Only Face Value.

The Curious Case of a Dog in the Nighttime was a book about a child who had no sense of social cues, due to autism.

And then he is LIED to. I hated that. The child had no concept of when folks were happy, sad, or otherwise, and he was lied to.  Because that's easy to do to a child who didn't even have a chance to pick up on it.  Or ask the right questions.

It was interesting to me that it was hard to tell about the socioeconomics or relationships of this child because neither of these things were important to him. Having an autistic narrator meant that the book had a lot of facts, but only the ones that he felt were relevant. And this child loved numbers, and other such things. He took his social environment entirely for granted. This made the setting hard to pin down.

I liked this book. I hadn't read anything from the perspective of a person with autism before,  and it was interesting to see how differently that they might view the world.  It's hard to know whether the book is entirely accurate to the mindset of autism, since it was written by a neurotypical person, but I think it was a very compelling read.

The Nature of the Divine

I am struggling to figure out what to say about Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow. It was a re-read for me, but somehow this book never gets less shocking and enchanting; able to make me gasp, cry, and laugh. There is so much in it. So much horror, so much sorrow, so much joy, so much of the human life and experience.  I love this book so much. So, so much.

It seeks to answer some of the most complex questions of Christianity: What happens when your faith is shaken by adversity?  Can you rebuild? Where was God when it happened?

And it does it with a sweeping beauty and grace that I haven't seen equaled in any book that also includes aliens, discussions of linguistics, and a crash course in Jesuit hierarchy.  I cannot think of a better, more nuanced book that feeds me spiritually like The Sparrow does. Thank goodness a lady from church recommended it to me.

Ferns? Ferns.

Oliver Sacks' Oaxaca Journal is a 100+ page book about a trip he took to look at ferns. I have nothing to say on this except that I did not finish it, for I could not.

Ferns. Let us speak of this no more.

Everybody has motives.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bible! was a quick read. Only 200ish pages, with large type and the typical blank space glut that happens when you have a series of short stories in a collection.  So, it only took me a day and a half. But it was good. The stories were funny and did a great job of giving the Biblical characters a fully rounded background. The author worked to show why Cain might have killed Abel, what might have compelled Delilah to trick Samson, and how Joseph might have really felt about Mary's sudden pregnancy.

But it was all light hearted, which I appreciated. I loved that the stories were written to show how the characters were not only relatable, but that there was a funny side to them. This is not necessarily a go-to book as far as any kind of accuracy, but it was a great comedy. Adam and Eve were quite amusing, with the typical "new look" of Adam being an idiot and Eve a theologian. I saw that particular re-writing often in my Images of Eve and Mary class in college. Though, I don't know that it is really any better than the medieval view of it being all Eve's fault. Does one gender absolutely need to be the scapegoat?

In general, I think that the Biblical stories as they are printed in the Bible are somewhat dry to me because I've heard them over and over and over again. But then also, the stories have never held great comedy for me because I don't get the jokes. I am not an Ancient Hebrew who is aware of Babylonian or Roman culture, depending on the Testament. By virtue of cultural ignorance, I am missing a lot of nuance, and it stands to reason that some of that nuance is humor.  Thanks to Goldstein for suggesting where it might be reinserted.

Seattle of the Undead

Cherie Priest's Boneshaker is the only zombie book that I have ever read. As such, I can't comment on the genre subset.  But let me say this. I love, love, loved this book.  It was creepy, but not scary, and was driven by a plot, with all setting descriptions working towards enhancing and carrying the plot. I was so enthralled with it. I read it as I went to and from work and completed it within a few days. It was just so amazing. I never felt confused by the storyline, but at the same time, it was not as though the plot went exactly where I expected it to.

In general, I am fascinated by books that can be characterized as answering a question. In this case, "What if all Seattle became infected with disease and had to be walled off?" I found the answer to be not only entertaining, but to mostly meet with recognizable logic. It dealt with not only those who are walled in, but those who were walled out. What did both the inside and the outside societies have to do in order to survive? How were they affected by the illness (zombiefication)? So compelling. Plus! The names and clothes, etc. were so steampunk awesome.  The world it's set in is referred to as "The Clockwork Century" and at this point Cherie Priest is in the midst of writing a 4th novel in this alternate-history world. I have finished Boneshaker, Clementine is currently out in hardback, Dreadnought will be out at the end of September, and Ganymede is in progress. These are standalone novels, so I don't have to worry about series fatigue on the part of the author being a problem. I believe most of the fantasy world is looking at you, George RR Martin.

Anyway, fabulous, awesome, lovely, and totally compelling book. Cherie Priest is now definitely on my must-read list.