100 Books in 2010: 50

Posted by Adrienne on July 16, 2010 under Books | Be the First to Comment

Yay! I’m half way to my goal of 100 books!

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It was an excellent idea. A cure for society’s ills and the makings of an entirely new society. What could possibly go wrong? Just imagine: a place to put all of the criminals and the evildoers where they cannot get at everyone else – yes, a prison, but what a prison! – and govern them with a computer programmed to fill their needs and allow them to build a new society, a utopia! Incarceron would be the perfect civilization, the pinnacle of human achievement!

It’s never that easy, of course. Despite the philosophers and scholars who volunteered to enter the prison at its beginnings, and the ability of the computer to provide everything the inmates needed, Incarceron became a living hell, a mechanical cage that brought out the worst of everyone in it. Finn is no different than the others – he does what he has to survive, including stealing and killing – but he does have glimpses in his mind of Outside and the mysterious tattooed eagle on his wrist. No enters or exits Incarceron…but if that’s true, how can Finn remember the birthday cake?

Incarceron was a fabulous read. I can’t stress enough how very different it is from the other science-fiction I’ve read. The novel uses ideas from Utopia, Candide and Plato’s Republic in a creative way. The characters are fascinating, and the plot moves along quickly. The twists weren’t terribly surprising – but that’s my only criticism. Well, except for the fact that not everything is resolved in the end, and I’ll have to wait for the sequel to find out what happens. On the other hand, that’s not such a bad thing, is it?

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Haven’t I read this book before? Or at least seen the movie? I’m pretty sure I have. Jenna was in a terrible accident; she was in a coma for two years and lost her memory. Now, she’s awake and alive, but something’s not right. As her memories start coming back, Jenna realizes that she has just as many questions as she did when she first woke up. Why doesn’t her grandmother seem to like her? How come her mother moved them to California while her father stayed in Boston? And why does she feel…just…different?

I figured out the answers to most of the questions pretty early on. And while The Adoration of Jenna Fox does have a twist that I didn’t forsee, the ending of the book was predictably dystopian and disappointing. Pearson begins to grapple with questions of what it means to be human and our relationship with technology, but in the end, she takes the easy way out, to the detriment of her story.

Maid of Murder by Amanda Flower

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

With a cast of wacky characters and a small-college-town backdrop, Maid of Murder isn’t your typical murder mystery (at least, not the kind that I generally read). In fact, it felt more like watching a wacky murder mystery TV show like Psych than like reading an Agatha Christie novel.

India Hayes works at the library at a small liberal arts college in the middle of Ohio. When her childhood friend Olivia returns to get married, India is coerced into being a bridesmaid and will have to wear an incredibly hideous gold dress. As if that weren’t enough, India’s brother, Mark, has to declare his unrequited love for the bride-to-be (and he’s not the groom) in the most embarrassing way possible. The very next day, Olivia is found dead and suspicion falls squarely on the unfortunate Mark. It’s up to India, hampered by a wacky family, small town rivalries and a pair of violent cats, to clear her brother’s name and find the real killer…

This book is a first novel, and in a few spots it shows. But overall, the plot moves along at a good pace, and the entertainingly crazy characters keep things exciting. This is a great “summer vacation” book.