Book review: Horns by Joe Hill

I first heard of Horns when I saw a publicity photo for the upcoming movie starring Daniel Radcliffe. The photo and the premise were both just intriguing enough that I went to my local library and picked it up. It will soon be added to my personal collection; I absolutely will be going back and reading and re-reading this one again.

Ignatius Perrish has a problem. And no, it's not his name. Rather his problem are the horns that have sprouted out of his head after a rather nasty drunken binge, and he has no idea why they are there.

Accused of the brutal rape and murder of his fiance, Ig Perrish has become a pariah. Shunned by nearly everyone he knows, including his family. The shadow of her murder hangs over him, regardless of the lack of evidence to prove or disprove his guilt. When he awakes with horns growing out of his head, Ig discovers that there is an unusual side effect to them, one that may help him solve the crime and give the devil his due.

The son of novelist Stephen King, Hill's writing is reflective of the days when his father was a writer who took his time to craft a clever tale that would draw you in and not let you go rather than the grisly hack he has of late become. Ig Perrish is a likable, tormented character; one with whom the reader can easily empathize while holding Ig at arm's length for what he does to those around him in his search for vengeance. Interlaced with a wry humor that gets injected throughout the narrative, the true horror of the story is quite Miltonian and comes when the reader finds him or herself sympathizing with Ig and cheering for him even when Ig reaches into some rather dark places of his own psyche and abilities in order to achieve his aims. Hill may or may not have been consciously paying homage to Paradise Lost when he wrote this novel, yet it is easy to see where the classic tale may have influenced this contemporary tale.

From the author of Heart Shaped Box (on my Read This Soon list), Horns is expertly paced and masterfully written. Be sure to read it before the movie comes out. From William Morrow and available from your local, independent bookseller. (Remember: you can make a big difference by shopping small business!)

Review: The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi

There's a reason Paolo Bacigalupi has won every science fiction award possible, some of them more than once. His crisp, articulate writing draws you in and holds you fast, only releasing you after the final word on the final page. The Drowned Cities, his companion novel to Printz award winning Ship Breaker provides yet one more example of why he belongs in such company as William Gibson, Ray Bradbury, and Robert Heinlein. Drawing from current socio-political trends and events, Bacigalupi weaves a tale that is as bittersweet and tragic as it is gripping and intense.

Mahlia and Mouse are two youths caught in the armed conflict raging through what was once the mid-Atlantic and southern United States. The United States has long since crumbled, crushed under its own weight and now a third world country resembling modern Somalia: ruled by warlords and battling factions, each claiming to more patriotic than the other, and China has become the dominant world power. After attempts to bring peace to the troubled region fail, the Chinese peacekeeping forces leave, abandoning the people of the once mighty nation to its fate. Also abandoned is Mahlia, a half Chinese "castoff," reminiscent of the children left behind by soldiers at the end of the Vietnam War. Mahlia and her best friend, a young boy named Mouse, encounter bio-engineered super soldier Tool, and before long they begin to plan their way out of the region of the Drowned Cities. However, before they can enact their plan, tragedy strikes and the two become separated. Continuing with the theme of family and loyalty encountered in Ship Breaker, the choice presents itself: rescue a friend despite seemingly impossible odds, or flee to a region of safety, security and peace.

Not a word is wasted by Bacigalupi as he propels the reader endlessly forward through this magnificent story towards its end that is both heart-rending and full of hope. From Little, Brown Books and available at your local, independent bookstore. (Want to make a genuine difference? Shop and buy from your local, independent businesses!)

Review: Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

For the most part, I tend give blurbs on book jackets only a cursory glance, but when I saw that Neil Gaiman's blurb at the top of Cory Doctorow's young adult techno-thriller, Little Brother, I paused. I have long professed my fanboy status of Gaiman's work, going back to his days on Sandman, and my respect for him and his work nudged me towards picking up this particular novel. I'm incredibly glad I did. (Good call, Mr. Gaiman!)

Marcus (known online as w1n5t0n) is a seventeen year old living in San Francisco post 9/11. When an attack on his city forces everyone into shelters, Marcus and his friends are caught above ground and held by the Department of Homeland Security. After lengthy interrogation using "enhanced" techniques, Marcus is released only to find that San Francisco has been turned into a police state reflective of Orwell's 1984. Shocked and horrified at the changes wrought in his city, Marcus realizes that he has virtually nowhere to turn; that no one would believe his story and the chances of holding those responsible for his captivity and torture are nil. With the help of a strong but silent underground movement, Marcus decides there is only one course of action: take down the DHS, by himself if he has to.

Written with an intensity that crackles and moves you forward at almost a breakneck speed, Little Brother should give any reader pause to consider our post-9/11 world and what we have given up in the name of "freedom" and "safety." More frightening still is that Doctorow's novel serves as a grim prediction of an all-too-likely scenario, the shadows of which can be seen in the world today. Highly recommended for...well...everyone.

From Tor Books and available from your local, independent bookseller. (Make a difference in your community: shop and buy from local, independent retailers!)

Review: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (Seth Grahame-Smith)

My first thought when I originally saw this on the bookstore shelves back after its original release in 2010 was "Really?? That's pretty funny; I'll have to read that someday." I read Seth Grahame-Smith's well-done parody Pride and Prejudice and Zombies with my English class and enjoyed it. My respect for Grahame-Smith as a writer grew after seeing how closely he mirrored Austen's voice, cadence, and overall writing style, so I began to consider reading Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter a bit sooner. Then I saw the trailer for the Tim Burton produced movie and decided that I had to read the book before seeing the movie, and I'm glad I did.

The tale picks up early in Lincoln's youth, giving a brief but important background of Lincoln's parents, especially his father, and introducing the young Abraham's motivation to hunt and kill vampires after a poignant family tragedy deeply affects him. He later goes on to learn how to survive his own hunts after nearly dying his first true time out. The story goes on to trace Lincoln from general store employee all the way up to his presidency and assassination, with a generous scattering of blood and violence throughout, though in his later years as President, the blood and violence comes from the Civil War.

This book is a fairly fast and fun read. Grahame-Smith has obviously done his research on Lincoln and his life as well as Lincoln's writing style, presenting the story as a biography of Lincoln's life, albeit a biography of Lincoln's "secret, other life" as a vampire hunter. The excerpts from Lincoln's "secret journal" mirror Lincoln's own writing style masterfully, and the tale is a wonderful balance of history, horror and humor. Scattered throughout the book are various illustrations and photographs, with the successful intent to lend an air of verisimilitude to the story (as well as having the effect of being able to plant the tongue a little more firmly into the cheek).

Overall, the book presents a little something for a variety of fans: historical fiction, horror, parody, or alternative history/biography, and Grahame-Smith weaves them all into an entertaining and wonderfully coherent, witty, fast-paced, and at times horrifying, whole. From Grand Central Publishing and available at your local, independent bookstore. (Buy from locally owned, independent retailers...it makes more a difference than you think!)

NOTE: The trailer below is for the book, not the movie!

Review: Red, White and Blood by Christopher Farnsworth

Red, White and Blood is the eagerly awaited third installment of Christopher Farnsworth's intense and fast-paced President's Vampire series. This time, vampire Nathaniel Cade faces off against a malevolent entity only known as "The Boogeyman." This isn't the first time Cade has come up against this creature; over the past 100 years or so, it has infested various hosts, taking a wide range of guises, and each time only Cade has been able to stop its murderous rampages, yet each time, it finds a way to come back. This time is different, however. This time, the creature's target is none other than the President of the United States.

Cade and his handler, Zach Barrows find themselves not only having to protect the President, but also avoid media exposure, no easy task considering the President is up for re-election and is on the campaign trail with every move watched closely. While The President's Vampire tended to lean more toward adventure spy novel and a bit less towards horror, Red, White and Blood effectively captures the flavor and balance of Blood Oath: walking that fine line between the two genres. It is an unlikely pairing, but Farnsworth is a master of both and a master of the blend.

The novel is filled with enough twists and turns to keep the reader off balance and the story itself is wire-tight enough to compel more than one late night trying to finish "just one more chapter," and the unexpected ending will leave you aching for the next installment.

If you haven't read the first two books in this series, things will still make sense, however reading the first two (Blood Oath and The President's Vampire) will give you a bit more background about the world of the series, and they're just darned good reading...something you can really sink your teeth into. (There, I said it!)

Red, White and Blood is published by Putnam Books and is available from your local, independent book seller. (Make a difference in your local economy: shop local and independent first!)

Review: Storm Front by Jim Butcher

I was introduced to the Dresden Files by a friend of mine who recommended it to me. I went in search of the  books and happened to find an assortment of them in a locally owned bookstore. I picked one up, and on the first page, in the first paragraph, it said "“An errand is getting a tank of gas or picking up a carton of milk or something. It is not getting chased by flying purple pyromaniac gorillas hurling incendiary poo!” (From Blood Rites, a book later in the series.) Hmm. Demon monkeys flinging balls of flaming poo at the protagonist?? This is my kind of series! I grabbed all that were there and purchased them on the spot. (Thank goodness for used books!)


The first in this cleverly written series by Jim Butcher is Storm Front. In it we meet the central protagonist, one Harry Dresden, a wizard of not necessarily sterling repute with a wry outlook that matches the bizarre life he's been leading up to the point we meet him. Dresden has chosen to use his powers to help people, but for a fee; he's a private detective who works as a consultant to the Chicago police department. (This particular book was adapted for the television on the Sci-Fi network, though ironically not as the pilot, but as with most things, the book was better, so if you've seen the episode, try to set it aside and read the novel.)


The author's style is crisp and keeps the story moving along at a just-right pace. The perfect blend of humor and  tension exists throughout the novel; Butcher pulls you in from the start and keeps you engaged until the last paragraph on the last page. Fortunately, he is still writing this series, so even though I've got a good bit of catching up to do, it's good to know I can look forward to more to come. From Roc and available from your local, independent bookstore. (Make a difference in your local economy: shop local, independent retailers, especially your local bookstore!)

Book review: The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Brian Selznick)

Lately I've become fond of writers who take the time to tell a fine story through non-traditional means. Brian Selznick's The Invention of Hugo Cabret is one such tale. Based loosely on the life of Georges Melies, this story follows a young orphan named Hugo as he tries to survive and to revive an old automaton his father once owned. The story is told partially through text and partially through illustrations as well as actual film stills, and so while at over 500 pages, it is a relatively quick read. This is not to detract from the story at all; it is creatively written and told and well worth the money one would pay for the hardcover version. (It's worth buying in harcover; this is a book that, like my personal favorite, Maurice Sendak's classic Where the Wild Things Are, is worth handing down to younger generations. The apparent villain seems despicable enough until a sudden twist in the story recasts the entire group of central characters in a different light. Regardless of age, The Invention of Hugo Cabret is a wonderful story for everyone. From Scholastic Press and available from your local, independent bookseller. (Want to make a difference in your community? Shop local and independent retailers...starting with your bookstores!)

Summer reading list part 1: the first 25

Shortly before the school year ended, one of my students asked me for a list of books he could read this summer. I asked him how many he thought would be good, and he said, "Oh, I don't know...50?" I embarrassed to admit this list is over a week and a half late (sorry, Nate!), but here is the first half of it at least. Each is linked either to my own review of the book (which has a link to the Boulder Book Store on it) or to a page at the Boulder Book Store. Feel free to add your own recommendations and comments to any of these.


Summer reading list, part 1

1. The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis. I'm actually going to list all seven of the books, but I'm going to list them in chronological order rather than the order in which they were published. And no, it's not cheating to list the series as the first seven since they are classics. So there. (ha ha!) This link will take you to the complete set of Narnia books by Lewis, which makes more sense than posting seven different links in this case.
2. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
3. The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
4. Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis
5. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
6. The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis
7. The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis
8. Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman
9. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
10. The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen
11. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
12. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
13. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
14. Watership Down by Richard Adams
15. The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (my review is forthcoming, but for now I'll post the link to the Boulder Book Store)
16. Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick
17. Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
18. Peter Pan by Sir James M. Barrie
19. The Disappearing Spoon and Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements by Sam Kean
20. The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud
21. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle
22. Holes by Louis Sachar
23. Dune by Frank Herbert
24. The Giver by Lois Lowry
25. Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner

There you go...the first half of the list! Enough to get you started, I hope!

Reviews to come (by the end of the week??): Storm Front by Jim Butcher, The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, Little Brother by Cory Doctorow, and Red, White, and Blood by Christopher Farnsworth. Coming in August: Book Nerds' Big Day Out II: Book Nerds Do Boulder. Stay tuned!

Book review: Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman

I will be the first to admit that, when it comes to Neil Gaiman, I am not completely unbiased. I have been a fan of his work dating back to when The Sandman was still being published as a monthly comic book rather than as collected graphic novels. Since then, I have worked to get my hands on, and preferably own, nearly everything he has written. Admittedly, some of his works I have liked more than others, but as a whole, I don't think there is anything by him that I have not enjoyed; Odd and the Frost Giants is no exception to this rule.

Inspired by tales from Norse mythology, Odd and the Frost Giants is the story of a boy named Odd who has all but lost the use of his leg in an accident. As a result, his stepfather virtually ignores him, considering him to be somewhat slightly more than useless, so Odd leaves his home early in the morning of a particularly cruel winter. Arriving at the abandoned home where he lived before his mother remarries, Odd settles in for what he thinks will be a long stay. The first morning after his arrival, Odd encounters a fox, a bear, and an eagle who lead him on an adventure that takes him to the land of the gods and back again.

A story that works as a bedtime tale for children or as a short novel that can please an adult, Odd and the Frost Giants adds yet another wonderful tome to the list of works by a master storyteller. From HarperCollins Publishers and available from your local, independent bookstore. (Make a difference...shop local and independent!)

Book review: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

"The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it, no paper notices plastered on lampposts and billboards. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not."

Shrouded in mystery, enveloped in shadows, Erin Morgenstern's debut novel pulls the reader in as much as the scent of caramel carried on the cool night air might draw in the denizens of this fine tale.

Marco and Celia are the apprentices of two powerful magicians who have entered their protegees into a contest which only one can win, with the circus as their battlefield. Yet it is a contest in which the two come to be reluctant participants in a game they do not begin to truly understand until it is nearly too late.

The Night Circus is a love story for those who don't like love stories. The tension between the protagonists is almost palpable yet manages to not overwhelm the larger story of the circus and its impact on everyone it touches, no matter how peripherally.

Further, Morgenstern's skill as a writer is on display in the seamless transitions between the second person interludes that immerse the reader into this intense and moving world and the third person narration of the story itself. This is a story that continues to play with the imagination even after the book is laid down between chapters, and it haunts the mind long beyond its conclusion.

I borrowed this book from my local library and ended up buying it from a local bookstore; I liked it that much. I've also recommended it to just about all of my friends, which is why I'm recommending it to you. Reminiscent of The Map of Time in its flow and intensity with shades of Neil Gaiman (one of my all-time favorite writers, so this comparison is not one I'd make lightly and is to be considered high praise), The Night Circus was nearly impossible to put down. Its ending drove me forward with a mix of anticipation for what was to happen next and dread that the story was soon to end.

The Night Circus is published by Doubleday and is available from your local, independent bookstore. (Want to make a difference? Shop your local, independent bookstore!)

Book review: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Ransom Riggs)

Quirk Books is rapidly becoming one of my favorite publishers of fiction. The...well...quirky...stories they publish are consistently well-crafted, often unusual and somewhat irreverent, and always entertaining and represent stories that more "mainstream" publishers wouldn't touch. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs is no exception to this rule.

It would be easy to write off Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children as a derivative of Marvel's "X-Men" characters. It would be easy, and it would be wrong.

Jacob Portman grows up hearing his grandfather's fantastic stories of strange young children who have been gathered together in an orphanage off the coast of Wales during World War II. His grandfather's "proof" is a collection of odd, and even disturbing, photographs he claims were children he knew. As Jacob gets older, he begins to view these stories as colorful tales, even metaphors, told by an aging, possibly senile, man.

And then Grandpa Portman gets murdered.

Jabob's quest for his grandfather's killer leads him to Wales, where he discovers that not everything that seems fantastic is a fairy tale, and that sometimes, the monsters are very, very real.

Riggs' story is filled with enough twists and turns as would befit a story about peculiar children, and scattered throughout the book are photographs Riggs himself has collected and used as inspiration for this wonderful story. The photographs themselves add to the unusual, and at times menacing, atmosphere of the tale and are interspersed at perfect intervals throughout the text.

The trailer for the book speaks to and for it as much as I could:

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is available at your local, independent bookstore. (Want to make a difference? Shop your local, independent bookstore!!)

Book review: A Clash of Kings (George R.R. Martin)

War has come to Westeros. Murder, betrayal, incest, violence and intrigue return as a hallmark of George R.R Martin's outstanding "A Song of Ice and Fire" saga.

(SPOILER ALERT IF YOU HAVEN'T READ A GAME OF THRONES) A Clash of Kings picks up shortly after the events of A Game of Thrones. The king is dead, and various lords have declared themselves kings of their respective regions, in defiance of the heir apparent. No alliances seem possible, save for how it will aid in the overthrow of the Lannisters. Across the sea, Daenerys Targaryen assembles her forces to retake the Iron Throne, and as with A Game of Thrones, no character is completely good, and none is completely evil.

Shades of gray continue to pervade Martin's epic tale, and that only strengthens the story itself. The tapestry of back stories, intrigues, plots and subplots is a masterfully woven cloth that draws the reader in and holds them from chapter to chapter as the story unfolds.

"A Song of Ice and Fire" is an epic tale that is proving to not be a "light" read; its complexity would belie any effort to turn it into one, but it is a story that is like a multi-course meal at a fine restaurant: a rich indulgence meant to be savored and enjoyed rather than gulped down without thought or regard to the flavors within.

Like A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings is a hefty text (the hardcover version clocks in at over 700 pages), but at no point does it seem overly long. It is well-paced, and Martin's writing and storytelling remain strong and even. Even though this is a fantasy novel, it reads closer to realistic historical fiction, and his use of  magic as a storytelling device remains light and secondary to the story and characters. However, "A Song of Ice and Fire" remains a story for adults rather than young people or even young adults. The violence remains graphic as does the use of adult situations and language. However, none of these are gratuitous in nature as each propels the story forward or reveals something further and important about the characters and the way they view and interact with their world.

Highly recommended for lovers of well-crafted fantasy as well as those more inclined towards stories of political intrigue and realism. From Bantam Books and available from your local, independent bookstore. (Want to make a difference? Shop your local, independent bookstore!!)

Book review: The Disappearing Spoon: and Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements (Sam Kean)

This wonderfully quirky, fascinating, and just plain fun read moves the periodic table of the elements off of the dusty walls of chemistry classrooms and into living, breathing narrative.

Back when I was in high school, the periodic table was presented to me in all its (not quite, as it turned out) completed glory, assembled and whole, and after memorizing the first several elements, utilizing it in balancing equations, and repeated the information on the tests without giving it further thought, and like most high school chemistry students, likely thought it sprang fully formed from the head of Dmitri Mendeleev, and was the only possible arrangements of the elements. Yet, as Sam Kean has revealed in his book, nothing could be further from the truth.

The Disappearing Spoon (so named for a practical joke scientists play involving gallium) offers a fascinating glimpse into not only how the table came to be, but also provides a story connected to each element on the table that is both compelling and entertaining.

While chemistry students and teachers will no doubt find this book a must read, The Disappearing Spoon is written to appeal to anyone with even a passing interest in science, history, and even literature (the madness of the Mad Hatter of Alice In Wonderland fame can be attributed to mercury). This book will make your inner nerd rejoice and your outer nerd smile. From Back Bay Books and available from your local, independent bookstore. (Want to make a difference? Shop your local, independent book retailer!)

Book review: Fated by S.G. Browne

S.G. Browne's Fated, his follow up novel to Breathers, is a thought-provoking, hilarious take on the concepts of fate, destiny, love, and our roles in each. Fabio is the anthropomorphism of fate. His job is to assign and monitor the mass of humanity and their lives of "quiet desperation," a job that after a quarter million years, has lost some of its luster. That is, until Fabio meets Sara, a mortal human with whom he falls in love, despite all the rules to the contrary. The story that ensues is one of both solid reflection laced with you healthy dose of laughs as Fabio attempts to balance out his supernatural existence with his all too mortal desires.

This quirky, wonderful novel gives chuckles and laughs in equal dose to providing fodder for thought about the roles of fate and destiny, and ultimately, the role we all play in determining our lives, and even the lives of others with whom we choose to get involved.


From NAL Trade and available at your local, independent bookseller. (Make a difference: buy from your local, independent bookstore!)

Book review: Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

This is the second work I've read from Colorado writer Paolo Bacigalupi, and I'm happy to say his intense style and voice are consistent in this work as well. This dystopian, young adult novel is set in the post-oil Gulf Coast region, where Nailer, a boy of indeterminate age, makes his "living" scavenging wrecked and abandoned oil tankers. His abusive, drug addicted father is the only "family" that Nailer has, and even a close brush with death does little to stir any real compassion in this man. Yet when a hurricane tears through the beach settlement Nailer calls home, he  remains loyal to his father and saves his father's life. The hurricane also brings with it a shipwrecked pleasure craft, and with it, the potential for Nailer's life to change for the better.

A story that examines loyalty, family, and the wide gap between the haves and have-nots, Bacigalupi ably demonstrates that he is able to write equally well for both an adult as well as a young adult audience (something not every author is able to do successfully). The characters are very believable, and Nailer's longing for family and desire to remain loyal even when it seems hopeless belie the seemingly tough shell he presents to the world, and make him only more likable and relatable. From Little, Brown & Co. and available from your local, independent bookstore. (Make a difference: shop local & independent!)

Book review: Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

 Cherie Priest's Boneshaker is her award winning steampunk story of Ezekiel "Zeke" Wilkes, the son of Leviticus Blue, who singlehandedly destroyed 1800s Seattle. Zeke's father invented the "Boneshaker," a large drill engine designed to mine gold from the frozen lands of Alaska. While testing his machine, Blue unleashed a gas on the city, turning those exposed to it into "rotters" (zombies) and causing a major portion of the city to be walled off in order to contain both the gas and the rotters. In an attempt to clear his father's name, Zeke sneaks back into the walled off section of Seattle. Knowing that her son will be facing not only zombies, but criminals and the desperate, Zeke's mother, Briar, goes in to retrieve her son before the unthinkable happens.

This is a very good young adult novel, with the only real flaw being that the dialogue is at times rather stilted; the reunion between Zeke and his mother is particularly difficult and awkward, and I can't help but think perhaps it could have been expressed a bit more smoothly. This is a flaw that can be overlooked in favor of the overall story, however, and it doesn't really diminish from the narrative. A good, entertaining read. I'm looking forward to reading Dreadnought, the second book in her Clockwork Century series.

From Tor Books and available from your local, independent bookstore. (Want to make a difference? Shop local and buy independent!)

Book review: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Ready Player One, Ernest Cline's wonderful debut novel, was suggested to me by a friend, and just a few pages into this clever novel, I was hooked. Slightly reminiscent of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, this well-done science fiction novel is set in an entirely too plausible future in which the founder of the ultimate gaming/social networking site dies, leaving the ownership of his creation and his multi-billion dollar fortune to the one who finds his "Easter Egg," hidden somewhere in the world he has created.

Filled with references to 80s pop culture and plenty of nods to all that is geeky, Ready Player One warmed every nostalgic, nerdy bone in my body.

Wade Watts, aka, Parzival, is the protagonist of the story, and one of the first to figure out the first piece of the several puzzles that will move him a step closer to obtaining the vast fortune left by the former owner. (In a bizarre life-imitating-art twist, I happened to be reading this book at the same time Steve Jobs died, and the parallels between Jobs and Halliday, the creator of the virtual world in the book, were a bit uncanny.) Parzival is a likable character, and his insecurities and wry outlook on his life only make him more believable and likable. The antagonist, a faceless corporation personified by executive Nolan Sorrento, is perfectly despicable, and its (his) slick yet threatening persona only adds fuel to the fire.

The narrative flows easily and well, and I found myself eagerly wanting to move the story along, not because I wasn't enjoying it, but because I couldn't wait to see what happened next. This is one of those books where you can't wait to see what happened next, yet every turn of the page brings you agonizingly close to the end.

From Crown Publishers and available from your local, independent bookseller. (Make a difference: shop local; shop independent!)

Book review: Jim and the Flims by Rudy Rucker

One of the only real disadvantages of not being independently wealthy is that having to work does cut into one's casual reading time. Then again, it does make savoring that time so much the sweeter.


Jim and the Flims is the latest novel from prolific writer Rudy Rucker. This wonderfully bizarre novel reads like a dream you might have after a night of bad Mexican food, albeit a dream that makes you want to go out and eat that same exact meal again just so you can have that dream again. Jim is an out of work, biotech engineer surfer who doesn't really take the time to ponder the metaphysics or implications of his work until it punches him in the face. While experimenting one night at home, he manages to slice an electron, thus opening a portal into the afterlife but tragically killing his wife in the process. And then things start to get weird.


This quirky and fun yet thought provoking story is wrapped around several philosophical and quantum theoretical concepts yet does not get bogged down in the technical aspects of either. Rucker's characters are both believable and relatable, even for the oddest characters Jim encounters in his travels through the afterworld, and the story is evenly paced and cleverly crafted with a few twists and turns to keep you guessing just as you think you have it figured out. While this novel is my first encounter with Rucker, I know it won't be my last.


Looking for a fun, metaphysical, spiritual science-fiction read? (Yeah, it does actually break that many genre boundaries!) Want an unconventional story that will tug at those back corners of your brain after you've put it down? Pick up Jim and the Flims. You'll be glad you did. 


From Night Shade Books and available at your local, independent bookstore. (Make a difference: shop local and shop independent!)

Review: A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

 George R. R. Martin has been called "The American Tolkien," and with good reason. His sweeping epic, A Song of Ice and Fire rivals that of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, yet Martin's fantasy does not easily fall within the accepted norms of fantasy literature. The first book in this series, A Game of Thrones, reads more like historical fantastic fiction than a stereotypical fantasy novel. Gone are wizards, elves, and orcs, and in their place is a story of political intrigue that writhes in a mix of heartbreaking agony coupled with storytelling ecstasy.

What sets this story apart from many in its genre is the scent of realism that pervades every chapter. The noble House of Stark that is at the center of the tale is at once noble yet deeply flawed. The Lannister family that most strongly opposes them is wonderfully wicked, yet itself possesses its own nobility. The story is further populated by families and individuals each with their own agenda, and whose side each of these ends up on is mercurial and apt to change by the time the next page is turned.

This book is definitely not for younger readers. This dense and highly complex tale is rife with situations that place it well beyond what might be considered appropriate for the younger set, yet within the context of the story, none of the incidents are out of place. This chronicle has a gritty realism that helps it to resonate with a "historical accuracy" of sorts in regards to what would be considered "acceptable" for the medieval period, especially when it comes to the behaviors and attitudes of the men and their society towards women. The book has had various accusations of misogyny leveled at it and for good reason: many of the men within this story have a long way to go in regards to the respectful treatment of women within their society, yet two of the most noble and admirable characters in the book (if not the only truly noble and admirable characters in the story) are female.

This is the kind of story where the grit gets stuck in your teeth...and you like it. Corpses reek of death; prison cells stink of urine, sweat and more; the same man is capable of the noblest of heroic acts and the most craven and depraved of behaviors, and it is this struggle within themselves that defines who they are.

What appear to be rather disparate threads are woven together as the story progresses, yet Martin leaves enough loose threads to lead the reader towards the second installment, A Clash of Kings.  The suspense within the story seemingly resides on the struggle of various factions against one another, yet a threat  from beyond the man-made ice wall in the north looms in the background, silent and sure; meanwhile, an unexpected twist in the fortunes of the men and in what they know, or think they know, of their world, offers yet more moves in this chronicle that often feels like a chess game played by the gods in which all of the men are pawns.

From Bantam Books and available from your local, independent bookstore. (Shop local and independent...it makes a difference!)

Book Nerds' Big Day Out (aka Book-a-palooza)

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of shopping (and eating) from local, independent businesses as much as I can, with local restaurants, coffee shops, and independent bookstores being my favorite places to go. I'm fond of telling others that locally owned, independent businesses are like snowflakes: no two are ever really alike. To prove my point and just for the fun of it, I recently decided to embark on a summer "field trip" and explore the bookstores of Denver. I was quite surprised to find out how many there actually are in the Denver area, so decided to make a day of it with breakfast and lunch included.

A quick search online found 14 bookstores that met my criteria of being locally owned and operated in Denver. I was definitely going to need a whole day for this one.

On the appointed day, a friend of mine and I went to Snooze on Colorado Boulevard in Denver. I like Snooze for a lot of reasons, among them that they use locally sourced ingredients as much as possible, which is really important to me, and their food is downright tasty. (Review to be posted on my food blog soon.)

Taking a look at our map showed us that our first stop, The Bookery Nook, was about 10 miles from where we were. Hm. That 20 mile drive would be pretty significant considering we would have 13 others to hit before 6:00 p.m. (when several of the stores closed). We decided to wait and see how we felt at the end of the day before heading over there. The fact that they serve locally made ice cream resulted in huge bonus points in their favor, and no, 10:30 in the morning is not too early for ice cream, thank you very much. (ha ha!)

Off to The Tattered Cover in Lower Denver (aka LoDo). Even though I had to pay for parking (a hangup of mine),  I sucked it up, paid my parking fee and in we went. The LoDo Tattered Cover is in a historic building, where it takes up two huge floors of both new and used books. Complete with a small cafe that serves excellent coffee, tasty pastries, sandwiches and salads, and other treats, The Tattered Cover in LoDo frequently plays host to booksignings by authors of all sorts. The store's creaking floorboards and warm wood interior add to the atmosphere of the place, which is filled with various nooks where you'll find bibliophiles of all sorts perusing the racks or sitting in one of the many comfortable chairs, reading some new or soon to be new acquisition.

Bookstore stop #2 was Fahrenheit's Books on South Broadway. This small but very well stocked used bookshop lacks the bells and whistles and coffee of Tattered Cover, but its inventory and very reasonable prices more than make up for it. This was my second trip to Fahrenheit's, and it was just as enjoyable and productive as the first. I spent a fair bit of time making some very difficult choices before finally deciding what to buy.

Broadway Book Mall was next on the list. This dog-friendly, funky shop is part of a co-op of several booksellers in one store. Selling both new and used books, Broadway Book Mall also is stocked with quite a large number of signed and first edition books. Broadway Book Mall plays host to a significant number of book signing events as well as hosting monthly meetings of the Denver Science Fiction Association.

As an added huge, HUGE and unexpected bonus, local author Mario Acevedo stopped into the store.  Once I got over my shock (in a good way), I told him that I had his first book at home, and as I pulled a copy of what would soon be my second copy of The Nymphos of Rocky Flats off the shelves, I asked him if he'd sign it if I bought it right there and then. He graciously said that he would, so that became one automatic purchase right there and then, as did my Spanish version of Jonathan Stroud's The Amulet of Samarkand. While I don't speak Spanish, I do want to become fluent and literate in it, and so I have begun tracking down the Spanish version of specific novels.

After a bit more time chatting with the owners, we made our purchases, and headed up Broadway to the Denver Book Fair. Denver Book Fair is deceptive in the appearance of its size. It's a store with an impressive depth of size, and it is separated into several rooms of varying size. If you are looking for paperbacks or vintage magazines, this is the place for you. Stacked floor to ceiling with books, it's incredibly easy to get lost in the maze of paperback books...and that's not a bad thing at all.

Mutiny Now (no website, so no link, sorry) was stop number five. I walked in to hear the strains of A-Ha's "Take On Me" playing and realized this was the first bookstore I'd been to that day that had music playing. Hits of the 80s entertained us while we browsed the shelves of this bookstore and art gallery.  The whole store has a very laid back vibe to it, and the owner was certainly part of that. This was also one of the most spacious stores so far with a fair bit of room and space that didn't make it feel quite so claustrophobic as some bookstores can do (note: I don't view being crowded in by books to be a bad thing at all, but neither is having a little space between shelves).

After leaving Mutiny Now, we walked back to the car, hopped in and headed south down Broadway to Gallagher Books. (I had at one point considered doing this by bicycle, but after realizing the mileage needed to cover all of the stores I wanted to go to combined with the heat of a Colorado summer day, decided it just wasn't practical...and probably would have been downright stupid.) Gallagher Books has the look and feel of an old style library (one of my favorite places since I was a child). Aptly located in Denver's Antique Row district, Gallagher Books specializes in antique and rare books.

Just a couple of doors down from Gallagher Books is the Printed Page Bookshop. This store, housed in, well...a house built in 1892...has its own in store mystery for customers to attempt to solve in hopes of winning a gift certificate from the store. Browsing the shelves of this antiquarian delight exposes the customer to a wide range of out-of-print and rare books, some of which were in glass cases (an extremely rare and out of print version of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 had me drooling, but the $500 price tag kept it well out of reach, at least for this lifetime). Similar to Gallagher Books, Printed Page offers slices of literary history for the serious collector.

Lunch was next on our agenda, and while on our way to our next bookstore, we found The Crushery, home of not only excellent panini and bagel sandwiches, but also of -321 Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream. Yes, you read that correctly: liquid nitrogen ice cream. Customers place their orders for custom, freshly made ice cream after choosing from a list of options, then watch as the wizards behind the counter work their frosty magic utilizing liquid nitrogen to flash freeze the ingredients into the smoothest, creamiest, tastiest ice cream I've ever had. Ever. I created a chocolate cinnamon with sea salt ice cream that I just about fell out of my chair after the first bite, it was that good. (A full review of The Crushery will appear on my food blog soon.)

The next bookstore stop on the list made me sad, and not because it was a bad bookstore; it was just the opposite as a matter of fact. Murder By The Book is a beautiful store and well stocked with mysteries from nearly every author you can think of, but unfortunately it is going out of business on July 29. It is precisely this issue that I hope to address next year with a project I'm working on (more on that much later), but it causes me almost physical pain when a bookstore closes, double that when it is a wonderful, quirky, locally owned, independent bookstore. The towns in which I spent my childhood are bereft of bookstores; the closest one is approximately 60 miles away; a bookstore is far too important and precious a resource for a community to lose even one, no matter how many exist in that area. The loss of Murder By The Book is truly a crime indeed (pun intended, but not really meant to be funny in this tragic situation). If nothing else, if you are in the Denver area, stop by and thank them for their efforts in combating illiteracy for as long as they did.

 The Bookies was our ninth (!) bookstore for the day. The Bookies specializes in children's literature (including juvenile and young adult literature) as well as resources for educators (which gives them some serious points from me personally right there...ha!). They do stock books for anyone and everyone, however, so there's no excuse for not visiting this store. The staff was friendly and eager to help, and I was led directly to both of the books I asked about without even a moment's hesitation. Rather appropriately, the store has a feel of a constant buzz of energy about it, much like a classroom where learning and education are valued and appreciated. Unfortunately, we weren't able to spend quite as long here as we would have liked since it was getting close to 5:00 p.m. at this point (breakfast was at 9:00 a.m., we headed to the stores around 10:00), and our next destination closed at 5:30. We had to hustle.

Shortly after 5:00, we arrived at The Hermitage, another store specializing in a variety of specialty books, including first and signed editions. Located in the Cherry Creek shopping district, this beautiful store is one of the most elegant stores I've been in. The owner, Robert Topp, captured a special place in this educator's heart when he told me about his other project, Read Me A Story, Ink: a collection of printable stories, lists of book recommendations and the like for teachers, parents, and students with the focus on reading these stories aloud to young people.

Shortly after leaving The Hermitage, we realized we weren't going to make it: we still had four stores on our list, and three of them closed at 6:00 (including The Bookery Nook, which we had planned on perhaps hitting at the end of our day). We also had all but reached our saturation point for the day, and so we decided to save The Bookery Nook, Capitol Hill Books, and Park Hill Community Bookstore (no website) for another day. Instead, our day would end as it began: with The Tattered Cover (though the one on Colfax, this time).

And so our 11th and final stop for the day was The Tattered Cover on Colfax. Even though it shares a name with the LoDo location on 16th Avenue and the store in Highlands Ranch, this store is as different from the others as if it were a completely distinct and separate store. This branch is located in a historic theater that was preserved, restored, and remodeled to house the bookstore. This store also houses a coffee shop, albeit a smaller version of the LoDo store. The other plus of this store vs. the 16th Street location is the free parking garage next door, so that makes me particularly happy. Also containing two stories (well, two and a half, depending on your point of view) of books, this branch of the Tattered Cover is able to please just as much as the first.

After making our final purchases for the day, we opted to go home and recover rather than stop anywhere. We were happy yet exhausted. We had visited 11 bookstores in one day, each one unique and possessing a completely different feel and personality of its own. And therein lies the strength of the locally owned, independent store. Each of these stores reflected not only who the owner is, but also who the neighborhood is and who the larger community is. The major chain bookstores lack this in abundance. A Barnes and Noble one place is a Barnes and Noble anywhere else. Amazon isn't anything but a website. While both of these can offer discounts on books and other merchandise, and McDonald's, Burger King, and the like can offer cheap food, there is something that none of these can offer: a glimpse into the soul of a city.  The restaurants and bookstores we visited gave us a glimpse into Denver like we'd never really seen before. Yes, you can and may pay more for a book or a meal or whatever by shopping locally and making purchases from smaller, independent places, but aside from the simple economic fact that more of your money stays in your community by shopping locally, there is nothing that can replace a conversation with someone who actually cares about their business because they own it and have a stake in not only their business, but in their community as well.

I've long believed in shopping locally and buying from independent businesses first whenever possible. This only confirmed it.