Adjustment Day

Adjustment Day by Chuck Palahniuk     336 pages

This wa the longest 336 pages I have read in a long time.    All the way through it was like the author is screaming at the reader.   the long and the short of it is   Suppose one day that everyone in the world picks a group to identify with and takes it so far as to reestablish borders and countries pertaining solely to their particular group identities and while the ideal is to establish utopian societies, instead all the groups repeat the same historical mistakes and redo the things that have over time separated and segregated.   As are all of Chuck Palahniuk's books there is much sexual and violent content so like the parental warnings = I'm just saying = but with that caveat, I think teenagers could get the gist of the heart of the story.   It is often cruel and unkind and Palahniuk makes many sensical deductions on how the human race gets way off kelter very easily.   Mind numbing at times.  It is Mein Kampf perhaps for Millennials.

 - Shirley J.

The Handmaid's Tale

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood  311 pages

Set in the near future, in a place that you understand was once the United States, this is a story of a place where women are suppressed, oppressed, repressed and worse.  In response to a sharply declining birthrate, this new regime has put into place a system where Handmaids, women who are fertile, are the temporary possessions of high-ranking officials.  Handmaids are only valued as long as her ovaries are viable and monthly, she must lie on her back and pray that the Commander she's assigned to impregnates her. Offred lives through her days remembering her life before, when she had a husband and a daughter, a job, money of her own, when she was allowed to read; a world that is gone now.  She is surviving, but with an eye towards some kind of escape from this place.  However, how? And to where?

I have read this book several times over the years and when Hulu started their adaptation of the book, I was pretty excited.  Of course, I didn't have Hulu until last week . . . but have now binge watched the first season and started on the second season.  One of the things that I love about this book is that while my reactions to it may change a little, depending on when I am reading it and what's going on in my life, the main things in it continue to resonate.  The story continues to horrify me --- and indeed, I feel that if elements of this story do not horrify a reader, I would really question what was wrong with them. I may remember some parts of the story and not remember other parts, but I always remember the darkness in this book and how every time I read it, I can see threads of it in real life.

I have my favorite books of Atwood's, and this is one I return to again and again.  This time, I wanted to read it, even though I was watching the series and I knew that the adaptation varied from the book. However, the fact that many elements were the same made me want to give it a re-read before I was finished watching the series.  Now, I'm telling my husband that he needs to read the book (he's watching the series with me) because I want to talk about it with him.  I love that there is wry humor in the story, along with things that are absolutely horrifying.  The story, even now, seems so real ---you can imagine some of these things happening, maybe not to the extent that Atwood took them in the book, but certainly, oppression and attitudes about women exist in the real world.

The Salt Line

The Salt Line by Holly Goddard Jones.  400 pages.   Due out in September - I read an e-galley.

When you decide what freedom really means, how far will you go to attain it? That's what drives this spin on a dystopian story about survival in a world where the United States' borders are all behind a ring of scorched earth. Nature, in the form of deadly disease-carrying ticks, has waged war on humanity and those within the safe zone live a safe (although very limited) life. Most people have no desire to leave, but some, driven by a need for an adrenaline rush, use their wealth to sign up for an expedition into the dangerous, tick-ridden areas outside the salt line. This latest group, however, include a few people who have different reasons for going on this expedition. When they find themselves at the mercy of a community of outer-zone survivors, and defenseless against the ticks, alliances and friendships in the group start to shift.

This is a tautly written story that starts you off thinking you know what's going to happen and by the end, you feel like you have no idea how you ended up there.  There are plot twists and character development that come at several points in the book, which keep the pacing taut with suspense. There are some interesting characters, and not all of them are easy to like or completely figure out (which I liked).  I will say that the idea of making ticks extremely nasty and dangerous gave me the creeps throughout the entire book --- and every time I was walking outside, I was jumpy; it's definitely a well-done plot element.

That's not to say the book is without flaws. However, I really liked the author's take on a dystopian (and what sounds like near-future) setting. The story explores how friendship can change, depending on how far circumstances can push people, and in fact, how circumstances can make people question their own humanity.

Y: The Last Man

Y: The Last Man Vol. 1-10 by Brian Vaughan, 1484 pages (10 books)

My reasons for reading Y: The Last Man were threefold. The first, it was recommended to me by Goodreads, who I commonly turn to for recommended reading though they don’t always pick good books. Second this series is written by Brian Vaughan who did the Saga series which I have loved so far and continue to read as they come out. And finally it looked interesting when my brother was reading it. They couldn't all be good reasons.

Y: The Last Man follows the life of struggling magician Yorick and his monkey Ampersand after all the other males have suddenly dropped dead. Babies, seniors, teens, all of them. This holds true for all the other species as well, if it was male it is dead. Searching for answers he pairs up with a special agent named 355 and a geneticist and cloning expert named Alison Mann. But can they figure out what not only caused all the men to die but also a way to avert disaster before the Amazon’s (a radical hate group convince that this plague was God’s wraith) manage to finish off poor Yorick.

This series was certainly an interesting read, though it only barely scrapes by in the plausibility sector. If there was only one person of a gender left after a plague sweeps the earth, the chances of that person dying in some sort of disaster are astronomical. Especially when the book mentions the out of control fires, planes crashing all over the world, etc. I am also fairly certain that this book would have been a much darker horror story if it was reversed, meaning that there was only one woman left alive.

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, 374 pages

I hesitated to even write this blog post because this series is so popular. The hesitation is both one of not wanting to bore the reader with the beating of a dead horse and one of my unwillingness to admit how far behind the times I am. I actually began reading this book out of a happy accident because I went on vacation and finished the book I brought with me, forcing me to choose a book from my sister's bookshelf.

Happy accident or not, I am not disappointed that this was the book I chose from the bookshelf. Over the years, I have found myself to be a fan of dystopian fiction, and The Hunger Games lived up to my newly-discovered genre. The reading experience was quite different from other books I've read, however, in the sense that there's not a whole lot of dialogue. This fact makes sense when you think about how the protagonist is basically hunting by herself for most of the novel. There are definitely interesting introspective passages, and there seems to be a pronounced statement regarding class separations.

On a different note: it sincerely amazes me what counts as Youth Fiction these days. The subject material of The Hunger Games was hard enough for me to absorb (there was a death that I was particularly upset about), so it just floors me that the youth of today are reading heavy topics such as this.

One Year After

One Year After by William R Forstchen
304 Pages


"The story picks up a year after One Second After ends, two years since the detonation of nuclear weapons above the United States brought America to its knees. After suffering starvation, war, and countless deaths, the survivors of Black Mountain, North Carolina, are beginning to piece back together the technologies they had once taken for granted: electricity, radio communications, and medications. They cling to the hope that a new national government is finally emerging.

Then comes word that most of the young men and women of the community are to be drafted into an “Army of National Recovery” and sent to trouble spots hundreds of miles away.

When town administrator John Matherson protests the draft, he’s offered a deal: leave Black Mountain and enter national service, and the draft will be reduced. But the brutal suppression of a neighboring community under its new federal administrator and the troops accompanying him suggests that all is not as it should be with this burgeoning government."

 I am still enjoying this series although I was a little frustrated  with some of the extensive battle scenes in the book.  

The Fire Sermon

The Fire Sermon by Francesca Haig
370 Pages
"Four hundred years in the future, the Earth has turned primitive following a nuclear fire that has laid waste to civilization and nature. Though the radiation fallout has ended, for some unknowable reason every person is born with a twin. Of each pair, one is an Alpha-physically perfect in every way; and the other an Omega-burdened with deformity, small or large. With the Council ruling an apartheid-like society, Omegas are branded and ostracized while the Alphas have gathered the world's sparse resources for themselves. Though proclaiming their superiority, for all their effort Alphas cannot escape one harsh fact: Whenever one twin dies, so does the other. Cass is a rare Omega, one burdened with psychic foresight. While her twin, Zach, gains power on the Alpha Council, she dares to dream the most dangerous dream of all: equality. For daring to envision a world in which Alphas and Omegas live side-by-side as equals, both the Council and the Resistance have her in their sights."

The first of a planned trilogy this book would be very popular with new adults and leaves a lot of room for further development.  It does drag a bit here and there and one drawback I found was the unsure voice of the protagonist, as if the author couldn't quite decide what direction to take her. 

Postive

Positive by David Wellington
437 Pages

"Anyone can be positive . . . The tattooed plus sign on Finnegan's hand marks him as a Positive. At any time, the zombie virus could explode in his body, turning him from a rational human into a ravenous monster. His only chance of a normal life is to survive the last two years of the potential incubation period. If he reaches his twenty-first birthday without an incident, he'll be cleared. Until then, Finn must go to a special facility for positives, segregated from society to keep the healthy population safe. But when the military caravan transporting him is attacked, Finn becomes separated. To make it to safety, he must embark on a perilous cross-country journey across an America transformed--a dark and dangerous land populated with heroes, villains, madmen, and hordes of zombies. And though the zombies are everywhere, Finn discovers that the real danger may be his fellow humans."

Yet another zombie novel attempts to tell the story in a different light.  Zombies are not the main focus in this novel, but instead survival from a world of chaos years after the collapse of civilization.  I would recommend to others, especially those who enjoy dystopian fiction. 

Wake

Wake by Scott Snyder, 256 pages

Wake was recommended to me by Nathan. It is a graphic novel about a newly discovered sea creature being investigated by the government. But when things go drastically wrong humanity pays the price. With the coastal cities now underwater the remaining population is in a scramble to figure out how to stop this threat.

This book combines both stunning visuals with a good story line. It can come across as a little bit jumbled since it jumps around, but I did not find it too bad. Since the story is in now way resolved by the end of this book, I really hope there is a second one on the way.

If you are trying to decide to read it or not, I would say that it is a cross between Cloverfield and Waterworld.

The Infinite Sea

The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey, 3oo pages

Cassie and the Others are back!  The alien race known as the Others watched earth for thousands of years before their invasion which left only small groups of teenagers and children left as population: planet earth.  The second novel, The Infinite Sea, picks up right where The 5th Wave left off.   The action opens up with Cassie in an abandoned motel with a group of refugees from the Others' internment camp.  The rest of the novel reads basically as a war novel complete with recon missions, secret plots, traitors, psychological mind games, torture and true love with an alien (okay, maybe that last only happens in Yancey's dystopian future).    

A lot of reviewers of this book complained that it was too slow and contemplative and confusing.  As it is told through a series of flashbacks and through the perspective of multiple characters, I can understand the confusing part if you are not used to that style, but I really liked Yanceys's choice to let everyone share in the story.  I really liked how the focus expanded to include more of Ringer's story.  Don't get me wrong, Cassie is great and she is a survivor and all, but Ringer is badass!   For those who missed the focus on the Cassie/Evan love story, I would just say, war is dirty and confusing filled with long stretches of boredom interrupted by brief bursts of violence.  More importantly, wait for the third book!  In any trilogy, book two is a classic set up book for the showdown that is sure to come in book three (full disclosure: The Two Towers is my favorite LoTRs novel and Christmas Eve is my favorite holiday, so maybe I am an anticipation junky).
The 5th Wave was one of my favorite books of 2013, so I eagerly awaited its sequal.   At the beginning of the novel, I really struggled to remember all the characters from The 5th Wave (as in, I probably should have done a re-read because I totally forgot who everyone was) which made the beginning super challenging for me.  Once I got into Ringer's chapter, I couldn't put it down.  Also, the chess scene.  "Checkmate, bitches" is my new go-to line for everything. 

Little Green Book of Chairman Rahma

Little Green Book of Chairman Rahma By Brian Herbert
412 Pages


In the not too distant future, North and South America have become one green dictatorship ruled over by Chairman Rahma.  Corporations have been ousted and citizens compressed into large cities, leaving the rest of the countryside to be turned back over to nature.  In the name of ecology 10's of millions have died or been recycled. 

What is interesting about the book is some parts sound good and acceptable and the premise is not entirely implausible. 

California

California by Edan Lepucki
320 Pages

In the near future society in the United States has crumbled into  a series of walled communities who primary commodity is safety.  Cal and Frida don't live in a community but in an isolated rural area.  When Frida discovers she is pregnant she starts to desire other company than just Cal.  So they set out to the nearest settlement.  It seems things will be better in the company of others but secrets begin to emerge that are disturbing to the couple.

You don't really get too much of why the United States has failed except for mention of a series of calamities.  This is more a quiet novel about the nature of man when the thin veneer of civilization cracks.

Shades of Grey

Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde, 390 pages

Before I get started, I want to say that describing any Jasper Fforde novel is ridiculously hard to do, and Shades of Grey is probably the most difficult. It's also the most difficult to understand. So, if, as you read this review, you find yourself getting frustrated, confused, or ready to punch through the screen of the device upon which you are reading this, take a deep breath, realize how much that would hurt, and know that you are not alone. I am certain to confuse myself while writing this. I feel your pain.

Shades of Grey is set in a dystopian caste-based world where people can only see one color; the rest of the world exists in shades of grey. The better you can perceive that one color, the higher up you are in your caste (someone who picks up 95% of yellow is infinitely better than someone who can see only a measly 15%). And then the colors are ranked according to the classic rainbow mnemonic ROY G BIV, with purples/violets at the top and reds about as low as you can get without being a worker-bee nonentity, AKA a Grey.

As with any world like this, there are lots of hard and fast rules, many of which don't make sense, and our protagonist, Eddie Russett (a Red), is just curious enough and just enough of a troublemaker to earn a "needs humility" assignment to a rural community. Once there, he further pushes the boundaries and makes himself some frightful enemies of the village leaders and the policing Yellows.

Like any of Fforde's worlds, this one is a strange strange land, filled with odd creatures, weird customs, and some wonderfully wild notions. I love this book; I've read it before, and I can't even describe my frustration that the long-promised sequels are still sitting in Fforde's brain, or a drawer somewhere. If you're a fan of Fforde's work, by all means, give this one a go. But if you've never read Fforde, don't start here. Try the Thursday Next series or the Nursery Crime books before you dive into the world of Eddie Russett.

The True Tale of The Monster Billy Dean telt by hisself

The True Tale of The Monster Billy Dean telt by hisself by David Almond 256 Pages

This is the story of Billy Dean, as he says, telt by hisself.  Billy was born the day the bombs fell and was kept secret from what remained of the world.  The only people Billy has ever seen is his mother and father.  His father doesn’t live with them, but shows up some nights, telling Billy stories about God and the stars.  One day, his father stops coming and his mother takes him out to see the rest of the world.  With a few friends, Billy tries to make sense of the broken world the bombs left, and to begin to piece together the story of his birth.  Because people believe that he is the Aynjel Child that can save them all. 

I didn’t like the book very much.  I found the phonetic spelling of words that Billy uses to be distracting.  It makes sense that Billy, being mostly uneducated, would spell this way, but it made the book really hard to read.  I wouldn’t personally recommend this book, although I have liked a lot of the books this author has written.