Review: Exhalation

Exhalation by Ted Chiang
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"Stories of Your Life" and "Exhalation" by Ted Chiang.

Both books contain a collection of short stories. I read them back to back unintentionally and found almost every other story enjoyable-- only a couple I disliked.

I was very surprised to find one of the short stories to be the basis of the Luc Besson’s (sp?) movie Lucy. The movie was good, but the short story filled in some blanks and made much more sense.

The movie Arrival was also based on one of the short stories. The movie adaptation was fantastic when compared to the source material. The movie filled-in the strokes of the book’s plot that made events and characters more relatable to viewers of the movie adaptation.

Now if I could just take half the stories from one book and half from the other book and make two piles with one with all the good stories and the other lackluster ones, then.. well.. then I would've only bought one book.

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Review: Drunk on All Your Strange New Words

Drunk on All Your Strange New Words by Eddie Robson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I got this book as goodreads giveaway. I was very surprised at how enjoyable reading the book was that I purchased the audiobook. The audiobook really brought to life what was already an interesting sci-fi mystery. Think of the movies Arrival and 6th Element combined; I felt there were some elements very reminiscent of those movies. The story was medium paced with decent twists and turns. Enjoyable through and through.

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Review: The Sense of an Ending

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I couldn't find this story relatable. While it's slow paced and reflective most of the time, the ending was pretty quick.

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Review: Wakers

Wakers by Orson Scott Card
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Pretty interesting mashup of concepts, plotting, and multiverses. Dialog between characters is very much in line with dialog found in Ender Series. Not saying its just a rethread of the the young genius characters previously portrayed in most of Card's novels, but rather the most interesting thing is the word/universe the story takes place in.

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Review: The Stranger Behind You

The Stranger Behind You by Carol Goodman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Interesting enough to finish. a bit maddening at parts when main character makes decisions that aren't practical or sensical. Story took a detour with midway but eventually wraps everything together across the generational characters suffering trough rape and trauma.

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Review: The Kaiju Preservation Society, by John Scalzi, 2022

The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The Kaiju Preservation Society, by John Scalzi, 2022

The Kaiju Preservation Society is like bubblegum-cotton candy-flavored caffeinated soda pop full of nerdiness, absurdities, and humor delivered at a near-constant pace.

Jamie and the other new KPS employees experience their journey to the other Earth where Godzilla and Mothra-like creatures exist and in a Jurassic Park-esque set-up. The KPS team is responsible for preserving and protecting these animals.

The afterword by the author, I found, was just as fascinating, if not illuminating, as the story itself. It summed up some of my opinions of the book.

It's definitely not one of the author's more substantial works, but if you don't have anything else on your plate and are a John Scalzi fan, I suggest you read it. The KPS is a quick and easy read, and it's fun and lighthearted.    

I rate this book 2.5 out of 5 stars.

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Review: The Promise, by Damon Galgut, 2021

The Promise by Damon Galgut
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

The Promise, by Damon Galgut, 2021

2021 Booker Prize winner, The Promise is a depiction of the Swarts, a white family in post-apartheid South Africa. The death of the Swart matriarch borns a promise to gift the house to a servant that goes unfulfilled until the lives of the three siblings, Astrid, Anton, and Amor, wrestle through life events that shape their feelings of guilt or lack thereof. They are brought together over funerals over three decades, told in four chapters.  

I found most of the characters unlikable, which is not to say is a bad thing, but unlikable without the depth of character to give reason is one of the reasons I did not care much for this book. The other reason is the writing style did not keep me engaged. I found the author's omniscient intrusions and "tell-not-show" made the read almost unbearable for me. I was very close to shelving this book under #DNF (did not finish).

I rate this book 1.5 out of 5 stars.

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