2012 Book Journal

January

The Sweet Far Thing (Gemma Doyle Trilogy #3). Libba Bray. Nook (Library Loan). This teen book tells the adventures of Spence Academy student Gemma Doyle who discovers a miraculous talent and must discern the appropriate way to use it. This penultimate title wraps up (for now) the ongoing battle between the Order, the Rakshana, the Realm creatures, and the mysterious Circe to control the powers of the realm. It does present a great allegory about the use and abuse of power.

The Ultimates 1.1 (Collecting Ultimates Vol. 1, # 1-6; 2002). This was the opening of Millar’s revisioning of the Avengers. Marvel created the Ultimate universe as an alternate the Marvel universe which has existed since the 1960s. This angsty aughts version of the Avengers was well done. In the treatment of Banner on can see the problematic nature of treating another poorly. 

The Ultimates 2.1 (Collecting Ultimates Vol. 2, # 1-6; 2004). Volume 2 sees Hank Pym on the outs, Bruce Banner jailed, and Thor fighting Loki (or is he crazy?). An interesting look at issues facing America, specifically the issue of unintended consequences. On the one hand many members don’t desire to hurt, but in trying to do good they see it go wrong in unimaginable ways. On the other is the issue of escalation, that is once a thing gets going (even if no one intended it to take on the life it does) it cannot be easily stopped. None of the Ultimates desires to be a weapon in the hand of the US military but this is what is slowly happening (seemingly with no choice to the Ultimates).

The Ultimates 2.2 (Collecting Ultimates 7-13, 2002). The conclusion to the first arc, this brings together the themes of displacement and escalation. The Ultimates face the full fury that their entrance onto the world stage has created.

Sex on the Moon: The Amazing Story Behind the Most Audacious Heist in History. Ben Mezrich. Audiobook (Library Loan).  There is a group of nonfiction writers who write so well that many of their books seem as readable as the best fiction (Jon Krakauer,  Erik Larson, Sebastian Junger, etc) and Mezrich is becoming a welcome edition within it. Many of these are criticized for the “nonprofessional” writing habits, but as long as the author is honest in his or her craft I am OK with the use of some imagination on the author’s part (as long as it is backed with research). If these were reading for peer review, it would be different; but as good enjoyable bits about real life, this is as good as it gets. In this book, Mezrich looks at the attempt by three NASA interns to steal a safe filled with moon rocks from the JSC in Houston. The book paints a surprisingly complex picture of Thad Roberts, the ‘mastermind’ behind the theft. A compulsively readable book (well read on audio by Casey Affleck, or as I like to call him the good Affleck) which takes a hard look at what it means to dream, and how fantasy can slowly but surprisingly morph into nightmare.

Ronald Sider. The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience: Why Are Christians Living Just Like the World ( 2005). See linked review.

Christian Smith. The Bible Made Impossible : Why Biblicism Is Not a Truly Evangelical Reading of Scripture. (Nook-2011). Review pending. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler. The Future of Us.  Really interesting premise about a couple of friends who (in 1995) find their facebook profiles for 2010. How does one handle that kind of  knowledge and could you change who you are? Interesting questions if not perfect follow-through. If you’re gonna read Asher catch Thirteen Reasons Why, first.

February

Christie Golden. Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Ascension. Library Loan (2011).  This is the 8th book in the Fate series. This work, which takes place roughly 30 years after ROTJ, follows Luke Skywalker and his son Ben as they attempt to discover 1) why Jacen Solo fell to the dark side (in the previous Legacy series), and 2) what is affecting Jedi all over the galaxy causing them to have psychotic breaks. The answers so far have been very very dangerous. The Skywalkers have found a “new” group of Sith and a powerful force-feeding, dark-side monstrosity named Abeloth. Meanwhile back on Coruscant the Solos and the Jedis have been dealing with politics stuck between the Jedi-hating Admiral Daala and the mysterious conspirators attempting to overthrow the Galatic Alliance leadership. Most interesting to this particular book has been the continued story arc of Vestara Khai, the Sith apprentice captured by the Skywalkers. This book shows her dalliance with Ben and the light side coming every so close. Can love truly soothe the beast within her as Ben and Jaina Solo believe it can? The book takes an interesting look at one person’s battle to bring peace to the chaos within themselves. I get teased constantly on this point, but read books from the SWG and you get interesting stories such as this.

Kazuo Ishiguro. Never Let Me Go. Nook Purchase (2005). ( Mind-blowing work by the Booker Prize winning author. This fictional work is the memoir of a young women named Kath. It follows her life and her friendship from childhood with two others from her school, Ruth and Tommy. I had seen the movie first so the surprises weren’t as bracing and the tone not as moody. Yet this dense narrative blossoms in its sublime take on the idea of the human soul and what makes a good life. These three whose lives are deemed less than human are seen to truly be more than humane. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

George R.R. Martin. A Dance with Dragons (Song of Ice and Fire, Vol. 5).  Nook Purchase (2011).  In honesty though I finished this work in February, it was begun back in July 2011. What can I say the book is 1100 pages long, contains some overlap with the previous work, focused on some of my least favorite characters, and was the last of this cycle I may get for a while. After plowing through the first several thousand pages of this work last Spring, I was not entirely ready to put down these characters for the length of time Martin takes between volumes. That said this volume would populate the lower end of my list (FTR: Swords, Game, Crows, Dragons, Clash). It did not pack the emotional power of either Storm of Swords (which BTW would make my top 10 best fiction list) or Game of Thrones;  nor did it build to the level of maddening intensity within A Feast of Crows (which started slow but towards the end had my on the edge of my seat). Looking at this work, Martin’s comment that he lost control of his creation makes the most sense. Here’s hoping that the master regains his touch and presents relatively soon the next work in the planned 8 volume series. Of course should I jones too hard for the world of Westeros, there is also the excellent HBO series.

Brian Michael Bendis (writer) and Michael Avon Oeming (artist). Powers: Who Killed Retro Girl. (2000). This volume collects the opening arc of Bendis’ self-published opus. The series followed SFPD officers Christian Walker and Deena Pilgram who are often called to investigate crimes involving superheroes and super-villains. This fantastic piece follows the two being thrown together to investigate the title crime. Who would want to see the beloved Retro Girl, defender of the innocent, dead? Plenty of suspects. But who accomplished the deed? No one knows and an entire city mourns and celebrates her passing.  It was amazing to me that anyone would start a superhero tale with the death of a genuine hero, and the ensuing investigation evolves into a fascinating look at morality and mortality.

Jo Nesbo. The Leopard. Library Loan (2010 SWE / 2011 US). This is the ninth title in Nesbo’s Harry Hole series. While the name prompts giggles from my co-workers, the books have been no laughing matters. Nesbo, a Norwegian writer, has been gaining popularity in the states (along with fellow Scandinavian Henning Mankell) due to Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Truthfully I found out about both due to an article posing them as the heirs to Larsson‘s throne. What works I have found in the States have not disappointed. This may be my favorite of the three I have found. Hole may have been victorious over the Snowman in the previous novel, but victory has been at cost. This work finds Hole in hiding in Taiwan with gambling debts and having switched from booze to heroin as his preferred method for escaping reality. Yet the impending death of his father and a new spree of murders bring him back to Oslo and the offices of the Crime Squad. What follows is an excellent tale of fathers and sons, salvation lost & found, and ultimately a tale about redemption: how to deal with the past and move on to the future with (if not confidence) some faint glimmer of hope. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Michael Lewis. The Money Culture. Audiobook – Library Loan (1991). Lewis may currently be known as the guy behind Moneyball and Blind Side, but before his Hollywood success in Sports-world he was an award-winning chronicler of everything finance. It was Liar’s Poker, a piece detailing his time as a Salomon Brothers trader in London, which put him on the map. This work is a follow-up (or perhaps B-sides) version of that piece.  In this work the articles he was publishing around the same time as Poker are collected and given to the reader as a tour-de-force of the wide world of finance. The writing (done from 1989 to 1991) is excellent and at times prophetic, his piece on the Real Estate market as well as a piece imagining a bankruptcy of a major Wall Street player would come true (his “bankruptcy” tale in 1997 [and again in 2008], and his critique of the RE market apropo as of 2008). Looking for a primer on the problems of the past five years read this work. Recommended.

March

Dennis Lehane. Prayers for Rain (A Kinzie-Gennaro Novel). Happily purchased @ 2NC-Hoover (1991).  This was Lehane’s 5th novel covering these characters and the one immediately following his Gone, Baby, Gone (which was put on the big screen by fellow Bostonian Ben Affleck. I gotta say as I read this novel I saw Casey Affleck in my head as the lead he played in that film. He was that convoncing.). Patrick’s actions against the kidnappers of that novel establish the driving narrative of this work. Patrick and Angela are estranged causing both feel that life has turned sour. Patrick is sick of the gumshoe life but agrees to help a friend-of-friend shake off a stalker. Months later that FOAF swan dives off a tall building and a grumpy Patrick seeks answers. He finds a brutal antagonist who hones in on the weakness of his prey, destroying that person’s well-being, and ultimately driving them to suicide. As Patrick, Angela, and Bubba seek justice for the destroyed, they find themselves also seeking forgiveness, from themselves, from each other, and from the lives they’ve lived. Love, they decide, is like rain, it salves the battered soul; and so they each began to pray for rain before the drought becomes too much to bear.

Chad Harbach. The Art of Fielding. Happily purchased @ 2NC-Hoover (2011). This debut novel made all the top 10 lists from the past year. It was deserved. This novel, which I first learned about when SI published an excerpt, follows a sure 1st Round MLB pick who mysteriously develops a bad case of Steve Blass disease. This mental affliction has real world results as it affects all those in the young Shortstop’s world: his best frenemy (who is the team captain), his roommate (and teammate), the university president, and the president’s daughter (who may or may not be dating the captain). Each person’s world is rocked and they must come together in ways they could never have imagined because their league rival, a first trip to the regional tournament, and a chance to win a National Championship are waiting not so patiently in the wings.