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The Snow Queen by Joan Vinge, 556pp [Hugo book].
Loosely based on Anderson's Snow Queen story, which I know extremely well because of a Soviet movie and I read the play that was based on many. many times. I don't know if knowing the fairy tale that inspired this sci-fi book helped or not.
In this world, the planet Tiamat is by this black hole which the Hegemony, a space empire, uses to travel but it closes for 150 years due to two suns and then reopens again. When the black hole is open to interplanetary travel from the outside Empire, Winter with the Winter Queen rules Tiamat and the outsiders bring technology but in a way so the locals don't learn how to use it and than would stop working once the no travel is possible. On Tiamat the outsiders can acquire the Water of Life, a liquid made from the blood of these sea animals that live on Tiamat, so the Queen trades that to enrich the empire. And it is one Queen that lives for 150 year since she drinks that liquid too. But when the black hole closes and the world gets too hot, Summers move North and take over, with their Summer Queen while the Winter one is ritually sacrificed. Summers don't have the tech and the world goes back to a more primitive mode for another 150 years until the change happens again.
The Winter Queen plots to keep her power, first by planting a clone of herself in Summer. That is Moon Dawntreader Summer, who grows up on the islands of summer with her cousin Sparks. The two are in love. But Moon also wants to become a Sybil, a sort of person who can answer any question and Sparks makes his way to Winter's capital to try his luck and the Winter Queen collects him. Moon wants to go find him and embarks on a long journey that would take her off planet and has her find various answers.
Overall, the book was ok, there are some interesting things that were going on and the worldbuilding was pretty cool. The main problem for me was that Sparks is not an interesting person or character. He is boring and annoying and I just couldn't understand why Moon was in love with him. Why was the Winter Queen in love with him and wanted to keep him. Like he was just blah. So I really didn't care about his descent into darkness or his motivations. He started out as a petty little boy who couldn't handle Moon's calling and didn't end up any more interesting. BZ Gundhalinu, another character, whom Moon encounters in captivity, was much more interesting.
I can see why this book got a Hugo but I don't even care about the sequel or what happens after.
The No-Show by Beth O'Leary, 329pp
This book also had a problem with the male protagonist in that I didn't care for him and couldn't understand why three different women were interested in him. In the book, there are chapters from perspective of three women, Siobhan, Miranda and Jane. All three were stood up on Valentine's Day, one at breakfast, one at lunch and one at dinner, by the same guy, but all is not what it seemed. I did figure out the twist before the reveal, but it did take some time, and that does not endear this guy at all. Why would anyone root for Joseph Carter, other than to wish him away from all three of them. But of course his is not really the bad guy here, there is an explanation and all but I just didn't care for him, even when I knew he was not an ass.
And I couldn't understand what Miranda saw in him - as they didn't seem compatible at all, at least with Jane they were friends first and talked about books. And I also kept tripping on Siobhan's name - I know it is pronounced Shiv-an, but my brain had to stop every time to correct myself to pronounce it properly.
But at least this book was a quick read and I just needed something easy and it served that purpose. The Switch is still my favorite by her but this was just meh. At least I didn't hate it and the characters like I did in the "Road Trip"
Britt-Marie was here by Fredrik Backman, 326pp
I was very skeptical picking up this book. This book is a sequel to "My Grandmother Asked me to tell you she's sorry" which I read last year and which was narrated by a child. One of the characters, who was a kind of antagonist in the story, was Britt-Marie, a very fussy proper neighbor, who likes things being a certain way. Queen of passive-aggressive comments. She is humanized by the end of the book as she can no longer ignore that her husband has been cheating on her and she leaves him after her whole life basically revolving around his comfort. You feel bad for her at the end but I didn't think I would enjoy a book that was centered around her. But that was the next book Backman wrote and I have been really enjoying his books (I've read four previously) especially because I find his humor my kind of funny and enjoy how he captures people and makes stereotypical characters complicated and three dimensional. So I picked up this book despite my misgivings since it was about this prickly character and soccer. On paper it didn't sound like a book that would appeal to me.
And I really, really loved this book. I got really invested in Britt-Marie's journey. It is so rare to have a main character be a woman in her 60s who is forced to start over and to make decisions for just herself for the first time in her life. We learn her past and her trauma and how that shaped her personality and why she fell in love with her husband. She really grows through the book while still remaining herself with her lists and her undercutting remarks that she means sincerely. In this book Britt-Marie needs a job, mostly so that she wouldn't die alone and not be discovered for ages, so she badgers the girl in an unemployment office until a job of a sports recreation caretaker at the small downtrodden town comes up. There the teenagers are in need of a person to be their soccer coach and while Britt-Marie knows nothing about soccer, she gets roped in and get involved in this dying little town's community and is able to find herself and what she wants. And it is not always easy or smooth. Her husband tries to woo her back, there is a new possible love interest, but the book is not really about that. And the ending made me cry in the subway - it was well done! I was rooting for her. I really fell in love with this book and the underlying theme that it is never too late to start anew.
Oaxaca Journal by Oliver Sacks, 176pp
There are not too many Sacks books left to read for me, which is a bit sad. I really enjoy this writing style and just his passion for everything, the sense of wonder to it all. This book is his journal of his first trip to Oaxaca, Mexico with a group of various botanists to look at various ferns and other plants. I have read Sacks talk about his love of ferns in other books and this one is focused on the plants, and also on his trip and on Oaxaca and its history. Neither is the subject that has interested me much, although I did teach Aztecs and Cortes at some point for World history classes. And I'm certainly not really moved about plants. But as usual, Sacks makes it a delight and make me care about botany and plants and people who do have a passion for it. He draws you in. It is a small book but a very good one.
Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch, 329pp [Rivers of London book 7].
This book had really good pacing, I thought. Even when Peter is held captive, the book didn't stall for me. I never really cared about Faceless Man as the villain, and once he was revealed I cared even less since I found his overall motivation pretty stupid, so I'm actually glad that this storyline is over. I knew that it would be wrapped up but I was a little surprised as to how. Certainly true to all the characters. Peter grew a lot in the last seven books and novellas and we can clearly see it in this food. And I was happy to see many of the returning characters. I still don't particularly understand Lesley's motives - I get it was about getting to Punch and not just about her face, but I don't get how she could justify to herself all that the Faceless Man was doing and her participation in that. But other than the motivation of the antagonists and their plot, I did enjoy this book very much. Everyone is very settled into their character - if that's the way to put it.
Loosely based on Anderson's Snow Queen story, which I know extremely well because of a Soviet movie and I read the play that was based on many. many times. I don't know if knowing the fairy tale that inspired this sci-fi book helped or not.
In this world, the planet Tiamat is by this black hole which the Hegemony, a space empire, uses to travel but it closes for 150 years due to two suns and then reopens again. When the black hole is open to interplanetary travel from the outside Empire, Winter with the Winter Queen rules Tiamat and the outsiders bring technology but in a way so the locals don't learn how to use it and than would stop working once the no travel is possible. On Tiamat the outsiders can acquire the Water of Life, a liquid made from the blood of these sea animals that live on Tiamat, so the Queen trades that to enrich the empire. And it is one Queen that lives for 150 year since she drinks that liquid too. But when the black hole closes and the world gets too hot, Summers move North and take over, with their Summer Queen while the Winter one is ritually sacrificed. Summers don't have the tech and the world goes back to a more primitive mode for another 150 years until the change happens again.
The Winter Queen plots to keep her power, first by planting a clone of herself in Summer. That is Moon Dawntreader Summer, who grows up on the islands of summer with her cousin Sparks. The two are in love. But Moon also wants to become a Sybil, a sort of person who can answer any question and Sparks makes his way to Winter's capital to try his luck and the Winter Queen collects him. Moon wants to go find him and embarks on a long journey that would take her off planet and has her find various answers.
Overall, the book was ok, there are some interesting things that were going on and the worldbuilding was pretty cool. The main problem for me was that Sparks is not an interesting person or character. He is boring and annoying and I just couldn't understand why Moon was in love with him. Why was the Winter Queen in love with him and wanted to keep him. Like he was just blah. So I really didn't care about his descent into darkness or his motivations. He started out as a petty little boy who couldn't handle Moon's calling and didn't end up any more interesting. BZ Gundhalinu, another character, whom Moon encounters in captivity, was much more interesting.
I can see why this book got a Hugo but I don't even care about the sequel or what happens after.
The No-Show by Beth O'Leary, 329pp
This book also had a problem with the male protagonist in that I didn't care for him and couldn't understand why three different women were interested in him. In the book, there are chapters from perspective of three women, Siobhan, Miranda and Jane. All three were stood up on Valentine's Day, one at breakfast, one at lunch and one at dinner, by the same guy, but all is not what it seemed. I did figure out the twist before the reveal, but it did take some time, and that does not endear this guy at all. Why would anyone root for Joseph Carter, other than to wish him away from all three of them. But of course his is not really the bad guy here, there is an explanation and all but I just didn't care for him, even when I knew he was not an ass.
And I couldn't understand what Miranda saw in him - as they didn't seem compatible at all, at least with Jane they were friends first and talked about books. And I also kept tripping on Siobhan's name - I know it is pronounced Shiv-an, but my brain had to stop every time to correct myself to pronounce it properly.
But at least this book was a quick read and I just needed something easy and it served that purpose. The Switch is still my favorite by her but this was just meh. At least I didn't hate it and the characters like I did in the "Road Trip"
Britt-Marie was here by Fredrik Backman, 326pp
I was very skeptical picking up this book. This book is a sequel to "My Grandmother Asked me to tell you she's sorry" which I read last year and which was narrated by a child. One of the characters, who was a kind of antagonist in the story, was Britt-Marie, a very fussy proper neighbor, who likes things being a certain way. Queen of passive-aggressive comments. She is humanized by the end of the book as she can no longer ignore that her husband has been cheating on her and she leaves him after her whole life basically revolving around his comfort. You feel bad for her at the end but I didn't think I would enjoy a book that was centered around her. But that was the next book Backman wrote and I have been really enjoying his books (I've read four previously) especially because I find his humor my kind of funny and enjoy how he captures people and makes stereotypical characters complicated and three dimensional. So I picked up this book despite my misgivings since it was about this prickly character and soccer. On paper it didn't sound like a book that would appeal to me.
And I really, really loved this book. I got really invested in Britt-Marie's journey. It is so rare to have a main character be a woman in her 60s who is forced to start over and to make decisions for just herself for the first time in her life. We learn her past and her trauma and how that shaped her personality and why she fell in love with her husband. She really grows through the book while still remaining herself with her lists and her undercutting remarks that she means sincerely. In this book Britt-Marie needs a job, mostly so that she wouldn't die alone and not be discovered for ages, so she badgers the girl in an unemployment office until a job of a sports recreation caretaker at the small downtrodden town comes up. There the teenagers are in need of a person to be their soccer coach and while Britt-Marie knows nothing about soccer, she gets roped in and get involved in this dying little town's community and is able to find herself and what she wants. And it is not always easy or smooth. Her husband tries to woo her back, there is a new possible love interest, but the book is not really about that. And the ending made me cry in the subway - it was well done! I was rooting for her. I really fell in love with this book and the underlying theme that it is never too late to start anew.
Oaxaca Journal by Oliver Sacks, 176pp
There are not too many Sacks books left to read for me, which is a bit sad. I really enjoy this writing style and just his passion for everything, the sense of wonder to it all. This book is his journal of his first trip to Oaxaca, Mexico with a group of various botanists to look at various ferns and other plants. I have read Sacks talk about his love of ferns in other books and this one is focused on the plants, and also on his trip and on Oaxaca and its history. Neither is the subject that has interested me much, although I did teach Aztecs and Cortes at some point for World history classes. And I'm certainly not really moved about plants. But as usual, Sacks makes it a delight and make me care about botany and plants and people who do have a passion for it. He draws you in. It is a small book but a very good one.
Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch, 329pp [Rivers of London book 7].
This book had really good pacing, I thought. Even when Peter is held captive, the book didn't stall for me. I never really cared about Faceless Man as the villain, and once he was revealed I cared even less since I found his overall motivation pretty stupid, so I'm actually glad that this storyline is over. I knew that it would be wrapped up but I was a little surprised as to how. Certainly true to all the characters. Peter grew a lot in the last seven books and novellas and we can clearly see it in this food. And I was happy to see many of the returning characters. I still don't particularly understand Lesley's motives - I get it was about getting to Punch and not just about her face, but I don't get how she could justify to herself all that the Faceless Man was doing and her participation in that. But other than the motivation of the antagonists and their plot, I did enjoy this book very much. Everyone is very settled into their character - if that's the way to put it.