Book Post: Gromyko, Pierce, Yoon and Evaristo
Киборг и его лесник [Cyborg and His Forester] by Olga Gromyko [in Russian], 681pp
This book is set in the same universe as the kosmo-olukhi series but with a different protagonist on a different planet. There is a slight connection to the characters we know - it is sort of implied that it was Dan who helped hack the new cyborg Jack for Gene, but that is it. Still, it is a familiar universe and we already know how Cyborgs, especially DEX-6, work in it so there is a comfort there. And Gromyko's books remains as funny and hilarious as always. I really wish someone would translate them into English to share with more people but I even doubt this kind of humor could be really translated.
The main character is a young man named Gene who works as a forester and who really, really wants a cyborg to help with with all illegal hunting and other forest responsibilities. And in this forest, the mushrooms are alive and move around too. And one day, he sorts of gets his wish with a cyborg named Jack who has an annoying companion program installed and who also likes to cook and eat a lot, and has a lot of sass. It is a buddy comedy really, with some mystery involved, but mostly it is about these two learning to live with each other and work together and drive each other crazy. There are also fun characters like an old woman Stepanovna who hunts mushrooms and is a former partisan soldier too.
And as much as the author is not really comfortable with slash for her characters, she is sure using a lot of tropes. It is a fun and light buddy comedy and highly entertaining. She just released a new book this Christmas, which my Dad helpfully emailed to me once I let him know about it, and he said it is a sort of sequel to this book. So I'm looking forward to this next year.
Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce, 249pp
One of the authors I missed as a kid because I didn't grow up in the US. Trying to catch up. It is a very obviously a kid book and the language and transitions are pretty rough sometimes. Alanna's emotions are sometimes exaggerated. I think I would have loved it when I was 10. Still, I liked it enough as an adult to want to see what will happen next, and that doesn't often happens with kid fantasy books. It was really cool to see a girl deal with getting her period in a fantasy book.
The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon, 344pp
This was a pleasant YA book about a day in a life of Natasha (illegal immigrant from Jamaica on the day of her deportation) and Danial (a Korean-American who is trying to convince her that it is possible to fall in love). It is sweet and there are a lot of nice conversations. It is a nice book and I'm glad the ending was realistic one, with a nice shiny possibility. I'm just not sure if I will remember it a year from now.
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo, 464pp
One of my favorite books this year - I could not put it down. Filled with stories about different women of variety of ages, whose lives do intersect, but that is not the point of it. It is about following the lives and experiences of many people, many marginalized and some not, but just people's lives. The style takes a little getting used to since there are no periods or traditional sentences, but it doesn't matter overall since the lives just draw you it. Many of these women have tragedies, some less so but their lives in all their ordinariness and expectations are so well drawn. All these people are three dimensional, many irritating, some pitiful, some annoying but all feel so real. Like we get a peak at real lives and the fullness of human experience, especially what it is like for immigrants and minorities and others who don't always belong. It was just a really, really good book both in the way it was written and in its content. I hope as many people as possible will get to read it. Just fantastic.
This book is set in the same universe as the kosmo-olukhi series but with a different protagonist on a different planet. There is a slight connection to the characters we know - it is sort of implied that it was Dan who helped hack the new cyborg Jack for Gene, but that is it. Still, it is a familiar universe and we already know how Cyborgs, especially DEX-6, work in it so there is a comfort there. And Gromyko's books remains as funny and hilarious as always. I really wish someone would translate them into English to share with more people but I even doubt this kind of humor could be really translated.
The main character is a young man named Gene who works as a forester and who really, really wants a cyborg to help with with all illegal hunting and other forest responsibilities. And in this forest, the mushrooms are alive and move around too. And one day, he sorts of gets his wish with a cyborg named Jack who has an annoying companion program installed and who also likes to cook and eat a lot, and has a lot of sass. It is a buddy comedy really, with some mystery involved, but mostly it is about these two learning to live with each other and work together and drive each other crazy. There are also fun characters like an old woman Stepanovna who hunts mushrooms and is a former partisan soldier too.
And as much as the author is not really comfortable with slash for her characters, she is sure using a lot of tropes. It is a fun and light buddy comedy and highly entertaining. She just released a new book this Christmas, which my Dad helpfully emailed to me once I let him know about it, and he said it is a sort of sequel to this book. So I'm looking forward to this next year.
Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce, 249pp
One of the authors I missed as a kid because I didn't grow up in the US. Trying to catch up. It is a very obviously a kid book and the language and transitions are pretty rough sometimes. Alanna's emotions are sometimes exaggerated. I think I would have loved it when I was 10. Still, I liked it enough as an adult to want to see what will happen next, and that doesn't often happens with kid fantasy books. It was really cool to see a girl deal with getting her period in a fantasy book.
The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon, 344pp
This was a pleasant YA book about a day in a life of Natasha (illegal immigrant from Jamaica on the day of her deportation) and Danial (a Korean-American who is trying to convince her that it is possible to fall in love). It is sweet and there are a lot of nice conversations. It is a nice book and I'm glad the ending was realistic one, with a nice shiny possibility. I'm just not sure if I will remember it a year from now.
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo, 464pp
One of my favorite books this year - I could not put it down. Filled with stories about different women of variety of ages, whose lives do intersect, but that is not the point of it. It is about following the lives and experiences of many people, many marginalized and some not, but just people's lives. The style takes a little getting used to since there are no periods or traditional sentences, but it doesn't matter overall since the lives just draw you it. Many of these women have tragedies, some less so but their lives in all their ordinariness and expectations are so well drawn. All these people are three dimensional, many irritating, some pitiful, some annoying but all feel so real. Like we get a peak at real lives and the fullness of human experience, especially what it is like for immigrants and minorities and others who don't always belong. It was just a really, really good book both in the way it was written and in its content. I hope as many people as possible will get to read it. Just fantastic.