Finished the last bits of Vox, by Christina Dalcher early last week. I really thought the premise was good, and the way it built up the "how it happened" was put in nicely with breadcrumbs ... but then out of the blue it turned into an action movie.

Then breezed through The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas. Thumbs up. Did a nice job of combining the great big issues and the smaller, more personal issues.

Started up on The Curious Life of Krill, by Stephen Nicol. I don't know what to think about a biologist who is so super stoked about Krill as to write a pop science book about Krill, but I respect the brain that says "OF COURSE PEOPLE WANT TO READ THIS!" Oceans are facinating, so I am one of those people who want to read this.

the subtle art of not giving a f---, by mark manson

Finally giving this a shot after hate talking it ever since it came out. I understand the criticims but it's still an enjoyable book and is moving quickly. So I rushed to judgement on this one. Sorry Mark Manson.

Only Human (3rd book in The Themis Files), by Sylvain Neuvel

Got this from the library. One of the few trilogies I've read in awhile (this and the Southern Reach trilogy). Im not in love with the series bc I think the characters are kind of flat. But it's good enough to continue. It's one of those books where the action takes place over interviews, journals, logs found ...

I also got Vox, by Christina Dalcher from the library so looking to start that soon.

I finished Vox, by Christina Dalcher.

It's a dystopian novel about society limiting women to the use of 100 words per day. Very 'The Handmaid's Tale' vibes. As a thought-piece, I thought it raised a lot of interesting questions regarding female rights and equality, the role of religion in government, and the right to speech/language development.

But as a novel, I thought the writing was very clinical and straightforward. Dalcher didn't write like an author, she wrote like a scientist. Which isn't surprising considering her profession as a linguistics researcher. Just kind of threw me off a bit.

I gave it a 3.5/5.

Halfway through Mountains Beyond Mountains, by Tracy Kidder. Saw Paul Farmer speak at a conference last year and a graduation this year, I knew he was a big shot but didn't know his whole background until reading this. Really fascinating and inspiring!

Also craving some dystopian fiction, so I'm going to start one of those tonight. Choices are very new or very old: Vox, by Christina Dalcher or Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury

Vox, by Christina Dalcher It's interesting so far! I think a bit too "tell instead of show" at times, but the concept is good.

I finished:

• Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card as a library audiobook.

• Vox, by Christine Dalcher as an owned physical book.

I was enrapt by Ender’s Game. The only parts that had me a bit glazed over were the military and battle specific descriptions. But it was never too much.

Vox disappointed me. Top marks for concept. Horrible execution. Characters were not interesting. How the situation came to be was never explained. The task the main character was procured to accomplish was so slap-dash. You felt like it was going to be drawn out and further conflict with intrigue, but it was over so quickly and was confusing.

This week:

• The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt as a library audiobook.

• Bright Dead Things, by Ada Limon as an owned physical book.

• Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery as an owned physical book.

Still not sure about the Goldfinch but it’s an audiobook so I just turn it on whenever.

Still not sure about Anne of Green Gables because I might not be in the mood for it.

Finished:

Vox by Christine Dalcher - overall, I enjoyed it, but it would have been better without the huge coincidence at the end.

Started:

V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd - finally got round to getting a new copy, so decided a re-read was needed. Happy to report, still excellent.

The Road Beneath My Feet by Frank Turner - am a huge fan, so enjoying reading about his life and experiences constantly touring

I'd finished up Energy: A Human History - good, not great. Takeaway seemed to be that public acceptance of new energy sources takes time, and for the most part, society just accepts a whole lot of negative consequence before they attempt to mitigate negative effects.

Now I've started up Vox, by Christina Dalcher. Good premise: fundamentalist Christian movement swoops into power and reinstates the husband as head of household, with women as meek followers of the husband, enforced with a meager allowance of 100 spoken words per woman. Handmaid's Tale without the focus on procreation. Wrapped around that is a bit of a story of personal and political intrigue. Just over halfway through and it's keeping my interest.

I finished:

• The Maze Runner, by James Dashner as a library, audiobook

• All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque as an owned, physical book #theunreadshelfproject2019

• Some Say: Poems, by Maureen N McLane as an owned, physical book #theunreadshelfproject2019

I was not inspired to continue the series after The Maze Runner. It took too long to get to the story and by the time I got there it was cryptic and not interesting enough. Also, the characters were frustrating.

All Quiet on the Western Front was a rewarding read. I'd never read it in high school though I was required to. The prose was easy and beautiful. The inner dialogue profound. The action jarring. What a powerful novel. I won't soon forget it.

Some Say: Poems was just a poetry book on my shelf. I've been getting into poetry the past couple years. After finishing my two other books over the weekend, I used this to fill in. Her poetry covered several topics and heavily employed nature, especially the sun. I definitely had emotional reactions to a few, so I loved it. Not everything did it for me, but it read beautifully anyway.

This week:

• Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card as a libary, audiobook

• Vox, by Christina Dalcher as an owned, physical book #theunreadshelfproject2019

Undecided for this week:

• Dance of Thieves, by Mary E Pearson as a library, audiobook

• Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery as an owned, physical book #theunreadshelfproject2019

• Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott as a library, eBook

For Dance of Thieves, I didn't realize this was a spin-off and I haven't read the original series, but it became available on Libby. So, I might look through my TBR on there to see what's available now and pick something at random.

For Little Women or Anne of Green Gables, I'm still just undecided. Hopefully I pick one up and I get sucked in.

I’ve finished: The Stand, by Stephen King

I enjoyed this but GOD was it lengthy. I read the 90s uncut version and it really dragged.

Read: My Friend Dahmer, by Derf Backderf

I found this to be very underwhelming. I feel as if the premise entices you to read it by suggesting that, by being written by a “friend” of Dahmer, it has some kind of hidden insight into his life. In actuality, it really offered nothing I didn’t already know and understand from the few Youtube videos I have watched on his crimes.

Started: Vox, by Christina Dalcher

I love the premise of this. So far, I am enjoying it, but I’m not totally convinced that it is the best-written or best-presented dystopian fiction in the world. It has offered no surprises thus far, and I don’t think the characterisation is ideal - it is made up of very cut-and-paste figures: the overbearing feminist; the “weak”, emasculated male; the sexist, woman-hating man, and so on. So far, there’s very little dynamism found within characters. However, I still have 200 pages to go - things can change!