To say that work has been slow this week would be a major understatement. Usually there is a small pile of batchwork on my desk when I come in at 8AM and then there is more in a bin to get once I finish that. This week there's only been one day with work on my desk and there's nothing for me to go and get. So of course I'm taking calls like normal but there's nothing to do in the mean time. Instead of stare at the computer screen or count the number of times the florescent lights flicker and think about clinical depression, I read. It's perfect since I love to read and I'm entertained while waiting for another call.
This week I've been tearing through the books. I've finished four of them and am starting my fifth. They are as follows:
Sliding on the Snow Stone by Andy Szpuk. It's a memoir from a Ukrainian boy before and during WWII. It's interesting because most of the memoirs that I've read during that time period are concentration camp survivors or people otherwise entangled with Judaism in Nazi Germany. This is from the perspective of a boy that is fighting for neither side and whose life is forever changed by a warring Europe. He endures a lot and this is an account of what he went through, all the way through his elder years. I rated it 4/5 stars. The writing was poignant and the material interesting. I have few criticisms of the memoir, as it is a personal experience and written in a language that was not his first. The following is the description from
GoodReads:
It is astonishing that anyone lived this story. It is even more astonishing that anyone survived it. Stefan grows up in the grip of a raging famine. Stalin’s Five Year Plan brings genocide to Ukraine – millions of people starve to death. To free themselves from the daily terrors of Soviet rule, Stefan and his friends fight imaginary battles in nearby woods to defend their land. The games they play are their only escape. ‘Sliding on the Snow Stone’ is the true story of Stefan's extraordinary journey across a landscape of hunger, fear and devastating loss. With Europe on the brink of World War Two, Stefan and his family pray they'll survive in their uncertain world. They long to be free. (In 1932-33, as part of their drive towards industrialisation, the Soviet Union demanded impossibly high requisitions of grain from rural areas in Ukraine. In a deliberate act of genocide, Ukrainian smallholdings were stripped of food, and the population began to perish, with some estimates as high as 10 million deaths, from starvation. In Ukraine, this atrocity became known as the Holodomor (death by hunger). The following years saw Soviet purges and terrors resulting in the elimination of academics and intellectuals, or of anyone who spoke out against Soviet rule. When World War Two arrived on Ukraine’s doorstep, many people viewed the Nazis as liberators – a view that was quickly proved wrong. ‘Sliding on the Snow Stone’ is Stefan’s personal account of a historical period drenched in the blood of a nation, and of his yearning for freedom.)
Parasite Pig by William Sleator. I didn't even know that this book existed until I saw it at a book shop beneath Pikes Place Market when I went shopping there with Robert last weekend. It is the sequel to
Interstellar Pig that I read when I was in middle school. I had memories of reading the first one, so a few months ago I checked it out from the library and read it again. It was fun to revisit it. Both the books are YA Sci-Fi targeted at middle school or young high school readers. Totally frivolous reading, but very entertaining. I didn't connect with Barney (the protagonist) in
Parasite, but I think that was because the story was so outlandish (hey, it's YA science fiction) and it didn't really focus on character development. I gave it 3/5 stars for the entertainment value. I think there will be a few more Sleator books that I'll revisit as well. The Goodreads synopsis:
The daring game of intergalactic chase that thrilled a generation of science fiction readers in Interstellar Pig has started again, and round two is deadly! This sequel to William Sleator's sly masterpiece takes readers on another hunt for the sinister Piggy, this time in the far reaches of space.
Poor Barney has a boring after-school job, earning money to repay his parents after their beach house is destroyed in a battle with aliens. Of course, they don't believe that aliens did the damage. No one, in fact, realizes that sixteen-year-old Barney saved the world by outsmarting the visitors at their violent game, Interstellar Pig. No one but the aliens, and for them the game is far from over.
Barney is about to be drawn into the contest again, becoming the unwilling partner of a chatty intestinal parasite; the potential snack of giant, man-eating crabs; and the competitor of a stinger-happy seven-foot wasp woman. Life just got a lot more interesting.
The Runner by W.J. Davies. This was a dystopian novella based off the recent hit of the same genre
Wool (by Hugh Howey). I liked it because it took the exact universe and situation that Howey had set up but used different characters to explore what was going on. The concept was the same because of the nature of how people live (I don't want to give too much away), but this time it is with two men who are in love. I hadn't read a dystopian piece that had main homosexual characters and it was a breath of fresh air. Though it was short and I would have liked more, it piqued my interest in Davies if he were to do anything more in the
Wool universe. The cool thing is that Davies and I had an exchange on Twitter!
It's pretty cool that he responded to me on there. I had asked him why he chose to write about gay characters and he responded with that. It linked to a blog post about marriage equality and it's voyage that got him thinking. I rated it 4/5 stars and hope to read more of his work in the future if it's Wool-related. I know that was only a springboard to get his name out there for his upcoming novel, but it didn't sound super interesting to me. The Goodreads synopsis:
This story is set in Hugh Howey's world of Wool
"We all have a reason for being here, we're just not sure what it is."
Time is running out. As the Great Flood threatens to consume the silo, Ace and a team of divers are in a desperate battle to avert disaster. When a terrible accident destroys the person he cares about most, Ace has little left to live for.
After nearly succumbing to the silo's flooded depths, he realizes that drastic measures must be taken in order to save their underground home. But those in charge deem his ideas too dangerous, his methods too forbidden, and he is shunned for his sin of toxic words.
When an opportunity for redemption presents itself, Ace has only one question: Why should he fight to save these people, if they aren't willing to help themselves?
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling. My coworker lent this to me when I finished my other book. I read this in less than 24 hours. It was super light reading, as I thought it would be, and mostly entertaining. There were a few good one-liners in there, but I was just mildly interested in the rest of it. I don't know why, but it didn't really speak to me. I think that it was very scattered and maybe her trying too hard. Or not trying enough. I couldn't tell. I'm not used to reading comedic memoirs (or comedy in general for that matter) and I haven't read anything by her before. It made the NYTimes Best Seller list, so it's popular for sure. Everyone has different tastes, though. I gave it 3/5 stars because I didn't really have to think and it was mildly entertaining. Goodreads:
Mindy Kaling has lived many lives: the obedient child of immigrant professionals, a timid chubster afraid of her own bike, a Ben Affleck–impersonating Off-Broadway performer and playwright, and, finally, a comedy writer and actress prone to starting fights with her friends and coworkers with the sentence “Can I just say one last thing about this, and then I swear I’ll shut up about it?” Perhaps you want to know what Mindy thinks makes a great best friend (someone who will fill your prescription in the middle of the night), or what makes a great guy (one who is aware of all elderly people in any room at any time and acts accordingly), or what is the perfect amount of fame (so famous you can never get convicted of murder in a court of law), or how to maintain a trim figure (you will not find that information in these pages). If so, you’ve come to the right book, mostly! In Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, Mindy invites readers on a tour of her life and her unscientific observations on romance, friendship, and Hollywood, with several conveniently placed stopping points for you to run errands and make phone calls. Mindy Kaling really is just a Girl Next Door—not so much literally anywhere in the continental United States, but definitely if you live in India or Sri Lanka.
Disconnect by Imran Siddiq. This is another new dystopian novella that was free on the Amazon Kindle. I am really into it so far! I am 57% done with it and I just started it this afternoon. I am always interested in striations of society, castes or institutionalized social hierarchies. This book plays on that by separating people not only by those castes but moving the people into different halves of the world, only to have a boy and girl fall for each other from different parts of the world. You could totally see that part coming, but the world is a very interesting one. I'm interested to see where it'll go!
Zachary, a 16-year old Underworlder digs in waste to find anything worth bartering. That is the rule of scavenging.
When he discovers footage of an Overworld girl, Rosa, he’s intrigued by her sorrow and breaks the rule.
That decision changes his life, and he will suffer for it.
Zachary must overcome worthlessness, prejudice, and not let a twisted lie devour the new reason that he survives; Rosa.
In space, love had boundaries.
