'The Expatriates' by Janice Y. K. Lee

The Expatriates, Janice Y. K. Lee (3.0)

The premise of this book interested me: a novel about 3 women who are living temporarily in Hong Kong. Two are there for as ‘trailing spouses’ on their husband’s expatriate package (usually very sweet deals put together to entice US executives to move their families to another country for a couple of years), the third is a Korean American who overstays her tourist visa after college. I have met several expatriate families working in Asia, so I was curious how this writer would portray them. There are usually two types: those who embrace the culture and try to fit in, and those who join the American club and use the expat package (there to make up for any hardship) to live a very entitled lifestyle. Ms. Lee addresses both types in this story. In addition to portraying the general lifestyle, the plot of the book describes a tragedy that affects two of the women and how they deal with the healing afterward. It was not exactly an uplifting book, but the writing was good and the locations and people were satisfyingly recognizable to me. While I didn’t love the book, I find myself hoping someone else will read it so that I can discuss it in more detail.

'The 5th Wave' by Rick Yancey

The 5^th Wave, Rick Yancey (2.0)

I normally don’t read other reviews after reading a book, prior to writing my own so as not to be swayed by their opinions. I broke that habit for this book, as I was curious. Interestingly, the reviews are very polar – either this book is great or the worst Sci-Fi ever written. In the end of the day, I’ll have to side with my tried and true Sci-Fiers and not recommend it. The book was highly anticipated and had great ‘press’. At the beginning I was generally ok with the premise: aliens seem to be trying to take over Earth starting with an EMP that takes out all technology (wave #1). Then they drop a really heavy object on a couple major faults and create large earthquakes and tidal waves that take out millions more (really? Seems pretty unique, but unnecessary). The third wave is pestilence – an ebola-like disease spread by birds (pooping everywhere) – at least that one makes some sense. This is all told in flashbacks by our protagonist, a scrappy teenage girl. So, forgiving the unlikelihood that really smart aliens who have been watching Earth for thousands of years would use these methods, the beginning of the book has some charm. Where it goes wrong is when the book starts to read like a harlequin romance series – when our scrappy heroine, who has been ruthless to this point on her rules of survival, goes googly-eyed over the first guy who helps her [spoiler alert – he is OBVIOUSLY one of the humans-taken-over by aliens who HAS JUST SHOT HER]. Ick. Give the girl some backbone Mr. Yancey. Oh, and then there’s the whole side story of the children being trained as soldiers (basic training a la ‘Storm ship Troopers’)– just to kill more humans. Yeah, that makes sense and much easier than just introducing another strain of pestilence that takes out the remaining 3%. Hmmmm, and I heard the movie was a flop.

'H is for Hawk' by Helen Macdonald

H is for Hawk, Helen Macdonald (4.0)

I recommend this book for some readers, but not for all. It is not plot driven, fast paced, nor action packed. That being said it is thoughtful and touching with beautiful writing. The book is a non-fiction account of Ms. Macdonald’s time coping with the sudden death of her beloved father. She turns to a hobby that brings her closer to him and mirrors her feelings during the mourning: training a wild goshawk for the sport of falconry.  As she describes the training of her hawk, Mabel, you feel her bonding with the bird based on the wildness of her grief. As she works through the training and her stages of mourning, the hawk’s progress is like a metaphor for her progress. At times I found her grief to be almost melodramatic, but I was assuming she was a middle-aged person. When I saw her picture later on a book jacket, I realized she is relatively young and she suffered both grief and shock, given the age of her father. If you have recently lost a loved one, this book may be cathartic. But my worry would be that the distinctive and haunting writing could open the wounds of your loss.

'Seven Brief Lessons on Physics' by Carlo Rovelli

Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, Carlo Rovelli (3.0)

This book should have been called ‘Seven Very Brief Lessons on Physics’. Though oddly, at 81 small pages, it is still one of the pithiest books I’ve read. Each chapter is a ‘lesson’ which ranged from Einstein’s Theory of Relativity to Black Holes. I’m not sure who the intended audience for this book was, but it certainly is not someone completely unfamiliar with Physics. While Rovelli seems to want to make these subjects approachable to everyone, one still needs a fundamental grasp of the concepts in order to understand his points. I think it’s a good primer for someone like me – someone familiar with the topics, but whose hold on the understanding is tenuous at best and who’s hard pressed to explain them to anyone else! I feel as if I could read this book every couple of years and hopefully my understanding would eventually stick

'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' by Douglas Adams

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams (4.0)

I had forgotten how fun this book was. My second reading after many years was a true delight. It even made me want to see the movie again (though it was not nearly as entertaining as the book). While this may be ‘sci-fi lite’ for die-hards, it’s remains a whimsical, far-fetched, enjoyable story. The protagonist, Arthur Dent, is a British gent who wakes up one day to find his house is about to be demolished to put in a new highway. Ironically, what he soon realizes is that Earth is about to face the same circumstances. Luckily, his friend, Ford, whom he thought came from another town, is actually a traveller from space who is able to hitchhike a ride on the alien craft seconds before it obliterates the planet. Ford, as it turns out, was temporarily stranded on Earth while updating the ‘Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy’, a helpful guide to the places and peoples of rest of the galaxy. Arthur and Ford then embark on a journey driven mainly by survival. During their short travels they meet quite a few memorable characters – from the depressed robot, Marvin, to Slartibartfast, the famed builder of fjords. I could say that name over and over again! My favorite parts of the book are the numerous times Mr. Adams pokes fun at the hubris of humans (i.e. earth is a one-liner in the Guide; humans not the most intelligent species on the planet – we are below dolphins and mice), nothing is too sacred for him. If you haven’t read this book and like screwy British humor (think Monty Python) you ought to give it a try.

'The Space Trilogy' by C. S. Lewis

The Space Trilogy (Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra and That Hideous Strength), C.S. Lewis (3.0)

In catching up on my C.S. Lewis reading, I tackled his Sci-Fi trilogy, written in the 1940’s. While I enjoyed the first book, I have given the series a ‘3.0’ as the second and third books were very preachy and hard to take. The religious zeal of those books took away from the freshness of the first. I don’t want to give away too much – since I am recommending the first book, whose elements are more delightful as surprises. Suffice it to say that Lewis has written a novel about a journey – both fantastical and precarious – that involves non-humans as we know them and illuminates possible origins of the planets. He links the planets’ relationship to humans and to each other. The good and evil represented in the first book are interesting and feel more realistic than the cartoonish representations of the other two books. More than once I was reminded of H.G. Wells’ novels. As with his books, the imagination, given the state of technology at the time is impressive. Besides the issues with religion, my other criticism of the trilogy has to do with its English centric mentality. In the 40’s I would have thought a writer would be more global in his story telling.