Paul

Pretty damn awesome. It's got serious Pacific Rim vibes, but much more culturally sophisticated, using Chinese mythological elements, and the main character - despite being based (very) loosely on a Chinese Empress - is unpredictable and fierce. The action is constant, and the end was VERY cool.

Put simply, it checked all my boxes for what makes a badass story. I think my only holdback from a 5 star review was that aside from being super-cool, I didn't get much out from it. The relationships in the story were pretty unique, and the cast was good, but character-wise, it felt more like watching a movie than getting to know them. And while it was very emotive, I noticed more than felt the emotions... Except the emotion of "oh damn, that was badass."

I'd say with about half the trilogies or series starters I read, I leave it at that whether I like it or not, but in this case, I am DEFINITELY reading the sequel. Sometimes you need a fast-paced action story with crazy twists, and this delivered that in spades.

A really strong, sound, and compassionate appeal to indigenize science and society. I found her arguments compelling, and I think almost ten years after this book came out, it has made a real impact in the academic community. Our health library has an Indigenous Health section, and studies integrating indigenous practice with the scientific method are being reported in top scientific journals. I agree that reframing our Western methods through a holistic, indigenous lens, with a focus on sustainability, and an openness towards appreciating the personhood of nonhuman beings is integral to fixing some of the mistakes we have been making.

Unfortunately, the economic goals of changing to a system of reciprocity is going nowhere, and I'm afraid her approach to those subjects was a little too bleeding -heart to have the same kind of impact.

I think that's why even though parts of this book inspiring, and I feel like I will approach the outside world with a new level of appreciation, I can't give this book too high of a review. I found the way she described nature and her own feelings as over-the-top, like she was trying to sell the appeal of being high on life, and while I think she held back on being too preachy, it still felt like overly dramatic. Did she really become paralyzed with existential angst while trying to buy a pen because she didn't know what to thank for it? I get the sentiment, but I feel like she oversold the point a bit.

I guess in the last few years, it's hard not to let cynicism trump optimism and appreciation.

Damn, what an epic series of stories this was! I was feeling in Volume 3 that the Swamp Thing's stories were getting a little episodic and repetitive. In fact, those were the first half of his “American Gothic” series. This volume contains the last of the episodic stories (a particularly good one) and then brings them all together in a mind-blowing way.
Only Alan Moore can use monster stories to illustrate philosophies about the root of good and evil, and damn does he do it well!

At this point in the series, Moore has clearly fully developed his style as it is best known. He begins to abandon the classic style of comic book action, horror and drama, and tell mature tales about humanity and the state of the world.
In the last part of the book, one can sense in the Swamp Thing's isolation and subsequent will to create, the personal struggles illustrated in the Watchmen's character Dr. Manhattan. Both are near indestructible and their connection with humans is becoming less clear as they struggle to find their place in the universe. These ideas are what makes Moore's use of superheros truly unique and beautiful. It's not just about fighting the bad guys or overcoming some trial, it's about facing oneself and finding meaning in an often hostile universe.

This is just such a fascinating read of a group of truly incredible men venturing into a voyage more difficult than they could ever have imagined. My favourite parts of this book didn't come from the voyage itself though, but all the little tidbits about America in the Gilded age: The 1877 World's Fair which sounded like something out of a steampunk fantasy, the quirky super rich Newspaper editor, the misguided scientific theories causing people to believe that the North Pole might actually be warm, and so on.
I'm typically a sci-fi fantasy reader, but deep down it probably comes down to a fascination with new and unknown worlds. In the 19th Century, the North Pole was just that, and so this book of exploration really can read like a fantasy at times. Knowing it actually happened and that this is all based on meticulous logs makes the story all the more palpable.
I never really gave much attention to Gilded Age history or sailing adventures, but I took a risk on this only because I once read about scientific exploration of the North Pole in a magazine, and it seemed like a fun thing to learn more about. Now I think I might read more about these adventures to fill in the blank spots of the globe. Reading about the risks these people took for the purpose of extending knowledge of science and nature is just so fascinating, I want more now!

Depending on how this book is read, it can be a book about living in a dictatorship, the trials of fleeing persecution, or the culture of East Africa in the 20th century. For me though, this was a story about what it means to have a home.

When government turmoil results in the mad dictator Idi Amin taking power in Uganda, the community of South Asians that have been living there for generations are basically told that the only home they've ever known is not for them, and that they must leave. This story follows one such family. The different family members all handle this in their own way, and reading about their experiences was very eye opening. From the children who were shuffled around from country to country, never knowing what their home was, to the parents for whom Uganda was all they've ever known, the experiences they go through are fantastically illustrated.

What made the story particularly palpable was the relatability of the characters, and the uniqueness of the situation. They are a typical middle class family who felt comfortable in their world, and then one day without warning, they become a persecuted race. This sudden shift from security to vulnerability in their society results in a story that is relatable both for people who have experienced vulnerability in their society, and for those who haven't. That's just one of the timeless themes packed in this story. On top of that, it's very readable. I recommend it.

This is just another Thriller.
I had really high hopes for this book. Not only do all my friends rate Hill's The Book of Negros as one of their favourite books, but it won the Canada Reads. Despite the hype though, this book was not special. Rather, a book that starts off with the potential to be deeply significant quickly changes into a shallow thriller with a ridiculous plot, unrealistic characters and an ending so preposterous I almost thought it was a satire.
The book was pitched as being relevant because of its focus on refugee issues, but it doesn't actually address those issues at all. The main character, Keita, is the son of an internationally known journalist and he's among the best marathoners in the country. Both these factors are crucial to the plot. Sorry, but most refugees aren't internationally competitive athletes with world famous fathers. His story is not the story of the modern refugee by a long shot.
Also, the use of fake countries makes the story hard to relate to. The history of why these two countries so close together in the Indian Ocean are so opposite is never explained, leaving the reader confused about why things are the way they are. I thought the fake countries would make a statement about how refugee problems are the same no matter what the context, but that didn't happen at all. Nothing about this plot is remotely relatable to actual historical refugee stories. Instead it just felt like the fake countries were a lazy tool to let the author tell his own story without connecting it to any actual country or event.
The only reason I gave it more than 1 star was because the story was fairly entertaining and very readable. It was a decent book for passing the time, like most thrillers. But I was looking for a thought-provoking book, and it failed completely on that front. All I thought at the end was “How did this win Canada Reads?”

4.5 stars
This is a fantastic example of a science fiction story that can be both accessible and full of wild concepts and “hard sci-fi” ideas. It hypothesizes what the world would be like if all of a sudden, the world was fast forwarded through time so that the sun would age to the point of swallowing the earth in one life time, while everyday life on Earth appeared to be the same up until that point.
Not much changes at first. Everything seems more or less normal, there doesn't seem to be any solution, and the end of the world is not tomorrow but maybe 60-100 years away, so it's easy to go on living like nothing's wrong. There is of course much much more to the book then that, but it is what I enjoyed most: this book really gets the every day human perspective. You do not follow the scientist discovering the mysteries or the family that gets trapped in a dangerous cult. Instead, you follow an unexceptional character who just happens to be around all the big events as they unfold.
Basically, this book is like a tribute to old sci-fi insofar as it centres around a big event in space that warps our understanding of physics. But it adds the 21st century twist of focusing on humanity rather than the science. And in an age of apocalyptic books, it's refreshing that the people don't just transform into crazy nutjobs, but act like actual people who deal with problems in their own personal way.

This is the first book of a truly excellent sci-fi series! It is a self-contained story for the most part, so if you don't want to commit to the whole series, you don't have to... But you should if you like this one even a little, because it just gets better.
This novel follows two main characters and swaps between perspectives every chapter. The Holden chapters are a classic adventure style, with disaster everywhere and death around every corner, while the Miller chapters are styled like a classic mystery, with a detective that obsesses over a missing persons case that he suspects is more than it seems. The contrasting genre styles give the book a really neat feel, and with the sci-fi back-drop of a very believable future in which we have colonized Mars and a few asteroids and moons, the whole reading experience is just very fun and unique.
The characters are well-crafted, the main characters being a mix of classic archetypes (righteous hero, obsessed detective) and unique flaws, and the side characters have tons of potential which they develop in the further books. The plot is extremely original and the “villain” can send chills down your spine. And like any sci-fi book, the real-world social implications are very relevant to today. I held back on giving a perfect score because the story was fairly linear for my taste and I wanted more from the side characters. However, I have given a perfect score to some of the later books in this series.

One of the most popular books from the Nobel-winning author, this first book of the Cairo trilogy brings to life a culture and history which is incredibly unique and largely unknown to Western society.
Though the style of writing is very descriptive and the focus on character and custom over plot-line can make this a difficult read, it is definitely worth the time. The book wonderfully portrays the dissonance between the time's popular party-culture and radical Islam, both of which rule the society. It gives a personal view into family lives, individual struggles, and political strife all at the same time, with diverse and complex characters, strong and weak, hypocritical and devout. The book can drag, and the first half can be particularly slow, but it is worth the patience for the intimate experience it inevitably delivers.

The unbelievable living conditions this family went through is enough to grip any reader. Anyone who thinks “I had pretty crazy parents” has nothing on Jeannette Walls.
But what really makes this story unique is the perspective Walls writes from. She recreates her memories and feels them as she experienced them at the time, rather than reflecting back on them with her current perspective. The result is that you begin by seeing her father as a genius and a hero and her mother as brilliant and creative, and as she grows, she begins to portray the good with the bad. Writing this way, the reader can understand why she seems to hold an unwavering loyalty to her parents in spite of the obvious neglect and mistreatment she suffered.
The book is packed with symbolism and complex relationships, and though it may not be a factual autobiography so much as a story based on her actual childhood, it excellently portrays her emotions toward a family which put her through horrific experiences while showing her unconditional love. It's a true must-read.

I put this aside after listening to 27% of it. It's not bad, by any means, but it's a classic swords and sorcery epic with warriors and lots of magic, and that's just not my thing. None of the characters are unique or interesting to me: a bookish young woman who won't take no for an answer, a royal who disagrees with the way things are done, a warrior who came up from nothing with an unstoppable will... They all felt very generic to me, as did the whole setup.

I also found the writing style to just be very focused on action; description is saved for magic and the world, and less so the people or dynamics within it. I wouldn't say Sanderson is a bad writer, by any means, but I also wouldn't call him a good writer. He's prolific though, and he knows how to please his audience.

I did enjoy some aspects of the adventure and magic stuff, but that's not enough for me to commit to 5000+ pages / 200+ hours of my attention.

Delightful, and definitely something I will read to my daughters one day. The ending was a little too conventional and slap-dashed together for me, but it works in a classic fairy tale kind of way. It's fun and quirky and entertaining, but I'm just not great at honing in my inner child enough to appreciate it in the same way I might have when I was twelve.

VERY different from the movie though, so don't think you know the story because you've seen the movie.

A Shipwreck Comedy(?) of Errors

Somewhat to my own surprise, I've come to learn that I'm a fan of the nonfiction sub-genre of shipwreck tales, and so when I heard about this one, I couldn't wait. On the whole, I'd say it delivered. It was well-researched and compelling. It didn't excuse the way sailors mistreated indigenous peoples or gloss over the role of minority sailors (a common pitfall of these books), it took an honest accounting of the many different voices involved, and at the end, it does a great job of evaluating the value of the mission (or lack thereof) within history.

The story of the Wager's bad fortune can largely be summed up as critical mismanagement at all levels: a pointless military expedition executed with questionable guidance and poorly supplied ships, with all levels of leadership being shuffled about on the fly. To nobody's surprise, things go awry.

At the level of the ship itself, and most naval endeavours at the time, I feel like most of the problems could have been solved if someone's mother sailed with them to remind them to eat their vegetables and quit squabbling over nonsense. Just imagine if you decided to man a ship with a combination of homeless people, ex-cons, and over-privileged teenagers, with a handful of men who've spent their whole lives at sea in charge. Predictably, they try to subsist on a diet of jerky and rum and then can't figure out why they're all incredibly ill. Substitute jerky and rum with nuggets and rye, and it's my first year of living on my own, so I can attest that it's not very sustainable

When a 160 page book feels too wordy, you know there's some issues.
A mystery with no real twists or false turns, a very unoriginal spin on Holmes and Watson, and a somewhat half-hearted plot (though I liked the concept) and the characters were pretty flat and predictable.
I liked the setting though! A great take on outer-planet living, and I thought the logic behind the technology being Victorian-esque was very well executed. That vision of Jupiter was just great!

But the narration style was horrible! I get why it was written that way, but it was just so unpleasant for me. Adverbs are to be used sparingly!! I wouldn't have finished it, but it was only a 4 hour audiobook so I suffered through.

This book really played games with me. In an age where science fiction is often either dystopian or hopeful, this book is kind of both and kind of neither. I felt like I never quite knew what the book was leading up to or why the story was moving in the direction it was. But rather than feeling frustrated, I always wanted a little more. It often felt like an “unreliable narrator” story, except that it wasn't a character that was unreliable so much as the plot itself. Every time I thought I had a grip of what was going on, it slipped into something else entirely.
Much of the history is based on real places and events. The bits about the crime read more like a non-fiction story about an interesting trial, complete with photos and examples of evidence. Likewise, the future chapters are well researched, though often painfully bleak. That said, it's bleak for a reason, and is not totally without hope.
This book really hits the mark in the “makes you think” category. The main characters seemed to affect one another's consciousness in ways that left me wondering about the story well after I finished reading it. However, I wasn't a fan of the sparse and often dry writing style, or the story's tendency to leave strange events unexplained. That's not to say it's poorly written; it represents the first-person perspectives of the characters, none of whom had a clear idea of what was going on. I don't always mind restrictive perspectives or sparse writing, but perhaps because I didn't care too much for the characters - I found them generally uninteresting - it was hard for me to embrace their perspectives. I always considered myself a “concept-driven” reader, but these days I need a character with some depth to them as well to really enjoy a book.

I could not put this down! It was so fun, so infuriating, so addictive, and just such a fulfilling read. R F Kuang has a gift for writing infuriating characters, and when in that particular aspect, this is her masterpiece.
Also, this was very out-of-left field for her, and incredibly different, but I absolutely loved it. I can't wait to see what she does next.

This book really makes you see... or should I say sense... the world differently. I feel like I have an entirely new sense of awe regarding the world around me, and also has made me full of weird facts about animals (the best kinds of facts).

I highly recommend it. My only conceit is that it is VERY full of information, and I found if I read too much, my brain wouldn't be able to take it in. So I read it in chunks of one to two chapters at a time, and took breaks in between. I also never read for more than maybe half an hour at a time.

This beautiful Tibetan family story explores how people can feel tied to a sense of place years or generations after having to leave it. Ranging from a small nomadic community high in the mountains, to their forced relocation to Nepal and finally to a small apartment in Toronto, the book follows the daughters of a highly respected local healer and mystic as they are forcefully displaced as part of China's cultural revolution. Not only are they forced to leave their home, but their community's cultural practices are outlawed, and buildings and artifacts are being systematically destroyed. In spite of the trauma and poverty that arises from the displacement, the sense of community, family and tradition remains steadfast among those in the refugee camp, and beyond.

There's a natural authenticity to these stories that can be rare to find when reading stories like this. All the characters are multidimensional, complicated people, and whether they do good or bad or questionable things, it's always understandable why they do what they do. Even the most hatable characters can become sympathetic in their own way. And by focusing the narrative around a treasured statue, the multiple characters and timelines didn't get overwhelming or confusing.

This book works on many levels: the writing is great and has many quotable moments, the characters and their stories are strong and touching, the cultural references were enlightening, and the perspectives and social commentary about how the West seems to view Tibetan culture really forced me to think differently. I recommend this book highly.

The story takes place in Victorian Era Oxford, but its relevance to today's world is undeniable. Mirroring the industrial revolution, Babel plays out an alternate version of British colonialism wherein silver - not coal - drives the world order.

Oxford scholars have used silver to harness the power of language and translation to perform fantastic feats. As a result, linguists are some of the most valuable and powerful people in the world, and the more languages they can harness, the more power their silver bars can create. To gain more linguistic knowledge, Oxford is doing something unthinkable: letting people from other cultures into their school!

The way this book deals with racial and cultural tension is indescribable. The injustices the Babel students faced were very nuanced, but at the same time very obvious. The privileged classmates and professors ask what they have to complain about since they have things so easy - better than most Englishmen, let alone people of their own race - so how dare they complain about colonialism. But they see exactly what it's doing to people just like them. They see how easily wealth and power could be distributed, and how petty the reasons for withholding resources and aid are.

These characters and situations are so perfectly orchestrated that it allows the reader to clearly see all the perspectives enmeshed in the messiness of colonialism. With the way the characters of colour interact with the others, unintentional racism is also portrayed in a visceral way. Even the most well-intentioned characters would do things that would make me cringe, because though I may not have felt it through my own lens, experiencing the interactions through their lens made the awkward moments so potent, I could practically taste the unintended insults.

Some of these concepts might sound intimidating and heavy, but they are approached with a masterful tact, sticking to the story and the perspectives of the times, and focusing on the characters. The main story is then peppered with historical details and anecdotes in fun, and occasionally vicious footnotes. When footnotes are done right in a novel, they can be such a spectacular delight, and this author nailed it.

While the story builds gradually, the groundwork it does to make the four main characters so familiar pays off in powerful ways. When the tension rose, Robin and his friends tore at my emotions in ways I couldn't begin to predict. This book is an unstoppable force, and I am telling any person who will listen that it is THE must-read book. Stop reading this review, and get your hands on this book!

This gorgeous retelling of a classic Arthurian tale perfectly balances the 21st century with the 6th century. The writing style seemed to instantly transport me to that world, and engulf my senses.

Starting as an unusually tall and strong girl raised in the woods by her mother, Peretur - classically known as Percival - easily passes as a handsome man and fawns over young women, earning a reputation as both a warrior and a heart-breaker. Lanza (Lancelot) is a disabled foreigner who fights like a centaur when mounted. None of this inclusive revising of the story felt forced though. It seems only natural that LGBTQ+ people existed then as they do now, and more than likely that in a time before medicine, disabled people would be very visible. And why is Peretur unusually big and strong? Oh, you'll find out.

Griffith keeps a feeling of authenticity to the story by using Early Medieval names, and integrating Celtic mythology from that time. The mix of religions and cultures in this story was particularly refreshing to me. Christianity, only just introduced to England, was only established in some communities, and Pagan gods mix into the tale in fascinating ways. Griffith melds the treasures of the Tuath De with many of the mythical objects in the Arthur legends so seemlessly that it feels like the story should have always been told this way.
These changes brought the story to life such that, in spite of the magic and myth, it felt like reading history, only better.

Despite the dystopic future setting, this story is very down-to-earth. In many ways, it's a classic “coming of age” story, about having to grow up too fast and make big important decisions where every option feels like the wrong answer. It's particularly relatable for anyone faced with having to leave behind the world they knew to pursue their future.

Reid's perspective is that of a bright young person who is suddenly excited and overwhelmed with the immensity of the world, and unsure what her place in it will be. Her story and much of the imagery seemed to relate closely to modern tensions about being from a colonized or oppressed group, and being offered a chance to learn or work in one of the colonizer's own institutions. There are feelings of resentment - betrayal even - but also opportunity.

I felt like the ways in which she wrestled with her feelings to be incredibly genuine and touching. How she feels towards her mother and her home, and how uncomfortable she is around people supporting her, even her willingness to doubt what she knows is true; these are all feelings we deal with when making consequential decisions. Too often, protagonists will be sure-headed about doing the right thing, but Reid's emotions felt much more real.

All this is portrayed in a short book with a darkly meditative and occasionally haunting style. If I was disappointed in anything, it's that the story stops so soon. I would have enjoyed more exploration of the world, though I respect the author's choice to stop where she did. Also, some might find the near-future setting was unnerving, and the themes of climate and disease a bit too close to home. But all in all, I will definitely be seeking more from this talented writer.

A Dark-Cute Fairytale

Dark themes do not necessarily lead to a dark book. Nettle and Bone approached mature themes, and occasionally evoked dark scenery, but its tone and characters were endearing and charming. For example, there's a resurrected skeleton, but it's a dog skeleton, and he's really friendly. Marra is keen and perceptive, but due to her youth and sheltered upbringing, she can be naive at times. Through her eyes, we learn of a world of kingdoms and magic: Hidden fairy markets, strange spells, witches, fairy god mothers, and a noble knight with a dark past. In spite of all the tropes however, each character is more than they seem. They all have interesting personalities and quirks, and the way they interacted felt human and natural.

Kingfisher's magic with this story is in how she creates something that feels familiar and fresh at the same time. It reads somewhat like an old-fashioned fairy tale - but one that fits with more modern ideas of morality. Women, including older single women, have value and are not just evil witches, and the handsome prince is not the good guy, but the villain. Probably the most subversive element is actually that Marra's mission is essentially to save her sister from a toxic and abusive relationship, and that everyone agrees this is a mission worth fighting for. In the age of he-said-she-said, the idea that a woman being mistreated by her husband is ample grounds for a great quest is a quietly radical idea. This is the kind of story I'd read to my daughters... But not until they're a little older.

I really loved getting to know Tetley (the voice of the narrator), and learning to understand the way she sees her world. And it really is her world in a way. In a world made out of cleverly arranged floating garbage on an unending ocean, a small town of sorts has been built up, and she loves this world. But it does not love her back.

Despite being the town's outlet for their rage, she maintains that she is the happiest person in the world. Everyone else is so busy wanting what they can never have, and dreaming that the world will go back to what it once was. She likes her little garbage world though, and wouldn't want the world any other way. That is, until she makes a new friend, and her cheery resolve becomes challenged.

I found this a very emotionally calming book in a weird way. It could be heartbreaking at times, but Tetley's resolve to see the whole world as it is and love it kept the story from feeling sad. The writing is poetic and fun (and peppered with profanity that no longer counts as profanity). It's post-apocalyptic insofar as there clearly has been an apocalypse, but really it celebrates life and perspective and the hunt for a shared humanity. One might even say this book is inspiring. Maybe.