Books we read in 2022

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Wed Oct 05, 2022 1:09 pm

Wizard and Glass- Stephen King. Wow. I know that many people say this is one of their favorite books in the series, but I really hated this book. Spoilers ahead. So if you want to read it, then stop reading this review. Alright? We good? About to get spoiled, friend. Fair warning. Okay. Stephen King hates women in this book. Is is a product of its time? I don't know. It was published in '97. So that's right on the cusp of when most people knew better. But let me tell you, this book really hates women. Where do I start? So this story has our Scooby Gang (the Gunslinger and his compadres) taking a break through their journey in the Wastelands so the Gunslinger can tell the story of a formative first love that turned him into the person he is today. The book is actually the story-within-a-story as the Gunslinger begins to tell a western tale of when he was first sent out into the world and met the love of his life in a dusty backward remote town. Her name was Susan. Who was she? Well, she's the perfect virginal, saintly 16 year old who's been sold by her wicked aunt to be the whore to the town mayor (who is otherwise married) so that she can give him a male offspring. Her story starts with her having to visit a witch to prove her virginity, in which she is sexually assaulted by the witch. She later meets our hero Gunslinger and declares her love for him. Later in the story she is sexually assaulted by the mayor, which traumatizes her. While she is crying in the woods, lamenting her sexual assault, the Gunslinger comes upon her. She's so overwhelmed by love for him and the trauma of her sexual assault that... she willingly gives him her virginity. Right. Because that's what happens to someone that's been raped. And in the end, she's the only one that dies, forever scarring the Gunslinger because he couldn't save her. The other formative event in the Gunslinger's life? Walking in on his mother having an affair with another man and realizing she's a whore that betrayed his father. Seriously. SERIOUSLY. Neither of these characters- Susan or the Gunslinger's mother, have any actual agency other than to be motivational saint/sluts for the male protagonist. It's just fucking terrible. The male gaze in this novel- which I attribute a lot to King feeling like he needed to be true to the "Western" nature of the story (which had weird racist-adjacent comparisons when it came to hispanics)-- is overwhelming and unavoidable. It's suffocating. I almost stopped listening half way through because I just couldn't take how "helpless" the heroine was. When things got really tough for her, you know what she did? She prayed to the Gunslinger on her love. No shit. Fucking awful.

Another thing about this book that bothered me is how Stephen King loathes normal people. The "heroes" of the book are all beautiful, perfect people with proper manners and proper dispositions. You can tell the bad guys right away because they're "backwoods." And most of them have some kind of physical affliction that marks them as "bad"- like a limp or a disfigured face or just being fat. Stephen King doesn't write fat people as heroes. He doesn't write his heroes with disabilities. If you have those things, then you're a dumbshit yokel or a villain. I've noticed (and complained in other reviews) that this problem also bleeds into the works of his son, Joe Hill. It's really fucking annoying. And ONCE AGAIN we have the example of the mentally challenged miracle worker. In this case, it's a bar boy who's mentally incapacitated, but still has the pure heart of gold that comes through in the end. But of course he did! Because if Stephen King's mentally challenged characters weren't magical, then they'd be villains (see my earlier comment). Ugh. I have a ton more to say about this, but I'm exhausted just thinking about it. I know you're wondering- will I continue? Of course I will. I feel like at this point I need to finish the series just so I can talk to the people that love it so much and explain why I disagree. The first book was great. None of the others following have been good. Recommendation? Hard pass.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Thu Oct 06, 2022 8:14 am

Good to know because once in awhile I wonder if I should pick up one of the King novels stashed somewhere in the basement, and I don't think it's worth my time when there's other stuff to read.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Fri Oct 07, 2022 2:08 pm

Unmasked: My Life Solving America's Cold Cases- Paul Holes. Paul Holes worked his entire career in criminal forensics and labs. He spent much of the latter part of his career solving cold cases. And doing some amazing work in that process. This book only spends the minimum required time talking about his childhood and upbringing, and spends the rest of the book talking about what you came for: solving cold cases. It's cool hearing about the different techniques and random tidbits that were found that ending up turning a case. And Holes is candid and confessional when it comes to the mistakes and wrong leads that he chased on notorious cases (sometimes for years). Does it seem like he's playing up his role in some of the minor stories? Sure. Is it clear that he's ignoring the bulk of his work, which was tedious crime lab stuff and unrelated to cold cases? Of course. But that serves the book well- you didn't want to hear about that. Holes is also quite forthcoming about his personal flaws and obsessiveness that drove him to his work at the expense of his marriages and relationships with his children. And while it was well written, I didn't learn much from it. One of his big cases that takes up much of the book is his chasing of the Golden State Killer, including when he teamed up with Patton Oswald's late-wife to crack the case. Unfortunately for me, I already knew about that story in detail from articles about Patton Oswald's wife and ones she wrote about the GS Killer. So for me, those portions were a bit tedious- but I don't think they would be for others. If it had not been for that, I would have ranked this much higher. So if you're into true crime, then I'd definitely recommend this book to you.

Post by **Mike** » Mon Oct 10, 2022 2:57 pm

Severence -- Ling Ma
Set in the post-apocalyptic time of 2011-2012, a deadly pandemic fungal infection has killed off nearly all of humanity. Severence tells two interwoven tales: Candace Chen after the apocalypse, trying to survive amid a world of (not quite) zombies; and Candace Chen before the apocalypse, trying to come to terms with the death of her immigrant parents, and her disconnect from their Chinese culture.

Fantastic story. Both halves of this are gripping, and they complement each other well. Candace's twin tales are pretty bleak, and she is distant and disaffected through most of the book, making it difficult to get to know her and really care about her, but we do. And the book manages to end on a hopeful note in spite of it all.

Kyle had it as his number one read of 2021, and I can see why. Good book.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Mon Oct 10, 2022 3:40 pm

Mike wrote: ↑Mon Oct 10, 2022 2:57 pm Severence -- Ling Ma
Set in the post-apocalyptic time of 2011-2012, a deadly pandemic fungal infection has killed off nearly all of humanity. Severence tells two interwoven tales: Candace Chen after the apocalypse, trying to survive amid a world of (not quite) zombies; and Candace Chen before the apocalypse, trying to come to terms with the death of her immigrant parents, and her disconnect from their Chinese culture.

Fantastic story. Both halves of this are gripping, and they complement each other well. Candace's twin tales are pretty bleak, and she is distant and disaffected through most of the book, making it difficult to get to know her and really care about her, but we do. And the book manages to end on a hopeful note in spite of it all.

Kyle had it as his number one read of 2021, and I can see why. Good book.

It's a weird recommend. I loved this book when I read it, but I also recognize that I was in the exact right introspective spot when I read it. While I'm sure I would still love it today, it might not be as powerful as it was for me then. It's also a bit of a tough recommend because I think most people would be bored by it and all it's "naval gazing." But still- I adored it. I'm glad you liked it.

Post by **Mike** » Mon Oct 10, 2022 6:43 pm

I think you second guess yourself too much. The beginning was indeed slow, and like I say, Candace is a tough character to love, because she just doesn't seem to give a fuck. But it was all worth it.

Spoilery talk follows:

Stuff I keep dwelling on: The parallels between "zombies" just going through the motions of life and any number of living people who were doing the same. The idea that Candace was such a good happy adventurous little girl until her parents left for America, and then she was angry and fearful, her mom was bitter and mean--I wonder if her father's ambition actually indirectly ruined them all, or if it truly led to better lives. Her obsession with her skin care regimen at her mother's behest. The idea that her mother's dying advice was "be useful"... not happy, not good... just useful; and isn't that what she became? I don't get everything, because she's a messy person, but I feel like that's as it should be.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Tue Oct 11, 2022 2:10 pm

The Babysitter Lives- Stephen Graham Jones. I'm going to be very critical of this book, but I want to start by saying that I actually enjoyed it. But it was disappointing to me as a book written by Jones, who is one of my favorite new authors. So let me start with this: I read a lot of horror and there's this thing with some horror writers where they write their "movie novel." Riley Sager (the pen name for an old white dude who tried to pass himself off as a young woman author) is the perfect example of this- every horror novel he writes is trying so hard to be optioned for a movie (and for Sager it just paid off). I feel like Jones is doing that with this novel. It's a One-Bad-Night story about a babysitter who, once alone with the kids, realizes they're somehow transporting themselves through the house. Then things get really bad really fast. And look, this is Jones, so you know it's extremely well written and the plot is incredibly smart and unique. This is why I enjoyed it so much. But it's also just a horror novel. Protagonist discovers weirdness; weirdness gets really scary; the babysitter lives in the end (it's in the title). Done. I can see the scene breaks for the film version while I'm reading it. There's only a limited number of characters and a single location, which is tailor made for filming.

And while it's a REALLY GOOD horror novel, it doesn't have the things that I love about Jones's other novels: the character development is minimal; there is no real character arc, only the plot arc; the social commentary is an afterthought; and most importantly- it's not about poverty (which is where he's brilliant). I'm also suspicious that this was a "movie novel" because it's being released as an audiobook only. Which is weird. It's definitely novel length and it's well written. But it's available from a multitude of sources, so it's not like he wrote this just for Audible and got a shit load of money for an exclusive. I would understand that. But to release your horror novel as an audio book only says to me that you don't think it's on the level of your other work. And it's not, but again, it's still a very good story and I enjoyed it. So I recommend this, but don't go into it with the expectations of another mind-blowing Jones novel.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Tue Oct 11, 2022 9:43 pm

Dude where is the next mind-blowing Jones novel?! These Joneses need to be doing better at pumping out the books! It's almost November I'm just saying.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Wed Oct 12, 2022 5:13 am

Phoebe wrote: ↑Tue Oct 11, 2022 9:43 pm Dude where is the next mind-blowing Jones novel?! These Joneses need to be doing better at pumping out the books! It's almost November I'm just saying.

I know, right? Especially considering the third book is a third written!

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Wed Oct 19, 2022 6:57 am

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein- Kiersten White. Warning- I love gothic horror, so of course I loved this book. But my glowing recommendation for this novel comes with a caveat: if you're not into gothic horror, then this isn't your cup of tea. First of all, after I finished this book, I realized it was written by the same author as Hide, which I read and adored earlier this year! But I digress. This is a great retelling of the Frankenstein story, but done from the perspective of women. Our protagonist is a ward taken into the Frankenstein household at a young age, where she meets Victor Frankenstein when they are both at a tender age under about 10. Victor has something wrong with him. He's clearly mentally unwell and a detached sociopath who cannot experience empathy or true emotion. Elizabeth makes it her job to "fix" him so that he will be reliant on her, and thereby making her invaluable to the Frankenstein family so that her position there is secure. As they age, as you would expect, things begin to get wildly out of control. And we begin to question who is the creator and who is the monster. One of the things that I enjoyed about this story is that it stuck true to the roots of the original Shelly version of the story and not the movie adaptations. There are strong statements throughout about personal identity and the subjugation of women. But honestly, it's such a perfect example of gothic horror done perfectly. It's all ambiance and setting. It's all building dread slowly throughout the novel. And the payoffs at the end are unexpected and fantastic. I just loved this book. High recommend, unless you don't like gothic horror. In that case... I mean... what's wrong with you?

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Sat Oct 22, 2022 3:59 pm

Sea of Tranquility- Emily St. John Mandel. My favorite novels have a narrative with a poetic flow-- stories that have a cadence and rhythm to the way in which they're told. This book does that beautifully. A sci-fi time travel novel, this is a small story told through subtle, quiet characters. At the same time, however, it speaks to the biggest issues: what is reality; are we living in a simulation; and what is the purpose of existence. The book is also about how we exist in our current pandemic, but told through future pandemics. It's a beautifully told story that really resonated with me. That's all I really want to say about it. You should read it. High recommend.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Thu Oct 27, 2022 11:37 am

More Deadly Than War: The Hidden History of the Spanish Flu and the First World War- Kenneth C. Davis. This is a short (for a history book) but interesting look at a narrow topic. I've read a lot of history books about World War I, and I really appreciated how the author seemed to understand that would be the case for someone reading this book. He doesn't spend a lot of time going through excruciating details about all aspects of the war- but dedicates just enough pages to an overview that it fits right with the rest of the discussion. It fascinates me how the Spanish Flu might not have been so devastating and widespread but for world war one. There was an indepth discussion about how the flu (which originated in Kansas, not Spain- but there's an interesting discussion about how it became known as Spanish Flu) proliferated through American training camps getting soldier's ready for war, and when the sickest were quarantined they were sent back home to recuperate, and fresh healthy soldiers were sent into the training camps to get infected. It was a vicious cycle that fed the virus through the population- first here and then through the rest of the world. There was a lot of discussion that is relevant post-Covid: masking and anti-mask efforts, fights against quarantine and best medical practices, etc. But here's the thing: this book was published in 2018. So even more fascinating is the discussion at the end about how the Trump administration had gutted the government's pandemic response and research- leaving us vulnerable for future pandemics. AND TWO YEARS LATER IT HAPPENED! If you're interested in modern history, I recommend this book.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Thu Oct 27, 2022 11:39 am

ALSO- I'm now declaring my endeavor to finish reading the Dark Tower series over. I got the audio book for the next book in the series, The Wind in the Keyhole (which is also the one most recently written: 2012), and started listening to it. Aside from the fact that it's read by Stephen King (who is not good), I got twenty minutes into the story and realized it was torture. I don't like the characters. I don't like the story. It was work to not daydream and instead pay attention. So I quit. And I'm not going back to it.

Post by **Mike** » Sun Oct 30, 2022 4:36 pm

I feel you. I couldn't get through them. I had already read some of the gunslinger short stories and loved them. I've read most Stephen King's work and already knew of some of the tie-ins between Dark Tower and his other works. But this one left me cold. I don't remember if I quit in Book 2 or Book 3 for sure, but I knew I was done. That was probably 15 years ago.

Now, seeing your journey, I'm looking for other people who didn't like the series, and they are hard to find. The love and apologetics for these books is huge. Maybe if they had all been available when I was in high school and I could have read them in the 80's or 90's, I would have gotten into them, but no... Not for me.

Post by **Mike** » Sun Oct 30, 2022 4:45 pm

The Song of Achilles -- Madeline Miller
This is the same author who wrote Circle which I read and loved last year. Miller is brilliant at taking these ancient, mythical, supernatural characters and humanizing them for a modern audience. This book is just really really good.

It is narrated by Patroclus, Achilles' lifelong companion, and it covers their early lives up through Achilles death and the end of the Trojan War. It is a beautiful love story as well as being a different perspective on the Illiad. Miller is a master of this genre.

Post by **Mike** » Mon Oct 31, 2022 12:53 am

Recurrence -- Blake Crouch
Wow! This one had me from the first moments. Probably in my top 3 for the year. Wow.

Now, take all of that with a grain of salt, because it's a book written specifically for me. It's hard sci-fi telling a convoluted time travel story. This is right up my alley. Imagine if you watched Primer or Tenet, but you actually understand all the timey-wimey stuff on the first pass. Very satisfying.

The author does a lot of complicated shit and justifies all of it, IMO, and it pays off. The story is huge and also personal at the same time. The pacing is solid. The payoff is earned.

I'm sorry... basic plot outline. It's 2018 and the world is seeing a new ailment, False Memory Syndrome, in which people suddenly have full memories of a life they never lived. Some of the victims can't deal and opt for suicide. A grizzled NYC police detective is searching for answers when he fails to save a FMS sufferer from jumping to her death. It's also 2008, and a researcher is exploring how to record and replay memories to help her mother who is losing her mind to Alzheimer's. And then obviously stories will come together and there will be time travel, because the jacket says that and the title is Recurrence.

It's cool and awesome. I couldn't put it down.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Thu Nov 03, 2022 2:50 pm

The Memory Police- Yōko Ogawa; translated by Stephen Snyder. Simultaneously disturbing and calming, this book is almost a fairy tale. It's a surreal telling of a world where the autocratic authorities make things "disappear." For example, birds disappear. And on this island where the story takes place, that means that not only do they literally disappear, but within days everyone forgets what birds were. This happens with numerous things- roses, perfume, hats, etc. Some people are immune, but have to hide this because if the Memory Police find out they are immune, they are secreted away in the night and never seen again. Our hero, who is not immune, is a novelist. The story she is writing within the story is about a typist who loses her voice and can only communicate with her typewriter and has to search for her voice with her typist instructor. Sound weird? It is. But it's also mesmerizingly calm and placating, which I think serves the themes of the story. My only problem with this book is that it's too smart for me and I can't figure out what it's really about. Is it about how an authoritarian government can dissemble and dehumanize its populace? Maybe. Is it a giant metaphor for what it's like to progress through the stages of dementia? Maybe. Is it about a failed relationship and two people that simply grow apart? Maybe. But like all good art, the real message is what the audience takes from it. And special kudos to the translation. I never felt like there were any clunky translations, and I never once thought, "Oh that's awkward, I wonder what it really is in Japanese." The translated prose is beautiful. High recommend.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Thu Nov 03, 2022 2:54 pm

Strange in Place: Tales from the Homefront of the New Paranormal- Jonathan Baskin. This is an anthology of short stories all related to the Covid-19 lockdown. The author takes a genre, "twilight zone" approach to each different story, which at first I found irritating, but then I sunk into the absurdity of the story telling and realized that was the whole point: the lockdown-- whether you believe it was necessary or not-- was an absurd thing to live through. Like all anthologies, some stories were great and some were trying to hard and missing the mark. But they all were enjoyable. My only regret is that I didn't read this while actually in lockdown. I feel like this would have been a much cooler experience if I'd read it in December 2021, when everything was still shut down and I'd just recovered from a terrible bout with the disease. Anyhow, I recommend it as a weird set of stories about a weird time we all experienced.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Mon Nov 07, 2022 9:13 am

We Travel the Spaceways: Victor LaValle. A short story (thus not included in the rankings) about a homeless man who believes that he's a herald from another star system on the other side of the galaxy. And maybe he is. It's short, so I won't go into any more detail. I've read several of LaValle's works and I love them. For real- do yourself a favor and read The Ballad of Black Tom, which reclaims one of HP Lovecraft's most racist stories. One of the things LaValle does so well is to write about mental illness. He always treats it with respect and dignity and gives portrayals of his troubled characters as actual characters, not stereotypes or tropes that we see so often as a writer's crutch. Also, he's a damn good writer.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Mon Nov 07, 2022 9:58 am

Dracula- Bram Stoker. I read this through Dracula Dailey. It's actually a cool idea. The person running the website realized that Dracula is a novel told through dated letters, diaries and newspaper articles. They also realized that the story is told from May through early November. So the concept was, if you signed up, you'd get each day's entry on the day they are dated in the novel. This meant that there were many weeks where you would get nothing. Then there would be weeks where you'd get long chapters every single day. I thought this was a great idea. And I vaguely recall that I'd read Dracula as a kid and liked it, so this was an awesome way to refamiliarize myself with the classic. So with that context, here's my review:

Worst book I've read all year. Worst. Book. Not even close. I thought I'd read this before, but I was wrong. Because I'd remember how horrible this was if I had. Where do I start with the shortcomings and flaws? Let's start with the terribly flowery prose that was common in the era (1897). Holy hell, you can't just have a character describe something simply, they have to use 40 words where 5 would suffice. And the dialogue was atrocious. No one could simply speak to each other. Before addressing another character, the speaker would first have to spend two paragraphs explaining how "dear to their heart" the listener was to the speaker, and exactly how earnest they were in expressing what they were expressing. It was so painful. But here's the ultimate flaw: it was so boring. There was so much talking about stuff that wasn't important that I'd have to reread chapters two or three times because I realized I'd let my mind wander and couldn't remember what I'd read. It's just so bad. Do not read this book, even if it is a "classic" that brought vampires into popular cultures. It was just such an awful experience.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Tue Nov 08, 2022 3:55 pm

Fugitive Telemetry- Martha Wells. Mike already reviewed this novella, the most recent entry in the wonder Murderbot Diaries series (although set before the events in Netwok Effect). And you know what? He's right! So I won't belabor it. It's a great Murderbot story. It's not breaking new ground or anything, but it's perfect for what you want. Another sci-fi mystery with Murderbot stuck in the middle. A piece of advice- take breaks between these stories and you'll enjoy them much more. When I read some back to back, I feel like I got a little tired of it. But look- these are great. Read them all. High recommend.

Post by **Mike** » Wed Nov 09, 2022 6:14 pm

A Touch of Ruckus -- Ash Van Otterloo
A supernatural story set in the small Appalachian mountain town of Howler's Hollow. Tennie Lancaster is a 13 year old girl with the weight of the world on her shoulders and her greatest burden the ability to draw people's memories out of things she touches whether she wants to see them or not. Then she makes a friend who also has a special ability. And there might be ghosts.

This story is wonderful! I really liked this. High recommend.

One of the things I really liked about it is that it was written by a queer author and it features a pair of queer protagonists, but it's not ABOUT being queer. It is recognized and is part of the story, but the tale is actually about family and grief and mental illness and support systems and a bunch of other stuff. And maybe ghosts.

The book is squarely aimed at a 7th/8th grade junior high demographic and as such, there's some simplifying of complex issues, but not enough to lessen their emotional impact on me.

I like the world that is created here. There's a stereotype of Appalachian mountain folk that the author thankfully never indulges in, but also manages to create an authentic community and never let you forget forget where you are. I found the whole thing charming and at times very creepy. The author has other books, at least one other of which is set in Howler's Hollow. I will definitely check them out.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Sat Nov 12, 2022 5:32 pm

Orphans of Bliss: Tales of Addiction Horror- edited by Mark Matthews. I mean... here's the thing... these are all pretty good stories. But you see... I mean... like... holy shit they're so bleak. And I get it. Addiction is a bleak, hopeless subject. So if I'm reading a horror anthology and one of the stories is a horror/addiction story, I'd be like, "Wow! That was cool and different!" To hear them all back-to-back. Whew. It was exhausting and depressing. It just wasn't fun. I wasn't enjoying it because they were just so depressing. But it's difficult because they were all so well-written and, in isolation, were good stories. But in this format, it's a real hard recommend.

Post by **Mike** » Sun Nov 13, 2022 10:27 pm

The Memory Police -- Yōko Ogawa
This book is haunting. It haunts. It will haunt me for a long time.

Read Kyle's review from earlier this month:

Simultaneously disturbing and calming, this book is almost a fairy tale. It's a surreal telling of a world where the autocratic authorities make things "disappear." For example, birds disappear. And on this island where the story takes place, that means that not only do they literally disappear, but within days everyone forgets what birds were. This happens with numerous things- roses, perfume, hats, etc. Some people are immune, but have to hide this because if the Memory Police find out they are immune, they are secreted away in the night and never seen again. Our hero, who is not immune, is a novelist. The story she is writing within the story is about a typist who loses her voice and can only communicate with her typewriter and has to search for her voice with her typist instructor. Sound weird? It is. But it's also mesmerizingly calm and placating, which I think serves the themes of the story. My only problem with this book is that it's too smart for me and I can't figure out what it's really about. Is it about how an authoritarian government can dissemble and dehumanize its populace? Maybe. Is it a giant metaphor for what it's like to progress through the stages of dementia? Maybe. Is it about a failed relationship and two people that simply grow apart? Maybe. But like all good art, the real message is what the audience takes from it. And special kudos to the translation. I never felt like there were any clunky translations, and I never once thought, "Oh that's awkward, I wonder what it really is in Japanese." The translated prose is beautiful. High recommend.

I got two thirds of the way in and was also baffled by the possible meanings, so I went back to see what Kyle said, and he was no help at all. By the end though, I'm convinced that it was an allegory about oppressive government. But interestingly, the play-within-a-play works equally well as a metaphor for an emotionally abusive relationship.

I was shocked to learn this was written in 1994. It took until 2019 to see an English translation published. Thus the current awards and attention.

It's really brilliant. This may be my top book of the year. It is quirky and quiet and weird. And all the things that I originally thought might be wrong with it only serve to heighten its overall effect.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Mon Nov 14, 2022 5:01 pm

Mike wrote: ↑Sun Nov 13, 2022 10:27 pm I got two thirds of the way in and was also baffled by the possible meanings, so I went back to see what Kyle said, and he was no help at all. By the end though, I'm convinced that it was an allegory about oppressive government. But interestingly, the play-within-a-play works equally well as a metaphor for an emotionally abusive relationship

Yeah- I thought about that too. There's so much that's left open to it, but that's why it's SO BEAUTIFUL! I loved this book a lot.

Post by **Mike** » Tue Nov 15, 2022 7:32 pm

A Psalm for the Wild-Built -- Becky Chambers
I found this book because I was looking for The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, also by Becky Chambers. My library didn't have that one, but they had this one. Then, when looking for Kyle's review of Memory Police, I found his review for this one. He's dead on.

Let me paraphrase Kyle's review: Novella. On a far future world where robots suddenly gained sentience, humans and robots agreed to split the planet and stay away from each other. Many generations later, a monk goes on a pilgrimage to the wilderness and encounters a robot. The two travel together and talk. No serious plot, just conversation and realizations on a special journey. It is awesome! You should read it! The audiobook is only four hours. Go!

Also, there is another short "monk and robot" story out there. I will be looking for it.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Fri Nov 18, 2022 9:47 am

The Chalk Man- C.J. Tudor. I'll start by saying that I very much enjoyed this contemplative mystery novel. But a bit of context- from the promo blurb, this book was sold to me as a "Stephen King's: It" style supernatural mystery told about characters when they're 12 and then again when they're 42. While it does tell its story by flashing back and forth between 30 years, this is nothing like It, and it's not supernatural. That said, this is a VERY British novel- meaning that it is reserved, grim and about alienated characters. At its heart it's about several mysteries, fatalism, and unintended consequences. And without giving away precious details, I can't really say more than that. It's so smartly written and the various plots are so cleverly teased out. I felt like this was an "author's book"- one that plays on the writer's expectations of "Oh, I see the headfake and know where this is going," but then you don't know shit. This isn't an exciting action ride. It's a very well-told introspective novel that resonated with me. High recommend.

Post by **Mike** » Sun Nov 20, 2022 10:59 am

The Paradox Hotel -- Rob Hart
The year is 2070. The U.S. government has a time travel facility, but other than some basic research, they mostly try to recoup costs by selling time travel excursions to billionaires. The Hotel Paradox is the government owned luxury resort hotel nearby where the rich stay while they wait for their trip.

January is a former timecop who has become "unstuck", and has occasional flashes of past and future events. January also works as head of security for the hotel, and weird things are happening as wealthy powers are meeting to discuss privatizing time travel operations. Oh, and January's unstuck problem is getting worse.

So I love the premise. This is a detective/mystery story that for most of it is just time travel adjacent with quirky sci-fi weirdness to the mystery. But it's also a tale of loss and pain and soul-searching on January's part.

I had a great time with this until the end, which left me a little cold. I liked the resolution of the mystery, but then the science got flushed down the toilet in favor of dramatic movie-style action, and it lost me. I try to give time travel stories a little bit of a pass on science, because I know I'm super picky, but this one established clearly how a particular thing worked, and then completely abandoned that when they needed a chase scene to work.

It was a worthwhile read, but the book Recursion did a better job covering these themes. The two books have very different time travel and science, but cover very similar ground in terms of class warfare, loss, grief, love, and the meaning of life.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Tue Nov 22, 2022 9:25 pm

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat - Samin Nosrat

I've been aware of this book pretty much since it came out but never got around to investigating it. I was going through a journey as a cook and had to go to certain other places before I could get here.
Suffice to say I have arrived at the moment for this book, but I plan to get it for my kid for Christmas because it would be terrific for any level of cook from beginner to expert.
The unique thing about this cookbook is that it talks about the properties of food and what makes for a good cooking method and assembly of ingredients, based on the constituents of fat and salt and acid and the techniques made possible by heat.
So you learn about the entire process of preparing food and thinking about why certain foods are cooked or joined in recipes in the ways that they are. This conceptual approach remains extremely applicable to daily preparation - an ideal combination of theory and practice.
It's another version, a very different one, of what one obtains from reading the Pepin's early works that describe techniques rather than specific recipes.

So the book is excellent and highly recommended for anyone who is interested in cooking food.
However, I absolutely love the woman who wrote it as well. It turns out there's a Netflix four part series with the same title as the book, and I'm telling you this woman is an absolute delight.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Wed Nov 30, 2022 10:19 am

The Lighthouse Witches- Carolyn Jess-Cooke. After just having finished reading the Chalk Man, if I had known this book was also told between two time periods 20 years apart, trying to solve a mystery, I probably would have passed on it. And better off me if I had, because I just didn't enjoy this book. Look. It was fine. It's about a woman (with her three young daughters) running away from her life in 1998 to a Scottish island where she's commissioned to paint a mural in a defunct lighthouse. The locals think the lighthouse is haunted by a curse or the ghosts of witches that were burned there hundreds of years ago. Weird stuff happens and the mom and two of the daughters go missing. Cut to 2021 and the surviving daughter (who was ten at the time of the disappearance) is now grown and is told that her younger sister, who was seven when she went missing, has been found. And she's still seven. So then the book goes on to figure out this mystery. But here's the thing- I can go along with witches. I can go along with magic. I can go along with the supernatural. But I can't go along with dumb, inconsistent characters that have to behave INCREDIBLY stupidly so that you can advance your plot. The central premise of this book is figuring out why the 7 year old hasn't aged in over 20 years. But apparently, the cops, the social workers and everyone at the Scottish version of CPS are completely unaware that the missing girl went missing 20 years ago... even though their databases listed the sister as her emergency contact. It's dumb. It's just dumb. And it's lazy. And it totally threw me out of the story and I couldn't jump back on at that point. There needs to be logical consistency in your world, even if your world is fantastical and magical. When you sacrifice that consistency, then I'm out. Your character motivations make no sense. Your narrative makes no sense. It taints everything. Ugh. Even though it was written well enough, this one point was a deal breaker for me.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Wed Nov 30, 2022 10:55 am

The Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy, consisting of The Wizard Hunters, The Ships of Air, and The Gate of Gods, by Martha Wells, author of the beloved MurderBot Diaries series. This is a light fantasy story moreso than scifi. The setting evokes World War I era England/France, but with magic, and they are being attacked by strange foreigners that evoke the Germans/Nazis. Where are they coming from and what do they want? That's what you'll find out. It was a drastically different set of stories from the MurderBot Diaries, but I still felt it was well told and engaging. There are two earlier, stand-alone novels from the same setting, one from more of a 17th-18th century type feel, and one with more of a 19th century feel, and I'm starting in on those stories next. A definite recommend if you're in the mood for some light fantasy.

Post by **Mike** » Fri Dec 02, 2022 3:12 pm

Station Eleven -- Emily St. John Mandel
One of the best of the year. It's beautiful. As I imagine how to summarize this story, I realize it sounds like a million things I've read before, but trust me... it's so much more. A hyper-virulent flu wipes out nearly the entire population of the world in a matter of a few weeks. This is the tale of the survivors. Stock premise. But the story of this apocalypse is told in a nonlinear fashion, hopping from thread to thread, character to character, over a span of years ranging from 30+ years before the flu up through 20 years after. It's not so much about this pandemic as it is about finding meaning. The words stenciled on the caravan in this tale are: "Because survival is insufficient," a quote from Seven of Nine in an episode of Voyager. And that is the spirit of the book. I loved it.

The whole novel is like a watching someone else put together this gorgeous puzzle. At first you're appreciating the beauty of each piece, but you're baffled at how they'll form a cohesive picture, but each new piece gets you closer. And eventually you understand what it is you're looking at, but there's still all these missing pieces, and even though you know what they have to be, watching them fit into place is still a revelation.

It's really good.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Fri Dec 02, 2022 3:47 pm

Mike wrote: ↑Fri Dec 02, 2022 3:12 pm Station Eleven -- Emily St. John Mandel
One of the best of the year. It's beautiful. As I imagine how to summarize this story, I realize it sounds like a million things I've read before, but trust me... it's so much more. A hyper-virulent flu wipes out nearly the entire population of the world in a matter of a few weeks. This is the tale of the survivors. Stock premise. But the story of this apocalypse is told in a nonlinear fashion, hopping from thread to thread, character to character, over a span of years ranging from 30+ years before the flu up through 20 years after. It's not so much about this pandemic as it is about finding meaning. The words stenciled on the caravan in this tale are: "Because survival is insufficient," a quote from Seven of Nine in an episode of Voyager. And that is the spirit of the book. I loved it.

The whole novel is like a watching someone else put together this gorgeous puzzle. At first you're appreciating the beauty of each piece, but you're baffled at how they'll form a cohesive picture, but each new piece gets you closer. And eventually you understand what it is you're looking at, but there's still all these missing pieces, and even though you know what they have to be, watching them fit into place is still a revelation.

It's really good.

Holy cow. I just finished watching the TV limited series of this. And it was amazing. It's hard to recommend to people: "It's a Shakespearean, post-apocalyptic, optimistic story." It was just so good.

Post by **Mike** » Fri Dec 02, 2022 3:49 pm

Kyle wrote: ↑Fri Dec 02, 2022 3:47 pm
Mike wrote: ↑Fri Dec 02, 2022 3:12 pm Station Eleven -- Emily St. John Mandel
One of the best of the year. It's beautiful. As I imagine how to summarize this story, I realize it sounds like a million things I've read before, but trust me... it's so much more. A hyper-virulent flu wipes out nearly the entire population of the world in a matter of a few weeks. This is the tale of the survivors. Stock premise. But the story of this apocalypse is told in a nonlinear fashion, hopping from thread to thread, character to character, over a span of years ranging from 30+ years before the flu up through 20 years after. It's not so much about this pandemic as it is about finding meaning. The words stenciled on the caravan in this tale are: "Because survival is insufficient," a quote from Seven of Nine in an episode of Voyager. And that is the spirit of the book. I loved it.

The whole novel is like a watching someone else put together this gorgeous puzzle. At first you're appreciating the beauty of each piece, but you're baffled at how they'll form a cohesive picture, but each new piece gets you closer. And eventually you understand what it is you're looking at, but there's still all these missing pieces, and even though you know what they have to be, watching them fit into place is still a revelation.

It's really good.
Holy cow. I just finished watching the TV limited series of this. And it was amazing. It's hard to recommend to people: "It's a Shakespearean, post-apocalyptic, optimistic story." It was just so good.

I did not know there was a TV series! I'm glad to know it kept the spirit of the book. How cool!

There's also two more books to go, so I will get to those in time as well.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Fri Dec 02, 2022 3:49 pm

What Moves the Dead- T. Kingfisher. A unique retelling of the House of Usher, with a healthy dose of Lovecraftian cosmic horror. Very good and very well written. Infuses modern, fresh sensibilities even though it's still a period piece about the decaying nature of a dying aristocratic family. That's all I'll say. High recommend.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Fri Dec 02, 2022 3:51 pm

Mike wrote: ↑Fri Dec 02, 2022 3:49 pmI did not know there was a TV series! I'm glad to know it kept the spirit of the book. How cool!

There's also two more books to go, so I will get to those in time as well.

Oh- well then don't watch the series. Because I did research on whether there will be a season 2 and it said, "No. The series exhausted the source material." So I'm guessing it covered the trilogy. So don't watch it in case it's all spoilers.

My wife and I really loved this series for the same reasons you're loving the book. It's a beautiful puzzle that unfolds in the most beautiful way-- like many classic Shakespeare plays.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Fri Dec 02, 2022 3:58 pm

Also, Emily St. John Mandel wrote one of my favorite novels of the year- Sea of Tranquility:

My favorite novels have a narrative with a poetic flow-- stories that have a cadence and rhythm to the way in which they're told. This book does that beautifully

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Thu Dec 08, 2022 10:59 am

Hell House- Richard Matheson. I'll start by saying I shouldn't have enjoyed this book. But weirdly, despite all its wacky 1970s sensibilities, I was delighted with it from beginning to end. At the outset you should know that this is considered a classic in the horror genre and it's one I've always meant to read. Written in 1970, I've actually seen the '73 movie this was based on (maybe when I did the 365 movies in 365 days challenge) and remember not liking it for its dumb logic and stupid narrative. But one of the reasons I really loved this book was because of the dumb logic and stupid narrative. Let me explain. The premise is that an old, rich dude is about to die and wants to see if there's evidence of life after death. So he hires a physicist and two mediums (one physical and one mental- don't ask) to spend a week in the most haunted house in the world and get evidence one way or the other. As you would expect- they get there and bad things happen. But here's the wacky part- the "physicist" (who is supposed to be the voice of reason and science) is a parapsychologist. So in this world, as everyone knows, there are mental forces, esp, telekinesis, etc... but the big dispute is: where do these forces come from? On one side are the mediums who insist that they come from ghosts and spirits from "the other side." NONSENSE, says our physicist. Obviously those are just old wives tales and superstitions. Are you going to believe myths and tall tales, or are you going to believe science. Because logical, rational science will tell you that these are mental forces that emanate from human beings and their energy auras. Duh. Okay, so look. You're reading that and thinking, this is bizzaro stupid land, and I won't contribute to this. But I'm telling you... just go with it. Follow the dumb ride because it's that much fun. And it's truly horrifying. The horror is legit and the reason this is a classic. I don't know what to tell you. It's dumb as fuck, but I really liked it.

Post by **Mike** » Thu Dec 08, 2022 4:50 pm

Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism -- Temple Grandin
I love Temple Grandin. Her story is an awesome one. As you can guess from the title, she has autism. She grew up with a diagnosis of brain damage. She suffered a lot of prejudice and general misunderstanding but was fortunate enough to have some supportive people around her who encouraged her to explore her gifts and follow her passions. Her fascination was cattle. Ultimately she is now some kind of agricultural engineer who has revolutionized several aspects of the livestock industry. You can watch the Claire Danes movie for more detail.

In the book, she talks about her experience of having autism and also the science behind it. She deals with sensory issues, diagnosis, teaching/learning, careers, college, relationships, religion, etc. She opens every chapter with personal experiences and then transitions that to the clinical portion, liberally sprinkled with personal anecdotes. It is also cool that she wrote the book in 1995, but in the version I read (2005), she ends each chapter with an update about how the medical science in this chapter's area has changed since the initial writing. Much appreciated.

I found her personal stories endlessly fascinating. And her well organized, straightforward writing makes potentially complex topics easy to follow and digest. She was very thorough though, so it was occasionally as if each chapter was it's own stand-alone essay, and so it felt like there was some repetition of basics, and some of the science gets a little dry that far into the weeds.

Overall, a fascinating read and worth your time. Or if you don't need so much science, go watch Claire Danes and just get the fun parts.

Post by **Mike** » Thu Dec 08, 2022 8:22 pm

A Visit from the Goon Squad -- Jennifer Egan
A Pulitzer Prize winning book from 2011, billed as a must read from whatever list I was looking at. Specifically it was billed as sci-fi, which was baffling for the first 85% of the book.

This is a series of 13 vignettes told in non sequential order and ranging in time from the late 1970's to the early 2020's (which would have been 10 years in the future, and thus...technically sci-fi?) These vignettes cover a broad cast of characters, and each one with a different main character. They loosely come together to form a broad narrative about the effects of time (one of the characters refers to time as a "goon squad" that just beats the hell out of you), but also it's not solely about time, because all of our protagonists have some self-destructive tendencies. All of the vignettes have a gritty realism to them, and Egan is simply masterful at setting a scene and getting inside the characters heads. You see Sasha (one of the recurring characters) appear as the 20-something protagonist of one story, a tertiary character in her 30's in Benny's story, a college foil/love interest in Bob's tale, a lost teenager living on the streets of Italy in Uncle Ted's story, a 40-something semi-background character in her daughter's story, and as half remembered nostalgia in Alex story. All of these happen out of order, and all of these view Sasha through a different set of eyes. You have to put all of them together and still wonder if you have a full picture of Sasha. And she's just one of them... they're all like that.

But that's not all! Before I read A Visit from the Goon Squad, I accidentally read the first vignette of The Candy House, which I did not realize was the sequel to Goon Squad. Once I figured it out, I put Candy House aside to go read Goon Squad, but here's the thing... there were two prominent characters from that first story in the sequel who also appear in the first book, and knowing what was coming, you can see where the author was obviously and deliberately laying the groundwork for the sequel, dropping clues that won't bear fruit until the next book. I'm impressed as shit.

When I started this book I didn't know if I'd get through it. It starts dark, and I didn't know if I was ready for the emotional work, but it pays off.

I say it earned that Pulitzer.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Sat Dec 10, 2022 6:50 am

Beautiful You- Chuck Palahniuk. Trigger warning for this book: everything. Rape, assault, violence, pedophilia, necrophilia and a bazillion more things. If it might trigger you, it's in this book. Which brings me to my first question for myself- why do I keep coming back to Chuck Palahniuk books? Do I hate myself? Were Fight Club, Choke and Invisible Monsters really that good? I suspect they weren't and that I wouldn't enjoy them as much if I read them today. Which brings me to my first question for Chuck Palahniuk- why does he hate his reader so, so, so much? I'm getting ahead of myself, so let me explain the premise first. This is Palahniuk's skewering of the "chick lit" genre. The premise is that it starts out as a romantic cute/meet and then devolves into sadism, world domination and a weaponized vagina that can save humanity. Seriously. But look, when you read Palahniuk's books-- even the "good" ones-- you know that you're going to end up in an absurdity that's supposed to hold a mirror up to society and make us feel uncomfortable about whatever he's satirizing, whether that's toxic masculinity (which he's done repeatedly), addiction/recovery or modern feminism. But I always come away from his books feeling abused- like I subjected myself to something that I wish I hadn't. And I'm sure that's his point-- "You won't get it unless you're upset by it." But that's bullshit. I come away from this novel with the distinct impression that Palahniuk hates women. And he hates men. And he really hates humanity in general. But it's always told with this feeling that Palahniuk isn't just lecturing the reader, but he's also slapping the shit out of you. It's so patronizing, insulting and the narrative just breathes disdain. I feel like I swore off his books after the last one I read, but then I came back to this one thinking, "Oh, this one looks interesting though." I should have known better.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Sun Dec 11, 2022 4:03 pm

Have enjoyed a few different books by Temple Grandin for sure - she's terrific. I went to see her speak once and she is also hilarious.

Mike wrote:Jennifer Egan

I assume OK for teenagers? This looks like a holiday shopping list possibility - always struggling to find that new interesting book for people.

Chuck P, I think the issue is he hates himself, so this is how it emerges? After Game of Thrones Book 1 I decided my life would end too soon to devote neuronal real estate to bad authors. No more of it!

Post by **Mike** » Sun Dec 11, 2022 11:18 pm

Phoebe wrote: ↑Sun Dec 11, 2022 4:03 pm
Mike wrote:Jennifer Egan
I assume OK for teenagers? This looks like a holiday shopping list possibility - always struggling to find that new interesting book for people.

A Visit from the Goon Squad would require you reading it ahead of time to judge for yourself. I would have no problem with my high school age kids reading it if they were interested. But it does deal with abuse and attempted rape and mental illness and a host of other potentially triggering topics. In fact the vignette that shows the attempted rape is narrated by and inside the head of the perpetrator. So it's intense.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Thu Dec 15, 2022 10:11 am

Lovecraft Country- Matt Ruff. Great read! This is an anthology of short stories, each based on a famous short story by people like Burroughs, Stevenson and Lovecraft. But each story shares the same family of characters, is set in 1950s segregated America, and has a healthy dose of Lovecraftian weirdness to it. The stories all intertwine to tell a large story, so it's hard to say if this is really a novel or an anthology. Either way, it's brilliant. Told from the perspective of a black family, this book is actually about systemic racism in the US. But at the same time, it stays true to its Lovecraftian roots and tells great cosmic horror stories as well. It's so well written with deep, compelling characters. High recommend.

Post by **Mike** » Tue Dec 20, 2022 9:51 pm

A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet -- Becky Chambers
From the author of Psalm for the Wild-Built, which I loved, this one is an awesome story about the crew of a small spaceship who have to take a very long trip to the galactic core to undertake a lucrative but dangerous job. There's a couple of minor action pieces in here, but mostly it's just about a diverse and quirky crew on a very long journey all cooped up together. The story is 95% character development and times when our main characters have to "save the day", it's usually through being a supportive friend, a hard worker, an empathetic listener, or just really good at paperwork. The crew of the Wayfarer represent a hopeful future where emotional health is just as important a part of well-being as anything else.

Plus, Chambers is spectacular at world building, and specifically at creating believable alien cultures and motivations that are multidimensional AND not just transparent pastiches of real world peoples and cultures. She creates a comfortable world to get lost in, and as this is obviously the establishing novel of a series, I look forward to staying on with the Wayfarer for as far as they go.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Wed Dec 21, 2022 9:16 am

Vivian Apple at the End of the World- Katie Coyle. I could swear either my wife or Mike had read this book, but my wife says she didn't and I don't see a review from Mike. Am I wrong, Mike? In any event, this is a book that starts out strong with a great premise, and then becomes just an ordinary coming-of-age story that's way too preachy. The premise is that a MAGA-like, America First Church sweeps the country when its leader predicts the Rapture. Then the Rapture happens and the followers are raptured. Our titular character, a 17 year old "good girl" is left behind because she wasn't a believer, but her parents were. She then goes on a road trip across the country with her best friend to look for... something. Sounds great, right? But it's not. After that introduction is just becomes ordinary. And I won't go into the details, but the book really betrays itself in the end with logical holes that just aren't believable. I'll leave it at that. Very disappointing. Not a terrible read, but I felt like it could have been a lot more than what it was.

Post by **Mike** » Wed Dec 21, 2022 11:31 am

Kyle wrote: ↑Wed Dec 21, 2022 9:16 am Vivian Apple at the End of the World- Katie Coyle.
Am I wrong, Mike?

Never heard of it. Sorry.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Wed Dec 21, 2022 11:39 am

Mike wrote: ↑Wed Dec 21, 2022 11:31 am
Kyle wrote: ↑Wed Dec 21, 2022 9:16 am Vivian Apple at the End of the World- Katie Coyle.
Am I wrong, Mike?
Never heard of it. Sorry.

Jerk. Apology not accepted.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Fri Dec 30, 2022 12:54 pm

The Hazel Wood- Melissa Albert. I had a real weird experience reading this book. While the story didn't really grip me, the writing was so good that I got sucked in anyways. The premise is that a 17 year old girl's mother is kidnapped by people that she thinks come from a fairy tale world that her grandmother famously wrote about. Adventure ensues. It played out like a fairly well-thought out and fleshed-out YA story. The author has clearly thought for a long time about this world and has only revealed 10% of what she knows (although I understand that there are two more books in the trilogy). My problem is this- remember that one Harry Potter book where Harry was an angry, petty dick to everyone and you didn't know why until the end? That happens in this book. The main character, Alice, is SO angry. And even though you know there's going to be a good reason for it, it's really off-putting for much of the book. All the same, I couldn't stop reading it because the technical writing is just that good. Albert's use of metaphor and simile is freaking amazing. I read jealously, thinking constantly, "Damn, that's a good reference," or "Shit, that perfectly describes this in three words." It was just really, really good writing. So look- come for the excellent writing and stick around for the rousing YA adventure. High recommend.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Tue Jan 03, 2023 11:53 pm

Sounds like my cup of tea. I am sailing the tranquil seas of the audiobook and it's the greatest. The problem is I want to hear someone else's voice. I need to pay people with a good voice to read to me. The woman sounds like Gates McFadden and while objectively that's a good voice, it is not the voice of my desired reader. Google assistant too, I want a custom voice. I want Tito Gobbi but it's an improbable outcome. I need baritone reader. A woman is ok but needs to have LOW voice. I should make this my career henceforth.

With my eyeballs I read Denis Diderot's The Nun. Wacky but not recommended. It's a bizarre psychodrama based on negative real life experiences. The man's sister died when Forced into the convent. Horrifying.