Here are some of the books the author has recently read (and a few movies, too). Feel free to quibble with the opinions, but please keep it clean.
- Owad’s Micro-Review #152: Hell of a Book
by Jason Mott Early in this novel, the narrator promises us the book will be a love story. In truth, it’s more of an attempted love story—a tale about a newly famous Black author who searches for meaning and understanding in an America that’s still wrestling with the original sin of racism. You’ll find gallows humor and searing racial commentary in these pages—as well as a touch of magic realism and a narrative that moves along swiftly. What you won’t find is pretense or apology. The societal critique rings true without preaching or moralizing. The National Book Award is well deserved. HELL OF A BOOK draws you in and keeps you engaged for the duration.
- Micro-Review #151: The Bomber Mafia
by Malcolm Gladwell The story of how America gained air superiority in World War II is of limited appeal to most readers. Gladwell, however, infuses the subject with energy, tension and personality. What could be a dry rehashing of tech developments and military strategy is in fact a tale of scientific invention and human ambition and weakness.
The main characters in this historical drama are the inventor of a bombsight that allowed precision bombing for the first time and two Air Force generals charged with bringing Japan to heel once the U.S. took control of crucial airstrips in the Marianas. Gladwell’s lucid prose brings their stories to life, clearly showing us the people who, for instance, incinerated half a million Japanese civilians without batting an eye. The humanity, or lack thereof, behind the wartime decisions isn’t always pretty, but it’s absolutely captivating.
- Micro-Review #150: Rough
by Robin Van Eck While Calgary’s Bow River rises with a coming flood, local homeless man Shermeto takes a bad beating and ends up in the hospital. This brings his estranged daughter, Kendra, back into his world. What follows is part murder mystery and part literary meditation on life on the streets in the Stampede City.
Although the story is nominally about homelessness, it’s not overly gritty or socially prescriptive. There’s a gentle, leisurely pace and a main character—the river—that infuses everything with a somber, wistful mood. The mystery is secondary. The father-daughter story, Shermeto’s waning health, Kendra’s attempts to navigate the terrain of broken relationships—a lot goes wrong for the people in this book, but there’s a spark of hope and humanity running through it all. This is a well-told story that’s worth settling into.
- Micro-Review #149: Survivor Song
by Paul Tremblay Here’s a novel about a group of people trying to navigate a Massachusetts suddenly populated with rabies-infected hordes. The premise isn’t new, but the difference here—what makes this story better than most zombie novels—is that the focus is on the characters, without shambling automatons and overdone violence every few pages. The scares are of the old-school variety, borne of a ticking clock and long odds. No one will confuse this with Shakespeare, but well written fiction is well written fiction. For readers who aren’t averse to a few goosebumps, SURVIVOR SONG is sure to satisfy.
- Micro-Review #148: The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid
by Bill Bryson What a fun, pleasant memoir. No one does easy reading better than Bryson. This look at his early years in Des Moines, Iowa, focuses on the mundane yet weird naivete and optimism underpinning life in 1950s middle America. Not much happens in Bryson’s childhood, but it happens in glorious fashion. Bryson’s dry wit and self-deprecation make growing up normal an extraordinary thing. For readers of a certain age, the book will awaken the best kind of nostalgia—reminiscences of not only all that was good in the bygone era, but of all that was strange, dumb, insane and (thank God) now gone. This is a good book to read if you’re in need of a breezy pick-me-up.
