Books Read in March 2017, part 2

(continued from Part 1)

The Mysterious Benedict Society - Trenton Lee Stewart
"No one seems to realize how much we are driven by FEAR, the essential component of human personality. Everything else - from ambition to love to despair - derives in some way from this single powerful emotion."

This book is Juvenile Fiction and geared towards elementary school age, so my judgments are colored by that. With the intended audience in mind, I feel like I can't really fault it for certain style choices or plot points that I found a little too obvious - and I'll even note that there were a few things revealed as the plot went on that surprised me. I liked the first part (basically the setup) of the book the best, and was a little bothered by the fairly neat-and-tidy happy ending.

One of my main complaints is probably that I would've liked to see even more puzzles/creative solutions throughout the book. One thing that stands out [minor spoilers] was the treatment of teaching the group-of-special-children Morse Code. Rather than implementing a creative teaching method (as when the father in Cheaper by the Dozen teaches his children Morse Code by implementing a creative word-syllable association to match the patterns), it just says the children learned it quickly, which felt like a bit of a cop-out and not very "fun" or applicable. Overall, I thought the book was fine and definitely creative, but maybe not as unique as I was hoping. But I think it would be really interesting for elementary-school-age kids.

Related Reads:
All the Wrong Questions series (Lemony Snicket)
The Phantom Tollbooth (Norton Juster)
The Westing Game (Ellen Raskin)
Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore (Robin Sloan)

Equal Rites - Terry Pratchett
"They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance."

This was my first Terry Pratchett novel (finally! hooray!). In the past I'd been overwhelmed trying to figure out where to start within the Discworld books, but eventually decided to just pick a story arc to read in chronological order (based on this handy fan-created chart). Apparently Equal Rites was one of Pratchett's earlier-written novels and perhaps not as refined as his later ones - but I really enjoyed it and felt his humor and riffs on the usual fantasy-novel stories worked well. I also think that it has a good balance of being appropriate for younger-than-adult readers without seeming like it's talking down to anyone. I'm eager to read more and will be definitely be scouring my local libraries for the next-in-line books.

Related Reads:
Seventh Son (Orson Scott Card)
Uprooted (Naomi Novik)
The Song of the Lioness series (Tamora Pierce)

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
"God does not play dice with the universe; He plays an ineffable game of His own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players [i.e. everybody], to being involved in an obscure and complex variant of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time."

To come right out and say it : I enjoyed this mashup. I've read a lot of Neil Gaiman works and just one Terry Pratchett book so far, but could parse out the styles of each author within the novel, which was fun. The book makes light of a lot of "serious" and much-debated topics, namely, the Apocalypse, prophesies, Biblical stories, and angels and demons. With my childhood background of strict Christian fundamentalism, I found the book oddly cathartic in its sometimes-blunt, sometimes-sly irreverence. It manages to be funny and hopeful even in the midst of its storyline of reluctant players and catastrophic events. Apparently Good Omens is going to be on Amazon Prime as a miniseries in the near future, and I'm quite interested to see how it turns out.

Related Reads:
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
The Graveyard Book (Neil Gaiman)

Norse Mythology - Neil Gaiman
"Whether we are gods or mortals, Odin is the father of us all."

I was able to snag a copy of this book at a recent Neil Gaiman event. It's written in fairly simplistic, straightforward language, I think in the tradition of oral storytelling and due to the nature of the basic story lines Gaiman wanted to uphold. Hearing Gaiman read the chapter "Freya's Unusual Wedding" at the event I attended was a real treat and made me feel that these stories are almost better when read aloud.

Going into the book, I was already familiar with the basics of Norse lore and knew some of the stories and characters already (though I haven't been exposed to the Marvel comics or films). I think someone who was completely unfamiliar with Norse mythology would find this collection of stories (glossary included in the back) a very approachable read. Gaiman filters the swaths of fragmentary tales and stories that still exist into a compact, good starting point for any reader.

Related Reads:
Beowulf
The Hobbit  (J. R. R. Tolkien)

Books Read in March 2017, part 1

This month, I decided to start a "Related Reads" section for each book blurb - this will just be a short list of books I've read before that I feel are related or similar in some way to the reviewed book.

Shantaram - Gregory Roberts
"I don't know what frightens me more, the power that crushes us, or our endless ability to endure it."

This epic is long (over 900 pages) and a bit of a slow build. Mostly set in India, with the final portion set in Afghanistan, it's based on the life of the author - a heroin addict who escaped from prison - and written in the first person.

There were a few things that annoyed me about the book - mostly the author's tendency to foreshadow in the "if only I knew then what I knew now" sort of way - but overall, I thought the book was gripping and interesting, despite its sometimes-messy prose. It's packed full of enough events to strain credibility, but down-to-earth enough to be achingly realistic. I'll note that there's a good bit of violence and torture interspersed throughout the story.

Related Reads:
The Goldfinch (Donna Tartt)
Seven Pillars of Wisdom (T. E. Lawrence)
Catch Me if You Can (Frank Abegnale)
The Valley of Amazement (Amy Tan)

Outliers: The Story of Success - Malcolm Gladwell
"Success is not a random act. It arises out of a predictable and powerful set of circumstances and opportunities."

I must admit that I was expecting this to be a self-help sort of book; thus, I was a little disappointed. While the book is well-written and the information is interesting, I found myself thinking things like, "That's all very well for Canadian hockey players born in January, but what does that have to do with me?" I had also heard many of the stories cited in the book before, so there wasn't a lot of new data or extrapolations made for me. I still think I'd recommend it as an interesting read (especially for those that like statistics or history), but I personally only took away a few practical things (the principle of "practice makes perfect" and the importance of having meaningful work, mostly, which aren't principles unique to this book).

Related Reads:
The Happiness Project (Gretchen Rubin)
The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat (Oliver Sacks)

The Mint (Complete, Unexpurgated Text) - T. E. Lawrence 
"If only I could sleep solidly! but desert experience taught me to hover through the nights in a transparent doze, listening for the threat of any least sound or movement: and in a hut of fifty strong fellows there is not one minute of night-silence."

This book is hard to find in physical form, but I picked up a copy in a used bookstore last year. If you're a fan of T. E. Lawrence (aka Lawrence of Arabia) and/or interested in accounts of RAF (Royal Air Force) experiences, I'd recommend this book as almost a necessity to round out your knowledge. However, I wouldn't really recommend the book if you're not at all familiar with the author; in my opinion, context matters a lot here.

The Mint, Lawrence's account of the years during which he joined the RAF under an assumed name, is frequently punctuated with strong language, passing references to the author's past, and the everyday physical goings-on of military life that both repulsed and attracted Lawrence - a juxtaposition that was common throughout his life. The style is uniquely Lawrence's and the chapters are short and chronological, tending to read as journal entries or stand-alone short stories in style. As someone who's read a good bit of things by and about T. E. Lawrence and who considers him a "favorite historical figure", I found the book very interesting, even profound. But those who have no context for the book or reasons behind its writing will probably be puzzled at best, and offended at worst.

Related reads:
Seven Pillars of Wisdom (T. E. Lawrence)
A Prince of Our Disorder (John E. Mack)
Going Solo (Roald Dahl)
All Things Wise and Wonderful (James Herriot)