goodreads | Entries tagged with 2015: may

Title: We All Looked Up
Author: Tommy Wallach
Genre: YA
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 370
Date read: May, 2015

Before the asteroid we let ourselves be defined by labels:
The athlete, the outcast, the slacker, the overachiever.

But then we all looked up and everything changed.

They said it would be here in two months. That gave us two months to leave our labels behind. Two months to become something bigger than what we'd been, something that would last even after the end.

Two months to really live.

I was really intrigued by this take on a "pre-apocalyptic" novel. I've always loved post-apocalyptic and dystopian novels, but pre-apocalyptic novels are few and far between - probably because they're harder to write, I'd assume.

I think Tommy Wallach did a really good job though. I was instantly charmed by his writing style (found two quotes I wanted to write down in just the first chapter!) and he managed multiple POVs extremely well.

I'm not entirely sure what I think of the ending, but I guess I understand why he decided to end it like that... I'm not sure anything else would have worked.

A random pick that totally worked :)

Title: Ready Player One
Author: Ernest Cline
Genre: Sci-fi
Rating: 3.5/5
# pages: 386
Date read: May, 2015

In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines - puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them.

But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win - and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape.

It took me a LOT longer to read this book than it should have done, but I had several problems with it, which is also what pulled the rating down to 3.5.

First quarter of the book: FAR too much telling and too little showing. I understand that world-building is necessary, but I'm not impressed by how he went about it (not to say that I could've done better, but then I'm not a writer ;) ). 2 stars.

Second quarter: AWESOME! Stuff finally started to happen, and I stopped considering giving up on the book :). 4 stars.

Third quarter: Meh... again with the telling instead of showing. It was alright, but just much too slow. I think Ernest Cline could probably easily have cut the length in half here. 3 stars

Fourth quarter: Again excellent! Ernest Cline really knows how to write action, and I loved this part! 5 stars.

So that gives an average of 3.5 stars for the book as a whole. Very mathematical of me ;)

I liked the premise of the plot, loved many of the characters (Aech and Og especially) and was amused by all the references to childhood games, movies and books).

As a whole, definitely a book I'd recommend to a fellow geek, but I wasn't as blown away by it as many of my friends seemed to be, nor - indeed - as I'd expected to be myself. Still, it's probably a book I'll reread. I think I might even like it more the second time around.

Title: The Time-Traveler's Wife
Author: Audrey Niffenegger
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 5/5
# pages: 518
Date read: June 2006, May 2011, May 2015

The Time Traveler's Wife, is the story of Clare, a beautiful art student, and Henry, an adventuresome librarian, who have known each other since Clare was six and Henry was thirty-six, and were married when Clare was twenty-three and Henry thirty-one. Impossible but true, because Henry finds himself periodically displaced in time, pulled to moments of emotional gravity from his life, past and future. His disappearances are spontaneous, his experiences unpredictable, alternately harrowing and amusing.

The Time Traveler's Wife depicts the effects of time travel on Henry and Clare's marriage and their passionate love for each other, as the story unfolds from both points of view. Clare and Henry attempt to live normal lives, pursuing familiar goals -- steady jobs, good friends, children of their own. All of this is threatened by something they can neither prevent nor control, making their story intensely moving and entirely unforgettable.

I love the idea of this book and am amazed by how well Audrey Niffenegger pulled it off. It's an extremely interesting book - well written, with almost all loose threads tied up as we go along, and no inconsistencies that I could find at least. It's a sad book, but a brilliant book.

2011: I recently watched the movie, which I thought nothing special in itself, but made me want to reread the book. I still love it :)

Reread 2025: I had forgotten just how sad it is. There are a few chapters near the end that are almost depressing, and the NYE chapter had me sobbing.

There were also a few chapters that seemed almost pointless - I've never enjoyed reading about other people's dreams, and clearly this was no exception. The long descriptions of Claire's work bothered me less, as that seemed to help flesh her out as a character.

I'm nitpicking though. I still really enjoyed the book - even if I did downgrade it from 5 stars to 4.

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Bogormen

So many books, so little time.

Entries tagged with 2015: may

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We All Looked Up - Tommy Wallach

Ready Player One - Ernest Cline

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