Micro Mention "Scythe"

"Scythe" by Neal Shusterman is a young adult novel that deals with the usual YA concerns, first loves, first heartbreaks, coming of age, et cetera, but it's also wrapped around an interesting sci-fi question of: "what are humans like as functional immortals?"

The answer, somewhat predictably, is pretty awful. 

I don't exactly mean this as a criticism of the book because if everything was hunky-dory, then it would be pretty hard to tell a compelling story about the subject. After all, a story requires conflict in some form to be engaging. If there's no conflict, well, it's more of a recitation of events than a narrative.

Overall, if you like YA novels, "Scythe" will serve you well.

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Author’s Website: http://www.storyman.com/

Micro Mention "Billie Albatross And Her Time Traveling Mom"

"Billie Albatross and Her Time Traveling Mom" by Thomas Hansen is a fast-paced sci-fi novel with sharp dialogue and is certainly worth reading, especially if you can get it on kindle unlimited.

With a bit of time and distance from this story since I reviewed it in full, here, I still remember it fondly. Hansen created a simple plot to follow, but that in no way means that the story wasn't robust or that the characters weren't memorable.

What I think shines the clearest in my memory of the story is the dynamic between Billie and Pandora, which makes sense since Pandora is Billie's mother and, well, the title. But obvious statements aside, I think it's so gripping because I find that in most fiction, and not just in books, it feels like there is a deficit of dynamic and ultimately healthy mother-daughter relationships. It certainly isn't unheard of but compared to father-daughter stories, it's less common. I don't think I was consciously aware of how much I lacked that particular story beat in my reading until I read "Billie Albatross And Her Time Traveling Mom." 

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Micro Mention "The Jungle Book"

Since I was a wee insufferable lad, I've seen Disney's interpretation of "The Jungle Book" probably over a hundred times. So when I finally got around to reading the source material by Rudyard Kipling, imagine my surprise when I discovered that they really aren't all that similar—at all.

I'm not sure why that surprised me. After all, that's sort of Disney's thing when you consider their interpretations of the Brothers Grimm. The book is a series of short stories revolving around Mowgli and isn't one long continuous narrative. Sure they all fit together, but they each have independent arcs separate from the overarching plot.

The setting and characters are a curious choice for a man like Kipling, other than the fact he was an English man, and they all had strong opinions about India, especially back then. But as charming as these stories are, and surprising as it is that our protagonist is an Indian boy named Mowgli, take it with a grain of salt that this was for any sort of early progressive reason. Kipling would soon go on to write something called "The White Man's Burden," which is precisely what it sounds like. 

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"P.R." by Danielle Dassler--Fiction Review

Today obscurists, we’re punks, not goths—that’s important. In any case, the book today is “P.R.” by Danielle Dassler, and right up front, I was delighted that this coming-of-age story blasted my expectations.

***The Non-Spoiler part of this review*** 

What I love about this book:

“P.R.” broke my heart more than once—I know—a strange thing to say in the section about what I loved about this book. But here is why I list this as a good thing—because I’m profoundly odd, I love a good tragedy, and without getting to the spoiler-ly part of this review yet, there is a lot of stuff in this coming-of-age novel, which is tragic.

I love how Dassler leans into all the manic ups and downs of teenage life, especially where it concerns young people who exist out on the fringe. “P.R.” is really a story colored by strong emotions that are often contradictory—like joy, rage, insecurity, confidence, love, and hate. It’s all the good and bad fused together. 

In situation, if not in character, our main character, Andrea, felt at times like a modern-day punk rock “Anne of Green Gables,” if Anne were a touch more cynical and frankly a bit more interesting. Andrea’s living situation is equally odd, though, first living with her sort-of boyfriend, then with her rich friend Roxanne after he has to leave town. When Andrea is coerced into running track, and she soon discovers a passion for it, it was really satisfying to watch how she grew as a person. As the story progresses, she becomes more assertive in what she wants and isn’t just shunted along by what her social circle demands. 

The final thing that I loved about this book is that Dassler doesn’t let up on the reality of the world in which her characters live. It can be wonderful and exciting, but life is no fairy tale, and for a lot of young people who come from broken homes, consequences are real, harsh, and often permanent.

What I don’t love about this book:

The mentor characters, the track coach, and Ms. Beasley compete with each other for time in the spotlight with Andrea, so they’re just concerned adult characters—but not developed into full three-dimensional people. This runs on to some of the other minor characters, too, where they feel samey and stock. The boys in the band could all be one person in my mind. 

Dassler infuses so much excellent character voice and individuality into her protagonist and the major supporting characters that the contrast with the minor cast is stark. To play devil’s advocate against my own point, though, this could be a stylistic thing because teenagers are naturally self-absorbed, so the further away from themselves and their favorites, people do become pretty samey. It’s a lack of attention rather than reality.

Also, nobody’s mom is doing a particularly good job in this story—the parent characters themselves are all pretty poor, from dads who range from neglectful to outright hostile. Still, the moms don’t ever seem to do anything right. Even Crunchy Matt’s mom, who appears to be the most successful of the bunch when we meet her, feels overbearing.

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***The Spoiler part of this review***

***Ye be warned to turn back now***

The quick and dirty synopsis:

We begin with Andrea in trouble for cutting class and smoking, sitting outside the guidance counselor’s office waiting to hear the damage. During the session, talk of expulsion is brought up, but the counselor recommends against it—noting that Andrea’s heavy boots made it quite a feat for her to outrun campus security. So Andrea’s “punishment” is more creative, she’s to join the track team, which has minimum grade requirements to be on, so Andrea has to bring up her grades too.

Micro Mention "Breakfast At Tiffany's"

"Breakfast at Tiffany's" by Truman Capote is one of those short classics that I didn't know if I liked it initially, which is probably intentional. There is something about Capote's gossamer writing that keeps you invested and it's narrated brilliantly by Michael C. Hall—it got to me at the end.

I think what kept me invested beyond Capote's writing is the manic energy he infused in every character, even the narrator. They're all out to do—something, even if they're not sure what. It's like watching ambitious twenty-somethings all ping-ponging off of each other, not sure where they're going or what they want, but they know they want to get there fast. Also, and I talk about this more in my full review, which you can find here, but a lot of the characters feel like archetypical people you meet throughout life.

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Micro Mention "The Name of the Wind"

“The Name of the Wind” by Patrick Rothfuss was recommended to me thusly, need a gritty fantasy story to fill that “Game of Thrones” hole in your heart? Upon finishing this book, I feel this first novel is like a fusion of “Game of Thrones” and a gritty version of Harry Potter.

This is one of those books that I wanted to love more than I actually did. It's a great story, and I get why people love this book. It just didn't resonate with me. It certainly had the scope of some of my favorite epic fantasy stories. Still, as one long origin story for its protagonist Kvothe, it often feels directionless, like a series of short stories where you're not certain where any of this is going—rather than a novel.

The listless feeling I got reading this book wasn't helped by the fact that interesting and exciting things are afoot in the frame story. There are monsters about, and this mysterious tavern owner, who is more than he seems, knows about them, but then we leave that story for that tavern owner to tell his literal life story to a scribe. And as interesting as that life story can be, I kept thinking, yeah, but what about the demon spidery things?

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Author's Website: https://www.patrickrothfuss.com/content/index.asp

Micro Mention "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man"

I’ve never read one of James Joyce’s books before picking up this one, “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.” I can tell you right now that it’s clear that Joyce did not give a fuck if you couldn’t keep up with his wit. Also, that sermon on hellfire can take the paint off walls.

Joyce was a genius, for sure, and you can tell from his writing in this book that he was definitely aware of that fact about himself. So, needless to say, while interesting, in a historical sort of way, this novel isn't what I would call easily accessible.

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"Billie Albatross and Her Time Traveling Mom" by Thomas Hansen--Fiction Review

Well, it’s Friday, so it’s review day! Today we’re talking about a time travel sci-fi adventure by Thomas Hansen that genuinely surprised me. “Billie Albatross and Her Time Traveling Mom” is a really fun read.  

***The Non-Spoiler part of this review***

What I love about this book:

Hansen has a natural talent for bestowing his characters with the gift of gab. Dialogue is some of the hardest things to write and make believable, and when it isn’t, it risks being labeled with the dreaded descriptor of stilted. The tamber of banter between Billie and her mother Pandora especially shines with a Whedon-esque style with a touch of “Gilmore Girls.” This is such a valuable skill because if the dialogue sparkles, the audience will naturally be more forgiving about any other shortcomings a narrative might have.  

Another thing I appreciated about this novel is that every element Hansen introduces, he used, nothing was wasted or was superfluous. It makes for a trim to the point plot, which for a book paced as quickly as this, I think this is the best tact to take. In a slower-paced narrative, story elements introduced for purely indulgent reasons can work atmospherically, but in quick-hitting stories, they tend to cause the reader to think, “well, what was the point of ‘X?’ It was introduced and then dropped.” The only possible exception I can think of right now is maybe a mystery with lots of red herrings. 

Just as a short note, about a thing toward the end of the story, for practical reasons—assuming time travel was a thing, of course—the concept behind the Arcadia ship was clever. Once time travel is possible, going backward to create a staging ground—out of the way—that always exists throughout time is a practical solution for time travelers that I liked. 

What I don’t love about this book:

So, this is soft science fiction, and that’s fine—I’m not down on soft sci-fi at all, and it might be the only way to do a time travel sci-fi because what does a hard sci-fi time travel story even look like? However, the easy to fall into trap soft sci-fi makes all the more likely is handwaving. What I mean by that is the tendency to address a hard to explain component of the story with basically, “and no one knows.” Ok, yeah, sure, there are many things we don’t know now, so I assume that would be true of this universe too, but surely someone must have theories, right? 

You meet two characters, I’d say near the end of the beginning of this story, Tosh and Marty—the latter undoubtedly a “Back to the Future” reference—who are well-meaning but impractical idiots. That’s a fine character arc to explore. What I don’t get is Pandora’s reaction to them. She’s often annoyed by them and worried about their influence on her daughter—that part I get—but why she keeps dealing with them just because Billie likes them is beyond me. Personally, after facing the first life or death situation they subject Billie to, my reaction would be, “you two need to go and figure your shit out and leave my fourteen-year-old daughter out of it before you get her hurt, arrested, or killed.”

While I’m thinking about it—I understand the pop culture references. I even believe they are helpful to sprinkle into certain stories because it builds intimacy with the reader. Basically, it’s a freebie of goodwill, “you like X? Well, I like X!” That is—when people get the references. Now here is where I might lose some people, but pop culture references—like bacon—can be overdone. It’s possible to have too much of a good thing. Don’t believe me? Go eat a pound of bacon. I’m not entirely certain when “Billie Albatross and Her Time Traveling Mom” crosses that line precisely, but I just found them distracting by the end of the story.   

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***The Spoiler part of this review***

***Ye be warned to turn back now***

The quick and dirty synopsis:

The story starts with Billie, a fourteen-year-old girl—daughter of an eccentric single mother—going to school with her best friends. On this day, however, there is a really odd substitute teacher who only seems interested in asking just the girls really bizarre questions. Later, after school, the class bully tells Billie that the substitute teacher wants to meet with her specifically. Not believing him, Billie and her friends leave to go home. On the way, they’re chased by that substitute teacher who seems slightly ungrounded—like she doesn’t belong.

Micro Mention "True Grit"

"True Grit" by Charles Portis is a western novel that is genuinely subversive the more-and-more you think about it. On the one hand, clearly in love with the genre, it doesn’t shrink from critiquing that genre, either, through the eyes of its strong female protagonist.

It isn't parody per se, but by making the POV character Mattie Ross, a fourteen-year-old girl, we see the classic American western setting and the people who inhabit it in a novel way. In more ways than one, Mattie, not a typical girl of her age, typifies some of the core character traits we come to expect from westerns. Traits like courage, self-reliance, practicality, perseverance—aka grit, and I'd argue she demonstrates these qualities more so than even her allies, the U.S. Marshall and a Texas Ranger. Both of those characters are who you'd expect to be the exemplars of the genre, but interestingly, both are clearly subordinate to Mattie herself.

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Micro Mention "Anne of Green Gables"

"Anne of Green Gables" is like a Canadian version of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," but with a female protagonist in this coming-of-age story. There is something in the way that Anne talks that is mesmerizing even today.

A story about an orphan girl, Anne, is easy to love because of her relentless optimism despite numerous episodes of heartbreak, big and small, throughout her life. Honestly, this sort of story is normally outside of my wheelhouse in terms of interest, I'm more a science fiction/fantasy/horror person, but despite that, I found myself totally engrossed in this story by about the middle.

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"Breakfast at Tiffany's," by Truman Capote--Fiction Review

This week let’s head back in time with an old classic. Take in that old New York feel of the 1940s with Truman Capote’s “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” 

***The Non-Spoiler part of this review***

What I love about this book:

How Capote constructs this story, from a technical perspective, is ingenious. It’s written in the first person from the POV of a character who isn’t the story’s protagonist. Not only that, but his name is never given. That’s a hard trick to pull off and could go wrong in several ways. I believe that’s also why this story is a relatively short novella.

Holly Golightly, the true protagonist of this story—the character in which the plot pivots around—initially is an unlikeable protagonist. By the end, I softened on her. Here’s the thing, though, not because she learns anything or even significantly changes her ways. Holly is just that compelling in how firm she holds to her character.

Capote also captures the feeling of a New York of yesteryear and crystalizes it in his prose. All of the principal characters in this story are complex creations that often express conflicting values, which I feel is emblematic of the war years of WW2.

What I don’t love about this book:

On the flip side, this is definitely a story that dates itself in an unpleasant way regarding race and sexuality—hint, it’s got that cavalier use of derogatory terms, which was all the rage in the 1950s. I’m not suggesting that Capote was a racist or homophobic. After all, he was an openly gay man at a tough time to be a gay man. My impression of him, which comes across in this story, is that he was very preoccupied with the sensational. If a little offense was needed to get that shock value, so be it.      

Without spoiling too much here in the non-spoiler part, but there is a bit with Holly’s cat that I found incredibly sad. It doesn’t get hurt or anything—nothing like that—it’s just that I am especially prone to sad animal moments. 

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***The Spoiler part of this review***

***Ye be warned to turn back now***

The quick and dirty synopsis:

The story begins with our unnamed narrator, a writer, having a conversation with a bartender about a mutual—friend—love? It’s hard to tell with how they talk about Holly. What’s clear is they miss her, and she seems to have fled the country.