We'll start with Fiction...
"Juliet, Naked" by Nick Hornby is a quick little shot at exploring wasted time, reclusive rock stars, fanatic internet conspiracy theorists followers, and the search for meaning among the aftermath of alcohol infused bed hopping. Classic and very readable Hornby of "High Fidelity" fame.
"The Way of Shadows" by Brent Weeks is book one of a trilogy (the others are: "Shadow's Edge" and cleverly enough, "Beyond the Shadows"). I rarely like fantasy books, but I have to give Mr. Weeks credit, these books are unputdownable and completely diverting. If you'd like to read a dark and brooding adventure in a land where assassins are king, blades speak, battles rage and ancient mysteries slowly unravel, get the trilogy.
"The Sheriff of Yrnameer" by Michael Rubens was a cute (he's a writer for the Daily Show) experiment in sci-fi storytelling. About a future time when Earth is pretty much blown to bits and rogue spacers roam the galaxy. If you want to read a light and playful little romp, go for it, just know I bought it for the cover illustration and am proud to say that I'll keep it for the cover illustration.
"Kafka on the Shore" by Haruki Murakami is considered a classic. He's a good writer and this was a very readable and absorbing exploration of Japanese culture and a bit of magical realism.
"Wireless" by Charles Stross was a collection of short stories that were pretty uneven but certainly engaging and exploratory. Nowhere near as good as his novels but I could see how one or two of these stories could easily become a major new work. I think it'd be worth reading to see how his mind works as it crunches through thoughts and dreams and ideas on the way to becoming stories.
"Huge" by James Fuerst is about a little kid that is the reincarnation of Mickey Spillane. Totally a fun book about growing up (a little) and solving mysteries (or at least thinking you're solving mysteries).
"Transition" by Ian Banks looks like a new universe in the making. Typical Banks malevolent and dark humor peppered throughout a story about alternate universes and the enforcement officers who live across worlds holding back catastrophic badness. Love it.
"The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown is another one by Dan Brown. Do I have to say more? Think of it as cotton candy. This time instead of the church he takes on the founding fathers. A good read if you like the same story told over and over again (though it gets a bit strained and was certainly not as good as The DaVinci Code).
"This is Not a Game" by Walter Jon Williams wasn't as good as other musings on the topic (or other Williams books) but it does paint a credible future world and plays with the potential of crowdsourced augmented reality good guys, bad guys, and game designers. Worth reading if you like that sort of thing.
If you like the smell of paint, walking along the Seine and a touch of impressionist mystery, read The Swan Thieves Though not The Historian in terms of scope or vampire fun, she can definitely write. The book explores what it means and meant to be an artist both today and in the early 1900s. It also paints the picture of a man who is single mindedly obsessed and the doctor detective trying to discover the meaning of his patient's paintings. My only reservation is that there isn't much mystery and I was waiting for some kind of twist or turn that never really came (or if it did it was so predictable that I didn't notice).
I’m afraid I wasn’t all that wrapped up in Let The Great World Spin. I expected something as powerful as the Man on Wire film which was stunning. It was well written but didn’t drag me in like others in the “New York as character in the story” genre. Again, bought it for the cover and the promise of some connection between the early days of the twin towers and their later demise.
Something better but not quite easy on the brain is "Chronic City" by Jonathan Lethem. He's crafted another loopy lyrical lounging lay-about classic. It is laced with lunacy (or at least out of this world orbits) and lost loves. It has all the typical things you'd expect in a novel about a slightly alternate world New York City, like a roaming tiger, a run amok tunneling machine, a grown up blank slate but lovable or at least affable child actor with a girlfriend astronaut trapped in a decaying orbit in the sky, and a lazy eyed rock critic-conspiracy theorist named Perkus Tooth who is pretty certain that Marlon Brando is still alive waiting on another island to be called forth to save the city from the cynical billionaire mayor.
The Hunger Games was a quick read (warning it is book one of three and only two are out so far). Aimed at young readers, it can be a bit basic at times, but it’s worth a read if you like “dystopian death race boy meets girl and they both have to kill each other to survive” stories.
"Her Fearful Symmetry" by Audrey Niffenegger is your basic story about twin girls who have girls who maybe die and haunt and sometimes body hop. Worth reading just for the pleasure of how she writes."Mariposa" by Greg Bear was worth reading if you like slightly futuristic thrillers about insolvent America, overeaching corporations as military replacements, and a sprinkling of smart dust.
"The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers" by Thomas Mullen is pure gold. It is set in the 1930's in the midwest during a time of fast cars, bank robbers, and the newly emerging FBI. The story revolves around the oddly magical ability of two swashbuckling brothers to evade (mostly) death while they try to stay one step ahead of the law and maybe a half a step away from the breadlines.
"Six Suspects" by Vikas Swarup (author of the book that was made into the Slumdog Millionaire movie) is ok, but not great. Basically it starts with the murder of a playboy millionaire spoiled brat and then explores the six people who were all at the party who may have reason to kill him. It isn't a bad conceit but it didn't really feel like there was much mystery or tension.
"Galileo's Dream" wasn’t bad, a mish mash of history (pretty vivid depiction of Galileo’s place and time) and world spanning future hopping many dimensional time traveling trouble making. Kinda confused and anticlimactic but Kim Stanley Robinson is always a good writer and this might have just been a bit of the “reach exceeds grasp” sorta experiment that all good authors have to try. If you like history and sci-fi and ruminations on the nature of human nature, you’ll probably enjoy it. If you want something much deeper in the “history of scientific thinking with a touch of swashbuckling adventure genre” and something that is a bit more finely wrought (though wacky at times because of the author’s playful anachronisms), read the The Baroque Cycle.
If you’ve never read Jess Walters, now would be a good time to start. His new book, The Financial Lives of the Poets is a compact little story about one man’s descent into hell during the financial meltdown. It is funny, sad and hopeful.
Non-Fiction
"A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" by Donald Miller is a short exploration of the elements of a good story and how you can think about your life as a story (and how to edit it along the way to guide it to be a better one). There is one particular story about a family who, among other things, decides to invite world leaders over to their house for a sleepover and the richness that springs from that one inciting incident (oh yeah, a good story has a character who wants something (even better if its something good for his life, his family, his community, or the world) and has to overcome obstacles (if you don't fail you aren't really aiming high enough and the best characters know there will be stumbles and falls along the way) to get it, but usually the character is comfortable and like most of us does not want to rock the boat... (so they need an inciting incident to get them moving). Read the book.
"Whatever it Takes" by Paul Tough is a book about Geoffrey Canada's efforts to build the Harlem Children's Zone. If you care at all about education read this book. If you like reading about doing the impossible, read this book. It has heartbreaking passages and inspirational ideas. I saw Geoffrey speak not that long ago and was pleasantly shocked by some of the things he said.
While we don’t burn scientists at the stake quite as often anymore there still is a surplus of Denialism. This book is an interesting screed on the widespread distrust of science and fact. It’s not a perfect book and seems a bit too arrogant at times (the people who should read it would never get past the first chapter), but overall it has some startling and disturbing examples of denial in the face of overwhelming evidence. While finding the link for this book I found another book about truthiness that sounds intriguing. True Enough.
"Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea" by Gary Kinder is the true story of the recovery of a ship filled with gold and other historic artifacts dating back to the American gold rush. Great story of the perils of going to sea, the origins of the gold rush, the amazing efforts of one man and his team to establish a working scientific presence 8-10,000 feet below the surface of the ocean, and the ensuing legal wrangling that followed when they discovered the most gold ever found in a shipwreck. A completely wonderful adventure even more fun because it really happened. One of the best elements of the book (and really the core of the story) is the main character. Tommy (Harvey) Thompson is a template for the idea of creativity, invention, perseverance, and the scientific method. This is a story about doing what all the experts thought was impossible. A must read.
Movies...
"ZombieLand" rocks.
Music...
Massive Attack's new album is deep and wonderful. Buy Heligoland now.
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