Bittersweet.

Brutal, fast paced, and peopled only by robots, this book thoughtfully explores autonomy and humanity without sacrificing a moment of pulpy excitement.

A quick, gloomy, read that is a total joy. Double section it in humor/horror but then buy all the copies yourself and gift them to the friends who are worth keeping.

Structurally fascinating and completely heartrending.

This is fun! Tonally somewhere between Rowling and David Gilbert, Howard writes powerfully but not melodramatically. The plot isn't groundbreaking but the familiar tropes are set in a cool, well-built world. Worth your time.

This book kicked my ass. Please read it.

Only loosely conceptualized, irreverently irrelevant, and eager to exploit structural chicanery, this book posesses all of the attributes of its subject matter. Which is to say, if you have a sense or humor (or know someone who does) you need to read this book.

Brief, with a distinct, sparse voice. And a plot that drives to a vivid conclusion. Obviously written by a white man. But still very much worth your attention.

A coming of age story proving that authorial experimentation is great and that readerly insistence on a happy (or a tidy) ending is fallacious.

I'm usually pro-TOR and this book doesn't disappoint. It could be a hundred pages shorter and often feels a little YA, but what it lacks in form it more than makes up for in diversity of content. The fantasy version of ancient China it depicts is as engaging as the queer, female protagonists it introduces. If you're looking for escapism with a moral backbone and a fresh setting, check this out.

Sparse, poetic, vague, and heartfelt. It's a novel about motherhood with a post-disaster setting. A charming, emotive addition to the current spate of dystopian fiction.

Unvarnished in tone and content. Funny and clear eyed, especially about race and class. A homage to hard work and a snapshot of a trade that is on its way out. This memoir is for fans of Chronology of Water and Love and Terror on the Howling Plains. It's really a phenomenal book, a reading experience that is, for example, the complete opposite of sitting alone in a dark room with a bird.

Storytelling in obvious servitude to ideas, but that's not a detraction. This is an addition to the dystopian genre that's probably best for Econ and AI nerds.

I'm disappointed I didn't get to these stories in more timely manner. They are pretty great! Fans of Diane Cook and Kelly Link should go back in time and get this collection as soon as it came out.

@Genrebending 's official position is forthcoming, but I'm putting myself in record now as a fan. The (tele)kinetic prose makes this genre crossover suitable for almost anyone: Spoonbenders reads like a Guy Richie adaptation of a Jamie Attenberg biography of Gay Talese.

There's a lot here. It's smart, funny, and real in turns with a notable, I think, structure. I'm glad that I took the time to wade through the only occasionally gripping plot.

So this isn't a good novel. But it's a good read. Know what I mean? It's a fun plot on top of a oddly eager cultural study of the bizarre place that was America in 1876. Give it a couple of hours of your time!

It's a good story. Sensitively told. Beautifully written. And the mechanical and moral dilemmas tackled by the author are interesting to consider. It's totally what you should read if you've already read all of Erdrich, Wagamese, Silko, and Treuer.

This book has partitioned my friends into those who couldn't put it down and those who couldn't make it past page fifty. I am firmly in the first group. This novel is imperfect. But it uses defamiliarization to amazing affect. And it's moving. And, downright engrossing. I think, if you give it a shot, it will haunt you in a most compelling way.

I'm a sucker for post-apocalyptic literary fiction. And this is one of the best. Dog Stars-Station Eleven-Country of Ice Cream Star-level good. I'm now fully committed to the VanderMeer bandwagon.

Listen. I don't read a lot of poet memoirs. But this one is funny and smart and twists its phrases in way that doesn't make me roll my eyes.

This book is absurd and I really enjoyed it. If you like Grady Hendrix, read this!

A socially conscious thriller about (among other things) race in/and art, it reads easily and packs a punch. It's very good. I'm glad I read it. I think I liked it.

Such a weird/fresh/relevant/great start! And while the second half doesn't live up to the first's promise, this book is worth at least some of your time.

So maybe it's tough for me to be objective when it comes to Heller. But this book is damn good.

I'm excited this book exists. Visceral, heady, and with a backwoods protagonist who's escape to the big city and the refuge in art is painful and inspiring in all the right ways.

'Ferries Bueller's Day Off' meets 'Ready Player One' with hints of 'Rosie Project' and 'Stranger Things.' It's a lot of fun, though maybe not memorable.

Not a novel. Connected stories that are funny and real and smart and demonstrative of a love of New York City and genre fiction. This is a book about wizards that you can proudly read on the train.

Even if you're already familiar with this terrible bit of US history, Grann's wholistic approach and accessible prose make this a great, heartbreaking read.

A stunning (I'm stunned) and evocative (I'm evoked) thriller (I'm thrilled). This book is an an enrapturing (I'm not raptured [yet]) punch to the gut.

Read A Man Lies Dreaming first. But then read this. Smart, provoking sci fi that has me even more excited to see what Tidhar does next.

Like one of those cuts that you don't feel until you see the blood.

From the first page, I enjoyed reading this book. But a hundred pages in the book started to push back, compelling and propelling me through the rest of the always charged, sometimes draining, and consistently truthful story.

Underwhelming, but still a lot of fun. And we're not reading it because it's a great piece of lit, right?

I'm glad I'm in the world where I chose to read this book. Less sure if this blurb is a good idea.

More amazing backlist. Magic and body and place all depicted with graceful truth.

Beautiful, but probably best for a more straight, white, middle-age male audience.

Another classic to which I arrived late. If you haven't, you should. If only to better understand the jokes folks make.

Short and mean and beautiful.

So good! History and fable blended to optimize impact and truth.

You already know that this is a good book. But you may need reminding (I certainly did) that this book deserves promotion from the "eventually" stack. It's so very worth displacing some summer frontlist. And you will still have Infinite Jest in the "eventually" stack for when you retire.

In the best possible way, unlike anything else I've ever read. It's causing a personal recalibration of the words "great," and "novel."

I'm now on the bandwagon.

A necessary (and deceptively quick) read for fantasy fans. In the best ways, it's akin to that reimagined comfort food you get at fancy restaurants.

Weird, warm, and funny. I am now even more excited to see what Cho does next.

Even if you can't arrange to finish it in the parking lot of your parents' church during a visit home, you should still read it.

It's as good as you've heard.

Near-future, pre-apocalyptic speculative fiction whose whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Which is a pun but also true.