The Ghost Brigades

The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi

My review

rating: 4 of 5 references to other scifi authors I dig!
As fun as the first Old Man's War, and in many ways better.

I don't season food when I cook it. I prepare the food, put it on the table and allow the partakers to "season to [their own:] taste". I've adopted this habit after having many people tell me that I am too heavy handed with the salt. Occasionally when eating out someone in the group will mention that a dish is "too salty", I like to think of these dishes as being made "just for me".

Occasionally I use this metaphor to describe non-food offerings, i.e.:
Unbreakable [comic (check), divorce (check), father (check), ... (someone made this "just for me"!) ]
Lego (check) Star Wars (check) video game (check) [this one is all in the title]
Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness [comics, zombies, and ASH! I still SHOW this to people just to convince them it exists!]

The list goes on and on, but you get the point.

Back to The Ghost Brigades... Scalzi throws together science fiction, action, war, fatherhood, and the rest in just the right combination for a truly entertaining read. One warning, if you read it and find it "too salty", just remember that it was written for grownups... or maybe it was written "just for me".





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Contact

Contact by Carl Sagan

My review

rating: 4 of 5 times I wished I knew whether or not the "science" being referenced was ACTUAL science or the FICTIONAL type
Great read.

Made me wish I was smarter.

I really enjoyed what it had to say about science and religion. numinous

The last page is downright beautiful.


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Old Man's War

Old Man's War by John Scalzi

My review

rating: 4 of 5 well recycled scifi ideas.
Big fun. Totally guilty pleasure. This book has pushed me back into an old jr. high school habit that I had of waking up early to read. Back in those days it was all Asimov all the time.



This is really good, escapist (I know I'm stealing your term Mitch) scifi. Reminds me a lot of the Weber stuff that I have read (Empire from the Ashes). It definitely geared toward a grown up audience, so I'm VERY curious to see what the author does in "Zoe's Tale" (which apparently is aimed at young adult readers)


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Despereaux

It is (as always seems to be the case) "not as good as the book". The unfortunate part is that with the great voice talent, fantastic art, and flawless animation, the weakened story manages to bring the whole thing down a bit. It's a little dark and sometimes complex for it's target audience. In the end both Emmalee and I really enjoyed this one, with the exception of the way the story diverged from the book. And those differences have actually just convinced each of us that we really ought to read the book again for a good Despereaux palette cleansing.


6 out of 10 things that remained (luckily) unchanged from the book... (i.e. a solid rental to watch with the kids, but read them the book first, or instead... either way)

p.s. isn't it odd how much worse "6 out of 10" seems when compared to "3 out of 5"???

Tehanu

I love Earthsea. This book was hard to love, but the ending was strong and beautiful.
The first 3 Earthsea books are fantastic. The sort of thing I could pick up and read from any point and enjoy. This one feels almost like an 100+ page epitaph for the world of Earthsea. The Earthsea you knew is dead, long live the new Earthsea. The very last chapter changed tone a little and felt a little like the old magic that I want to hear more stories about... With 2 books left in the "cycle" I guess I'll just have to read them and find out which direction the head down?
That said, I would recommend the first 3 Earthsea books to anyone. But be prepared for something VERY different if you choose to read the 4th.

3 out of 5 times that I wondered if I would enjoy this book more if I were a woman?

The Farthest Shore

I definitely got more out of this book by reading it as an adult. While I still enjoyed the story (an epic adventure tale if ever one was told) I felt like I appreciated the author's thoughts/statements on religion, faith, eternal life,... which is all stuff that I don't think I slowed down for much when I first read it as a teen.

Newbery Award Goal Status: While this one won (I love using homonyms back to back) a National Book Award, it lost out to Julie of the Wolves when it came time to hand out the 1973 Newbery

Now on to Tehanu (The Earthsea Cycle, Book 4) (which won a Nebula... not a Newbery, I need to get back on task)

The Tombs of Atuan

I love a good story about faith (even misplaced?).
This one was ONLY a Newbery Honor book (but too good to pass up).

4 out of 5 thoughts provoked.

Tale of Despereaux

At one point this was Em's favorite book. So reading this hits my "Newbery" goal as well as my "Favorites" goal. First off I'd give it 4 out of 5 tails removed from vermin. This is one of those children's books that is a joy to read. It's fun, has heart, teaches a moral without being too heavy handed, and is a breeze to read. I'd definitely suggest this to any child making the transition into "real chapter books".

The Christmas Rat by Avi

Em picked this one up at the library a while ago. In addition to whatever book she is reading to herself at any given time, there is always some book that I am in the process of reading aloud TO her. The book is one of the latter. Anyway, with this book we decided it would be cool to have me record the chapters so she can listen to them on her iPod when she is at her mom's house.

I'll reserve judgment since this is a book Em picked for herself (even though I read it aloud). I will say that it has some interesting religious metaphors. Additionally, it's strange to read a kids book written recently. The references to the kid checking his email and playing video games online seemed a little strange to me, having grown up before internet ubiquity.

Odd Thomas

Brother Brigham recently mentioned that this is his favorite book. I have this rule that if someone I know tells me that something is their favorite something (book, movie, ...) I should probably check it out. (So let's see some comments on your favorites)

I dug the book. I wouldn't call it my favorite. I will say that had the author left the last 2 chapters (4 pages maybe) out of the book I would have enjoyed it much more. It's a little like the ending to AI. Personally I dig that movie a lot more if I turn it off when the creepy robot version of Forest Gump's kid gets frozen in the ice able to see, but not reach, his goal (but maybe that's just me).

So go buy a copy, tear out the last 2 chapters (have a friend do it so you don't accidentally read what I think should be the last page) and dig in.

3.5 out of 5 dead people who just can't let go of this life. (I'd give it 4 for the first ending)

Crispin: The Cross of Lead

In an effort to encourage Em to read more (and better) books, I made a long term goal to read all of the Newbery Medal Winners. At first Em was concerned about the impossibility of this goal since they are still giving out that award. We had a funny moment where I explained that since I read more than one book a year I should be able to catch up, and then keeping up should be fairly easy. She and I read Island of the Blue Dolphins and A Wrinkle in Time together. So we're slowly working our way through the list.

Last night I finished up Cross of Lead, The (Crispin). I read this on my own as Emmalee was more interested in a different book by the same author (The Christmas Rat). This wasn't my favorite Newbery winner yet. The story starts off quickly enough but Crispin's character arc takes a while before it builds any momentum. By the end I felt like I was reading a different book. Crispin has become a character worth admiring. I appreciate the inclusion of the history that we get to see through Crispin's eyes. I found myself wishing for a little more history, but had to remind myself that this is a book aimed towards elementary age readers. By the end I found myself looking for something that better covers the history of: the Bubonic Plague, John Ball and the Peasant’s Revolt of 1381 (all mentioned or alluded to in this book).
3.5 out of 5 lead crafted religious ornaments... BUT I'm very curious about the sequel and will certainly pick it up eventually.

World War Z

I finished reading this last night. It's a joy to read. It (typically) isn't like reading other "horror" books. Feels like it was written by the world's authority on zombies.

No Country for Old Men

Over the weekend I finished reading No Country for Old Men (Vintage International) by Cormac Mccarthy. Four solid stars. Honestly I didn't give it enough respect when I started reading it. It's one of those books that I'll set aside and plan on picking up for a second reading in a year or two.

With any luck I'll make it out to see the moviesometime this week.