Thirty-ninth book reviewed as part of the 130 Challenge. We are floating through the cold indifference of the Universe with a death sentence dogging us around. Some of us ignore this fact and live life with the expectation that death, though a reality, is an incredibly distant one and we don’t really think much of it. On the other hand, there are those who get too concerned by this fact and spend their lives in mortal fear of being claimed by their end. The there […]
A young adult novel that everyone can read
Thirty-eighth book reviewed as part of the 130 Challenge. People often don’t take the ‘adult’ part of ‘young adult’ seriously (myself included) and that is why we have so much sappy literature in this genre. We can definitely do much better. But despite that expectation, when I saw that ‘Oranges for Christmas’ was about the hard life in Communist East Germany, I thought it was being far too ambitious and I feared that it might turn out to be a drab post-war story. The story […]
The Happiest Hooker
Late, as ever, to the party when it comes to zeitgeist-type books. But since Michael Faber has a new book out, he’s been all over NPR, and I’ve been hearing about all of his books, so I figured it would be better to start with the most famous one. At least I think this one was the most famous. There was a mini-series, after all. William Rackham is your typical layabout semi-dandy who fancies himself a misunderstood genius. He’s married to Clara, who’s looney tunes […]
In Which I Read my First Steampunk Book (& kinda like it)
OK, so it’s 1916. King George has decided he wants America back. The kind has Albert Einstein building long-range zeppelins that can drop bombs. Nasty bombs that will help the invading English force re-conquer the U.S. In the States, everyone knows that war is coming, and Nicola Tesla is building something that he believes will end all wars – meaning to him that there will be no more war, or at least no more human cost. Not everyone sees the weapon that way, of course. […]