Category Archives: book reviews

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

Posted by melydia on December 20, 2013 None comments

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (unabridged audiobook read by Kirby Heyborne; 12 hrs on 10 discs): I’ve been meaning to read this for some time now, but when I saw on the cover that it had been blurbed by both Neil Gaiman and Scott Westerfeld, well, I decided I simply could not wait any longer. When San Francisco is attacked by terrorists, Marcus and his friends find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time, and immediately detained by the Department of Homeland Security, where they are interrogated and tortured. This terrible and unjust treatment motivates Marcus to try to beat the system, creating a separate and untraceable internet using a fictional XBox network. There’s a lot of discussion of how much privacy and freedom one can sacrifice in the name of security, and a lot of questions are raised about how many of these intrusive security measures actually make us any safer. I can see some folks dismissing the whole tale as far too paranoid, but I think it’s still an important book to read, if only as a starting point to a conversation about the larger issues of liberty and security and terrorism. I do not have any answers, but I appreciate any book that makes me want to learn more about the world around me.

A note on the audio: Heyborne is fantastic. That is all.

Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Posted by melydia on December 17, 2013 1 comments

Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix (unabridged audiobook read by Alyssa Bresnahan; 5.25 hrs on 5 discs): What happens after the glass slipper fits and Cinderella is whisked away to Prince Charming’s palace? In this story, “happily ever after” doesn’t seem to be in the cards. Ella, having spent so much time as a servant, is having trouble adjusting to the tight-laced bureaucracy of palace life. Worse, her regular meetings with Prince Charming are stilted and awkward, with no one showing any interest in her beyond her beauty. I liked this one. I liked Ella’s determination and practicality. I liked the lack of a fairy godmother or any other magical elements. Definitely one to pick up if you like fairy tale retellings.

A note on the audio: Besnahan was very talented, but sounded a bit too old to be 16. Admittedly, I probably wouldn’t have even noticed had the book been told in third person instead of first.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Feed by M.T. Anderson

Posted by melydia on December 13, 2013 None comments

Feed by M.T. Anderson (unabridged audiobook read by David Aaron Baker; 5 hrs on 5 discs): In a future America where the internet is inside everyone’s head, Titus and his friends are regular teenagers just looking for a good time. At a club on the moon during spring break, they meet Violet, a homeschooled outsider hoping to experience regular teenage life. After their feeds are hacked by dissidents, Violet’s feed begins to malfunction, and Titus must choose between this interesting girl he’s just met and his longtime but shallow friends. I’m not going to lie to you: Titus is not a good or admirable person, but he’s actually pretty realistic. He’s self-absorbed and wishes bad things would just go away and not bother him. I’m sure many of us have wished an inconveniently ill person could just “get over it” but unlike Titus, we readers have a moral compass reminding us that their trauma is not about us. This is a dystopia clearly inspired by the inanity of the internet; most of the characters talk like they’re on Tumblr. I found it an interesting and worthwhile read, but if you need to have some level of fondness for the main character in a book, this story will likely be pretty hard to take. If nothing else, it reminded me of the importance of empathy and kindness.

A note on the audio: I am so glad I listened to this one. The entire thing is written in dialect that would surely have driven me mad in print, but isn’t so bad to hear. (It helps that Baker is an excellent reader.) Also, the feed ads are done just like radio ads, which brings some extra realism to the story. I was kind of confused when they first cut in, because I thought maybe my CD player had switched over to radio accidentally or something, but a lot of the content is actually quite absurd and funny.

The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex

Posted by melydia on December 10, 2013 None comments

The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex: I admit it: I judged this book by its cover. With a title like that, how could I not pick it up? And I was not disappointed. A girl named Gratuity and a cat named Pig meet an alien named J.Lo and journey across America to find Gratuity’s mother. It’s a pretty ridiculous story all around. The illustrations are fantastic and the whole thing is really funny. It’s also a not-so-subtle allusion to the story of the Native Americans, a rare work of effective satire that loses neither its humor nor its message. Good stuff.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas

Posted by melydia on December 6, 2013 None comments

The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas (unabridged audiobook read by Geoffrey Sherman; 16 hrs on 14 discs): Well, that was a real downer. People die, noble plots are thwarted, good men are sent to prison. The title is a little misleading, because surprisingly little of the book is about said man – the brother of the king, whom Aramis tries to install in his place from the very first chapter. I still love all four Musketeers, but this story seemed less about them and more about French politics. I think. To be honest, I had a lot of trouble following it. I kept confusing people, especially since most of the noblemen had two or three names each. It was nice to rejoin Athos, Aramis, Porthos, and d’Artagnan, but I would have rather spent the time with them off on adventures, and not as old men who barely see each other anymore. I suppose it’s not a bad way to round off your Musketeer collection, but definitely don’t start here.

This translation was not so great. I’m not convinced, even in Dumas’s time, that people would say “What does that signify?” instead of “What does that mean?” or “Do you comprehend?” instead of “Do you understand?” It made everything sound stilted and weird.

BUtterfield 8 by John O’Hara

Posted by melydia on December 3, 2013 1 comments

BUtterfield 8 by John O’Hara: Wow, is this book ever tedious. The back cover blurb claims that the first scene unleashes a chain of events that can only result in tragedy, so I kept reading to the end in the hope that this meant something would actually happen, but it never really did. I mean, sure, I suppose the death of a character could be considered tragic, but only if the reader had any emotional investment in the life of that character. Which I did not.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Native Tongue by Carl Hiaasen

Posted by melydia on November 29, 2013 None comments

Native Tongue by Carl Hiaasen (unabridged audiobook read by George Wilson; 15.75 hrs on 13 discs): When a couple of endangered voles are stolen, a disgruntled PR guy at a cut-rate Disneyland-wannabe discovers a sinister secret. Meanwhile, you have an ex-politician hobo, a gun-toting octogenarian ecoterrorist, a couple of bumbling thieves, a phone sex worker turned serious poet, and the mafia, all getting in each other’s ways. This book tries to be light-hearted and silly, and indeed most of the characters are pretty ridiculous, but it rubbed me the wrong way all the same. Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of humor, but it didn’t hide the sometimes obnoxious preaching. This is only my second Hiaasen book, but the story is very similar: well-meaning environmentalists versus corrupt developers. The thing is, most developers are completely legit. It’s like, we’re against all this development and destruction of native lands, and oh hey, they just happen to be doing something illegal. How convenient. How contrived.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

The Book of Times by Lesley Alderman

Posted by melydia on November 22, 2013 None comments

The Book of Times by Lesley Alderman: As one might expect, this is a collection of assorted factoids about time – more specifically, how people spend their time. It’s not nearly as interesting as I’d hoped. For one thing, almost all the data is from surveys, and many of those are from internet surveys, and we all know how accurate those are. The results are often contradictory as well: for example, on one page we learn that smoking takes nine years off your life, but just two pages later we learn it’s only four. This general lack of continuity isn’t helped any by the large number of typos, some quite prominent. How long do rock banks last? I didn’t understand until I read the list and realized it was supposed to be rock bands. In short, unless you are desperate for a book of trivia about how people may or may not actually spend their time, I’d suggest giving this one a miss.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

The Hand of Osiris by Jim Mastro

Posted by melydia on November 19, 2013 None comments

The Hand of Osiris by Jim Mastro: This is the second book in the Children of Hathor series, but it’s been long enough since I read the first one that I can safely say that it’s not absolutely essential to read that one to enjoy this one. All you really need to know is that American middle-schooler Jason and his friends Amelia and Kevin were abducted by aliens, and Jason became the holder of a powerful talisman. In this book they are once again spirited away into the realm of galactic politics and long-lost talismans, but as the situation worsens and the galaxy plunges toward war, Jason starts to doubt his so-called allies. Is he being told the truth? Whose side is right? It’s a grand sci-fi adventure, full of memorable aliens and fast-paced action. I look forward to seeing how Jason’s story pans out.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

Packing for Mars by Mary Roach

Posted by melydia on November 15, 2013 None comments

Packing for Mars by Mary Roach (unabridged audiobook read by Sandra Burr; 10.5 hrs on 9 discs): I have never wanted to be an astronaut. The notion of having nothing between you and the vacuum of space but a thin wall is absolutely terrifying. I don’t want to worry about using the toilet while weightless or eat food from a tube or go weeks without bathing. I am also prone to motion sickness. That said, it’s still interesting to read about the challenges involved in propelling man out past the atmosphere. I liked a lot of the history, but unfortunately the majority of the facets of space life covered here have to do with vomit and feces. I understand how important those two things are in these sorts of conditions, but it got really old. Not something I’d recommend to the casual reader, but if you’re hoping to become an astronaut, it could serve as a much-needed warning for what you’re getting yourself into.

A note on the audio: I dislike Burr’s fiction narration intensely, but she reads nonfiction like this very well.

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