Tuesday Check-In

Dear Reader, Over the weekend, I finally finished City on Fire. I'd give it a solid 4 stars. Hallberg is a fantastic writer, and I'd like to see more from him. I thought the book was really ambitious and so many times it lived up to its accolades (well, pre-release), but it got a bit too wrapped up in itself and ended up being a bit disappointing, although overall very satisfying. Which is a shame, because that first chapter really shone with such promise. But it was such a great homage to the NYC of the 1970s - I was able to feel like I had been there, myself. I had to admit, though, I was a bit frustrated by this author who seemed to really know SO MUCH (I loved how many casual references he threw into the book - I learned a lot!) and probably researched everything, but he didn't bother to find out that Vassar doesn't have sororities. Never has. That irked me. But, I know, such a small part in the grand scheme of things... Anyway, with that behemoth under my belt, that means I'm only in the middle of TWO huge books now: Anna Karenina and The Goldfinch. Making slow but steady progress on both. In other news, I've started to read The Color Purple for Black History Month, because that's been on my to-read for what feels like ever! So far (maybe 80 pages in) it's fantastic. A bit difficult to get used to Celie's writing, but once you do, the book flows wonderfully. I think this will be a pretty quick read for me, despite some difficult subject matter. I'm so glad I've finally gotten around to it. And, I'm looking forward to seeing Whoopi's portrayal after I finish reading! I also picked up an ebook I'd let languish for a while while trying to get through City on Fire by reading it on my phone (originally I'd started with the ARC we received at BEA 2015, but I just don't find as much time for picking up books these days, unfortunately!). So my current phone read (started last November!) is The House We Grew Up In, which I received as an ARC via Netgalley ages ago - I'm trying to get through some Netgalley backlog before I request any more materials there. (I mean, the book was published at the start of 2013! That's how behind I am.) It's an intriguing British family story that revolves around this fascinating, perpetually childish matriarch who is a hoarder, and the effect that her problem has on her family - which includes the tight-laced eldest daughter with her reactionary cleanliness bug, the defeated husband who's divorced her but lives next door, and the lost-at-sea younger siblings. I am also really flying through this book; it's a nice break from the denser stuff I've been reading, but it's no fluffy novel, either. I do enjoy these close examinations of families and how these people - who might not have otherwise connected, but are forced into closeness because they were born into the same family - learn to grow together. I hope you all are having lovely reading lives, these days. I feel like mine is really starting to pick back up! Yours, Arianna

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Tuesday Check-In

Dear Reader, Hi! I unfortunately haven't finished a book since my last post, but I wanted to check in anyway, as part of a new style of posting we're experimenting with. Oh, wait! I have finished a book: Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians! That was a fun YA adventure. I don't think I'll continue with the series, but it definitely might be something I recommend to my daughter when she is older. It was a great divergence from regular YA, and I do love that there was a strong female character (a warrior, who protected the protagonist). Again, the "Evil Librarians" part had me loving the book more than I might have otherwise, I must admit. But definitely a worthwhile read; I'll have to check out more BranSan, but now I'm thinking more The Way of Kings. And what has replaced my morning commute audiobook, then, you might ask? Well, The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. This is an audiobook borrowed from my sister, although I had been wanting to read it. I have a soft spot for pop psychology books! (I'm not huge into business advice books, but this one doesn't tread that much into that sort of territory, so I think it's safe.) I'm fascinated by the stories Duhigg tells of people who have changed their lives significantly by simply altering a habit (it all seems very Pavlovian to me, really), as well as the stories he told of those with brain damage who were able to maintain somewhat normal lives through the power of habit. I am about 1/3 of the way through right now, and reading about football - which normally would bore me to tears, but I'm eagerly reading about it in this book! Otherwise, I'm just chugging along through the other books I mentioned in my last update post. City on Fire is actually becoming really engaging again during the last 100 pages, so I hope it holds up through the end! And I still can't put The Goldfinch down. I hope soon I'll have some more finished-book updates for you. Until then, happy reading! Yours, Arianna

Burial Rites (review by Arianna)

Burial Rites Hannah Kent 4.5 / 5	Published 2013 First Sentences "They said I must die.  They said that I stole the breath from men, and now they must steal mine."
Publisher's Description: Set against Iceland's stark landscape, Hannah Kent brings to vivid life the story of Agnes, who, charged with the brutal murder of her former master, is sent to an isolated farm to await execution. Horrified at the prospect of housing a convicted murderer, the family at first avoids Agnes. Only Tóti, a priest Agnes has mysteriously chosen to be her spiritual guardian, seeks to understand her. But as Agnes's death looms, the farmer's wife and their daughters learn there is another side to the sensational story they've heard. Riveting and rich with lyricism, BURIAL RITES evokes a dramatic existence in a distant time and place, and asks the question, how can one woman hope to endure when her life depends upon the stories told by others?
Dear Reader, I LOVED this book, and I can't stop thinking about it.  I waver between giving it a full 5-star rating, but I can't make up my mind. I can't even really put my finger on why I loved it so much.  Okay, I do know one reason: I read the audiobook, and the narrator was phenomenal - perhaps one of the best I've ever heard.  I loved the emotion she could put into her voice; she was just like a stage actor, playing the role wholly and entirely.  I've just looked her up - Morven Christie is her name, if you are interested in checking out any of her work (although it appears from Goodreads that she's only recorded two books so far!). Outside of the narration though, what tied me so strongly to this book?  It's funny, actually - at first I had a really difficult time getting past the first few pages of the physical book, which usually is not an issue for me.  But the legalese seemed very dry to me, and I couldn't understand how both AmberBug and my father could recommend the book so highly!  But once I got past that point (I restarted in audio form), it sucked me right in and I couldn't stop listening.  I think part of the reason is that you spend almost the entire book uncertain as to whether Agnes actually is a murderer or not.  It's a mystery you desperately want to resolve, because you (along with her host family) come to really care for her, and you don't want to see her executed - innocent or not.  Agnes really endears herself to the reader (as well as several characters in the book), and you start to believe that she is incapable of murder - but is she?  There are so many conflicting accounts to consider.  The resolution of the book is pretty staggering, and I can't recommend it strongly enough.  Watching the relationships develop between Agnes, her captors, and her confessor is just so real and so poignant.  And what makes it even better is the Author's Note at the end, which indicates that the book was based upon a true life story which has become something of a legend in Iceland.  I think that added level of a reality-based story (Kent did a lot of research, and her account could very well be close to Agnes' true story) is what really made the book so great.  I think the author did an excellent job of establishing a possible and feasible background for a real-life mystery. Yours, Arianna

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& Sons

& Sons David Gilbert 4 / 5	Published 2013 First Sentence "Once upon a time, the moon had a moon."
Publisher's Description: The funeral of Charles Henry Topping on Manhattan’s Upper East Side would have been a minor affair (his two-hundred-word obit in The New York Times notwithstanding) but for the presence of one particular mourner: the notoriously reclusive author A. N. Dyer, whose novel Ampersand stands as a classic of American teenage angst. But as Andrew Newbold Dyer delivers the eulogy for his oldest friend, he suffers a breakdown over the life he’s led and the people he’s hurt and the novel that will forever endure as his legacy. He must gather his three sons for the first time in many years—before it’s too late. So begins a wild, transformative, heartbreaking week, as witnessed by Philip Topping, who, like his late father, finds himself caught up in the swirl of the Dyer family. First there’s son Richard, a struggling screenwriter and father, returning from self-imposed exile in California. In the middle lingers Jamie, settled in Brooklyn after his twenty-year mission of making documentaries about human suffering. And last is Andy, the half brother whose mysterious birth tore the Dyers apart seventeen years ago, now in New York on spring break, determined to lose his virginity before returning to the prestigious New England boarding school that inspired Ampersand. But only when the real purpose of this reunion comes to light do these sons realize just how much is at stake, not only for their father but for themselves and three generations of their family.
Dear Reader, I was surprised to like this book as much as I did. I received it quite a while ago as a First Reads from Goodreads, but kept never getting around to it. On a whim, I picked up the audiobook of the title instead, and because I seem to be able to read audiobooks with a lot more regularity these days than regular books (listening while walking the dog & doing chores helps with this!), I had much more success getting into it. The story was something of a meta-novel, where the novel itself revolved largely around the 1960s publication of a Catcher in the Rye-type book - by which I mean it had achieved the same sort of success, and A.N. Dyer was still being read as required reading in high schools 50 years later. It certainly felt to me as if Dyer was intentionally supposed to be a fictional Salinger. Which was fascinating, because it meant we got to glimpse what Salinger's life might have been like, particularly if he'd fathered three sons. It was interesting to see how people treated Dyer and his family because of this fame - it's certainly a different flavor of celebrity than that of a movie star, but it retains its own cachet. As well as its own sort of fan base. I have to say I wasn't particularly fond of how the narrator was omniscient; it made the telling of all angles of the story somewhat awkward at times. While being a tenuous family friend (with a bit of a heavy-handed obsession with Dyer), Philip managed to insinuate himself into quite a bit of the story. I felt as if this was an odd choice of narrative technique, but it did allow the reader access to various parts which a normal first-person narrative would not have. Why the author chose to go with that rather than a third-person perspective, I don't know. It was a bold if possibly unnecessary choice. There was a big twist to the book, too, which I don't want to discuss too much, but it was pretty refreshing and a clever, very unique idea. It made the reader think a lot about the possibility and its implications. Arg, that isn't helping much. All I will say is that it made reading the book worthwhile; it is "revealed" rather early, but makes the rest of the story so much more intriguing. Yours, Arianna

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Hatchet

Hatchet Gary Paulsen 2 / 5	Published 1986 First Sentence "Brian Robeson stared out the window of the small plane at the endless green northern wilderness below."
Publisher's Description: ALONE Thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson is on his way to visit his father when the single-engine plane in which he is flying crashes. Suddenly, Brian finds himself alone in the Canadian wilderness with nothing but a tattered Windbreaker and the hatchet his mother gave him as a present -- and the dreadful secret that has been tearing him apart since his parent's divorce. But now Brian has no time for anger, self pity, or despair -- it will take all his know-how and determination, and more courage than he knew he possessed, to survive.  For twenty years Gary Paulsen's award-winning contemporary classic has been the survival story with which all others are compared. This new edition, with a reading group guide, will introduce a new generation of readers to this page-turning, heart-stopping adventure.
Dear Reader, It seemed like everyone and their mother had this book assigned to them in middle school. I never did, though, and because it was an award-winner, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Well? Meh. I always wonder if these books were more appealing when they were actually published, or maybe it's just that survivalist stories just aren't my jam. I suppose I was impressed by a book that could feasibly appeal to a young, male audience, which was a new idea at the time of publication. So I do appreciate that. And I know many loved this story. It just didn't draw me in. While part of me wanted to pay serious attention because you never know when you might be stranded and need basic survival skills - which I think is the appeal of the book, really - I just didn't always enjoy the minutiae of watching Brian set up camp. Part of what might have bothered me, though, was the absolute hopelessness of ever being rescued - that just felt so bleak to me, and I wondered: why bother? Of course, I understand why Brian did, but I don't know if I could have rallied quite like he did - he almost took things in stride, which I very much respect. Perhaps that is just what happens - your survival instinct kicks in before you have time to recognize your hopeless situation for what it is, because yes, food will take precedence over contemplation. Now that I think about it, perhaps the narration was also what negatively influenced the book, for me! The audiobook version featured an older male's voice which just kind of felt lethargic, and it included "dramatic music" at certain points, which I think can work really well if done right - but just wasn't, in this case. Hmm. I also do wonder if this book would have resonated with me more when I was younger. I sometimes feel as if I missed out on some great opportunities for discovering beloved books when I could have identified more with them. But, alas, such is the way life goes! I am glad that I did read this book, finally, even if it will never be a favorite. Yours, Arianna P.S. There are sequels to this book. Sequels! I can't even fathom...has anyone ever read any of them? I am just so curious. Does Brian get stranded again and again? Do we follow him until he grows to adulthood, watching how his life is affected by this formative experience? I'm SO intrigued!

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Sacré Bleu

Sacré Bleu Christopher Moore 3.5 / 5	Published 2012 First Sentence "On the day he was to be murdered, Vincent Van Gogh encountered a Gypsy on the cobbles outside the inn where he'd just eaten lunch."
Publisher's Description: In his latest novel, Moore takes on the Great French Masters. A magnificent “Comedy d’Art”, Sacre Bleu is part mystery, part history (sort of), part love story, and wholly hilarious as it follows a young baker-painter who joins the dapper Henri Toulouse-Lautrec on a quest to unravel the mystery behind the supposed suicide of Vincent van Gogh.
Dear Reader, Meh. This was an okay book, but it was mediocre Moore at best. It certainly was no Fool, much less Lamb!! I found myself only laughing out loud a handful of times while reading Sacré Bleu, compared to others in his oeuvre. I didn’t feel the same level of wit, the clever banter, the “inside jokes” that pepper Moore’s other works. Perhaps it is partly because I am not an artist, but I just didn’t connect to the story all that much. I didn’t care a whit about the characters, and I certainly wasn’t all that curious about the origins of the Color Man and his sidekick. (To be honest, I didn’t even think they HAD a backstory until about 2/3 of the way through!) I will keep this review short, but I just couldn’t enjoy this one as much as others by Moore, and was disappointed by let-down expectations from such a usually great author. If you have a desire to read something hilarious (and irreverent!), I say pick up Lamb over Sacré Bleu, always! Yours, Arianna

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When the World Was Young

When the World Was Young Elizabeth Gaffney 3.5 / 5	Published 2006 First Sentence "The children rejoiced."
Publisher's Description: Wally Baker is no ordinary girl. Living in her grandparents’ Brooklyn Heights brownstone, she doesn’t like dresses, needlepoint, or manners. Her love of Wonder Woman comics and ants makes her feel like a misfit—especially in the shadow of her dazzling but unstable mother, Stella. Acclaimed author Elizabeth Gaffney’s irresistible novel captures postwar Brooklyn through Wally’s eyes, opening on V-J day, as she grows up with the rest of America. Reeling from her own unexpected wartime tragedy and navigating an increasingly fraught landscape, Wally is forced to confront painful truths about the world—its sorrows, its prejudices, its conflicts, its limitations. But Wally also finds hope and strength in the unlikeliest places. With an unforgettable cast of characters, including the increasingly distant and distracted Stella; Loretta, the family’s black maid and Wally’s second mother; Ham, Loretta’s son, who shares Wally’s enthusiasm for ants and exploration; Rudy, Wally’s father, a naval officer, away serving in the Pacific; and Mr. Niederman, the family’s boarder, who never seems to answer Wally’s questions—and who she suspects may have something to hide—Elizabeth Gaffney crafts an immersive, beautifully realized novel about the truths that divide and the love that keeps us together.
Dear Reader, I enjoyed this little diversion of a book. It was a nice, lighter read compared to a bunch of denser classics I've been working on lately. I selected this because it is one of many books I am behind on reading for Netgalley, so I am making an intentional push to get through more of my backlog! This book was published way back in August of 2014 (actually, it was first published in 2006!). So I clearly missed my window of opportunity. But I am glad I finally got around to it. It told a quaint story of a young girl growing up in just-postwar Brooklyn. She struggles to find her own path in life, haunted by the decisions made by her parents. Wally was an enjoyable and unique character who loves bugs - something certainly unexpected for a girl in the 1940s. She was lucky enough to be able to pursue this passion, however. It was nice to see a strong female character succeeding in a STEM field, especially in that time period. I felt that some of the characters and relationships fell a bit flat in this book; I had a hard time buying the passion that supposedly drove several of them. Everyone seemed a bit too detached, unemotional, about the love that propelled the direction of their lives. I note that other reviewers felt that the book just lacked a certain something, and I have to agree with them there. While it had such a fantastic premise, it just didn't truly deliver anything of substance. It left me feeling unemotional, one way or another. I think this could be a great light read to take along while traveling, or to audiobook while on a long drive. There's a good story there. Yours, Arianna

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Circling the Sun

Circling the Sun Paula McLain 4 / 5	Published 2015 First Sentence "The Vega Gull is a peacock blue with silver wings, more splendid than any bird I've known, and somehow mine to fly."
Publisher's Description: Brought to Kenya from England as a child and then abandoned by her mother, Beryl is raised by both her father and the native Kipsigis tribe who share his estate. Her unconventional upbringing transforms Beryl into a bold young woman with a fierce love of all things wild and an inherent understanding of nature’s delicate balance. But even the wild child must grow up, and when everything Beryl knows and trusts dissolves, she is catapulted into a string of disastrous relationships. Beryl forges her own path as a horse trainer, and her uncommon style attracts the eye of the Happy Valley set, a decadent, bohemian community of European expats who also live and love by their own set of rules. But it’s the ruggedly charismatic Denys Finch Hatton who ultimately helps Beryl navigate the uncharted territory of her own heart. The intensity of their love reveals Beryl’s truest self and her fate: to fly.
Dear Reader, I requested this book from Netgalley several months back, despite my having been pretty lukewarm about The Paris Wife. However, I enjoyed this book far more than McLain's previous work. I was almost immediately drawn in by Beryl Markham and her unique life story. I am curious to know how different this book was from Markham's own autobiography; does it explore a different part of her life? I will have to read her own book. In any case, what a remarkable woman Ms. Markham was - especially given the time and her situation! Moved to Africa as a child by her father and then left there by her mother, it is understandable that she grew into the "tomboy" and feminist that she did. At a time when women didn't do what men did, Beryl continually proved that they could. She became one of the first female horse trainers and aviators. Her love of Kenya's land shone through in this story. Having seen Out of Africa, I knew more about Karen Blixen's story than Beryl Markham's, of course. So it was fascinating to see the colonial African world through another pair of eyes. I was surprised by how little appeared, in this novel, to be racially driven. More, it focused on alliances and the many, many infidelities which seemed de rigueur for society Europeans living in Kenya during Markham's time. Overall, this was an enjoyable audiobook to spend several days on. I was disappointed to leave Markham's world upon completion. And now I look forward more eagerly to more historical fiction from Ms. McLain. Yours, Arianna

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Modern Romance

Modern Romance Aziz Ansari & Eric Klinenberg 4 / 5	Published 2015 First Sentences "Oh, shit! Thanks for buying my book. That money is MINE. But I worked really hard on this, and I think you'll enjoy it."
Publisher's Description: A hilarious, thoughtful, and in-depth exploration of the pleasures and perils of modern romance from one of this generation’s sharpest comedic voices At some point, every one of us embarks on a journey to find love. We meet people, date, get into and out of relationships, all with the hope of finding someone with whom we share a deep connection. This seems standard now, but it’s wildly different from what people did even just decades ago. Single people today have more romantic options than at any point in human history. With technology, our abilities to connect with and sort through these options are staggering. So why are so many people frustrated? Some of our problems are unique to our time. “Why did this guy just text me an emoji of a pizza?” “Should I go out with this girl even though she listed Combos as one of her favorite snack foods? Combos?!” “My girlfriend just got a message from some dude named Nathan. Who’s Nathan? Did he just send her a photo of his penis? Should I check just to be sure?”  But the transformation of our romantic lives can’t be explained by technology alone. In a short period of time, the whole culture of finding love has changed dramatically. A few decades ago, people would find a decent person who lived in their neighborhood. Their families would meet and, after deciding neither party seemed like a murderer, they would get married and soon have a kid, all by the time they were twenty-four. Today, people marry later than ever and spend years of their lives on a quest to find the perfect person, a soul mate. For years, Aziz Ansari has been aiming his comic insight at modern romance, but for Modern Romance, the book, he decided he needed to take things to another level. He teamed up with NYU sociologist Eric Klinenberg and designed a massive research project, including hundreds of interviews and focus groups conducted everywhere from Tokyo to Buenos Aires to Wichita. They analyzed behavioral data and surveys and created their own online research forum on Reddit, which drew thousands of messages. They enlisted the world’s leading social scientists, including Andrew Cherlin, Eli Finkel, Helen Fisher, Sheena Iyengar, Barry Schwartz, Sherry Turkle, and Robb Willer. The result is unlike any social science or humor book we’ve seen before. In Modern Romance, Ansari combines his irreverent humor with cutting-edge social science to give us an unforgettable tour of our new romantic world.
Dear Reader, It me took forever to read this book! Or rather, it took US forever to read this book: I audiobooked it with Troy, and we started it when it was released back in June. But we tend to audiobook together only when we are taking long drives (and very occasionally, long walks), so we picked it up and put it down so many times! Luckily, it was pretty easy to do that, since this didn't have a continuous storyline - just a bunch of interesting chapters. So I started listening to the audiobook (which, by the way, is an entirely different experience from the book - Ansari loves to talk to his listeners in asides, especially about how lazy we are for audiobooking!) because I always love to hear authors read their own work wherever possible. But I hit "pause" quickly - I realized that Troy would also love to listen with me, as we were both huge fans of Parks & Rec, and this was a different sort of celebrity book: instead of memoir, it was a study, and I knew that would appeal to us both. So be began to listen together, which then caused a 6 hour book to end up taking us 4 months to finish! Haha. It might have also taken us so long to read because we were constantly pausing to discuss one point or another! It was a great conversation kindler. Ansari and Klinenberg study people from all ages and walks of life - from an old folks' home in Brooklyn to love hotels in Japan. They explore the world of online dating, of texting (and sexting!), and the huge changes that have taken place both in marriage expectations and in courting rituals in the past hundred years. It was fascinating to consider everything they studied. And Ansari infused the entire thing with his trademark wit, which made even parts that might possibly have come off as dry into humorous episodes! I think this is a great book for our generation to read: it is important to remember we're all in this very odd, unprecedented moment of coupling together. You're not alone if you've received unsolicited "dick pics" or broken up with someone over texts. It's a strange new world we live in, and one where we are so much more conscious of our choices. Sometimes this can be overwhelming, but it is nice to know we're (mostly) all aiming for love rather than just settling down with some kid from the neighborhood. Or doing it for the donuts. Yours, Arianna

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Factory Girls

Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China Leslie T. Chang 3.5 / 5	Published 2008 First Sentence "When you met a girl from another factory, you quickly took her measure."
Publisher's Description: An eye-opening and previously untold story, Factory Girls is the first look into the everyday lives of the migrant factory population in China. China has 130 million migrant workers—the largest migration in human history. In Factory Girls, Leslie T. Chang, a former correspondent for theWall Street Journal in Beijing, tells the story of these workers primarily through the lives of two young women, whom she follows over the course of three years as they attempt to rise from the assembly lines of Dongguan, an industrial city in China’s Pearl River Delta. As she tracks their lives, Chang paints a never-before-seen picture of migrant life—a world where nearly everyone is under thirty; where you can lose your boyfriend and your friends with the loss of a mobile phone; where a few computer or English lessons can catapult you into a completely different social class. Chang takes us inside a sneaker factory so large that it has its own hospital, movie theater, and fire department; to posh karaoke bars that are fronts for prostitution; to makeshift English classes where students shave their heads in monklike devotion and sit day after day in front of machines watching English words flash by; and back to a farming village for the Chinese New Year, revealing the poverty and idleness of rural life that drive young girls to leave home in the first place. Throughout this riveting portrait, Chang also interweaves the story of her own family’s migrations, within China and to the West, providing historical and personal frames of reference for her investigation. A book of global significance that provides new insight into China, Factory Girls demonstrates how the mass movement from rural villages to cities is remaking individual lives and transforming Chinese society, much as immigration to America’s shores remade our own country a century ago.
Dear Reader, I don't know what drew me to this book; perhaps it was that I don't feel like I know very much about China in general (particularly modern-day China), and wanted to change that. Partly I selected it because it was available on my library's Overdrive site, and I wanted to select a non-fiction book, because I realized - and was appalled at the thought! - that other than autobiographies, I hadn't read ANY non-fiction this year! Unreal. Usually I have a non-fiction going alongside whatever fiction I am currently reading. Sometimes they complement each other, but usually they are simply two ways for me to look at the world. I enjoy stories, for sure - but I also love soaking up facts about the real world around me. I also chose this book because I thought it might be more about what we Westerners are always told are the horrific conditions in Chinese factories, as the workers slave away to make us the luxury goods we take for granted. And there was some of that - most factory workers are on 10- or 11-hour shifts, and only get every other Sunday off, for example. But the picture Chang painted wasn't that of despair and grueling conditions - rather, it was of a hopeful young generation of Chinese (mostly women, per the title) who take this factory work as an opportunity to better themselves and their positions in life. Many are the daughters of rural farmers, and become migrant workers in larger cities (many hours or days away by train) because there is no real opportunity for them in their hometown. They embark on very strange lives, which revolve around work and often involve jumping from one job to another. This is a place where resumes aren't very important, and lying about your experience is par for the course. Many workers get jobs that are beyond their level of expertise, but they essentially fake it till they make it! There are so many instances of opportunity of all kinds which are taken advantage of: Chang examines women who work on the factory floor, those who work as secretaries or at other higher levels within the factory, entrepreneurs trying to start their own streams of revenue in a very competitive city, those who choose to study English full time, and even prostitutes. Everyone has their place in this nonstop economy, and if they find themselves unhappy with their situations - either due to interpersonal relationships or ambition - they (seemingly) glibly move on to something new. It was fascinating to see the cavalier way many Chinese approached the job market: it appeared that they never worried, that there was always another job they could take. (That isn't to say conditions weren't pretty dismal, or that I thought these women were completely content and needn't strive for more - there is A LOT that could be improved in Chinese factory life! But - that wasn't really the story that Chang was telling.) The author also tried to interweave her own family history in with this story, which I felt was done rather unsuccessfully - it felt somewhat forced. I found myself much less interested in these parts of the book, even though there were many fascinating aspects of her grandfather's story. Perhaps there was just too much of it, and I wasn't certain how it really fit in with the story of today's young migrants. My favorite parts of the book were probably those times when Chang traveled with the girls to their rural China hometowns. This was where you could really see the contrast between city and country life, and even still some of the after-effects of Mao's reign.  Visiting the hometown alongside them, as the reader, you could really understand what this young generation is trying to escape. Not to say that it's necessary they should - many of the young women, once exposed to capitalism, certainly became more materially inclined (although not nearly to the extent that I am, I know) and who is to say they couldn't have carried on reasonably happy lives in the towns where they had been born? (Although, opportunity for such a life is rapidly disappearing, particularly for young women, so often it was necessary that they leave to seek their fortunes elsewhere.) But it definitely was a marked contrast, and one that is marking an important historical shift in Chinese culture. This mass migration to cities is a relatively new development, and it remains to be seen how these changes will affect China and the rest of the world. I am glad, at least, to be more aware of the situation. Yours, Arianna

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Armada

Armada Ernest Cline 3.5 / 5	Published 2015 First Sentence "I was staring out the classroom window and daydreaming of adventure when I spotted the flying saucer."
Publisher's Description: Zack Lightman has spent his life dreaming. Dreaming that the real world could be a little more like the countless science-fiction books, movies, and videogames he’s spent his life consuming. Dreaming that one day, some fantastic, world-altering event will shatter the monotony of his humdrum existence and whisk him off on some grand space-faring adventure. But hey, there’s nothing wrong with a little escapism, right? After all, Zack tells himself, he knows the difference between fantasy and reality. He knows that here in the real world, aimless teenage gamers with anger issues don’t get chosen to save the universe. And then he sees the flying saucer. Even stranger, the alien ship he’s staring at is straight out of the videogame he plays every night, a hugely popular online flight simulator called Armada—in which gamers just happen to be protecting the earth from alien invaders.  No, Zack hasn’t lost his mind. As impossible as it seems, what he’s seeing is all too real. And his skills—as well as those of millions of gamers across the world—are going to be needed to save the earth from what’s about to befall it. It’s Zack’s chance, at last, to play the hero. But even through the terror and exhilaration, he can’t help thinking back to all those science-fiction stories he grew up with, and wondering: Doesn’t something about this scenario seem a little…familiar? At once gleefully embracing and brilliantly subverting science-fiction conventions as only Ernest Cline could, Armada is a rollicking, surprising thriller, a classic coming of age adventure, and an alien invasion tale like nothing you’ve ever read before—one whose every page is infused with the pop-culture savvy that has helped make Ready Player One a phenomenon.
Dear Reader, Don’t mistake my rating - I did enjoy reading this book. It just wasn’t up to par with Ready Player One for me, which I was just absolutely smitten with. I think part of it had to do with how promisingly Armada began, but then it quickly became war games, full of epic battles which I just kind of glazed over while listening to. (Seriously - I think I missed a few rather turning-point moments during fight scenes because I would drift off!) While the book still has the wonderful, pop culture-y, nostalgic ring to it that RPO does, it just isn’t quite the same.  To that end, I’ve developed a theory: the RPGers vs the FPSes. It is my belief that those who love adventure video games like King’s Quest (have you played the new one yet?! - if not, hop to it!) really enjoyed Ready Player One, and those who prefer more of the Call of Duty/Doom-type games will gravitate more towards Armada. What do you think, Readers? Do you agree? Have some arguments to disprove my hypothesis? Please! By all means, share away. I’d love to discuss further.  In any case, reading the book is well worth it for Wil Wheaton’s incredible voice-acting range. You won’t regret having picked the book up when you hear his Morgan Freeman impression! And the characters are fun: you get a great mix of jumping-off-the-page personalities (even if many of them are endearing tropes) in every chapter. Zack Lightman and his family and friends (both old and new) are people you want to hang out with. I just wish there had been puzzle-solving a la RPO, and less being thrown from one battle scene to another. Granted, that would certainly have changed the entire story! And I liked the concept, as a whole. And of course all the references thrown in. But just know, going into Armada, that you shouldn’t expect RPO. Which I suppose wasn’t fair of me, in the first place. (Apologies, Ernest Cline!) My husband read Armada in a day or two and really enjoyed it. He hasn’t yet cracked RPO. I look forward to seeing his reactions once he’s consumed both.  Until then, I was to underline that I did enjoy reading this book, and I am not trying to warn anyone away from it! I just want a reader’s expectations to be where they should be. Which means: already pretty high, since Cline is a lot of fun and you won’t be disappointed, I don’t think.  Yours, Arianna

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We Are Not Ourselves

We Are Not Ourselves Matthew Thomas 3.5 / 5	Published 2014 First Sentence "His father was watching the line in the water."
Publisher's Description: Born in 1941, Eileen Tumulty is raised by her Irish immigrant parents in Woodside, Queens, in an apartment where the mood swings between heartbreak and hilarity, depending on whether guests are over and how much alcohol has been consumed. When Eileen meets Ed Leary, a scientist whose bearing is nothing like those of the men she grew up with, she thinks she’s found the perfect partner to deliver her to the cosmopolitan world she longs to inhabit. They marry, and Eileen quickly discovers Ed doesn’t aspire to the same, ever bigger, stakes in the American Dream. Eileen encourages her husband to want more: a better job, better friends, a better house, but as years pass it becomes clear that his growing reluctance is part of a deeper psychological shift. An inescapable darkness enters their lives, and Eileen and Ed and their son Connell try desperately to hold together a semblance of the reality they have known, and to preserve, against long odds, an idea they have cherished of the future. Through the Learys, novelist Matthew Thomas charts the story of the American Century, particularly the promise of domestic bliss and economic prosperity that captured hearts and minds after WWII. The result is a riveting and affecting work of art; one that reminds us that life is more than a tally of victories and defeats, that we live to love and be loved, and that we should tell each other so before the moment slips away.  Epic in scope, heroic in character, masterful in prose, We Are Not Ourselves heralds the arrival of a major new talent in contemporary fiction.
Dear Reader, This book was...good but not excellent, not life-changing or world-revealing or anything. Just a good, solid family history. Some tough but important parts about Alzheimer's. It was interesting how the story began from Eileen’s POV way early, but perhaps the author needed to explain why she became a nurse, how her life turned out as it did, and why she had such aspirations for her son. The theme of the book seemed very generational. It was very much story-based rather than point-based. This was the story of Eileen and her legacy, and that was pretty much it. No lessons to be learned (except maybe to love what you have while you still have it) and no real takeaway, although it is also a story I know I will remember for quite a while.  This book recalled to me something more along the lines of an Irving or Franzen novel, with its sweeping storylines that didn’t focus too tightly on any one time of anyone’s life for too long. I enjoy those books, but I never know what I am taking away from them. It feels often to me more like I am a voyeur in someone else’s life than I am learning from the experience of standing in their shoes for a while. I think I prefer the latter sorts of books, for the most part. But the author wrote his characters' inner thoughts and motivations beautifully and so effortlessly, which I think won my heart in the long run. Mare Winningham narrated the audiobook, surprisingly! That was a nice bonus, and I think her voice fit Eileen’s story and personality really well. Excellent casting. Overall, I think I would recommend this book, but I doubt I could vocalize why. I think it was a worthwhile way to spend my reading time, is all I can say.  Yours, Arianna P.S. I also really do love the cover art...the way it throws suburbia and "the American Dream" on its side, literally - much like the book! (I originally thought it was a Ferris wheel, and now can't stop seeing that, though...)

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Lock In (Review by AmberBug)

Lock In John Scalzi 4 / 5	Published 2014 First Sentence "My first day on the job coincided with the first day of the Haden Walkout, and I'm not going to lie, that was some awkward timing."
Publisher's Description: A novel of our near future, from one of the most popular authors in modern SF Fifteen years from now, a new virus sweeps the globe. 95% of those afflicted experience nothing worse than fever and headaches. Four percent suffer acute meningitis, creating the largest medical crisis in history. And one percent find themselves “locked in”—fully awake and aware, but unable to move or respond to stimulus. One per cent doesn't seem like a lot. But in the United States, that's 1.7 million people “locked in”...including the President's wife and daughter. Spurred by grief and the sheer magnitude of the suffering, America undertakes a massive scientific initiative. Nothing can restore the ability to control their own bodies to the locked in. But then two new technologies emerge. One is a virtual-reality environment, “The Agora,” in which the locked-in can interact with other humans, both locked-in and not. The other is the discovery that a few rare individuals have brains that are receptive to being controlled by others, meaning that from time to time, those who are locked in can “ride” these people and use their bodies as if they were their own. This skill is quickly regulated, licensed, bonded, and controlled. Nothing can go wrong. Certainly nobody would be tempted to misuse it, for murder, for political power, or worse....
Dear Reader, I really needed this type of book, it filled a hole that has been annoying me lately. I've been so focused on all this literary fiction that I've neglected a few of my favorite beachy kind of books (sci-fi and horror). This book was perfect for that. To top it off, I picked this in audio format and one of my geek loves of all time, Wil Wheaton is the narrator. Thank you narrator gods for deciding he should be the one for this role. Have you seen his new show? The Wil Wheaton project? If not AND you like him, you must watch it. Pure geekdom at it's finest.  Enough Wheaton gushing... the book. Ahem. Lock In had so much going for it. The author created a tragic future that could have been terribly overdone... but it wasn't. You've heard it before, a flu knocks out a huge majority of the population. Here's the catch... it doesn't kill them, it "locks" them inside their body. Since this epidemic has touched almost everyone (including the president), a cure is sought for right away. The solution comes in the form of cyborg like bodies and wi-fi minds, really great stuff. That is where it all gets interesting. I think talking too much about where the book goes would give away the fun but I will say that many different readers could find things to like here. Not only is this chock full of sci-fi fun but the entire book is wrapped around a crime with the main characters being police detectives. I have to admit that I'm not as much of a fan of the crime genre but because the crime revolves around science and technology... it was fun. I also think this would be a GREAT book to pitch to readers who shy away from science fiction.  Happy Reading, AmberBug P.S. - Check out what Arianna thought.

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