Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

After reading a bunch of great reviews for Lincoln in the Bardo I was happy to discover that the hype is justified and this is a terrific book. I have a feeling that this will be a book that people will be talking about for awhile (hopefully). The writing style is a bit unusual and there's isn't a traditional plot here... but don't let that deter you. The whole thing just seems so beautifully written and emotionally moving.

The "plot" is a bit unusual. It takes place on the day of the funeral of Abraham Lincoln's son, Willie, and is about the effect Willie's spirit has on the other spirits that live in the cemetery and have not fully moved on to the next stage of the afterlife. After the funeral Abe Lincoln returns to the cemetery and  visits Willie's body in the crypt. The other spirits realize that Willie is stuck and they try to manipulate actions so that Willie can be at peace and move on even though these other spirits are in a strong stage of denial that they themselves are also dead and stuck in a state of limbo.

So if you like weird literary books I'd highly recommend it. A

The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass by Stephen King

Well The Dark Tower series continues to defy a reader's expectations with Wizard and Glass. After actual progress in the quest to the Dark Tower is finally made in The Waste Lands, Wizard and Glass gives us a flashback that takes up about ninety percent of the book. And since the book is 1000+ pages that's a pretty long flashback. It isn't that I mind the digression... since that seems to be the theme of the series, or the length of the book either... it is just that the story presented just doesn't require this many pages. Maybe since the previous novels all featured Roland going on adventures in several different locations, having him stuck in one location for so long makes this one really drag. The first 100 pages and the last 300 pages are all full of the usual thrills... but the 600 pages in between really could have been condensed down. How many times do really need to read about Susan arguing with her aunt? Or the bad guys talking about how much they hate Roland? B

The Summer That Melted Everything by Tiffany McDaniel

I will give The Summer That Melted Everything credit for one thing... always being able to find a way to top itself in having horrible things happen to its characters. The book starts off interestingly enough with the narrator telling us about how as a child he met a boy that claimed to be the devil. Bad luck seems to follow the boy around and there is some thoughtful discussion on the nature of man, God and Satan... but then the bad stuff just keeps getting piled on until the reader is beaten into submission and stops to care about what happens. So SPOILERS... this book has the following : death of a dog, miscarriage, infidelity, child abuse, sexual abuse, false imprisonment, racism, suicide, homophobia, AIDS, more suicide, dead parents, cults, and the death of more than one child. I'm probably forgetting something... oh yeah.. after the big climax when an angry mob burns a child to death when I'm thinking "well at least there wasn't any cannibalism" we find out on the second to last page that one of the characters is a serial killer that eats small children! For a relatively  short book this is maybe a few too many topics to tackle. The whole thing is so over the top it is hard to care about what happens. There are at least three major plot lines that could have served up enough plot for the entire novel. For awhile the book reminded me of kind of a dark mirror universe equivalent of A Prayer for Owen Meany... they both have the same structure of a narrator looking back and telling us about a childhood friend (that accidentally kills someone) that was weird and may or may not have a supernatural purpose... but you know Owen Meany takes its time to really build up the characters and balances the dark with some lightness and packs an emotional punch. This book, not so much.  Plus I'll also note that the characters have ridiculous names and it doesn't help. Let's say this gets a C.

List books mentioned : Alice in Wonderland, Lord of the Flies, Gone with the Wind and To Kill a Mockingbird.

Book # 5- Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Back in high school I had once started reading Catch-22. I got maybe a third of the way through it and really I don't remember why I stopped reading it. Maybe I was just too busy or maybe I just wasn't into it. But Catch-22 does seem like the kind of book that would be my kind of thing. Wikipedia categorized it as black humor and absurdist fiction... both the kinda books I like. So my opinion on it now...  I just couldn't get that into it. I see the good qualities about it and wouldn't argue that it is bad or anything but it just didn't click for me. Maybe the lack of a strong narrative was my problem or that basically it just seemed like the same joke repeated over and over again. If the book was shorter those might not be problems... but the book is a bit long. Maybe another reason that I wasn't into it is just I'm not in the mood right now to read a book about characters like Milo Minderbender that somehow get rewarded for continually doing the wrong and immoral thing and fooling everyone about it. And then there's this quote which is representative of the whole book and can't help but remind me of a certain someone that I have a very low opinion of - 

“It was miraculous. It was almost no trick at all, he saw, to turn vice into virtue and slander into truth, impotence into abstinence, arrogance into humility, plunder into philanthropy, thievery into honor, blasphemy into wisdom, brutality into patriotism, and sadism into justice. Anybody could do it; it required no brains at all. It merely required no character.” 

So let's say B+. Also the book mentions Moby Dick and Bleak House.

Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock's Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout by Laura Jane Grace

Usually the rock autobiographies that I read are by really old guys that have been around forever. Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock's Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout is the first by someone that's younger than me. That sorta makes me feel a bit old. Anyway, I really enjoyed it and the title is pretty accurate - it does feel like the whole book is one long confession by Laura Jane Grace in an attempt to free herself from the burdens of her past. The first half of the book is the standard rock'n'roll story of a small band hitting the big time and falling apart because of drugs, sex and band member conflicts. It isn't until her gender dysphoria takes a central role in her life that the story swerves into new and interesting territory. She doesn't hold anything back and knowing the pain behind some of her music makes me appreciate it more. B+

The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands by Stephen King

Before I say anything about The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands itself let me just comment on the cover... or actually several of the covers this book has had. There are at least four different book covers for this (including the latest printing) that feature an evil looking dark old fashioned train. Now the book does involve a possessed train as a major plot point but it is described as being a sleek pink monorail. So completely opposite of what is on the cover.... Anyway let me also mention now that somehow this book fits in mentions of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Catch-22, The Lord of the Flies, The Hobbit, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Watership Down.

Okay... so what did I think of the third installment of this series? I LOVED it. Best in the series so far. Actually it is probably one of my favorite Stephen King novels. The story picks up shortly after the previous book with Roland's ka-tet (group drawn together by destiny) finally starting out towards the Dark Tower. Plus there's finally some explanation of what the Tower is and what is going on here. The members have various adventures that include a giant bear with a satellite dish on its head, a house that tries to eat Jake and a monorail train that is controlled by a crazy artificial intelligence. And it ends on a total cliff hanger! I'll have to give it an A.

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

It seems like whenever I read a new book with lots of great reviews that I always end up disappointed. Did I read the same book as all those people on goodreads that gave this five starts? Dark Matter does have a pretty good plot. It isn't the most intricate story but I'm sure some day it will make a passable movie. It passed the time and I didn't not enjoy reading it. But there isn't much that sticks out as being especially memorable. The writing is flat and style-less and most of the characters are one dimensional.

The plot follows this guy with a happy family life that gets kidnapped and wakes up in a reality that isn't what he knows. He quickly figures out that an alternate universe version of himself has created a box that allows one to travel to alternate realities. This alternate reality version of the guy isn't happy that he followed his career and didn't start a family so he basically switches places with another happier version of himself. It is a nice plot but there's too many plot holes and dead ends to make it a classic. It was enjoyable but forgettable. B