Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Ready Player One (2011) by Ernest Cline is a fascinating commentary on humans and Western civilization and a brilliant, exciting love letter to geeks, video games, and pop culture.

Set only a few decades in the future (scary in itself), after civilization has mostly fallen apart and 'society' exists only in virtual spaces, the story kept me interested, engaged, and slightly tense the whole way through. Cline does an amazing job of creating interesting characters and putting them in situations that really keep you guessing.

I loved the idea of living 'in' a video game, and the virtual reality setting certainly gave Cline extensive leeway in what he could do in certain scenes, untethered as his world was from actual reality.

Though I'm sure most people who don't consider themselves geeks or nerds might initially dismiss this book as not for them, I would urge anybody to give it a shot -- it's that good. It does a great job of showing both the advantages and disadvantages of increasing reliance on continually improved technology, and while knowing all the pop- and geek-culture references probably brings more amusement and enjoyment to the reader, not knowing every one does not take away at all from the main themes of the story. In the end, the book is about what it means to be human, which applies to us all.

“Whenever I saw the sun, I reminded myself that I was looking at a star. One of over a hundred billion in our galaxy. A galaxy that was just one of billions of other galaxies in the observable universe. This helped me keep things in perspective.”

--- 

“Dilettantes,’ Art3mis said. ‘It’s their own fault for not knowing all the Schoolhouse Rock! lyrics by heart.” 

Keep reading! Beth

Paper Towns by John Green

Paper Towns (2008) is John Green's third solo book, and I think his best of the ones I've read so far. It was sweet, funny, exciting, compelling, interesting... it had it all. Mystery, 'romance,' suspense, fear, longing, heartache and heartbreak, dead bodies, final exams, and a road trip. What more could you want?

I really, really loved all these characters -- they were fun, funny, well-rounded, complete characters. It was a pleasure to live in their world for a little while. The road trip part was the best -- I was crying laughing at one point, and I really wished it had lasted longer.

The thing I loved the most about this book was that it was about a boy and a girl, and love, relationships, etc. but it wasn't REALLY about that -- it was about growing up and figuring out who you are and what you want, and accepting other people for who they truly are, and just figuring out people. So lovely!

The movie version was a pretty good adaptation -- of course not as complex and well-rounded as the book, and they left out some of my favorite parts of the book, but a nice movie in its own right. Good movie, great book!

"[E]ach of us starts out as a watertight vessel. And these things happen -- these people leave us, or don't love us, or don't get us, or we don't get them, and we lose and fail and hurt one another. And the vessel starts to crack open in places. And I mean, yeah, once the vessel starts to crack open, the end becomes inevitable... But there is all this time between when the cracks start to open up and when we finally fall apart. And it's only in that time that we can see one another, because we see out of ourselves through the cracks and into others through theirs... [O]nce the vessel cracks, the light can get in. The light can get out."--Quentin (p.302)

See my review of John Green's first two books here.

Keep reading! Beth

Amazing Fantastic Incredible: A Marvelous Memoir by Stan Lee

Amazing Fantastic Incredible: A Marvelous Memoir (2015) by Stan Lee is hilarious, adorable, and illuminating -- a must-read for anyone into comics and/or super-heroes. Set in the form of a graphic novel, this memoir spans Lee's entire life, and therefore most of the 'life' of Marvel comics, from way before they were called Marvel comics.  

I thought it was interesting how he referred to people who ended up leaving the 'fold' as it were after being a big part of the comics productions. I liked that Lee acknowledged that some issues might have been his fault -- without really making himself look bad. A very tough balance! And he brought up some painful memories he didn't necessarily have to (like his wife's inability to have more children) in such an open and honest way that I was really impressed.

Overall, Stan Lee was humorously self-deprecating, clearly loves his wife and his work, and just seems like a wonderful person to be around. I hope he stays around for a good long time yet!

“Oh! Here’s one example of how we tried to have things at least vaguely grounded in science in the Marvel Universe. I wanted Thor to be able to fly. But I hated the idea of him just hurling through the air with no support. I figured, hey, he has a war hammer called Mjolnir, so how about he will have that hammer with him. And when he wants to fly he’ll whirl it around his head really fast, and then he’ll throw it, and since he’s attached to it by the thong around his wrist – when the hammer goes flying, it’ll take him with it! To this day I don’t know why NASA hasn’t invited me to join their science team.”

Keep reading! Beth

Make Good Art by Neil Gaiman

Make Good Art (2013) by Neil Gaiman is a very small book with a great message.

The transcript of the 2012 commencement address given by Gaiman at Philadelphia’s University of the Arts, this is an inspirational and often amusing little book filled with wit and words of wisdom.

Though he is specifically speaking to students graduating from an art program, his messages are universal, such as: doing and failing is better than not trying at all, as long as you do your best, and stay true to yourself.

Emphasized throughout is the message that everyone makes mistakes, and the sooner you can accept that, the better equipped you’ll be to deal with whatever mistakes you make. And certainly that creativity is a gift everyone should nurture and apply anywhere they can.

Gaiman's inspiring words of wisdom are brilliantly presented in this book via the graphic design of Chip Kidd, who perfectly captures the whimsy and enthusiasm of Gaiman's spoken words.

Very uplifting for 30 minutes of reading!

"If you're making mistakes, it means you're out there doing something. And the mistakes in themselves can be useful. I once missspelled Caroline, in a letter, transposing the a and the o, and I thought, 'Coraline looks like a real name...'"

Keep reading! Beth

via http://elleofeight.com/2015/02/17/make-good-art/

American Nerd by Benjamin Nugent

American Nerd (2008) by Benjamin Nugent is a quick nonfiction read about the world of 'nerds' (or at least the author’s very specific experiences with it). Comprised of both autobiography and information about different topics, the author mostly used stories from his own life to illustrate many of his points. Which I think was a very good thing – without those anecdotes, the book could have been dry, but as it was, it was a fun read about an interesting topic.

One thing I did find especially interesting was the way in which the author conflated the terms nerd, geek, dork, etc. I am always really fascinated in the ways different people use and think about those terms, and I’ve found that most people who consider themselves one or the other have strong feelings about what each term means (myself included). In Nugent’s case, however, I couldn’t tell that he did – he never really made a strong distinction. Maybe he just lumps them all together and uses nerd as a sort of umbrella term.

I really enjoyed the historical perspective about how not just the term 'nerd' evolved, but also the concept / idea of nerdiness itself evolved – Nugent gets into how nerds became a thing in the first place, which was really compelling. And I did appreciate the connection that people who are obsessed with sports are nerds in their own way; the only difference is the way this obsession is valued in our society. His points about how nerd culture fits in (and at times doesn't fit in) our larger American culture and society were, for me, the best parts of reading this book, and I would recommend it for anyone who considers themselves a geek / nerd – or loves someone who is.

Keep reading! Beth