Another post-apocalyptic novel, which really seems to be disproportionately recommended in recent times, this one was extremely graphic in depicting gratuitous violence. This was oddly juxtaposed against explicit descriptions of sexual encounters.  I was disappointed that I did not like it more since the premise of the futuristic world felt well thought out and plausible, though incredibly depressing. 

Set in the dessert of the American southwest, the complicated backstory includes litigation over water rights, complicated interpersonal dynamics, lots of characters with compelling and believable backstories, and  a nuanced world created with attention to details that I really liked.  Ultimately, while there was a lot to like in the story, I really disliked the violence, which I did not think was needed to advance the story and which reflected a deterioration of human decency at a level that was just too dark for me.  I found that I couldn't listen to this unless I was in the right frame of mind and definitely not before bed.  

Not recommended.
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This is an incredibly depressing read.  As if the apocalyptic pandemic plot isn't gloomy enough, the imagined world has death parks for kids where parents make the decision to euthanize their children when things get so back they can't stand to watch them die any longer and they put them on a rollercoaster that causes their death.  Morbid doesn't even come close to the right word.  

Ultimately, of course, the theme of the story is love--love of family and children, love of people, love of life, but the world is haunting and while the layers of the story are complicated and in many places intriguing, I found the depth of sorrow too much.

​Not recommended.

This is a sophisticated, time travel sci fi novel that seems to be catching everyone's attention.  The plot is really intricate. You have to pay attention and keep your mind from wandering as the story builds on itself.  This is layered with a melodic prose that is at once mesmerizing to listen to, but in parts so complex that it distracts from the story itself.  It reads like every sentences has been carefully crafted from words that were each agonized over.  When reading a review of Mink River once, I was struck by the idea of a "writer's writer."  These writers have a certain style to their writing that I imagine other "writer's writers" love--prose that feels like poetry and sounds like songs.  Usually, this hyper-intellectual style is often paired with a story that has little or no plot and this is definitely some of my least favorite books. I just don't really love reading for the sake of hearing the words. I much prefer a good plot, written well.  Here, though, the writer's writer style is paired with an equally intellectual time travel, romance, sci fi, war novel plot.  Moreover, there were additional layers of complexity within each of these themes that made my head spin at times.  For such a short book, the author has jam packed it with things to think about and has done so with this writer's writer approach that at times was just too much complexity for me.  I lost the thread a couple of times and had to back up to figure out where my mind got left behind.  I am having a hard time recommending the book, even with how much I loved the story line. I have a hard time not recommending a time travel book that holds together internally.  All in all, I am going to put this on the Not Not Recommended List with the expectation that some people I know are going to love this book, but it is probably not a good beach or road trip read and most people won't be doing chores or anything distracting while they listen.  

​This is an unusual YA romance/dystopian future/sci fi read that starts not only slow, but just weird, before taking many twists and turns in unexpected directions as a world of corporate control, artificial intelligence, and military power coincide in a myriad of ways for the young people on the front lines of war.  I have had a hard time deciding if I would put it on the recommended list because it is really a very strange story and the audible production is a little weird, for lack of a better term.  So, I am going to put it in the Not Not Recommended category with the expectation that folks who are looking for quirky might give it a try.


Not not recommended.

 I had previously read the original trilogy in this dystopian series that came out about ten years ago.  If you lived The Hunger Games or the first Divergent book, then this will be right up your alley and the addition of a fourth book to the series did not disappoint.  Because it had been so long since I had read the series, I went back and re-read the entire set, which I highly recommend doing since much of the richness of detail from the first stories tie nicely back into this one, which is set ten years after the last book.  I particularly love how it characters have matured in the interim, but the distinctly YA flavor of the narrative continues with some of the focus of the storyline shifting to Day's younger brother's story.  The addition of a Queer character's backstory that is entirely consistent with what was already there is a nice touch. The political commentary, the nuance of various financial structures, the complexity of propaganda, power, and community control is handled at a high level for a YA read. Add to that some powerful women characters, along with men grappling with what it means to support those powerful women in their lives while also figuring out how to be effective leaders themselves and you have a series that really should have gotten a lot more attention.
 
Highly recommend.

I have to start by saying that this is the best sci fi I have read in a long time.  I was really sucked into this alternative reality and could not stop reading.  It was very complicated and sometimes I had to backup and re-read a bit to follow the storyline, so it was a great distraction read.  Similar to the The Martian, which I didn't love, there is a lot of reflection on loneliness, the meaning of life, and if there is value in a life lived in isolation.  

The story had many twists and turns, many of which I did not see coming and that I liked better than where I thought the story was headed.  Because the narrator has an impaired memory, the story unfolds in double time lines, the current one and the one that he is remembering as his memory comes back.  Because of this, the pacing is unusual, but I followed both timelines with equal interest.  There were a lot of layers here, with ethical dilemmas, puzzles, and politics that were both clever and thought-provoking.  

​Definitely recommend.

This is a ridiculously adorable Queer romance with an unexpected touch of fantasy/sci fi such that it kind of defies genres.  There are so many things to love, love, love in this story from Queer history, to trans characters whose trans-ness is not even remotely the most interesting thing about them (or even mentioned about them for a long time), to a plus-size main character which is also not made a big deal about.  It is fun, light, sexy, and a really great beach read.
​Recommend.

As my teenager said about Ready Player One, "It is always just so problematic when the misogynistic boy still gets the girl just because he wins some competition."  That pretty much sums this one up.  In the first book, there was at least some explanation for why the protagonist was a narcissistic jerk, but but the time this book takes place, there just really is no excuse or growth.  Even though the entire premise of this book is about openly addressing his problematic behavior, it just doesn't have the same really solid plot the first one had.  It was still a decent read and of course Wil Wheaton's narration is so good it is almost enough, but not enough, to save it.

(I hesitated to mark the box for "trans character" here. Technically, there is one--in passing, for like a nanosecond.  This felt more like the author trying to check a box off for representation rather than genuine inclusion.)
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Not recommended.

Not actually a book at all, this is a series of lectures about exactly what the title says.  It is actually pretty interesting and was just at my level of scientific understanding.  I enjoyed learning about what is possible given the science we have and what is just made up. It was a fun thought experiment.  

​Recommend, for the sci fi buffs.

I didn't realize this was the sequel to The Dispatcher and was so confused after the first chapter or so, thinking I had already read it since the universe seemed so familiar, but the actual plot wasn't.  I had to actually look it up before realizing what was happening. I was thrown off by that start and the book was slow in the beginning, but ultimately, I quite enjoyed it.  It did not have the moral complexity of the first book, but I liked the storyline and the unusual alternative universe is really creative and Scalzi develops the details left out in the first book, which was a fun way to build on the story. It just is unlike any other alt universe I've read and so allowed my brain to really stretch to make it work.  Read The Dispatcher first, though.

​Receommend.