Experiment Eleven: Dark Secrets behind the Discovery of a Wonder Drug

#1032
Title: Experiment Eleven: Dark Secrets behind the Discovery of a Wonder Drug
Author: Peter Pringle
Publisher:Walker and Company
Year: 2012
288 pages

 The "dark secrets" of the title are, as one might expect, ethico-legal. However, they're about attribution of scientific discovery, order of precedence in publication, and the sometimes-nefarious behavior of institutions rather than dark secrets in the style of the Tuskegee syphilis experiments, Henrietta Lacks, or the infection of children with Hepatitis B. It would be a good text to have graduate students read in order to understand why some professional ethics codes are very specific about the requirement for discussions of authorship and attribution. It might also be a good one to have faculty read with the preventative question, "What seemingly innocuous behaviors might we be engaged in that could lead to faculty and students having discrepant understandings of our relationship and work together?"

Haroun and the Sea of Stories

#1031
Title: Haroun and the Sea of Stories
Author: Salman Rushdie
Publisher: Penguin
Year: 1990/1991
216 pages

A YA novel that is delightful in and of itself for its story, language play, and relationships. However, knowing that Rushdie wrote it for his son while he was in hiding, and why he was in hiding, adds additional levels to the reader's appreciation. 

The Darke Toad (Septimus Heap #1.5)

#1030
Title: The Darke Toad (Septimus Heap #1.5)
Author: Angie Sage
Publisher: Katherine Tegen
Year: 2013
96 pages

A novella slotted between the first and second Septimus Heap books. It's fun to read after finishing the series because it reminds us of Septimus's vulnerability, and Marcia's affection and concern for him. It also pokes fun at DomDaniel, which is never unenjoyable.

Escape from "Special"

#1029
Title: Escape from "Special"
Author: Miss Lasko-Gross
Publisher: Fantagraphics
Year: 2007
136 pages

An interesting graphic novel/autobiography (or, perhaps, graphic short story/short "essay"). It's more disjointed than many, but I found that this storytelling/storyshowing style underscored the protagonist's cognitive differences and evoked in the reader a similar frustration about communication. I would think that many kids who were seen as weird or different by others, while seeing themselves as unique but not extraordinarily weird, would empathize with her. In some ways, this is Suzuki Beane Goes to School (And How Other Children and Schools Destroy One's Spirit).

The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike #1)

#1028
Title: The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike #1)
Author: Robert Galbraith [J. K. Rowling]
Publisher: Mulholland
Year: 2013
455 pages

Harry Potter's appeal made more sense to me when I realized that the core of the novels was the detective/mystery genre, so I assumed Rowling would give us something in this arena at some point. Here, a noirish/hard-boiled detective and a pretty good mostly-closed room mystery. As was the case in the later Potter books, Rowling's conclusion is more complex than necessary and relies on more luck and circumstance than I prefer, but it's better than many in its genre and adds societal elements such as class, assumptions based on presumed identity and status, and critiques of paparazzi techniques that recollect those around the time of Princess Diana's death as well as the more recent hacking scandals.

A Game of You (The Sandman #5)

#1027
Title: A Game of You (The Sandman #5)
Author: Neil Gaiman
Illustrators: Shawn McManus, Colleen Doran, Bryan Talbot, George Pratt, Stan Woch, Dick Giordano
Publisher: Vertigo
Year: 1992/2011
192 pages

A mirror of the previous volume, which was grand and mythological. Though broad in implications, this is a more humble perspective--that of a dreamer and her worlds. Read Delany's introduction afterward. It's worth reading, but is filled with spoilers and lit crit-dense.

The Koran

#1026
Title: The Koran
Author: Anonymous
Translator: N. J. Dawood
Publisher: Penguin
Year: 621/2004
456 pages

This is not a review of the text, but of the Audiobook reader. This is a person who cannot pronounce many words, including these frequently repeated ones: Scourge, respite, Job, God ("Gaaawd").

Season of Mists (The Sandman #4)

#1025
Title: Season of Mists (The Sandman #4)
Author: Neil Gaiman
Illustrators: Kelley Jones, Malcolm Jones III, Mike Dringenberg, Matt Wagner, Dick Giordano, George Pratt, P. Craig Russell
Publisher: Vertigo
Year: 1991/2011
192 pages

Morpheus must acknowledge and correct an old wrong, and Lucifer makes a surprising decision with entertaining ramifications.

A pissy little intro by Harlan Ellison, without whose commentary one might arguably be better off.

The Conference of the Birds

#1024
Title: The Conference of the Birds
Author: Peter Sís, Farīd al-Dīn ʻAṭṭār
Publisher: Penguin
Country: Czech Republic
Year: 2011
160 pages

Lovely use of the poem, lovely artwork, beautiful production. A great pleasure.

The typeface used, and some of the smaller illustrations, give it at times a strange resonance with Edward Gorey's work. 

The Crimson Crown (Seven Realms #4)

#1023
Title: The Crimson Crown (Seven Realms #4)
Author: Cinda Williams Chima
Publisher: Hyperion
Year: 2012
598 pages

A satisfying wrap-up of most elements in the series, though at times a little neat and convenient. Highlight for spoilers: For example, wouldn't it be better to keep a little tension at the end of the story by keeping Fiona alive?

Among Others

#1022
Title: Among Others
Author: Jo Walton
Publisher: Tor
Year: 2011
Country: Wales
302 pages

Quite a fine, funny, poignant novel that begins after the end and ends at the beginning, though the chronology is not at all disrupted. It's about development and individuation and emotions, kinds of love, and the worlds one inhabits simultaneously, including the world of books. I was pleased that the protagonist and I share some Delany in the Ace double tête-bêche editions.

The audiobook is delightfully narrated. Do yourself a favor and don't read anything about this book--the plot summaries and jacket copy misrepresent where the dramatic tension lies and spoil any number of story points that are otherwise enjoyable surprises

The Buddha and the Borderline: My Recovery from Borderline Personality Disorder through Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Buddhism, and Online Dating

#1021
Title: The Buddha and the Borderline: My Recovery from Borderline Personality Disorder through Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Buddhism, and Online Dating
Author:  Kiera Van Gelder
Publisher: New Harbinger
Year: 2010
248 pages

The author does a very good job of explaining borderline states from the inside. I enjoyed reading about how she experienced the different therapeutic approaches she tried, and hope Buddhist practice in any tradition has brought her peace.

The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice

#1020
Title: The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice
Author: Christopher Hitchens
Publisher: Verso
Year: 1995/1997
98 pages

I don't have good ways to evaluate the claims here independently, but this has the flavor of 2/3 useful and 1/6 picayune, and 1/6 churlish. I found it helpful in its elaboration of Mother Teresa's stated positions and goals (which I could verify elsewhere), which aren't what most people seem to think they were.

Dream Country (The Sandman #3)

#1019
Title: Dream Country (The Sandman #3)
Author: Neil Gaiman
Illustrators: Kelley Jones, Malcolm Jones III, Colleen Doran, Charles Vess
Publisher: Vertigo
Year: 1990/2010 (recolored edition)
160 pages

An enjoyable set of nominally linked stories. This arc seems like Gaiman is really getting the full feeling for his characters and settings.

The Killing of Worlds (Succession #2)

#1019
Title: The Killing of Worlds (Succession #2)
Author:  Scott Westerfeld
Publisher: Tor
Year: 2003/2008
336 pages

The satisfying second half of Succession. Westerfeld uses science and psychology to wrap up the story of The Risen Empire while leaving open options for a sequel. I will need to go back to Anastasia's thoughts as events were unfolding to check them against what she actually knew, but other than that, the plot unfolds and resolves briskly on both a vast and personal scale without too many now-wait-a-minute moments. Pleasurable and engaging science fiction that doesn't sacrifice emotion for physics.

The Good Husband of Zebra Drive (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #8)

#1018
Title: The Good Husband of Zebra Drive (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #8)
Author: Alexander McCall Smith 
Publisher: Pantheon
Year: 2007
213 pages

Better, with some actual character depth and psychology, but still reasonably superficial and with mysteries that seem almost beside the point. 

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

#1017
Title: We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
Author: Karen Joy Fowler
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Year: 2013
310 pages

Quite a lovely novel--poignant, funny, upsetting, redemptive. If possible, read this without reading any synopses or the jacket copy until you're about maybe 75 pages in (I listened to it, so I'm not sure) when you'll recognize the big reveal that, for some reason, everyone thinks it's fine to expose for you. I enjoyed the plot, as I think many psychology students would, and its narration by a smart and socially awkward young woman. I here disclose that I got in some trouble as a 4th grader in a way that this narrator would identify with: Asked by the teacher if anyone knew what made an animal a mammal, I shouted out, "Mammals breast-feed their young!" While accurate, this is evidently not how 9-year-olds are supposed to express this idea.

In addition, I would swear that Fowler sat at a cafe table behind me and my best friend one day as we were recapping events from our lives. In this fantasy, Fowler jotted notes like "Stanford" and "herb names for offspring" and "X dies in late 50s" and "cross-dressing Shakespeare??" and then appropriates these details for her novel. At some points it was uncanny. I've only had this experience with Maso's The Art Lover before, but Fowler manages to channel enough details about me and my friend that it's almost creepy.

The Risen Empire (Succession #1)

#1016
Title: The Risen Empire (Succession #1)
Author:  Scott Westerfeld
Publisher: Tor
Year: 2008
352 pages

This would get 4 stars for cleverness, technology fun, and broad sweep, but it's not at all freestanding and ends on a cliffhanger. It's really "part 1" rather than "first in a series" and can't stand alone.

The technology is really fun, though, and the world building extensive and enjoyable.

Blue Shoes and Happiness (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #7)

#1015
Title: Blue Shoes and Happiness (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #7)
Author: Alexander McCall Smith
Publisher: Anchor
Year: 2006/2007
256 pages
 
Though this preceded Fifty Shades of Grey, the talking shoes were too much like the horrible inner goddess of the latter, which is not Smith's fault, but does suggest that he failed to make this little fancy work. I found this somewhat better than the last installment but still rather lackluster. Okay as a read-and-forget novel, but nothing compelling.

In the Company of Cheerful Ladies (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #6)

#1014
Title: In the Company of Cheerful Ladies (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #6)
Author: Alexander McCall Smith
Publisher: Pantheon
Year: 2004/2005
233 pages

Not quite twee, but cloying, with tedious dialogue. The first incident is never resolved, and is never really investigated, even observationally. [What size and brand were the pants? Worn or new? Clean or dirty? That's a lot of information to ignore, and "Oh, they weren't Charlie's" is a limp resolution.  The author does address my earlier criticism that character-related issues disappear, but still only references a character's depression, for example, without this mattering at all to the story.

I'm still enjoying the descriptions of Botswana and Lisette Lecat's narration, but the series is growing stale.

Star Trek Into Darkness (Star Trek: Movie Novelizations #2)

#1013
Title: Star Trek Into Darkness (Star Trek: Movie Novelizations #2)
Author: Alan Dean Foster
Publisher: Pocket Books/Star Trek
Year: 2013
312 pages

A worse novelization than for the first Star Trek rebooted film universe, with little psychological subtlety and clunky exposition. Whereas the first enhanced my understanding of its movie, this merely restated it, with none of the urgency the movie was able to create through visual means.

And the Mountains Echoed

#1012
Title: And the Mountains Echoed
Author: Khaled Hosseini
Publisher: Riverhead
Year: 2013
Country: Afghanistan
404 page

I enjoyed this, though less than Hosseini's previous novels. I appreciated the particular stories set into a sprawling historical and interpersonal context, and in particular the pathos of relationships that can never be repaired or resolved.

The audiobook was challenging, with three readers (why?) with heavy accents. I could understand them with a certain amount of backtracking, but it was more work than normal. I read the book only because a relative wanted to listen to it with me, but she was unable to manage the accents and quickly gave up. I can't speak for the other readers, but Hosseini seems to have heightened his accent to read this, which was unnecessary and decreased the audiobook's accessibility.

The Doll's House (The Sandman #2)

#1011
Title: The Doll's House (The Sandman #2)
Author:  Neil Gaiman
Illustrators: Mike Dringenberg, Malcolm Jones III, Chris Bachalo, Michael Zulli, Steve Parkhouse
Publisher: Vertigo
Year: 1990/2010
232 pages

Cheap thrills with patterns in the universe: I ordered this book and Jim Henson's Tale of Sand from SFBC. On receiving the box and flipping open The Doll's House, I see that the first section is titled "Tale in the Sand." What pleasing synchrony.

***
In addition to the graphics and color work in this edition, I really enjoy how much the Sandman series (at least, thus far) focuses on ethics, balance, and rectifying errors. Though it often dips into Lovecraftian horror/fantasy, it is about putting the world right rather than tearing it apart. It is sometimes a new construction rather than a reconstruction, but ultimately reflects motion toward harmony rather than destruction.

This episode weaves together stories that at first seem distant and unrelated, and I do love the trope that the Sandman's incarceration caused the sleepy sickness (encephalitis lethargica) and his freedom (rather than Oliver Saks and a bucket of L-dopa) brought about its remission.

Joseph Anton: A Memoir

#1010
Title: Joseph Anton: A Memoir
Author: Salman Rushdie
Publisher: Random House
Year: 2012
636 pages

An enjoyable long memoir by Rushdie. I didn't mind his use of the third person for himself; it made me think about the question of memoir as literary fiction (and indeed, Rushdie the narrator discusses the creation of the personae "Rushdie," "Joseph Anton," and "Joe" by others). Is he a pompous blowhard? I don't know. I've enjoyed his novels and articles even when I haven't agreed with his point. Did he deserve the response to The Satanic Verses? Not in a society that claims to uphold free speech, I thought when I read it and even more so after the attack on the World Trade Center. Can he keep his pants zipped? No, he cannot, which would dispose me to be wary of him if we ever had the opportunity for emotional intimacy.

The audiobook reader, who was otherwise fine, did the worst American accents I've ever heard, and terrible women's voices that made the audiobook dialogue between Rushdie and his wives almost unbearable.

UFO in Her Eyes

#1009
Title: UFO in Her Eyes
Author: Xiaolu Guo
Translator:
Publisher: Vintage
Year: 2009/2010
Country: People's Republic of China
208 pages

I do have some trouble with Chinese writers on tyranny, since their conclusions seem obvious to me. I have to keep reminding myself that the context in which they're published is much more dangerous than that in which the translation appears.

Here, a peasant may or may not have seen a UFO, which she dutifully reports. From there we observe the attitudes of villagers and outside officials toward each other, and the exploitation of the event. Abuse of power is a strong theme.

Rip-Off!

#1008
Title: Rip-Off!
Authors: John Scalzi, Jack Campbell, Robert Charles Wilson, Mike Resnick, Elizabeth Bear, Allen Steele, Daryl Gregory, Lavie Tidhar, Mary Robinette Kowal, James Patrick Kelly
Editor: Gardner R. Dozois
Publisher: Audible Frontiers
Year: 2012
~360 pages

"Fireborn" by Robert Charles Wilson
"The Evening Line" by Mike Resnick
"No Decent Patrimony" by Elizabeth Bear
"The Big Whale" by Allen M. Steele
"Begone" by Daryl Gregory
"The Red Menace" by Lavie Tidhar
"Muse of Fire" by John Scalzi
"Writer's Block" by Nancy Kress
"Highland Reel" by Jack Campbell
"Karin Coxswain or Death as She Is Truly Lived" by Paul Di Filippo
"The Lady Astronaut of Mars" by Mary Robinette Kowal
"Every Fuzzy Beast of the Earth, Every Pink Fowl of the Air" by Tad Williams
"Declaration" by James Patrick Kelly

An amusing but not memorable collection, and given the number of homages, I'm not certain these are "rip-offs." In fact, starting with a text/texte from an admired author is an honored poetic device.

Many of the stories are not science fiction or fantasy, and many are strangely similar to others in the collection. Several, such as Williams's, were funny, but there are no great pieces here. Scalzi's was familiar, though well-written--it's The God Engines writ small.

Annabel

#1007
Title: Annabel
Author:  Kathleen Winter
Publisher: Jonathan Cape
Year: 2010/2011
Country: Canada
480 pages

Pretty writing, an interesting story, and good parallels and symbolism (including some subtleties, like the mention of a seam ripper). However, Wayne/Annabel was so understated as to be something of a cypher. I found myself more and more frustrated by this drifting passivity, which isn't really resolved despite action at the level of the plot.

The Journal of Best Practices: A Memoir of Marriage, Asperger Syndrome, and One Man's Quest to Be a Better Husband

#1006
Title: The Journal of Best Practices: A Memoir of Marriage, Asperger Syndrome, and One Man's Quest to Be a Better Husband
Author: David Finch
Publisher: Scribner
Year: 2012
225 pages

An entertaining memoir by a man with high-functioning Asperger's. While I agree with some reviewers that some of what he describes is just human behavior within normal limits (they say man behavior but having lived with men, this seems too sweeping a dismissal), some is quite clearly in the Aspie range. Read with Robison's Look Me in the Eye for comparison.

Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge

#1005
Title: Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge
Author: Mike Resnick
Publisher: Phoenix Pick
Year: 1994/2012
46 pages

A nice idea with poor execution and lackluster writing. I'm surprised that it was an award winner.

The Ramayana

#1004
Title: The Ramayana
Author: Anonymous
Translator?: Bulbul Sharma
Publisher: ? Audible edition
Year: 2012
Country: India
~180 pages

The rating is for this version, not for the Ramayana per se. Though entitled "The Ramayana," this is a gloss of the text into a narrative told at about a middle reader level. While it tells me the story, I have no idea whether the details are accurate. Certainly the structure has been altered and I have no sense of the meter.

The Upanishads

#1003
Title: The Upanishads
Author: Anonymous
Translator: Juan Mascaró
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Year: 500 BCE/1965
Country: India
144 pages

This is unlike most Penguin volumes in that there are no explanatory notes. Instead, there is a rambling religious essay by the translator, the gist of which is that if you're a right-thinking person, you'll understand that the religious views espoused in the text are correct. This perspective is supported by quotes from other religious texts, Shakespeare, and poets. Not impressive and not what I expect from Penguin.

Perdido Street Station (New Crobuzon #1)

#1002
Title: Perdido Street Station (New Crobuzon #1)
Author: China Miéville
Publisher: Del Rey
Year: 2000/2003
640 pages

As always, wonderful world-building, terrific descriptions, great characters, heavy internal parallelism, and a fine narrative voice. There's some unresolved moral ambiguity, and a character or two fades away non-threateningly at the end, but otherwise tightly constructed. Lovecraft plus Stephenson, perhaps, with much invocation of Victorian/steampunk scientific laboratories, both in reality and as envisioned by Stephenson. Miéville does a great deal with the meaning of wings, and sex with bug-ladies.

Climbing the Mango Trees: A Memoir of a Childhood in India

#1001
Title: Climbing the Mango Trees: A Memoir of a Childhood in India
Author: Madhur Jaffrey
Publisher: Knopf
Year: 2005/2006
320 pages

An enjoyable childhood autobiography, followed by an extensive set of recipes. This is a memoir of a life with its ups and downs and personal experiences--World War II and the Partition play a role but are background to Jaffreys's reflections.

A Dead Hand: A Crime in Calcutta

#1000
Title: A Dead Hand: A Crime in Calcutta
Author: Paul Theroux
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Year: 2009/2010
288 pages

An uneven novel from Theroux, ranging from 2 to 5 stars. Low stars for repetition, unconvincing character development with abrupt changes, and obvious plot with a limp conclusion; high stars for parallelism (albeit sometimes heavy handed), rich description, and overall idea. A good edit would have tightened this up considerably. Good enough for a plane trip, not good enough to recommend.

Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help (And How to Reverse It)

#999
Title: Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help (And How to Reverse It)
Author: Robert D. Lupton
Publisher: HarperOne
Year: 2011
208 pages

A very accessible introduction to concerns about charities and service visits, most of which appears elsewhere but in more technical form. It would be useful as a reading for groups (especially religious organizations) planning missions, both domestically and internationally.

Lupton is a little self-contradictory around the edges and seems to cherry-pick Moyo's Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa, but I haven't finished reading that yet and could be misunderstanding its conclusions.

Nazi Literature in the Americas

#998
Title: Nazi Literature in the Americas
Author:  Roberto Bolaño
Translator: Chris Andrews
Publisher: Picador
Year: 1993/2010
Country: Chile
260 pages

While I found the concept and execution of this novel (fake lit crit) interesting and engaging, I also found it emotionally inaccessible. I kept waiting for more connections to the Americas' own repressive regimes. While this was present, and more so in the longest end piece, it seemed uninspired and thus plodding.

The Good Muslim: A Novel

#997
Title: The Good Muslim: A Novel
Author: Tahmima Anam
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Year: 2011/2012
Country: Bangladesh
320 pages

A sad novel about identity and how different family members make meaning of horrific events in the wake of the country's independence movement. I stands alone, though it's the second of a series. Some sections that seem thin may assume the reader has knowledge from the first book; not having read that book, I can't say.

Une suite à Moroni Blues

#996
Title: Une suite à Moroni Blues
Author:  Rémi Carayol, Soeuf Elbadawi, & Kamal'Eddine Saindou
Publisher: Broché
Year: 2007
Country: Comoros
56 pages

Ordered from Amazon.fr for cost + shipping of around $28, beating out Amazon.co.uk and Abebooks handily. A better book for Comoros, though "better" is relative as I haven't had to read long passages in French since 1974. Fortunately, I'm easily entertained.

***
2013: Now reading. I expect it to take 1-2 months.

***
The award-winning short, poetic essay, "Moroni de mes enfances perdues" (6 pages) was originally published as "Moroni Blues/Chap II." It caused a furor occasioned, as well as I can manage the French, less by its non-traditional style than by its content, which apparently threatened the status quo in Comoros by raising questions about insularity, the relationship between parts of Comoros and the archipelago as a whole, and xenophobia/racism.

This volume collects the piece itself and several commentaries. It's a little confusing because the essay was published on its own, and there is also a theatrical piece, "Moroni Blues/une rêverie à quatre," which appears to be built on this initial essay and was published as a volume of script and photos. The reviews show that the theatrical piece is multi-media; it appears to focus on longing for the Moroni that existed mytho-historically but isn't enacted now. It is told as "une réflexion de quatre personnages sur le repli communautaire, le rejet et la peur de l'autre" (Fathate Karine Hassan in her review in Nouvelles Études Francophones, 25(2)). Some reviewers see it as comedic. I would assume that the aspect that rankles is its criticism of France's occupation of Mayotte, content that has caused the author to be censored at times. This appears to be a program for "Moroni Blues/une rêverie à quatre": http://www.wip-villette.com/IMG/pdf/M... . A video conversation with the author, which I don't have the spoken French to understand): http://www.theatre-contemporain.net/s... .

***
Here's a sample to illustrate the rhythm and the translation amusements. This is part of a mytho-historical section, describing Moroni's past. Karthala is an active volcano on Comoros:

Le Karthala en rut, pour dire les choses autrement. Un volcan si proche, mille fois maudit par nos saints en prière sur l'étendue du Bandari. Moroni sentait bon le conformisme à l'époque. Mais c'était aussi un temps exquis où l'insouciance se conjuguait paradoxalement avec la loi du plus fort. Le colon veillait dans son bel uniforme étoilé, même si ce chef-lieu du pays pouvait bruire de toutes ses lumières sans que la chicotte ne vienne semer une once de trouble dans les consciences. Moroni pouvait rire et danser, tout en se sachant sous cage pour longtemps (p. 13).

***
The ending rally: "L'heure est sans doute venue de déconstruire les héritages pesants et de redessiner l'imaginaire d'une cité au regard toujours porté sur le large" (p. 16). I construe he's talking about the community's philosophy, and not about urban renewal.

***
The piece itself is followed by several essays, which, as best my French permits me to say, address the piece primarily in terms of poetical essay harangues about the elite's stupidity, from a Marxist perspective.

Flight Behavior

#995
Title: Flight Behavior
Author: Barbara Kingsolver
Publisher: HarperCollins
Year: 2012
436 pages

A story with environmental themes, in the manner of her recent novels. Though heavy-handed at times, still enjoyable.

The Round House

#994
Title: The Round House
Author: Louise Erdrich
Publisher: Harper Collins
Year: 2012
321 pages

A wonderful novel that, though not lacking in action, is ultimately psychological. It's not necessary to have read Erdrich's other novels to enjoy this one.

The Book of Genesis

#993
Title: The Book of Genesis
Author: Anonymous
Illustrator: R. Crumb
Publisher: Norton
Year: 2009
224 pages

     Through his illustrations, Crumb draws attention to parts of Genesis we might otherwise elide over or interpret differently. The amount of pagan worship apparently engaged in by our protagonists is highlights by, for example, the number of times oil is poured over just-erected standing stones. The visual approach showcases the weirdness of some of the stories, and the dual narrative structure of Genesis as well.

Cambodian Grrrl: Self-Publishing in Phnom Penh

#992
Title: Cambodian Grrrl: Self-Publishing in Phnom Penh
Author: Anne Elizabeth Moore
Publisher: CantankerousTitles.com
Year: 2011
96 pages

This reads something like a blog, and recounts some of the author's experiences teaching young women in Phnom Penh to make zines.

Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland's History-Making Race around the World

#991
Title: Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland's History-Making Race around the World
Author: Matthew Goodman
Publisher: Ballantine
Year: 2013
480 pages

Nellie Bly, a sort of proto-Plympton journalist, convinces her editor to send her around the world in better than 80 days. Not to be outdone, a rival editor sent Elizabeth Bisland on the same journey, in the opposite direction. Eighty Days tells each woman's story as well as her trip around the world. I didn't know that Bly had pulled off journalistic feats such as getting herself committed and writing about the experience, so now I have more reading to do. Goodman brings both a contemporaneous perspective and a contemporary commentary to both women's adventures.

The Giver (The Giver Quartet #1)

#990
Title: The Giver (The Giver Quartet #1)
Author: Lois Lowry
Publisher: Laurel-Leaf Books
Year: 1993/1994
179 pages

This YA dystopian novel was better than I was expecting. Lowry has written sequels, but I may stop with this one, which seemed sufficient for the story it told.

Fyre (Septimus Heap #7)

#989
Title: Fyre (Septimus Heap #7)
Author: Angie Sage
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Year: 2013
720 pages

     The last of the 7-book series, and a satisfying wrap up of most of the hanging story points. Like the others, it moved along quickly and propelled the characters into and out of interesting situations. Sage resists the urge to pair everyone off at the end, for which I'm grateful.

God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything

#988
Title: God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything
Author: Christopher Hitchens
Publisher: Twelve
Year: 2007
307 pages

I read this because Dawkins recommended it. I thought it was interesting and I enjoyed reading it, but on the whole prefer Dawkins because of the ways he uses biology to support his arguments. Hitchens made me laugh more, though, with his arch asides.

The God Engines

#987
Title: The God Engines
Author: John Scalzi
Publisher: Subterranean Press
Year: 2009
136 pages

Different from Scalzi's usual. For example, there are a few adverbs. Science fiction served by fantasy devices. Enjoyably frightening.