Bookquarium

When Andy Weir's first novel, The Martian,  came out, I devoured it like a heaping piece of cake. Weir has an excellent sense of voice, good pacing and drama, but most importantly, he gets the SCIENCE behind science fiction without it getting too bogged down or boring. My brain is not made to understand complex science things. I wish it were. I find science fascinating! But man, it's hard for me to understand. Weir makes it easy for me to understand the science in his books. But we aren't here to talk about The Martian . (Although if you haven't read it, go read it right now. It's great.) We are here to talk about his second novel, Artemis. The Recap:   Jazz Bashara is a criminal. Well, sort of. Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you're not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire. So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you've got debts to pay and your job as a port...

Heeeeere's Amy!  Picture this. It's 1980. I'm not even alive yet. The hair is continuing to defy gravity. Computers and technology are out there, but they're remarkably slow. You're still almost a half decade away from AOL and the fabulous dial up internet. Michael Crichton decided to write a technology-heavy book about killer gorillas and the search for diamonds in the Congo. Dudes, I just finished this book, and I still don't understand Crichton's need for diamonds. It's got something to do with technology, and powering things? I'll admit I skimmed a lot of the rambling bits when he really got going about the tech stuff. Congo, as an adventure read, was fun. I am all for really smart gorillas tearing humans to bits. Amy, the good gorilla who joins our plucky (and obnoxious) adventurers on their quest to discover what happened to the first team, is a fun character, who drinks cocktails and smokes cigars (even though she's a gorilla?), an...

This book gives us some heroines that Ripley would be proud of! Alien: Echo is an original young adult novel set in the Alien film universe which means yes, we absolutely get to see the creepy, drooly, chittering aliens from the movies. The premise:  Twin sisters Olivia and Viola are daughters of two xenobiologists (coolest job title ever.) Their family is stationed on a new colony world. When they discover a new and deadly alien species (hmm, I wonder what it could be?) they are forced on the run in hostile terrain in a fight for their lives. Queer main character alert!! So excite! I loved Olivia, our protagonist. First off, she kicks SOOOO much ass, but in a smart way. Not a "blustering around, shooting anything that moves" type. She was smart. She had the knowledge. She used it and common sense to survive. Viola, her twin sister, is sassy and real and a nice opposite to her sister. One of the side characters I legitly wanted to punch in the face, which is probably...

Y'all know I LOVE me a good natural disaster book. Epic floods? Earthquakes? Volcanoes? Sign me up. The Waters Will Come  was published in late 2017, but it only crossed my radar late last year, so of course I JUMPED at the chance to read it. It's a nonfiction book that looks in depth at global warming and it's effects on ocean levels. More importantly, how humans all over the world will be super boned when the water levels rise because it effects so much. Bye, Florida. Adios, most of Italy. See you later, normal life as we know it now. The book was a nice mix of "here's actual facts about things that happened and the policies and decisions that made it this way" and "here is a very plausible scenario that will happen if we let things continue as they are." While this book doesn't exactly inspire hope for the future, it does slap us in the face enough to want to take action, which is hopeful in itself, I think. Love ya, Lady P.

Do you know how many times I've spelled "Crichton" wrong when trying to help library patrons find his books? Turns out it's a big deal if you put the H before the R, as far as finding his books on the shelves goes. Today, I'll be talking at you about one of the great pieces of thriller/science fiction literature, The Andromeda Strain.  And how, uh... I thought it was maybe a little bit boring?? I really enjoy Crichton's work. He's fast paced, he has a tendency to write tropes I really like (including this one - killer alien plague that threatens to wipe out all of humanity? I'll take two.) He's very edge of your seat, and seems to get the science at least in the ballpark. (I say seems because I don't know a photon from a hole in the ground, and wouldn't know to start fact checking if I wanted to.) To that end, I will say that I found the initial people dying horribly bits super interesting. The whole premise was interesting! It was  v...

Author: Mackenzi Lee Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books Pub Date: October 2, 2018 Genre: YA, LGBT, historical fiction Rating:  5 stars Amazon | GoodReads Summary:  A year after an accidentally whirlwind grand tour with her brother Monty, Felicity Montague has returned to England with two goals in mind—avoid the marriage proposal of a lovestruck suitor from Edinburgh and enroll in medical school. However, her intellect and passion will never be enough in the eyes of the administrators, who see men as the sole guardians of science. But then a window of opportunity opens—a doctor she idolizes is marrying an old friend of hers in Germany. Felicity believes if she could meet this man he could change her future, but she has no money of her own to make the trip. Luckily, a mysterious young woman is willing to pay Felicity’s way, so long as she’s allowed to travel with Felicity disguised as her maid. In spite of her suspicions, Felicity agrees, but once the girl’s true motiv...

The Big Ones: How Natural Disasters Have Shaped Us (And What We Can Do About Them)  Author: Lucy Jones Genre: Nonfiction (disasters!) Publisher: Doubleday Books Publication Date: April 17, 2018 Rating: 4 stars GoodReads ~~~ Amazon Description:  Natural disasters emerge from the same forces that give our planet life. Earthquakes have provided us with natural springs. Volcanoes have given us fertile soil. A world without floods would be a world without rain. It is only when these forces exceed our ability to withstand them that they become disasters. Together, these colossal events have shaped our cities and their architecture; elevated leaders and toppled governments; influenced the way we reason, feel, fight, unite, and pray. The history of natural disasters is a history of ourselves. Review:  I super love natural disasters. I am, in fact, a supernatural disaster geek. (This stems from a life time of never actually having been in one.) So I saw this book o...

Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife Reviewer: Peekaboo Author: Mary Roach Publisher:  W.W. Norton and Co Publishing Date: September 26, 2006 Genre:  Nonfiction - Science Rating: 5 stars  Amazon   Goodreads Summary:  "What happens when we die? Does the light just go out and that's that—the million-year nap? Or will some part of my personality, my me-ness persist? What will that feel like? What will I do all day? Is there a place to plug in my lap-top?" In an attempt to find out, Mary Roach brings her tireless curiosity to bear on an array of contemporary and historical soul-searchers: scientists, schemers, engineers, mediums, all trying to prove (or disprove) that life goes on after we die. Review: In typical Mary Roach style, this book kicks a lot of ass. If you've read a Mary Roach book before, you know what you are getting into. A lot of humor, facts presented in a way that is both interesting and educational (and very far from boring),...