To make a mark, to see one's name indelibly imprinted on a field! To be a Pasteur or a Von Behring, or a Salk, revered for saving lives, as Beethoven was revered for his profundity.
I had been wanting to read this book for a long time -- ever since it was listed on the 2006 New York Notable list. I really didn't know much about the book before reading it. I just knew that it was about a research lab and therefore had quite a bit of science to it, and that it was recommended by
lablit.com
, a site devoted to reading 'science in fiction' books (not the same as science-fiction -- see the site for more details).
I hesitate to tell too much of the details as I enjoyed going into the book 'blind,' but I will say I was struck by how well Goodman portrayed the characters in the novel. They each have their own strengths and weaknesses and Goodman showed both dimensions of each character brilliantly. I also thought the book was very readable for the amount of science involved, but then again I'm a geek that way. (If you love mice, though, I would recommend you think twice before reading.)
Goodman raises and illustrates some important ethical questions, and I was fascinated by the fact that the book appears to present both sides of these questions equally. I would have loved to have read this with a group of people who are interested in science and ethics.
All in all, I was impressed with Goodman's novel and I will definitely read more of her work.
An Abundance of Katherines
by John Green was a Printz Honor Book for 2007. I listened to this on audio and while at first I didn't like the narrator, by the end of the book I felt he did a fine job.
First, the positives. This story was intelligent and funny and I laughed out loud several times. I loved all the math in the book (engineering geek that I am), and I wish I could have seen the equations on the actual pages instead of hearing them read. In fact, I would have gotten the book from my library for this purpose in addition to the audio, but it was already checked out. I will still probably do that at some point. I also liked the characters. Just like the book itself, they were intelligent and funny. And lastly, John Green is a good writer.
But....the content. The content, the content, the content. There is a lot of language. There are also a lot of substitutions for a certain word with 'fug' instead. An interesting sidenote is that apparently Norman Mailer was the inventor of this word. I'm no stranger to these substitutions, I thought it was kind of funny in
Battlestar Galactica
(frakkin Cyclons), but is it really appropriate in a young adult book? Do I think teenagers not use these words? No, I know they do. Did I read books as a teenager that used these words? Yes, I did. But, I sneaked them. Books that had 'content' were discouraged in my day, not encouraged. Now, any and all language and s*x is fine in teen books and even lauded. There is also a s*x scene described in Green's book that I found very inappropriate. Do I not know that some teens have s*x? No, of course I do. Did I not read
Forever
and
Wifey
in high school? Yes, of course I did. But again, it was not encouraged by my parents and librarians.
If you're still reading this far and have not given up in disgust by my old-fashioned ways, I will say it again: I thought
An Abundance of Katherines
was intelligent, funny, and well-written. I just won't be handing it over to my two teenage sons to read. If it weren't for the content, I would be giving this book a 4.5 rating, but as it is, it gets a 3.5 rating instead. (Ducks head anticipating the bashing I will receive.)
I just love Neil Gaiman (not to mention that his looks remind me of a close friend I had in college). Well, I love his books, too, and this one was no exception. It's my third Gaiman, and although I still think I liked
Coraline
a tiny bit better, I loved
The Graveyard Book
.
Just like
Coraline
, I listened to this on audio with my two teenage sons. If you haven't heard Gaiman narrate his own books, you're definitely missing out. Most authors should
not
narrate their own books; Gaiman is one who should never allow someone
else
to do so. His voice is perfect for it, and of course, no one would ever know his books better than he does.
The Graveyard Book
contains a colorful (though some are long dead) cast of characters, some very creepy scenes, and some genuinely heartwarming ones. It's one of those perfect children's/YA books in which it was definitely written to also appeal to adults. It was great for the R.I.P. Challenge, and it was great to experience another one of Gaiman's treasures as a family.
Starred Reviews: Publisher's Weekly, Booklist, Library Journal, and Kirkus
2008, 240 pp.
It's rare that a book gets starred reviews from all four major review publications. Was this book that good; does it really deserve that much attention? Yes, absolutely. I really, really loved it; so much, in fact, that I held off reading the last 20 pages or so for two days because I didn't want it to be over.
Psychoanalyst Leo Liebenstein thinks his wife Rema has disappeared. Not only that, but he believes she has been replaced by a simulcrum, someone who looks and acts (almost) exactly like her. Meanwhile, Harvey, one of Leo's mental patients (who believes he has the ability to control the weather) is also missing. Not buying in to the simulcrum's Rema-like performance, Leo goes to the ends of the earth to Buenos Aires and Patagonia to try to uncover the truth of what has happened to his wife.
I'll be the first to admit that although I enjoyed this book tremendously, it won't be to everyone's tastes. It's very quirky, very eccentric, but also intelligent and extremely funny. Much of what I found humorous in the novel was due to the fact that I went to Argentina in April, so I was able to get many of the inside jokes about dog poop in the streets,
mate tea
,
Alpha Wh*re Rays
, and many other references to Argentinian life. The author had been in South America for a year working on public health issues, so her writing comes from first hand experience in the region. There were, of course, also references to the (not so funny) "
Disappeared
."
This is Rivka Galchen's first novel, and I definitely will be anxiously awaiting whatever she comes up with next. Oh, and if her literary career doesn't work out (I have no doubt that it will), she can always fall back on her MD that she received from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
It seems this story has polarized readers. Some love it, while others intensely dislike the book. I fall into the latter camp. I thought I was really going to like it initially, but then the story went way over the top into unbelievability for me. I found myself disliking it more and more as the pages progressed. It's really almost impossible to speak about the issues I had with the book without giving away some huge spoilers, but I will give you a taste of what it's about.
Holland and Pearlie Cook are childhood sweethearts with a son and a dog that doesn't bark. Everything is going along fine until one day Buzz, a man from Holland's past, shows up at the door and changes everything. Set in the 50's and San Francisco.
I only vaguely knew the story of Lizzie Borden, so this little graphic novel was really an engrossing look at this true crime. Geary's drawings are great, and he presents cases both for Lizzie Borden's guilt and for her innocence. The back of the book also has reproductions of the actual newspaper clippings. Fascinating story!
This book is part of the
Treasury of Victorian Murder
series that I will have to look into!
But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. (
Luke 6:35-36
,
ESV
)
To make a mark, to see one's name indelibly imprinted on a field! To be a Pasteur or a Von Behring, or a Salk, revered for saving lives, as Beethoven was revered for his profundity.
An Abundance of Katherines
by John Green was a Printz Honor Book for 2007. I listened to this on audio and while at first I didn't like the narrator, by the end of the book I felt he did a fine job.
I just love Neil Gaiman (not to mention that his looks remind me of a close friend I had in college). Well, I love his books, too, and this one was no exception. It's my third Gaiman, and although I still think I liked
Neil Gaiman's
Atmospheric Disturbances
It seems this story has polarized readers. Some love it, while others intensely dislike the book. I fall into the latter camp. I thought I was really going to like it initially, but then the story went way over the top into unbelievability for me. I found myself disliking it more and more as the pages progressed. It's really almost impossible to speak about the issues I had with the book without giving away some huge spoilers, but I will give you a taste of what it's about.
The Borden Tragedy
