Bonny

But there actually is plenty to see here!

Revisado: 01-01-20

Ordinarily, I resist books that require me to suspend my disbelief, so I was a little hesitant about Nothing to See Here. But Kevin Wilson has written a book that is funny, sweet, outlandish, poignant, and wholly original. Lillian, our heroine that once showed so much promise, agrees to care for her former roommate's stepchildren.

"This is weird, Madison. You want me to raise your husband’s fire children."

Yes, the twins Bessie and Roland spontaneously combust when they’re angry or upset, but they need to be kept safe and under the radar, so they don't damage their father's political prospects. Lillian's life currently consists of working at her dead-end jobs and getting high, so she has doubts that she will be any good at taking care of the fire children. Surprisingly (or maybe it's not a surprise after all), she does a terrific job.

"They were me, unloved, and I was going to make sure they got what they needed."

Parenting is challenging, mistakes are made, and no parent is perfect, no matter how hard we try. In this novel, Kevin Wilson explores family and the power of unwavering love, and it's a delightful exploration. (Plus, it's got a terrific cover!)

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Silly & weird but in the best way possible!

Revisado: 04-01-19

When I started listening to The Humans, I was a little concerned that it sounded too much like a rewrite of Hitchhiker's Guide (a good book in its own right, but I don't want to read another author's version of it). But Don't Panic, The Humans is original, funny, heart-warming, interesting, clever, observant, and poignant. An alien is sent to earth from Vonnadoria to kill human mathematician Andrew Martin who has solved the Riemann hypothesis (the key to figuring out why prime numbers behave as they do). The Vonnadorians think that violent and primitive humans are not ready for the incredible advancement that the Riemann solution will provide. The alien must also kill anyone who might know about the solution, and this includes Andrew's wife and son. As his mission progresses, "Martin" learns much more about what it means to be human, culminating in a 97-point list, which is wonderfully thought-provoking.

A silly and weird story to be sure, but in the best way possible, and The Humans is really so much more.

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Humans don't learn from history.

Revisado: 04-01-19

“People you love never die. Not completely. They live in your mind, the way they always lived inside you. You keep their light alive. If you remember them well enough, they can still guide you, like the shine of long-extinguished stars could guide ships in unfamiliar waters.”

I've been recently smitten by Matt Haig, reading The Humans and Reasons to Stay Alive, but How to Stop Time was not one of my favorites. It's the story of Tom Hazard, who has a genetic condition that makes him age extraordinarily slowly, so he is 400-some years old. He has seen and done many things, from playing lute at the Globe Theatre with Shakespeare, sailing with Captain Cook, hanging out with Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. Mostly trying to live his life in the present as a history teacher. Tom says, “You understand quite completely that the main lesson of history is: humans don’t learn from history.” That is quite true, but this book manages to capture a few lovely moments in time and history.

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Great premise, not so great execution

Revisado: 03-07-19

Did you ever notice how when a book has just been published and the first bunch of reviews show up, they are often four to five stars and the book is described as the greatest book ever? Then as several months go by, and more people read and review the book, the average rating drops down to a more realistic level. I think that has definitely been the case with The Hunting Party. It is a slightly entertaining novel, but not one I would compare to the styles of Agatha Christie and Donna Tartt.

The Hunting Party is set in the Scottish Highlands at a hunting lodge, and the group of friends celebrating New Year's Eve together are cut off from the outside world by an epic snow storm. The friends fit well into stereotypes - the beautiful one, the gay couple, the outsider, the quiet one, the new parents (but I'm still wondering about why they brought their 6-month old), but don't discount the manager, gamekeeper, or the strange Icelandic backpackers as possible murderers. Lucy Foley did something original by not revealing the victim or the murderer until near the end of the book, but by that time I was reading only to find out who was dead, why, and who killed them. The characters were all unlikable, spoiled, and similar, and it becomes quite clear over the disjointed timeline that they all carry secrets and lies. The story might as well have taken place in Cleveland because there is little to no description of the stunning beauty of Scotland or even the presumed crackling fire and impressive taxidermy in the lodge itself. The Hunting Party has a great premise, but it is poorly executed.

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Light, predictable, and stereotypical

Revisado: 02-10-19

The Gown started off as interesting fiction, but turned out to be a predictable story with stereotypical characters. Ann Hughes is the plucky British embroiderer, fellow embroiderer Miriam Dassin, the French woman who survived the Holocaust and becomes Ann's friend, and Ann's granddaughter, Heather populate this novel about Princess Elizabeth's wedding dress. I enjoyed the many details about embroidery and the embroiderers who worked at Hartnells, along with facts about rationing, shortages, and life in postwar London. Less enjoyable were plot twists that arose seemingly from nowhere, the way the Holocaust was used as a perfunctory aside only to further Miriam's part in the book, three lukewarm romances, one of which turns out appallingly and unbelievably, and Heather's general cluelessness about most things. It's a light read where everything falls happily into place, but not much more than that for me.

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Algorithms are all around - good and bad

Revisado: 01-22-19

At last! Hannah Fry has written a book that explains what an algorithm is (simply put, “a step-by-step procedure for solving a problem or accomplishing a task", what they can do, the pros and cons, along with well-chosen examples. What she's writing about are mathematical operations that include equations, probability, and logic translated into computer code. She clearly explains that computers don't think, but only follow sequential directions coded by humans. Because the code is written by humans, the algorithm can be accidentally biased or contain bugs, or the bias may be intentional.

Algorithms allow computers to scan slides quickly and more accurately for signs of cancer, guide the buying and selling of stocks on Wall Street, and "drive" self-driving cars. Algorithms can help us greatly, and also do great harm. Ms. Fry thinks that humans and machines working together is the best and safest way to head bravely into the future. GPS can get you safely from point A to point B, but it's also your responsibility not to drive off a cliff, even if Mandy's friendly GPS voice tells you to.

Hello World is an excellent, informative read, and one I highly recommend.

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Memoir and history, beautifully written

Revisado: 01-22-19

When Death Becomes Life is an interesting memoir and history of organ transplantation from transplant surgeon Dr. Joshua Mezrich. While I enjoyed his writing about the history, researchers and physicians that brought us to this point in time with transplantations, I enjoyed his writing about his own background, how and why he became a transplant surgeon, and his own patients just as much or more. Dr. Mezrich always maintains an awareness and respect for the great gift that donors and their families are giving, and reminds readers of that often. I loved reading about the technical details of kidney transplants, but Dr. Mezrich also reminds the readers that even though it may be an almost-routine procedure, it is really never routine. He recounts his enthusiasm at seeing a kidney become pink with blood flow and begin producing urine, and also writes about heart, lung, liver, and pancreas transplants, and the inherent difficulties with them. I thoroughly enjoyed the chapter about how cyclosporine was discovered and what a huge difference it made in transplantations. After all, transplantation is as much about immunology as it is about surgical skill, and Dr. Mezrich recounts all of this in his thoroughly enjoyable book.

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I love the cover, but ...

Revisado: 12-05-18

I wanted to love this book. It has a beautiful cover, the topics of climate change and forests interest me greatly, and several goodreads friends whose reading tastes often align with mine have given it five stars, but this is just not the book for me. I can't even give it a fair rating. The first chapter, "Roots", is worthy of five stars, but the later chapters "Trunk", "Crown", and "Seeds" were disappointing, disjointed and confusing. I can't deny Powers' extensive research, but even that along with some great writing couldn't save this one for me. I'm tempted to try Barkskins by Annie Proulx or maybe Managing Forest Ecosystems: The Challenge of Climate Change by Felipe Bravo would be a better book for me.

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Decisions are hard.

Revisado: 12-05-18

Farsighted is an interesting book, but it seems to mainly illustrate just how very complex decision-making can be. These are not the single-variable, binary, yes or no type of decisions, but instead the complex and complicated type where changing types of variables are considered. Many of these decisions that matter the most are group or societal ones; I had hoped for more focus on individual decisions.

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Kingsolver is much better when she isn't preaching

Revisado: 12-05-18

Despite the time shifts, and being beaten over the head with what's wrong with Trump's America, Medicaid, higher education and associated debt, I did finish Unsheltered, but just barely. It's clear that Barbara Kingsolver has something to say, and the funny thing is that I agree with most of her opinions (yes, he is the Bullhorn), but this is not how I want to learn that there really isn't much to the American dream for many of us any more. I can learn much of this by living with the consequences of medical and educational debt in real life, so a book populated with sound bites instead of characters is not for me.

There were a couple of happy surprises - the Baby Surprise Jackets that Tig knits and learning about the real-life Mary Treat. Only those two things kept this book from slipping to one star for me. I liked Kingsolver's fiction much better when she wasn't preaching to me.

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