Fourteen books bringing up the year total to 40! Hope you find these helpful in directing you towards your next great book (or keeping you away from the garbage).
(27) The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
If I were Oprah, I would make this my book of the month, every month, for four years. I wouldn’t stop chucking hardback copies at my audience until I knew that every person had an opportunity to read it. Who needs new cars or trips to Fiji or the latest tablet when you could read this book?
Alright, let’s be serious now. I’m not alone in my feelings for this intricate and beautiful science fiction story. This is a Hugo and Nebula Award winning novel. It might be difficult to locate a “best of sci-fi” list that lacked this title. Yet, until I dig some personal digging into the must read books in this genre, I had never heard of it.
The premise is that Genly Ai, a humanoid representative, has traveled to an inhabited planet to invite the local governments to join a federation of planets. Feels like a great Star Trek episode. But a most fascinating story development is that people of this planet are androgenous. The life cycle and traditions of child-rearing turn this exploration and political book into feminist sci-fi. The glimpse into what could be if we were not so governed by our established gender roles made me very envious. The last one-third of the book transforms into a survival adventure story that was engrossing and suspenseful.
Length: 286 Pages
Genre: Science Fiction
(28) I Suck At Girls by Justin Halpern
Describing his dance moves:
“I have one move: reaching my arms out wide, leaning back, and lurching my chest forward to the rhythm of the music, like a guy being shot repeatedly in the back. But that night, I pushed the move to its absolute limits.”
In his follow up to Sh*t My Dad Says, Halpern continues his witty memoirs, this time focusing on his many failed attempts to woo the opposite sex. With occasional appearances of his awesomely potty-mouthed father, I loved returning to his life, this time as a college student and a twenty-something navigating through the world of women and dating in Los Angeles. Both of Halpern’s memoirs are divided into short vignettes, so these are great books to read for small bursts of time for a great chuckle and silly entertainment.
Length: 192 pages
Genre: Memoir
(29) The Running Man by Richard Bachman (Stephen King)
This book wasn’t on my radar until I read an interview with King, in which he stated that The Hunger Games had borrowed ideas from his 1982 novel, The Running Man. Although I enjoyed the first Hunger Games book and wasn’t looking for trouble, I wanted to find out if the comparison was accurate and whether there might be a small scandal here! Was the premise of Hunger Games really stolen from The Running Man? I had heard previous comparisons between the the Japanese horror film Battle Royale, and my impressions after viewing the film was that I didn’t think there was an obvious or overt plagiarism of ideas (unlike the atrocity that is the Uglies series).
So what’s my verdict? I don’t think Collins stole from King anymore that King stole from H.G. Wells via The Island of Dr. Moreau. The similarity between the novels is simply that the manhunt is televised, but otherwise the stories diverge significantly. The Running Man is about a single man being hunted across the country by a team of trained assassins, which is quite different than a story about teenagers murdering each other within the confines of an adaptable game environment.
Comparisons aside, how did I like it? The title is not inaccurate; it is truly a novel about a guy running around to avoid death. The story was emotionally cold. As he began his competition, I found myself caring less whether he was killed or not. Although he was altruistically sacrificing himself for his family, his character was immensely one-dimensional and lacked a range of human emotions and qualities that could have made him feel real. I couldn’t get behind him. I wanted him to die quickly so I could be done with reading about him running around.
I began by reading King’s updated introduction to the book and was enjoying it, until he gave away the ending of the book I was about to read. As my eyes read past it, I was startled, and immediately stopped reading the introduction. I guess he assumes that because the book is over 30 years old and was made into a movie, it is a re-read for everyone? That was frustrating and made the end anticlimactic. Perhaps that is why the suspense never worked well during the story.
Length: 336 Pages
Genre: Dystopia
(30) Twittering from the Circus of the Dead by Joe Hill
“YouTube is full of clowns, message boards are full of fire-breathers, and blogs are for people who can’t live without a spotlight on them.”
This short story is an experiment in writing as Hill tells the story through the twitters of a annoying teenage girl. That’s it. Just a list of twitter posts. Each post is time stamped as she whines and complains about all the horrible things her mother is doing on her family’s road trip. She is authentically teenager. Things start going horribly wrong though when her family stumbles upon a roadside circus. Had this story gone on longer in this format, it might have been unreadable and obnoxious. But, as a short 15-20 minute read, I thought it was an inventive way to tell a story with fun horror and gore! Fond memories were made here.
Length: 100 Pages
Genre: Horror
(31) Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
In this mystery, seriously messed up Libby Day decides to respond to a speaking offer to make some quick money. “The Kill Club,” a group of individuals fascinated with studying infamous American crimes, invite her to speak with them about the murder of her family that occurred when she was a child. The contact she makes with the group sets off a chain of events that forces her to revisit the crime and evaluate what really might have happened on that night.
Some aspects of this story just had to be inspired by the West Memphis Three, as it dealt with a horrific crime and a great amount of public suspicion that the wrong suspect was imprisoned. Certainly, the writing and story draws you in quickly. Flynn did an excellent job creating a real life crime and splitting the book into two main stories--retelling the events of the day of the crimes while balancing that with adult Libby’s experiences to investigate other possibilities. However, the ending is very contrived and was a disappointment.
Length: 368 Pages
Genre: Mystery
(32) Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
Twittering from the Circus of the Dead was such good fun, I decided to try a full length and popular novel by Hill. His debut novel features a story about a 50-something rock star who buys a ghost off of ebay. Seriously, if anything, this book taught me one important life lesson. Do not buy ghosts off ebay. You’re going to have a bad time. The characters were quite unlikable, but they were felt like tangible, real people, so I felt their suffering right along with them as they dealt with this ghostly problem. There were some honestly frightening scenes, and at moments, Hill was very successful at making me hide under my covers with the shivers.
Joe Hill, by the way, is Stephen King’s son.
Length: 376 Pages
Genre: Horror
(33) Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke
Clarke’s ability to mingle real science with a fictional and future world is remarkable. Rama is the central and incredibly well-developed character of this novel: it is a massive space ship passing through our solar system, headed for the sun. The entirety of the story revolves around this first contact with an extraterrestrial technology. But, that’s all this story is. Any attempt for human character development is pasted on, and there is virtually no plot beyond exploring a massive space ship. Yet, I enjoyed the science and didn’t regret my trip to Rama.
Length: 243 Pages
Genre: Science Fiction
(34) All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot
I was destined to be a veterinarian! Well, until I got a B in Intro Biology my first semester in college, and I had to give up that dream. I have to thank this book though, for helping me realize what an enormous bullet I dodged. Assisting in a sheep birth? Oh my. I thought dissecting a cat was brave! This charming and funny book takes readers on the adventures of the day-to-day duties of a country veterinarian. Herriot’s employer is hilariously absent-minded and contradictory, and his clients vary in temperaments and issues. I loved the light-hearted tone of the book, even when the medical procedures were a bit gruesome, it all just worked. Highly recommend!
Length: 437 Pages
Genre: Memoir
(35) The 100-Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of a Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
Giving any kind of summary of the plot would be a huge disservice to a future reader, so I’m going to omit any details, except to say: this is a book about a 100-year old man who climbs out of a window on his birthday, and disappears! This book is over-the-top in its absurdness, and provides a rich fictional history lesson in the real story behind major world events over the past 100 years. The characters are pure fiction, and completely loveable.
Length: 384 Pages
Genre: Fiction
(36) Finding Cinderella by Colleen Hoover
This book is so bad, it isn’t worth my time reviewing. No. Just no.
(By the way, this has the highest GoodReads rating I've ever seen: 4.6. Young adult readers must have no expectations whatsoever for decent writing or storytelling. Don't believe me? Read it. It's free on the kindle. But I warned you.)
Length: 105 Pages
Genre: Young Adult
(37) Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
“We live with a value system that I call the Extrovert Ideal--the omnipresent belief that the ideal self is gregarious, alpha, and comfortable in the spotlight. The archetypal extrovert prefers action to contemplation, risk-taking to heed-taking, certainty to doubt. He favors quick decisions, even at the risk of being wrong. She works well in teams and socializes in group. We like to think that we value individuality, but all too often we admire one type of individual--the kind who’s comfortable ‘putting himself out there.’”
“Whoever you are, bear in mind that appearance is not reality. Some people act like extroverts, but the effort costs them in energy, authenticity, and even physical health. Others seem aloof or self-contained, but their inner landscapes are rich and full of drama. So the next time you see a person with a composed face and a soft voice, remember that inside her mind she might be solving an equation, composing a sonnet, designing a hat. She might, that is, be deploying the powers of quiet.”
In evaluating the validity of the Extrovert Ideal, Cain reveals the importance of utilizing the talents of the one-third to one-half of the population who fall under the introvert spectrum. By rejecting the notion that extrovert behaviors are good and introvert behaviors are undesirable and require fixing, the introvert can be a better understood employee, spouse or student. Cain’s book is captivating, clear and full of great examples that accentuate the variety of difficulties introverts face.
Length: 336 Pages
Genre: Non-Fiction
(38) The Graveyard Story by Neil Gaiman
As a kid, I would have loved this macabre children’s book about a little boy raised by ghosts in a graveyard. But as an adult, I found it to be too contrived and immature for my grown-up tastes. The middle wandered from random tale to tale, and the ending failed to fully explain some of the mysteries established at the beginning of the book. I’m looking forward to reading more Gaiman, but I’ll look for his adult titles in the future!
Length: 312 pages
Genre: Children’s Fiction
(39) Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
The sequel to The Shining! Twenty-five years later, Danny Torrance is all grown up, and he’s a raging alcoholic. In this great example of modern King, Torrance helps a little girl who also has the ability of the shining. This was a great thriller and had an exciting and satisfying ending. If you’ve only seen the movie and have not read The Shining, I’d really recommend reading the book before venturing into the sequel. The movie and the book are very different, and I think there are some plot points in the sequel that would be confusing without the proper background.
Similar in addictability of 11/22/63, I found it difficult to read Doctor Sleep in small servings. I knew if I was going to start reading, I needed to have a long block of time. Everytime I opened the book, I read between 100-200 pages. The experience of being with these characters in this dire situation was emotionally draining, and I wanted to read it fast and quick. After finishing the book, I found it difficult to begin reading another narrative. It required several days of processing before I could move on to new characters. King once again demonstrates his prodigious ability to weave mature stories and create real characters in his modern writing.
Length: 531 Pages
Genre: Horror
(40) First World Problems: 101 Reasons Why the Terrorists Hate Us by Ben Nesvig
“If you can afford to spend 3 days to wait in line at Best Buy to save $30 bucks on a Blu-ray player, you’ve got nothing to offer society. Pack it up, fold up shop, you’re done--we can make it the rest of the way without you.”
I love first world problems on reddit, and this was like reading an extended version of a meme. Each chapter had a heading to describe the very serious issues the author has to face (for example, his sunchips bag is too loud for late night snacking) and a brief description of the issue. Some of them were funny, and some were not and just uncomfortably flat, as if he were a stand up comedian getting no laughs. It was a stupid book, but I have no regrets. Meanwhile, I’ve decided on a title for a first world problem I recently faced: “I want a cheeseburger, but McDonalds isn’t switching over to lunch for 17 more minutes.”
Length: 162 Pages
Genre: Humor
