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The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells Published: 1898 Length: 302 pages (huge print, Goodreads lists it as 192 pages) This one felt good to move off the to-read list. It’s such a major work in science fiction, and it always felt a bit wrong that I hadn’t read it. This is the second H.G. Wells novel I’ve read, the first being The Time Machine, and I’m excited to read more. Shortly after the main protagonist observes a few explosions on the surface of Mars, extra-terrestrial machines crash into the countryside of England. At first they didn’t seem a threat and raised more confusion than fear. Humans had obviously…
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August in Review
Books Acquired: Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh Secondhand Souls by Christopher Moore Books Read: Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh A Slip of the Keyboard: Collected Non-Fiction by Terry Pratchett Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe High Fidelity by Nick Hornby How are we over a week into the month already? Time just slips away these days. We spent last weekend camping in Tofino, which was a little whirlwind of a trip that didn’t offer much downtime, so I didn’t get any reading in during that. It wasn’t a complete waste, as far as bookish concerns go, because I did get to pick up a copy of…
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14
14 by Peter Clines Published: 2012 Narrated by: Ray Porter Length: 12:38 (372 pages) I hadn’t really heard anything about this novel before reading it. It kept popping up on my Audible Recommendations, and I was in the mood for some fun science fiction. The reviews were positive and I liked the cover (yes, I judge books by their covers), so I took a chance. I’m glad I did! This was a lot of fun. It’s a difficult plot to describe without giving anything away, but essentially it’s about a man moving into a new apartment, one with unbelievable rent and included utilities, and he begins to notice a lot…
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The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress
The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein Published: 1966 Narrated by: Lloyd James Length: 14:12 (302 pages) This is one of Heinlein’s most popular novels and the third of his I’ve read. It’s political science fiction that covers the span of a revolution. The year is 2075 and the moon (Luna) is now a penal colony for the criminals of Earth. The inhabitants live in underground cities, and once exiled it’s not just a life sentence for them, but for the generations that follow as well. Once someone’s on Luna for too long, their bodies have too much trouble adapting to earth’s gravity to return for long…
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Disgrace
Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee Published: 1999 Length: 220 This was assigned reading in a literature course I took in my first year of university. I eventually became quite a good student by the time I graduated, but that year I was still in high school mode and as a result never finished this. I’m slowly redeeming myself for the reading sins of my past. This tells the story of an aging university poetry instructor, David Lurie, who falls into disgrace after having an affair with a student. He ends up leaving his life in Cape Town temporarily to live with his daughter at her small farm in the country. He…
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Walking on Glass
Walking on Glass by Iain Banks Published: 1985 Narrated by: Peter Kenny Length: 08:08 (341 pages) This is Iain Banks’ second novel and the second of his I’ve read. He published this under his mainstream name, rather than his science fiction name of Iain M. Banks, which is odd as this is very much in that genre, but maybe he hadn’t adapted that naming scheme yet at this point. This is three seemingly distinct storylines that are linked together at the end of the story. One follows Graham Park, a man in his early twenties who is newly in love. Another follows Steven Grout, a hyper-paranoid man newly fired from…
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July in Review
Books Acquired: Le Morte d’Arthur by Thomas Malory Sex Criminals, Vol. 2 by Matt Fraction Books Read: 14 by Peter Clines The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells Sex Criminals, Vol. 2 by Matt Fraction The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood I’m not sure where this month went. I feel like I jumped forward in time a few weeks somewhere. For a good chunk of the time we were dealing with exciting dog issues. Paisley had a hot spot on her tail, so we had to have her in a cone until it healed. Unfortunately, since the injury was on her tail, she could still reach it with a…
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The Lost World
The Lost World by Michael Crichton Published: 1995 Series: Jurassic Park #2 Length: 430 pages I just read the first Jurassic Park novel last year and loved it. I watched the original film adaptation in theatre four times and was mildly obsessed with it for years after, and I was reminded of my love for it last year when the 3D edition was released. With all of this, and the new movie in the news (which I still haven’t seen), I’m an easy sell for a dinosaur adventure. I was sad to see Alan Grant excluded from this. I thought someone had told me that this is what differs from…
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The Nerdist Way
The Nerdist Way: How to Reach the Next Level by Chris Hardwick Published: 2011 Narrated by: Chris Hardwick Length: 06:14 (279 pages) I love The Nerdist podcast and Chris Hardwick is great, so I knew I’d eventually have to pick up this up. It’s essentially a nerdy self-help book, more in the ‘life-hack’ sense than the ‘find yourself’ sense, and he narrates the audiobook himself. This is split into three parts – mind, body and time. Mind focuses a lot on anxiety and addiction, something that Hardwick has had to overcome personally. More generally, the section is about mindfulness and focusing obsessive thoughts (that are common to most nerds) on…
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Earth Abides
Earth Abides by George R. Stewart Published: 1949 Narrated by: Jonathan Davis Length: 15:04 (373 pages) I love a good apocalypse story. There’s something about wandering the remnants of civilization as we know it, with everything we think of as permanent out of reach, that is just so eerie and interesting. Obviously I’m not alone in this, as it’s an incredibly popular genre in all forms of media, one that has only gotten more and more popular in recent years. It’s something that we all seem to daydream about, for whatever reason. As an aside, a few years ago I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. It’s something that I’m thankfully…