Editorial Reviews for Nominees
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 Score: 92+/100 (9.2+ out of 10)
Driving For Justice is an ambitious, positive, and inspiring novel by Justin Kojok. It blends the legal/courtroom genres (the author's area of expertise) with drama, realistic fiction, contemporary fiction, and urban life. It also has a strong, underlying humanistic and existential themes. The book follows seasoned New York lawyer John Sanbian of Kombat & Associates. John Sanbian is tired and jaded of his legal career, particularly its artificial and overly-strict and structured nature. He says that everything that goes on in a courtroom is “transactional” and similar to theater. John understands that a lot of the work that goes on in the courtroom is scripted and highly controlled, kinda like a movie set. Everyone says the same lines and goes through the same routines day after day, a lot of times defending someone they know is probably guilty or persecuting someone who is probably innocent. Why? Because that's just the way it is. Furthermore, it's a lawyer's job. John is on a hamster wheel. Everything has become predictable and mechanical. He feels trapped in the “golden handcuffs” of his legal career. We can definitely relate to that feeling. We all feel trapped or stuck from time to time. We all feel obligated to do something we don't want to do (or something that our moral compasses might not entirely agree with) because, well, that's just the way that it is. We need to make a living. We need to survive. We need to provide for our families. And, perhaps more relevant to John's situation, we will have dumped so much of our time, energy, and funds into getting the education to be in the position we're in (i.e. a lawyer). A lifelong idealist, John wants to finally break free and branch out from the rigid, artificial life in the courtroom. He wants to be himself and try something different, something fresh and new. To that end, he decides to become a night driver for a ride share company known as Laafia (comparable to Uber or Lyft). He presumes that this will allow him to meet a variety of unique, interesting, and inspirational new people who may be able to teach him a thing or two. And, well, he's right! The list of passengers/riders and the variety of experiences he has with them is plentiful. There's at least one rider who is a musician, one who is a filmmaker, one who is a film critic, one who is a traveler from Spain, one who is a young aspiring lawyer, a paralegal, students, and more! They touch John in some ways, and he touches them in others. After almost every encounter, John concludes that everyone and every thing has a story to tell, we are all connected somehow, and that it's not the destination, it's the journey. In one of the most heartwarming parts of the novel, a group of theater performers enter his car willing to sing anything that John wants. John asks them to sing “Moon River” (from Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the theme song of Andy Williams). They all gladly sing it together. This moment and song resonated a lot with us personally. John also encounters several people who know him from the legal career including an unstable, seemingly-suicidal/homicidal man who partly blames John for his broken life. However, perhaps the most important person he gives a ride to (in the context of the the plot) is an old courtroom rival with a great degree of fame, Samantha Maanpaak. In fact, Samantha even has paparazzi chasing her and following her around like she's Trump or OJ's lawyer or something. Geez! That's a bit... excessive. Anyway, about halfway through this book, Samantha actually helps to provide readers and this book with some semblance of a conflict, something that it seemed to be sorely missing, seemingly meandering and spinning its wheels as John came to virtually the same three conclusion dozens of times, just worded differently: everyone and every thing has a story to tell, we are all connected somehow, it's not the destination, it's the journey. Not only does Samantha give John a way to make amends and for an antagonistic character (like Samantha) to redeem herself, it also allows the two former rivals to work together against a bigger-bad like they're Rocky Balboa & Apollo Creed in Rocky III. Along with Daniel, the three become the “three comrades” and “the trio” in an effort to vindicate Samantha in light of scathing accusations. The bond is “forged in adversity and mutual respect.” In our notes, we wrote something along the lines of: “FINALLY A CONFLICT AND A POTENTIAL VILLAIN!!!” around page 230. Lila, John's supportive wife, pops in from time to time to give him words of encouragement and to—somewhat bizarrely—philosophize like she's some enigmatic reincarnation of Confucius or Socrates or something. She starts conversations saying things like “John, the hours are late and the world is quiet” like she's in a Shakespearean play! We wrote in our notes: “WHO TALKS LIKE THAT!?!” Honestly, we don't think we enjoyed Lila as much as the author intended. The problem with Lila is that, like a lot of this book, she's redundant, repetitive, and unbelievably sentimental and philosophical. She's supposed to be helping John to come to a realization that he never had, yet she usually just echoes the same realizations he's had dozens of times throughout the book: everyone and every thing has a story to tell, we are all connected somehow, it's not the destination, it's the journey. And, funny enough, when she says it, it's somehow supposed to have more impact and profoundness than when the librarian and janitor said almost the same things. We should add that there's a fourth theme or message that keep reverberating like a broken record: reconciling John's dual lives. We don't want to be too harsh and harp on this too much, but it really became grating and cloying after a while. Everyone has a story to tell It's not the destination, it's the journey We're all connected, we're all human Reconcile my dual lives Every rider has a story to tell It's not the destination, it's the journey We're all connected, we're all human Reconcile my dual lives Every street has a story to tell It's not the destination, it's the journey We're all connected, we're all human Reconcile my dual lives The city has a story to tell Recapture the magic of the journey, not just the destination We're all connected, we're all human Reconcile my dual lives Every cab has a story to tell It's not the destination, it's the journey We're all connected, we're all human Reconcile my dual lives Every passenger left a dream It's not the destination, it's the journey We're all connected, we're all human Reconcile my dual lives Every passenger is a verse in the poem of life It's not the destination, it's the journey We're all connected, we're all human Reconcile my dual lives Each photograph told a story It's not the destination, it's the journey We're all connected, we're all human Reconcile my dual lives The city's tales seemed to unfurl before them It's not the destination, it's the journey We're all connected, we're all human Reconcile my dual lives It's like a rapper using the same rhyme or tune in every song. No matter how great it is, it becomes tiresome after a while. At a certain point, we just wanted to throw up our hands and say: DUDE! WE GET IT ALREADY! We got it the first forty times you said it! Can we get on with the plot now? Can we have some conflict other than the same existential, humanistic conflict with the predictable outcome that John's been going on and on about for like 300 pages? It's like watching the same guy come to the same epiphany and have the same arc a dozen times. Could you imagine if every single paragraph in an essay had to start or end with the thesis statement? Wouldn't that become annoying after a while? At some point, at least, John realizes that he's not only a keeper of individual stories but also of the memories of the city itself. This seems to happen at the time he encounters the bookstore owner. He then goes from his usual: Everyone has a story to tell It's not the destination, it's the journey We're all connected, we're all human Reconcile my dual lives ...to telling the City of New York “I see you now” and pledging to preserve it. It is kinda funny and strange how overhyped people get about this lawyer-turned-Lyft-driver. Like, they put him all over the news. They build statues of him and his wife, Lila. They name buildings after them. They name a park's playground after them. They write, sing, and name a song after them. They have a parade. It's a bit... excessive. Like, you'd do those types of things for a president or a war hero. Like, John is great, but... is he THAT great? And Lila... what did she really do to warrant having all these things suddenly named after her? The two get treated like pharaohs or gods on earth. It's kinda bizarre how over-the-top it all is. It seems so... contrived and forced. A similar thing happens in the author's other book, Whispers in the Vineyard, in which everyone relentlessly praises the main character and tells them how much they changed the town in their brief time there. In that book, events that we literally just read about are reenacted on stage, and the audience is described as being emotional and even crying. Again, it almost seems contrived or forced, like the author is making us feel a certain way rather than just feeling that way willingly. There's a reason why Vegeta is more popular among Dragon Ball fans than Goku. It's because we don't have the narrator constantly telling us and reminding us that he's good, beloved, the best, the greatest, and the most wonderful. The same can be said about CM Punk or Randy Orton in comparison to John Cena, who was portrayed by WWE as the over-the-top white-blooded boy scout who could do no wrong and ALWAYS WON. Similarly, it just felt forced and fans pushed back and rejected Cena because of it. The same with John in Driving For Justice or Loom in Whispers in the Vineyard. You don't need to keep telling us that they're great and wonderful and kind and self-sacrificing and caring and beautiful and handsome and amazing and incredible and the greatest and the best. All that does is drive the reader/consumer of the media against them. It's like being force-fed. The food could be great, but we don't want to be forced to eat it. You know who isn't force-fed to us? Samantha. She's a great, gray character who is shown to be vulnerable and have flaws, weaknesses, and insecurities that we didn't constantly have to be reminded about. She also doesn't talk like she's Plato (i.e. Lila) and isn't a white knight like John. She admits to her mistakes in the past and shows regret and guilt because of it. She's a character who actually has a meaningful and powerful arc that isn't just the same four epiphanies over and over again: Everyone has a story to tell It's not the destination, it's the journey We're all connected, we're all human Reconcile my dual lives Now, on a positive note, John is a very good man and an inspirational character—a great example to follow. Like, if you wanted your kid to be like someone, John might be it. John is an idealist who pushes back against the norm and the system. He is said to have chosen law to help people. He values “moments not minutes.” This is contrary to other lawyers who charge by the hour. His first case was stepping up for a mere food vendor who was wrongfully accused. Even when his associates scoffed and laughed at him for wanting to do the right thing (saying, “idealism is a young man's currency”--a GREAT line by the way!), John still pledged to do the right thing and fight for people who were innocent even if it meant losing a case or two. He would respect the evidence and the truth of the narrative, not twist it. He would do the right thing as a lawyer and as a human being. Now, that's admirable and commendable! We respect that! This is the kind of lawyer you would want on your side. Another thing we appreciated about this book was how flowery and poetic the writing was. There was a lot of alliteration. For example: “The most powerful dreams are the ones we dare to live while awake” “...a mix of despair and desperation.” “...stories and secrets hidden in every corner” "...skyscrapers loomed above like silent sentinels" . “... the heart needs more than verdicts and victories” There's also great use of personification, for example: “...the night seemed to hold its breath in anticipation of dawn.” “Guilt is the heart's way of asking for forgiveness.” So, this book is a good book overall. There were times when it got on our nerves and became a bit redundant and repetitive, but it ultimately came around to redeem itself. Check it out on Amazon!
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 Score: 95+/100 (9.5+ out of 10)
And this is why you don't judge a book by its cover, its title, or its first hundred pages! Son of the Doomsday Prophet by Steven Byers pleasantly surprised us with its action, adventure, suspense, drama, and—most shockingly of all—its romance! This book contains some of the sweetest, most touching, most compelling, powerful, beautiful, and—dare we say—sexy romances we've ever read about! We can't emphasize enough how touched and compelled we were by the relationships between Noah's sons and their various love interests, all with the looming threat of the Great Flood, the supernatural Watchers, and natural threats like drought and famine looming over everything. It really had us at the edge of our seats! One we got about halfway through this book, we couldn't put it down! So, where do we start? Well, let's start with the characters because they're really what make this book great. The main protagonist is Japheth, the eldest of the Biblical Noah's three sons and largely believed to have been the ancient ancestor to many Europeans. However, despite his considerably grand role in the history of humankind, Japheth largely goes unnoticed by most, even Biblical scholars and rabbis. He most certainly isn't as popular or venerated as patriarchs like Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. He doesn't have a book of the scriptures named after him, and the most we hear of him is usually involving his covering of Noah's nakedness/drunkenness, having been married, and being a son of Noah. Noah, perhaps, gives us the best description of Japheth in this book: “...the son of a prophet and yet not a prophet; being born of a leading clan and yet an outcast; loving and not being loved” Japheth is an incredibly sympathetic character with a great deal of emotional depth and relatable conflicts like pining for love, having conflicts of faith, and desiring to be a positive role-model to his brothers. So many of us have been there and done that. We've experienced similar things. Now, none of us have experienced the impending doom of a Great Flood or having worked on a giant boat that can't steer for 100+ years. Yes, the well-known story of the building of the Ark and the collecting of the animals does take place throughout the book, but they're more so in the background. Strangely, however, that doesn't make these Biblical events seem insignificant, rather, this story seems to add meat to the bone—to flesh out the characters we've come to know from the religious texts. Just when you think you know the message the author is supposedly trying to push, a character or incident will come along to challenge it. And that's part of the beauty of this book. It clearly comes from a place of respect, love, and reverence for the Holy Bible, and yet it isn't preachy or didactic. It doesn't push or force one particular narrative. Rather, it lets you think for yourself and see the world as the characters (historical figures) may have seen it. For example, not every human being, beast, or even Nephilim in this book is irredeemably evil or immoral. Rather, this surprisingly real-seeming world (the Earth before the Great Flood) seems to lived in and full with relatable and familiar people, people who act, think, and function the way that people today do. Some just want to be rich and famous (like Gomer, the dreamer). Some want power (like Ben-Tubal, the governor). Some are truly despicable like Baldag. Some are just doing their job (like Krell, the executioner). Some are actually good people who feel bound and obligated to serve people who do wrong (like Dayak). Some are just starving and guided by hunger like the thief in Nod. Some are somewhere in the middle—conflicted—like Sheshi-Behura, Re-Aylah, Jirah, and Minnah—some of the love interests of the book. And there's the heart and soul of this book: the female characters. This book is not only the tale of the sons of Noah (Japheth, Ham, and Shem), but it is also the story of the women they loved and met along the way. We know from the scriptures that all three sons were married/had sexual relations at some point, which seems obvious considering that we're all supposed to be descended from the three of them. So, who were these women? Who were these wives? What were they like? Were they good people? Did they love and follow the Lord, God, like we're told Noah did? Were they all from the same tribe or could they have come from a different one? And why would God put these women—of all women—on an Ark with these men—of all men? Those are some intriguing, fascinating, and compelling questions! To make things even better, these female characters possess an uncanny amount of charisma, energy, and allure. It's hard to describe, but... they just come across as so spunky, likable, and attractive. The main female protagonist of the novel is Re-Aylah, Japheth's love interest. Their relationship is adorable. So, in a sense, Re-Aylah was kinda Japheth's childhood bully similar to how Nadia had bullied Sayid in Lost. Strange comparison, we know, but it was the first one that came to mind. Re-Aylah, like many people, was both curious and skeptical about what on earth the Noah boys were doing rolling logs on prehistoric wheels and making a boat. One of her first lines is, “Could we ask what you're doing?” There's a lot more subtext to that question than just the words themselves. You can tell there's a curiosity and, perhaps more importantly, a yearning in Re-Aylah's heart to know the truth and find answers. In a sense, she can be likened to someone who hasn't found God yet but who remains curious about his existence and yearning for his presence in her life. She says: “Now I know that it was wrong and I’m sorry. As for the rest, I’m very confused. I hear your words and they frighten me. But I do not understand how your family alone can be right while all the rest of the world is wrong.” Re-Aylah also has a sarcastic and playful side to her personality that makes her appealing. For example, she tends to call Japheth, sarcastically, the one who's “always right.” Japheth and Re-Aylah are just simply an adorable couple, one of the best in the contest so far! It helps that they don't feel forced together or shoved down your throat. In fact, there's a lot of tension between the two. There's a lot of tension between all the couples in this book. These aren't magnets of opposite charges attracting, these seem like real, living people who are struggling to come together against all odds. And that's what makes them compelling! Re-Aylah, despite being from a different group, often comes to the same river as Japheth to fill her jug of water. This results in both a touching and funny moment in which Re-Aylah ends up falling in the water because of Japheth, something which she holds over his head for the rest of the novel. This relationship really feels earned, especially considering all the terrible, turbulent things that Japheth goes through to hopefully find himself back in the arms of Re-Aylah, his one true love and the one person he is committed to making his wife. For example, he and his brothers travel to the inhospitable land of Nod where there is little food or water. Japheth is captured multiple times and eventually imprisoned by the Watchers (powerful fallen angels), threatened with death, tempted by his hot female lawyer (Sheshi), encounters monsters/beasts of various kinds, gets into scuffles, skirts with doom in the governor's palace, gets hunted like a wounded animal by the villainous Baldag, and much more! There is so much tension, action, adventure, and drama in this book! We've talked a lot about Japheth and Re-Aylah, our lead male and female protagonists, but what about the others? Well, there's also Minnah, a bit of a childhood crush of the boys, who comes across as a wandering soul who gradually deteriorates as she comes back and forth, in and out of the boys' lives until she's almost unrecognizable and prone to thievery to keep herself alive, eventually calling herself “nobody.” Guilt and shame wreck havoc on her mind and soul, causing her to develop a drinking problem (for “Grack”--an alcohol-like drink that makes you forget things). She's a very tragic characters and not one we ever came across to hating or disliking. Minnah reminded us a bit of Jenny from Forest Gump. There was always a hope that someday she would make it out of this alive and finding salvation. Perhaps there still is. Then there's Jirah, Ham's high-born crush—the daughter of His Excellency Ben-Tubal, the tyrant of the region. Jirah is essentially a princess, and she doesn't start this book as a believer like Noah and his sons do. She's a bit of an outsider to their belief system and traditions. Simultaneously, Ham is an outsider to her family's belief system and traditions, not to mention their class differences. Jirah is royalty. Ham, on the other hand, is comparable to lower-nobility, slightly elevated by him being the son of a prophet, albeit one whom many folks are losing faith in (after his prophecy having not come to fruition in decades). Now, Jirah can be funny because she comes across as an entitled little princess sometimes, which is how you'd expect a person with her background to act. There's a moment in which the heroes are severely outnumbered like 90 to 1 and Jirah still insists that her husband defend her honor after being insulted! That's Jirah for you! There's also Sheshi-Behura, a kind of lawyer or defense attorney whom Japheth meets pretty late into this book as Japheth faces arguably the most daunting and insurmountable threat to his life. He meets her in his darkest hour, in other words. What's particularly beautiful and powerful about the character of Sheshi is that she seems to represent two very different things on two separate ends of the morality spectrum: 1. She represents HOPE 2. She represents TEMPTATION Sheshi is a very appealing and charismatic character in a lot of ways. You can't help but hope that she can get Japheth out of the dire predicament that he's in. At the same time, she also seems to develop romantic and intimate feelings for him which clash with Japheth's faith and his loyalty to both God and Re-Aylah. We are so grateful that the author didn't just throw her under the bus as some kind of Jezebel or succubus, instead giving her a very dignified and understandable place in the story. In fact, it's like that with a lot of the morally-gray or even dark characters. For example, there's a big, huge, monstrous Nephilim in here named Krell. He's essentially an executioner and torturer. Now, you'd think he'd be savage and despicable. However, he comes across as shockingly polite, cordial, and considerate, even when he's pointing out ways to hurt and maim Japheth! It's such a subversion of expectations. Speaking of subverting our expectations, many of the unsaved characters who would normally be portrayed as bad, corrupt, immoral, amoral, or even outright evil in religious texts are actually very sympathetic rather than being caricatured into villainous roles with villainous attributes. For example, there's Dayak, a man who tries to do right by the Noah boys who helped him a decade earlier. However, he's still tied to his new, comfortable life and other obligations he feels he has. Even some of the Nephilites and Canaanites are humanized to a great degree rather than being portrayed as enemies or others. There's even a scene in which the heroes compete in a kind of prehistoric Olympic Games with the Nephilites, discovering that they can't keep up with their strength and speed. You really get the sense that these aren't cartoon characters, they're actual living beings. It's just unfortunate that many of them seem disinclined to being saved or seeking God for whatever reason, tragic in the context of this story. The Nephilim even have their own set of problems such as losing the ability to procreate and being compared to “eunuchs” by Krell. The same is true for the Watchers who, while pretty much evil demons, are still trying to seek out new information in an attempt to improve their situations. Now, there are some irredeemably evil people in this book who will really get on your nerves. For exmaple, there's Hura and Baldag, some of the secondary villains of the novel who just come across as needless jerkish jerks all the time. However, they're far and in between. There's a lot of humanity in this book. It really feels real and lived-in. And the humans aren't alone. Remember the animals? Well, there were some strange creatures before the Great Flood including behemoths and foot-long caterpillars and presumably transform into massive butterflies or moths. The Noah boys also seem to have some kind of affinity with the animals, some of whom (like the beavers and wolves) actually help them to either build the Ark or to serve as guides. That kinda explains how they're eventually able to collect samples of these animals (according to the traditional lore). It is also implied that leviathans exists somewhere in the world (or may have gone extinct). We did not expect to be so wowed and surprised by a book based on a story that's over 2000 years old—one that's seemingly been done to death. Boy, were we wrong! This book is fresh, exciting, and incredibly romantic! Check it out on Amazon!  Score: 90/100 (9.0 out of 10)
If you enjoy time-traveling or dimension-hopping shows like Doctor Who (especially in its modern iteration) this might be the book or series for you! This speculative-fiction/sci-fi book follows time-travelers Marta and Marshall as they discover 100+-year-old Cecil, the guardian of a young fisherman named Baptiste, has died. Though the death seems to be of natural causes, there are other aspects of Cecil's death that seem suspicious. First of all, Cecil had named Baptiste as the heir to his fortune, a fortune which Baptiste abusive kinda-step-dad, Ignace Aguillard, may have coveted. A huge dispute over the cause of death and custody of Baptiste erupts in court. Meanwhile, we are abruptly teleported to a dystopian world run by alt-right/far-right oligarchs led by a tyrant named President Humphollar, AKA “President Leviticus Deuteronomy”--an obvious reference to Donald Trump. This becomes even more obvious as his campaign's motto is stated to be “Make America Stupid Again.” Gee, subtle! But, wait, there's more! The name of this totalitarian theocratic capitalist government is called the “Christian Fundamentalist States of America.” GEE, SUBTLE! For some reason, Amazon is also major villain in this with many of the androids, chief of which is the Judy Garland android, convinced that Amazon is a god and that their fulfillment center is “heaven.” Corporate America in general takes some heavy jabs from the narrative, admittedly some deserved. The Judy Garland android refers to “Our Lord Gates and the prophet Jobs... lesser deities” and “The Bezos...Creator of Amazon. Lord of Fulfillment. Bestower of . . . Stuff.” This might seem funny, humorous, and hilarious to some, but it kinda came across as forced, mean-spirited, and childish to us. The problem really lies in the fact that these jokes lack any and all subtlety. The secret to a good joke or punch-line is that there's some truth to what is being said, but there's also enough of a disconnect to create plausible deniability and to make the joke relatable to an audience. The problem here is that the jokes are just too blunt and obvious. It's like if a comedian, instead of convincing an audience to laugh by virtue of the hilarity of their joke, just whipped out a pistol,and demanded that you “LAUGH!” We know that sounds harsh, but we also can't ignore how we felt. It really did feel didactic and preachy, as if the narrator were just pointing to people they disagree with and saying: “See this stupid person believing and doing stupid things? Aren't they stupid? Don't you see how stupid they are? How can you not see how stupid they are?” Like, there are a lot of bad things about Corporate America and the political-right. A LOT of bad things. There's climate change denial. There's the reckless destruction of the environment and natural habitats for profit. There's disputing the 2020 election. There's calling the pandemic a hoax. There's the rejection of vaccines. There's intolerance of minorities, immigrants, and the LGBTQA+ community, etc., etc., etc. We're not denying that Corporate America and the political-right have done and believed/believe some gnarly things. The problem is, there's a way to go about criticizing groups of people without drawing devil horns on their heads and twirly mustaches on their faces. There's a tactful way to go about criticizing groups of people without making them pitchfork-wielding, hoof-footed caricatures. When you do that, all you do is destroy the suspension of disbelief that your readers have. They start to think that this can't be real or this can't really happen because it's too absurd, too ridiculous, and too over-the-top to be believable. It also ostracizes huge portions of people who may not 100% agree with 100% of your point of view. You are effectively putting devil horns on their heads and pitchforks in their hands too. Really, the only people who are going to be jumping and cheering for jokes like these are people who already 100% agree. Do you see what we're saying? You're preaching to the choir here. The same would be true if the book was just relentlessly attacking left-wing or non-religious people. Rise from the Blue by Boade Mandeng is an example of a book that went (in our opinion) too far the other way. Be subtle, not forceful. Be tactful, not pushy. We can't emphasize that enough. It's the difference between a dude being a creep and demanding you marry them immediately “or else” and a guy who courts you by being friendly, being helpful, buying you gifts, and taking you on dates. That's a huge difference. And don't let your social commentary and political ranting completely derail and distract from your plot and/or your characters. Look at Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins which also had some harsh opinions about the corporate elite and fascism. It still told a thrilling, coherent story with GREAT, memorable characters. So, to reiterate, we go all the way from this custody-battle/spearfishing/corporate mystery all the way to this fascist, totalitarian, hyper-religious society ruled by President Humphollar. We get introduced to another character named Kendra Granger who is being forced by this tyrant to further time-travel for his nefarious purposes. Kendra was quickly becoming our favorite character in the book. However, she kinda got sidelined and third-fiddled (similar to what happened to Baptiste earlier). It's strange how we get compelled by and attached to characters like Baptiste and Kendra, then they get relegated to the background. It's unfortunate. However, we still held out hope for them as characters. It also needs to be mentioned that a few other characters join the fray around this point. There's John Dexter, a more gray character who uses the threat of blackmail of his coworkers to pretty much hijack the time-machine in his dimension like he's The Master from Galifree or something. Then there's Lexi who gives us some amusing scenes, particularly the one in which she wants it to be explained to her why you have to be naked when you time-travel (supposedly because inorganic material won't travel with you). While this is an amusing scene based on a pretty good question (Why does a female time-traveler have to be naked in the presence of male scientist(s)?), it contributes more silliness and goofiness to what is already silly and goofy. It's like silly and goofy overload. This book is so hard to take seriously. You could make the argument that it has the potential to be a very funny and, thus, entertaining book. If you just treat it like a hokie, cheesy, slapstick, absurdist comedy, it actually kinda works. The thing is, this book started off with child abuse and a murder. There's an evil megalomaniac who wants to take over the world. Amazon is monopolizing everything. The world appears to be warped beyond recognition by technology, androids, AIs, and fascism. Yet, despite all of these facts, the characters seem so... nonchalant and carefree. Like, there are some mysteries hanging over this whole story—Who really is Marshall? Who killed Cecil? Did Aguillard do it? Why does Marshall's appendectomy scar keep disappearing and reappearing? Why are there multiple version of a character in different dimensions?—yet there's a cognitive dissonance between those serious questions and the tone of the rest of the book, which is silly, absurd, and humorous. There's a scene in which a character in this book pretty much gets pummeled and their teeth knocked out by the Russian mob, yet it isn't scary, tragic, or traumatic at all. No, it's played off for laughs. There's also a gimmick in which all the dimensions/timelines are named after old TV shows (for some reason). There's the I Love Lucy Universe, the Cheer Universe, the Death Valley Days Universe, and presumably more. Now, those are great shows, but it's really bizarre and a bit ridiculous. There's also the presence of characters/actors from popular TV shows and movies. There's Charlton Heston and Jessica Rabbit in here (yes, really). However, the chief offender is definitely Judy Garland, who appears as an android with both childlike wonder and weird inclinations including a reverence for Amazon. She also has a snake that, for some reason, she keeps around and feeds. Like, whaaaaat? Why? Ok, there is kinda an answer to that. It's like a guardian, but still. A snake? Aren't there more efficient creatures you can keep around for your protection? Like a dog or even a lion? She also always reacts to things that excite her by bending at her knees and squatting spontaneously like she's Zach from Crisis Core. However, strangely enough, she's one of our favorite characters in the book. She kinda reminded us of Athena from Tomorrowland. Believe it or not, this isn't even the biggest mind-trip of the contest. It isn't even the least subtle. Let that sink in and stay tuned for With Love From Planet B. Quantum Consequence is undeniably an ambitious, creative, and wacky novel that will have you guessing, scratching you head, and probably having a good laugh or two. Check it out on Amazon!  Score: 92+/100 (9.2+ out of 10)
Books are constantly reminding us that many of the most exciting and compelling stories aren't planned or scripted, they just happen. They're unexpected. They're spontaneous. They're raw and they're real. And that's one of the things we really loved and appreciated about this memoir! The Destination Birth by Alexander Bisset is the heartwarming, beautiful, and—at times—tense story about the unexpected, surprise birth of a baby to a couple out in the middle of nowhere! This book follows Alex and his wife, Lauren, who lived in New York City, NY at the start of the events of this book (around 2020 during the pandemic). The couple was aware that Lauren was pregnant, however, they felt that they still had quite a ways to go before the expectancy date. With this in mind, they thought that going to a best friend's wedding in Montana would be no big deal for the yet-to-be-born. Even doctors said it would be fine. Boy, were they wrong! As fate would have it (and as numerous other memoirs have shown us), life, God, and/or the universe tend to have plans of their own. They don't operate on anyone's schedule but their own. There's an awesome line from “Reality Check” by Mike Sorrentino that goes, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans.” God works on his own time and does his own thing. With that in mind, Alex and Lauren were stunned to learn that Lauren's water had broken in the middle of the trip, turning this “destination wedding” into what the author calls an “unexpected adventure”--an “accidental destination birth.” There's a real beauty and poetry to this book. For one, it's relentlessly positive and uplifting despite the tense, scary, and anxiety-filled things the couple and their newborn go through. We greatly appreciated that. There are also a few running themes in this book: - That the universe works in mysterious, uncontrollable, and exciting ways - That we're along for the ride - That things are often more chaotic, unpredictable, spontaneous, and serendipitous than we usually like to think, the key is keeping your cool, keeping your faith, and doing your best no matter what life throws at you - That life is sacred. It's a blessing, a gift, and a privilege to have it, to hold it, and to give it (as in a birth and/or conception). Never take that for granted. For those reasons, this book really resonated with us on a deep and profound level that circumvented some of the weaker aspects of the book (like the paragraphs and formatting). It is a really heartfelt, passionate, and inspired book. You really feel like you're along for the ride as this couple frantically seeks to find what they need to ensure the lives of the mother and baby are adequately cared for. The stakes are high, yet there's an aura of hope and excitement in the air as well! Part of that is just that this book is so funny and the author employs humor so well. There's one scene in which the author/husband says: “Since I am not a food source, I would soon take on a number of other roles, including sherpa/carrier of heavy things, lead blocker for the stroller, and anything necessary to help keep my wife and baby comfortable.” Not only is that funny and charming as heck, but it really demonstrates how great of a human being this dad is. We're already on his side from the get-go! He'll do anything for those he loves even considering his physical limits. Speaking of which, he also refers to himself as a “cheetah...maybe not a normal cheetah, but a super thicc one that is not particularly coordinated and has dangerously inflexible hamstrings.” The self-deprecating, brutally-honest humor in that line had us rolling with laughter! And for anyone with a standard mom/dad-bod and/or who has experienced being on the older side, this will really resonate with you. It's also difficult not to feel for and relate to the mom, Lauren, as well. For example, she lost the precious and unrepeatable ability to have skin-to-skin contact with her baby due to the unusual circumstances of Everly's birth (due to the baby's position in the uterus and the uterus's shape being comparable to a heart). It's also interesting that they are pretty much the only patients in the entire healthcare facility, giving them a lot of attention and care. That might sound like a good thing, but it also highlights how rare and unexpected this birth was in the area. In fact, the facility 30 minutes away from the initial water breaking was said to be inadequate for a birth, so they had to go to another one. This was compounded by numerous issues that add to the tension and intrigue of this book. There are also some example of good writing in this book that we wanted briefly mention. As we said before, the book's humor is excellent. The tone is positive. There are also uses of alliteration like with the line “chunky cherub.” One of our favorite parts of the book was actually when Alex was called “dad” for the first time. He didn't know how to respond and looked around for his own dad. He'd never been called that before and it hadn't occurred to him until that point that he was officially a dad. There's a real power and magic to that moment. Lastly, we greatly appreciated and enjoyed the portrayal of healthcare and healthcare workers in this book. We are either healthcare workers (or former healthcare workers) ourselves or have family who are. We appreciated that the author really showed a lot of love and appreciation for the sacrifices that these folks make to protect, help, and save lives. Check it out on Amazon!  Score: 94/100 (9.4 out of 10)
Sometimes you just need to be a little silly, get a little goofy, and just have FUN! The Great Animal Escape by Linda Harkey is one of those adorable little reminders that books don't have to be overly serious or have big, grand, awe-inspiring messages to be entertaining and enjoyable. They can just be simple, short, sweet, and... FUN! We had such a great time reading The Great Animal Escape because of the adorable, goofy animal characters and the self-aware humor. We shared a lot of smiles, chuckles, and laughs, perhaps more than we've had in a while. This book stars an ensemble cast of animal characters including:
Bernie has a few moments like that, likely due to the fact that Bernie is so young and uncoordinated. Even moments that would otherwise be tense or scary like a thunder storm, a large truck heading their way, and a mountain lion attack are mellowed out by the humor. For example, rather than running for cover and being scared of the wind, rain, lightning, and thunder, the animals seems to embrace it and celebrate the coolness of experiencing something knew. They even seem jovial about it! There's a whole page of the animals celebrating, jumping, and dancing together after one of the lightning bolts sets a tree on fire. It's hilarious! It reminds us of the meme of the little girl smiling in front of the house fire. It's comedy gold! It's especially hilarious considering that the animals are supposed to be undertaking the serious task of not becoming tomorrow's breakfast, lunch, brunch, and dinner, however, they are easily sidetracked and distracted like little kids. We actually loved that! It really diffused the tension and made it fun and enjoyable, especially for kids. Also, in the middle of all of this—fleeing from death and danger—the cows still remind each other that they need to eat 20 pounds of grass per day and take a “cow nap.” It's so unserious and awesome! Now, there likely exists a portion of readers who would find this a bit disjointed and random, but we didn't mind it too much. We get distracted just like the animals do sometimes! That's just human nature and how the world works. It's almost never a straight line from point A to point B. There's also a scene in which a giant truck is heading toward the animals, threatening to turn them into roadkill. However, Lova-Bull, being brave, courageous, big, strong, and a bit silly, decides to charge right at it instead of running away! The driver of the truck reacts the same way a lot of us would respond to a wild animal charging at our vehicle, indicating that their intentions weren't necessarily malicious. Something that becomes apparent in this scene is that the language is dictated by the way the animals understand and describe the world around them. For example, the truck isn't called a “vehicle” but rather a “four-wheeled, two-eyed monster.” Barbed wire is likewise called “spiky wire” because that's pretty much what the animals interpret it as being. Now, there are a few villains/antagonists in this book who add a little spice and flavor to it. There are the “Two Legged People” (presumably farmers, cowboys, and ranchers) who seem to want to process the cows for meat. There's also Huntress, a mama mountain lion who stalks and ambushes our brave animal heroes in an attempt to eat them and provide them as food for her starving children. What's strange is that she's humanized quite a bit. Even though she's trying to kill/eat the other characters, the back-and-forth banter and humor really makes you think that there's not much to worry about. For instance, while they're fighting, Gracie basically starts a “hey, do I know you from somewhere?” conversation with the predator. Also, while they're still fighting, Bernie has a surprisingly cordial and friendly conversation with the mama mountain lion's cubs who basically explain that Huntress is trying to teach them how to hunt and is trying to provide food for them. So, while this scene provides a lot of action and some tension, it's also a lot of fun. And that's what this book is: FUN! Preorder it for 40% off here!  Score: 95+/100 (9.5+/10)
Paddy Poopenhopper's Magic Turds is an adorable, hilarious, whimsical, and uplifting children's book by Heather S. Lonczak, PhD! Look, we're going to just come out and say it: we LOVED this book! It was a welcomed distraction and deviation from the doom-and-gloom books we've been getting in our contest lately. This book is genuinely charming, funny, and enjoyable. So, what is it about? Welcome to the town of Gooberville, an otherwise normal town with an intriguing and magical mystery that's sure to captivate young readers at circle time! It is said that the town is frequented by a giant flying bunny rabbit named Paddy Poopenhopper! What's more? It's believed that Paddy Poopenhopper's turds (poop) can magically transform into GOLD! So, basically, Paddy Poopenhopper is like the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, the Golden Goose, and a St. Patrick's Day leprechaun all rolled into one! But Paddy Poopenhopper doesn't just distribute gold to anyone, and not just for any purpose. Paddy seems to have a deliberate and conscientious reason for doing so which plays into the book's positive, uplifting, and encouraging message. The children of Gooberville are always trying to spot and find the giant flying rabbit and its turds, often to the dismay of their parents who find these turds in the kids' pockets and in overflowing boxes on their front porch. One of these children, perhaps the truest believer of them all, is Little Gracie Boone, the protagonist of the first third of the book. Little Gracie Boone is inspired to find the turds because a storm partially-destroyed the home of one of the town's most beloved teachers, Fanny Nickerbocker, who is also pregnant with triplets. Wanting the Nickerbockers and their babies to have a good home to live in, Little Gracie Boone goes on a quest to find turds and turn them into gold to raise money for the family. There are several theories on how those rabbit turds can be turned into gold. Some say that you need to rub the turds on your head. Others say that you need to squash and squeeze them between your hands. Still, others say that you need to plant them exactly six inches apart. This leads to some humorous scenes including Little Gracie Boone attempting all of these without fully remembering the methods. Ultimately, she decides to dig a hole and grow the turd she found. What ends up happening is it blooms into a purple “turd plant” which begins to sprout golden nuggets. This creates a bit of a frenzy in the town as people scramble to find turds and grow them the way that Little Gracie Boone did. However, they're met with no success. In fact, some of the treasure seekers start bragging, arguing, disputing, and competing against each other. There are several characters, like Ms. Smelli (who we implied to be the mayor or principal), who are just in it for themselves and are clearly greedy. You start to get the sense that their negative attitudes and selfish ambitions are what's preventing them from being successful and receiving Paddy Poopenhopper's gift. That point is emphasized even more when a fire burns down the town's beloved French fry restaurant, Goober's Tubers. Of all people, the now-slightly-grown Nickerbocker triplets (Avery, Diego, and Bo) go out to get turds and make gold for the family of the restaurant who are now homeless and jobless. It's actually very touching and cute! Another great thing about this book are the illustrations by Claudia Varjotie. They're not hyperrealistic, jaw-dropping stuff like what Melissa Kahl makes. They're not super-impressive, super-involved extrasensory overload like what Eunhye Shin made. However, they're just right for the story that the author was going for. There's a real sense of wonder and magic in these illustrations. They have a bright, soft, cloudy sort of feel. You can almost smell the cotton candy on the pages just by the way the illustrations appear. We loved the pastel colors, which is perfect for the Easter holiday season. We love the humor. And we also loved the positive message about helping and supporting others instead of being all in it for yourself. Check it out on Amazon!  Score: 95+/100 (9.5+ out of 10)
When it comes to beautiful, compelling romance novels, they don't come much more beautiful and compelling than Lost in Wonderland by Jack Quill! In what is already one of our favorite novels of 2024, Lost in Wonderland tackles a rather familiar premise and plot (that of an amnesiac partner). However, it expands and elaborates on it in such a powerful and eloquent way that it becomes something transformative, unique, and refreshing! We loved this book! So, where do we begin? Well, this book introduces us to Jack Bayne, a seasoned firefighter (and fire captain) who discovers that his wife, Alareese, has been in a catastrophic accident that has claimed one life as well as his wife's memories of him. Alareese retains some of her memories from her earlier life as well as some of her mother, but she doesn't recognize Jack as her husband, even going so far as to remove her wedding ring and sleep separately from him. The doctors tell Jack that Alareese may never remember him again, and Jack is confronted with the prospect of losing two loved ones in one night. We're told rather early on that Jack lost his child in the accident as well, and that gets elaborated on later on. The reader is left wondering if there's more to the loss of the child than Jack initially leads on, especially since he appears to keep the child's room locked and hidden from Alareese through most of the book. However, like a real man--and like the great, inspiring protagonist he is—Jack pulls himself up by the boot straps and determines to make the best of the situation, no matter how terrible it seems. Rather than being pushy or forceful, Jack is respectful, compassionate, understanding of Alareese's cognitive state and apprehension to be around or accept him, even though it clearly hurts him. That's something we recognized and really appreciated about Jack, he really is a great person in more ways than one. He is self-sacrificing, not selfish. He is a giver, not a taker. He is accommodating, not demanding or insistent. He is exactly who you'd want as a husband or a fire captain. He could run for president and we'd vote for him! His charisma and charm really are contagious, and you get a sense of why Alareese once loved and married him as well as how he became a fire captain at a relatively young age (30). Anyway, Alareese is an excellent character in her own right. Now, before we talk about her we should probably expand on this book's premise and plot being familiar. You've probably seen it in 50 First Dates (with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore), albeit in a much less serious light. We've seen it in Saving Sophie by Debbie Schrack, one of the best books last year (#3 overall in 2023) and what we named the “Best Fiction Book of Spring 2023.” However, both 50 First Dates and Saving Sophie, were very much focused on the male leads in those stories rather than taking the perspective of the amnesiac herself. Lost in Wonderland, on the other hand, actually takes us into the mind of the amnesiac, Alareese, as she wrestles with her thoughts, her memories (and lack thereof), and triggers. This really helps us to sympathize with her more because, rather than just being frustrated or finding it humorous that she doesn't remember things, we understand what she's thinking, what she's going through, and how it makes her feel. One of the most interesting things about Alareese's psyche in this amnesiac state (and one of the underlying motifs of the book) is how her mind seems fixated on two particular children's stories: those involving Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll and hose involving Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie. It is also very possible and implied that Alareese was also exposed to the Little Golden Book (Disney) versions of these stories. In any case, she holds them very near and dear to her heart. We gradually learn that she was a librarian before and during Jack courting her. And those flashbacks give us some of the most heartwarming (and humorous) scenes in the book! They really build on the chemistry that Jack and Alareese once had, making the tragedy of their separation (the “glass” between them) cut all the more deep. By the way, the “glass” between them is another allusion to Alice in Wonderland, more specifically the sequel, Alice Through the Looking Glass. Again, there are constant allusions to Alice and Peter Pan, even with the chapter names. Alareese is often compared to Alice while Jack, as you might expect, is often compared to Peter Pan. Similar to Peter Pan, Jack is brave, adventurous, and a born leader. However, as Alareese puts it, Jack is more noble and heroic than Peter Pan by virtue of how he's legitimately willing to risk his life to save others. We actually see that on display in the scenes involving Jack and his near-death experiences while firefighting. Those scenes are tense! One of our favorite aspects of Alareese's flashbacks is how Jack pretty much babysits his best friend's cat, in part, to ingratiate himself to Alareese. This is because, as Jack puts it slyly, “guys with cats are adorable, aren't they?” Jack's affinity for animals is actually shown throughout. He is not only compassionate to Kevin, the cat, but also to Minah, the old Dalmatian at the station. This, again, just goes to show how great of a dude Jack is. One of the reoccurring jokes in the book is that Jack can get Kevin the cat to jump seven feet, to which Alareese always says something along the lines of “there's no way” or “you're exaggerating.” This might sound like a simple joke, but it really goes miles in showing the chemistry the couple has. They joke together and play off of each other constantly and perfectly! There's also a charming scene in which the two take turns tricking each other into getting wet in a playful and somewhat flirtatious way. They are constantly teasing and joking about (and with) each other, which we love to see in a romantic pairing. It shows chemistry and camaraderie. And they actually seem to make each other better and help each other to come to a better understanding or conclusion. For example, when Jack talks about the station's old dalmatian dog, Minah, being elderly and moving less, Alareese comes up with the idea of getting Minah a dog friend to keep her company. Oh, and by the way, she also jokes about how she thought Minah was a hot girl at the fire station. See what we mean about these characters having so much personality? This book also has some great supporting characters. There's Hayden, Jack's best friend, former roommate, and coworker, who really knows how to tease him. He has a humor of his own. Then there's Tabitha, Alareese's mother (and Jack's mother-in-law), who is such a comforting person and a voice of reason for them both. Hey, where can we find mother-in-laws who are this cool and chill? We really loved how this book gradually pulls back the curtain and reveals more about Jack's child, the secret room, and why they value the classic stories so much. What a wonderful book! Check it out on Amazon!  Score: 95(+)/100 (9.5(+) out of 10)
Loyalty, discipline, commitment, a high work-ethic, and specialized skills... these traits define the character of military veterans. Why wouldn't you want people with these traits on your workforce? Imagine acquiring talent like that! Unfortunately, however, military veterans are an underutilized and underemployed resource. What if we could harness these assets—these force-multipliers? What if we could make use of these extraordinary attributes and skills? And what if we could do a better job at providing our veterans—who've given so much for our country—with the bright, promising futures they and their families deserve? Hiring Veterans is yet another exceptional military veterans resource book by Lt. Colonel Matthew Louis, the award-winning author of Mission Transition. Hiring Veterans is, indeed, a worthy sequel and follow-up to Mission Transition. This book isn't just aimed at military veterans and their families (like the previous book) but also business owners and leaders, particularly senior leaders. This book is a powerful and impactful reminder to the movers and shakers of the world of the largely-untapped potential coming out of our armed forces. And the potential is enormous! Military veterans tend to have extraordinary transferable skills in things like engineering, sciences, and leadership. They tend to be more disciplined, loyal, and trustworthy. They are more willing to commit themselves to a cause bigger than themselves. They tend to be more resilient and steadfast. Furthermore, they also tend to be more educated than the general public. Almost all military veterans have at least a high school degree if not higher. They have hands-on experience and, usually, at least some technical training. They know how to take directives and to follow instructions. Those veterans who have been deployed also tend to have greater cultural sensitivity, know other languages, and have international experience. Another benefit that the author continuously brings up is that they also tend to have a higher security clearance by default. This means that they have pretty much passed a background check and have earned themselves a great degree of trust, especially considering that many of them were entrusted with some degree of national security responsibilities. This is “not about charity.” The author makes it clear that businesses shouldn't just be hiring veterans because it's the kind, charitable, or even right thing to do. Businesses should be hiring veterans because it's in their best interest and because veterans do tend to be truly exceptional workers for the reasons described above. One key trait of veterans is their loyalty, commitment, and dedication to an organization and/or a cause. This could, in theory, translate into lower turnover rates of employees. If you don't already know, turnover is one of the most crushing costs to any business, partly because it means losing training, skills, and experience, then having to recruit and train new people—an expensive proposition in time, manpower, and money. One of the key takeaways from this book is to have trained advocates and “affinity” specialists on staff who have experience as veterans and can help with the transition of veterans to your workforce. Another takeaway is to pay attention to, be aware of, and to address potential issues that veterans may have in this transition. For example, they no longer have military ranks in their new role and no longer give orders/commands or take order/commands. It's now more collaborative than directive, in other words. They also enjoy a greater degree of freedom than they did in the military and should be encouraged to enjoy life outside of work rather than making life all about work, which is good for their mental health. Furthermore, they should be encouraged to ask questions and/or to let it be known when they need help or don't understand something. Asking questions and asking for help is often seen as a weakness by those in the military. However, as a civilian employee, it could be an opportunity to learn and grow. This book also covers some of the ins and outs/dos and don'ts of hiring veterans. For example, there are certain questions you can and can't legally ask. You need to stay in compliance. This book provides great examples of questions you can legally ask, particularly advocating for the CCBI interview type. This book also features invaluable contributions by veteran employment specialists from Walmart, JP Morgan Chase, and Amazon. This really raised our respect and appreciation for those companies. Check this out on Amazon!  Score: 94/100 (9.4 out of 10)
Hounds of Gaia is an action-packed and thrilling sci-fi/space-faring novel by Sean Tirman! The book follows a cybernetically-enhanced bounty-hunter, a wanted fugitive, and a conflicted nun as they navigate the violent and oppressive theocracy led by the enigmatic Mother of the Divine Church of the Omniphage. This is one of those books, like Son of the Doomsday Prophet, in which you (the reader) need to be patient and let things develop. This is a really good example of why you should read beyond the first 100 pages of a book! When this book gets going (maybe 200 or so pages in), it really gets going! Hounds of Gaia features an ensemble cast of colorful, charismatic, and compelling characters. The central protagonist, the aptly-named Foxhound (wait, like from Metal Gear?), is a mercenary-for-hire and bounty hunter who is known throughout the solar system for having taken down some of the most vile, despicable, dangerous, and wanted fugitives this side of the Kuiper Belt. Some of Foxhound's captures (and some of the villains of the novel) include: Warrick Kano- “The Savage of Europa” Hecate Neumar- “The Widow of Venus” Eris Enyo- “The Blood Queen of Titan” And Bora Volkan... the Something or Other. So, like, what was Bora's cool nickname again? Did he have one? Anyway, Bora is a brilliant scientist known to have cured many people, but his time in this violent, corrupt, and oppressive society has done a number on his humanity (and sanity). It turns out that one of Foxhound's newly acquired prisoners, Phineas “Fink” Ames, who knows Bora, turns out to be the deuteragonist of the novel. When we're first introduced to Fink, he seems like he fits right in there with the “worst of the worst” criminals, having just been busted for human trafficking. He apparently attempted to sell a child to an undercover cop, blowing up the cop's operation. However, Fink has far deeper and further-reaching ambitions than these black market dealings, being known as a rebel and a rabble-rouser who has caused trouble for multiple authoritarian organizations throughout the solar system. This is going to come across as a strange and perhaps inappropriate comparison given Fink's... occupation... but Fink reminded us a lot of Han Solo from Star Wars, who was also a space-faring rebel and smuggler with a ton of charisma. Fink's mission appears to be to cause a mass-prison break aboard Foxhound's starship, The Tardigrade, sending a middle finger to the administration while also acquiring the ship itself. A lot of this book is one big, huge cat-and-mouse chase between Foxhound and Fink with plot-threads including Sister Penelope's arc, Mother's manipulation, and the involvement of the dangerous aforementioned criminals woven in. Sister Penelope serves as the tritagonist of the novel, a heavily-indoctrinated nun of the Divine Church of the Omniphage who gradually begins to see the cracks in the dogmatic doctrines promoted by Mother and her followers like Brother Loch. And about this Divine Church of the Omniphage... what's really interesting about it is that, from what we gathered, it didn't necessarily start off as a cult or even a religion. It seems to have originated from a scientific subculture-turned-culture called Organic Humanism. Therefore, the leaders of the solar population are actually known as Organic Humanists. Ultimately, this cult-like religion actually started off as a science! These wackos once called themselves scientists! It's an interesting juxtaposition from the common way of thinking. Mother is an incredibly imposing and intimidating villain, even more so than the other superpowered or cybernically-enhanced characters. Mother, the third clone of the matriarchal scientist known as Dr. Sage Odessa, exists both as a physical being and as an idea, a concept—a kind of goddess to replace the gods of old. It is so interesting to think of how science could become its own kind of religion and how a scientist who once meant well could become her own kind of goddess. It's a sobering thought. There are other interesting ideas in this book like how some of the space colonies work. For example, water is mined on Ganymede. Orbital colonies operate a bit like a Dyson sphere, generating their own gravity via rotation. However, the thing that really excited (and terrified) us were the enhancements that some of the characters have and technologies like the robots. For example, Eris Enyo “The Blood Queen of Titan” weighs about 500 pounds because many of her body-parts were genetically-engineered, grown in a lab to be perfectly suited for performance. In other words, she is a powerhouse in this book. Foxhound has some enhancements of her own that allow her to contend with these threats. She is also joined by her robot assistant/enforcer/sidekick, M.A.I.L.M.A.N., who is a powerhouse in his own right. This is a really interesting book that had a slow start, but when the action got going, it really got going! Check it out on Amazon!  Score: 91+/100 (9.1+ out of 10)
Never judge a book by its first 100 pages. Ok, maybe never judge a book by its first 200 pages either. Sketches from a Sunlit Heaven by Sarah Law is a historical-fiction novel that really grew on us over time and after a few readings. As we'll elaborate on later, it is well-researched and very eloquently written with some of the best quotes and passages this season. We have to get that out of the way because it needs to be said—credit where credit is due. Now, it also has to be said that there were times when we just weren't feeling this book. Maybe it was the pacing. Maybe it was that it felt like we were being artificially teleported to different times or to different places as if we were traveling via map (or, perhaps, via TARDIS), but something just wasn't jiving with us for the first 100-200 pages. Another consideration to explain all of that is just how oppressive this book feels. It feels like you're trapped along with the characters. On one hand, it's intimate in that sense. On the other hand, it kinda feels like you're caged in with nowhere to go. It's a bizarre and uncomfortable feeling that we usually only feel with things like dystopia and paranormal horror books. To experience that in a historical-fiction novel is unique to say the least. It definitely has an aura about it, for better or for worse. The words “cloister” and “cloistered” occur probably dozens of times in this book, both in the literal sense (as in a convent or monastery) and as an adjective. It's exactly what it sounds like: the feeling of being stuck and trapped in an oyster or clam shell, stuck in the ocean and at the mercy of the currents and the waves. Perhaps that's intentional, and, if so, we commend the author for achieving that. This is a book, after all, that emphasizes how small and “little” characters like Therese and Leonie are in the grand scheme of God's big, huge, marvelous universe. And yet, despite all of that, we still see the powerful impact that they have on the world, the key example of that being Therese being canonized as a saint and doctor of the church despite her small stature and short life. And there's part of the beauty of this book. There are a lot of big, grand things and themes playing out in the background of this book—the lingering aftermath of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, the Roman Catholic Church continuing to cling to religious authority over Europe despite these shakeups, the Age of Enlightenment, the spread of deadly and incurable diseases like tuberculosis ravishing villages, the development of photography, the Civil War in America, industrialization, and more. Yet, despite all of those big, grand things, we find little Therese, her sisters, her cousin, and their cloister, seemingly insignificant, seemingly trapped, seemingly secluded from the rest of the world. However, somehow, someway, something powerful and beautiful emerged from that cloister. It was incubating like a little caterpillar only to someday take flight: a saint and a doctor of the church emerged. And it's with all of that in context that we really came to appreciate this book for what it was. It's not an epic. It's not an action-adventure novel. It's not a fantasy or sci-fi novel. It's not a mystery novel. It's just the story of young God-fearing women caught in the middle of extraordinary events in human history, somehow making a dent in that history. And, with some poetic irony, just as we are looking at them wondering how the shined so bright in such darkness and in such a rigid, arguably-oppressive environment, these young women are looking right back at us almost as if to say: “You can be God's shining light too, shining in the midst of whatever situation you might be in.” Gosh, when you step back and let that message sink in, it's really powerful! It's something we really grew to appreciate once we recognized it. At the time when Therese was 4-years-old, her mother died. She and her five siblings, who also provide perspectives in this book, eventually found their way into a convent. Well, Therese's journey to the convent was a bit more rocky. In fact, upon being told she was too young to join, Therese joined a pilgrimage to the Vatican to directly ask the Pope, Leo XIII, to be allowed to join at her age. The Pope essentially told her to follow the instructions of her elders and that her time would come. However, she was so adamant and impatient about this that the guards had to carry her away. Little did anyone realize that she would be such an important figure in the church one day! How cool is that? That's sorta like if a young Napoleon got to meet King Louis XVI and got told to wait his turn. That's like if a baby Tom Brady met Joe Montana. It's along those lines. Anyway, a lot of this book is surprisingly... calm and mellow, which is strange considering what we said about the oppressive atmosphere, but hear us out... The middle of this book almost reads like a slice-of-life drama. There are also times when it just seems monotonous and like nothing big or exciting is happening. Then you have moments like when characters (i.e. Therese and Mother Xavier) get suddenly ill, and the tension rises to figurative and literal fever pitch. There's one moment in which there's believed to be an intruder lurking or hiding out in the monastery, finally giving us a high-tension moment and even some mystery. You also get really tender, delicate, and touching moments. For example, in the segments following Celine, the painter and photographer among the sisters, you really get the sense of her passion for art and how she gains the inspiration to make her own. This is likely where the title of the book comes from, by the way. And it's partly through this art and photography (along with Therese's writing) that Therese's legacy lives on. Speaking of photography, it's awe-inspiring to read about how Celine was able to incorporate this both into monastery life and into her artwork. In fact, it's when we got to the parts about the photography that we finally started to appreciate and enjoy this book. But why? Well, remember when we said that this book made us feel trapped and oppressed? Well, Celine's camera liberated both us and the characters. There are subtle lines like how the women feel starved of sexuality or how they don't feel beautiful anymore. Well, the camera gives them an avenue or an outlet to show off their beauty and—dare we say—a bit of that womanhood. There's also a sense that the women feel a bit... insignificant. It's almost like they feel they're sacrificing everything for nothing, never to be remembered—forgotten on Earth and possibly footnotes in heaven. Well, the camera changes that. It gives them a way to outlast their natural lives—to be eternal, immortal, in a sense. Imagine that. For centuries, we couldn't capture a moment in time. Events would happen—weddings, battles, funerals—and all we could do was describe it in words or attempt to draw or paint it. The camera changed all of that. It captured a moment of time forever (or at least as long as humanity exists to preserve and circulate the picture). This book is also good at showing that even thought Therese is now a saint and doctor of the church, she was also a girl, a woman, and ultimately human, same as her sisters. The women in this book develop crushes and even talk about how much they miss the men in their lives (i.e. Harold, Alfred, Henry, etc.). Pauline the practical, Celine the painter, and Leonie “the least, the last, the littlest” are all candidates for “Best Character” along with Therese. You may have noticed that “Pauline the practical” and “Leonie the least, the last, the littlest” are alliterative. This highlights one of the author's best tactics and how she so eloquently weaves together prose. It needs to be emphasized that the writing is really eloquent and beautiful at times. For example: “Death is still an abstract thing to me; something undrawable, therefore unknown.” “The Louvre. This great hall of art houses images of horror. Nudity! Flesh: the sins of the flesh. My own skin flushes and shivers at the exposure. Here are women without shame: arms languorously extended above heads, beyond chaises longue. Legs exposed. Thighs spread. The artist’s studio is where these perversities flourish. The man paints, and the woman lies on the altar of his gaze, without the sacrament of marriage or confession, oh! My head spins with the thought. And Céline is schooled by these people?” (If you've ever visited the Louvre in Paris, France, you can definitely empathize with what the character is witnessing and perhaps even feeling) “We bleed together and we grieve together” (The “E” sound is emphasized in the passage above) “The past remains, like a photographic plate—or perhaps you would say a letter in its envelope.” “It is too easy to exchange pious platitudes” (Alliteration is used again with the “P” sound) “I hold up to the night sky, hailing it, shielding my own soul from heaven’s dazzling darkness.” St. Therese left a surprising yet undeniable impact on the Catholic Church and the world despite only living into her mid-20s. This is largely due to her three published writings, particularly her autobiography titled The Story of a Soul. One of the key things in The Story of a Soul and Therese's view on the faith is the idea of the “little way” or making “little sacrifices” every day. What does this mean? Well, it means that you don't have hinge your life and faith on big, huge heroic acts like trying to convert an entire kingdom or be martyred. Therese believed that you needed to place your faith and trust in God alone, not in huge heroic acts, and that you represent his love in the little ways you treat people and do good wherever you are and in whatever situation you're in. The key example of this is when Therese cared for and showed grace to the grumpy, angry nun who despised her. Therese believed that God, like the sun, is so big that he can touch the big trees and the little flowers all the same. Anyway, we have to talk about our favorite part of the book (ok, other than the photography part)... The exhuming of Therese's remains. At first, we were like, “Ewwww, gross! Really?!” But then we realized it was the most exciting part of the book since the intruder and were morbidly fascinated by things like the character Caen keeping Therese's tooth like a pearl to remember her by. That's both cool and a bit creepy, but ok... If you're a member of the Catholic Church and/or are interested in its history and its saints, this may be the book for you. Check it out on Amazon! |
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