The Mars Room

The Mars Room
by Rachel Kushner
Pub May 2018

Set in a Women's Correctional Facility, The Mars Room  is centered on Romy Hall, a woman serving two consecutive life sentences. The story follows a web of narratives to explore the sad realities of life for marginalized populations both in and out of the prison system.

I'm a bit torn in how to review this book as there is plenty that I feel the author executed very well: flipping between people's perspectives kept the pace of the plot interesting, flowing back and forth across timelines created full, complex inmate's histories. I typically enjoy dark, gritty reads and the deadened affect of the characters complemented the tone of the novel perfectly. All that said, upon finishing all I could think was "Wait, is that it?" This may be an unfortunate case of desensitization via pop culture, but I feel that this book didn't really contribute much to the conversation that has not already been explored (both well or flippantly) by "Orange is the New Black" or "Prison Break." Which isn't to say there can be only one... just that I don't quite understand the waves upon waves of accolades this book received. Or for that matter, the Man Booker nomination. I chewed through the novel over a a few plane trips during a vacation, so maybe I just wasn't in the right headspace.

// I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Immortalists

The Immortalists
by Chloe Benjamin
Pub Jan 2018

 How would your life change if you knew what day you'd die? Four siblings bored of summertime visit a Romani mystic and leave with information that will change all of their lives. The story unfolds like a modern day Greek tragedy - bursting with a weird sort of self-propelled cosmic irony. So even though there was plenty about this book that I did like, it was basically everything happening between the plot lines. The bulk of the story kept me pretty bewildered. First off, going against all human instinct, none of the characters even try to rebel against the prophecies that they say they don't believe in. I'd understand this for a few of them to throw expectations to the wind but all four just full blast steer into the skid. Of course it's cliche to reject fate, but that's only because it's so painfully human to do so. On top of that, none of the characters --main or side-- were very likeable (barring Robert the dancer, he was great). Even the most rational ones of the bunch just dove headfirst into some nonsensical situations making it harder and harder to suspend disbelief as things unraveled.

 Now, what I did like. Each character had well-crafted, unique interpretations of the idea that "thoughts have wings" that there is power in "mind over matter." So much about our perception of reality not accessible to our conscious mind and this was explored beautifully. From her discussions of the placebo effect in medicine to physical and psychological forcing of a magicians illusions, this was where Benjamin's reflections on mortality and free will really shone through.

The Idiot
by Elif Batuman
Published: March 2017

If you have the chance to read this while laying on a towel in your backyard — or whatever lets you relive your favorite adolescent summer breaks — I highly recommend it. Nothing throws me back into past versions of myself like a well-written bildungsroman with an endearingly naive but resilient protag. 
College freshman Selin is learning to navigate elite university life in the 90's. She’s overanalyzing art and film, deconstructing theories of psycholinguistics and making friends with every fun ivy league stereotype along the way.

I get why this got nominated for a Pulitzer, Batuman has a thoughtful, observant way of capturing the world that was pleasantly refreshing. So maybe there are bits that got a little slow or parts where you just wanna shake the main character (until you remember what it was like to be 19 and allow some empathy... for her and for your own past self). To keep this spoiler free, I will just say that I found the ending to be very upsetting until I had a good think about how the main character would have felt about it. And then I had a good laugh. Well played.

The Philosopher's Flight

The Philosopher's Flight
by Tom Miller
Published: Feb 2018

World War I rages in Europe and teen Robert Weekes is stuck at home in rural Montana, desperate to join the war efforts. He's dreamed of enlisting in the elite Rescue & Evac squad for as long as he can remember, but there are more than a few hurdles in his path. He'd need to become an expert empirical philosopher, or sigilrist: a practitioner well-versed in the art of drawing sigils to manipulate physical forces and matter (think magic without wands). Even though his tough-as-nails war-hero mother has taught him the basics, this cryptic field of study is so heavily dominated by women that men are rarely, if ever, train professionally. His talents eventually land him a university scholarship, but it's only the beginning of the trials and tribulations he must face to pursue his dream.

The Philosopher's Flight is a fun light read that pairs plausible alchemy with civil rights activism and rolls it all into an adventurous coming of age tale. Though it reads like a YA novel, it doesn't shy away from the darkness and violence that accompanies systemic oppression. I really enjoyed the "gender-flip" here-- it's a complex and nuanced reversal of the script. Even though women seem to have more of an aptitude for sigilry it certainly doesn't translate into total control over society. They are respected in some spheres and denounced in others, existing in a space somewhere between mutants in the X-Men Universe and the "witches" on trial in Salem. As an added dimension we get a quick glimpse into the dynamics of race relations in early 1900's America, but for the most part this remains unexplored.

Fans of Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality will appreciate the effort Miller makes to ground empirical philosophy in science. The magical forces in the story are mysterious but not impenetrable (we get at least one character trying to decipher how the packets of magic energy travel in space). Plus with all the focus on rescue  missions and medical applications of sigils, it's really no surprise the author is an EMT turned ER Doctor (turned novelist!).

In all honesty, I wasn't hooked until about three-fourths of the way through when suddenly, I couldn't put it down. The first parts build up the slow simmering of tension and context until finally it all explodes into a rolling boil of drama that leaves you wanting more. According to this interview with author Tom Miller (which also details how his observations of subtle sexism as an EMT helped inform the novel) it's going to be a five part series. So that's exciting. Can't wait to see how this alternate-history world progresses. If stalking the webiste of the publisher is any indication, we may have "Philosopher's War" to look forward to (though Goodreads seems to indicate this is just an outdated alternate title/cover for Flight).



// I received The Philosopher's Flight as part of my subscription to Book of the Month

We're All Spinsters Here

The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror 
by Mallory Ortberg
To Be Published: March 2018

Thanks to Disney's whimsical remakes of capital "R" Romantic folklore, my only childhood exposure to fairytales was cheerful princesses singing their way to happy endings surrounded by industrious animal friends. But we're all adults here. I think by now, we all know these are just sugar-coated versions of some pretty gnarly source material.

The Merry Spinster meets us somewhere in the middle with 11 twisted versions of well known fables and fairy tales that are somehow as playful as they are sinister. The shorts are adapted from Mallory Ortberg's series Children's Stories Made Horrific from the now defunct  temporarily offline The-Toast.net¹. It's certainly not required that you know the OG classical versions of the stories to understand what's going on, but it can't hurt (so here they are!) As with any sort of parody, the better the grasp you have on what is being referenced, the more you'll get to wryly smirk to yourself as you read along.

"The danger of silence is that someone who wishes to hear a yes will not go out of his way to listen for a no.
- "The Six Boy-Coffins", The Merry Spinster ²

If scary stories aren't really your jam, just know that these aren't necessarily as gruesome as fairy tales of yore (...okay, maybe some are). Rather, they're well-crafted and sly in their horror-- the truly chilling undercurrents are the social mores, the patriarchy, and what we endure in the name of love. This is where Ortberg's particular brand of dry dark comedy really shines through. Much like her debut book, Texts from Jane Eyre, the language and style remain faithful to originals, a truly gritty homage.

Reading through past interviews, I feel like Ortberg's love for the title might be what willed the rest of the book into existence. It's super fitting too: the Merry Spinster archetype may be the only uplifting motif running through these bleak pages. So on that note, here's a quote from the author explaining the concept beautifully:

"I would always love for my next book to be a light comic novella called The Merry Spinster and to explore those themes of glorious female solitude. I think female solitude is a mental condition as well as a physical state. You can be married and a spinster. I think spinster is an identity every woman can claim, if she will. … I feel like a lot of women, or a lot of feminists, joke about taking to the sea or living alone in a cottage as this kind of fun freedom."

// I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Quotes are taken from an advanced readers copy and may not be final. Please refer to a finished copy.

// Footnotes
1. The Toast is dead, long live The Toast...You'd better believe as soon as it's back online I'm linking the shit out of it.
2. This is a random art card from the Smith-Waite tarot deck and has nothing to do with the book, but I tweaked it a teensy bit and now it's just PERFECT you'll see.

The Three-Body Problem

The Three-Body Problem (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #1)
by Liu Cixin (translated by Ken Liu)
Published: Nov 2014 (first published 2007)

THIS is the hard sci fi I've been craving: chock full of physics thought-experiments, tedious descriptions of nanoparticle research and multi-dimensional folding, with a hefty dose of cult environmentalism. Plus it's written and set in China -- starting with the Cultural Revolution and spanning the decades leading up to present day-- so there's also heavy focus on the persecution of scientists and intellectuals by the Communist Party. So if you enjoy your dystopian fiction a little too real, look no further.

As a literary work it's not entirely consistent - there are some gloriously crafted passages with a fair share of dry, struggle-to-get-through moments. But I'm leaving the 5 star rating on Goodreads for the incredible ingenuity packed into the story. There's a lot to unpack here and I felt it all pulled together quite nicely. Though for anyone interested in checking it out, a warning: definitely did myself a disservice listening to this over audiobook. On top of it being a bit more difficult to distinguish between names, there were so many times I wanted to go back and reread an especially technical passage or process described in a previous chapter with absolutely no idea how to scroll back and find it. Will definitely be adding this to my library as a hardcopy.

The Chalk Man

The Chalk Man
by C.J. Tudor
To be Published: Jan 2018

Reminiscent of Stand By Me (/The Body) this whodunnit centers on a group of 12 year olds and the unsolved  mystery that plagues their small town. Flashing between 1986 and 2016, we piece together events from their childish misadventures leading up to their discovery of a brutal murder and the resurrection of the mystery decades later.

3 of 5 stars : Definitely a page-turner, it has a good pace, solid story and a satisfying conclusion.** I unintentionally breezed through the book over the holiday weekend thanks to some cold and gloomy book-friendly weather! Without treading into spoiler territory, let's just say, not impressed overall. Ending every chapter on a cliffhanger really brought me back to my Goosebumps / Fear Street days, so maybe the overarching "meh" feeling comes from it feeling a bit YA fic. Which isn't a terrible thing in and of itself - just not my cuppa anymore. One thing I did really enjoy was the occasional asides on existence and memory - never forget kids, deep down we're all unreliable narrators.

**that said I'm still left with some questions and I can't decide whether this was sloppy, intentional or I'm just dense. Usually the latter so *shrugs*

PS: Found a nice summary video from C.J. Tudor herself:

Home Fire

Home Fire
by Kamila Shamsie
Published: August 2017

A British-Pakistani retelling of Antigone that cuts deeply into one of the most divisive and charged political issues of our day: Muslim immigration in a time of ISIS. Various characters offer their perspective in unraveling the story - a devout Muslim studying sociology, a secular, hawkish political conservative, and a naive rebellious youth are but a few.

4.5 out of 5: The layering of personal narratives and insight was masterfully crafted and I really enjoyed the meta-story that arises from it. Just goes to show how easy it is to judge someone before you know their motives, their story. What's the old adage - "we judge others by their actions and ourselves by our intentions"?

As for the ending, **SPOILER ALERT** while there is definitely room for debate here, I do not think the ending was lazy or hyperbolic. It perfectly captures the intense theatrical downer that is greek tragedy (though I definitely wouldn't have caught the Antigone parallels on my own) but it also fits unsettling well into the chaos and violence of the ISIS narrative. This is exactly the sort of situation that terror organizations take advantage of.

The Refugees

The Refugees 
by Viet Thanh Nguyen
Published: February 2017

8 short stories that span the wide spectrum of Vietnamese-American immigrant experiences. From literal ghost stories of those haunted by the past, to a neighborhood rivalry between two mothers struggling to make a difference, each story peers into a broken family displaced by war.

4 out of 5 stars: Beautifully moving stories of hope, sorrow, and nostalgia. For me, the standouts were "Black-Eyed Women", "War Years" and "I'd Love You To Want Me." I enjoyed these so much, I may have to revisit The Sympathizer (which still sits right where I left it when I got distracted by who knows what and failed our burgeoning book club so miserably. I'm better now, guys, promise!)

Freshwater

Freshwater: a novel
by: Akwaeke Emezi
To be published: Feb 2018

Seamlessly weaving a Nigerian mythos of mischievous gods (Ọgbanje) with a Western understanding of psychopathology, this breakout novel burrows into the experience of trauma, self-awareness, and spiritual awakening.  The deeply surreal story is narrated by a girl with "one foot on the other side" and the chorus of selves that reside in her fractured mind. Somehow despite the extremely heavy and personal subject matter, Emezi's narrative voices are as entertaining as they are painfully relatable.

5 out of 5 stars: What a fucking fantastic, unique read. I knew next to nothing going in and honestly want to cut this review short to extend the same courtesy to anyone else who may happen upon my page. That said, I read it on the tails of my vacation to the Yucatán peninsula, where I had the opportunity to learn more about the mysticism of the Mayans and their regard for their wind serpent god Kulkulkan. It's interesting how certain animals or representations resonate similarly with different ancient cultures. The Igbo and the Mayans may have been separated by a continent and ocean, but they both revered the power of the serpentine life force.

// I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

PS: If you liked this you should also check out:

•  What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky, by Lesley Nneka Arimah

Artemis

Artemis
by Andy Weir
To be Published: Nov 2017

Jasmine Bashara is a citizen of the Moon's first city, Artemis. Raised by a hard-working welder, but independently employed as a freelance porter (aka smuggler), she finds herself at the epicenter of an elaborate conspiracy and must use her quick-thinking problem solving skills to stay alive.

Despite the inherent pressure in being the sophomore novel following an international bestseller, Artemis truly delivers as a gripping page-turner clearly cut from the same cloth, but more than able to stand up on its own. The novel is kinetic, engrossing, and an engineer's wet dream (whether you get your kicks from reading about mechanical processes or from pedantically picking them apart). My only criticism is that the characters, endearing as they were, could be a bit immature. I curse like a sailor and love witty banter as much as the next guy, but at times the dialogue felt a little under-cooked, like the sparring of teenage affectations.

4.5 out of 5 stars: Weir continues to fill that Michael-Crichton-shaped hole in my heart with his take on thrilling lab-lit, i.e. going into excruciating amounts of detail when describing scientific and chemical processes. Honestly, Artemis takes up the torch even more than The Martian as it unravels a slightly wider spread of world-creation and plot: without giving too much away, we're talking geo-political and economic maneuverings on top of all the knee-deep science jargon.

// I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sour Heart

Sour Heart
by Jenny Zhang
Published: August 2017

A collection of stories exploring experiences of Chinese immigrants now scattered throughout the boroughs of New York. Each short stars a young girl struggling to stay afloat - dealing with assimilation, poverty, and coming of age in the City. The stories are so raw and fully-developed, it feels like we're getting tiny glimpses' into Zhang's own childhood (though some may as well have been from mine).

5 out of 5 stars: I especially liked the bits that dug deep into the dynamics of close-knit families -- how even inseparable siblings inevitably grow apart, how we must savor our grandparents' tales of the past even when they feel so disconnected from our own reality, and how our relationship with our parents ebbs and flows as we age.

The Chateau

The Chateau
by Paul Goldberg
Expected Publication: Feb 2018

After losing his job, well-seasoned DC journalist Bill Katzenelenbogen flies south in an effort to stave of a budding existential crisis and redirect energies into an investigation on the untimely death of his college roommate (a distinguished plastic surgeon well known as "The Butt God of Miami Beach"). While in town, he visits his estranged father and becomes immediately entangled in a complicated web of feuds erupting from within the Chateau condo between the Board vs. Residents, Russian Immigrants vs Americans, and Jews vs. goys. Set during the inauguration of Donald Trump, this novel tackles political and social tensions from the perspective of immigrants on either side.

4.5 out of 5 stars: Overall, a fun read: satirical and subversive with heavy doses of despondence and brutal realism. I especially enjoyed the tidbits of Russian literature and poetry and vocabulary that were sprinkled throughout.

// I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Tale for the Time Being

A Tale for the Time Being
by Ruth Ozeki
Published: March 2013

A deeply spiritual and existentialist novel traverses space, time and layers of narrative. On the one hand, this is the story of Ruth, a struggling Japanese novelist living in rural Canada with her quirky eco-artist husband and her persnickety cat. Wandering the beach one day, she finds the diary of a Japanese teenager, Nao who writes about everything from the cruel torment of middle school bullies to her great-grandmother, who is a revolutionary, feminist Zen Buddhist nun.

As the stories unravel, parallels emerge and we explore how they are related- on a quantum or spiritual level- and how the act of reading is itself is a mechanism of connecting with another being, the writer, across time. Ozeki masterfully draws from Western and Eastern philosophies' musings on life and death, suicide and the meaning of existence.

Plus, the whole thing starts off with a pun! It both a "Tale for the Time Being" in that it is written of the present moment, as much as it is a tale written for a human time being, capable of existing in various expanses of time through the act of reading.

5 out of 5 stars: Extremely powerful and engaging, with a wide cast of well-developed, complex characters (some borderline autobiographical*).


* Ruth Ozeki is a novelist and Zen Buddhist priest. And much like the protagonist of the novel, she too is married to a Canadian artist named Oliver. So, guess it's a true story, calling it!

Homesick for Another World

Homesick for Another World
by Ottessa Moshfegh
Published: January 2017

Collection of short stories that I can only describe as grimy mumblecore. Some characters are tragic and relatable but most are just creepy and desperate and downright repulsive. I'm all about skeevy unlikable narrators so nothing wrong with that outright. There were a few stories in the bunch I really liked, gross protag or not. But all of them heaped together was a bit much, especially with the overlapping obsessive stalkers, disenchanted alcoholics, aggressively naive teens, etc.

3 out of 5 stars: Some of these stuck their landing brilliantly, but others I felt wanting. I'm currently on my library's hold list for  Eileen, so I can't wait to get a better feel for Moshfegh's voice.

The Reason You're Alive

The Reason You're Alive 
by Matthew Quick
Published: July 2017

 First off, the narrator is essentially Cotton from King of the Hill: a crotchety, politically incorrect Vietnam vet who will be played by Robert de Niro when this inevitably becomes a motion picture. The story itself reads like a memoir as he chronicles his recovery from brain surgery, trying to understand his bleeding heart art collector son, and making peace with his tumultuous past.

4 out of 5 stars: It was very eye-opening to read a book written from the perspective of an ultra-patriotic conservative- there is no shying away from issues such as racism, homophobia, mental health, nationalism and gender roles. Whether or not I agreed, I feel like I now better appreciate how people reach those conclusions.

What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky

What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky 
by Lesley Nneka Arimah

What it Means When a Man Falls from the Sky is a collection of stories set in Nigeria that explore the bleakness of existence, the infusion of ancient fables in a cultural narrative, and a disquietingly dystopian brand of magical-realism. The stories themselves could stand alone*, but as a well-crafted collection their emotional weight is magnified. Though each of the stories individually grapples with grief, self-preservation, and mending the fabric of torn families, each reaches a gnawing depth somehow more heartbreaking than the last.

* One of the stories was independently published in the New Yorker (Oct 2015), "Who Will Greet You At Home" and gives a taste of the collection's more fantastical side.

5 out of 5 stars: I love me some morbid reality, toss in some ancient parables and post-apocalyptic futures and I am beyond sold.

Goodbye, Vitamin

Goodbye, Vitamin

by Rachel Khong

Published: July 2017

Simply put, the journal entries of a young woman maneuvering a failing relationship, complicated family dynamics and father diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Poignant moments nestle within lighthearted journal blurbs keep it short, sweet, but incredibly moving (the dad's notes on his daughter's childhood had me welling up something fierce).

4.5 out of 5 stars. Anyone else who has witnessed the slow fading of a loved one's dignity and sense of self as their family helplessly stands by in support will find bits and pieces of their own story in these pages.

Station Eleven

Station Eleven
by Emily St. John Mandel
Published: Sept 2014

A post-apocalyptic tapestry of narratives that seamlessly weave various points of view across a fragmented timeline. The story itself is surprisingly believable and very well executed, grounded and incredibly moving. Honestly this seems like the sort of novel that'll be assigned to future classes of reluctant high school English students. Learn about raw human nature, existentialism and social dramaturgy, all while quoting Shakespeare!

5 out of 5 stars: This was a pleasure to read.

Annihilation

Annihilation (Southern Reach #1)
by Jeff VanderMeer
Published: Feb 2014

 An unnamed biologist takes notes in her journal as she and four other scientists are sent on a data-gathering expedition into a mysterious territory known only as Area X. Though it starts out with measurements and observations, it becomes increasingly difficult to discern hallucination from reality the deeper they explore. VanderMeer's fanstastical descriptions push the boundaries of our perception, and the narrative reads like the heady haze of someone lightly dosed.

4 out of 5: Here come the acid flashbacks! Short, sweet and I can't wait to pick up the next in the trilogy.