#cbr10

Fuzzy Nation

★★★★☆

Fuzzy Nation, by John Scalzi, is a remake of an earlier sci-fi novel by H. Beam Piper. It tells the story of Jack Holloway, a surveyor on the planet Zara XXIII, owned by Zaracorp. He is your classic case of a guy falling upwards. He worked as an attorney and got himself fired by punching a client. He got himself a large settlement from the company that wanted him to get the case to a mistrial. He is smart, but he clearly knows it. He’s also arrogant, and is always acting in his best interest. At the start of the novel, he discovers a large seem of sunstones. The author makes them sound like the diamond market, tightly controlled and valuable. The owners of the seams of sunstones drive up the value. Jack is poised to become very rich.

Selfdestructible

★★★★★

Today, I am recommending a book written by a man I have known as both an in-character Cookie Monster talking about politics and life on the Internet, and as a freelance writer on pop culture. It’s a weird feeling, to be saying (in my own mind) “read Cookie Monster’s book!” but here I am, saying it.

Ajax, The Dutch, The War

★★★★☆

The World Cup was on this past summer and anytime I see it, I’m inclined to read more books about soccer. I’m a big sports fan but my interest in soccer really only begun about 12 years ago when, bored out of my mind for the summer of 2006, I watched the World Cup fastidiously. Soccer is now perhaps my fourth favorite sport after baseball, football, and basketball and I’m wearing a New York City FC shirt in anticipation of the game tonight.

First, We Make the Beast Beautiful

★★★☆☆

Sarah Wilson has been diagnosed over the years, everything from anxiety to depression to bipolar. She’s been on medication, off-medication, happy and functional, manic and gone and suicidal. This is a book for people who suffer from what she refers to as anxiety, but covers any sort of mental health issue where you feel like your brain doesn’t mesh with life.

Crooked Kingdom

★★☆☆☆

Picking up where Six of Crows left off, Crooked Kingdom follows Kaz Brekker and his gang of ne’er-do-wells as they deal with the betrayal and fallout from their heist. Inej has been taken hostage and they don’t have the money promised them. They’re all a bit battered and exhausted but don’t have any downtime to recover before Kaz has them back plotting. For revenge and for their money and for the return of Inej (whom Kaz might just like a little bit, much to his own dismay).

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before

★★★★☆

This was one of those books I’ve seen around for years, and always thought I should pick it up, but just never got around to it. I’m glad the trailer of the Netflix movie adaptation came out when it did, though, and finally got me to try it out, because this was a very cute book and otherwise who knows when I would have given it a chance (I tend not to read contemporary very much).

A Hat Full of Sky

★★★★★

I miss the days when a Pratchett book was just a Pratchett book – brilliant and wonderful and funny and sharp and thought-provoking. Now, rereading A Hat Full of Sky, it’s all those things, but now there’s this overlay of SAD. Sad that we don’t get to see Tiffany Aching grow up. Sad about what happens to Granny Weatherwax. Heartbroken and furious at the universe for what happened to Sir Terry. SIGH.

My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward

★★★☆☆

Mark Lukach and his wife Giulia meet at college and immediately fall deeply in love. Giulia is an ambitious woman whose life goals are to have a great career and three kids by the time she’s 35. Mark wants to be a teacher. After college, Giulia works in New York, while Mark takes frequent trips to visit her. After they move to San Francisco and Giulia starts a new job, she begins experiencing intense anxiety about her job performance. She begins forwarding Mark work emails to read over before she sends them to her boss. Then after one sleepless night, Giulia tells Mark she’s spoken to God and everything will be okay. Next, she’s spoken to the Devil and everything will not be okay.