AuntMarge64's ROOT - 30 for 2016
Charlas2016 ROOT Challenge - (Read Our Own Tomes)
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4rabbitprincess
Welcome back and good luck!
9MissWatson
Welcome back!
13auntmarge64
These are the final two books in a mystery series but are the only two I've read. The first was just about perfect. The second, which takes place after the main characters voluntarily transfer from a homicide unit to a Cold Case Unit (yawn) is, indeed, pretty boring. I not sure why the author thought such a change would maintain the series, but it's now been over 10 years since there's been an addition, so maybe she found out the same thing.
3.
The Last Witness by K. J. Erickson ***** 2/8/16
4.
Alone at Night by K. J. Erickson *** 2/13/16
3.
The Last Witness by K. J. Erickson ***** 2/8/16
4.
Alone at Night by K. J. Erickson *** 2/13/16
15Tess_W
>14 auntmarge64: is on my shelf to read!
16auntmarge64
>15 Tess_W: Well, hurry up! :)
6.
Shift (Omnibus Edition) by Hugh Howey **** 2/24/16
7.
Dust (Silo Series) by Hugh Howey ****½ 2/25/16
6.
Shift (Omnibus Edition) by Hugh Howey **** 2/24/16
7.
Dust (Silo Series) by Hugh Howey ****½ 2/25/16
17avanders
I've never heard of Hugh Howey or that series.... seems like I'm missing out? What's the genre/what's it about?
18auntmarge64
Howey's biggest hits have been post-apocalyptic, but he also writes SF-type novels and short stories. He's an underground phenomenon who started selling chapters of his books for 99 cents for Kindle and took off from there. Eventually the chapters were complied into novels and then published in hard copy. Now his followers, and there are millions, will read anything he writes, he's been that consistent in quality.
The Silo series, which is comprised of Wool, Shift and Dust, follows a group of humans living below ground in a huge silo following an earth-wide disaster. Things are not, of course, what they seem to these people, and the three books provide surprise after surprise as they inch towards the truth. The books are astonishingly addictive, as chapter after chapter speed by. His novel Sand (also originally published in chapters) is just as compulsively readable, about a group of people living in a desert near, as I recall, old Denver, where people have learned to dive through the depths of the sand covering the old cities to recover objects they can sell for food.
OK, so it's not Tolstoy. It's more like reading a Jack Reacher novel, such a guilty pleasure, except there are surprises. Fantastic beach reading or for those times you just need a break from (poor) Tolstoy, and, of course, mandatory reading for post-apocalyptic fans.
The Silo series, which is comprised of Wool, Shift and Dust, follows a group of humans living below ground in a huge silo following an earth-wide disaster. Things are not, of course, what they seem to these people, and the three books provide surprise after surprise as they inch towards the truth. The books are astonishingly addictive, as chapter after chapter speed by. His novel Sand (also originally published in chapters) is just as compulsively readable, about a group of people living in a desert near, as I recall, old Denver, where people have learned to dive through the depths of the sand covering the old cities to recover objects they can sell for food.
OK, so it's not Tolstoy. It's more like reading a Jack Reacher novel, such a guilty pleasure, except there are surprises. Fantastic beach reading or for those times you just need a break from (poor) Tolstoy, and, of course, mandatory reading for post-apocalyptic fans.
19avanders
Sounds great! I enjoy SF quite a bit and I don't think anyone needs every read to be a Tolstoy ;)
20auntmarge64
8. 
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard ***** 3/4/16
One of my favorite films, and now a favorite play to read after watching Benedict Cumberbatch play Rosencrantz in a scene for the National Theatre's 50th celebration. Anyone who hasn't seen it should check out youtube - how I wish I could see the entire play with those two actors in the title roles!
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard ***** 3/4/16
One of my favorite films, and now a favorite play to read after watching Benedict Cumberbatch play Rosencrantz in a scene for the National Theatre's 50th celebration. Anyone who hasn't seen it should check out youtube - how I wish I could see the entire play with those two actors in the title roles!
21rabbitprincess
>20 auntmarge64: Same here! Benedict and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith did a great job with those two characters! Maybe now that Benedict has got Hamlet out of his system he can switch to playing Rosencrantz in another production ;)
22avanders
>20 auntmarge64: I would like to check that out.... :)
25auntmarge64
11. 
The Messenger by Stephen Miller **** 4/19/16
This is an affecting look at two sides of a terrorist attack. The main character is a young Muslim woman who has promised her life to jihad and volunteers to be sacrificed. Although expecting to die as a suicide bomber, she is instead educated abroad and given an Italian identity, then both immunized against and infected with a weaponized version of smallpox and told how to inflict maximum damage. Her several weeks in the US yield terrifying results for the country but also surprises for herself, as she makes emotional connections with some of the people she meets and potentially infects. The secondary main character is a once-disgraced government scientist who worked on US bacterial warfare preparedness and is brought back as a consultant in the effort to find the party or parties responsible for the attack and blunt the effects of the smallpox.
The terrorist's journey is by far the most interesting part of the plot, as she is increasingly alone in deciding how to proceed, vacillating between despising her victims and worrying about the damage she's doing to potential friends. The scientist's story is much more scattered and difficult to follow. Still, the conclusion, in which the scientist is desperate to capture her alive because of her supply of immunized blood, while she is ready to die, is thoughtful and memorable. There are no easy solutions.
The Messenger by Stephen Miller **** 4/19/16
This is an affecting look at two sides of a terrorist attack. The main character is a young Muslim woman who has promised her life to jihad and volunteers to be sacrificed. Although expecting to die as a suicide bomber, she is instead educated abroad and given an Italian identity, then both immunized against and infected with a weaponized version of smallpox and told how to inflict maximum damage. Her several weeks in the US yield terrifying results for the country but also surprises for herself, as she makes emotional connections with some of the people she meets and potentially infects. The secondary main character is a once-disgraced government scientist who worked on US bacterial warfare preparedness and is brought back as a consultant in the effort to find the party or parties responsible for the attack and blunt the effects of the smallpox.
The terrorist's journey is by far the most interesting part of the plot, as she is increasingly alone in deciding how to proceed, vacillating between despising her victims and worrying about the damage she's doing to potential friends. The scientist's story is much more scattered and difficult to follow. Still, the conclusion, in which the scientist is desperate to capture her alive because of her supply of immunized blood, while she is ready to die, is thoughtful and memorable. There are no easy solutions.
27Tess_W
>25 auntmarge64: A BB for me!
28auntmarge64
>26 connie53: >27 Tess_W:
I'm surprised this book hasn't had more attention, especially here on LT, simply for the fact that it's so nuanced. It's much more a character study than a thriller. I hope you get to read it.
I'm surprised this book hasn't had more attention, especially here on LT, simply for the fact that it's so nuanced. It's much more a character study than a thriller. I hope you get to read it.
29auntmarge64
12. 
Tonight I Said Goodbye by Michael Koryta **** 7/2/16
13.
Crime Machine by Giles Blunt **** 7/9/16
Tonight I Said Goodbye by Michael Koryta **** 7/2/16
13.
Crime Machine by Giles Blunt **** 7/9/16
32auntmarge64
15. 
The Office of Mercy by Ariel Djanikian ***½ 8/2/16
A dystopian, post-apocalyptic novel that had a pretty interesting storyline but was too YA for me. The premise has a similar feel to Hugh Howey's Silo series, of a group of post-apocalyptic survivors, several hundred years into their isolation, living in an enclosed structure to wait out the cleansing (whether atmospheric or human) of the "outside" before they can be free of their restricted lives. Howey's story is much more nuanced, with multiple points of view and and a lengthier format which gives more of a chance for character development and story expansion. The Office of Mercy is told primarily from the point of view of a naive young woman who begins to doubt the purposes for which her group's home and rules are maintained.
The Office of Mercy by Ariel Djanikian ***½ 8/2/16
A dystopian, post-apocalyptic novel that had a pretty interesting storyline but was too YA for me. The premise has a similar feel to Hugh Howey's Silo series, of a group of post-apocalyptic survivors, several hundred years into their isolation, living in an enclosed structure to wait out the cleansing (whether atmospheric or human) of the "outside" before they can be free of their restricted lives. Howey's story is much more nuanced, with multiple points of view and and a lengthier format which gives more of a chance for character development and story expansion. The Office of Mercy is told primarily from the point of view of a naive young woman who begins to doubt the purposes for which her group's home and rules are maintained.
35avanders
>31 auntmarge64: I agree w/ your assessment ;)
looks like you're reading great books!
looks like you're reading great books!
37auntmarge64
18. 
Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad ** 9/15/16
Good lord, this book is boring. At it's core is a wonderful tale of youth, cowardice, courage and redemption, but this is brutally buried by the narrator's need to philosophize and expound on his own feelings at each twist and turn of the story, for all that he isn't even present for most of it. Conrad may have succeeded here in single-handedly popularizing the "enough about me, what do you think of me?" trope.
I loved Heart of Darkness and began this with anticipation, but after dragging myself halfway through I gave up in disgust. I have only so many hours to live and read, after all.
Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad ** 9/15/16
Good lord, this book is boring. At it's core is a wonderful tale of youth, cowardice, courage and redemption, but this is brutally buried by the narrator's need to philosophize and expound on his own feelings at each twist and turn of the story, for all that he isn't even present for most of it. Conrad may have succeeded here in single-handedly popularizing the "enough about me, what do you think of me?" trope.
I loved Heart of Darkness and began this with anticipation, but after dragging myself halfway through I gave up in disgust. I have only so many hours to live and read, after all.
38Tess_W
<37 I hated both Heart of Darkness and Lord Jim!
39auntmarge64
>38 Tess_W: Well, it certainly made wonder if I'm going to like any of his other works. I'm not done trying, though. I do like the way both these stories are told, by a narrator talking to friends, so that the language needs to be read slowly and as though being spoken aloud, but for me they're very different in execution. So, one up, one down.
42auntmarge64
20. 
The Tale-Teller by Susan Glickman **** 10/2/16
A delightful story based on an historical incident in early 18th century New France (Quebec).
A young man travels to the New World aboard a ship where he entrances listener's with his stories and makes himself well-liked by everyone for his interest in their lives and experiences. On his arrival, he is discovered to be a disguised girl, Esther, who is immediately arrested and housed in the home of one of the town officials while an inquiry is made in France. During the year that follows, as her fate continues to be uncertain, she spends time in several homes and for a while in a nunnery, after it is discovered that she is Jewish and will be expelled for that reason alone unless she converts. But this is not why she came to New France, where she was hoping to find a measure of liberation from sexually-determined fate, anti-Jewish hate, and an enforced marriage. Throughout the year she enchants her listeners with her tales, giving many of them hope for themselves and a new perspective on the strictures society has placed on them.
While Esther's fate provides the suspense, her anecdotes, whether real or imagined, are where the real interest lies. There is even some question for the charmed reader about whether she might possibly be telling her own history, as outlandish as it is. The characters are well-drawn but don't enchant the reader nearly as much as those tales Esther weaves.
The Tale-Teller by Susan Glickman **** 10/2/16
A delightful story based on an historical incident in early 18th century New France (Quebec).
A young man travels to the New World aboard a ship where he entrances listener's with his stories and makes himself well-liked by everyone for his interest in their lives and experiences. On his arrival, he is discovered to be a disguised girl, Esther, who is immediately arrested and housed in the home of one of the town officials while an inquiry is made in France. During the year that follows, as her fate continues to be uncertain, she spends time in several homes and for a while in a nunnery, after it is discovered that she is Jewish and will be expelled for that reason alone unless she converts. But this is not why she came to New France, where she was hoping to find a measure of liberation from sexually-determined fate, anti-Jewish hate, and an enforced marriage. Throughout the year she enchants her listeners with her tales, giving many of them hope for themselves and a new perspective on the strictures society has placed on them.
While Esther's fate provides the suspense, her anecdotes, whether real or imagined, are where the real interest lies. There is even some question for the charmed reader about whether she might possibly be telling her own history, as outlandish as it is. The characters are well-drawn but don't enchant the reader nearly as much as those tales Esther weaves.
43connie53
>42 auntmarge64: That sounds intriguing, Margaret.
44Tess_W
>42 auntmarge64: is a BB for me!
45auntmarge64
21. 
RIME by Tim Lebbon **** 10/27/16
A young man finds himself on a strange planet, accused of killing millions of humans. His two questioners let him tell them his story of a generational spaceship destroyed, and his part in causing it, as they prepare for his trial. As with all of Lebbon's science fiction, a well-told story with interesting twists. In fact, Lebbon is fast becoming one of my favorites. This is just really good human-centered storytelling, as you'd find in Wyndham or Howey.
RIME by Tim Lebbon **** 10/27/16
A young man finds himself on a strange planet, accused of killing millions of humans. His two questioners let him tell them his story of a generational spaceship destroyed, and his part in causing it, as they prepare for his trial. As with all of Lebbon's science fiction, a well-told story with interesting twists. In fact, Lebbon is fast becoming one of my favorites. This is just really good human-centered storytelling, as you'd find in Wyndham or Howey.
47LauraBrook
14, 16, & >18 auntmarge64: This is the first time I've seen anyone rate these books! They've always looked like good, fun reads to me, but they're not slim, so I was hesitant to take the reading plunge. Not anymore! I'll add the first one to my TBR. And you're doing great on the challenge!
48auntmarge64
>47 LauraBrook: I had the same reaction when I saw the size of Silo. It goes really fast, though. I read the books on my Kindle, so once into them I never thought of the length.
49auntmarge64
22. 
The Martian Race by Gregory Benford **** 11/18/16
Fiction about Mars is one of my favorite sub-genres. This example can be a little slow-moving at times, but the description of life found on Mars more than makes up for any other shortcomings. However, this is not your typical alien life and first contact story.
Two private consortiums vie to become the first to send a mission to Mars and have it return with in-depth scientific reports along with samples of rocks and any other interesting artifacts. The winning group receives a prize of $30 billion, most of which will be needed to reimburse expenses incurred. But the winner will also have ownership of the science, the all-important prize.
The main character is a biologist, Julia, whose husband is the pilot of the first team to leave Earth. There is also a geologist and an engineer on board. They land safely but face the immediate problem that the vehicle in which they are to return in a year and a half has been damaged. While they all spend time helping the engineer with that, the geologist and biologist work on their assigned experiments. Meanwhile, the second team leaves Earth using a different propulsion system and arrives while repairs are still being made on the first group's return vehicle. So, let's just say some organizational rivalry and not very pleasant backroom dealing go on, on both Earth and Mars.
But while this is going on, the two scientists have made an astounding discovery: anaerobic life (i.e., life that is not dependent on oxygen) living in still-active volcanic vents. This ups the stakes for the two consortiums, but the big plus for the reader is the analysis of why it's there, how far it extends, and how it's survived as it has (some of the lifeforms even have eyes, or, at least, light receptors, so for some reason they haven't lost the need for them over the millions of years since there was surface water and life on the surface was possible.
I'd recommend this to anyone with an interest in Mars or in the variety if life possible in the universe. The scientific explanations for what's found, and the ethical questions raised, make this a refreshing and thought-provoking novel for a species that dreams of leaving its home planet.
The Martian Race by Gregory Benford **** 11/18/16
Fiction about Mars is one of my favorite sub-genres. This example can be a little slow-moving at times, but the description of life found on Mars more than makes up for any other shortcomings. However, this is not your typical alien life and first contact story.
Two private consortiums vie to become the first to send a mission to Mars and have it return with in-depth scientific reports along with samples of rocks and any other interesting artifacts. The winning group receives a prize of $30 billion, most of which will be needed to reimburse expenses incurred. But the winner will also have ownership of the science, the all-important prize.
The main character is a biologist, Julia, whose husband is the pilot of the first team to leave Earth. There is also a geologist and an engineer on board. They land safely but face the immediate problem that the vehicle in which they are to return in a year and a half has been damaged. While they all spend time helping the engineer with that, the geologist and biologist work on their assigned experiments. Meanwhile, the second team leaves Earth using a different propulsion system and arrives while repairs are still being made on the first group's return vehicle. So, let's just say some organizational rivalry and not very pleasant backroom dealing go on, on both Earth and Mars.
But while this is going on, the two scientists have made an astounding discovery: anaerobic life (i.e., life that is not dependent on oxygen) living in still-active volcanic vents. This ups the stakes for the two consortiums, but the big plus for the reader is the analysis of why it's there, how far it extends, and how it's survived as it has (some of the lifeforms even have eyes, or, at least, light receptors, so for some reason they haven't lost the need for them over the millions of years since there was surface water and life on the surface was possible.
I'd recommend this to anyone with an interest in Mars or in the variety if life possible in the universe. The scientific explanations for what's found, and the ethical questions raised, make this a refreshing and thought-provoking novel for a species that dreams of leaving its home planet.
50avanders
>49 auntmarge64: sounds very interesting! will have to go on the ol' wishlist....
51auntmarge64
23. 
The Sunborn by Gregory Benford **** 11/26/16
A sequel to The Martian Race (see #121 above), in which two of the original researchers continue their work on Mars until called to go to Pluto, where lifeforms have been found. But this discovery, as much as it strains our understanding of life, is only the beginning, as the explorers join forces to go farther out, past the Bow Shock (where the solar winds of the heliosphere push against interstellar pressures), from where there seem to be messages being sent to the beings on Pluto. Again, fascinating theorizing on the forms life could take and the forces which would bring them about and support them.
The Sunborn by Gregory Benford **** 11/26/16
A sequel to The Martian Race (see #121 above), in which two of the original researchers continue their work on Mars until called to go to Pluto, where lifeforms have been found. But this discovery, as much as it strains our understanding of life, is only the beginning, as the explorers join forces to go farther out, past the Bow Shock (where the solar winds of the heliosphere push against interstellar pressures), from where there seem to be messages being sent to the beings on Pluto. Again, fascinating theorizing on the forms life could take and the forces which would bring them about and support them.
52auntmarge64
24. 
Eternity Road by Jack McDevitt ***½ 12/3/16
I enjoyed this post-apocalyptic story, although it did seem to take forever to get going and then to get anywhere.
Centuries after a plague wipes out most humans and the civilizations of our own time fall (one reference indicates at least 700 years), a small group sets out on horseback from a Mississippi settlement to try to find a (possibly mythical) location known as Haven. Legend has it that remnants of the lost cultures have been hidden away there, to await a future where they can be of use. A first mission nine years earlier ended in all but one person dying, and the survivor refused to discuss what happened, so these travelers rely on some drawings they find after his death and on marks they recognize as directional indicators left by the previous expedition's guide. The towns growing up along the Mississippi have always known that a great civilization preceded them because they're surrounded by the rotting ruins of buildings, highways, and technology. But how such wonders were possible is beyond current imagining, and there are even greater discoveries to be made on the trip itself.
Although published less than 20 years ago, this book is reminiscent of earlier SF writers and is mostly oriented towards the human experience.
Eternity Road by Jack McDevitt ***½ 12/3/16
I enjoyed this post-apocalyptic story, although it did seem to take forever to get going and then to get anywhere.
Centuries after a plague wipes out most humans and the civilizations of our own time fall (one reference indicates at least 700 years), a small group sets out on horseback from a Mississippi settlement to try to find a (possibly mythical) location known as Haven. Legend has it that remnants of the lost cultures have been hidden away there, to await a future where they can be of use. A first mission nine years earlier ended in all but one person dying, and the survivor refused to discuss what happened, so these travelers rely on some drawings they find after his death and on marks they recognize as directional indicators left by the previous expedition's guide. The towns growing up along the Mississippi have always known that a great civilization preceded them because they're surrounded by the rotting ruins of buildings, highways, and technology. But how such wonders were possible is beyond current imagining, and there are even greater discoveries to be made on the trip itself.
Although published less than 20 years ago, this book is reminiscent of earlier SF writers and is mostly oriented towards the human experience.
