A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

#726
Title: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Author: Dave Eggers
Publisher: Vintage
Year: 2000/2001
530 pages
Audiobook + paperback.

Eggers captures the manic/anxious response to complex grief in a mostly-memoir that is evocative of the Snowden episodes of Catch-22 mashed together with the last chapter of Ulysses. I found it unreadable on the page, but almost unbearable (in a good way) as an audiobook, capably read by Dion Graham in a naturalistic and exhausting manner. I wasn't put off by the titring meta-self-scrutiny, though it tired me and I'm glad I read other work by Eggers first or I might not have done so. Bonus: I learned (from Wikipedia, not this book) that Dave and Toph write the delightful Dr. and Mr. Doris Haggis-on-Whey books, notably Your Disgusting Head.

In the Land of Invented Languages: Esperanto Rock Stars, Klingon Poets, Loglan Lovers, and The Mad Dreamers Who Tried to Build A Perfect Language

#725
Title: In the Land of Invented Languages: Esperanto Rock Stars, Klingon Poets, Loglan Lovers, and The Mad Dreamers Who Tried to Build A Perfect Language
Author: Arika Okrent
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
Year: 2009/2010
342 pages

 As a college student I'd have given it 5 stars and learned Klingon. Now I just enjoyed it. Okrent begins with a tense writing style that makes me want to reassure her that anybody who picks this up is a nerd and will only find the sometimes arch tone offputting. We all know who we are and why we're reading it, so just relax.

Okrent presents a good range of artificial languages created by dissimilar means and to different ends. It's a nice overview and introduction, suitable for lay readers but with amusements here and there for people with a background in linguistics.

Star Trek [2009 Movie Tie-in]

#724
Title: Star Trek [2009 Movie Tie-in]
Author: Alan Dean Foster
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Year: 2009
274 pages
Audiobook.

Why yes, it is still my pleasure to read Star Trek novels. Sorry, ladies, I'm already taken.

Foster has always been a more-than-serviceable translator of Star Trek to novel. What I enjoyed about this movie and novel was the story frame, which asserts the inevitability of the Star Trek TOS timeline. George Kirk, a victim of this timeline, may not see it this way, but from the perspective of  the Trekker, important aspects of canon triumph over Nero's attempt to suppress it. That Spock is the witness to this bifurcation and rejoining is a nice echo of his status as a man between worlds and identities.

The novel follows the movie reasonably closely, occasionally providing a glimpse of material that was probably edited or compressed. Without the diversion the movie's bright palette and fast action, the parallels between protagonists' life stories (for example, the losses experienced by Nero, Spock, and Kirk) are more evident. Better with the movie, but could hold its own as a book.

The Motorcycle Diaries: Notes on a Latin American Journey

#723
Title: The Motorcycle Diaries: Notes on a Latin American Journey [Notas de Viaje]
Author: Ernesto Che Guevara
Publisher: Ocean Press
Year: 1992/2003
175 pages
Audiobook.

This makes me feel old, but in a good way. I don't want to be carousing about drunk on stolen wine, ill, with no money, pitching off my broke-down motorcycle over and over, misrepresenting my credentials and trying to score with cute women. I mean, it sounds good on paper, but I've made different choices with my life.

What is interesting here is Che's discourse on class and opportunity. Otherwise, it's a mildly interesting travelogue by a guy.

Goliath (Leviathan, #3)

#722
Title: Goliath (Leviathan, #3)
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Year: 2011
543 pages

A reasonably satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. While some plot points are attended to, there's a level of detail that isn't entirely resolved. For example, that the perspicacious lorises make connections and inferences before the humans do is an idea just left dangling. Still, a pleasing series with strong male and female teen protagonists. As in the previous two volumes, lovely illustrations.

Confession of a Buddhist Atheist

#721
Title: Confession of a Buddhist Atheist
Author: Stephen Batchelor
Publisher: Random House
Year: 2010
302 pages

Batchelor's autobiography, which greatly enriches my reading of Buddhism without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening. Here and there he goes on at more length than seems necessary, but overall this was well-written and very absorbing. 

The Magician's Assistant

#720
Title: The Magician's Assistant
Author: Ann Patchett
Publisher: Harcourt
Year: 1997
368 pages
Audiobook.

This may be my last Patchett. The plots are quite similar in terms of odd coincidences, too-tidy wrap-ups of too many strands, and emotions at the conclusion that I don't believe. This one would have been okay enough as a quick read except that I'd just read another Patchett so while I couldn't guess the plot, I could guess the structure. Plus, I don't buy the ending.