Books Worth Reading

Book News and Views

July 8, 2009 at 10:21 am | In Books, On the Web | Leave a Comment

Gleaned from my recent Interwebs travels:

Are authors getting a bit too huffy about negative book reviews? Or is the social web just making it way too easy to vent? Here’s a nice roundup of links on MetaFilter.
On the flip side, Futurismic discusses the dark side of fandom.
Futurismic also takes a look at the future of self-publishing in a webified world.
These writers are trying to be bad. Here are the 2009 Bulwer-Lytton worst first sentence contest winners.

Worth Reading: Altered Carbon

July 3, 2009 at 3:17 pm | In Books, Reviews | 2 Comments
Tags: Postcyberpunk, Richard Morgan, Science fiction

Image via Wikipedia

Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan (2002)

Science fiction meets the hard-boiled detective story in this tale of a future in which humans have moved to other planets and practically conquered death, all by discovering how to download the human personality, memories and perhaps the soul into a microchip that can be transplanted from one body to another (the exact procedure for how this is done is never adequately explained, by the way). Sure, the plot is sometimes a little muddy and disjointed, and sometimes the science is suspect, but the premise is fascinating, and Morgan explores many aspects of it. He introduces us to Meths (short for Methuselahs): emotionless people who have lived hundreds of years in clones of their perpetually young bodies. He shows us the consequences of emerging out of prison, where the punishment is years of suspended animation in cold storage, thrust into a body that is not your own. How much of love is physical or chemical, and how much is mental? Morgan asks. And when death is so meaningless, how much is a life worth?

This is the first novel in a series featuring the protagonist, former special military operative, ex-prisoner and unwilling detective Takeshi Kovacs.

Monthly Reading: June 2009

July 1, 2009 at 3:21 pm | In Books, Monthly Reading | Leave a Comment
Tags: Arthur C Clarke, Arthur Nersesian, Literary fiction, Margaret Atwood, Science fiction

Cover of Childhood's End

An good month for quality, if not quantity. Click the titles for the review.

Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke — science fiction

Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood — literary fiction

Manhattan Loverboy by Arthur Nersesian — literary fiction

My rating scale:

1 star: Abandoned before finishing. Don’t waste your time.
2 stars: Poor. Avoid with extreme prejudice.
3 stars: Average. Read it, have a good time and move on. Or not.
4 stars: Great. Push it on your friends and family.
5 stars: Excellent. Keep it, treasure it, reread it.

Disclaimer: My ratings are very personal and may have little to do with the book’s artistic or commercial merit, or its place in the literary canon. Rather, the rating reflects how the story, characters and writing spoke to me and augmented my understanding of the world.

Here are some other reviews of my favorite books from around the Interwebs:

Blood Meridian reviewed at The AV Club
Ender’s Game reviewed at Shelf Love
The Left Hand of Darkness reviewed at Tor.com
The Thirteen Clocks reviewed at Things Mean a Lot
The Unit reviewed at Shelf Love

Review copies rant

July 1, 2009 at 9:48 am | In Books, On the Web | Leave a Comment

Guess what? I write another blog (two other blogs, actually). I posted a rant there about the ludicrous book review offers I receive, so go read it.

Worth Reading: Childhood’s End

June 27, 2009 at 10:47 am | In Books, Reviews | 3 Comments
Tags: Arthur C Clarke, Science fiction, Transhumanism

Cover of Childhood's End

Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke (1953)

Childhood’s End is a classic story of first contact between human beings and aliens.

He felt no regrets as the work of a lifetime was swept away. He had labored to take man to the stars, and, in the moment of success, the stars — the allof, indifferent stars — had come to him. This was the moment when history held its breath, and the present sheared asunder from the past as an inceberg splits from its frozen, parent cliffs, and goes sailing out to sea in lonely pride. All that the past ages had achieved was as nothing now: only one thought echoed and re-echoed through Reinhold’s brain:

The human race was no longer alone.

Written during what I like to call the “macho science fiction” period, Clarke’s classic novel suffers from the same issues as many of his contemporaries, i.e., stilted 1950s-era dialogue and female characters who, when they do appear, are flat stereotypes who are ultimately inconsequential. But we can forgive those failings because this is a seminal “first contact” novel, one that spawned a sub-genre.

Aliens suddenly arrive at Earth just as we are ramping up the space race, aliens that are clearly so much more advanced technologically and so much more powerful than we are, that the human race basically lays down all our weapons and calls it a day. Thus, the aliens — or the Overlords, as we call them — usher in a golden age of peace and prosperity (and some boredom) for all mankind. No one wants for anything, and there is no war, so maybe it doesn’t matter that original art and music and scientific innovation have also largely disappeared. Still the unspoken question is: What do the aliens really want? What are their ultimate goals for mankind? The outcome is surprising and crosses into uncertain moral territory. This is a compelling early work of science fiction that all fans of the genre should read.

Book News and Views

June 24, 2009 at 10:30 am | In Books, On the Web | 1 Comment
Tags: E-book, Fantasy, JD Salinger, Science fiction, Stephen King

Stephen King via last.fm

Here is where my web travels have taken me lately:

E-books again — people can’t stop talking about them. Now SF Signal discusses why e-book reader manufacturers are missing the point when they try to capture the experience of reading a “real” book.
The Biblio Brat has a nice essay about whether Holden Caulfield is still a relevant character for today’s young readers. I love Catcher in the Rye, but maybe it is time to update school reading lists with some more modern selections. The coming-of-age story is universal, so I am sure that there are many fine books that have been published in the last decade or so to choose from.
Things Mean a Lot has a great essay about why she reads fantasy. I could certainly say very similar things about why I read science fiction, another much-maligned genre.
Over at Bloggasm, there is analysis on whether sci-fi publisher Tor is positioning itself as a portal and bookstore for science fiction and fantasy from all publishers. If so, I think this is great news. Tor’s blog is fun to read, and I would love having a one-place stop to fulfill my genre needs.
Finally, the AV Club recommends some good entry points into Stephen King’s gigantic oeuvre. If you are unaware of who Stephen King is, he’s just this guy who writes horror books, you know? I agree with most of their recommendations, although I often recommend The Dead Zone because I think it’s fairly accessible to non-horror readers, with just enough supernatural stuff and a really gripping plot. By the way, don’t read the comments unless you want the endings of most of King’s major works spoiled for you.

Things I Appreciate in Book Reviews

June 23, 2009 at 10:51 am | In Books, Reviews | 4 Comments

Recently, Bill the Sci-Fi Guy asked whether it would be helpful to include a ratings system of some kind in his book reviews. That got me thinking about what I would appreciate seeing in book reviews from my fellow bloggers (and where I could perhaps do a little better). So here is a list of elements of a book review I would love to see:

A one-line synopsis right at the beginning of the review. Often I don’t have time to read everything in my feed reader, so if there is a synopsis right up front, I will know right away whether the book is something I might be interested in. That would prompt me to read further. If I can’t tell what the book is about from the first couple of lines of the review, I usually skip reading it.
Some clue as to genre. I would like to see this at the beginning of the review as well. I particularly want to know if the book is meant for kids, young adults or adult readers and if it is identified as belonging to a specific genre such as horror, science fiction or fantasy.
If the book is part of a series. Please tell me right away what series it belongs to and what number it is in the series. I have often bought books just to find out they are the second or third in a series I haven’t read. There’s nothing more annoying than that.
The cover of the book. So I’ll recognize it when I see it in the bookstore, even if I don’t remember the title or author.
A relevant quote from the book. This gives me an idea of the author’s writing style. I love reading quotes anyway. I usually just put the first paragraph to keep from inadvertently posting spoilers.
No spoilers! Or at least a spoiler warning. I try very hard in my reviews not to give away important plot points. I sometimes avoid reading reviews out of fear that the book will be spoiled for me.
Links to further information or the Amazon page are helpful but not necessary. I particularly appreciate links to author pages.

For me, ratings aren’t as important as these other elements. Ratings are by necessity subjective, and I find them only helpful when several people’s ratings are aggregated, as on Amazon, and you can get a feel for general overall reaction to the book.

What do you find most helpful in a book review?

The Comic Book Adaptations of Stephen King

June 22, 2009 at 10:08 am | In Books, Reviews | Leave a Comment
Tags: Comic books, Stephen King

Cover via Amazon

Two of Stephen King’s longest works — the Dark Tower series and The Stand – are currently being adapted into comic book form, and a third, The Talisman, is forthcoming. I am reading both the Dark Tower and Stand series. Here are my thoughts.

Unlike the novel series, the Dark Tower comics tell the story in chronological order, so the first series, The Gunslinger Born, begins with the events that are told mainly in flashback in the fourth novel, Wizard and Glass. These earliest series relate significant events in young Roland’s life, many of which were only hinted at in the books, so there is a lot of new material here. Robin Furth, King’s longtime assistant and author of The Dark Tower Concordance, writes the comics, so she is particularly well-qualified to fill in the holes. Because of the new events, which nevertheless mesh well with the existing Dark Tower storyline, the comics add a lot of value for Dark Tower fans. Each issue has additional material at the end that explains some of the mythology and other mysterious aspects of the Dark Tower universe, as well.

The art for these comics is spectacular and evokes perfectly Roland’s world, a world that has “moved on.” I think the Dark Tower comics represent the best of what a Stephen King comic adaptation can be. The visual medium truly enhances the story and adds to the reader’s enjoyment, while the new material deepens our understanding of the universe King originally created.

The Stand comic series, on the other hand, does not bring anything new to the table. Instead, it merely retells the story that King fans are already very familiar with. The artwork is fine, but the visual medium is not used very effectively. Instead of telling the story in pictures and dialogue, there is a lot of narrative for a comic book, which seems to be taken straight from the novel. If you have already read The Stand, I see no reason to reread it in comic form.

It remains to be seen which direction The Talisman will take. It is not one of my favorite King novels, and the decision to adapt it now seems to capitalize on the success of the previous two adaptations. On the other hand, The Talisman straddles both worlds, so there is opportunity to bring something new, if the writers and artists will take that risk.

Stephen King’s The Stand: American Nightmares (manodogs.blogspot.com)

Book News and Views

June 16, 2009 at 2:35 pm | In Awards, Books, On the Web | 1 Comment
Tags: Banned books, E-book, Post-apocalypse, Science fiction, Stephen King

Let’s take a little spin around the book haps on the web, shall we?

The 2008 Bram Stoker Award winners were announced, and Stephen King has totally stolen it by winning the Best Novel and Best Collection categories. I think Just After Sunset deserved it, Duma Key not so much.
Curious about where science fiction authors do their dirty work? Check out their creative workspaces here.
Here’s another list of authors to follow on Twitter, this time from the nonfiction side.
If you don’t ban books, kids will go play video games and watch reality TV. But if you do ban books, kids will start a lending library out of their school lockers and make reading the latest hip thing. So, what’s the lesson here?
For those of us who love the post-apocalyptic genre, Listverse has a list of 15 classics we should all read.
More post-apocalyptic fun: Tor takes us to the ruins of “Tomorrow-land.” Are we depressed yet?
And the e-book saga continues. Here’s another insightful essay from Booksquare on e-book pricing.

Some Thoughts on Book “Stickiness”

June 9, 2009 at 4:00 pm | In Books | 2 Comments
Tags: Junot Díaz, Kazuo Ishiguro

Cover of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

I don’t like to write down my thoughts about a book or draft a review immediately after I’ve finished the book. Instead, I like to let the book sit with me for a few days, or even a few weeks. That’s because one of the most important qualities for me in deciding how much I liked the book is “stickiness.”

“Stickiness” is a fairly ineffable quality that I am sure differs from one reader to another. It has to do with how much I thought about the book after I closed it for the last time. How often I replayed certain scenes in my mind. How frequently I found myself talking about the book with others. How much my understanding of the book’s characters or themes deepened after I had finished reading it.

It often surprises me which books are “sticky” for me. Kazuo Ishiguro’s When We Were Orphans is one recent example — I can’t stop thinking about one haunting scene that occurs near the end. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is another; my husband and I discuss it often, and I even find myself quoting it, much to my surprise.

A “sticky” book will almost certainly receive a four- or five-star review from me and find its way into my collection. I read a lot of books that I find to be just average, which really means that they are not sticky. I might enjoy them during the actual reading of them, but once I close them, I find it difficult to recall exactly what happened or who the characters were. While such a book may have earned a better review immediately after I finished reading it, once I let it sit for a while, I think I am better able to judge whether it had any lasting impact on me. If it’s not sticky, it generally only earns three stars and a place in my BookMooch pile.

Do you find that certain books you read tend to stick with you? Does your opinion of them change over time?