FantasticLand by Mike Bockoven

 

If you strand a bunch of (mostly) 20 something year old adults who work in a theme park for 35 days during a natural disaster, what do you think would happen?  If you're hoping for Temptation Island level hijinks, you'll be sorely disappointed. But if you're leaning toward murder and heads on a stick level violence, then this is the book for you! Think Lord of the Flies, but with adults and multiple tribes.

This book works for a lot of reasons. First, you have basically everything you need at a theme park, food, water, shelter, commercial goods...and then you have a lot of other fun things too, like pirate coves and circus tents and underground tunnels. So there are a lot of different directions things can go, and they certainly do. 

What doesn't work for me though, is the format of the storytelling. The book is a series of interviews conducted after said events. While this is great in that you get a lot of perspectives, you also don't get too much depth from anyone in particular. And the book reads more as a series of short stories rather than a cohesive narrative. 

Another point, if you're listening to the audio book, each chapter is told by a different person. Since these are interviews with "normal" people, there is a lot of throat clearing and "but you're not asking about that..." or "I'm getting off track" sort of comments. It's fine every now and then, but it's an overused device, in my opinion. Obviously, this is written into the book as well, but it came across more as a bad reader's theater (remember those!?!). 

And while the story is overall entertaining, it's over the top. As I already mentioned, the people stranded at the park pretty much have everything they need to ride out the storm. Why then, do they devolve into tribes that resort to murdering each other pretty much on day one? We are talking cutting hands off and branding people level of depravity. But if you're willing to overlook the obvious "but why" issues and don't look too deep into the mechanics of the story, this can be an entertaining read. 

Take the tribes, for example. After the initial hunkering down, people split into various areas of the park. Those who inhabited the circus area are the Freaks, (my favorite of the tribes, by the way, for creating a circus-themed horror show). The most vile and violent went to the Pirate's Cove. There are also the shop girls, the Fairies, the Deadpools, the mole men, and the robots. Why the Deadpools have multiple amazing archers or the Pirates have an actual working cannon is beyond me, but we aren't here to look too deep into this.

Of course, not everyone is ascribed to a tribe, so there are a couple of miscellaneous but compelling stories peppered in. Like from a man who inhabited an empty hotel but was stalked by a mysterious couple or the story of a woman who helped run the med tent. 

This book seems like a great idea to spawn a TV series or movie. I feel like the ideas are there but could be developed into something more. While it was overall entertaining, but just had me wanting a little more.

The Power by Naomi Alderman

This is a story that Alderman describes as feminist science fiction - a type of speculative fiction that I like to call a "what-if" story.

The Power examines how power comes in various forms - whether physical, societal, something you are born into, something you can take from someone...and the list goes on. Alderman explores what happens when women develop an organ called a skein that enables them to deliver electrical shocks. Their inherent ability to physically overcome any man changes the balance of power in the world entirely. 

The Power is written as a manuscript of these events, having taken place thousands of years earlier. It catalogs the emergence of this new power eight years prior to a cataclysmic event. There are several stories we follow including a journalist's careful observations of women's use of their power, two women in government positions, one in the US and another in the fictional Bessaparra, and other women who have experienced violence by trusted men in their lives including Roxy, the English daughter of a mobster, and Allie, whose grasp of The Power leads to her god-like status among some.

As you can imagine, each take a different approach to what they think women's new role in the world should entail. Of course there are some who are more militant than others and some who are more benevolent than others. I guess the overarching question is, will things be different with women in charge? Or will those in power fall into the same traps as their male predecessors?

The Power has a televised series (on Prime Video) that is fantastic. It might be one of those rare instances where I prefer the televised version to the book. But that's not to say the book isn't worth reading. It's an interesting premise that explores a lot of thoughtful questions, but you'll want to check out the show after reading the book

The Hidden Hand or Capitola the Madcap by E.D.E.N. Southworth

FLAMES AND FURIES!

Get ready for hundreds of pages of exclamations, ejaculations, and interjections! But really, there is a lot of ejaculating in this book. 

The Hidden Hand was originally published in the 1850s in serialized form, but later published as a book in 1888. This is an overly dramatic, noir-styled, mustachioed twirling romp in which the characters only seem to speak in all caps and exclamation points. And to give you a feel of the writing, I will be ejaculating several times throughout this review.

HOITY TOITY!

The book is named for Capitola, our brave and bold heroine. She is independent and bucks societal norms. And by page 100, I was thinking we hadn't heard much about her.

PISH! TUSH! PSHAW!

The book is also about an old curmudgeony man who adopts Capitola after learning of her from a woman on her deathbed. 

HORRIBLE HORRIBLE! 

And we learn about several others whose lives are so intermingled you might need a venn diagram to parse them out, but it all comes together in the end, if only because of a series of strange coincidences.

POOH POOH, NONSENSE!

There are of course villians, soliloquies, and plenty of humphs. 

HEAVEN OF HEAVENS NO!

And if you are short on how to describe people, this is your book.

YOU ARE A PERFECT DRAGON! A GRIFFIN! A RUSSIAN BEAR! A BENGAL TIGER! A NUMIDIAN LION!

Despite the constant ejaculating and age of the story, it was surprisingly easy to read. But after reading over 300 pages, I think it's safe to say, this is not my genre. While I'm proud of myself for finishing it and reading something completely out of my wheelhouse, I'm not sure this is a book I'd recommend given all the other options out there. 

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

Did you know Panem was pronounced "PAN-EM?" I sure didn't. You emphasize both syllables apparently. That's a benefit of listening to the audio book. But you know what might not be a benefit of an audiobook? Hearing a man trying to do female voices. 

Now, I'll admit that I listen to audio books at a fast pace, which obviously affects the vibe. But I couldn't help think that the females in this book sounded like female South Park characters. And it gets worse when some of those characters sing. To be fair, the narrator doesn't actually sing but listening to him quote the lyrics of songs while doing a female South Park impersonation is...strange. Suffice to say, I wasn't moved by any of the lyrics and I wonder if the experience would have been different if I were just reading them myself. 

I don't know, I feel like the lyrics to a lot of the songs sounded...basic. But honestly that's probably true of a lot of great songs. If you want to judge for yourself, you can hear all the songs on The Hunger Games website. I'm going to have to check that out as well as the movie.

Things I liked: There was a hunger games, but that wasn't what the whole book was about. We get an understanding of how the Hunger Games got to where they are once the Trilogy starts. I also hated Dr. Gaul, but in the way you love hating something. I also liked the lore about the Jabberjays and Mockingjays.

Things I didn't like: Pretty much any scene with a song. It seemed strange that Lucy Gray would perform on stage after being selected for the reaping. I get it in terms of her character and the plot and blah blah blah. But it just didn't resonate with me. It was not a realistic reaction or one that really solicited sympathy for her situation. But maybe I'm missing the point.

I also didn't like the idea of the Covey - a nomadic group without a real district to call home. That diluted the impact of the reaping for me. It seemed like Collins was trying to distance the Covey from the districts, almost to the point of saying they didn't deserve to be a part of the reaping. But is that to then say that people from the districts did?

And while the book is mostly about Cornelius Snow, I don't feel we really got to know him as a person. Sure, we learn about his family history and his actions and thoughts about things, but he still seemed two dimensional to me. I'm not sure if I was supposed to like him or not, but I was kind of ambivalent. There weren't many characters I liked, not even Lucy Gray. 

It's interesting in terms of getting background on the hunger games and Panem. But it's probably my least favorite of the series. And I would suggest reading the book, not listening to it. 

1984 by George Orwell

Despite being 75 years old, this novel holds up remarkably well.

I think people can relate 1984 to a variety of things in their lives - an abusive family life, an impossible workplace, or even the society in which they live. But the book is actually about a dystopian future society (which was 1984 according to Orwell, who wrote this novel in 1949). After an atomic war in the 50's, the world condensed itself into three nation states: Eurasia, Oceania, and East Asia.

Airstrip One, formerly Britain, is a province of Oceania, which is run by the Brotherhood - a nebulous entity without a visible, known leader, but only the mysterious Big Brother who is constantly watching you. The society has four main branches - the Ministry of Truth, which deals with news, education, entertainment and fine arts, the Ministry of Plenty, which deals with economic affairs, the Ministry of Peace, which deals with war, and the ministry of Love, which maintained law and order - and was the really frightening one.

If you can't tell already, Big Brother is a study in contradictions. It's the tormenting sibling who declares  it's opposite day or the annoying co-worker who takes contrarian views just to be a troll. Take the party's slogans, for instance: War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength. 

As an employee of the Ministry of Truth, for instance, Winston edits newspapers, inserting the "truth" as the Ministry sees it and destroying older, contradictory copies of news reports. Down into the memory hole they go (sadly, I'm not talking about a good night out on the town). Winston might be instructed to declare that Oceania is now at war with East Asia, and has always been, which requires a lot of rewriting and editing to remove any reference to the previous war with Eurasia.  

"All others accepted the lie which the party imposed, if all records told the same tale, then the lie passed into history and became truth. Who controls the past, ran the party slogan, controls the future, who controls the present controls the past." 

This was known as "reality control" or "double think" and is one of the most infuriating concepts I've heard. I was also surprised to learn it wasn't something invented by my boss.

The Brotherhood not only sought to control society's behavior, but every aspect of life, including  language, adopting a language called "newspeak" that slowly and systematically eroded standard English. Each revision of the dictionary involved removing "extraneous" words and simplifying language: 

"Take good for instance, if you have a word like good, what need is there for a word like bad? Ungood would do just as well. Better because it's an exact opposite, which the other is not. Or again if you want a stronger version of good, what sense is there in having a whole string of vague, useless words like excellent or splendid and all the rest of them. 'plus good' covers the meaning, or 'double plus good' if you want something stronger still."

The society's prevailing ideology is EngSoc, or English Socialism. It is a society in which private life came to a halt, private money didn't exist, people called each other comrade, were constantly surveilled, and gathered for monthly hangings - so it may surprise you to hear there are no laws - in fact nothing was illegal. But somehow the Brotherhood still manage to punish people for things like face crime (not having the right expressions in response to something) or thought crime (which can lead to future crimes). Any disobedience resulted in correction, which could include forced labor camps and even vaporization.

This brings me to the great words of Princess Leia, who warned Tarkin, "The more you tighten your grip, the more star systems will slip through your fingers." And while Oceania is a lot smaller than a star system, you get the point. Not everyone will fall in line.

And we find one of those falling stars in Winston, who, in a subtle act of rebellion bought a diary and started recording his misgivings about Big Brother. Worse yet, he found himself falling in love. Marriage had to be approved and was less likely to be approved if the couple were attracted to each other, which didn't bode well for Winston and Julia. And working in the Ministry of Truth, he knew the outright lies that the Brotherhood espoused, but didn't understand the reasoning behind it all - until he reads a manifesto written by the Brotherhood's greatest enemy, a man named Goldstein.

In his book, Goldstein breaks down the rationale behind EngSoc - the division of classes, the constant need for war, and how the inner party manages to stay on top. The mental gymnastics are so complex, they make Simone Biles look like an amateur. And although this book within a book put Julia to sleep, I found it fascinating.

1984 is a heavy read, and sadly a relevant one. There are elements of the Brotherhood in societies today. And while Winston's story is interesting, I feel like it is more a subplot compared with the overarching ideas of the Brotherhood and EngSoc. Winston's story is a small piece of what a society as a whole faces when the wrong people take power. And while I could quit my job and run for the hills if things got too bad, when bad people get numerous and high enough in a government, there may be nowhere to run. 1984 is a cautionary tale that we would be wise to heed, in 1949, 1984, and today.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Don't get me wrong, I like me a dystopian mind blow every now and again to make me feel good about my current situation, but guh-damn. I've got to read about a lot of unicorns and rainbows to cleanse my palette after this cluster of darkness.

The Handmaid's Tale is an American version of oppressive societies like North Korea, Saudi Arabia, or anywhere ISIS is in charge. With fundamentalist religious imagery, creepy sex scenes, and people displayed on hooks, I noped my way through this book as fast as I could.

A part of my discomfort lies in the setting. It wasn't in some unnamed distant future. It was now. Offred (our narrator) grew up in the 80's, like me. She lived before everything went to hell, after a totalitarian regime took over the United States. She didn't wonder what things were like before. She knew. And that makes her reality more relatable to me and harder to accept.

And her kid? Don't get me started. All I have to say is Margaret Atwood owes me an apology for bringing children into her nightmare society the way she did. It's like watching effing Walking Dead after stupid Judith was born and all I could think about was how the baby wasn't going to get eaten by zombies every freaking minute of the show. Not that Offred's daughter is a big part of the book, and her life isn't in danger, but STILL.

And if you're wondering what happens, well, nothing in particular. We just hear about Offred's life - with snippets of her before. We learn basically what daily life is like for someone in her position, basically living as a concubine in a patriarchal society that suppresses women's rights (among others). No bigge.

Is it interesting? I guess. But so is a car accident, or a jerusalem cricket. Doesn't mean I need to linger any longer than necessary in their presence. And with that, I am over this book. It's thought-provoking, but too severe for my taste. Any society where people greet each other with "blessed be the fruit" or "under his eye," is one I'll only see in my rear view mirror. Real or fictional.

Just got word that the Hulu series is even worse than the book. Will I watch it? Of course! I can't NOT!

Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix

Why do people like this book? Am I missing something?

I get it. Bad writing and an improbable plot that could also operate as a pasta strainer have united like a defective pair of power twins before to create cult successes (I'm looking at you Sharknado). And really, there is a whole genre of bad horror films...but does it work with books, too? I'm not a horror book reader, so I'm sincerely asking.

Why do people think this book is so scary? Creepy kids? Scary. Does this book have creepy kids?

No.

Psychological drama? Can be scary. Like when someone thinks they're going crazy because they are seeing things other aren't. Or when they hear things other people don't. Does this book have psychological drama?

No.

Clowns? Scary. Does this book have clowns?

No.

Ghosts? Okay, now we're talking. This book has ghosts! However, they aren't Japanese or Korean ghosts, and we all know those are the scariest kind. And IDGAF if I'm spoiling anything, because this book is so bad, I'm doing you a favor. If you read it anyway after you read this review, you deserve to have it spoiled for the poor decision making skills you are exhibiting.

So there are ghosts. But (okay, I'll indulge you) *SPOILER ALERT* they're not scary.

And the plot? The plot, you ask? We have a handful of characters who are written as caricatures that we care little about. They work in an IKEA knock-off store that might be haunted and spend a night there figuring it all out. There's a homeless guy/possible ghost living in the store, but that's never resolved or really followed up on. In fact, it was like Hendrix was going in one direction and then forgot what he previously wrote and decided to completely change tack, so he killed the homeless guy and we are left wondering how he fit into the story at all. But maybe he was a ghost...one character wonders at the end. This is Hendrix's idea of resolution, I guess.

I won't go into any more holes in the plot. Suffice it to say you will find less in a heroin addict's arms after nickel night in the back alley.

I think the only good thing about this book is the actual book, which is made to look like an IKEA catalogue, complete with a store map and product drawings and descriptions. But I read the audiobook, so...

The dialogue was boring and humorless, and the only reason I finished the book is because it was short and I wanted credit for my cannonball goal. So here's my review and now I can move on with my life.

The Rook by Daniel O'Malley

This book is up there with Ready Player One and Lock In in terms of future and technology themes. It's also similar to Mission Impossible and X-Men, among others.

Basically, Myfanwy (rhymes with Tiffany), wakes up with no memory. Oh, and there's dead people all around. But she finds clues to her situation in notes left by...herself? Or whoever was in her body before her? Still not clear on that. Myfanwy learns right away she can take the equivalent of the blue pill or the red pill, and, well, you can guess which she chooses.

Turns out she works at a place similar to MI6 but with X-Men employees, or maybe even Miss Peregrine's recruits. Kinda like how the Ministry of Magic and the British Parliament work side by side, but not openly.

You may be wondering by now if there is a single original thought in this book. I'm not trying to denigrate this story by any means. It was interesting and entertaining for sure. O'Malley has a lot of great tongue in cheek moments and he doesn't take his story too seriously. I found the levity refreshing.

Basically, a solid recommend, and there's a sequel coming out that I'll probably check out at some point.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

The premise of this book is right up my ally...imagine that people who immigrated to the United States brought their gods, myths, and superstitions with them. Not just in spirit (no pun intended) but physically as well. As times and priorities shifted, the elves, fairies, and pagan gods (among others) were neglected for newer gods. This book is about an impending battle between the old world gods and the new world gods. Imagine Easter fighting a manifestation of Technology; or Odin, the All Father, fighting the god of modern day drugs.

Sounds good, right? Well, unfortunately, I read a different book. It took me months to get through it because I just wasn't interested, so I'd pick it up between reading other books. Not a good strategy because I'd forget what I had previously read and be completely lost. This would annoy me and so I'd only read a small bit, half assed, retaining nothing for the next time I'd pick the book up (in a month). It was a vicious cycle broken only by the last hundred pages or so, when the story picked up steam. Of course, when the mystery behind a major plot line was revealed, I had no idea what was going on.

So I did what most lazy readers do, I checked out the cliff's notes version of the story. Thank you Wikipedia. After reading the plot summary, I thought, "hmmmm....sounds like an interesting book. I should read it sometime."

I actually started reading the book again...but lost interest and haven't picked it up since.

Not sure this is a fair review...I've met a couple of people who really like this book. And it seems that if you are a fan of Neil Gaiman's work, you won't be disappointed (at least, that's what I hear).

As for me, too many characters for my little brain to keep track of, I guess. And a lot of build up to an anticlimactic end. Give me Coraline over American Gods any day.

Blindness by Jose Saramago

I was in Portland on business and heard that one of Portland's treasures is Powell's books. So I checked it out. If you haven't been there or heard of it, Powell's is a new and used bookstore that literally takes up an entire city block. Each room has a genre, labeled by a certain color (Want a mystery book? Head to the gold room. Children's? That's rose). There's also the rare book room, whose hours, if you're only visiting for a few days, seem just as rare as the books inside. And there are other little treasures hidden within as well. If you want to take a book and read for awhile, you're welcome to go to the coffee shop and relax. And I discovered my new favorite book "Go the Fuck to Sleep." (If you are one of the last people, like me, to hear about this little treasure, I'll review it next.)

I say all that to say this...there was a Nobel Prize section that featured several books by Portuguese author Jose Saramago. I had read his book, Death with Interruptions, last year, and selected it as one of my top five. So I was excited to see what else I could pick up. I saw what appeared to be several histories, like The Gospel According to Jesus Christ, and The History of the Siege of Lisbon. I figured Saramago had a boring side to him, but I should have known better. Apparently the former is a highly controversial book about the fictional retelling of the life of Jesus. It won him critical acclaim but also instant disapproval with the Roman Catholic Church (among others). But hey, cut the guy some slack. How many atheists do you know that would even give JC another thought?

And the latter is a book about "Raimundo Silva, assigned to correct a book entitled The History of the Siege of Lisbon by his publishing house. Silva decides to alter the meaning of a crucial sentence by inserting the word 'not' in the text, so that the book now claims that the Crusaders did not come to the aid of the Portuguese king in taking Lisbon from the Moors." (thank you wikipedia).

What I like about Saramago is his out of the box, creative, and some would say, dangerous thinking. Each one of his books has some strange twist. If you really want to dig deep, you can talk about modern parables and allegories and whatever other literary devices people who KNOW throw out. But it's simple for me. He's interesting. You just have to get past his style...

Saramago has a thing about punctuation, especially commas and quotation marks. His characters engage in dialogue, but besides using a capital letter with each new speaker, he doesn't differentiate between speakers. He also writes from a third person, narrative perspective. So I feel disconnected from the characters. But I have to say this book was loads easier to read than Death with Interruptions. I don't think that's because it's actually written in an easier to read style, it's because you can get used to Saramago's style. And it was easier for my mind to adjust, having been conditioned by his first novel. I guess.

So on to the actual review...Blindness is about a country that is struck with a mysterious disease, only described as the white blindness, where (surprise surprise) people are instantly and seemingly randomly struck blind. Saramago begins with patient zero and those who shortly follow. The government decides to quarantine the blind and those who have been exposed to the blind. The first half of the book is about the quarantine. At first dozens, and then hundreds of people occupy a hospital, which is guarded by the military. Unable to organize, and with no one to guide them, the living conditions in the hospital degrade exponentially. To make matters worse, a group of internees withhold food from the rest of the wards. It's almost like Lord of the Flies meets World War Z.

SLIGHT SPOILER AHEAD...

The second half of the book involves the release of the quarantined after the sickness strikes the entire country. Here's where comparisons to a zombie apocalypse really become evident. Saramago follows a small group from the hospital as they try to survive, looking for food, housing, and their families.

END SPOILER

It took me awhile to get into the book, probably because I was stumbling through it at first. But as I got used to the writing style, and the story developed, I became more interested.

In comparison to Death with Interruptions, I felt Blindness was a heavier book. Death with Interruptions, despite the subject matter, had a playful, light feel to it. Blindness, on the other hand, had a couple of disturbing scenes and emphasized the worst in humanity during the quarantine. But that's part of what makes the book interesting. And without telling you the title of the next book (possible spoiler as well)...there is a short snippet from Saramago's sequel to Blindness at the end.

So a solid recommend if you're up to the challenge!

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (CBR Book #30)

I'd seen the Disney cartoon, the Johnny Depp version, and a creepier version on TV back when I was younger...so I thought it appropriate to pick up the actual book and experience Lewis Carroll firsthand.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was written by Carroll (a pseudonym for Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) in 1865. Apparently Carroll was a man of many hats (author, poet, mathematician, logician...is that a word?). And this book showcases all of these hats, although with characters like the mad hatter wearing them, things get a bit...strange. Apparently, according to wikipedia, and I'm sure a host of other web sites, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is rife with literary allusions and symbolism. But it was all lost on me. I suppose this book would be more interesting studied and picked apart in an academic setting than just as a summer read. Because as the latter, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. But I guess that's the point, since Carroll specializes in the literary nonsense genre (didn't make that up).

Alice's story begins in her garden, where she finds a rabbit hole and falls down into a fantasy world. Each chapter is a new adventure in Wonderland, with new characters and silly situations. A lot of what happens in the book reminds me of a dream. Events are random, don't make a whole lot of sense, and crazy seems to be the norm. I won't go into details about the story itself...I think most of you are familiar with Alice in Wonderland in one way or another. I'll just skip to my impressions. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy the book as much as I had hoped. In fact, it took me awhile to read - I'd pick it up between reading other books. As silly as the story is, I didn't find myself that interested in it. I guess a lot of the humor and irony was over my head.

Would I recommend it? Not for a casual read. And definitely not as a children's book. I think of all the versions I've seen, the one that I liked the most was the 1985 Alice in Wonderland movie which also included a sequel, Through the Looking Glass. I just remember they were creepy as all hell and Through the Looking Glass featured one of my favorite poems, Jabberwocky (also written by Carroll). Of course, I was only 6 when the first movie came out, so it's probably cheesier than a can of whiz. But given the source material, I can't really say it's too far off base.

Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn (CBR Book #21)

Do you know why "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" is a well-known phrase? It's a panagram...or a phrase that contains all the letters of the alphabet. A quick look at wikipedia reveals the phrase's earliest known appearance is in the late 1800's, but its author isn't mentioned.

Well...look no more! Mark Dunn has the story of its creator in this cleverly written book, which is presented as a collection of letters. Most of the letters are written to or from Ella, and other members of the Pea family. Ella lives on the fictional island of Nollop, off the coast of South Carolina. Nollop derives its name from Nevin Nollop, the supposed creator of the panagram.

Everything in Nollop seems pleasant. It has a small town feel with a council that governs the island's business. There is even a monument to Nollop including the famous phrase. Everything is business as usual, until lettered tiles begin to fall off of the monument. The town council interprets this as a sign from Nollop himself; it appears that Nollop wishes the letter to be removed from speech and writing, they surmise. The first letter to fall is relatively harmless enough, a Z. After the council decrees that each letter is not to be used anymore, the use of the letter is removed from the book as well. As the characters write their letters to each other, they struggle with avoiding certain words. As more and more tiles fall off the sign and their use is banned, the writings become more and more ludicrous.

One of my favorite parts of the book is when the D falls off the sign. As each message written has the day listed, it becomes necessary to assign new names to each day. Tuesday becomes Toes, Wednesday becomes Wetty, Thursday Thurby. During the month of November, as more and more letters fall off the sign, the name of the month changes accordingly until each note has a new word for November, "nosegay," "no-trump," "norepinephrine" and "noopers" are just some of them.

Eventually, speaking and writing becomes so difficult, the council passes a provision that states, in written form only, "hear twins" may be used as a proxy for certain letters. In other words, words may be written phonetically with the remaining allowed letters. So "farewell" can be written as "pharewell," "you" as "ewe" and so on. But even this proves difficult as creative substitutions must still be made. "Phrents" becomes the closest thing to the words "friends," "achieve" becomes "asheeph." Here's an example of a sentence near the end of the book, "Tee otts are not goot," which is "the odds are not good." Of course "hear twins" can only be used in writing because when spoken, one wouldn't know if you were actually using the banned letters or not. Eventually, more and more lettered tiles fall off the monument until only 5 remain, LMNOP.

Is your head spinning? The good news is, this progression is gradual, and although the book becomes harder and harder to read, it also becomes sillier and sillier. And you get used to it. And by this time, you're invested in Enterprise 32. This is the task assigned to those who oppose the council. In an effort to prove Nollop isn't divine, as the council has come to believe, the remaining townspeople work to create a panagram in 32 letters. This would beat Nollop's panagram by 3 letters, proving that any mere mortal could do what he did, and better.

At this point, you may have some questions, like, "what do you mean by remaining townspeople?" and "how could they work on a panagram if there are letters banned from use?" Well...all those questions and more would be answered if you read the book! And I definitely recommend it if you have an interest in words, word play, word puzzles, or anything related to that. Even if you don't, it's a great book, adeptly written, and entertaining.

Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde (CBR book #16)

My dryspell is over at last! After several boring, disappointing, and simply "meh" selections, I have come across a solid nominee for the year's top five. This is one of those books I couldn't stop talking about so read it already!

Shades of Grey takes place in the future society of Chromaticia, after an event referred to only as the Something That Happened. Society, or The Collective, is run according to infallible rules set by Chromaticia's founder, Munsell. Not surprisingly, the rules don't always make sense, like why spoons are no longer made, or why bottles and jars are to be manufactured in one size only. There are other mysteries in Chromaticia as well, like why noone can venture into darkness, why all living things have barcodes, and why the two biggest threats to The Collective are swans and lightning.

If I'm starting to lose you, the first thing you need to understand is that a lot of Shades of Grey is tongue in cheek. Fforde is a master of the absurd and sets up a lot of silly situations that, sadly, remind me of work first, then a lot of other things after that. There's a great scene where our narrator, Eddie, goes to a library. Most books have disappeared over time, but due to a poorly drafted directive, staffing levels at libraries will remain unchanged forever. So Eddie is followed by seven librarians who have nothing to do. One, a ninth-generation librarian, shows Eddie empty shelves and describes the books they used to hold. "Murdoch on the Orientated Ex-Best," "The Complete Sheer Luck Homes," and other titles roll from her tongue like a bad game of telephone. Sometimes it's just the titles she gets right, like Catch-22, a "hugely popular fishing book and one of a series."

And we haven't even touched on the Colortocracy. Apparently people's ability to see color is severely limited and people are divided into classes based upon their color perception. If you see mostly red, you are a red. If you see yellow and blue, you are a green. If you see little to no color at all, you are a grey, and the lowest in society. Marriages are arranged based on how one's color perception may help maintain or raise your position in society. Are you a coveted violet who sees closer to the blue range of the spectrum? If so, why not marry a red to deepen your child's violet perception uprange?

Color also plays a role in health and well-being. Depending on your ailment, visualizing a certain shade may make you better...or kill you. Perhaps you need a little pick me up? Try lime, but don't view too much, it's a gateway they say that may lead to the more powerful lincoln green and before you know it, you're chasing the frog...

And I could go on and on. Fforde injects wit, humor, and fun in this story about Eddie Russett, a Red, who travels to the town of East Carmine on an assignment to conduct a chair-census. As Eddie learns about the people of East Carmine, he develops a dangerous habit of curiosity which leads him down a path that's part Alice's trip down the rabbit hole, but more Neo swallowing the red pill, if you ask me.

In all, a slightly slow start (mainly because I had no idea what was going on for the first 30 pages), a great middle, and an end promising two more books to come. And will I read them? Absolutely. I can't wait to see what Fforde has coming out and will make it a point to check out his other books in the Thursday Next and Nursery Crime series as well.

For some fun information on Shades of Grey, click here.

Death with Interruptions by Jose Saramago (CBR III book #5)

After reading Anne Marie's great review, I put this book on my short list. Her review warned about Saramago's writing style (no punctuation, run-on sentences, etc) so I was fully prepared to channel my high school days of reading Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury, which wasn't a fun time. Maybe it was because I was expecting the worst, but Saramago's book wasn't as bad as I expected. Like Anne Marie said, you have to get past his writing style and I think after about a hundred pages, I didn't notice it anymore. My brain adjusted, I guess. And I'm glad it did.

Death With Interruptions is a study of "what if." What if death decided to stop killing people? What if death gave everyone a week notice? What if someone defied death's order? Saramago writes the book in two main parts. The first part explores death's decision to stop killing people. He discusses the implications of this from the government's perspective and how society as a whole deals with this. Undertakers begin to panic; who will they bury now? Hospitals begin filling up, because people still get sick and injured, but now, those who would normally die are stuck at the brink of death. And the fact that death is still in full operation in the neighboring country gives an underground criminal organization an interesting market to exploit.

The second half of the book deals with death's decision to send letters to everyone a week before their death date. But one letter keeps coming back unread, so death decides to investigate. Who is this person that can defy her? At this point in the story, Saramago really focuses his story from one that deals with society on a large level to one that is now really about death and one individual. We get to see the more supernatural side of death and her operation, where she...lives?, how she keeps track of everyone, and how she travels. Saramago is strangely able to keep the mood of his book pretty light but there are still some really creepy moments as he describes how death can envelope an entire room, or how she watches someone while he sleeps. And the story that evolves definitely kept me turning the pages culminating in an amazing ending.

If you're a bit of an adventurous reader, give this one a go. I definitely recommend it but it falls in the "not for everyone" category because of the writing style. But the story is so good, you just might have to read it anyway, despite the writing style.

On a side note: If you find Saramago's style to your liking, his other books might be interesting too. According to a quick look on wikipedia, Saramago likes to deal with big "what ifs" based on his other books - What if the Iberian peninsula breaks off and floats around the world (The Stone Raft)? What if an entire country is stricken with the mysterious plague of white blindness (Blindness)? And this is just the tip of the iceberg for Saramago, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998. All in all, a lot of good reasons to pick up his books.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (CBR III Book #4)

There must be some kind of corollary to Murphy's Law which states that when you go into something with low expectations, you won't be disappointed, and vice versa. Since I'm one of the last of my friends to read this book, I had the benefit (?) of their opinions, which were actually mostly a bit disappointed. But anyone who's read the Hunger Games books knows you HAVE to read Mockingjay, no matter what anyone tells you about it, and I'm glad I did.

*note* This review is written more for people who have already read the book, so there are spoilers ahead. I won't bother recapping the first two books. If you haven't read them, I highly recommend the series but suggest starting with The Hunger Games. For a review of the first book in the series, click here.

In Mockingjay, Collins basically keeps the Hunger Games going, except she loses the arena and the limited number of players. The Hunger Games is now everywhere and has become everyone's reality. And it doesn't get any easier for Katniss, who finds herself the reluctant face of the resistance.

Instead of Snow, this time Katniss is being used by Coin for her own purposes. Purposes which may or may not overlap with Katniss' own desires. Instead of having a team of stylists, Katniss' outward appearance (despite her inward struggles and demons) is made acceptable by a small film crew shooting propoganda pieces for the resistance. And Katniss continues to struggle with her own identity. Is she of any value to the resistance? To Peeta or Gale? Does her life have any meaning beyond her role in the civil war and her ultimate goal, which is not to serve the resistance, but to kill Snow?

I thought Collins did a great job of showing how truly innocent, good people, can become completely changed by life's events. Katniss and Peeta are hardly the same people they were in the first book. You see their tragic evolution from unblemished to completely destroyed, both physically and emotionally. Then there are character's like Haymitch, who you only know after the Hunger Games has changed him. After my journey with Katniss, however, by the time I finished the book, I was forgiving of Haymitch for his alcohol abuse and almost understanding. In fact, if Katniss had decided to become an alcoholic, I can't say I'd blame her.

I also liked how Collins kept Katniss strong, but not infallible. She was a reluctant Mockingjay, she was motivated by hate and revenge, and she voted to hold another Hunger Games. True to life, Collins doesn't provide much explanation for some of Katniss' actions. You just have to guess as to why she does certain things.

Then there's the issue of who Katniss ultimately chose to spend the rest of her life with. How much of it was choice and how much was circumstance? What if Peeta had not gone back to 12 and Gale had? Did she choose Peeta because of the pain they shared? Sure, they had both been subject to horrifying events, but could Katniss truly understand Peeta's point of view, or he hers? Did Katniss blame Gale for the death of her sister? Was that more unforgivable to her than anything Peeta had done? And did Katniss choose Peeta because she loved him, or did she grow to love him after making her choice?

Maybe the answers to these questions are not what's important...maybe some of life's questions can never be answered...and maybe that's okay. Because as Peeta and Katniss have learned, there can be a fine line between what's real and what's not real. The thin thread that holds our lives together can be easily broken by things like excess, fear, hate, and war. But holding fast to simple truths like loyalty, patience, and hope is what kept Katniss, and can keep all of us going.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

This is the second book of the Hunger Games Trilogy and a great sequel. Collins picks up right where she left off - after Katness and Peeta win the Hunger Games. Now, they must visit every district in a victory tour. Before the tour, President Snow visits Katniss. He explains how her and Peeta's suicide attempt at the end of the Hunger Games could be interpreted as an act of defiance, instead of one of love. President Snow threatens Katniss' loved ones unless she can convince him that she truly was motivated by her love for Peeta. The citizens of the twelve districts, however, want to believe that Katniss has other motivations, and Katniss isn't quite sure how to respond to the pressure from both sides.

I hate to admit this, but I read the book months ago and can't quite remember how I felt about it except that I liked it. But if you read the Hunger Games, you already know that you have to read this and the third book as well. There's just no question about that.

One thing I DO remember and was excited about is that Catching Fire alluded to the fact that the 13th district might not be extinct after all...of course the murmurs of a rebellion are also forming, so there is a lot to look forward to in Mockingjay (which I STILL haven't read because there is such a long line for it at the library...).

The Hubs' take: The book was "alright but not as good as the first one."

Reviewed by Cathy

Death With Interruptions by Jose Saramago

I don’t care what you say about Portuguese communists, they write good books. Having heard of the passing of Nobel Prize winner Jose Saramago earlier this month I thought I would kick things off with a review of his book about…well, death. That, and because we’re all going to die. Unless I’m wrong, and we end up living forever…but historically speaking it doesn’t look good for us.

For those of you not familiar with Saramago’s work, he is famous for exploring dark themes and human responses to the unimaginable. In Death With Interruptions, death (that’s with a lowercase “d” to you – she’s picky) takes a holiday and no one dies for a year. How do you face the possibility of not being able to die long after you’ve lost the ability to live? Is death doing us a favor by letting us linger at her door? And if there was a way to die, what price would you pay to make it happen?

There are not just personal consequences. Life insurance companies and funeral homes fear the collapse of their businesses. Hospitals scramble to cope as people continue to age and become terminally ill. Religion is hit hard. How can faith strongly steeped in the idea of death and resurrection exist when death is taken away?

In the second half of the book, death returns with a new plan. She resumes her duties, first by eliminating her backlog of overdue deaths and then by implementing the one-week warning. If you are slated to die in the next week, she will send you a lovely notice in a purple envelope so you can get your affairs in order. Is this really helpful? Is death again trying to do us a favor by giving us a head’s up before we die?

And from death’s POV, what happens when the living refuse to die? What does it mean when the purple envelope is returned unopened? And what, ultimately can cause death to discontinue her work to begin with?

A note about style: It will become very obvious very quickly that Saramago did not grow up with Schoolhouse Rocks. The book is marred by lack of appropriate punctuation, run-on sentences, and missing capitalization. Saramago is part of the Pulitzer club that likes to test the boundaries of proper writing style, not to mention the patience of his readers.

To conclude, this is a book I’m not likely to forget soon. Given our fascination with dying, Death With Interruptions makes for an interesting, compelling read if you can get past the author’s writing style. You will not be the first to think “Great story, but would it kill this guy (pun intended) to write normally?”

Posted by: Anne-Marie

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games is a Young Adult book about a world called Panem, believed to be North America. Panem consists of The Capital, which governs twelves districts. At some point in the past, the districts rebelled against The Capital. The Capital squashed the rebellion and as a reminder of the failed act of defiance, they hold the Hunger Games. This is an event in which each of the twelve districts sends a boy and a girl, between the ages of 12 and 18, to compete in a battle to the death. Only one survivor remains and the winner's district receives enough food for the rest of the year.

The book has a Big Brother feel to it with a little bit of Running Man and even Alice in Wonderland mixed in. I felt at times that I was (along with the protagonist Katniss) the only sane person in a world of madness. Collins is able to weave contrasting images such as taking an event that revolves around violent death and mixing in extreme makeovers and romance without a second thought.

This book confused my sensibilities. In a way, it's a lot like a bad accident. I felt guilty for enjoying it but couldn't help but read on with morbid interest. Suzanne Collins created an entirely new world with its own customs, rules, and even animals. Her characters are colorful and her herione, Katniss, is a strong and complicated person. Using these things, Collins makes strong statements about war, violence, power, and humanity.

A great thing about this book is that it's the first in a three part series. So read the Hunger Games now, then the sequel Catching Fire, and you'll be just in time for the Mockingjay release in August!

Reviewed by Cathy