Hallie's bookshelf: problematic-faves en-US Sat, 26 Aug 2023 10:30:25 -0700 60 Hallie's bookshelf: problematic-faves 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus]]> 40293 402 Orson Scott Card 0812508645 Hallie 4 problematic-faves 3.97 1996 Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus
author: Orson Scott Card
name: Hallie
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at: 2022/08/14
date added: 2023/08/26
shelves: problematic-faves
review:
I get the feeling that a lot of historical research went into this book, and while I didn't love any of the characters (I think the author might not really have, either - the emphasis was pretty clearly on the plot), the premise - watching history to find the critical even that shaped the destiny of humankind - is engaging and involves a lot of historical what-ifs that I found intriguing. I also enjoyed some of the little subplots, like speculation on the original Flood myth. Not brilliant writing, but carefully thought out story.
]]> <![CDATA[Twilight (The Twilight Saga, #1)]]> 41865
First, Edward was a vampire.

Second, there was a part of him - and I didn't know how dominant that part might be - that thirsted for my blood.

And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.

Deeply seductive and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight is a love story with bite.]]> 498 Stephenie Meyer 0316015849 Hallie 5 problematic-faves 3.66 2005 Twilight (The Twilight Saga, #1)
author: Stephenie Meyer
name: Hallie
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 2007/07/01
date added: 2019/04/07
shelves: problematic-faves
review:
This series is right up there with Harry Potter in terms of escapist young adult fantasy. The author does a great job with characterization and setting, provides plenty of back story, and just generally has a knack for storytelling. The protagonist seems a little young for her age at times, and has a massive inferiority complex, so it ends up being another case (rather like Harry Potter) where the supporting characters are the most interesting. My only advice to the author would be to either cut some of the kissing scenes or write some more original ones - it starts to feel like déjà vu after a few chapters.
]]> <![CDATA[New Moon (The Twilight Saga, #2)]]> 49041 There is an alternate cover edition for ISBN13 9780316160193 here.

I knew we were both in mortal danger. Still, in that instant, I felt well. Whole. I could feel my heart racing in my chest, the blood pulsing hot and fast through my veins again. My lungs filled deep with the sweet scent that came off his skin. It was like there had never been any hole in my chest. I was perfect - not healed, but as if there had never been a wound in the first place.

I FELT LIKE I WAS TRAPPED IN ONE OF THOSE TERRIFYING NIGHTMARES, the one where you have to run, run till your lungs burst, but you can't make your body move fast enough.... But this was no dream, and, unlike the nightmare, I wasn't running for my life; I was racing to save something infinitely more precious. My own life meant little to me today.

FOR BELLA SWAN THERE IS ONE THING more important than life itself: Edward Cullen. But being in love with a vampire is even more dangerous than Bella could ever have imagined. Edward has already rescued Bella from the clutches of one evil vampire, but now, as their daring relationship threatens all that is near and dear to them, they realize their troubles may be just beginning....

LEGIONS OF READERS ENTRANCED BY THE New York Times bestseller Twilight are hungry for the continuing story of star-crossed lovers Bell and Edward. In New Moon, Stephanie Meyer delivers another irresistible combination of romance and suspense with a supernatural spin. passionate, riveting, and full of surprising twists and turns, this vampire love saga is well on its way to literary immortality.]]> 563 Stephenie Meyer 0316160199 Hallie 4 problematic-faves 3.61 2006 New Moon (The Twilight Saga, #2)
author: Stephenie Meyer
name: Hallie
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2007/06/01
date added: 2019/04/07
shelves: problematic-faves
review:
Not quite as good as the first one, since it reveals Bella to be an amazingly static character. Still, I love reading about the vampire family, and the introduction of werewolves was pretty entertaining (I must be remarkably dense not to have seen it coming). The sort of book that sucks you in and demands that you finish it in a sitting - engaging, regardless of its actual literary value (i.e. quite low).
]]> <![CDATA[Eclipse (The Twilight Saga, #3)]]> 428263 "BELLA?"
Edward's soft voice came from behind me. I turned to see him spring lightly up the porch steps, his hair windblown from running. He pulled me into his arms at once, just like he had in the parking lot, and kissed me again.
This kiss frightened me. There was too much tension, too strong an edge to the way his lips crushed mine - like he was afraid we had only so much time left to us.

As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob - knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella has one more decision to make: life or death. But which is which?

READERS CAPTIVATED BY Twilight AND New Moon will eagerly devour Eclipse, the much-anticipated third book in Stephenie Meyer's riveting vampire love saga.]]> 629 Stephenie Meyer 0316160202 Hallie 4 problematic-faves 3.73 2007 Eclipse (The Twilight Saga, #3)
author: Stephenie Meyer
name: Hallie
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2019/04/07
shelves: problematic-faves
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Speaker for the Dead (Ender's Saga, #2)]]> 7967
In the aftermath of his terrible war, Ender Wiggin disappeared, and a powerful voice arose: The Speaker for the Dead, who told the true story of the Bugger War.

Now, long years later, a second alien race has been discovered, but again the aliens' ways are strange and frightening...again, humans die. And it is only the Speaker for the Dead, who is also Ender Wiggin the Xenocide, who has the courage to confront the mystery...and the truth.

Speaker for the Dead, the second novel in Orson Scott Card's Ender Quintet, is the winner of the 1986 Nebula Award for Best Novel and the 1987 Hugo Award for Best Novel.]]> 382 Orson Scott Card 0812550757 Hallie 5 problematic-faves 4.10 1986 Speaker for the Dead (Ender's Saga, #2)
author: Orson Scott Card
name: Hallie
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1986
rating: 5
read at: 2008/06/01
date added: 2019/04/07
shelves: problematic-faves
review:
Very different from Ender's Game, but brilliant. Sci-fi with a heavy dose of anthropology and a light dusting of religion - very interesting, and one of Card's better-written books, I think.
]]> The Power 29751398 The Power the world is a recognizable place: There's a rich Nigerian boy who lounges around the family pool; a foster kid whose religious parents hide their true nature; an ambitious American politician; and a tough London girl from a tricky family. But then a vital new force takes root and flourishes, causing their lives to converge with devastating effect. Teenage girls now have immense physical power: They can cause agonizing pain and even death. With this small twist of nature, the world drastically resets.]]> 341 Naomi Alderman 0670919985 Hallie 3
So, this book was written in a sort of mentor situation with Margaret Atwood, and it shows - in a lot of great ways (frame story that adds a layer to interpretation; plausible subversion of current religious imagery/ideas; complex female characters), but also in a “the feminism and gender politics of this book feel curiously old school� kind of way. The story constructs gender as biological destiny and makes no attempt whatsoever to explore the implications of the really fascinating premise for anyone other than cisgender, mostly hetero characters. There was actually a moment where I thought we were about to have a trans character and was all “yes, finally� and then it was just a throwaway “btw some male babies are born with the power too� that never went anywhere.

I was left wondering, by the end, what the author’s point was, exactly. That if the biological shoe were on the other foot, women would be just as awful on a civilization-wide scale as men? That physical power corrupts, absolutely? It was all a bit Hobbesian, and at times I caught myself thinking “really, a woman wrote this?� - some sequences seemed straight out of the fever dreams of Men’s Rights Activists who believe this is *exactly* what would happen if women had power. ]]> 3.75 2016 The Power
author: Naomi Alderman
name: Hallie
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2018/03/07
date added: 2019/01/01
shelves: audiobooks, problematic-faves, dystopia
review:
I am struggling with how to rate this one. 5 stars for audiobook production - the reader did a great job with characterization. 4 stars for a compelling narrative that had me itching to finish the story. 2 stars for writing a book about gender in 2016 and apparently having missed or ignored the memo that gender and sex aren’t the same thing.

So, this book was written in a sort of mentor situation with Margaret Atwood, and it shows - in a lot of great ways (frame story that adds a layer to interpretation; plausible subversion of current religious imagery/ideas; complex female characters), but also in a “the feminism and gender politics of this book feel curiously old school� kind of way. The story constructs gender as biological destiny and makes no attempt whatsoever to explore the implications of the really fascinating premise for anyone other than cisgender, mostly hetero characters. There was actually a moment where I thought we were about to have a trans character and was all “yes, finally� and then it was just a throwaway “btw some male babies are born with the power too� that never went anywhere.

I was left wondering, by the end, what the author’s point was, exactly. That if the biological shoe were on the other foot, women would be just as awful on a civilization-wide scale as men? That physical power corrupts, absolutely? It was all a bit Hobbesian, and at times I caught myself thinking “really, a woman wrote this?� - some sequences seemed straight out of the fever dreams of Men’s Rights Activists who believe this is *exactly* what would happen if women had power.
]]> <![CDATA[Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1)]]> 9969571 Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

IN THE YEAR 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines, puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them.

But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win—and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape.]]> 480 Ernest Cline 030788743X Hallie 2 problematic-faves 4.21 2011 Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1)
author: Ernest Cline
name: Hallie
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2011
rating: 2
read at: 2018/04/14
date added: 2019/01/01
shelves: problematic-faves
review:
I don’t know how the hell to rate this book. It was engaging and compulsively readable, but the plot itself is pretty thin and predictable. The world building is cool, and while I didn’t get all the references, there were some moments that hit home (also I guess I finally know the point of Zork). That said, the book is a love letter, not to geekery in generally, but to a pretty specific type of straight white boy geekery, and the fetishization of 80s culture is a little hard to stomach (seriously, have you watched a John Hughes movie lately? Problematic as fuck). The main character says a number of predictably eye-roll-worthy things, and I really don’t know what to do with Aech - psych, this character I’ve told you is a straight white boy is actually a queer black girl, and see how it ~doesn’t even matter~ because the white male experience is so ~universal~ you didn’t even notice?! File this one under “woman turns off her brain for a couple hours to enjoy pop culture in peace� I guess.
]]> Xenocide (Ender's Saga, #3) 8648
On Lusitania, Ender found a world where humans and pequininos and the Hive Queen could all live together; where three very different intelligent species could find common ground at last. Or so he thought.

Lusitania also harbors the descolada, a virus that kills all humans it infects, but which the pequininos require in order to become adults. The Starways Congress so fears the effects of the descolada, should it escape from Lusitania, that they have ordered the destruction of the entire planet, and all who live there. The Fleet is on its way, a second xenocide seems inevitable.

Xenocide is the third novel in Orson Scott Card's The Ender Saga.]]> 592 Orson Scott Card 0312861877 Hallie 5 3.81 1991 Xenocide (Ender's Saga, #3)
author: Orson Scott Card
name: Hallie
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1991
rating: 5
read at: 2008/07/14
date added: 2017/12/18
shelves: problematic-faves, to-read-again
review:
Such an excellent book, if you're not expecting a lot of typical sci-fi action and adventure type stuff. The pacing is a little uneven - most of the 600 pages are devoted to the characters' talking and thinking, and it's not till the last 200 or so that things start really happening, but that's fine with me. The author has created some fascinating stuff with his speculations on the nature and origin of life, and you have to seriously think to follow some of the characters' philosophical arguments. The best thing about sci-fi (versus fantasy, I suppose) is when the authors get really intellectual about the worlds they've created. This book (the whole series, really) is definitely on my "to read over and over again" list.
]]> <![CDATA[Speaker for the Dead (Ender's Saga, #2)]]> 9818767 120 Aaron Johnston 0785135863 Hallie 0 problematic-faves 4.21 2011 Speaker for the Dead (Ender's Saga, #2)
author: Aaron Johnston
name: Hallie
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/12/18
shelves: problematic-faves
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Ender's Game (Ender's Saga, #1)]]> 901
Once Again, Earth is under attack. An alien species is poised for a front assault. The survival of humanity depends on a military genius who can defeat the aliens.

But who?

Ender Wiggin. Brilliant. Ruthless. Cunning. A tactical and strategic master. And a child.

Recruited for military training by the world government, Ender's childhood ends the moment he enters his new home: Battle School. Among the elite recruits Ender proves himself to be a genius among geniuses. In simulated war games he excels. But is the pressure and loneliness taking its toll on Ender? Simulations are one thing. How will Ender perform in real combat conditions? After all, Battle School is just a game.

Right? (back cover)

]]> 324 Orson Scott Card Hallie 4 problematic-faves
*By responsible for, I guess I don't mean spiritually culpable, like sin (if that is even a thing I believe in anymore), but you do have to admit fault for and try to fix the consequences of your actions that harm others, whether you wanted to harm them or not.

� � �

My favorite of the Ender books when I first read it sometime in high school, but on rereading I prefer the later ones. This is typical sci-fi - well-written, with excellent characters, but it's still the whole business of spaceships and aliens and interstellar warfare and whatnot. The later books in the series get much heavier doses of anthropology, philosophy, religion, metaphysics, what have you that are only hinted at in this book. Still, I like it a lot, and I'd definitely recommend it to anybody looking for an entertaining but well-written read.]]> 4.21 1985 Ender's Game (Ender's Saga, #1)
author: Orson Scott Card
name: Hallie
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1985
rating: 4
read at: 2002/01/01
date added: 2017/12/18
shelves: problematic-faves
review:
ETA: I've been thinking a lot lately about Orson Scott Card and how his books shaped the development of my moral reasoning, and I've come to the conclusion that the "intention based morality" () that pervades his books is intellectually bankrupt and a shitty way to live. You don't get to choose which outcomes of your actions you are responsible for* based solely on which ones you meant to happen.

*By responsible for, I guess I don't mean spiritually culpable, like sin (if that is even a thing I believe in anymore), but you do have to admit fault for and try to fix the consequences of your actions that harm others, whether you wanted to harm them or not.

� � �

My favorite of the Ender books when I first read it sometime in high school, but on rereading I prefer the later ones. This is typical sci-fi - well-written, with excellent characters, but it's still the whole business of spaceships and aliens and interstellar warfare and whatnot. The later books in the series get much heavier doses of anthropology, philosophy, religion, metaphysics, what have you that are only hinted at in this book. Still, I like it a lot, and I'd definitely recommend it to anybody looking for an entertaining but well-written read.
]]> Dragonsdawn (Pern, #9) 465904 384 Anne McCaffrey 0893662135 Hallie 3 pern, problematic-faves
ETA 7/2/14: Another reread, this time in chronological order in-universe rather than publication order. Definitely a different feel, and some of the details seem bizarre unless you know they're winks and nods to already published books that take place in the future of the story's timeline. And yep, still fairly sexist. Also thought it was interesting, on reread, that there were a lot of implied European/Asian ethnic groups represented, but very few identifiably African. Huh.]]> 4.21 1988 Dragonsdawn (Pern, #9)
author: Anne McCaffrey
name: Hallie
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1988
rating: 3
read at: 2012/02/07
date added: 2017/12/18
shelves: pern, problematic-faves
review:
This is a re-read -- I burned my way through all the Dragonriders books in high school and absolutely loved them, regardless of the fact that McCaffrey is (should I say was? I was really sad when she died) only fair-to-middling at crafting prose. She is a great world-builder though, and I loved this book especially because (spoiler alert) of the reveal that the Pern books are science fiction and not high fantasy (which you could easily be forgiven for believing after the vaguely medieval feel of the first three books). I'm a sucker for a good origin story, and this fit the bill. I'm sure I didn't catch all the little easter egg details hidden in there, since it's been so long since I read the series, but I caught enough to be quite pleased with her thoroughness. So, why just three stars? Apart from the quality of writing, there are some fairly heterosexist, antifeminist threads running through this book (for all that McCaffrey was a woman) that just rub me the wrong way. My favorite (sarcasm alert) was how the young women were persistently referred to as "girls" while males of the same age were "men." Maybe I'm too critical -- after all, the book was written a while ago -- but details like this really taint my reading experience. All in all, though, I good nostalgic read.

ETA 7/2/14: Another reread, this time in chronological order in-universe rather than publication order. Definitely a different feel, and some of the details seem bizarre unless you know they're winks and nods to already published books that take place in the future of the story's timeline. And yep, still fairly sexist. Also thought it was interesting, on reread, that there were a lot of implied European/Asian ethnic groups represented, but very few identifiably African. Huh.
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