2017 – Page 2 – That's What She Read

Review: Sleep Donation by Karen Russell

August 20, 2017October 12, 2020 E.F. Sunland

Karen Russell’s Sleep Donation has all the same problems as Swamplandia! but with a fraction of the page count. Don’t spend your time on this book. Its premise may entice you and the first quarter may draw you in, but the rest is mess of plot holes and weak characters. There’s no closure either, so there isn’t a prize for reaching the last page. This review is a mini So Bad, I Read It For You post and contains lots of spoilers. I would have done a full write up, but I didn’t want to reread Sleep Donation to pull quotes. read more

Review: Roverandom by J.R.R. Tolkien

August 16, 2017October 12, 2020 E.F. Sunland

20 Books of Summer 2017: Book 8

First things first: J.R.R. Tolkien’s Roverandom is wholly independent from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. If you’re looking for an expansion on wizarding lore, pick up The Silmarillion. If you’re looking for a story about a dog cursed by a cranky old wizard, then pick up Roverandom. read more

Review: The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley

August 15, 2017October 12, 2020 E.F. Sunland

Natasha Pulley’s The Bedlam Stacks moves slowly through its introductory material. After reading the first third of the book, I checked Goodreads to see whether I should continue. Enough reviewers called it a “slow burn” that I stuck with it. At times, all the pretty and overwritten details reminded me of The Night Circus, but The Bedlam Stacks has more plot, more answers, and more interesting mythology. read more

Review: The Punch Escrow by Tal M. Klein

July 25, 2017October 12, 2020 E.F. Sunland

20 Books of Summer: Book 7

The Punch Escrow by Tal M. Klein is another fun discovery via NetGalley. Summary from Goodreads:

It’s the year 2147. Advancements in nanotechnology have enabled us to control aging. We’ve genetically engineered mosquitoes to feast on carbon fumes instead of blood, ending air pollution. And teleportation has become the ideal mode of transportation, offered exclusively by International Transport—a secretive firm headquartered in New York City. Their slogan: Departure… Arrival… Delight!

Joel Byram, our smartass protagonist, is an everyday twenty-fifth century [sic] guy. He spends his days training artificial intelligence engines to act more human, jamming out to 1980s new wave—an extremely obscure genre[—]and trying to salvage his deteriorating marriage. Joel is pretty much an everyday guy with everyday problems—until he’s accidentally duplicated while teleporting.

Now Joel must outsmart the shadowy organization that controls teleportation, outrun the religious sect out to destroy it, and find a way to get back to the woman he loves in a world that now has two of him.

Review: The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead

July 24, 2017May 22, 2021 E.F. Sunland

20 Books of Summer: Book 6

The winner in the Most Unique Book of the Summer (so far) category is Colson Whitehead’s The Intuitionist. (There’s no prize, of course, unless you count this review.) I’d be lying if I said I understood every word/reference/theme of this book. The Intuitionist is deeply strange with glimmers of Pynchon, but Whitehead is cleverer and more entertaining. I’ve borrowed the Goodreads blurb because it’s hard to summarize a book that’s [mystery] + [philosophical treatise on elevator maintenance] + [noir thriller] +[social commentary] + [???]. read more