Hominids (Neanderthal Parallax, #1) by Robert J. Sawyer, 2002

Hominids (Neanderthal Parallax, #1) by Robert J. Sawyer, 2002

Hominids is a technically smooth novel with a pleasing style and sense of balance that is also very interesting in its theme and content. The parallel-running plot is straightforward and sound, with enough surprise to be interesting but enough integrity to avoid any sort of deus ex machina.

The story focuses primarily on Ponter Bonditt and Adikor Huld, who are Neanderthals from Earth from a parallel universe, and Mary Vaughan, a geneticist from Earth from the universe we know.

During an experiment in quantum computing in the Neanderthal universe, Ponter is accidentally transported to a Canadian neutrino lab in our universe. Ponter meets Mary Vaughn and other scientists who take responsibility and work to shelter and protect him.
Hominids (Neanderthal Parallax, #1) by Robert J. Sawyer, 2002

Running parallel to Ponter's story are a series of events occurring in the Neanderthal dimension. Within an abandoned underground  mine located in the exact same location on Earth as the Canadian neutrino lab, Ponter's research and male life-partner Adikor Huld cannot explain why their experiment in quantum computing resulted in Ponter's disappearance. Before he can get very far into his investigation, Adikor finds himself under investigation and brought to trial for Ponter Bonditt's murder.

things I especially liked:
- A multicultural cast of characters
- Pop culture references from the early 2000s (about 1999-2002)
- Everyone for the parallel universe is bisexual and finds heterosexuality boring
- The companion- an electronic device/computer/biotech implanted withing the body; with various amazing uses (universal translator, encyclopedia/recording)
- Usenet newsgroups (I miss reading feeds)


things I didn't mind:
- The religion aspect. Not that it was preachy or uninteresting.
- Flatness of the secondary characters.
- The rape.

things I didn't expect or made me shake my head:
- Anna Nicole Smith. Yes she was mentioned in the book as a reference
- Handspring Vizor. Oh, how I wanted one at the time. Sigh.
- News snippets and coverage that started some chapters

My rating: ★★★★★ (5 out of 5 stars)

"Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues (White Trash Zombie #2)", by Diana Rowland, 2012

Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues (White Trash Zombie #2)

by Diana Rowland, 2012

Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues.  And apparently I do too-- at least after finishing the book. The story left me feeling a bit saddened that this installment just didn't quite have the bite like its first novel.

The story picks right up where the last one left off. Loose ends from the last novel are tied off, but new ones from this story's mystery are introduced as well.

I definitely miss the snark and humor that was present throughout the entire first book.  Here, you only get snippets of it now and again. The romance fizzled out as well, but I didn't mind not get getting the gory details on zombie sex. (bbrraaiiinnss for foreplay)

It was nice to see Angel's character grow-- and quite significantly at that too. While, in the first book she learned how to be a zombie, in this book, she's repairing her relationship with her abusive father, working towards her GED, moving away from her probation status, and bettering herself into someone above her "low class" status.

Super Zombie Powers, activate!

My rating: ★★★★☆ (4 out of 5 stars)

"Rebels: City of Indra: The Story of Lex and Livia (City of Indra #1)", by Kendall Jenner, Kylie Jenner, Maya Sloan, 2014

"Rebels: City of Indra: The Story of Lex and Livia (City of Indra #1)"

 by Kendall Jenner, Kylie Jenner, Maya Sloan, 2014

I can't even.... so instead I'll just give you the  top 10 best reviews on Amazon of the Jenner girls’ new book.

Perhaps they should have had some of these reviewers help them write their book. At least it would have been entertaining.

1. “B.D.” compares the book to toilet paper…
“Garbage from start to finish. Don’t bother wasting your time or money on this piece of trash. The trees that died to make the paper for this book would have been better off as toilet paper.”

2. “T. O’Connor” gives the girls suggestions for their next literary masterpiece…
“To the authors, I have a suggestion for your next book. It might actually be something you know about. Although you’ll probably have to get a ghost writer for that too. It should be called, ‘Your Big Sister Gets Pissed on In Film: How to Make it Work for You.’”

3. “Madison” mourned the loss of the trees it took to create the book….
“By the time I reached 240 or was it 242, I wanted to shriek like a hellion and soil my tablet with whatever gunk I could find. But, I love my tablet way too much to soil it for anything (even the loss of my brain cells)…I’m mentally holding a memorial service for the trees that perished because Kylie and Kendall decided to “write” a book.”

4. “Alexandra Ware” managed to find a good use for this book–warding off coffee shop creeps!
“Are you tired of cute hipster guys or girls hitting on you in the coffee shop while you try and have a quiet read with an almond milk soy cap frap? Me too! This book acts like an EMP on Sentinels, it shuts that s*** down. Money saving tip – Just print off the front cover and stick it to any old book you’re reading. Honestly, don’t buy it – otherwise you’re just enabling the Cardissian’s filler addiction.”

5. “Knox Kingston” gives us a peek into how this whole mess began….

“I can only imagine how this all begin…
“OMG, like, I’m bored. You know what we should do? We should, like, write a book.”
“OMG I know, right? Writing books is soooo easy.”
“So what do we have to do?”
“Well, like, apparently we have to sit down and write a lot of words.”
“Ugh, that sucks SOOO bad. I don’t even like words. Isn’t there an easier way?”
“I think, like, we can just hire a ghost writer or whatever.”
“Oh, cool! So hey, ghost writer lady, like, can you write a book about us as like, I don’t know, Hunger Games girls? And make us super cute, okay?”
“Totes. And call us when it’s done, cuz, like, we totally gotta have a book party or whatever those author nerds do when they make a book. We love parties.”
“Totes!”
Then the book is released, IQ points are massively destroyed world wide, and I die a little inside from even having written this review.”

6. “David” offers advice for a more exciting alternative purchase…
“Kim Kardashian’s sex tape had a better plot and a more powerful climax. At least there were no misspelled words, I gave it star for that.”

7. “K. Sanderson” figured out how this book came to be…
“I really think that the ghost writer just slammed her head against the keyboard and came up with this crap.”

8. “Luke”— I’d pay to see what you suggest…
“Jenner & Jenner should stay out of novel-writing for the same reasons Stephen King should stay out of bikini modeling–though I’ll venture he’d do a far better job of crossing over careers than they have here.”

9. “Rebecca Wordd” does remind us that the Jenners are good at a few things…
“Awful book, no plot development, character development-what the heck? Sorry pretty little girls-stick to what you do best, posing for selfies and shopping.”

10. “I. Patricia” proves that the characters in the book are based off of Kylie and Kendall…
“The characters were poorly developed – Lex and Livia, are they serious? You just don’t get attached to them, they seem like puppets without real emotions, they act like puppets with no mind…”

My rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ (0 out of 5 stars)

"The Martian" by Andy Weir, 2014

"The Martian" by Andy Weir, 2014

It's good to be an engineer.

This book is nothing short of brilliant. Astronaut Mark Watney is stranded on Mars and has to survive 1,412 days until he can be rescued. He only has what was left behind by previous expeditions to live on; mainly a Habitat, 300 liters of water, rations for 50 days, a scrubber, two vehicles, and twelve potatoes.

This book is a hard sci-fi novel in the likes of Arthur C. Clarke. It's also about human ingenuity. And boy, you can't help but root for the underdog.

Though the book was billed a "survival thriller" by the endorsements found on the back cover, I found the driving force of the book isn't tension, but of humor. The Martian makes the tale of an engineer stranded on the red planet gripping.


I disagree with how others describe this story as a "Castaway" on mars, Die Hard, Gravity or Robinson Crusoe. Although I see why other may see it that way, I do feel this book a "stand-out" in the hard sci-fi genre. It's full of action with humor at unexpected moments. I was rooting for "Martian". I caught myself saying, "oh shit," "crap", and laughing out loud at moments.

I can only hope the movie adaption releasing in the second half of 2015 will do the book justice.  

My rating: ★★★★★ (5 out of 5 stars)

Fifty Shades of Grey (Fifty Shades #1)

by  E.L. James, 2011

At this point, especially with the movie adaptation releasing in 7 days, it seems like anyone with an ounce of curiosity about this book, has picked up and read it.

If you haven't yet, I guess you probably never will -- either because you feel like James' amateur writing will make you want to gouge your eyes out or you're simply rebelling against the pop cultural tide.

A lot has been blogged about this novel, and there's no reason you should be left out of copious, inevitable, and surely heated conversations about the books.

So here are some of the things, I find, either memorable, funny, interesting or dumb:

- I found the BDSM scenes very basic. I suppose that is the point as this book was probably intended to expose "soccer moms" to BDSM culture.

- A lot of time was spent in discussing the BDSM rules of play and safety, rather than the act themselves.

- "Oh my", "Inner Goddess", and did I say "Oh my", where so overused and was just cheesy.

- "Christian Grey-flavored popsicle". I don't think I need to explain that one.

- They don't have sex until chapter 8.

- Christian's mystical tie; now only if he used that to shut Ana up.

My rating: ★★☆☆☆ (2 out of 5 stars)

"My Life as a White Trash Zombie (White Trash Zombie #1)"", by Diana Rowland, 2011

"My Life as a White Trash Zombie (White Trash Zombie #1)", by Diana Rowland, 2011

I came across this book via goodreads' recommendation engine. I was a skeptic at first and thought silently, "ugh. Another zombie book. Well, at least the cover art was cool."

From the second I started the book, I devoured it and couldn't set it down.  It was fast paced, kept me intrigued from chapter to chapter and had me grinning most of the way through the book.

Whether you like zombie stories or if you hate zombie stories, I think you will just plain enjoy if not love, the protagonist Angel.  The humor, situation, and one white-trash zombie makes for delicious fun.

I recommend this book to anyone looking for something fun and easy to read.

My rating: ★★★★★ (5 out of 5 stars)

Avogadro Corp (Singularity #1) by William Hertling, 2011

Avogadro Corp (Singularity #1)

by William Hertling, 2011

Avogadro Corp is evidently a fictional version of Google and is one of the world’s most successful technology

companies, with hundreds of millions of users of its email service AvoMail.

AvoMail’s spell checker on steroids becomes the world’s first AI. Avogadro’s Email Language Optimization Project (ELOPe), not only corrects spelling and grammar, but analyzes huge email databases to find the style and arguments more likely to persuade a given recipient and modifies the text accordingly.

As the system spreads, grows, and evolves, it gains notice from several people who have the ability to threaten its survival.  ELOPe starts to protect itself by created a floating datacenter and arming it with Roombas with guns.

As the story progresses, a race to survive by the AI is waged against annihilation by its human creators.

The story was promising and kept me engaged for the most part. It wasn’t until about 2/3 to ¾ of book until the novel just went from something worthy to be converted to a SyFy “B” rated made-for-tv movie to just plain horrible.

It’s not enough that I had to suspend my disbelief, not S3 (other computer nerds like me will get the humor) but rather at S4, to somewhat enjoy the book.

My rating: ★★☆☆☆ (2 out of 5 stars)