Upright Women Wanted, Sarah Gailey

 

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey is a novel that was nominated for the Hugo Awards.

Started: 9/29/2021
Completed: 9/30/2021
Recommendation: Not Recommended
Recommended By: Hugo Awards

Review:

At base, this is a puppy love story.  The story opens, however, with a hanging of the protagonist's girlfriend.  The hanging leads to the protagonist running off to be a librarian (that part was funny and clever) in a dystopian future that looks kind of like the 1830s.  Beyond that, the hanging largely loses its significance and the protagonist falls in love with the next lesbian (non-gender binary, so, I don't pretend to know the correct term, but I went with lesbian to indicate that "they" are a "she" when in town) she meets.  I just didn't buy it and found it hard to be caught by any of the characters.  I think it would have been a stronger book as an 1830s Western with an odd group of all female cowboys/vigilantes.  Aside from the initial laugh, I'm not sure that the whole librarian concept brought much to the game (of course, the librarians are hugely subversive under a façade of "uprightness").

Riot Baby, Tochi Onyebuchi

 

Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi is one of the Hugo Award books.

Started: 09/28/2021
Completed: 9/29/2021
Recommendation: Not Recommended
Recommended By: Hugo Awards

Review:

I just did not understand where this story was going.  It felt hard to get to know the characters as the story switched perspectives a lot for a short story.  It kind of felt to me like Onyebuchi had a story that was written and then he was told to make one of the characters a witch and then he switched around what had been flashbacks from yet another character perspective into readings by the witch.  I dunno, didn't catch me the right way.  The start was really good...probably would have been a better story if the story had developed more directly from there.

Shorefall, Robert Jackson Bennett

 

Shorefall by Robert Jackson Bennett is the next book in The Founder's Trilogy.

Started: 9/23/2021
Completed: 9/28/2021
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

I really like the underlying concepts explored in this book.  I disliked that near the end the concept of twinning seems to not apply like it should, but it is truly a remarkable concept.  I really  like that the focus of a lesbian relationship is love and not sex.  It would be easy for Bennett to slip into some sort of voyeurism that the story line does not need and, instead, let the story focus on a loving, supportive relationship.  This book felt like the trilogy writ small as there is an early climax about midway through that sets up the rest of the book and leaves the reader breathless through the end.  I have a feeling that the trilogy will do the same with this book as the early climax. 

Nightmare Scenario, Abutaleb and Paletta

 

Nightmare Scenario:  Inside the Trump administration's response to the pandemic that changed history by Yasmeen Abutaleb and Damian Paletta came up in the Washington Post's book review.

Started: 9/18/2021
Completed: 9/23/2021
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: The Washington Post

Review:

I have come to realize that, for the most part, journalists treat a chapter in a book the same way that they treat a column in a paper.  Maybe an extended column.  This means that major players are reintroduced repeatedly at the beginning of each chapter.  Some exceptions are made (Trump, for example, is not reintroduced as President), but I have read enough books written by journalists that I have come to realize this as a consistent behavior.  In addition, "background" information is provided at the front of each chapter which serves as a rehash of material provided in previous chapters.  This makes it feel like the book spends half of its time repeating itself and sometimes it does this repetition multiple times.  It is frustrating to read a book like this.  Several times I went forward and backward in the audio thinking that I had mistakenly pushed a button and jumped back.  On the bright side, it makes it much easier to fall asleep when listening (though much harder to find your place when you wake up).

Those are the faults.  On the bright side, there is a lot of information in the book and I had not heard all of it before.  It helps that the information is all in one place on one topic rather than the scatter of news that comes in daily.  It helped focus my attention on the issues being presented.  Learning how the Trump response was a failure despite genuine efforts to get things done helps point out why having people in high places who do not understand governing in general is a bad idea.

Ring Shout, P. Djèlí Clark

 

Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark is a finalist for the Hugo Award.

Started: 9/17/2021
Completed: 9/18/2021
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Hugo Award

Review:

What a great book.  Clark puts together an excellent story line that suggests the KKK has been infiltrated by aliens (?) and puts a group of black women at the center of the fight against the aliens.  The way that Clark makes it clear there is little respect for the human members of the KKK is excellent.  The heroes of this story carry you with them and the battle is fantastic.  After reading the book, you notice the teeth in the eyeholes of the cover.  Really great detail.

Finna, Nino Cipri

 

Finna by Nino Cipri is a book nominated for a Hugo, so I want to read it before voting.

Started: 9/17/2021
Completed: 9/17/2021
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: Hugo Awards

Review:

This was a good and well written story.  The use of they/them pronouns threw me several times as I thought on some occasions that the reference was to a plurality and not and individual.  When I took the position that the author was going to have to make it clear to me when it was a plurality ("they both" or "they all" or something like that), I had a much easier time.  The way that the metaverses work was coherent and sensible.  It was worth the read.

Kill Switch, Adam Jentleson

 

Kill Switch:  The rise of the modern senate and the crippling of American democracy by Adam Jentleson came up in a magazine I read, but I cannot remember which one.  It spells out how the filibuster is a huge problem.

Started: 9/2/2021
Completed: 9/17/2021
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

It seems that the filibuster is largely a tool of the white South.  It has been used to its fullest extent by the Republicans and one might argue that is because, as the author puts it, conservatives "stand astride the river of time and yell, 'Stop!'"  It should be a no-brainer for Democrats to kill the filibuster--it is a tool that does not serve them well.  Jentleson suggests that concomitant with the death of the filibuster should come a requirement that senators spend 5 hours on the floor daily.  I cannot imagine that happening, but do think it would be a good move.  Meanwhile, with the death of the filibuster should come statehood for DC (which would help Democrats now) and probably Puerto Rico if they want it.

This book does have an interesting look at the history of the filibuster and the Dixicrats role in its creation.

The Brutal Telling, Louise Penny

 

The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny is the latest in the Armand Gamash series.

Started: 8/29/2021
Completed: 9/2/2021
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: My parents

Review:

I did not enjoy this book as much as the others in the series so far.  It plodded and, in hindsight, the omniscient author decidedly withheld important information.  More facts were revealed about the little world of Three Pines and my heart broke for Ruth--something I never anticipated.  Though it has been teased, after this book, I wonder if the Gamash family could reasonably find a place in Three Pines.  My respect for Peter has increased (overall) over the course of the books and I wonder if that will continue.  He always seems to find a way to make the path to full respectability bumpy.