Book Review 2021
2021 Book Review.
Finished: 17 (4 DNF) Pages: 8,150
| Book Title | Author | Series Name | Genre | Rating | Date | Pages | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dune | Frank Herbert | Dune | SciFi | 5 | 2021 | 704 | Fiction |
| Hyperion | Dan Simmons | Hyperion Cantos | SciFi | 5 | 2021 | 481 | Fiction |
| Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art | James Nestor | Science | 5 | 2021 | 304 | Non-Fiction | |
| I Am Legend | Richard Matheson | Dystopian | 5 | 2021 | 104 | Fiction | |
| No Country For Old Men | Cormac McCarthy | Thriller | 5 | 2021 | 322 | Fiction | |
| The Road | Cormac McCarthy | Post Apocalypse | 5 | 2021 | 324 | Fiction | |
| Annihilation | Jeff Vandermeer | Southern Reach | SciFi | 4 | 2021 | 224 | Fiction |
| Blood Meridian | Cormac McCarthy | Western | 4 | 2021 | 372 | Fiction | |
| Cryptonomicon | Neal Stephenson | Technothriller | 4 | 2021 | 1168 | Fiction | |
| Prey | Michael Crichton | Technothriller | 4 | 2021 | 528 | Fiction | |
| The Phoenix Project | Gene Kim | The Phoenix Project | Business | 3 | 2021 | 537 | Fiction |
| Snow Crash | Neal Stephenson | SciFi | 3 | 2021 | 480 | Fiction | |
| America Before: The Key to Earth’s Lost Civilization | Graham Hancock | PreHistory | 2 | 2021 | 624 | Non-Fiction | |
| Who Fears Death | Nnedi Okorafor | Dystopian/Cultural | 2 | 2021 | 401 | Fiction | |
| The Yellow Wallpaper | Charlotte Perkins Gilman | Classic | 1 | 2021 | 21 | Fiction | |
| The Fall of Hyperion | Dan Simmons | Hyperion Cantos | SciFi | DNF | 2021 | 676 | Fiction |
| The Unicorn Project | Gene Kim | The Phoenix Project | Business | DNF | 2021 | 466 | Fiction |
| At the Mountains of Madness | H.P. Lovecraft | Horror | DNF | 2021 | 124 | Fiction | |
| Coyote America | Dan Flores | Conservation | DNF | 2021 | 290 | Non-Fiction |
Prey
A quick read. I had fun with it, it's a bit far-fetched, and some of the thinking from the characters follows the horror movie cliché of "what on earth are you thinking, you didn't try X first?" However, some of those thoughts are put to rest at the end of the book when some twists are revealed. The ending feels a bit rushed, and Crichton really laid on the explanations of "this is what happened" a bit too thick for me (but could be helpful for a reader who found themselves lost at the end?). Anyway, I'd recommend it.
Hyperion
A friend of mine suggested I read this. It was pretty good, but overall I'm not sure how I feel about it. The story follows a planet, Hyperion, and a mythical god-like murder creature there called the Shrike. There's a group of diverse characters who embark on a journey to meet the Shrike because the Shrike is getting more...murdery. Additionally there's some interstellar drama occurring between the Hedgemony (Humans), TechnoCore (a sentient AI faction), and some Ousters (weird humans) who want to go to war over the Shrikes house - the Time Tombs - which are some empty tombs that travel backwards through time.
Did I lose you yet? Yes, there's a lot happening here. Possibly more than in Dune, actually. The book follows the journey of the characters as they approach Hyperion and the Time Tombs. Each of them tells their "background story" and that's 90% of the book. I enjoyed most of the stories equally, although perhaps one or two stood out. Overall, it just felt a bit...messy. Some of the stories had details that just seemed irrelevant to the overall plot perhaps. Maybe that gets more revealed in the second book..or the 3rd, or 4th.
I felt the ending was a bit rushed and unsatisfyingly cliff-hangery.
Dune
I read this after I saw the 2021 Movie. I'd tried to start this once before, and stopped within chapter 1 in maybe ~2018/2019. Admittedly, the movie helps ease you into this novel. It's a book full of made up words that are unique to the Dune universe. So having a movie as background material to introduce you to characters, concepts, and putting something visual to text helps make the book a bit more approachable. I enjoyed the movie, and I enjoyed the book even more. Excellent read! Now I'm pretty excited for part 2 of the film. Not sure I'll continue with the series, though. It seems that reader reviews of the 6 book series decline with each subsequent novel. In that regard, it almost reminds me of Jeff VanderMeer's Annihilation, another great book with questionable follow-up novels. Oh well!
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War
This was better than I expected. I bought it in an airport bookstore because I had finished both books I brought with me and didn't want to not have a book for the next 6hr flight. The movie is terrible in comparison, and doesn't even remotely follow the plot. I bet the audiobook is even better if it had decent readers (voice actors). For some reason, I think this would make an excellent cartoon adaption? Anyway, it was a fun read assuming you can put aside the very supernatural "powers" that the Zombies have in this universe. Other than that, it's realistic, dark, and fun.
Snow Crash
It was okay? I preferred Reamde...I'll try Crytonomicon in the future, but need a break from Neal. This book was a decent SciFi, but the genre confused me. It was both scifi, yet comedy, yet it also seemed like it wanted to be taken seriously with religious ideas, hacking concepts, etc. The ending seemed rush, and some of the characters felt underdeveloped. Interesting world building, though. It felt like some ideas were left unexplored.
The Phoenix Project
Read for work, it was okay. Certainly some Agile/Kanban principles you can take away from it.
America Before: The Key to Earth's Lost Civilization
Turns out the only part of this book I was interested in was the first and last quarters. The whole middle was a slog of over detailed ancient astrology. Whew...still some interesting bits but not exactly what I was expecting.
Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art
I enjoyed this way more than I thought I would. I even bought Turkish chewing gum because of it. NOSE BREATHING.
I Am Legend
Loved it. I even read my fancy Folio Society version which was way more awesome than the cover art I pulled from Amazon.
Cryptonomicon
I wanted to like this but its just so overwritten. I found my self glossing over pages of material that were just not interesting or useful to the main plot. Something interesting would be happening for a few pages only to be interrupted with strange tangents on greek gods and cereal. These added nothing to the story other than to needlessly pad the page lengths. This could have been a 5/5 book if the plot was tightened up slightly and the pages less filled with useless detail. Additionally, novels that alternate chapters between two sets of characters I often find disjointing if the chapters are not long enough. These chapters were in fact, too short, so the whole novel felt oddly stapled together. It was fine, and some of it was downright good. But I can't give it more than 3/5 just because so much of the novel annoyed me. I think I'm done reading Neal Stephenson for a long time.
Project Hail Mary
Blew through it in 2 days. I loved it, might even pick up the audio book. I hope they make a movie as well, like The Martian. Even if it won't be as good as the book (Hard to do in a movie format) it would be great to get the story out to a wider audience.
Edit: I went back and did the audio book of this novel in 2022 and loved it!
Annihilation
Strange book, not very much like the film at all. Unsettling and creepy, but not necessarily outright "scary" the way a S. King novel might be. I really enjoyed it, and its a quick read. According to Amazon reviews, just read this and skip the next two in the trilogy? Interesting...
The Yellow Wallpaper
Incredibly Short. I'm not sure I really understood the premise, may require a re-read. It was disturbing, but in a strange long-forgotten sense (Eg. 1890). There's really no harm in reading this since its so short, but I was expecting more from the story somehow. Feels slightly unfinished, but as a short story (Eg. Bradberry Collection) it stands on its own just fine especially considering how old the writing is.
Who Fears Death
This was...interesting? I'm not going to say it was bad, or that it was good. It was written well enough that I got through it (albeit it a little slowly). It handles a female protagonist pretty well...I was confused about some of the magic descriptions, though. Also the ending. Also most of the book. I wonder how the HBO version will be? Lots of sex. Meh.
No Country for Old Men
The movie adaptation of this book is nearly 1-1. I can't tell if the book was just perfect for a screenplay translation, or if the director of the movie just managed to stay incredibly faithful to the source material. Either way, this book is a 5/5, but you can also just watch the movie and not really miss much besides some extra dialog (which is great!).
The Road
Perfect for a rainy day. Or one of those CA days where the sky is full of wildfire smoke. Depressing, yet I couldn't stop reading. I've never seen the movie, maybe I'll give it a watch now that I've read the book.
Blood Meridian
The most violent book I've ever read. I might even have to re-read this, some pieces I feel like I missed what was going on exactly. It's very detailed, but its not a standard way to tell a story. Gripping narrative, dark, depressing, and excellent.
At the Mountains of Madness -- DNF ❌
I got about a 1/3rd of the way through this before I lost my mind. Not because of cthulhu horrors, but because the way its written drove me crazy. I swear HP spent 3-4 pages describing a building, and like he just used a thesaurus for every neat word he could think of and crammed it into the sentence. It was mind numbingly bored. I was too confused, bored, and distracted to be scared. I do not recommend this, sadly. I read that some people love it, I am not one of those people.
Coyote America: A Natural and Supernatural History -- DNF ❌
I just kept falling asleep every time I read it. Maybe I'll revisit this, I skimmed through a lot of the book (1/3rd) and just didn't' find myself captivated. I have a rule that if the book will be a slog to get through, I just abandon it. But like all Limbo'd/DNF books, I may revisit one day. Who knows.