Chris

Beverly Cleary’s best masterpiece, maybe? Rereading for the first time since… 5th grade maybe, and Dear Mr Henshaw remains as moving as ever. Cleary is always able to capture how childhood feels in all its confusion and comforts.

Sarah Wynn-Williams has crafted a gripping memoir about her time with Facebook. While she is at least partly responsible for the dangerous reach of the company, she also acknowledges that and the tidal forces (primarily Zuckerberg and Sandberg) that could not be diverted despite her best efforts. In a just world, Wynn-Williams’ revelations would result in Facebook being dismantled and regulated piece by piece, but hopefully readers of her insights will at least be a bit more aware of treacherous tech can be in the wrong hands.

A riveting take on the time loop genre. Balle brings so much emotion to her heroine’s predicament, what it is like to tell your partner the same thing over and over, the way you grow apart, the complexities of a person who can only take from the world. I can’t wait to read more about Tara Selter.

Doctorow has written a compelling and tense YA novel about personal freedoms and the power of experimenting with technology. At times it becomes a bit too on the nose and preachy, but likely some very good food for thought for your average high schooler.

A fascinating look into how MLMs promote a cult-like from their recruits to keep them involved and spending money, including a thorough history of the concept of pyramid schemes and their growth over the years.

I no longer know what to make of the Red Rising series. I loved the original trilogy, but was less taken by Iron Gold. Dark Age feels like more of the same. After a tidy and rewarding end in the original trilogy, Brown has gone all in on the flair for dramatics that made the series so fun.

Early on in this book, the MC describes another as "horny for violence", and honestly that's a fantastic encapsulation of the entire series. While it originally felt like a way to define itself beyond The Hunger Games comparisons, now it's become its own absurd calling card. Every experience of the main characters needs to be as gruesome as possible, although they themselves gleefully slaughter enemies in the thousands without a passing thought. It's over the top, but it works for the world Brown has created, although I find myself more tired of it than in the past.

One big weakness in the book, besides its length, is Lysander essentially gaining supernatural abilities to make him a better foil for Darrow. Which, sure, I get. I can see how down the road it will end up as a very satisfying arc for the characters, but in the moment it feels extra cheesy. Brown makes this worse by putting Lysander through absurdly lethal situations and he makes it out of each with ease. I suppose the same could be said for Darrow in every book, but it fits with his character never giving up. With Lysander it just feels clunky.

In conclusion, I've written far more about this book than I ever expected. In comparison to the original trilogy, the newer books have taken a dip in quality. Dark Age feels decidedly "mid".

I was sold on Rainbows End as a great book about AI, but it’s not really. As best I can describe, it’s Vinge’s version of Snow Crash, a portrayal of the absurdity of the future that he sees coming. For that, he does a fantastic job. Wearable computing and a person’s contacts showing them what a thing should look like instead of the blandness underneath.

However, the plot felt clunky and unfocused and some of the future-tech explanations were confusing. I still enjoyed Vinge’s writing but this was not what I expected, unfortunately.

A bite-sized reinvigoration of our connection to the earth and the natural reciprocal relationships we resist in the interest of market share. Robin Wall Kimmerer is at once asking more of us but in the compassionate correction of a well-practiced schoolteacher. Well worth revisiting on a regular basis.

Mostly I like the book. Weird and fast-paced, not sticking with a group or story for too long. However, I think it could’ve been trimmed in some places and expanded in others. I wanted more from some ideas and could’ve gone without others. I can see why it was shortlisted for the Mann Booker prize though. An interesting and thought-provoking read.

I gave this book a try after hearing it would scratch my Mass Effect itch. The world of the story certainly does and I appreciated learning the backstory of various species as humans joined the galaxy, but the writing is overwrought and clunky at times and often the characters have very bland, rote responses to things. Overall, I am interested in continuing the series but I hope the writing gets better.

Dungeon Crawler Carl continues to offer up crazy adventures and bizarre characters in the second installment. It’s slightly frustrating for it to be considered a second book, when really the series is one continuous story. There’s no closure at the end of one book.

But whatever, it is what it is, and Dinniman is very good at what it is. I am excited to see what happens to our heroes next, so I’m never bored or unsatisfied. I also appreciate the throughline of Carl’s resistance to the game and the people running it. He won’t let them break him.

A delightful and funny novel about how we grow and see each other and the flaws everyone must work through. Each character manages to be who we expect and yet also more complex than we realize.

A mostly funny and lighthearted adventure story. I thought the LitRPG aspect (whatever that is) would annoy me but it didn’t. I don’t need to keep track of the characters’ stats and can just enjoy the story. It is at times a bit too sophomoric for my taste, but the author knows what he’s doing as the MC’s distaste over the injustices he faces is made more and more apparent as time goes on. A solid adventure story even though it isn’t really a standalone novel.

An intense and emotional journey, should probably be read by every high school student in the country if we had any sense. An examination of what it means to seek identity and also have that identity stripped from you at every opportunity. James is the kind of literary hero we need.

A solid sci-fi adventure story. Zahn has a fun and lighthearted style that helped the book breeze past, but still a bit too long that it needed to be. Would have worked better 100 pages lighter maybe. But a fun and interesting cast of characters!

A fascinating examination of how burglars think and utilize environments to their advantage. At times it felt like it could have been a lengthy article in a magazine, confirmed by the end revealing that several chapters had already been published in different places.

Still, a very interesting book examining how others think outside the box.

I’m conflicted on this book. It is very imaginative and I can understand why it captures people. It is very short and a breeze to get through, but it also doesn’t say particularly much. It is a thought exercise more than a fully formed journey. But definitely an existential crisis in book form!

Fascinating, fun, thrilling, full of pathos and empathy. Tchaikovsky is somehow able to make the alien familiar. A delightful journey full of memorable characters and meaningful moments both big and small. Can’t wait to read the rest of the series!

I’m not sure if I’m as much of a fan of the longer form Murderbot but I still enjoy reading about it and Art and their adventures, and this book is no different.

I found the plot to be a bit overly complex, but with a series like Murderbot the fun is with it as a character and less about plot details so it’s easy to forgive the extra fluff. Will continue to read the series and excited for the upcoming TV show!

Frustrating. Each character takes every opportunity to chew scenery, to say the corniest possible line whenever possible. The characters and the world lack any sense of internal consistency. The people arrived 2 millennia ago, or even further back, who knows. The captain who promises “all of us go or none of us go” also murders someone who gets in her way and feels no remorse. The characters behaviors bend to fit the needs of each particular scene, swinging wildly depending on whatever drama the author wanted to present next. Decidedly not for me.

Powers was able to weave together multiple rich and fascinating storylines into one, while also raising many questions about our world and the technology at our fingertips. A beautiful, emotional, and captivating work.

Delightful and mysterious, the main character has an infectious joy about him that draws you into his magical world. A lovely piece of fiction.

A solid 3, maybe 3.5. An interesting premise and Marrs knows how to keep your pages turning, with plenty of cliffhanger chapters and exciting reveals as you go. Unfortunately, those same reveals eventually become a bit too soap opera-y for my liking, limiting my enjoyment and feel like the book ends with a sputter. Would likely make a great tv series though!

I really enjoyed this. 4.5? A very interesting and fascinating take on relationships, misogyny, control, power, etc. Would be perfectly paired with Ex Machina. A spectacular perspective of the sexual politics of our technological future.

A fleeting glimpse of possibilities that doesn't overstay its welcome. Chambers paints worlds of what hope could create and then fills them with characters who love like us, who wonder like we do, who find themselves wrestling with our same big questions. Journeying with the characters is a salve, a mug of hot tea, a hug that goes on longer than you thought you needed.