It's October and I love vampire stories, so I thought this one was a natural. It's about a vampire that finds himself able to move around in the day because of a nuclear winter that has descended on the Earth. What happens when the vampire is faced with such freedom? It is an interesting idea but it plays out with some pretty awful consequences. And well, let's just say with Trump as president (still feels surreal) talking to North Korea like that, nuclear war sure looks a lot more possible than it did at this time last year. And let's just say, I didn't miss all my childhood worries about nuclear war...
87. Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
I have heard so many great things about this book that I had to check it out. It reminded a bit of The Stars are Legion because of the apparent all-female characters. But it turns out that it's not exactly an all-female book. For various reasons the main character uses the she pronoun unless someone indicates he would be more appropriate. The upshot is that you'll meet a character and think the character is female and then turns out to be male but you're never quite sure because the main character will revert to she again. It's fascinating what that does to your mental image. This book also takes on the concept of empire. The absorption of others to further the empire and the way that that is done (and it's in no way bloodless...). It's a very interesting look at culture.
88. A Walk in Wolf Wood by Mary Stewart
When I was a child, I read Mary Stewart's The Crystal Cave and The Hollow Hills, which I loved. So when I was at Goodwill and saw this book for a $2, I decided I had to get it. It's a sweet fast read about two British kids on vacation with their folks in Germany. A spell from medieval times pulls them into the past to right a wrong.
89. The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. LeGuin
A man whose dreams change reality... It's a pretty exciting premise. It didn't even remotely start the way I thought it would. I thought the book would follow him through his life and experiences with this amazing ability. Instead we learn about about a world that seemed entirely plausible in the early 1970s, one plagued by environmental problems and different sexual mores than the 1950s could have imagined. We also follow a psychiatrists manipulations of the main character for his own ends.
90. My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix
Still keeping with my Halloween reading... Now, I had never heard of Grady before this year, but then I read Horrostor. Well, it might be more accurate to say devoured it. So when I saw this totally rad cover, I knew I had to read it! Ohmygawd! It's to die for!! Color me impressed!!! A mixed tape of my high school soundtrack!!Seriously, it's awesome! His writing style is utterly effortless to read. It just flows into my brain, making me want to gobble it up to know what's going to happen next. It wasn't my high school experience but it's oh-so 80s and that definitely was my experience.
Extra! Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora edited by Sheree R. Thomas
This is a really great collection of chock full of amazing short stories, and it took forever to get it from the library. I really enjoyed reading it, but I couldn't finish reading it before it came due at the library. I read quite a lot of it but not all of it and can't really say I read it without feeling like a liar. But I still want to recommend it!!
