Update

May 18th? Really?! That's the last time I updated this beast?! I suck, I know. Since Little Brother I have read:

1. The Compound by S. A. Bodeen (8/10)
2. The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson (7/10)
3. Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan (7/10)
4. Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi (9/10)
5. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (7/10)
6. Wide Awake by David Levithan (6/10)
7. The Mortal Instruments Series: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (7/10)
8. The Mortal Instruments Series: City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare (7/10)
9. The Mortal Instruments Series: City of Glass by Cassandra Clare (7/10)
10. Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien (8/10)
11. The Unidentified by Rae Mariz (4/10)
12. Matched by Ally Condie (7/10)
13. Anthem by Ayn Rand (6/10)
14. Divergent by Veronica Roth (8/10)

So...yeah. I'll review them. It may take a while to work through them, but I'll do my best. Promises, promises.

Book 33: Little Brother

Completed May 18th

I really enjoyed this book, which was one of the best feelings ever after despising the last novel I finished. It's set in the present day, but with an alternate reality...technology is a little more advanced and available in this setting. And surveillance of every day citizens is more common as well. At least I think so. I guess there could be some camera watching me scratch my ass right now, but I like to hope that's not true.

The phrase "little brother" is a nod to "big brother." Where "big brother" refers to an authority figure or group monitoring the public, "little brother" refers to the public monitoring the authority. Kind of like "Who watches the Watchmen?" It's an interesting concept. Basically, the main character, Marcus, and his friends are in the wrong place at the wrong time. They are detained by Homeland Security as suspected terrorists. The treatment he and his friends receive, the threats made, and the terror to which they are subjected light a fire in Marcus and he decides to fight back once he is released.

So yeah, I loved it. When I read the last page, I was ready to sign up for a revolution. It made me curious how our non-fictional government would react if the scenarios in this novel were to occur and I had a lot of questions. What is freedom? What is the price of that freedom? Under what circumstances can it be taken away? How far would you go to get it back?

There is a great deal of tech and tech jargon, but Doctorow does an excellent job of explaining it as the story progresses. And not in that let's-have-a-wordy-and-boring-timeout-to-explain-difficult-concepts way. He incorporates it into the story.

Rating: 9/10

Book 32 - Genesis

Note: There are major spoilers here. I'll warn you when they're coming

Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for this book, but I enjoyed it about as much as I enjoyed kidney surgery. It's like a history textbook containing only court transcripts. Sure, there are some great philosophical elements regarding life, thought, ideas, creation, etc contained here, but I didn't care about the story at all. There was no story. The whole novel takes place in 4 hours time and deals primarily with the past. If I wanted to read something like this, I'd have grabbed a West Memphis 3 court transcript or a journal article...both infinitely more entertaining than this story.

Some people might think I'm missing the point, but I do get it. I just don't like it. I don't mind debating philosophy on occasion, but that's all this was: a great big philosophical barf. I could spend a few minutes or hours dissecting this novel in my mind and determining what my own beliefs are regarding the themes, but you know what? I'm just going to move right along to the next book instead. Which is my own decision, Mr. Beckett...because I'm human and have a brain and thoughts and ideas. Gah! I really don't like this book.

The reader is kept outside the story and little connection (no connection really) is felt to the characters. And maybe that's why I didn't like it. It's a cerebral book, not an emotional one...which is typically how I prefer to operate, but not when it comes to fiction. I kept waiting for something -- anything -- to happen. Something to move to story beyond the walls of the Academy, but no. I could have punched the author when I read the twist. I'm not one for giving the ending away usually, but do you want to know? Do you?

~SPOILER ALERT~

She's a monkey. Yeah. Anax (the main character) is an orangutan robot. The end. Thanks for reading.

Rating: 2/10

Book 25 - Across The Universe

Completed April 12th

I've been loving me some dystopian futures lately. Here is yet another novel set in a future filled with cover-ups and half-truths.

There is a spaceship leaving Earth for another planet (Centauri-Earth) 300 years away. Scientists, military personnel, and other specialists are cryogenically frozen and are set to be awoken once the ship (Godspeed) arrives on the new planet. As the journey progresses, a crew of farmers, biologists, etc run things aboard Godspeed and attempt to prepare for conditions they might encounter on Centauri-Earth.

Amy is one of the frozen people. She is woken by someone unknown 50 years before the set arrival date on Centauri-Earth. She is different and is viewed by the leader (Eldest) as a threat to his perfect society. This book takes us through Amy's adjustment to life aboard a shuttle where the language has altered and genetics have merged to the point where there is one race, leaving Amy to be considered a freak with her red hair, green eyes, and pale skin. The only people who seem to accept her are Elder (who is in line to be the next Eldest) and Harley (a patient in the mental Ward). There is also the mystery of her awakening. Who did it? And who is attempting to wake the other frozen ones? What is the connection between them all?

I've never read anything quite like this. Mystery, sci-fi, and romance genres are combined to form this tale. The writing is excellent. Revis flawlessly creates an entirely new society within the walls of a ship. The book unfolds through alternating chapters from Amy and Elder's points of view. The differences between people on present-day Earth and people aboard the shuttle are described beautifully...and the differences themselves are keys to even more mystery.

Also, I don't typically care much about cover art, but holy crap! The picture does it no justice at all.

Rating 8/10

Book 22-24: The Hunger Games trilogy

Completed April 11th

I'm going to attempt a major-spoiler-free summary/review of this beast, which means I can only really discuss the 1st book. Let me say up front that I freaking loved this series. It's brilliantly written and tugged at every emotion I have inside me.

These books are set in a dystopian future, where The United States has collapsed and a new country called Panem takes its place. Within Panem are 12 Districts and 1 Capitol spread across the land. People in the Capitol are spoiled by luxury and never want for anything. They are frivolous with their fashion, food, and bodies. Life in most of the Districts is very different. Each District specializes in a certain industry like mining, textiles, technology, or agriculture. Government control is total. People are starving. The Districts are surrounded with electrical fencing and there is no communication between them. Anyone who defies the government is killed and breaking even minor laws can result in whipping or other torture.

Every year something called the Hunger Games takes place to remind the Districts of a past revolt against the government. A male and female between ages 12-18 are selected from each District to participate. The participants, called tributes, are trained for a week before being sent to a massive wilderness to kill each other. Only one tribute can survive. The winner's District is given more food for one year and the winner him or herself is made wealthy for the duration of his or her life. The Games are televised and everyone is required to watch.

Enter Katniss. The Hunger Games is told from Katniss' point of view as she is thrown into a world of horror and nightmares.

Like I already mentioned, I loved this trilogy. Katniss' struggles were realistic and painful. There were occasions when I wanted to bop her upside the head, but I guess maybe I'm a bit more trusting. And when you think about where she came from - having to fight for every mouthful of food, watching people she cares for dying, being used as a pawn for a bigger plan - it's no wonder. Catching Fire was my favorite of the three, though they're all wonderful. I've heard that Mockingjay didn't live up to the expectations of a lot of people, but I thought the ending was perfect for this series.

Ratings:
The Hunger Games 9/10

Catching Fire 10/10

Mockingjay 9/10

Book 21 - Water For Elephants

Completed April 4th

This is one of the best books I've read all year. Top 3 easy. As soon as I finished the last paragraph I wanted to start it over again. A couple people had recommended it, but my expectations weren't high, to be honest. It didn't work out so well for the last suggestions. But I just dove in blindly, without even reading the back cover.

This novel is set in Depression-era America...mostly. The story is told by Jacob who is 90 (or 93) as he remembers his early 20s, spent working in the circus. [Now, I'm not a fan of circuses. At all. They freak me out. BUT I was fine reading this book.] Jacob was the veterinarian for the Benzini Brothers Greatest Show on Earth in the summer of one of the greatest circus disasters of all time. Some parts are disturbing. There are graphic descriptions of violence as well as animal abuse and death, but it's necessary. The reader needs to understand the conditions of day-to-day life among humans and animals in order for the story to grab him and shake him up inside.

I'm still processing this one. I may re-read it later on this year and do a proper review, but I want to make sure I finish the 50 books first.

Favorite passages:

• Age is a terrible thief. Just when you're getting the hang of life, it knocks your legs out from under you and stoops your back. It makes you ache and muddies your head and silently spreads cancer throughout your spouse.
• Keeping up the appearance of having all your marbles is hard work but important. Anyway, I'm not really addled. I just have more facts to keep track of than other people.
• When you are five, you know your age down to the month. Even in your twenties, you know how old you are. I'm twenty-three you say, or maybe twenty-seven. But then in your thirties, something strange starts to happen. It is a mere hiccup at first, an instant of hesitation. How old are you? Oh, I'm--you start confidently, but then you stop. You were going to say thirty-three, but you are not. You're thirty-five. And then you're bothered, because you wonder if this is the beginning of the end. It is, of course, but it's decades before you admit it.
• The whole thing's illusion, Jacob, and there's nothing wrong with that. It's what people want from us. It's what they expect.
• With a secret like that, at some point the secret itself becomes irrelevant. The fact that you keep it does not.

Rating: 10/10

Books 16-20: Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Completed March 29th

I didn't make notes as I read this series, so this reaction/review thing is straight from memory. Also, it says something that I didn't make quote-notes on these books. The writing was straight-forward and efficient, but no elegant prose or inspiring quotations were found here. The series is written for a younger audience (I found half of the books in the children's section of the library with the other half being YA...disorganization, anyone?), but I enjoyed it just fine.

At first, Percy's lack of common sense annoyed the piss out of me. I think even I had more common sense at 12, and he's a demigod (half god, half human)! The kid seemed incapable of drawing conclusions no matter how much evidence was slapping him in the face. Typical scenario: weird crap happens, weird crap, weird crap, and Percy concludes that weird crap isn't really happening. Okay, now repeat that at least 15 times. That was really my only major gripe I think, besides the reiteration of scenes to remind the reader what happened in the previous book. I got it, thanks.

This series is rooted in Greek mythology and there are a lot of characters. We meet all of the Olympian gods, most of the Titans, plus a hundred or so minor gods/demigods/monsters.

Side note: We had a game night at Ashley's recently and reading this series helped me answer a ton of questions about Greek mythology. It delves (at least briefly) into many myths, with enough visual description to lock them into my brain.

I don't like giving too much away if I can help it. Basically this series is about a 12 year old half-god coming of age, while also coming to terms with the fact that Greek myths are reality, his father is Poseidon, monsters are trying to kill him daily, there is a summer camp for demigods to learn how to stay alive, and there is a prophecy involving him that might just determine the fate of humanity. No big deal. So yeah, it's okay...not my favorite series, but not my least favorite either *coughHisDarkMaterialscough*

Ratings:

The Lightning Thief 7/10

The Sea of Monsters 6/10

The Titan's Curse 7/10

The Battle of th Labyrinth 8/10

The Last Olympian 6/10