Reviews
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100 Word Book Review – The Abacus and the Cross by Nancy Marie Brown
Pope Sylvester II is my favorite Pope. (I am not Catholic.) My favorite book about Gerbert of Aurillac is Ars Magica by Judith Tarr, but it is a fantasy novel. The Abacus and the Cross is a non-fiction book that looks just as closely at the world around Gerbert as it does his life. It uses primary sources, including Gerber’s own letters, as much as possible. I found it incredibly relaxing to learn about making books in the 10th century or about Gerbert’s abacus. If you have any interest in the history of science, this is a book for you.
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Book Review: Agency by William Gibson
Dear Mr. Gibson,I love your work. I have been a huge fan ever since someone first handed me a copy of Neuromancer. I even own No Maps for These Territories. And I get that you have always been writing near future, though perhaps with Neuromancer and Johnny Mnemonic we did not realize exactly how near. But now, like Bigend at the end of Zero History, with The Peripheral and especially Agency, we are looking just moments into the future. And I have to tell you, you are killing me. Killing me. When can we expect the next book? And now onto standard book review format. Agency is William Gibson’s latest…
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Rejected Book Reivew: The Last Queen of Scotland by Ray Barron-Woolford
I read The Last Queen of Scotland by Ray Barron-Woolford in order to do a review for the Online Book Club. The author, I think, was unhappy with how long he had to wait for a reviewer to choose to read it (it had been sitting for at least a month when I claimed it), that he was paying for the review (that is a choice, many authors submit their books for review where the only thing reviewers get is a free copy of the book), and that he did not get to read my entire review before determining whether or not to approve the payment. One thing the Online…
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Book Review: The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
I first read Katherine Addison’s The Goblin Emperor back in late 2015 or early 2016, somewhere in the same timeframe that I read Among Others by Jo Walton (review) and Uprooted by Naomi Novik (review). I loved all three books for different reasons. Among Others is a love letter to reading and books. Uprooted has one of the strongest beginnings I have ever read and an engaging plot. The Goblin Emperor is all about the characters. I honestly could not tell you what the plot of The Goblin Emperor is, beyond it being a “year in the life” style story. Things happen. It is not a boring book with no…
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100 Word Book Review – The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
A dystopian science fiction fantasy novel where the hero is an adult, an actual, middle-aged adult? Yes please. And not only is our hero a parent, she is a woman, a black woman. In fact, almost all of the characters have skin in varying shades of brown. Though to be honest, since much of The Fifth Season is written in second person, I did envision my middle-aged self in the heroine’s place. I finished the book wanting more. It is a great fantasy book with an intriguing dash of science fiction at the end. Looking forward to the second book.
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100 Word Book Review – Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
I often read books and think “I would love to hear this book read aloud”. With Brown Girl Dreaming, I read the book and thought “I would love to read this book aloud”. Maybe it is because the words on the page clearly indicate the book is a poem, or a series of poems, or maybe just because the language, the pacing, the rhythm was so perfect. I loved this book, and I really wished I had someone to read it to. It is the story of a brown girl and her dreams. Very simple, but also just about perfect.
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Book Review: Dead Man’s Debt by Elliot Kay
I just finished my second read through of Dead Man’s Debt by Elliot Kay. For the sake of full disclosure, I know the author, and the first time I read the book, it was as one of his beta readers before he published. That said, I can honestly say I enjoyed the book. This should not come as a huge surprise. It is the third book in the series, and I would not have volunteered to be a beta reader if I had not enjoyed the first two books. Dead Man’s Debt is the continuing adventures of Tanner Malone and the end of his time in the Archangel Navy. While…
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Book Review: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
The first time we read American Gods, C said to me “This is why I can never write a book, because I could never be this good.” The truth is, there are very few people who are as talented at writing as Neil Gaiman, and The Ocean at the End of the Lane continues his tradition of authorial excellence. I cannot truly give a summary of the plot without giving too much away. I think it is best to say this is a book about memory, childhood, and the way how we view the world changes as we grow older. It is also a book about friendship and sacrifice, and…
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Book Review: The Bees by Laline Paull
The Amazon description of The Bees by Laline Paull starts thusly: The Handmaid’s Tale meets The Hunger Games in this brilliantly imagined debut set in an ancient culture where only the queen may breed and deformity means death. I’ll be honest, it never even occurred to me to think of the book as some dystopian society, because it is a book about bees, that gets bee culture fairly accurate. Now maybe this is because as a girl, I read all those horse and other animal books that took the point of view of an animal in their societies. Now, there was a lot of humanization in the books I read as a…
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Book Review: The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
I am not certain I can truly write a review of The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. I can tell you it is a memoir, well written, and engaging. I can tell you I chose to read it because a friend “gushed” about it on Facebook. But I cannot honestly review the content of the book, because it gets all caught up in my emotional reaction to it. Which, in a way, is a sign of a pretty great book. The Glass Castle is the story of Jeannette’s childhood with her dysfunctional parents and too functional (by necessity) siblings. My friend who loved it so much raced through and proceeded…
