Books I've read so far in 2012 (Part 2)

Ack. My goal is to update every Monday, but it's looking like June is going to be one of those two posts months. Sorry.

Let's see, what's quick and easy and something I could post about and erase this bloggers guilt? Aha! Time for...


Books I've Read so Far in 2012 (part 2)


Wake by Robert J. Sawyer - The good: I love Becky Sharp and it's cool to see a fourteen-year-old blind girl at the center of a sci-fi series. The bad: Sawyer's sense of humour is just too corny for me. Also, he lays the Canadianisms on real think- did you know that there are differences between Canada and the U.S.? This book will hit you over the head with every single one of them.

'Wake' really feels like part one in a series. There are lots of dangling plot threads left to dangle in the wind. I didn't feel this book was satisfying on it's own, and I don't feel inclined to read part 2 and 3 to get the complete picture.

Servant of the Underworld: Obsidan & Blood, book 1 by Aliette de Bodard - A really interesting fantasy/mystery set in the Aztec empire. Ms. de Bodard does a great job of not only rebuilding the Aztec empire but creating a magic system to go with it. I look forward to reading other books in the series.

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler - This book has gone on my list of 'books everyone should read.' Ms. Butler creates a world teetering between pre and post apocalyptic. Sure, there might be wild dogs roaming the streets and thieves and killers keep trying to break into your gated community, but at least there are still presidential elections. The book covers a ton of fascinating themes, including religion, race, class and gender, but still also works as a fast-paced novel about survival. 

The Prophet Murders by Mehmet Murat Somer - I blogged about this one a few weeks back and how it managed to grab me out of all the other books in the used bookstore I work at. The Prophet Murders is an odd book, going back and forth between flippantly funny and drastically dark with the turn of a page. It's like if you combined 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' with the 'Shopaholic' series. I enjoyed reading it, even if it throw me for a loop sometimes with it's fluctuating moods.

Four books isn't a lot, I know, but I have been reading a ton of short stories as well. From the library's discard pile I picked up an old science fiction anthology that has several classics in it, such as 'For I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream' by Harlan Ellison and 'Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell. I've also read the latest issue of Asimov's and Interzone, and I've been making my way through 'Les Miserables' (only 500 more pages to go!). Plus there's also the myriad short stories on the net that I've read here and there.