Dune, by Frank Herbert

It takes a solid 100 pages to really get the story moving, you need to read the appendix information, and it helps to keep an Excel document open to keep track of all characters and motivations, but this is a great book. 

Some of the story, maybe even most of the story, doesn’t make a lot of sense at first, but as you read the book and the appendix information, you start to see the bigger picture and the plot becomes a bit clearer. This is dense. I struggled with all the political subplots. Even now, I sometimes need to hop on the old Google machine to remind myself, “Why did the Emperor scheme with the Harkonnens when the Emperor could have just killed the Atreides?” 

And Google sighs, clears its digital throat and starts offering up the explanation. (Answer: Space politics.)

There’s a lot to unpack in Dune, from the aforementioned politics, to the science, to the religion, to the big worms…this book is overflowing with ideas. I needed a nap after reading every sentence. I mean that in a good way. Dune is rewarding if you put the time into reading it. 

Now if you listen carefully, you can hear the thousands of people crack their knuckles as they are about to send messages to me that read, “Honestly, I didn’t find it that tough to read.”

Cool. I’m glad for you. I’m gladful! 

I understand that some people have no problem reading this book. I did. People are just different. Some people take to Dune like I take to David Lynch movies. And speaking of David Lynch movies…his version of Dune is horrible. I love David Lynch but struggled to sit through the entire movie. Now, the recent film adaptations by Denis Villeneuve are amazing. Love them! Love that world he created. But the Lynch version is worse than watching paint dry…it’s like watching dried paint remain dry. 

Back to the book. It’s good. I recommend it. It’s as vast and timeless as…a metaphor.

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House of Leaves, by Mark Z. Danielewski

Whenever the topic of difficult books spins around the internet, House of Leaves usually pops up – and with good reason. This is a tough book to pin down. On the surface, it’s a horror story about a house that is bigger on the inside than is physically possible. But then there’s the footnotes and end notes and typographical oddities that lead the reader down a  “What the hell is happening?” rabbit hole. To figure out the plot you will need graph paper, pencils, scissors and access to the Large Hadron Collider. 

There are clearly two different stories happening in this book, or maybe three, or maybe it’s just one? Or maybe there’s no story and this is just a random collection of words that sometimes makes sense.

I’ve never read anything like it. Is it good? I think so. Does it make sense? No one knows. But, there’s enough story to follow that even though everything is confusing, reading it can be rewarding. And as challenging as it is, it does get easier as the book progresses, either because your brain gets accustomed to the split narrative, or you have gone insane and none of this is real and… BOO! 

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Legends and Lattes, by Travis Baldree

I had never heard of the cozy fantasy genre before – think Lord of the Rings meets Gilmore Girls. This book is a low-stakes tale about an Orc warrior named Viv who opens a coffee shop. She interacts with the townfolk, she makes coffee, she hires a rat-creature named Thimble who makes pastries…and that’s about it. There is some mild drama (the Orc has a past!) but this is as easy-breezy as fantasy books get. 

I read this during a very stressful winter, and stressful winter is the perfect time to dig into a cozy fantasy book. Will I read more cozy fantasy books? I don’t know. But if things get too crazy in the real world, and I need an escape hatch, I’m glad the genre exists. 

Now excuse me as I try my hand at writing novels in these soon-to-be iconic genres:

-Cozy Cyberpunk 

-Cozy Terms and Conditions

-Cozy Nautical Techno-Western

-Cozy Kink

-Cozy Splattercore 

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The Murderbot Diaries, by Martha Wells (All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol)

I’m lumping the first three novellas into one review. 

Murderbot is a great addition to the roster of cranky sci-fi robots that include Bender from Futurama, Marvin from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and the Roomba that always looks like it’s judging me when sucking up the Cheez-It crumbs after breakfast.

Murderbot is an AI security robot who has gone rogue. And going rogue means they’re not only an unregulated killing machine, but they also act like a lazy teenager addicted to TV. In these first three novellas, Murderbot gets swept up in various shenanigans when all they really want is to be left alone and watch shows. There are spaceships, shady space corporations, planetary crime scenes – all the usual sci-fi stuff, but told through the lens of Space Eeyore.

I heard good things about the series, but never knew why it was popular. I went in expecting a RoboCop-like character but instead was treated to a remarkably human robot that’s less like the Terminator and more like Darlene from Roseanne. 

I know there’s an Apple+ show based on the series, but I haven’t checked it out yet. Any good? 

And if you want to read the book, check your local library (or the Libby App) because it’s straight-up rude to charge $15 for a novella. I think Murderbot would agree. (Maybe I’m just a cranky robot. That would explain the sparks.)

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Night Film, by Marisha Pessl 

A woman is dead and the suspect is her reclusive, cryptic filmmaker father who makes cult, underground horror movies. The films are avant-garde experiments, like YouTube videos of people trying to sell budget clothes, and just as unsettling. 

It’s up to an investigative journalist and his two sidekicks to get to the bottom of what really happened. There are twists and turns and a lot of spooky vibes. Is it supernatural? Is it real? Is it both!? Fun stuff. 

But there are two downsides to this novel:

First, it uses the gimmick of multimedia files to tell the whole story. So you might need to log onto a computer from 2010 to access everything. Say hi to Tumblr for me! 

Second, the author uses (abuses?) italics. There is italics in nearly every sentence. Every sentence suddenly has added emphasis for no reason. If a metal band has a gong on stage, the true artists will know to only bang the gong once or twice when necessary. Marisha Pessl, bangs the gong on every page. We should be thankful that she only italics groups of words and not individual letters. 

Is this a nitpick? It’s hard to say if it’s a nitpick. Only the italics will reveal the truth.

But besides that, this is a very effective thriller that would be made even better if you “Select All” and click the Italics button twice.

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David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens 

Doff your top hat! Fire up the tea kettle! Add the letter U to words! It’s time for another DICKENS TUESDAY!!! And today’s book is one of my favoUrites!

I picked this up a few years ago. At the time, the only other work by Dickens I read was A Christmas Carol, which I loved. But A Christmas Carol is a mere short story or novella or…I don’t know what the rules are for what is and isn’t a full-blown novel. David Copperfield is a great big book, a book without any Muppets. 

But I gave it a go and I’m glad I did. This Charles Dickens guy? He’s pretty good at writing. 

One of the surprising things about this book is how funny it is – genuinely funny. There are jokes and bits that feel just as fresh today as they were in the late 19th century. 

The story follows the titular Dave as he makes his way in the crazy British world. The book takes its time (perhaps because Dickens was dragging the story out in serialized format and wanted to get more money by taking his sweet time), and there are entire chapters where not a lot happens. For instance, there’s a chapter in which Dave almost gets a haircut. That’s it. It doesn’t sound compelling, but the scene where he almost gets a haircut is great! There’s a little person who cuts hair and she’s among the big roster of Dickens characters who are completely nutty! She only has two or three scenes in the whole novel, but she’s memorable and delightful. 

And that’s what this book is: Memorable and delightful.

Is it long? Yep. 

Is it good? Double yep.

David is a likeable character. He has a run of bad luck; his parents die (because this is a Charles Dickens character, afterall), his stepfather is cruel, he’s forced to work in a factory, but even as a poor kid, he’s never a sad sack. He’s not happy-go-lucky, either. In the character scale of positivity he exists somewhere between Leslie Knope and Ron Swanson. He’s kind, thoughtful and a little dumb – like a great dog! 

If you want to take a trip into non-Muppets Dickens, this is a good place to start. You don’t need to understand the British legal system (unlike Bleak House) or world history (unlike A Tale of Two Cities), so you can just jump right in. It’s a big book, but it’s never slow, even if not a lot happens. That’s one of the magic tricks Dickens pulls off – making a boring thing somehow interesting and often funny. I loved it!

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Kafka on the Shore, by Haruki Murakami

This was my first Murakami book and I honestly didn’t know what I was getting into. It follows two protagonists who never meet: One is a teenager who runs away from home and finds a dream-like library. The second is an old man who can talk to cats. I like both libraries and talking cats!

Obviously I liked this book a lot. I need to re-read it because, while nothing in the story is meant to be logical and real, there is a lot of subtext and sub-subtext going on here that I missed. But, even if you don’t really understand the point of the story, the book still works because it’s beautifully written (and translated), and the complex story is told in the simplest terms, making it a joy to read. 

And if you’re at a party and talking about the book and a smarty-smart person asks you what the book is about, you can just say, “It’s about…” and then make a vague hand gesture towards any inanimate object. And you won’t be wrong. And everyone will think you’re a genius!

I love David Lynch, and Murakmi often feels like a gentler David Lynch. They’re both tapping into some other cognitive cosmos and trying to explain what they see to us dumb, normal people. 

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Lonesome Dove, By Larry McMurtry 

How you feel about a book is often influenced by the circumstances of reading it. I picked up this big book a week before the pandemic started, and for those first few “uncertain times” it was a big warm blanket that kept my thoughts focused on things besides viruses and shut-downs and disease tracking apps and “why does my throat feel scratchy?!” 

Lonesome Dove is an epic western about two old cowboys who take a herd of cattle from Texas to Montana. You may be shocked to learn the journey isn’t easy. But unlike a lot of big books, the story is very straightforward – the crew must go from Point A to Point B. 

What elevates this simple story is the writing. McMurtry’s descriptions, dialogue, tone and characters are three steps above perfect. And he makes it look so easy. Every sentence feels natural and true. He’s a master worder! 

That said, you need to give the book a chance. It’s a slow burn. But if you hang in past the first 100 pages, and get to the part when they set out on the grand adventure, you’re in for a treat. 

Also, growing up I assumed, perhaps based on the title, that Lonesome Dove was some weepy Hallmark romance story. It is not. A better title may have been, “Cowboys Keep It Moo-ving!” or “Best Western.”  

This might be my favorite book of all time, and I’m not just saying that because it kept me sane as the world was ending.

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Slow Horses, by Mick Herron

I haven’t seen the Apple+ TV show, but I did read the first book in this series. And it’s pretty good. I’d give this grumpy thriller a solid B.. The gimmick here is that the group of investigators are not the All-Star Team of James Bonds but instead are a bunch of people who have either given up, or messed up, and have been sent to work in this grungy old building. Not a lot is expected of them. They don’t get along with each other. But then…you won’t believe this…they learn to work together! 

It’s formulaic, but enjoyable. The characters are what elevate the ho-hum story into being something truly worthy of reading while stuck on a plane. I don’t remember any character names, but I’m TERRIBLE at remembering real people’s names that I meet in real life, let alone fictional characters. So I just call the characters in this book Frumpy Old Guy and Young Guy and Suspicious Lady.

I liked it, but didn’t love it enough to continue with the series. And that’s okay. You don’t have to continue a series just because the series exists. I hereby give you all permission to give up on a series of books whenever the heck you want. But if you want a frumpy, modern British mystery thriller, this is a good one.

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Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson

Haha! What a fun, funny book! 

I’m kidding. Unlike a lot of books in these reviews, I actually knew about the story and the ending before picking up this YA classic. The book (and especially the movie) have become the keys to the Trauma Kingdom for many young people. The movie was marketed as The Lord of the Rings meets Harry Potter meets a happy good time for everyone in a field of joy! But the actual story is NOT that. 

The story is about two kids who dream up an imaginative land to escape from reality. If you haven’t read it, I won’t spoil it here, but you can probably guess that not everything works out for the characters. It feels dated, but in a charming way, like listening to Owl City. And then “the moment” happens and it’s shocking but it’s why the book has remained an infamous classic. 

It teaches kids the important lessons: 

• Never leave the house
• Don’t bother making friends

I read the whole thing in one sitting, which is something I never do. So I clearly liked the story. Granted, the book is short, so it’s a lot like saying, “I ate a whole sandwich in one sitting.” But I’m still proud of myself…just as I’m proud of myself for eating every sandwich.

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