Review 22: Reamde

Reamde by Neal Stephenson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

What compelled me to read this book is the billing of a gaming world with some intrigue. I've played video games, but not very much and even less on online multiplayer games. This book has in the center a fictional one T'Rain that is modeled after World of Warcraft, although designed to be friendly to gold farmers and the ability to turn that into real world cash. The designer of this game and company 9592 is Richard Forthrast, who is mega-rich.

Soon after the opening of the book and the family annual reunion gathering, Richard's niece Zula gets caught up into a huge mess. It starts with her boyfriend Peter, while she is in the middle of breaking up with him and gathering her things, the Russian mob show up due to a virus called Reamde (think read me with the letters mixed). The Russians then start a hunt for who created this virus and they go around the world, kidnapped. Not long into the book the bigger threat comes from jihad terrorists determined to kill as many westerners as possible.

The book has a cast of characters that grows as the book progresses, although sticks with a core group and you get a good sense of who these people are and their motivations. The fictional game T'Rain does play a part in the book but it's more about the terrorists and their goals, along with the goals of stopping them and finding Zula, meanwhile Zula is trying to stay alive.

It's got some humor and intrigue, but it really doesn't need over 1,000 pages to tell this story. Lots of extra descriptions and asides that are basically known to anyone. It became a marathon book and one to strive to finish. The payoff in the end isn't as grand as one would like for the epic nature of the book, but there is some interesting passages near the end.

Book rating: 3.5

Review 21: Lights All Night Long

Lights All Night Long by Lydia Fitzpatrick
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An amazing book, quite enjoyable and surprising. I didn't think this was going to be a mystery but there was a bit of that in this book. It was mainly about this smart Russian kid Ilya and his older brother Vladimir. They grow up in a small oil refinery village in Russia, a place where no one goes. Ilya, the smart one, learned English easily, and with some luck was able to go to the United States through an exchange program with the oil refinery company in Russia and one in Louisiana.

The book is split between Ilya's time in the U.S. and his time in Russia, mostly of the last year or so. Ilya loves and looks up to his brother immensely and when the book starts Vladimir is in jail in Russia. Ilya knows that the crime, three murders, were not done by his brother despite the fact that Vladimir confessed. Ilya become obsessed with trying to solve the murders even while in the U.S.

A new drug called krokodil appears in Russia and seems to explain much of Vladimir's behaviors, but there is more to it. The book reveals more and more as you read. My only complaint is that the book kept going after the reveal of who did kill the women. Sometimes it's a good thing to give a little more, an epilogue or coda, but actually I think it would have been left at a shorter point than it did.

Overall an good book. And while it is about teenagers I would not call this a YA book. Then again, I'm not of that age anymore.



Thanks to Penguin Press and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

Review 20: The Little Book of Being

The Little Book of Being: Practices and Guidance for Uncovering Your Natural Awareness by Diana Winston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Funny thing happened when I finished this book. I normally ride on the train for my commute and finished the book just about at my stop. I was doing my best to stay in the moment and be aware, yet while walking some foot pain flared up. My concentration was there on the pain. By the time I got to my car I realized I had no idea where my phone was. It's always in my pocket. But not now. And I had to think back, on the short walk from getting off the train to my car I had my hand in my pocket. What was there in my hand, nothing or my phone? I didn't know. I certainly wasn't aware. I certain could have been more mindful of the moment. Of course what ensued after was much panic and emotions about the lost phone. Definite moments for drawing back and becoming more calm. At the end of my search I had to admit defeat and accept I lost the phone somehow.

This book with all the teachings and guidance on how to be in the moment, how to relax and watch the emotions float by like clouds were exactly what I needed in those moments of panic. It was difficult for me to accept the phone and all the digital data is out of my possession, but this book helped me accept it more easily. And I say this as someone who has not yet tried the meditation practices or guidance provided in the book.

This is a meditation book that feels more for someone who has been practicing for a while and not a beginner. I am truly a beginner. Yet I did find some use from the book. I enjoyed reading the small glimpse practices. I may not be able to reach the natural awareness quickly, but this book may be something I can return to. The small reminders and brief moments may be something to start building upon.


Thanks to Sounds True and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

Reissue Review 19: Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century

Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Reissue Review #2: On occasion revisiting and reissuing reviews from the days before my blog postings. This is one to not miss.

A recent read: finished on September 24, 2018.


My reaction to this book surprised me. The book is about people who are in their retirement years who still need to do some work to supplement their income. Not only that, but their house is not a fixed four walls, but something with wheels, that they do move around. They are nomads or work campers "workampers" and rubber wheel tramps.

Most of the people came to the solution of living out of a van or RV out of necessity, but there are a few who have chosen this life. And we meet a few people who advocate it, and help out those new to the camper living. The author Jessica Bruder is a reporter and saw this story about the growing number of seniors living this life just to get by. In the several years of gathering their personal stories, she also bought a van and lived it and tried out a few of the jobs, such as the amazon warehouse temporary workers and on the sugar beet farm. They are not easy jobs, physically demanding and Bruder didn't stay long at them, just enough to know how tough these jobs really are. And it makes you wonder how long these seniors can continue in this way.

Despite the books fairly depressing state for many nomadic seniors, these are mostly positive and upbeat portrayals. Most of these people described are more optimistic and happy than one might expect. They love to name their traveling homes with cute pun names like the "Squeeze inn" and the author's van "Halen" named after the band. They are helpful and friendly to each other and quickly develop friendships that feel more like family.

So this is where I was surprised because the freedom they enjoy and camping for months as camp hosts sounded like fun. Since I haven't been camping in a few years, I do miss it, so yeah, being out in nature for months at a time sounds great. Then touring around the country, your home with you as you explore, wow. But for me that would be a vacation, not a life. No, definitely not what I'd like to do when I'm of retirement age; and no, don't sign me up to work in a warehouse or picking beets or any other fruit or vegetable.

I'm sure this book wasn't to "inspire" people to the lifestyle. Instead it is to report on part of the fallout from the great recession, what it did to those who lost their retirement savings and now have to rely on a small check of social security. It doesn't often cut it. Some of these people were college professors, business owners and construction workers. It isn't just people who worked in low wage jobs all their life, although there are a few of those as well.

It feels like there's a little more to say...but really, just read the book. Interesting take on those who don't consider themselves homeless, but houseless.



I received a free copy of this book at a library conference. I was not required to write a review, but felt like it and, of course, the above opinions are my own.

Review 18: The River

The River by Peter Heller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a wild ride. The book starts out slow enough, but soon you know things are going to go amiss for these two good friends taking a long summer to paddle through lakes and a river to the Hudson Bay. The first major sign is the smell of smoke. After climbing up a tree to get a look they discover there is a massive forest fire that will become a problem for them. Soon after they run into another couple of guys taking it easy, with whiskey and a motor on their small craft. It makes you wonder if the book is going into a deliverance type direction. But it keeps shifting.

That is what surprised me most about this book, it kept shifting like a river might. You suspect on thing is going to happen, or where this going, then it changes. There is definite action and a little suspense, but this is mainly a thoughtful book. With very little dialogue between the two friends, Wynn and Jack, they are both meditative. We get most information from thoughts in their heads.

One problem I did have with the book is the two main characters are hard to differentiate at first, since the book shifts point of view frequently. It's disorientating at times, particularly when you are trying to learn about who is Jack and Wynn. I was a good way in before I really could distinguish their different personalities and backgrounds, which is why the book rating went down slightly for me. Despite that this was a good book. I could see myself reading it again, now that I know the full story. It's one of those books you can re-read. A mark of a good book.


Thanks to Knopf Publishing and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

Review 17: The Wild Inside

The Wild Inside by Christine Carbo
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Perhaps a fuller review later, some early thoughts:

I'm not huge on series, and though I do read many mystery books, it's not my go-to genre. Despite that this was a good book. I didn't know "who did it" until just before the reveal. There was good characterization of the detective. I like the aspect of it being in a National Park, the detective worked for the Department of the Interior.

While I was not disappointed in this book, I won't continue the series. My desire for standalone books win out, plus I have so many already to read.

I feel like people who enjoy mystery series would like this book more than myself. It was well written.

Book rating: 3.5

Note on Narration: The narrator R.C. Bray did an excellent job and distinguished the different character voices well. His narration enhanced my enjoyment of the book and possibly would not have continued if it wasn't for his good skills.

Narration rating: 5

Review 16: Daisy Jones & The Six

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is out today and already has a huge fan following and tons of love, and for good reason. There is a lot to love in this book. Unfortunately, I wasn't someone who found it absolutely amazing. I enjoyed a lot of the book but I wasn't completely floored.

The book opens with an "Author's Note" which is the fictional author writing this biography of the music band Daisy Jones & The Six. It states this book is an attempt to portray why this band split up mid-tour during the height of their fame in July 1979.

The book is told as an interview style, which means lots of words and back and forth between the different characters. This is one of the problems, we are told the story not shown. As I got into the book I noticed that often there is one character saying the words for another, particularly with the two main people: Daisy Jones and Billy Dunne, saying each other's words. It started pulling me out of the story noticing this happening.

There was one point where the "author" interrupted the story and inserted herself even with disclaimer's and this section I thought was very awkward, it should have just been rewritten leaving the author out of it. I don't think anything in the story was gained by that move.

Personally I thought the story went on too long, dragged out when it could have been tightened up. I'm happy there was more than just Daisy and Billy, but even more with some of the other characters would have been helpful.

I can still recommend the book, it was fun. I loved the lyrics for their hit album provided at the end of the book. I read them before starting the read, then again in the middle and at the end. Plus, RandomHouse made a playlist on Spotify to listen to while reading the book. How awesome is that?

Book rating: 3.5 stars rounded up for the additional material

Thanks to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

Review 15: Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive

Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive by Stephanie Land
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've read a few of these type of books, I was or am poor and this is my story. So I didn't expect much from this one, figured another in that vein. Yes, that's what this book is --one woman's story about struggling, being poor, and trying to find a way to make it work for her and her daughter.

There was only a brief amount of information before she got pregnant, then the decision to move away from her boyfriend's trailer after having their baby. He was becoming increasingly volatile and emotionally abusive. Imminently after her boyfriend's she went to live with her Dad and Step-Mom, but they were struggling too, Stephanie had to do it on her own.

Already on government assistance she took what work she could, yard work and cleaning houses. Most of the book is about cleaning houses. There's also the little details of how she got through day by day, especially when something major happened, like her car being totaled by a teenage driver.

This is a book about being poor and struggling to get beyond it, trying to not just survive, but find a way out. There were a few poignant lines about how being poor too often looks like it is a crime "the crime being a lack of means to survive". There is assumption if you are poor you do drugs, or used to and don't know how to stay off them, and you must keep bad company.

One thing Land was also struggling with was lack of affection and connection to someone besides her young daughter. Her friends were in a different phase and didn't understand her poverty, they disappeared out of her life. She ached for companionship.

This was a well written book. I did wish for a little more about her background, something a little more broad. Also the ending seemed rushed, and not fully explained. It is a book about just a few years of her life and well, it felt like it needed just a little more.