This is a star book because it really fits into my love for the post apocalyptic world. It is remarkably similar to other oeuvres of the genre but ultimately it‘s story arcs coming together in a powerfully underwhelming way. The important is reduced to trivial and the trivial is recast when the end comes!

This is a terrific meditation on being. Alexis does a fantastic job navigating some heady ground yet never straying too far from the canine headspace- or at least the human imaginings of what that headspace might be. Don‘t need to be a dog lover for this one, but it would sure help if you‘re picking it up.

Really more like a 3 1/2 stars- the writing is nothing special, and at times down right clunky. It might however be difficult to justify flowery language or singular detail with the stark events retold. And the events are riveting. For me this is not new ground but a new perspective.

Just good rollicking fun- boarders on YAL with a playful Mad Max on rails feel. Why there is no movie of this yet seems unbelievable almost as unbelievably awesome as Miéville‘s world!

China Mieville has done it again- trapped in a steam-punk world and giving myself over to it hook, line and sinker. Ahhh, the taste of a good book.

Didn‘t realize this was YA. Or at least it seems to be- can anyone confirm?

Quite a hoot- A sci-fi romp touching on the near future zeitgeist! Nothing too deep but worthy of a place next to Ready Player One and any of the pulpier PKDs that I have.

I truly enjoyed this book. I had read a biography of S. Beckett previous, but what a sparse luxury Baker put down before me. Her handling of the language in many ways reflects Beckett‘s work, and the foreshadowed references to images that populated Beckett‘s work were seamless and believable; not trite but engaging.

Carey is the master of the 250-300 page novel. This book sees a return to his mythical/historic Australia charging forward at breakneck speed. The feels like it unravels a bit, distilling his epic account of the Aboriginal plight and leaving the Redex road race characters to dangle in the disjointed winds of passing history.

This is the love-child of Atwood‘s Oryx and Crake with Handmaid‘s Tale, yet is certainly strong enough to stand on it‘s own two feet. Great read talking about, as the inside flap states, female agency, love, self determination, biology, and natural rights.

I really ate this up- perfect book for the summer; detailed characters, sweet romance, hard hitting facts about world war 2- what else could you want? Super enjoyable!

Completely readable. This warns that our current global consumption will lead to global collapse unless there is some swift global action! This is more invigorating than scary (of course I live in the lap of the 1st world...)

This is Pride & Prejudice gone bad- but most definitely not a bad book. Definitely some prep for 1984, a love affair always going wrong, wrapped up in oppression, repression and entitled racism; and that‘s not even the half of it.

Finally finished the last of the four, with a heavy heart and tiny sigh of relief. Some moments explode off the page while others slide along forgotten. The storyline marches on without ever completely coming to an end; my only issue is that central characters and reasons for motivation, in this last book, seem to be trivialized by almost evaporating entirely from the plot.

"a civilization is simply a great metaphor which describes the aspirations of the individual soul in collective form — as perhaps a novel or a poem might do. The struggle is always for greater consciousness. But alas! Civilizations die in the measure that they become conscious of themselves." Trump‘s America could hardly fit this mold...! How much self awareness is there in a Tweet?

"you might try a four-card trick in the form of a novel; passing a common axis through four stories, say, and dedicating each to one of the four winds of heaven... Just an ordinary Girl Meets Boy story.”

Reading this I felt like I was air-dropped into a BBC detective series. Likable characters, both DSIs and thugs alike, familiar setting, in and out of the nick, and a plot that never threatens to let the bad defeat good. Surprises only within the comfortable range of the expected.

This has some beautiful meditations on just being, while weaving an intriguing historical/now narrative that satisfied my sci-fi needs nicely.

Just fantastic! Not quite as visceral as her FLAMETHROWERS but equally good in a syrup-less nostalgia. The forgotten scent of colonialism blows in the revolution of her atmospheric details

Rollicking adventure a la Buck Rogers. There were enough twists and turns to keep me interested but the Red Scare enemy as a constant diet was tough to swallow.

I Thoroughly enjoying this sci-fi fantasy. Another classic sci-fi writer to enjoy!

This is Trainspotting before it was even in Welsh‘s mind- hell years before he was born! The downward spiral of our not so likable protagonist and his equally unlikable vain paramour just never lets up- leaving an ending that is hardly satisfactory even with the reversal of fortunes. Some visceral stuff even now years later- one sees why Fitzgerald is a genius.

There is not much that is earth shattering here: plot is consistent, characters are dynamic enough to keep it all interesting, and the setting is the real star here. This reads as a great primer for WWII‘s eastern front brutality, but self admittedly not a comprehensive overview.

I think it's wonderful that we can kiss and forget, and when we can't it'll be time to argue."

I prioritized this book on my shelf because I wanted to see the Amazon series by the same name. This book boarders on epic- god characters, road trip, mystery, more gods; the list goes on. And just when the story feels like it‘s slowing down, Gaiman reaches into whatever god pantheon he cares to to give us cool new characters and wicked little plot twists. Pretty much the genius of this book

Anthony was glad he wasn't going to work on his book. The notion of sitting down and conjuring up, not only words in which to clothe thoughts but thoughts worthy of being clothed—the whole thing was absurdly beyond his desires

A quick trashy pulpy read, red scare infused save the universe story that fit the ticket for this last week.

Yeah so Hastings, according to some, is not the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but I liked him. He‘s no Watson, but he did bring questionable loyalty to the plot. A plot that, and I know this is a classic, felt a little tired in the face of modern offers. Yet it doesn‘t take too many little grey cells to get through this one with a smile.

I‘ve just hacked my way through this one and it gets a soft thumbs up 👍 from me. The art, the situations, the insights are all laudable, but the father character gets on my nerves even more than in the last volume- though the main character‘s father worship seems a bit more toned down. The final sequences of the book, with some plot threads coming full circle helps keep the meandering memoir at bay.

Love this little dusting of meta.

Working through this slowly- some stories every couple of days- it‘s a beautiful walk in the fields of memory- though my experience was pretty small town, I‘d come to love these guys with Ill Communication and knight them geniuses when I retroactively heard Paul‘s Boutique. Still reading...

I wizzed through this book. It does a great job of covering territory I‘ve seen handled in other books; the horrific keeps to the periphery until it smacks you sidelong in the brain. Without giving too much away, I‘ll slide this between Kazuo Ishiguro and Margaret Atwood on my bookshelf.

Truly enjoying this story- the translation reads very well. There is a creep factor hanging in between the lines...

This is a poignant emotional story that will sit nicely on our school‘s grade 8 summer reading list. The romance is gracefully carved out of poetic descriptions. The ache in the heart brought on by the tragedy weighs heavy because we know the story all too well. In just a few short pages, Woodson makes us care about these characters with epic proportions.

I really loved this book- right time and circumstances to be reading a rollicking adventure like this. Super cinematic and was often wondering who the best director might be- a Time Bandits era Terry Gilliam would pull this off nicely... alas

I really loved this book- right time and circumstances to be reading a rollicking adventure like this. Super cinematic and was often wondering who the best director might be- a Time Bandits era Terry Gilliam would pull this off nicely... alas

As I‘m stuck waiting in Jodhpur for my flight to Mumbai the title seems ever so ironic...

This picture has nothing to do with this novel, though I like the clinical look. This book is streamlined and efficient with a main character we can get behind. Great mix of plots that tie together effectively.

This is quite good and just a touch sad in concluding that the power of memory is that which keeps you engaged in society. North‘s idea in this book is as strong as Harry A; she is able to maintain it from start to finish while keeping her writing equally fluid. Where it falls short for me is the ground it covers. With the scandals the world has faced recently her data mining Armageddon is equal to a Pierce Brosnan 007.

Having a hard time putting this down- will I forget about it if I do?
Is it ironic that I am reading this on a digital device...

Really enjoying this book- reading between things- it ends up keeping me transfixed. Love the twists and turns even if I feel plot bits are spinning off and away...

My feelings toward this middle book of her Prairie Trilogy were up and down; it didn‘t seem to fit the mold the 1st and 3rd books established. This book is an escape from the sweet grass lands Cather usually focuses on and describes so well. Here she is more personable and intimate; these are human landscapes not wasted by Cather‘s beautiful storytelling.

Once you come to peace with the dated nature of the work- this is a beautiful meditation on the land and the passion it can inspire. Cather pulls her protagonist back from the precipice of unlike-ability, lifting her out of Chicago- with its soul corrupting forces, and drops her into the rejuvenating landscape of the Southwest. Cather‘s writing does best when it too is given natural rather than man made spaces to describe.

Having finished this memoir makes me a bit sad because I‘ve gone and I‘m not sure I‘ll ever be able to get back the way it was- the writing truly is like being in a conversation with Jeff Tweedy sitting across from you- richer for the wry wisdom of a guy who‘s seen a fair chunk.

This doesn‘t go on my list of PKD favorites. This one is a bit of a mess- like I said in an earlier post; amateur psycho-babble with strong unhinged chauvinistic overtones, dragged through a myriad of plot holes; usually a huge fan of PKD, maybe this is just where my head is at in early 2019! Happy New Year everybody!

This is oddly enjoyable though I'm finding it hard to make any sense of. What between the layman's psycho-babble, the chauvinistic tough-guy noir cliche, and made up words (quibble? and thungly?) I certainly know I'm not in Kansas anymore... and like our protagonist Jason (on a quest like his Argonaut namesake) I'm wondering how this will all turn out!

This one explodes the scope of the first two to create an epic, but ultimately unsatisfying, conclusion of the trilogy. There were some terrific sequences and I like the headiness, yet i could have foregone the "Gone with the Wind" reference providing a lynch-pin aphorism for humanity and the 2001 a Space Odessey never ending ending. This only gets a so-so and a slap on the hand of the editor- this should have been streamlined!

Having a hard time with this one and I don‘t think it‘s because I‘m reading this out of order... I might have hit my fill of Willa for the moment... there are a couple of no-so-right #metoo moments in the beginning that make me feel a bit uncomfortable... it was a different time... that makes it alright? Right?