'Dreams of Joy' by Linda See

Dreams of Joy, Linda See (3.5)

After reading the non-fiction memoir, ‘Life and Death in Shanghai’, I could appreciate the hardships and troubled times depicted in ‘Dreams of Joy’ as likely accurate. They both describe China during the times of Mao Tse Tung, particularly during the Great Leap Forward. In this book, a young girl (Joy) whose aunt and mother escaped to Los Angeles from China at the beginning of the revolution returns to China with a misplaced romantic notion of the times. She wants to contribute to her idyllic version of communism where there are no haves and have not’s, and everyone has food and works equally. Unfortunately her reasons for going and the reality of the revolution do not match. The book varies between her voice and that of her mother, who chases her to China, realizing that in trying to build a better life for Joy, she has avoided describing China and the revolution properly. I liked the blend of drama between family and history, particularly the complex mother-daughter dynamic. I also believe the horrible behavior and times described were likely accurate. My only complaint is that I think the main character was a written a bit weakly. For the main voice of the book, her thoughts were quite simple and at times vague. The main character can be weak of nature, but I like when the voice adds depth to the story.

'Aurora' by Kim Stanley Robinson

Aurora, Kim Stanley Robinson (2.5)

This book started with an interesting and somewhat timely premise: humans are changing the earth at a drastic rate and need to find alternatives to survive long term. The book starts with a very large space ship (i.e. ark) that is bound for the Tau Ceti system in order to find a new home. The description of the ship, the complications of centuries long travel (as you can imagine, the grandchildren of the original ‘settlers’ are the ones who arrive in Tau Ceti) and the initial investigation of the planets and moons in the new system were interesting – but that all happens in the first ½ of the book. The second half is where most of my complaints lie. The personal narrative changes and the timeline speeds up. I understand why this needs to happen, but it caused me to lose interest quickly. I also felt the level of technical discussion overwhelmed the story. In the end, I appreciated the overall technical conclusions about the complexities of biology and the difficulties of finding an appropriate planet, but felt the book took far to long to get to those conclusions. There was a good story to be told, but it was told in a long, drawn-out manner with too few compelling characters.

'Smilla's Sense of Snow' by Peter Hoeg

Smilla’s Sense of Snow, Peter Hoeg (3.5)

If you enjoy anti-heroes like Lisbeth Salander and the Norwegian genre of dark suspense filled stories, this is one of the originals. Though set in Greenland and Copenhagen, I kept expecting Mikael Blomkvist to pop up to help Smilla. The story begins with the sad death of a young Greenlander whom Smilla had befriended (as much as she befriends anyone). Her particular skill, as another Greenlander, is reading and understanding ice and snow. She questions the ‘accident’ of her young friend (based on his footprints in the snow) and it takes her on a long journey to understand why someone would kill a young boy. The story is quite complicated, with many interesting characters and back-stories. Frankly it was hard to keep straight and I recommend reading it without long breaks. That being said, I really enjoyed the unusual characters, unique location and building suspense. My one complaint concerns the loose ends around a major character that disappears and pops up later – but I won’t spoil anything with details.

'Don't Let Me Go', by Catherine Ryan Hyde

Don’t Let Me Go, Catherine Ryan Hyde (3)

Meeting an author and getting to chat with them about their process is quite special. Our book club was lucky enough to meet Ms. Hyde and discuss this book and her general writing process. While she is most well known for having written ‘Pay It Forward’, that was her third book and she has written over 30 now. I have not read any others, but I was surprised how similar this book was in tone and overall subject to ‘Pay It Forward’.  One of the main characters is a precocious girl who brings out the best in all the adults who meet her. All the characters (except the girl) have a relatively large flaw, but something good down deep – which the girl sees quickly with the lack of guile only the young seem to have. All the characters live in an apartment building in LA. Grace, the child, is often alone as her mother is an addict who is often ‘sleeping’. The other adults in the apartment begin to take turns watching over Grace so that she doesn’t get taken by Child Services. The most interesting character is Billy, the gay, agoraphobic ex-dancer who Grace drags into her life. Much of the story is about his evolution – due to Grace’s needs and under her urging- back to a functioning member of society. I liked that the chapters alternated between Grace and Billy’s points of view. The story was not particularly complex, but this added needed texture. Overall the book is uplifting in many ways, though somewhat unrealistic. I’d like to think that an apartment in a bad part of LA could have 6-8 flawed people who were as good as Grace finds them to be, but my cynical side is doubtful.

'The Rosie Project' by Graeme Simsion

The Rosie Project, Graeme Simsion (4.0)

If you are a fan of the character, Sheldon, on ‘The Big Bang Theory’, you are likely to enjoy this book, as the narrator is a Sheldon-esque character. While very aware of his social ‘issues’, he appears to have Asperger’s, but is unaware of the label. The story is a light, romantic comedy of a nerdy assistant genetics professor in Australia trying to find love. While the plot is quite predictable, I really enjoyed Don’s perspective on life and love and following his journey was fun. Most of the characters could have been fleshed out a bit better, but it’s hard to quibble when you are laughing. Like Sheldon, Don has warmth that sneaks out enough times to make you root for him and hope he succeeds in life. I particularly liked how Don’s journey highlights the unique qualities of people on the spectrum in a positive way.

'Armada' by Ernest Cline

Armada, Ernest Cline (3.0)

While not as thoroughly engaging, complex or as pertinent to those of my generation as Mr. Cline’s previous novel, ‘Ready Player One’, I did find some things to like in ‘Armada’. His predilection for video games and science fiction are strong in the story, though the ‘80’s movie and music tie-ins are subtler. The main character, Zack, spends much of his teenage years playing Armada, a multi-player video game involving a war against an invading alien army where our armed force uses unmanned replaceable drones for the majority of the fighting. When he starts realizing that his video world and real world may be combining (uh, steal much from ‘Ender’s Game’?), he believes he is having a mental breakdown a la his father, who died very early in his life. I won’t say more as this book is really quite predictable enough, but I did find it more compelling as he moved out of the video game sphere and into real life. I am a sucker for most types of Sci-Fi, particularly when the invading alien motivation is somewhat cryptic. I think most readers over 40 will read this book and pine for ‘Ready Player One’, but those younger may be happy, as is.