Book Nook Club: Reviewed by What A Card

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June 23, 2009

The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow

My husband, a big time engineering/math geek, recommended The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow. Not being a big time engineering/math geek, I was a tiny bit leery, but took the plunge anyway.

From the dust jacket: "Offering readers not only a tour of randomness, chance, and probability but also a new way of looking at the world, this original, unexpected journey reminds us that much in our lives is about as predictable as the steps of a stumbling man fresh from a night at the bar."

In this book, Mlodinow discusses topics in statistics and randomness using real life examples. Some of it is incredibly interesting. Some of it I admittedly found a little dull. Overall, though, it was well worth spending the time to read. This is not a "math book" or a textbook. Rather, it is written at a level that should be accessible to most non-mathematicians.

One of the parts of the book I found most interesting was that Mlodinow posits that much of what we attribute to individual success or failure is at least partially attributed to randomness. Is Bill Gates really that much more amazing that all the other very talented computer programmers? Or was he just someone who got a boost from random chance falling his way added on top of his abilities? Is the CEO of a faltering company to blame, or just a victim of randomness working against his or her efforts?

This book is by no means a "self-help" book. But at the end of the book, Mlodinow summed up with what I thought was the most important message to take away [from page 219]:

I believe it is important to plan, if we do so with our eyes open. But more important, my mother's experience [a story the author shares about how his mother survives the Holocaust through random chance] has taught me that we ought to identify and appreciate the good luck that we have and recognize the random events that contribute to our success. It has taught me, too, to accept the chance events that may cause us grief. Most of all it has taught me to appreciate the absence of bad luck, the absence of events that might have brought us down, and the absence of the disease, war, famine, and accident that have not--or have not yet--befallen us.

Overall, I would recommend this book. There are a few slow spots, but I just skimmed over them and found the rest of the book surprisingly interesting!

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May 27, 2009

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

I've been lucky to have read some really great books recently, but the one that stands out as the most enjoyable was kind of a surprise: A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson.

This book is basically a science textbook for a non-scientist. It covers, at a rather simplistic level, topics such as geology, physics, paleontology, and evolution. Clocking in at just under 500 pages (not counting the notes, bibliography, or index), none of the subjects are covered in much depth, but you still get a very good idea of what the topic is all about. I found it to be written at about the level of something like Popular Science magazine: not completely "dumbed down", but still very accessible without a science background. In the introduction, Bryson states:

The idea was to see if it isn't possible to understand and appreciate--marvel at, enjoy even--the wonder and accomplishments of science at a level that isn't too technical or demanding, but isn't entirely superficial either.

I feel he was incredibly successful at reaching this balance. I was captivated by this book. The writing was strong throughout, and there was a surprising degree of actual storytelling. Does geology sound boring to you? Just wait until you read about all the in-fighting between geologists! You've heard of Sir Isaac Newton, but do you have any idea of what an odd fellow he was?

This isn't just a book of facts, but a book about people: how people make scientific discoveries, why they are drawn to the work, how the make mistakes, how they interact with their peers. I think this aspect of the book is what made it so entirely readable for me.

Of course, a non-fiction book is only as good as its facts, and in a book of this breadth, written by a non-scientist, there are bound to be errors. I looked around online (being a non-scientist myself, and unable to judge the validity of the facts), and did find a few complaints about errors. Also, this book was published in 2003. Of course things change with new discoveries or changes in the way we view things. For example, I got a bit of a giggle from this line:

...it is good news that in February 1999 the International Astronomical Union ruled officially that Pluto is a planet. The universe is a big and lonely place. We can do with all the neighbors we can get.

In 2006, the IAU reversed their decision, stripping Pluto of its "planet" status. Ah well, just a little more proof that science is not static!

Admittedly, I am a non-scientist with a very strong interest in science, so I'm probably the perfect target audience for this book. However, if this book sounds even the slightest bit interesting to you, I'd highly recommend it. It's incredibly well-done, and a great read!

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May 11, 2009

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal, by Christopher Moore

A few weeks back, I'd written a post on my blog asking for book recommendations. I've been having so much fun trying out new (to me) books! When my sister-in-law recommended Lamb, I remembered the glowing review I read here a few months ago and put this book right at the top of my pile. And I'm glad I did!

This book purports to tell about Joshua's (aka Jesus's) life from childhood through his crucifixion. The Bible is largely silent about those growing up years, so this is a hilarious take on what might have happened. Joshua and his best friend, Biff, travel through Asia, seeking wisdom and information.

Is this book for everyone? Of course not. However, I didn't find it to be an offensive book in that I don't believe it was written with ill-intent toward Christianity. In fact, Joshua/Jesus is portrayed as a good man throughout, seeking a way to fulfill the destiny placed upon him by his Father. However, there was a fair share of naughty language and sexual situations (Biff's descriptions of the (fake) Kama Sutra were some of the funniest things I've read!).

I found this to be well-written, engaging, and quite hilarious. It's probably my favorite book that I've read this year, and believe me, I'll be seeking out other books by Christopher Moore!

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May 5, 2009

Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs edited by John Bowe, Marisa Bowe, and Sabin Streeter

Gig is a collection of interviews with many different people, about their jobs. There are interviews with people as diverse as a steelworker, a tofu manufacturer, a supermodel, an adult webmistress, and a doula. Each interview is about five pages long, and most are just the person talking about what he or she does in the job, what is fulfilling (or unfulfilling) about the job. A large number of careers are covered as the book clocks in at nearly 700 pages.

The book was published in 2001, though many of the interviews appear to have been conducted in the late '90's. As a result, it's already somewhat dated: it was kind of hilarious to read people talking about the booming economy and seeing so much hope for the economic future.

I found this book to be alternately uplifting and depressing. Some of the interviews were with people who were obviously unhappy, or downright not nice. For example, there was the disturbing interview with a pretzel vendor: a woman who sold pretzels at a flea market, stole from her boss, and had an affair with a co-worker, all without any apparent shame or remorse. But on the flip side, there were completely wonderful interviews, like the WNBA player who seemed like a genuinely good person I wish I could meet.

Some were surprising: the telephone psychic, a profession I hold in absolute disdain, seemed like a reasonably good guy. The minister, a profession I think would be deeply fulfilling, seemed to be burning out. The stay-at-home-mom (my current job) didn't speak to me or my own experiences at all.

For the most part, I found these interviews to be interesting and engaging, whether I "agreed" or "disagreed" with what the person said. And at around five pages, each interview itself was a quick read.

This isn't a book to read to get a good feel for specific professions. You'd need to read interviews with far more than one person to get an at all realistic view of a career. Instead, this is a book that gives you a snapshot of a single person's experience. It's more interesting to read it from the psychological standpoint of what makes a person love or hate their job. Why do some people find fulfillment in the mundane while others chafe under a dream job? Or, I must admit, it's interesting to read this as a voyeur, getting to take a little peek into the lives of others.

My only major complaint about this book is that there's no conclusion, no summing up of what the editors learned through the process of conducting these interviews. There was no placing these interviews within the larger context of the economy or national outlook at the time. There were just interviews, interviews, interviews, bam, book's over. That said, I did really enjoy it. I liked getting these small peeks into the lives and careers of others. I even tried googling a few of the people to see if I could find out more about where their lives have gone since the book was published (without any luck, though. Some of the stories were really engaging and I wish I could get an update!)

Overall, I'd recommend this one.

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February 17, 2009

Anathem by Neal Stephenson

What a ride Anathem is! In this novel, Stephenson has created a work that is epic...grandiose...LONG. Clocking in at over 900 pages, Stephenson has once again done an admirable job of maintaining a complex storyline, creating a new world, and bringing diverse characters to life.

But all was not rosy with this book. I'm a fan of long novels; they don't scare me off, but this wasn't just long, it was bloated. While the core of the story was incredibly interesting and did manage to draw me though the book, there were far too many sections that made me want to cry from boredom.

It's hard to condense the storyline into a reasonably small blurb, but I'll try to give you a flavor for the book. On the Earth-like planet of Arbre, Erasmus is a "fraa", a type of monk-like character who lives in a "concent". Concents are similar to monasteries, except the men and women who live there focus their lives on philosophy, physics, math, and learning in general rather than religion. The members of the concents remain shut off from the rest of civilization for long periods of time. The novel opens shortly before the gates of the concent open and Erasmus and his friends are free to interact with outside members of the world for the first time in ten years.

Strange things start to happen, and eventually Erasmus and his friends are forced on a journey that takes them out of the comfort of their concent to assess a danger posed to the entire planet.

Stephenson really excels at world-building, and his skills shine here. Arbre, the world in the novel, felt very really to me. He covered thousands of years of world history, and created a large nember of new words, requiring their own glossary.

However, his strength is also his weakness: the book became bloated in describing things, or getting caught up in long philosophical or physics-based conversations between characters. There are sections that are far too long where nothing really happens. For example, the book starts out with a description of a clock. It's a big clock. It takes a lot of people to wind it. It's central to life at the concent. I just told you the main points. If you read the book, the first EIGHTY pages are devoted to this clock. I'm not kidding. The book starts slow and while I really got a good feel for the clock, I could have done with some rather extensive edits to get to some action more quickly. Other parts of the novel suffered the same problem, where the action was slowed so dramatically for explanations that in my opinion were far too long (and too boring!)

Overall, I enjoyed this book, and really did love the main storyline. But I felt like it was too much of a slog to get through it, so I'd be hard-pressed to recommend this book to anyone besides existing Neal Stephenson fans, or die-hard sci-fi fans. If you're neither of those, skip this. But do check out Cryptonomicon by Stephenson, which is one of the greatest books I've ever read, and the reason why I keep reading (and being disappointed by) his newer books.

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February 12, 2009

Can You Keep A Secret? by Sophie Kinsella

While I feel like I read a fairly wide selection of books, one genre with which I'm fairly unfamiliar is chick-lit. So I was excited when my book group selected Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella for our selection this month. Part of what I love about a book group is reading outside my comfort zone!

The premise of this book is that Emma, a Bridget Jones-esque character, spills her secrets to a stranger sitting next to her on a plane. Secrets like she lies about her weight and pours orange juice in an annoying co-worker's plant. Of course, it turns out this stranger isn't really a stranger: he's the owner of the huge international corporation where she is employed as a junior marketing assistant.

Ultimately, I'm a bit conflicted about this book. I was partially pleasantly surprised, and partially terribly disappointed.

I'll begin with the positives:

This book was surprisingly readable. It was hard to put down, and certainly pulled me along through the story.
Okay, that's really the only positive I can think of, but it's a pretty big positive. If you're looking for light, silly, quick-read entertainment, this fits the bill.

Now on to the negatives:

The entire story line is about the main character, Emma, developing a new relationship. I'm used to romance being a sub-plot in many novels. Of course that's a story line in many books regardless of genre, where the main character surprisingly finds true love while doing X. In this book, there's no "X". It's really just about Emma getting a guy. There's a slight story line about her efforts to advance in her job, and an even more poorly developed and easily resolved story line about her relationship with her family, but they are such minor points in the novel I'd be hard pressed to even call them plot points.
Characters are sadly two-dimensional, lacking true development. It was especially true for Jemima, the clothes-horse, man-chasing roommate, who pretty much drove me insane every time she was mentioned. Even Emma, the main character, has little growth through the novel. The book starts out with a list of her "secrets", and ends with a list of her "secrets". I don't feel like there were any significant changes or learning experiences for her character.
The story line is a predicable Cinderella story: "normal" gal grabs the attention of Prince Charming. There was nothing new or inventive about the story line. Don't read this expecting amazing plot twists!

It sounds like I'm really slamming this book, and honestly, I don't mean to sound quite so negative. As I started out by saying, the book really was readable. If you're looking for a quick beach read, or something light to read between meatier books, this is a fine choice. Just don't spend a lot of time thinking about it, or cataloging its weaknesses, as that will really limit your enjoyment!

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October 8, 2008

Cell by Stephen King

In high school, I was a Stephen King junkie. But, that was a shocking number of years ago, and I haven't read much by him in a while. For some reason, though, when I saw this book at a used book sale for a dollar, I couldn't pass it up.

Cell is a horror story about a "virus" that is spread via cell phones. At the beginning of the novel, everyone who uses a cell phone suddenly becomes essentially a zombie...fighting, killing, biting...you know, the whole "I'm a zombie, I have no higher brain functions" thing.

Since most people use cell phones these days, well, you can imagine that things weren't looking too good in this novel. Clay, an artist, was in Boston when the Pulse happened, while his family was home in Maine. He doesn't own a cell phone, so was one of the few unaffected people in the Boston area. He meets up with Tom, a man whose cell phone had been broken prior to the Pulse, and Alice, a teenager who managed to escape from her cell-phone-talking mother. The three decide to walk to Maine to try to track down Clay's family.

Of course, being Stephen King, more wackiness ensues: telepathy, hive minds, people floating on air, zombies who like elevator music, you get the idea.

I found this book to be a quick and easy read. It was difficult though not impossible to put down at night. I was especially pleased with the ending. While I won't give any spoilers, the majority of the book is driven by Clay's search against hope to find his son. I was a little worried about the ending: would Johnnie be okay in the end or not? I wasn't sure if I would be happy with a pat happy ending, but would a depressing ending be any better? I really loved how he chose to end the novel.

Would I recommend this book? I'm not sure who I'd recommend it to. If you're not an avid Stephen King reader, I'd much more highly recommend The Stand, which posits a similar end-of-the-world scenario, but was a far better book in my opinion. And if you are an avid horror or Stephen King reader, well, I probably don't have to tell you about a book that came out in 2006. But yes, if you do enjoy horror novels but somehow managed to miss Cell up to now, it is worth picking up. I'd probably give it 3.5 stars if that was an option, though I'll round up to 4 since I so enjoyed the ending.

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October 6, 2008

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

I just finished The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards. The novel begins with a woman having twins in a snowstorm, delivered by her husband, a doctor. He recognizes that one of the children has Down Syndrome, so he gives his daughter to the nurse, and tells his wife that their daughter has died. The rest of the story jumps back and forth between the lives of husband and wife raising the son, and the nurse raising their daughter.

I thought the idea of the story was pretty interesting, but found it to be somewhat slow-moving, especially the first third of the novel. It also didn't feel fully developed to me, like the author simply had a message she wanted to convey and used this story as a thin wrapper. In fact, on page 258, what I felt was the main message of the book was plainly stated:

He had tried to protect his son from the things he himself had suffered as a child: poverty and worry and grief. Yet his very efforts had created losses David never anticipated.

I just found this book went too far to try to force-feed this idea. What, you mean things are bad all over? That you can never shield anyone entirely from bad things? That there's no such thing as the "perfect" life, and that maybe there is joy to be found in the imperfections? Well, no kidding! I didn't need this whole forced novel to teach me that lesson.

The ending also fell a bit flat. It felt more like the novel just petered out than really ended.

That said, there were some parts that were more enjoyable. While I never felt like it was expanded upon enough, I did really enjoy the sections about Phoebe, the young woman with Down Syndrome, and Caroline, the nurse who chose to uproot her own life rather than place Phoebe in an institution.

Overall, it wasn't a terrible book. It just wasn't a really interesting, thoughtful, or engaging book either.

__________________________

This book was previously reviewed here by Courtney way back in January, and Britni in April. Check theirs out, too, although none of us were really blown away by this one! Next time I'll check for reviews here *before* I pick up a book, as I could have just saved myself from reading this one :)

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October 1, 2008

Brisingr by Christopher Paolini

I have been anxiously awaiting Brisingr, the third book in Christopher Paolini's Inheritance series. I find these books very interesting, because they really make me think about what is more important: writing or story.

For those of you unfamiliar with the series, Eragon, the first book, was written when the author was only fifteen years old. To be honest, the book is not particularly well-written, and the story itself is somewhat derivative, borrowing heavily from other books of high fantasy. But it still captured me almost immediately, and held my attention throughout. Eragon tells the story of a farm boy who find a dragon egg, and the adventures that result.

When I finished Eragon, I rushed out to buy the second book in the series, Eldest, which had just come out in hardcover. So despite the many weaknesses of Eragon, I was still willing to shell-out to buy the next book in hardcover. And I didn't regret it. Eldest continues with Eragon's story as he learns more about dragonriders and his own role. He joins with the Varden, a group dedicated to overthrowing the evil ruler, Galbatorix, an insane dragonrider who has nearly wiped out all the other dragons. It was a better book than Eragon, still a bit weak in the writing, but with an engaging story.

Then came the long wait. Three years passed. But finally, Brisingr, the third book in the series, was released a few weeks ago. The book continues the story of the battle of the rebels against the evil empire. Eragon is forced into another fight with a dragonrider inexplicably stronger than he is, and barely escapes. He has to deal with the political side of being the most obvious spearhead of the resistance, pulled in different directions, trying to do what is right for everyone while on a strict timetable, with the constant fear of knowing that he is less powerful than his enemies.

The story jumps between the viewpoints of some of the main characters, including Roran, Eragon's cousin, and Nasuada, the leader of the Varden. Paolini did a fine job with this structure. I always stayed balanced on that razor's edge between being annoyed by leaving a storyline I was enjoying, but glad to be revisiting a different storyline. In fact, I found Roran's sections the most engaging in this novel as they contained a lot more action than the sections about Eragon.

All that said, the writing in this novel still leaves much to be desired. However, at least for me, these books are saved by the story, which while still derivative, is also engaging. But would I recommend these? Only to existing fans of high fantasy, who already enjoy the genre and will probably be amused by the obvious "borrowing" of plot points from other fantasy novels and movies. To new readers of high fantasy: no way would I recommend this series. Start with George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, or Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Pyrdain, or Roger Zelazny's Amber series, or Anne McCaffrey's Pern series, or any number of other high fantasy novels that contain both an engaging story as well as better writing that what is to be found in the Inheritance novels.

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June 23, 2009

The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow

May 27, 2009

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

May 11, 2009

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal, by Christopher Moore

May 5, 2009

Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs edited by John Bowe, Marisa Bowe, and Sabin Streeter

February 17, 2009

Anathem by Neal Stephenson

February 12, 2009

Can You Keep A Secret? by Sophie Kinsella

October 8, 2008

Cell by Stephen King

October 6, 2008

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

October 1, 2008

Brisingr by Christopher Paolini

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