Rating: Recommended
American Gods – Neil Gaiman
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We follow Shadow as he’s released from prison into a world where his wife is dead and an unknown stranger offers him a job out of the blue. Via Shadow we get a front row seat to the struggle of the New Gods of America versus the Gods that came across the ocean with immigrants.…
Yumi and the Nightmare Painter
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I think the ending of this book encapsulates my feeling of the story, sometimes stories end in a sad manner because that’s how things end. In fact, much of Painter’s recent life has been sad due to failing his friends. While Yumi helps him repair that rift, the pain is still there and it was…
The Lost Art of Reading
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This is a book examining the cultural significance of reading. We’ll pull out a few highlights. David Ulin talks about the purveyors of fake news working hard to normalize that which should never be normalized. We see it both in the content the anti-Semitic content that Elon Musk shares on his social media site, and…
Nurtureshock
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The title of this book refers to the author’s idea that sometimes parents don’t “just know” how to raise a child and thus they are lost trying to figure it out. The goal of the book is to show us what science says about how children should be raised. One thing recommended here that we’ve…
Knife of Dreams
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The highlight of this book for me is Perrin chasing down the captor’s of Faile (his wife) and the alliances he makes with those he’d rather not join. In the end, respect is earned from both sides that comes back in later books to aid in the battle with the Dark One. Purchase Knife of…
The Gathering Storm
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My favourite part of this book is watching Egwene come into her power, not through bluff and bluster, but quiet strength. She dominates the white tower and those who would oppose her just by quietly being the one who will not bend no matter what punishment they put upon her. Purchase The Gathering Storm on…
Towers of Midnight
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I think my favourite confrontation in this book is Matt doing what he knows he should to try and rescue Moiraine from the Aelfinn and the Eelfinn. Matt is an interesting character as he complains all the time and generally tries to avoid responsibility, all the while he’s there when you need him and he…
Starlight Tour
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I feel struck by the tragedy of the death of Neil Stonechild and the callousness that the Saskatoon Police had in dealing with the death of a first nations person. Really how they dealt with all the first nations people spoken with in the book. The police often talk about a single bad officer, but…
Warbreaker
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In this part of Brandon Sanderson’s world magic is endowed by the consuming of the spirit of another being. While this doesn’t kill the being, this does leave them “drab” so they pass through life as just a little bit less than whole. Full of political intrigue and the bad people aren’t who you think…
The Good Enough Job
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The main premise of this book is that workism is particularly American and a fairly modern phenomenon. Workism is the belief that work is the source of meaning in your life, and the author explores how work has come to replace religion, and any other type of volunteering, to become the main focus for everyone.…
