Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Audible Edition)

Title: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Author: Lewis Carroll
Page Count: 92
Rating: B
Keywords: Classic, Wonderland, Dreams
Genre: Children's Fiction
Narrator: Scarlett Johansson
Duration: 2 hours 44 minutes
Younger Readers: This is a children's book, thus it is appropriate for even young children. No language or sexual content

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (commonly shortened to Alice in Wonderland) is an 1865 novel written by English mathematician Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice falling through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures. The tale plays with logic, giving the story lasting popularity with adults as well as with children. It is considered to be one of the best examples of the literary nonsense genre. Its narrative course and structure, characters and imagery have been enormously influential in both popular culture and literature, especially in the fantasy genre.

My Review:

This was just as insane, if not more so, than I had expected. A large part of Wonderland's charm is its ridiculousness. At times it was a bit difficult to follow, though this was probably due more to the fact I was distracted than the story itself, and there was some confusion. As a child I rather enjoyed the Alice in Wonderland movie, but now that I am an adult I was surprised to find that Alice is not as likeable as I had found her previously. She comes across as a rather rude and bratty. Despite this I was happy to finally read the classic.

Scarlett Johansson's reading was not what I was expecting. It was a great deal of fun as she manipulated her voice into deep and high characters alike. There was no struggle attempting to forget who was reading. She simply became Alice, the mouse, the queen, etc. I am quite sure that I would not have enjoyed this audiobook, or story itself, with a less skilled reader. There is a strong feeling that this is geared towards children, and this goal was absolutely reached. It is silly, fun, and engaging. Children leery of reading would likely enjoy this performance.

As an adult reader, I enjoyed it well enough but do not intend to listen again. For children, this is perfect. It is short enough to not grow tedious on very young readers and the performance is likely to entice giggles and great fun. A great idea for long car rides, extended travel, or even bedtime.

October Audible WrapUp

I recently made the wonderful discovery that my Amazon Prime membership gives me access to certain Audible books for no extra charge! I spend a lot of time driving and was beginning to become extremely bored with hearing the same songs repeatedly. This has vastly improved my driving experience in the past month. Here are two of the books that I listened to:


Title: Everything I Never Told You
Author: Celeste Ng
Page Count: 304
Rating: B
Keywords: Loss, Identity. Infidelity, Family, Chinese Americans, 1970s
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Narrator: Cassandra Campbell
Duration: 10 hours 1 minute
Younger Readers: Drinking, sex, smoking, abuse, racism, and suicide are all topics that would make this inappropriate for very young readers.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet.

So begins this exquisite novel about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee, and her parents are determined that she will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue. But when Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together is destroyed, tumbling them into chaos.

A profoundly moving story of family, secrets, and longing, Everything I Never Told You is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive family portrait, uncovering the ways in which mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives struggle, all their lives, to understand one another.

My Review:

I had seen quite a few people reading this when it first came out but never got around to picking up a copy of it. Seeing it on the Audible app was a pleasant surprise.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It really reminded me of a book I read about a young Chinese American girl when I was in 8th grade. Her struggles of trying to fit in while also embracing her grandmother's culture reminded me quite a bit of Lydia's struggles to fit in in Ohio. I wish I remembered the name of the book but all I can remember is that the girl loved jade and wanted to go to school in Colorado to be a geologist. If I happen to remember the title I will update this post.

As you can probably tell from the synopsis this is a dark story about loss. Lydia is shown throughout the book in flashbacks while her family is shown falling apart. The struggles of an interracial family in 1970s America were shown quite well, both through the perspective of the parents and the children. Identity and self discovery are major themes explored throughout. While this is certainly a depressing story it never felt unbearable to read. I wanted to find out what happened next, wanted to get to know the Lees, wanted to see them come through this.

Traditional YA tends to focus more on the teenagers. I enjoyed that this one explored the Lee parents in more detail. It added a sense of reality and depth to the tale that it would have lacked otherwise. Moral dilemmas that they face are quite poignant. Mr. and Mrs. Lee are devastating and beautiful all at once.

The narration was also enjoyable. Cassandra Campbell's reading was clear without being overly dramatic. I found it easy to pay attention to the story without being distracted by her voice. I tend to put the speed at 1.5x. Some books this has sounded like a jumbled mess but this reading did just fine.

Title: The Art of War
Author: Sun Tzu
Page Count: 273
Rating: A
Keywords: Classic, War, Theory, Methods
Genre: Strategy
Narrator: Aidan Gillen
Duration: 1 hour 7 minutes
Younger Readers: This could be dry for children but is not inappropriate.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

The ancient Chinese general Sun Tzu is universally recognized as the greatest military strategist in history, a master of warfare interpretation. This condensed version of his influential classic imparts the knowledge and skills to overcome every adversary in war, at the office, or in everyday life.

My Review:

I read this for a class when I was an undergrad. It is an interesting classic, especially if you are studying political science or even writing battle scenes for fiction. There is not much I have to say about it. It's short and enjoyable. If you have an inkling you might enjoy it then at least check it out.

What I truly loved was the narration. I am absolutely a huge Game of Thrones fan and had not realized when I hit play that Aidan Gillen was Little Finger. Definitely a pleasant surprise. I might have, most definitely, squealed a little in my car. When I had to read this for homework I will admit it was a little dry. Gillen's voice breathed life into this classic and I noticed aspects of the text that I had previously glossed over. I would absolutely recommend giving this one a listen.

Currently Reading: November 2016

As usual I am reading more books than is entirely sensible. Also, they are all quite large. I am not very far in any of them but I would still recommend all of them at this point. Full reviews will go up once I finish reading!

Title: The Way of Kings
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Page Count: 1001
Keywords: Magic, War, Kingdoms
Genre: Fantasy
Younger Readers: This is adult fantasy but there does not appear to be any language or sexual content yet.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Speak again the ancient oaths,
Life before death.
Strength before weakness.
Journey before Destination.
and return to men the Shards they once bore.
The Knights Radiant must stand again.

Roshar is a world of stone swept by tempests that shape ecology and civilization. Animals and plants retract; cities are built in shelter. In centuries since ten orders of Knights fell, their Shardblade swords and Shardplate armor still transform men into near-invincible warriors. Wars are fought for them, and won by them.

In one such war on ruined Shattered Plains, slave Kaladin struggles to save his men and fathom leaders who deem them expendable, in senseless wars where ten armies fight separately against one foe.

Brightlord Dalinar Kholin commands one of those other armies. Fascinated by ancient text The Way of Kings, troubled by visions of ancient times, he doubts his sanity.

Across the ocean, Shallan trains under eminent scholar and notorious heretic, Dalinar’s niece Jasnah. Though Shallan genuinely loves learning, she plans a daring theft. Her research hints at secrets of the Knights Radiant and the true cause of the war.  

Title: Queen of Shadows
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Page Count: 645
Keywords: Fae, War, Family, Love
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Younger Readers: Not appropriate for young children. Some sexual content and language.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

The queen has returned.

Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she’s at last returned to the empire—for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past…

She has embraced her identity as Aelin Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen. But before she can reclaim her throne, she must fight.

She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die for her. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen’s triumphant return.

The fourth volume in the New York Times bestselling series continues Celaena’s epic journey and builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world.  

Title: The Walking Dead, Compendium 1
Author: Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, Tony Moore, Cliff Rathburn
Page Count: 1088
Keywords: Zombies, Survival, Family, Friendship, Death
Genre: Comic
Younger Readers: Sexual content and language present.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Introducing the first eight volumes of the fan-favorite, New York Times Best Seller series collected into one massive paperback collection.

In a world ruled by the dead, we are forced to finally start living. With The Walking Dead #1-48, this compendium features more than one thousand pages chronicling the start of Robert Kirkman's Eisner Award-winning story of zombie horror, from Rick Grimes waking up alone in a hospital, his band of survivors seeking refuge on an isolated farm and the controversial introduction of Woodbury despot, The Governor.

Title: The Almost Nearly Perfect People: Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia
Author: Michael Booth
Page Count: 372
Keywords: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Anthropology, Culture, History
Genre: Non-Fiction
Younger Readers: Might be difficult for children to understand but not overly inappropriate.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

The whole world wants to learn the secrets of Nordic exceptionalism: why are the Danes the happiest people in the world, despite having the highest taxes? If the Finns really have the best education system, how come they still think all Swedish men are gay? Are the Icelanders really feral? How are the Norwegians spending their fantastical oil wealth? And why do all of them hate the Swedes?

Michael Booth has lived among the Scandinavians, on and off, for over ten years, perplexed by their many strange paradoxes and character traits and equally bemused by the unquestioning enthusiasm for all things Nordic that has engulfed the rest of the world, whether it be for their food, television, social systems or chunky knitwear.

In this timely book he leaves his adopted home of Denmark and embarks on a journey through all five of the Nordic countries to discover who these curious tribes are, the secrets of their success and, most intriguing of all, what they think of each other. Along the way a more nuanced, often darker picture emerges of a region plagued by taboos, characterized by suffocating parochialism and populated by extremists of various shades.

They may very well be almost nearly perfect, but it isn't easy being Scandinavian.

What I'm Reading at School: Media and International Security

One of my courses this semester focused on the world of media and its relationship with foreign affairs. Here are my two textbooks from this course (they were surprisingly interesting and I would highly recommend to anyone interested in Political Science...though Influence from Abroad might spark some debate):

Title: News: The Politics of Illusion 

Author: W. Lance Bennett
Page Count: 285
Rating: A
Keywords: Media, Journalism, Foreign Affairs, Media Effects, Blogs, Research
Genre: Non-Fiction
Younger Readers: This is a textbook. No inappropriate content. Written in a reader friendly manner, not overly wordy.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Free and attentive news media are essential to the workings of a democratic nation. But how well does the news, in reality, actually serve the needs of citizens, and thereby democracy? How well do the major methods of sharing national political information work, and how well-informed do they leave voters? For years, News: The Politics of Illusion has been the leading textbook to address that question, and in this ninth edition W. Lance Bennett brings his analysis fully up to date, exploring recent developments in news media and showing how they have improved--or hampered--the wide sharing of political news and information.


Title: Influence From Abroad- Foreign Voices, the Media, and US Public Opinion
Author: Danny Hayes and Matt Guardino
Page Count: 149
Rating: A
Keywords: Terrorism, Media, Iraq, Research, Bias
Genre: Non-Fiction
Younger Readers: This book could cause debate as it involves media coverage of the Bush administration's stance on Iraq from 2002 to 2003. However, no inappropriate material. This one is written a bit more densely than News: The Politics of Illusion. Those comfortable with academic material should be fine.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

In Influence from Abroad, Danny Hayes and Matt Guardino show that United States public opinion about American foreign policy can be shaped by foreign leaders and representatives of international organizations. By studying news coverage, elite debate, and public opinion prior to the Iraq War, the authors demonstrate that US media outlets aired and published a significant amount of opposition to the invasion from official sources abroad, including British, French, and United Nations representatives. In turn, these foreign voices – to which millions of Americans were exposed – drove many Democrats and independents to signal opposition to the war, even as domestic elites supported it. Contrary to conventional wisdom that Americans care little about the views of foreigners, this book shows that international officials can alter domestic public opinion, but only when the media deem them newsworthy. Their conclusions raise significant questions about the democratic quality of United States foreign policy debates.  

The Portable Veblen by Elizabeth Mckenzie

Title: The Portable Veblen
Author: Elizabeth Mckenzie
Page Count: 413
Rating: C
Keywords: Squirrels, Identity, Crisis, Pharmaceutical Sales, Murder, Veterans
Genre: Fiction
Younger Readers: This is written for adults. Sex, drugs, drinking, murder, and mental illness are all present.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

The Portable Veblen is a dazzlingly original novel that’s as big-hearted as it is laugh-out-loud funny. Set in and around Palo Alto, amid the culture clash of new money and old (antiestablishment) values, and with the specter of our current wars looming across its pages, The Portable Veblen is an unforgettable look at the way we live now. A young couple on the brink of marriage—the charming Veblen and her fiancé Paul, a brilliant neurologist—find their engagement in danger of collapse. Along the way they weather everything from each other’s dysfunctional families, to the attentions of a seductive pharmaceutical heiress, to an intimate tête-à-tête with a very charismatic squirrel.

Veblen (named after the iconoclastic economist Thorstein Veblen, who coined the term “conspicuous consumption”) is one of the most refreshing heroines in recent fiction. Not quite liberated from the burdens of her hypochondriac, narcissistic mother and her institutionalized father, Veblen is an amateur translator and “freelance self”; in other words, she’s adrift. Meanwhile, Paul—the product of good hippies who were bad parents—finds his ambition soaring. His medical research has led to the development of a device to help minimize battlefield brain trauma—an invention that gets him swept up in a high-stakes deal with the Department of Defense, a Bizarro World that McKenzie satirizes with granular specificity.

As Paul is swept up by the promise of fame and fortune, Veblen heroically keeps the peace between all the damaged parties involved in their upcoming wedding, until she finds herself falling for someone—or something—else. Throughout, Elizabeth McKenzie asks: Where do our families end and we begin? How do we stay true to our ideals? And what is that squirrel really thinking? Replete with deadpan photos and sly appendices, The Portable Veblen is at once an honest inquiry into what we look for in love and an electrifying reading experience.

My Review:

I am completely unsure how to review this book. Simultaneously, I love and hate this novel. To be fair to those wanting to read it, I will do my best to explain this confusion.

The novel started off just as quirky and adorable as the cover. There really are squirrels present throughout the book. I enjoyed reading from the perspective of the ever-distracted Veblen as she stumbles through life. Her inner monologue and quirks are entertaining to encounter as well as uniquely endearing. Her quirkiness is similar to that of Zooey Deschanel's Jess in the television series New Girl, but with darker undertones.

I cannot stand Paul through 90% of this book. Initially, his devotion to Veblen is endearing and there is hope for their future. However, his inner thoughts and flashbacks constantly create a severe dislike for the man. His morals and actions are equally disdainful and he is just barely able to redeem himself, somewhat, by the end of the tale.

Much of the middle portion of this book is filled with rather dark material. Veblen and Paul's families are introduced. Each make up an interesting study of mental health and dysfunctional family dynamics. These interactions are often uncomfortable, tense, and overly emotional. Each character experienced abuse, emotional for one character and neglect for the other, as they were growing up and this is revealed through flashbacks.

The final quarter of this book saved it for me. All of the oddities of the first 75% of the book come together to create a sudden and massive action sequence. There is even an unexpected happily ever after. For some this ending will be underdeveloped and far too sudden. However, it does wrap up the story well enough.

Read at your own risk. It certainly had a negative effect on my mood while I was reading it. However, thinking back on the story I have much fonder emotions for it now.

Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3) by Marissa Meyer

Title: Cress
Author: Marissa Meyer
Page Count: 550
Rating: A
Keywords: Space, Aliens, Fairytales, Beijing, Robots, Love, Lost Princesses
Genre: Young Adult
Younger Readers: Safe for young adult audience such as tweens and teens. No overly sexual content. Only mild language used. There are escort robots but they are not engaging in any sexual activity.  

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Even in the future. there are damsels in distress...

In the third installment of the Lunar chronicles, Cress, having risked everything to warn Cinder of Queen Levana's evil plan, has a slight problem. She's been imprisoned on a satellite since childhood and has only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress a great hacker. Unfortunately, she's just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

When a daring rescue of Cress involving Cinder, Captain Thorne, Scarlet, and Wolf goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes as a high price. Meanwhile, Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.

My Review:

Scarlet still has a special place in my heart but this was definitely a strong addition to the series. It felt much shorter than 550 pages. There was plenty of the action, romance, mystery, and the humor that the series is known for. I read this six months ago and I can still remember the entire book.

Character development was strong in this novel as we get to see the characters split into various groups by the dramatic events at the beginning of the story, allowing for greater individual focus. Seeing them interact with one another revealed new nuances to their personalities that went undetected in previous books.

Wolf just about broke my heart in this book. His physical and emotional ailments after the first quarter of Cress were written perfectly. Rather than feeling that his issues were melodramatic and overly drawn out, I found myself in tears. I do cry easily but still, this was a great book.

I enjoyed getting to know the character Cress better. She is beyond endearing. Her extended solitude has resulted in being delightfully awkward and innocent. Cress is like your awkward best friend in school that is sweet but does not always understand social cues. Her growth by the end of this book avoids any annoyance with childlike demeanor and increases her likability.

Thorne and Cress were perfect. If you are not a fan of instant romances then the third Lunar Chronicles book will not disappoint. Each couple grows closer at different rates and even become humanly frustrated with one another, making each relationship feel real. They are slightly messier versions of the fairytales they are based on.

The action was at high levels through the entire installment. I do distinctly remember nearly falling out of a chair at one point while reading. You will be in a constant state of worry throughout this novel. The lovely cliffhanger ending will keep you in suspense.

I still love this series and can't wait to pick up the fourth book, Winter. If you love adventure, science-fiction, fairytales, and true love I would highly recommend picking up The Lunar Chronicles.