My Perfect Read

Publisher Summary: In this funny, angry, touching, and ultimately deeply inspiring novel, bestselling author Jonathan Evison takes the reader into the heart and mind of a young man on a journey to discover himself, a search to find the secret to achieving the American dream of happiness and prosperity. That’s the birthright for all Americans, isn’t it? If so, then what is Mike Muñoz’s problem? Though he tries time and again to get his foot on the first rung of that ladder to success, he can’t seem to get a break. But then things start to change for Mike, and after a raucous, jarring, and challenging trip, he finds he can finally see the future and his place in it. And it’s looking really good.

Why I liked it: Narrated through the eyes of a young man who is let down by the system at every turn, this story exposes the challenges of being poor, low class, and uneducated in America. The main character observes life through the humorous, slightly bewildered lens of the post-millennial generation, and I found him to be a likeable protagonist. Without spoiling the book, my one gripe is a major character development-type twist where another character basically gets completely dropped from the story. Apart from that, "Lawn Boy" is a book filled with memorable characters, funny slice-of-life situations, and a contemporary exploration of what it means to chase your dreams.

Publisher summary: Life aboard the Wayfarer is chaotic and crazy—exactly what Rosemary wants. It’s also about to get extremely dangerous when the crew is offered the job of a lifetime. Tunneling wormholes through space to a distant planet is definitely lucrative and will keep them comfortable for years. But risking her life wasn’t part of the plan. In the far reaches of deep space, the tiny Wayfarer crew will confront a host of unexpected mishaps and thrilling adventures that force them to depend on each other. To survive, Rosemary’s got to learn how to rely on this assortment of oddballs—an experience that teaches her about love and trust, and that having a family isn’t necessarily the worst thing in the universe.

Why I liked: At its core, the book is an exploration of the relationships that develop on a spaceship that’s crewed by several different species. Every character is given a fully explored backstory, and that informs the way each person navigates the cultural, moral, and physiological differences that arise. The way the author, Becky Chambers, blends humor with serious themes is reminiscent of the TV show Firefly.
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When Captain Kel Cheris of the hexarchate is disgraced for her unconventional tactics, Kel Command gives her a chance to redeem herself by retaking the Fortress of Scattered Needles from the heretics. Cheris’s career isn’t the only thing at stake: if the fortress falls, the hexarchate itself might be next.

Cheris’s best hope is to ally with the undead tactician Shuos Jedao. The good news is that Jedao has never lost a battle, and he may be the only one who can figure out how to successfully besiege the fortress. The bad news is that Jedao went mad in his first life and massacred two armies, one of them his own.

As the siege wears on, Cheris must decide how far she can trust Jedao – because she might be his next victim.

Why I liked: The hexarchate is an empire that dominates the galaxy through war technology based on numerology, symbology, and most important of all, absolute compliance to its doctrinal system of beliefs. This unique framework serves as a fulcrum for the story's world-building, as well as some seriously mind-bending battles. Some of the weapons employed include "calendrical swords", and "threshold winnowers". I also really like the main character, Officer Cheris. Though she is a pawn at first, Cheris's cunning, ambition, and pure chutzpa earns her a form of agency in the end.

My favorite passage from the book perfectly describes Cheris:

The two ways to win at gambling were to read the situation and know the odds. Cheris had calculated her situation already. She had only a single life to offer, and she was aware of the ugly deaths that awaited her should she fail, but at some point you had to trust yourself.

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Publisher summary: Adrian Tchaikovksy's critically acclaimed novel Children of Time, is the epic story of humanity's battle for survival on a terraformed planet.

Who will inherit this new Earth? The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover the greatest treasure of the past age – a world terraformed and prepared for human life.

But all is not right in this new Eden. In the long years since the planet was abandoned, the work of its architects has borne disastrous fruit. The planet is not waiting for them, pristine and unoccupied. New masters have turned it from a refuge into mankind's worst nightmare.

Now two civilizations are on a collision course, both testing the boundaries of what they will do to survive. As the fate of humanity hangs in the balance, who are the true heirs of this new Earth?

Why I Liked: There are two concurrent storylines that span over eons: a human ark ship that slowly devolves into barbarism, and the rise of an uplifted spider civilization. The bizarre spider perspectives can be trying at times, but that's tempered by the classicist Holston Mason, from which the human side is narrated. An academic everyman who gets swept up in momentous events, Mason manages to traverse the stormy waters with his morality, humanity, and humor still intact.
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Publisher summary: In the wake of the Civil War, Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd travels through northern Texas, giving live readings from newspapers to paying audiences hungry for news of the world. An elderly widower who has lived through three wars and fought in two of them, the captain enjoys his rootless, solitary existence.

In Wichita Falls, he is offered a $50 gold piece to deliver a young orphan to her relatives in San Antonio. Four years earlier, a band of Kiowa raiders killed Johanna’s parents and sister; sparing the little girl, they raised her as one of their own. Recently rescued by the U.S. army, the ten-year-old has once again been torn away from the only home she knows.

Their 400-mile journey south through unsettled territory and unforgiving terrain proves difficult and at times dangerous. Johanna has forgotten the English language, tries to escape at every opportunity, throws away her shoes, and refuses to act “civilized.” Yet as the miles pass, the two lonely survivors tentatively begin to trust each other, forming a bond that marks the difference between life and death in this treacherous land.

Why I liked: The contrast between the world-weary Captain Kidd and the fierce and wild Johanna makes for a great companion travel book. The author's evocative yet spare writing style (she's also a poet) perfectly suits the lawless vacuum of 1860s America following Confederate defeat.
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Publisher summary: For the runaway Punkzilla, kicking a meth habit and a life of petty crime in Oregon is a prelude to reconnecting with his older brother, who is dying of cancer in Memphis. Against a backdrop of seedy motels, dicey bus stations, and hitched rides, the fourteen-year-old meets a colorful, sometimes dangerous cast of characters. And in letters to his sibling, crackling with visceral details and dark humor, he catalogs them all. With each interstate exit his journey grows more urgent: will he make it to Tennessee in time? This daring novel offers a narrative worthy of Kerouac and a keen insight into the power of chance encounters.

Why I liked: In his trek across America, Punkzilla interacts with a host of wonderfully weird characters. These experiences are recounted in letters to his brother. Even though we see the journey unfold through the eyes of a 14-year-old, there's a rich layer of subtext in the writing that shows these strangers to be complex and (mostly) altruistic people.
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Co-created by 470 "Business Model Canvas" practitioners from 45 countries, the book features a beautiful, highly visual, 4-color design that takes powerful strategic ideas and tools, and makes them easy to implement in your organization. It explains the most common Business Model patterns, based on concepts from leading business thinkers, and helps you reinterpret them for your own context. You will learn how to systematically understand, design, and implement a game-changing business model--or analyze and renovate an old one. Along the way, you'll understand at a much deeper level your customers, distribution channels, partners, revenue streams, costs, and your core value proposition.

Why I liked it: I like books about design, a discipline that's ultimately about solving problems. "Business Model Generation" provides a methodical approach that proven businesses use to tackle challenges. The book takes a complex process and breaks it down using layout, infographics, and real life examples. Equally good for reading front-to-back or for browsing.
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Publisher summary: One of the greatest American novels finds its perfect contemporary champion in Why Read Moby-Dick?, Nathaniel Philbrick’s enlightening and entertaining tour through Melville’s classic. As he did in his National Book Award–winning bestseller In the Heart of the Sea, Philbrick brings a sailor’s eye and an adventurer’s passion to unfolding the story behind an epic American journey. He skillfully navigates Melville’s world and illuminates the book’s humor and unforgettable characters—finding the thread that binds Ishmael and Ahab to our own time and, indeed, to all times. An ideal match between author and subject, Why Read Moby-Dick? will start conversations, inspire arguments, and make a powerful case that this classic tale waits to be discovered anew.

Why I Liked: Informative, accessible, and fun to read -- my kind of non-fiction! Philbrick puts the famously complex "Moby Dick" into context by exploring the time when it was published, as well as the important events and relationships in Melville's life. There is some critical analysis, but it's engaging and mostly used to highlight the focus of each chapter.
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