Here are the books I read last month.
Arcadia, by Lauren Groff
I loved, loved, loved this book. I read The Monsters of Templeton by Groff in November, and I liked it, but Arcadia is one of my favorite books ever. It's about a commune in upstate New York, and specifically about a boy on the commune nicknamed 'Bit' because he is, as one lady said, the "littlest bit of a hippie she's ever seen." It's also about Bit's family; his mother Hannah, and his father, Abe, and their lives on the commune, Arcadia. And it's absolutely wonderful. I was able to relate to a lot of this book, but I think even if you can't, it's just a fabulous read and I highly recommend it.
Love May Fail, by Matthew Quick
Love May Fail is actually the second book by Matthew Quick that I attempted to read last month. The first was Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock and the first couple chapters of that book hurt my heart so much I just gave up. Maybe I'll try again, but I don't know.
So, I ended up reading Love May Fail instead and it was... okay. I actually didn't really like it. Quick is a good-enough writer, I guess, but not for me. His writing fell flat, as did his characters. This book should have been right up my alley what with all the references to 80s rock, but I just couldn't care. The main character, Portia, fell especially flat for me. No matter what happened to her; an adulterous husband, a shut-in mother, other things I won't spoil for you, I just couldn't care. Love May Fail was my least favorite book from December.
The Gilded Life of Matilda Duplaine, by Alex Brunkhorst
This book was very unusual. Or, at least the premise is. I wasn't one hundred percent sure I would like it because it's about a young woman who never leaves her estate in Bel Air. And never has. She is not agoraphobic, but is, rather, the daughter of an extremely wealthy man who made the decision for her to live her entire life within the confines of his estate. That was a hard concept for me to get my mind around because it just seems far-fetched to me in this day and age. But, then again, I'm not super-wealthy, so who knows what nonsense those folks are up to.
All in all though, I liked this book. It was a fun escape and it definitely had an unusual plot, which I appreciate. One thing I will warn you about is that some fool of an editor compares the book to The Great Gatsby in the fly leaf. I don't know why they did that because it's a disservice to the author. Brunkhorst is a fine author, she doesn't need to be, or be compared to, F. Scott Fitzgerald. So, to sum up. This book is good. Take it on your Spring Break vacation; it's great for that sort of trip. It's not Gatsby, but it's not trying to be.
Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline
In this book, the world has gone to hell and most people spend their time online in an alternate universe that lets them forget the world has gone to hell. This online world is called OASIS and when the creator of OASIS passes away, he issues a challenge to every OASIS user; finish his quest, find the keys and inherit his billions.
This quest provides the plot for the book and, I have to tell you, I wanted to like this book more than I did. If I were a bigger geek, I think I would have. (Damn my undeserved popularity!) As it was, the parts that most resembled D & D were my favorite because I was most able to relate to them as a past RPG player. But, the anime and TV shows and video games and 80s movies failed to hold my interest. (Not The Breakfast Club, obviously, I'd be interested in The Breakfast Club). Another problem I had with the book was that OASIS even existed. It was free to all users so everyone spent the majority of their time online while the world just rotted around them. I can't help but think that if OASIS weren't so readily available, people might have done more to fix the problems with the real world.
Still, it was a fun read and if you grew up in the 80s, it's even more fun.
Red Rising and Golden Son, by Pierce Brown
I read these books because I was trying to find a book for my nephew for Christmas. And, I gotta tell you, Reader Friends, I rather like this series. It's about a man named Darrow who is part of the lowest underclass, the Reds, on Mars. He and his people spend their days mining materials so that Mars can be terra-formed which is necessary because the Earth is dying and humankind needs to be able to colonize Mars to survive.
Except that Mars has actually been terra-formed and colonized for hundreds of years. The ruling class, the Golds, just keep the Reds below ground mining and dying young because that's how society works now. People are color coded, and genetically modified to perform specific duties: the Golds are created/bred to lead, the Violets are created/bred to be artists and the Reds, the lowest of the low, are created/bred to do the back-breaking work of the mines.
Did Brown maybe lose the plot a couple of times? Sure, maybe, but really, these books are very good and they definitely hold your interest. I sped through the first two and am eagerly awaiting the third and final book, Morning Star.
What about you, Reader Friends? Did you read anything good in December? Feel like sharing it here next Tuesday? Because Literary Stylings is back and we'll be linking up here next Tuesday!
Happy This Tuesday, All!
Gracey
