Forecast: weird and wild, women of fantasy and sci-fi

I just want to give you a little heads up about a few upcoming books you'll want to know about:

Falling in Love with Hominids by Nalo Hopkinson

A new story collection from Nalo Hopkinson who brings us funny, smart, fresh fantasy and sci-fi influenced by her Afro-Caribbean, Canadian, and American roots. If you like Nnendi Okorafor, Octavia Butler or Ursula K. LeGuin, you need to check out Nalo Hopkinson. I recommend Sister Mine to get started with her.

A Portable Shelter by Kirsty Logan

I know you just returned The Gracekeepers so you're thinking "Another Kirsty Logan so soon?" Yes.

A Portable Shelter is an illustrated collection of short stories in the same Scottish folklore inspired, sea drenched vein as The Gracekeepers, sure to be just as enchanting.

Alice by Christina Henry

Due to hit shelves in early August, this re-imagining of Lewis Carroll's beloved Alice in Wonderland sounds creepy and dark, surreal of course, and quite promising.

The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood

You guys!

HEY YOU GUYS!

*Jumping up and down*

A new Margaret Atwood novel you guys!

If you loved her dystopian novels A Handmaid's Tale, and the Maddaddam Trilogy, get ready to be as excited as I am right now.

Company Town by Madeline Ashby

New from science fiction imprint Tor, and not due to be released until April 2016, Company Town is the story of Hwa, the last "organic" person left in her community. Also, there's a serial killer on the loose. I love a good sci-fi/thriller, don't you?

Radiance by Catherynne Valente

A "decopunk" title, also from Tor. Decopunk?! I assume this means there is a logical progression in science fiction from the Victorian-infused steampunk, to early 20th century art deco inspired technology to form the sub-genre decopunk. I'm picturing Fritz Lang's 1929 film, Woman in the Moon and I'm totally OK with that.

"OMG"

All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders

A comic, apocalyptic, time-travelling, magical love story by Io9's editor in chief?

Yes please!

Keep an eye out for this one in January, 2016.

Future Tension: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of my Sci-Fi Summer

What's your vision of the future? Will aliens colonize earth? Will Earth colonize them?  Will civilization as we know it survive rising sea levels? Will languages exist as we understand them? What mighty empires will rise and fall and rise again? This summer I have been furiously reading through a lengthy list of recommended sci-fi, dystopian, and futurist reads and I'm declaring winners and losers here, on this blog, today.  First, the Good:

The Girl in the Road was awesome.  Imagine a world suffering the predicted effects of climate change (rising sea levels, crop failures, extreme storms, etc.). Now add to that a not-too-distant future imagined with mostly appropriately advanced technology (no improbable leaps in A.I. but a little genetic silliness), and the global hegemony has shifted east to Mumbai. A young woman being pursued by a mysterious little girl goes on the run to hunt down her parents' killer in Ethiopia via "the Trail", a long and seemingly mythical  hydro-electric project spanning the Arabian Sea from India to east Africa. The Girl in the Road is pretty terrific magical realism set against a well-constructed, believable future backdrop. It was so different from anything I've read in the genre. I would recommend it to any lovers of sci-fi/fantasy and to readers who say they "don't read science fiction".

The Man with the Compound Eyes, another from the realm of magical realism, was a beautifully written and imaginative story.  Originally published in Taiwan, the book is set in another not-too-distant future impacted by a changing environment.  A grieving professor is preparing for her suicide as her seaside home is gradually consumed by the sea. A young member of the fictional Wayo Wayo tribe is cast off his South Pacific island home according to tradition. Their lives intersect when a swirling garbage vortex washes ashore. Are you hooked yet? 

The Bees is my most recommended book of the year and so far not a single person has given me the stink-eye after reading it--yet. When I saw it come in I was skeptical, I'll admit.  I mean, a bee narrative?  Yes, a bee narrative! I haven't connected with an anthropomorphic bug protagonist in such a visceral way since Charlotte's Web. This book, quite frankly, should have been silly.  Flora 717 is a big awkward sanitation worker bee who dares to bee (I'm sorry) more than her prescribed station in life. One jacket blurb (clearly written by someone who has only heard of books in passing) declared it "The Handmaid's Tale meets The Hunger Games."  No it isn't. I don't particularly care for the "[book] meets [other book]" reviews anyway. They are lazy and do a disservice to the books, especially considering how completely well thought out The Bees is. Maybe what we need are review reviews?

Now for the BAD (and my sassiest review to date on this blog so brace yourselves): California is a little bit of Oryx and Crake, On Such a Full Sea, The Dog Stars, and The Road but WAY less thoughtful than any of those books. The characters are shallow and one dimensional, which seems to be on purpose but it's hard to say, and if the author were better she might have pulled off a sort of Ira Levin does Beverly Hills, 90210: the post apocalyptic years. Sadly, she did not. This book was really disappointing, an incredibly naive story about dull people whining in the wilderness. Recommended instead are: Oryx and Crake, On Such a Full Sea, The Dog Stars, and The Road. 

The Girl with all the Gifts was a pretty average zombie story, which could be forgivable, but I was promised so much more! It was not "thrilling", "gripping", "haunting" or "heartbreaking". Sometimes it seems like reviewers go into a book deciding they're going to like it no matter what. While still moderately satisfying in the way zombie stories usually are, all of the characters were such dull caricatures and the Girl was really annoying. The incredibly silly final act required the reader to suspend an awful lot of disbelief too, though I won't spoil the "twist" for those still determined to read it. If you're hoping for the World War Z, Zone One, or even The Strain of 2014, shuffle past this one. I still say Black Moon, though not technically a zombie story with a capital Zed, is the most satisfying zombie novel of the year.

Finally, the UGLY: The Martian by Andy Weir. Why Ugly? Because 1) I could only bring myself to give it three stars on Goodreads but I liked it. 2)  I winced through every line of dialogue but couldn't put it down and read it in two sittings. And 3)  the astronaut was so obnoxious that I was rooting for Mars, then recommended it to my 16 year old brother who L-O-V-E-D it and asked for more. The science is super cool, the astronaut is a dumb frat boy stereotype (who became an astronaut somehow), and the scary space action is non-stop even when it's, well, stopped. The basics: Guy goes to Mars, gets stranded, keep a detailed scientific log peppered with "that's what she said" jokes.  And it's really fun.

Summer Reading 2014 has come to an end. Get some closure at the big finale party at the main library this Saturday, August 9th from 10-1.  Party like it's 2114!

Greetings and good readings from the Ginter Park branch!

National Library Week (April 13th-19th)  is nearly upon us so now seems like a good time to share my "favorite books I've read in 2014 so far" list (before it gets too long).  

Dissident Gardens (2013) is a multi-generational tale of American communists, Greenwich Village counter-culture, and mothers and daughters. Recommended for readers of that sort of thing. See also: William Faulkner, Jonathan Franzen, Michael Chabon, and the movie Inside Llewyn Davis.

On such a full sea (2014) was my "most eagerly anticipated read of 2014" back in January and I am pleased to announce that I didn't self-hype it to death.  Recommended for fans of all things post-apocalyptic, Cormac McCarthy (Think The road), Margaret Atwood (my favorite author--duh.), and Ursula K. LeGuin.

Lowland (2013) I would have called it A heartbreaking work of staggering genius if that name weren't already taken. Just remember: It's healthy to cry.  Just let it all out.  Read it if you loved The magic seeds, Cutting for stone, or just love beauty.  It's worth it.

Dark Places (2009).  Confession: I liked this so much better than Gone Girl.  Am I allowed to say that? It was almost like an alternate version of In cold blood told from the perspective of a survivor if In cold blood had been fiction and anyone had survived (SPOILER ALERT). Readers of Tami Hoag and Joyce Carol Oates will enjoy it too.

Orfeo (2014).  I read this whole book with my mouth hanging open.  (At least one of this year's snow days happened because I wished for it the day I checked this book out: I knew I had to read it all in one sitting. Librarians have super powers. #truestory )  This is a beautifully written novel that weaves Mahler, modern art, technology, and paranoia into a captivating tale of a composer and amateur microbiologist, and his magnum opus. For fans of Godel, Escher, Bach, (non-fiction), Mefisto, and stories inspired by the myth of Orpheus.

The Circle (2013) is the fun and just a little too real story of Meg, a naive young woman working for a powerful Google-meets-Facebook-like mega-corporation.  Recommended for fans of Jennifer Egan and Gary Shteyngart, as well as folks who have a healthy fear of our Google overlords.

The Luminaries (2013) is a gorgeous novel told from multiple viewpoints and set during the New Zealand gold rush in the 1860s. Recommended for lovers of really good books and fans of If on a winter's night a traveler, Cloud atlas, and Life after life (Kate Atkinson's). 

Black Moon (2014) creeped me out!  Imagine a world in which people can't fall asleep anymore except for a fortunate--or unfortunate--few "sleepers".  Imagine insomniacs being scarier than zombies.  Recommended for lovers of  Zone one, The dog stars, The age of miracles, World War Z, and sleeping in.

Kafka on the Shore (2006). Love. This. Book.  Existential and surreal, fans of Saramago and A tale for the time being by Ruth Ozeki will enjoy this.

Why are you so sad? (2014) is a "Laugh your face off or else you'll cry because it's just so true" kind of story about your average clinically depressed guy working as an artist who designs the pictorial instruction manuals for an IKEA-like company, and amateur mental-health surveys in his spare time.  Read if you liked Even cowgirls get the blues or Breakfast of champions, or you just think that something can be so sad it's funny. 

The shining girls (2013) "The girl who wouldn't die hunts the killer who shouldn't exist".  This is your classic serial killer meets girl story with a sci-fi time-traveling twist.  Yeah, it is a lot of fun--and pretty darn gory.  Read if you enjoyed Nowhere by Christopher Shane, and even Dark Places by Gillian Flynn.  

Celebrate National Library Week 2014 (April 13-19, 2014) @ your library!

All week long (April 14-19) you can drop in to Ginter Park to make a bookmark!  All ages welcome!

Do not miss the inaugural Teen Book Club for Girls event!  Author Meg Medina, recently named one of CNN's "Ten Visionary Women", will be joining us to discuss her book Yaqui Delgado wants to kick your ass.  

April 16th @ 3 pm in the Main Library Teen Space.

Check out a whole bunch of great movies playing @ North Avenue all week at 2 pm!

And more!

Get your passport stamped on another plane this summer (with science fiction!)

I just finished Changing planes by Ursula K. Le Guin and it got me thinking about all the traveling one can do with science fiction without ever leaving the couch or spending a dime (unless you bring your books back late, then it's a dime--still the best deal in town).  I'm also looking for something to get my mind off the creepy invasion of monster underground insects about to happen any day now.  You won't believe how many cicadas are about to envelop the East Coast.  What better distraction than say, reading about creepy invasions of monster insects from other worlds. Am I right?!  So where am I going and where have I just returned from?  Some new places, some old favorites:


Changing Planes: Using Cincinnatian Sita Dulip's method of utilizing the extreme discomfort of traveling through airports to slip off to other planes, one woman visits 15 other worlds and describes interplanary life and leisure.  This book is well worth a visit, in my humble opinion.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Phillip K. Dick
Originally published in 1968, this novel served as the inspiration for Blade Runner (1982), which is also an awesome movie.  How often does that happen?

Just go there with him: it's a fantastic journey. I just (finally) read this one and that's all I'm going to say about it.

The Long Earth and The Long War (due out in June) by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
Another story of interplanary travel, this time from Discworld creator Terry Pratchett.  This was recommended to me by my go-to-sci-fi-librarian-friend so I have high hopes although so far the review from the other side of the sofa is kind of "meh" but we'll see how it turns out.  I have the ebook on my phone.


MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood (COMING SOON!)
I can't say enough for this series.  Oryx and Crake and Year of the Flood are two of my favorite books.  I'm so excited for the final book this fall, and I am aware that I have posted about these before thank you.  That's just how good they are.
The new film adaptation of Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game is hitting cinemas soon so I need to hurry up and finally read that (Oh shh! I was getting to it!)


The Cave by Jose Saramago.  Not exactly sci-fi though his books often take on supernatural themes and he does such a marvelous job of unsettling the reader by taking them someplace real, but not quite real.   The Double had such a satisfyingly disturbing ending that I can hardly wait to explore The Cave.  


Also making me pause to pick it up every time I walk past it, over and over until I finally break down and check it out, (and geez I already have a lot of books checked out) is Pure, the first book in a trilogy of the same name by Julianna Baggott.  I just spied Fuse, which is book two, on the new books shelf.  Here we go again...

Let me just say that I am a fan of the idea of downer vacations: traveling to places far worse than home to make going home feel like a vacation.  Why not travel to a dystopian alternate reality to make us appreciate how few actual zombies we have to deal with in Virginia in 2013?