My friend Jeanne has a blog that I’d call a book blog. While she dabbles in other topics, she mostly focuses on books and poetry. Even if I don’t share her love of poetry, I am an avid reader and always enjoy her reviews. She’s been generous with me, sending books she thinks I might like, or in the case of one author, a copy of a book she knew I was looking forward to reading once it was published.
She made a comment a week or so ago on her blog (I think? Or maybe it was on Facebook.) about how she likes to know what others think of the books she’s read and recommended. So I thought it was past time to share my take on some she’s sent me.
Gnomon by Nick Harkaway. This is the book I mentioned earlier—I have read his other books (Gone Away World, Angelmaker, Tigerman) and loved them all. They’re well-written, I loved the story arcs and the characters, and could not wait until Gnomon was released. But I really didn’t like this book, and it took me a bit to figure out why. First, the book felt preachy to me. I disliked that about The Handmaiden’s Tale (which I read way back in 1986 when when it was first released), Seveneves was even worse—so bad that I stopped reading it at 94% done according to my Kindle. This book felt that way too.
The second reason surprised me when I finally figured it out. I never really cared about any of the characters and I realized that part of what makes a book compelling and good is when I can sort of fall in love with a character. And I didn’t really care what happened to anyone in this book.
Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty. I enjoyed this book, it was a quick read for me. Basically, it’s a mystery set in space so combined two genres I like. Add in the question of what makes us human, and that made the story line worth reading for me. This was another gift from Jeanne, and one I wouldn’t have picked up without her review and her gift—thank you, Jeanne!
Autonomous by Annalee Newitz. Oh boy. This book falls into the very preachy category for me (big pharma is bad, big government is bad, second class citizens are bad, etc.), with the addition of taking on too many social issues in one book and thus not doing any of them justice. I’m about two thirds of the way through and I don’t think I can finish it. This book also feels very young adult—what I mean is that there’s just so much angst and indecision. Yes, maybe that’s how things are, but I can’t stick with that over the entire course of a book.
All Systems Red by Martha Wells. LOVED this one, absolutely loved it. Again, it’s science fiction but also all about what defines us as human or sentient and looks at what it means to be self-determining. I had seen this book when searching for something to read on Amazon but passed it up because it’s pretty short and the sample shared on Amazon was a bit flip in style. Again, this was another gift from Jeanne and I liked it so much I will get the second book in the series (it’s already out) and almost certainly the third book when it’s published.
I also realized something else while reading these physical, paper books. I far prefer my Kindle. That may be heretical to some but here’s why. My hands aren’t super strong and the way I read is in bed, usually lying down holding the book and turning the pages with one hand. That’s really hard to do with traditional books, and most especially with longer books. The second reason is the lighted screen. I don’t have an especially bright bedside lamp, nor do I want one. But I need more light to read, and the Kindle solves that problem.
She made a comment a week or so ago on her blog (I think? Or maybe it was on Facebook.) about how she likes to know what others think of the books she’s read and recommended. So I thought it was past time to share my take on some she’s sent me.
Gnomon by Nick Harkaway. This is the book I mentioned earlier—I have read his other books (Gone Away World, Angelmaker, Tigerman) and loved them all. They’re well-written, I loved the story arcs and the characters, and could not wait until Gnomon was released. But I really didn’t like this book, and it took me a bit to figure out why. First, the book felt preachy to me. I disliked that about The Handmaiden’s Tale (which I read way back in 1986 when when it was first released), Seveneves was even worse—so bad that I stopped reading it at 94% done according to my Kindle. This book felt that way too.
The second reason surprised me when I finally figured it out. I never really cared about any of the characters and I realized that part of what makes a book compelling and good is when I can sort of fall in love with a character. And I didn’t really care what happened to anyone in this book.
Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty. I enjoyed this book, it was a quick read for me. Basically, it’s a mystery set in space so combined two genres I like. Add in the question of what makes us human, and that made the story line worth reading for me. This was another gift from Jeanne, and one I wouldn’t have picked up without her review and her gift—thank you, Jeanne!
Autonomous by Annalee Newitz. Oh boy. This book falls into the very preachy category for me (big pharma is bad, big government is bad, second class citizens are bad, etc.), with the addition of taking on too many social issues in one book and thus not doing any of them justice. I’m about two thirds of the way through and I don’t think I can finish it. This book also feels very young adult—what I mean is that there’s just so much angst and indecision. Yes, maybe that’s how things are, but I can’t stick with that over the entire course of a book.
All Systems Red by Martha Wells. LOVED this one, absolutely loved it. Again, it’s science fiction but also all about what defines us as human or sentient and looks at what it means to be self-determining. I had seen this book when searching for something to read on Amazon but passed it up because it’s pretty short and the sample shared on Amazon was a bit flip in style. Again, this was another gift from Jeanne and I liked it so much I will get the second book in the series (it’s already out) and almost certainly the third book when it’s published.
I also realized something else while reading these physical, paper books. I far prefer my Kindle. That may be heretical to some but here’s why. My hands aren’t super strong and the way I read is in bed, usually lying down holding the book and turning the pages with one hand. That’s really hard to do with traditional books, and most especially with longer books. The second reason is the lighted screen. I don’t have an especially bright bedside lamp, nor do I want one. But I need more light to read, and the Kindle solves that problem.
