Red Lightning (Red Thunder, #2)

#942
Title: Red Lightning (Red Thunder, #2)
Author: John Varley
Publisher: Ace
Year: 2007
355 pages

Mars's autonomy is threatened in a story that borrows some elements from the US's response to 9/11. The second book in the sequence, following Red Thunder. Similar to Heinlein's late juvenile and transitional novels in scope and tone (with more, though mostly not shown, sex, drugs, and swearing, and a lot more liberalism). It's easy to see some of the themes Varley returned to in Slow Apocalypse. There's some hard science, though it's not the focus even when it's important to the plot. The emotional centers of the book are interpersonal and societal.

I knew immediately what was in the box, but not quite how it had been managed.

Slow Apocalypse

#941
Title: Slow Apocalypse
Author: John Varley
Publisher: Ace
Year: 2012
438 pages

This appears to be intended for a broader audience than Varley's typical writing. I'm currently reading his Red Lightning, where similar post-disaster themes are played out.

I like post-apocalyptic science fiction, and always find it interesting to see how the author outfits his characters, and what they do in their restructured world. For example, in Pfeffer's The Last Survivors series, the characters rush to do laundry every time power is briefly restored. In Varley, there's a lot of description of objects (ammunition, hay, canned food) and some preoccupation with not using up food, but surprisingly little concern about using up gasoline, which is a central aspect of the book.

The Body Artist

#940
Title: The Body Artist
Author: Don DeLillo
Publisher: Scribner
Year: 2001
128 pages

**SPOILERS**
I've been trying to decide if this would have been a better novel if it had remained tightly interior, omitting the expository/explanatory news articles. Though I enjoyed and admired it, I think it would have been better if the narrative had stayed closer to the protagonist, which would have made it more ambiguous and heightened the question of whether her visitor existed or was an enactment of her grief for her husband. 

The History of Mary Prince

#939
Title: The History of Mary Prince
Author: Mary Prince, Sara Salih (Editor), et al.
Publisher: Penguin
Country: Bermuda [British overseas territory]
Year: 1831/2001
160 pages

The Penguin Classics edition includes multiple related texts and explanations, making it easier to put Mary Price's narrative of her slavery in the West Indies and surrounding islands into context. Importantly, this narrative is mediated by the transcriber/editor and there is a reasonable amount of discussion of how that mediation may have shaped the way the story was told in order to serve abolitionist ends. Prince's story is usefully compared to other narratives by slaves, and notes and appendices fill in a bigger picture.

A Short Stay in Hell

#938
Title: A Short Stay in Hell
Author: Steven L. Peck
Publisher: Strange Violin Editions
Year: 2004/2012
108 pages

An entertaining riff on Borges's Library of Babel. The library is the hell to which the narrator is assigned. The joke is that the true religion is Zoroastrianism; however, the hell described isn't consonant with Zoroastrian beliefs, and the most salient aspects of the library described are Borges's. The story doesn't come to a satisfying conclusion. However, I enjoyed the writing. 

God Is Not a Christian: And Other Provocations

#937
Title: God Is Not a Christian: And Other Provocations
Author: Desmond Tutu
Publisher: HarperOne
Year: 2011
256 pages

  A collection of excerpts from Tutu's letters and speeches, nicely contextualized and sequenced. It's a good introduction to his themes and suggestions.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)

#936
Title: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)
Author: Mindy Kaling
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Year: 2012
240 pages

 Enjoyable humor in the Fey/Handler style. The revenge fantasies while exercising bit is an especially fine concept.