Vague Wisdom

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Contrary to the synopsis from Goodreads, I wouldn't call Kindred Science Fiction. I'd call it Fantasy certainly or Speculative Fiction if you like. However this is a minor quibble. A contemporary African-American woman (well, from 1976, but contemporary to the story) is called or somehow transferred from 1976 to 1815. Her life appears to be connected to an ancestor slave-owner. Who can, inexplicably, call her to his time and place when he is in danger. To survive she must find a way to act like she's from this time and place. She must act like other enslaved people of color of the time. I won't go into any more detail except to say that this is an amazing story. As long as you are not overwhelmed by the subject matter of slavery and its realistic depiction the story is simple to read, but the author delivers an emotionally complex story that talks about all the ways owning people infects everyone involved. Nothing is simple about the reactions and actions in this story. Definitely worth anyone's time.



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Bouncing Off the Moon by David Gerrold

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This was the weakest of the three Dingilliad (do they really call it that?) Trilogy. Still fun and action-packed.



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I remember very little about it, so it's difficult to find. I don't remember title or author, but I think the title had the word "planet" in it. I read it in high school so the book came out before 1977. It's a near future story about a planet (it could be earth). That is under a totalitarian regime. There's a character who has robotic legs. I think he was in prison and escaped. Anyway he is so upset with the government that he starts doing what we would call now terrorist acts. Anyway, someone within the government also wants to revolt and starts hearing about the disabled guy outside. He starts using what the guy's doing outside to confuse the government leaders. The disabled guy outside starts realizing that someone inside is using his activities to help cause trouble within the government while he's causing trouble outside. So they start coordinating with each other without ever being able to actually talk to each other. At some point the disabled guy gets caught by having his robotic legs shot out from under him. That's all I really remember. Anyone have any ideas about what this book could've been?

The First Days by Rhiannon Frater



This trilogy is what started my reading zombie stories phase. I have always liked after disaster stories and the title of this one made me think that's what it was and it is sort of. It just has an unlikely cause of the end of the world. I found this trilogy to be fun to read. Very quick, fast paced. I was pleased that all of the really strong characters were women. The main women had a strong bond to each other even though they weren't a couple. Although people with disabilities were all in the background, I did like that they were at least mentioned. It feels good that a few of us will survive the end. :-)

I like her concentration on the nuts and bolts of surviving in such a world. Love that sort of stuff. The third book of the trilogy gets much more metaphysical which I think weakens it. Even though the metaphysics are pretty matter-of-fact not very woo hoo.

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I still don't quite get probably never will understand the fervor that fans of this series has. However unlike all the books except maybe the last two, there were a few scenes that I genuinely liked. I'm not sure it's worth digging through the whole series to get to the good stuff, but there is some good stuff. I'd never recommend it to anyone over 12, but it isn't horrible. I won't spoil everything, but I did like how it was resolved. The whole series could still use the hand of a really good editor.


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Snagged from serenejournal.

The Big Read thinks the average adult has only read six of the top 100 books they've printed below.

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read
3) Underline the books you LOVE.
4) Reprint this list in your own LJ (if you want) so we can try and track down these people who've read only six and force books upon them.

I'm not italicizing any because I always intende to read lots of things.

( And heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere's memage! )