Ender, Ender, Ender. What is to be said about this fantastic start to one of the modern day science fiction masterpieces? as a second read I thoroughly enjoyed the slang and being that I was partially listening to this book as well as reading it made the dialog feel so real. the struggles that such a young child faces in such a short period of time and his psychological will to carry on are so encouraging. This is the only Ender book that I have previously read but I hope to change that this year.
Giving a synopsis of this is turning out to be a struggle. As I read Friedrich Engels’ book about the anthropology of family I found myself taking copious amount of notes. And not notes that I care to share in a review of the text it was more as if I was reading this text for a class. I have become increasingly more interested in Socialism over the past few years. I can remember being a Socialist punk teenager, reading the works of Marx and saying fuck the system. But the truth is I never really read Marx. I couldn’t stomach the translation and it was too much theory for my teenage punk brain to understand. Now that I have gotten more education and am able to read theory and pick out the main points and understand the ideas I did like this book. I can say I recommend it for light reading but if you curious about polygamy or group marriages or relationships before capitalism got involved this is a good resource just know it does take some setting down maybe getting out a pad of paper and writing down key points so you don’t forget them because he will throw a lot of information at you at once. I give this book 3 out of 5.
This book was madness in text form it was a conversation about nothing about sex about nothing about sex. It made no sense and it was actually really fun to read because of that. Apparently when this book came out it was very controversial which spark my interest but really when I read it, the conversation just made my head tilt like a dog when they don’t understand you. 2 out of 5
Why Not? Fifteen Reasons to Live by Ray Robertson-
Truly impressive I saw this author at a panel last fall and he read from this book. His wit and satire is quite wonderful and his sideburns are to die for. As for the story it truly is a must read for everyone. Its a bit think in the quotes because he got his undergrad in philosophy and it shows. using Nietzsche and Seneca quotes all over the book. 4 out of 5
Codependency. That is the main plot of this memoir. A codependent woman uses her body to try and make the longing ugly feelings go away. I have suffered from this myself for many years but It was not always with my body. And I have never been promiscuious. My codependency is more of a need for romance and intimacy. I always need to feel loved and be told that I’m loved. For most of my adolescent life I never felt loved enough when it came to relationships. I always felt like I was putting more effort into the relationships and this cycle continued for years. All of these memories came flooding back to me when I read Kerry Cohen’s book Loose girl. I am grateful that she could write a book about the feelings that we have when we have that longing and that feeling of “maybe if I say I love you enough they will stay with me”. I have been recovering for some time now but as we see at the end of the memoir this is a lifelong process that takes a strong willpower and the help of those around you. I just hope I have the courage and willpower that Kerry does. I give this book a 5 out of 5 for bringing to light a psychological condition that doesn’t have enough attention.
For my second book I decided to go with a genre that I enjoy greatly, dystopia. For this reading I chose The Children of Men by P.D. James. Right off the bat I’m going to be honest I did not like this book. It was written in a way that made it a short read even if it was 200+ pages but that did not make me like the story any more. I never really got a feel for any of the characters or their plights. I wrote notes while reading so that I would be able to give a overview of thoughts. the author does really well at writing a story from a historians perspective and included the wonders and parts of life that a historian would take pleasure in. I felt most of the story that their was no hope in existence so why bother complain about social injustices in a dying human civilization. why shouldn’t we take the peaceful and easy way out. and being a social activist in my own life I found my own view surprising. a good definition of this story is a later age coming of age story of how a man in a dystopic time finds love and can handle the fact that he will eventually die and leave no mark in history which he cares so much about. the love relationship makes zero sense and that was quite a problem for me. Theo meets Julian twice and then decides he is in love with her there is no real conversation that shows them interacting romantically other then meeting and talking about the political climate. I don’t know if it was because I had a cold this week or if this author just does work well with me I couldn’t get behind this story. So for my first dystopian book of the year I have to give it 1 out of 5.
So when I decided I wanted to start the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge I had the hard decision of deciding what book to start come January 1st. Until this trailer came out Then I knew what I was going to have to re-read. This book has always been one of my favorite books and although it’s my second time reading it, it has been over 10 years. The best part of this book is how quickly they end the scary/sad parts. It’s a relief compared to The Lord of the Rings where we are always wondering how much worse it can get. I also found out reading it this time how much braver Bilbo was compared to Frodo. Frodo kills very few things in the series but Bilbo in one book kills a bunch of spiders and a bunch of goblins. And then plays around with the ring of power like it’s no big deal. That’s another thing I noticed in The Hobbit the ring was not a quintessential part of the story although it did save Bilbo & Co. lives quite a few times. So as a second read I think it was equally as good as the first time and I give it 5 out of 5.
So Happy New Years to my readers and I’m super excited for the coming the year and the challenges that come. Hopefully I can figure out the medical issues I am having so that I can enjoy it even better. So most of you found me on Read52booksin52weeks and I hope you enjoy the reviews that I give and please feel free to comment, add me on twitter, facebook. The first book I have picked out is a re-read of The Hobbit. I’ll explain more about my choices in the individual book reviews.
