Tag Archives: reading

Nerdy Dialogue

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It’s March break, and for me the start of any break means it’s time to enjoy a good fiction book. Scanning my options last week, I saw that a science fiction series I really enjoyed had the next book out. So I added it to Audible and started listening on Friday. I’m not going to mention the series beyond saying it’s a science fiction, because I do enjoy it, but my critique below is far from flattering.

The author is a total nerd. How do I know this? Every reference to earth is related to things only a nerd would think worth referencing, and the dialogue is extra nerdy. Meanwhile the science of the scifence fiction seems to follow a level of theory that is intelligent and beyond my scope to critique… And while I’ve enjoyed the plot line of every book, including this one so far, the dialogue is very painful, and getting annoying.

The banter is always the same, no matter which characters are talking, and while the women are all intelligent, they all eye roll to the same style of corny jokes and all have similar responses to male dialogue. I bet if I met the author, I could typecast both him and his wife.

Robertson Davies was a novelist who seemed to be able to put himself into characters and ‘be’ someone completely different. I remember reading Fifth Business, and when the protagonist lost a leg I actually looked up the author to see if he had lost a leg too, because I couldn’t imagine that this experience wasn’t at least partially autobiographical.

On the other hand, I’ve read another series by this nerdy author and the humour and banter between characters does not diverge. Not one bit.

I know dialogue is hard. I’m not sure i would be emotionally intuitive enough to live the perspective of fictional characters well enough to create good dialogue beyond my own experience. Still, that doesn’t take away from my critique, and this author only has the ability to write dialogue from a single, very predictable perspective. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed his books, but I think this is going to be the last one that I’ll read, and it’s because of the very nerdy, and very predictable, banter and dialogue between characters.

Time to read

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I haven’t been able to start a book in a couple months. I still listen to podcasts, but I usually also have a book on the go. Right now there isn’t a book that’s grabbing my interest. My last book was Revenge of the Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, and I can’t tell you a single takeaway that I got from it.

Tipping Point was amazing. I read that shortly after it came out 25 years ago and I still remember things from it. Part of this is that the original was so much better than the sequel, but part of it is that I’m not listening to absorb right now. For the first time in 5 plus years I’m thinking of trying to read a paper book.

I love audio books. I find way more time to listen than to read, and while I used to read 3-5 books a year, I usually listen to 15-20+. But right now I can’t seem to stay focused on audio.

So maybe I put on my reading glasses and try paper again… but first I need a good book suggestion.

Audio attention

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A few years ago I exclusively switched from reading books to listening to them. I was never a fast reader and always struggled with my attention when reading. I’d get lost in thought and read whole pages without absorbing any of the content. In fact, sometimes while reading I could turn back one page and not remember reading any part of it.

So for me, audio books were a blessing. I could just listen and absorb. However, I’m going through a phase now where I’m losing my attention while listening. My wondering mind becomes a wandering mind and I tune out the sound. When this happens, only one thing seems to get me out of it and that’s a good fiction book. By moving from learning content to enjoying an adventure, I start to tune back in.

So, I’ll put my current read on hold, I’ll skip my next planned read, and I’ll find myself a good fiction book to get lost in. Normally I save fiction for holiday time, but there’s no use listening to something informative now, if every few minutes I’m hitting the rewind button.

I need a good fiction audio book to remind me what it means to listen intently and pay attention.

Double dipping

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Had 2 long drives today, the first one was 2.5 hours and the second one was 1.5 hours. Of the 4 hours, about 45 minutes was spent on the phone to my sister, and most of the rest of the time I was listening to a book. I love solo drives now that I mostly listen to books rather than reading them. The road becomes an endless stretch before me, and time drifts away as I listen… my only interruption being Siri’s voice occasionally giving me commands from Google Maps.

I love to double dip and both enjoy a drive and also enjoy listening to a book at the same time. The drive becomes a pleasure rather than a chore, and the kilometres disappear… time passing faster because of my involvement in my book.

Now I’m where I need to be, and the journey was both effortless and enjoyable.

Novel worlds

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I enjoy reading novels when summer comes along. I seek out books that take me to different worlds and different realms. I seek magic and the majestic. I don’t really enjoy historical fiction. I want dystopian tribulations, lost kingdoms, and kingdoms lost. Give me magical orbs, forbidden powers, fragile Gods, and alien encounters.

Set me free in a novel world, where I can escape on the pages, written or read, paper or digital, visual or auditory. Places I can visit in my mind; places that could never exist save for an author’s imagination.

Summer is a time to escape to places only the mind can go… thanks to a good book.

Don’t watch the movie

It’s holiday day time and that means it’s time to pick up a novel. Well, metaphorically pick it up because I’m actually going to listen to an audio book. Every extended school break I usually choose a good fiction and enjoy having an author take me on an adventure.

A few summers ago I got deep into the Gray Man series by Mark Greaney, and now I’m on book 13, ‘The Chaos Agent’. I love escaping into a world of spies, espionage, and more action in a week than any one person would ever experience in a lifetime. The books are fun, fascinating, and exciting… but the movie is absolutely awful!

The movie combined characters and made a cookie cutter Hollywood movie, which undermined the essence of the book, and more importantly the character. Here is a movie spoiler that proves my point: The Hollywood version of the final fight starts with the Gray Man facing his rival. The Grey Man works alone the entire book, but the movie has his female team member with a gun pointed at the bad guy and the Gray Man doesn’t say ‘take the shot’, no instead he chooses to fist fight the guy.

This would never happen in the books, it would never be a choice made by this deadly assassin. It doesn’t fit, other than to have a Hollywood version final battle. Then to make the scenario worse, the army trained rival only remembers he has a knife after he starts losing the fight to the Gray Man. None of that is a spoiler for any of the books.

It’s really too bad the movie had to veer so far away from the book. It took a great story and made into a Hollywood cliche, where any of 100 action hero’s could have replaced the Gray Man and the script would have looked the same.

If you are into spy novels, enjoy reading or listening to tthis series, and stay clear of the movie. And I don’t just mean enjoy the book first, then watch the movie… This is a case where telling you to avoid the movie is keeping you from guaranteed disappointment. It’s that bad!

The sci-fi try

I don’t usually listen to fictional books during the school year. I usually wait for the breaks, in summer, winter, and March, to pick up a ‘fun’ book. But I started a sci-fi that is about the moon breaking up from a mysterious and sudden catastrophic event. The earth then has roughly 2 years to get as large a community into space before being destroyed by moon debris crashing into earth at a rate that makes earth a fiery hell.

The technical aspects of the book are great. It’s easy to nerd out on the science and to imagine the challenges the survivors must face. The only issue I’m having with the book is that it doesn’t share the loss of life in a compassionate way. The story lacks heart.

It tries, but fails to put loss of life in a way that lets the reader feel grief over the loss. The author is more interested in the science than the humanity. He makes attempts but they aren’t great. Yet the book is still good. I’m only 1/3 of the way through and it will be the Christmas break before I get through it. I’ll let the shortcomings go and enjoy nerding out on the science and the idea of the future of humanity and civilization resting on an ad hoc space colony.

Not all stories need to be perfect to be enjoyable. Sometimes you have to make choices. This book lets me geek out without getting too heavy into the devastation of the entire earth… and I’m just one generation in. From what I understand the story spans a few thousand years. I won’t be putting the story down just because it feels a little clinical in how it deals with death. Because ultimately (so far) it’s a story about survival in desperate times, and under dire circumstances, and I’m hooked on finding out what this dystopian future holds.

I chose a science fiction, not a romance novel, and I’m getting a good dose of both science and fiction. For those interested, the book is Neil Stephenson’s Seveneves.

Battling the inner demons

I’m listening to a book now that has two main characters who are both cautiously interested in each other and doubting that the other person is interested in them. It’s a little painful because they should have recognized the other’s attraction by now. So, while as a reader I’m waiting for the inevitable, I do appreciate the author’s perspective on both characters self-doubt… and how they are fighting their inner demons about their own appeal, their own value of what they can offer to the other person.

I wonder how many relationships flounder not because of lack of interest, but rather lack of confidence? How many people don’t initiate intimacy for fear of rejection? It happens in books all the time. Is that indicative of what really happens, or is it more likely that the attraction is one-way? Is it more if an external imbalance of interest in one another or more internal conflict holding back advances?

How often do people succumb to their inner demons and not move forward? Not just in relationships, in their studies, in their jobs, in sports, and even in hobbies?

“I’m not good enough for that team, why even try out?” (Or worse yet, “Why practice more, it won’t make a difference.”

“They won’t want to hire me.”

“They don’t see my value, I’ll get rejected if I ask for a raise.”

“My photos aren’t good enough to submit in the contest.”

How often do our inner demons prevent us from trying?

Errands day

Some days are just task after task. The day feels slow then you look back and realize that it was a good day filled with small accomplishments.

My favourite thing to do with errands is to listen to a book. Something like watering plants suddenly feels like it’s worthwhile doing. But some tasks pull me away from my book and I find myself rewinding to re-listen at times. Still, this isn’t work, it’s errands. And if I’m searching through camping gear and forget that I’m also listening to a book, that’s ok.

Getting stuff done always feels good after the fact. Check a few things off of the ‘to do’ list, and listen to a good spy novel while I’m at it… sounds like a pretty good summer day to me.

I need a good book recommendation

What’s your favourite, “I couldn’t put it down (or stop listening) book you would recommend?

I listen to a lot of books in a year. I barely read much before switching to audio. I’d come home and try to read but I spend so much time looking at screens in a day that even if I chose to read, my eyes would get tired after 10-15 minutes. Switching to audio, I can listen during my workouts, while in the car, when eating lunch on my own, and even doing house chores. I can get hours in over a week, rather the occasional minutes reading.

But to start this year I’m listening to a book that, while I’m enjoying it, I can only listen to short bursts then I need a break. And in between listening to this, I’ve been listening to podcasts, and I’m looking for a good book to listen to.

I tend to listen to books I learn from until Christmas break, March break, and summer, when I listen to fiction, but right now I’m thirsty for a good, hard-to-put-down action/thriller. I like sci-fi, fantasy, and spy novels, and enjoy novels no matter the age or gender of the protagonist. Some recent things I’ve enjoyed listening to include:

Caliban’s War, book 2 of the Expanse series, (but not ready to go to book 3).

Many books in The Grey Man series (do NOT watch the awful movie that butchers the story and creates a final battle that screams of bad moviemaking and screenwriting). I love this series but 7-8 books in I need a break.

The Bone Witch… fabulous storytelling!

The Bobiverse entire series and everything Dennis E. Taylor has written.

And Artemis, sharp, witty, and fast paced sci-fi that begs for a sequel.

So there are some of my shares… what would you recommend?