Bird Box

by Josh Malerman

293 pgs  (Bird Box series #1)

Most of the time, having really high expectations for a book means I'm going to be disappointed, at some level, with it when I read it. But sometimes a book comes along that is able to meet and even exceed my high expectations. Josh Malerman's Bird Box was one of those books. 

I haven't seen the Netflix movie based on the book, but I had definitely heard about it. So I had a pretty good idea of what the premise of the story was before I even read the cover flap. And the premise is what had me so excited to read the book. 

Malorie is a young mother in a post-apocalyptic future in which creatures exist that drive everyone who sees them to go violently insane and kill themselves. Malerman never makes it known where these creatures came from, what they look like, or what it is about them that causes such a deadly reaction.

It takes everything Malorie has just to survive every day and keep the two children alive. And the only way she's able to do that, is to black out all of their windows and wear a blindfold anytime she has to venture outside the house.

Bird Box the type of story that should be experienced for oneself and not spoiled by a review, so I won't say much more about it. Suffice it to say, it's intense and scary, in a way that will make the soles of your feet sweat. 

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

To Green Angel Tower

 by Tad Williams

1083 pgs  (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series #3)

To Green Angel Tower concludes Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy, which he "finished" almost thirty years ago, but which he recently elevated to a series, with the publication of two new installments within the past couple of years, with a third yet to come. This has been a series I have thoroughly enjoyed so far, and which I look forward to continuing after a little bit of a break. It's a series George R.R. Martin has said inspired him to write his A Song of Ice and Fire series, which alone should be enough of an incentive to read Williams' books.

To Green Angel Tower picks up right where Stone of Fareell left off. The small band of forces led by Prince Josua Lackhand, which includes the newly-knighted Simon and the troll Binibik, have made it to the Stone of Farewell, where they hope to successfully raise up an army to defeat the followers of the undead Sithi Storm King. Included in their plans is the finding and bringing together three magical swords: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, which they believe represent their only chance of ultimate victory.

This book and the series so far are excellent examples of everything that is great about the fantasy genre. They are Tolkienesque, but stand categorically on their own merit. There is great action, fantastic characters, political machinations, and just enough sorcery and magic included to appeal to the stereotypical readers of the genre, the ones rarely exposed to direct sunlight and vegetables that aren't sold in a bag coated with cheese dust.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

The Splendid and the Vile - A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz

by Erik Larson

585 pgs

Erik Larson's latest, The Splendid and the Vile - A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz offers an interesting and thorough look at the leadership of one of the most successful and influential leaders of our time. It also provides a timely reminder of just how valuable a great leader can be during challenging times of uncertainty and hardship.

Winston Churchill became Prime Minister of Great Britain in May of 1940, when his predecessor resigned due to poor health. Churchill was a fairly unpopular figure at the time, within both his own Conservative Party as well as with the Labour Party, and he took over as Prime Minister at a very tenuous time in Great Britain's history.

Operation Dynamo, the operation that successfully evacuated over 300,000 Allied servicemen from Dunkirk, was only days away and France would soon surrender to Germany, which gave Hitler's army the ability to mobilize only a few miles from the coast of England. The nightly bombing campaign of London and other cities known as the Blitz would begin about four months later, which lasted over a year. But throughout it all, England and its citizens remained defiant, never faltering or wavering in their certainty that they would eventually be victorious, a conviction that was in large part a result of Churchill's leadership and ability to bring the country together under a common cause.  

As it just so happens, I finished reading the book the day after the first "Presidential" debate between Trump and Biden took place here in the U.S., and I couldn't help but reflect on the glaring contrast and deficiencies that exist between the quality of both of those men when compared with Churchill. Admittedly, Churchill was no saint, and his proclivity for wearing pink silk underwear and nothing else at times while conducting the business of Britain is questionable at the very least. But it's pretty easy to overlook the odd and slightly unsettling aspects of a leader's personal nature, when he's successfully navigating a country through the uncertain times it's facing. Unfortunately, the best we can hope for in this country right now, is a mediocre replacement for the disaster we've had for the last three and a half years.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor

 by Hank Green

449 pgs  (The Carls series #2)

Hank Green's A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor picks up about six months after An Absolutely Remarkable Thing left off. April May, the young woman who skyrocketed to unprecedented fame overnight with her documentation of the first of the Carls (10-foot tall alien samurai robots that suddenly appeared scattered all over the world) died at the end of the latter, but her body was never discovered. At the time of her death, all the Carls disappeared as quickly and inexplicably as they had appeared, taking with them the common dreams they had implanted on people all over the world. Six months later, April's friends, along with most everyone else, are still grieving over the loss of both April and the Carls.

Peter Petrawicki, who was indirectly responsible for April's death, has built an offshore research company that uses technology tied to the Carls, and is now worth billions. But with his company's success come changes that threaten to forever change the world, and not for the better. His company, an amalgamation of Facebook, Second Life, and a Bitcoin-type data-mining company, has the potential to destroy the economies of the world and usher in a form of dystopia never contemplated before.

This book took me longer to get into than its predecessor, and for the first half of it I wasn't sure whether it would end up representing a sophomore slump for Hang Green. Thankfully, by the end, I remain a big fan of Green and his storytelling.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

The Body: A Guide for Occupants

 by Bill Bryson

450 pgs

Bill Bryson cut his literary teeth by writing entertaining, and oftentimes, hilarious travel memoirs through The United States, Great Britain, and Australia. More recently, his books have dealt with history and science. With The Body - A Guide for Occupants, Bryson takes us on an interesting and entertaining journey throughout the human body.

He covers every aspect of the body, from the cellular level, on up to the tissues, organs, and systems it's comprised of. He provides anecdotal and fascinating explanations of how doctors and scientists' understanding of how the body works has grown over time, and how they often gained their knowledge accidentally, or through the pain and suffering of patients and experimental subjects.

He covers what it takes to keep the body functioning at its best, as well as why it eventually wears out, succumbs to diseases, attacks itself through cancers, or simply quits.

I found the book both fascinating and enjoyable. I'm a big fan of Bryson's books, and would most likely read anything he ever decides to write, regardless of subject matter or critical reviews. The book didn't make me laugh as frequently as many of his others have, but that was okay with me. I still felt like I was being entertained while being educated.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

The Last Kingdom

by Bernard Cornwell

333 pgs  (The Saxon Chronicles series #1)

The Last Kingdom is the first book in Bernard Cromwell's The Saxon Chronicles series, and the inspiration for the Netflix series of the same name. It's set in the ninth century in what would eventually become England, but what was then the kingdoms of Wessex, Mercia, and East Anglia. Alfred, the son of Aethelwulf, King of Wessex, will soon become king and will be instrumental in laying the groundwork for a united England, but will spend most of his life defending Wessex against Viking attacks.

The book begins in the year 866 A.D. and centers on the life of a Saxon named Uhtred, son of Uhtred, Lord of Bebbanburg in Northumbria. At the age of nine, Uhtred is captured by the Danish Earl Ragnar the Fearless during a raid in which his father was killed. He's now the rightful heir of Bebbanburg, but instead, spends his formative years being raised as a Dane.

Eventually Uhtred finds favor with Ragnar, and as he grows up, is taught to become a skilled warrior. As a young man, he accompanies Ragnar during the conquests of Mercia and East Anglia, but during the battle for Wessex, Uhtred is once again taken captive, but this time, it's by the Saxons, bringing him back to where they believe he belongs.

The Last Kingdom is by itself a great story, but it also sets the stage for the rest of the series that follows. Uhtred, born a Saxon and raised a Dane, seems destined to play a pivotal role in the struggle to unite England and defend it from the conquering Danes.

Years ago, I watched the first season of the series when it originally aired on BBC America. I remember enjoying it but forgetting about it when it moved over to Netflix. Reading this first book in the series has piqued my interest in revisiting the series there, while continuing to read Cornwell's books.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

The Drowned Cities

 by Paolo Bacigalupi

434 pgs  (Ship Breaker series #2)

Set in the same war-torn version of the world he created in Ship Breaker, Paolo Bacigalupi's The Drowned Cities--while not a sequel--further builds on the dystopian reality now facing humanity, along with the genetically engineered monsters it has created.

The book begins in a dark prison cell, where Tool, a killing machine created from tiger, dog, hyena, and human genes, has been kept and tortured. The guards believe the creature has finally died, but when one of the unlocks the gate to enter, Tool escapes in a whirlwind of death and carnage that takes mere seconds to complete.

Mahlia is a teenage girl who was orphaned by the war several years ago. She now scrapes by an existence working as a medic, scavenging what little medicines remain and using them to treat freedom fighters in the ongoing war between the factions. Her life was once saved by a man she calls Mouse, and the two have looked out for one another ever since.

When together they come across Tool, unconscious again and near death from multiple wounds, Mahlia recognizes an opportunity to possibly escape The Drowned Cities and the war once and for all.

The Drowned Cities is a dystopian book written for slightly younger readers, but don't let that lead you to assume the dystopian elements of the story have been watered down to make them more palatable for teenagers. Bacigalupi's story is just as dark, violent, and hopeless as McCarthy's The Road, although I can't imagine McCarthy would have considered adding a tiger-dog-hyena-human hybrid as one of the main characters.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆