My tbr List

What is a tbr?

"tbr" is a "To be Read" list. Due to BookMooch and PaperBackSwap it has become huge in the last three years. The truth is though, that I can't read at the pace I used to be able to read, 1-3 minutes a page. So, now a 300 page book, can take me well over a week. Gone are the days where I used to be able to get through 2-3 books in a week. It's not only because of reading comprehension or speed of course. Life, work, chores and other things are part of this equation. Plus, there are always new books that come out that look interesting or are from an author that I want to read, and in the fullness of time, I acquire some of these books, and then they go on my "tbr". As slow as I now read, you'd be surprised how quickly my tbr gets filled-up. It's a losing battle.

I decided therefore, to list some of the books on my tbr here and ask people to choose for me the book I should read next. Why? Because, I can't decide. The last four books I read were kind of disappointing, and I Want something to shake the "cobwebs". I want, "a good read". Something that will really capture my attention or imagination. So, fell free to comment, or e-mail me at BookMooch or LibraryThing with your recommendation. Here is the list (a partial list at that):

1. The Strain: Book One of The Strain Trilogy
2. The Host: A Novel
3. Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries
4. Queen of the Road: The True Tale of 47 States, 22,000 Miles, 200 Shoes, 2 Cats, 1 Poodle, a Husband, and a Bus with a Will of Its Own
5. The Terror: A Novel
6. Lottery
7. The Army of the Republic: A Novel
8. The Star Fraction
9. The Secret History of Moscow
10. Solar
11. Across the Nightingale Floor (Tales of the Otori, Book 1)
12. Water for Elephants: A Novel
13. Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World
14. Outliers: The Story of Success
15. The Last Open Road (The Last Open Road)
16. Suzanne Collins'sThe Hunger Games (Hardcover)(2008)
17. Lost Star of Myth and Time
18. A Gentleman's Game: A Queen & Country Novel
19. Eon
20. The Unnamed
21. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
22. Daniel X: Watch the Skies
23. The 47th Samurai (Bob Lee Swagger Novels)
24. The Siege
25. Chindi
26. Running With the Demon (The Word and the Void Trilogy, Book 1)
27. The Eight: A Novel
28. Lost and Found: A Novel
29. Directive 51
30. CrazyBusy: Overstretched, Overbooked, and About to Snap! Strategies for Coping in a World Gone ADD

That's it. I am stopping at 30 (note: I have most of the follow-up books in the series implied here, except for #18 and #21)... If I was to list my whole library, it would never end. These particular books have been in my mind for a while, either because they start a series, or because I've had them for a while. Some actually continue series that I have already started. So what say you the educated reader? What should I read next? Feel free to provide some input and help me enjoy my Holiday Weekend (Thanksgiving weekend in the USA).

1028. Plague Year

Plague Year by Jeff Carlson is the debut novel of a new talent in the Science Fiction genre. In the back cover of the paperback edition, no less a master of the genre than David Brin says: "One of the best debut novels in years." And Kevin J. Anderson, a writer whose Saga of the Seven Suns kept me enthralled for years is quoted as saying "Fascinating."

With this kind introduction, a novel of this type has to be good, right? After all, a number of forum members on BookMooch actually recommended this book to me. The book covers a subject matter that I adore, nanotechnology...How I did not become a biochemist or a biological engineer, I don't know. I would have loved to play with tiny little machines. So, my expectation were pretty high going into this book. Not discounting the fact that it's also a book in the "Post-Apocalyptic" sub-genre of Science Fiction.

To be honest, I did enjoy the book on a certain level. And yes, I completely identified with Cam. I thought he was the most well rounded of the characters in the book. But apart from characterization problems such as Cam Najarro and Ruth Goldman, I had issues with some of the decisions the characters were making. I understand these characters belong to a certain author who has to lead them to a certain action sequence and then to a certain outcome, but there were times when their actions made no sense. So, I had problems with the structure of the book.

I also had problems with the language as used throughout the book. Granted, I might not have been an English major in College, but the way a lot of sentences were written seemed odd to me. They weren't particularly wrong, but they were off-putting. Oh, I followed the action alright, but the language made that journey a jarring ride. And this could be because of subtleties in the language that even I am not aware of.

What was the bulk of the story about? Quoting from the back cover: "The nanotechnology was designed to fight cancer. Instead, it evolved into the machine plague, killing nearly five billion people and changing life in Earth forever. The nanotech has one weakness: It self-destructs at altitudes above ten thousand feet..."

So, there are survivors, and a group of scientists who are sent onto the International Space Station (ISS) to escape the Plague. But eventually they are going to have to come back because they are going to run out of supplies and because there is only so much they can do up there. Meanwhile the survivors out West, pick-up one of the creators of the Plague.

You know what I kept waiting to happen in this book? Yes, you have destroyed humankind successfully with this Machine Plague. And yes, there are immense consequences for the ecosystem and the entire planet. Now, show us the next step, show us the ingenuity of the human mind and the promise of the technology. Show us what a well-meaning scientist with the right tools can do with nano-technology...

I give this book 2 stars out of 5.