Book Review # 2- Lilith's Brood

I returned to my science fiction genre.   Lilith's Brood is a trilogy, Dawn, Adulthood Rites, and Imago.  All three were great.  The fact that they were bound together just made it easier to read all three. 

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Octavia E. Butler creates a new civilization based on an alien spececies.  After the earth ends in World War Three (typical sci-fie beginning) an alien species regrows the earth and populates it with rescued humans.  But the book gets really good when the aliens present thier plan, to "trade" with humans.  The aliens want to create a new race with mixed genes of the aliens species and humans. 

Each of the three books follows a different step in the process. 

Let me just say that her new interpretation of family and love is fascinating to watch.  She manages to create a world that is completely alien while being on earth with humans.  She captures what it means to be human through the eyes of an alien.  She also shows that humans have a great gift for compassion and change.  This is what I love about science fiction, it shows humans in a way that other genres cannot do because the subject is too close.   

Butler is an amazing author.  She has won countless awards.  Her writing is engaging and kept me up many a night.  Her last book I read, Kindred Heart, touches on the subject of race with the same insight. 

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good story.  If you have never read sci-fie you are missing something great.

Book Review #1

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I have decided I will write periodic book reviews for the novels I read. One thing about me is that I love to read. As a child I was called a book worm, and my husband and I own hundreds of books. I am always reading a book, if ever I get caught between books I get a little nervous. To prevent that from happening I tend to stock up on books I have not read.

I just finished reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Strieg Larsson.  Although I am usually a staunch sci-fie reader, I have read so much that sometimes I have to look outside my genre for new books.  I chose this book because it was recommended to me by my father before he died.  I feel closer to him when I read books I know he read.  However, my dad actually didn't like it that much.  The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is actually a mystery about a girl who has gone missing (not the one with the tattoo) over thirty years earlier.  I'm not a fan of mysteries because I couldn't be bothered to try to keep track of all the characters and figure out what happened, but I did enjoy this book.  I let the story unravel and was satisfied with the conclusion (all except the last sentence which was pretty horrible and seemed manipulative).  

Larson is a good storyteller and can easily draw the reader into the story.  He intertwines various story lines in the book quite well, with at least one exciting plot thread at a time.  This book was also an easy read.

In general, for a genre that does not do much for me, this was an enjoyable book to read.  The last third of the book is quite a cliff-hanger so don't read it at night if you want to get any sleep (one night I stayed up until 4 A.M. reading it). 

I'm not sure if anyone is interested in my little book reviews so please let me know if this was helpful to you at all.

***I was not paid for this review or any future purchases of this book through amazon.  I just want to help others find good books.***

Also- I want to give a shout out to my classmates in the Sarah Lawrence Women's History graduate program who started the blog Re/Visions, they have a fabulous article analyzing gender norms on the show What not to Wear.  Its a great way to look at that show (which I never really liked, anyway, but feel compelled to watch if I see it on).  This blog is a step away from the normal home blog I read, but it keeps my mind active (in a feminist sort of way, home blogs keep me thinking too, but more about how to paint my bathroom).   If you dig you might find some articles I have written on Re/Visions as well.  :)