Some thoughts on the books I’ve read over the past two weeks:
1. [easyazon-link asin=”0385533853″]Robopocalypse: A Novel, Daniel H. Wilson[/easyazon-link] – a fast paced science fiction thriller, where, in the future, mankind’s robots rebel. Told from the perspective of a handful of characters, Robopocalypse begins Archos gaining sentience and killing his master. From there, a violent, dystopian uprising occurs. Themes of survival, humanity, redemption and evolution occur throughout. If you read a lot of sci-fi, you’ll notice similar elements–cold, logical robots, hacking, cybernetics, etc. It’s already been optioned by Spielberg for a movie.
2. [easyazon-link asin=”0571160565″]Lord of the Flies, William Golding[/easyazon-link] – Somehow, I got out of high school not reading this, the tale of how a group of boys descend into savages on a remote island. Symbolism abounds as the story progresses–Christ figures, society, morals, rational logic, rules. I found myself annoyed by what Golding captures well–the constant squabbaling of young boys, particularly over the same few things and specifically the damn conch.
3. [easyazon-link asin=”B003VYBEK2″]Escape From Cubicle Nation, Pamela Slim[/easyazon-link] – What gives Slim’s book more weight is the fact that she’s done it, and provide concrete steps to overcome fears. Getting ideas, fleshing them out, how to test them, how to figure out the finances, how to live. She quotes other experts a great deal and provides relevant anecdotes–good and bad. More can be found at Escape from Cubicle Nation.
4. [easyazon-link asin=”0399157506″]The Book of Even More Awesome, Neil Pasricha[/easyazon-link] – Appreciate life, and be grateful at all the things that there are to enjoy. This is the second book that collects Pasricha’s blog, 1000 Awesome Things. [easyazon-link asin=”0425238903″]The Book of Awesome[/easyazon-link] and The Book of Even More Awesome serve well as coffee table books, or books you pass around and read aloud with friends–they’re meant to be shared.
5. & 6. [easyazon-link asin=”140122430X”]DMZ Vol. 7: War Powers[/easyazon-link] & [easyazon-link asin=”1401227260″]DMZ Vol. 8: Hearts and Minds[/easyazon-link], Brian Wood – Continuing the story of Matty Roth, reporter in the war zone that is Manhattan, War Powers has Roth acting as recently elected Delgado’s right hand man to seek out gold in Chinatown. Roth realizes he’s a pawn, and isn’t as independent as he wishes to be. This leads to Roth bargaining his position of power with Delgado, leading to Hearts and Minds, where Roth begins to use his new found political power with great consequence. The consequence–Roth doesn’t know how to wield power responsibly and ends with one wondering, are there any good guys?
7. [easyazon-link asin=”0877881383″]The Creative Call, Janice Elsheimer[/easyazon-link] – Similar to [easyazon-link asin=”1585421472″]Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way[/easyazon-link] with weekly chapters of personal creative growth, albeit with a Christian perspective. There are still the daily journaling exercises, weekly tasks to focus on, but Elsheimer includes Christian scripture. This would be a good book for churches who’d like to take a different look at spirituality.
8. [easyazon-link asin=”1935597035″]Crossing, Andrew Fukada[/easyazon-link] – Xing Xu is a Chinese born immigrant living in small town New York, feeling the awkwardness of being a teenager and the critical eye of an immigrant. Mysterious disappearances begin occurring around town and Xing investigates. It’s a brief, haunting and chilling novel as we witness Xing struggle to fit in and find acceptance. Sparse descriptive prose lead to a heartbreaking ending.
