Category: - BC Reads!

"77 Shadow Street" by Dean Koontz

3/30/2014

Title: 77 Shadow Street
Author: Dean Koontz
Genre: Horror, science fiction, thriller
# pages: 451
Date published: December 27, 2011
5-star rating: 4.5 stars
Would you recommend it? Yes

I have been reading Dean Koontz’s books for over eight years. As I walked through the aisles of the used bookstore near my hometown, I picked up 77 Shadow Street because it was one of Koontz’s latest novels that I had yet to read. Once I began reading, I finished the book in less than one week – this is the sort of book you just can’t put down.

77 Shadow Street is the address of the former Belle Vista mansion, constructed in the 1880s by tycoon Andrew Pendleton and later transformed into a luxury condominium complex named the Pendleton. The building saw the abduction of Pendleton’s wife and children, the murder of the Ostock family by the butler, and the disappearance of a construction worker during the transformation to condos. The chapters switch points of view between the residents and employees of the Pendleton, a constant change that keeps the reader interested. You do not get too much of the same story line or viewpoint, which keeps the story moving, and each character has a different opinion of the bizarre happenings at the condominiums. Mysterious plants, people, and creatures appear and disappear for seconds to minutes to hours at a time.

Eventually the residents realize that they have been transported to the Pendleton in the year 2049 and have less than a few hours to live or find a way to survive the ominous “One.” This time crunch creates a fast-paced read, the chapters going by more and more quickly as time winds down and the perspective switches from character to character and from condominium to condominium.

Anyone who enjoys horror would like this book. Dean Koontz is a mix of James Patterson and Stephen King, telling dark tales of murder with supernatural elements that nonetheless seem believable, and his writing never fails to give me goosebumps, especially at night. 77 Shadow Street transports the reader away from his or her reality into the Pendleton with its residents and employees as they fight to stay alive.

Review by Liz Handler, A&S '15

"The Country of the Blind and Other Selected Stories" by H. G. Wells

2/26/2014

Title: The Country of the Blind and Other Selected Stories
Author: H. G. Wells
Genre: Short Stories, Science Fiction
# pages: 432
Date published: 2007
5-star rating: 4.8 stars
Would you recommend it: Yes

H. G. Wells is most famous for writing The War of the Worlds, but to think that is the work that best describes him does the author a disservice. This collection of short stories, entitled The Country of the Blind and Other Selected Stories, is so diverse that it is surprising that their author is most well known for another work. There are definitely similar characteristics found among the stories, but the tales offer their own themes. General ideas seem to be more important than specific features in each story, and the overall focus of each one is usually philosophical. Although the stories are of varying quality, each offers an engaging message.

The Lord of the Dynamos,” for instance, is a nine-page story that comments on both religion and technological advancement. Short and powerful, it sticks with you. “A Slip under the Microscope” is an extraordinary piece that explores death and medical science.

Each story has something to say about the impact of human advancement and has much more depth than your average science fiction work. Technological themes in particular dominate the work, perhaps because Wells was born in the late 1800s, a time when technological advancements and speculation on what technology meant were at a high point.

Despite the aging science of the stories, Wells’s writing remains universal and explores the question of why humans change rather than how technology advances. My personal favorite out of the whole collection is “A Story of the Stone Age” which takes place, as the title suggests, in the Stone Age, and explores the relationship of two outcasts from their tribe. The story reveals how human nature has not changed all that much, regardless of our scientific feats.

Overall, I would highly recommend this collection to anybody who is interested in short stories. I also recommend it to anyone who likes science fiction, though it is very different from contemporary science fiction work. Although some of the stories are better than others, overall it is an excellent collection, and offers great insight into Wells beyond The War of the Worlds.

Review by Michael Solah, A&S '15

"The Ocean at the End of the Lane" by Neil Gaiman

2/12/2014

Title: The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Author: Neil Gaiman
Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction
# pages: 192
Date published: 2013
5-star rating: 5 stars
Would you recommend it: Yes

This was a book I was sad to stop reading. I read the short novel in a few days just to savor the wonderful reading experience. The book was sad and happy and nostalgic and delightful. The Ocean at the End of the Lane is a bit more personal and reflective than Neil Gaiman’s other novels, but if you are a Gaiman fan, you will not be disappointed.

An older unnamed narrator returns to his childhood home and visits the Hempstock Farm down the lane, encountering the pond or “ocean” in the backyard. While he is there, he remembers everything from when he was seven years old, when he met Lettie Hempstock, an eleven year old girl who lives with the mysterious Hempstock women down the street. He remembers everything he was not supposed to remember. The seven-year-old narrator discovers the Hempstock Farm is not your mundane dairy farm. It is a land of fantasy, and the Hempstocks are not the average humans – they seem to live longer and have infinite wisdom. As a child, the narrator was an avid reader, which helped him escape the reality of his family and money issues. For him, the lines between fantasy and reality are blurred, and Lettie’s reality is his fantasy. The narrator has a housekeeper-nanny who he dislikes. This housekeeper is terrifying to him, but Lettie views the housekeeper as an evil flea who must be exterminated. The story is about the narrator’s adventure to “exterminate” the housekeeper and about the fantastical events that occur with the Hempstocks and his family that year.

This book is relatable, especially for adults who read a lot as children and could relate to the imagination of the narrator. The fantasy aspect was different, unlike anything I have ever encountered, which made me enjoy the novel more. It was actually quite strange, in a good way though, because it was ambiguous as to whether these events the narrator remembers actually happened. The tale also was really great at characterization. I could recall what it was like to be seven and selfish, yet beginning to realize that everything around me does matter. Some other themes in the story are the difference between children and adults, coping with family problems, and the meaning of friendship from a child’s point of view.

This book captured me from the very beginning, with fluid prose and an intriguing narrator. As the novel introduced new characters, it kept my attention, because I was curious - I always wanted to know more about them. The Ocean was also thought-provoking, and I wondered if I would be able to face what the narrator faced. It made me feel very close to the narrator. I raved about this book to everyone I saw while I was reading it, so I think anyone would enjoy it. This novel is a step into childhood and I already want to read it again.

Review by Colleen Brady, A&S '16

"The Eyre Affair" by Jasper Fforde

12/2/2013

Title: The Eyre Affair
Author: Jasper Fforde
# pages: 374
Date Published: 2001
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Recommend: Yes

            The Eyre Affair takes us to an alternate-universe England, a place where everyday life offers everything from reverse genetic-engineering to time travel and classic literature is the focus of pop culture. Thursday Next, the novel’s protagonist, is an agent for Litera Tec, a branch of the British government that handles crimes literature-related crimes: everything from high-scale Shakespeare forgeries to black-market poetry-trafficking. In the world of Thursday Next, people are very serious about their literary works.

            Unfortunately for Litera Tec, the antagonist of the novel, Acheron Hades, acquires a new technology and begins dragging fictional characters out of their respective novels and into the “real world” (or the world of The Eyre Affair), including Jane Eyre, as suggested by Fforde’s title.

            On the most basic level, The Eyre Affair is a book about books. But it is so much more than that, spanning several genres, including mystery, thriller, science-fiction and humor, all while retaining a constant ingenuity.

            For instance, the world building in this book is phenomenal. Fforde creates a setting that is at once familiar and foreign, weaving together twisted references to literary, historical and pop culture in our world with the small, odd details of his alternate England to create a unique sense of place. For example, the Crimean War plays a much larger role in the world of The Eyre Affair than it did in real life and the main protagonist’s pet is a re-engineered Dodo bird.

However, these various parts fit together well and, as a person who loves reading, it was both surprising and gratifying to see a world in which the theft of first-edition prose or the appearance of a new play by a famous playwright is an issue of national importance.

            The Eyre Affair does take a lot of effort on the part of the reader. Fforde’s frequent references to historical people, events and literary works left me baffled at first. For instance, when he brought up Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens, I felt I actually had to go look up a plot summary of that book to fully understand the happenings of The Eyre Affair. I then found myself repeating this brief research every five pages or so. While I might have been able to simply skim over the references, much of the novel’s meaning would have been lost, and I wouldn’t have fully followed or appreciated it. Therefore, while The Eyre Affair can take some time and devotion to read, it proves itself well worth the effort.

Review by Julia Walker, A&S '16

"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams

11/11/2013

Title: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Author: Douglas Adams
# pages: 224
Date published: 1979
5-star rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Would you recommend it: Yes

  In The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, homebody Arthur Dent is rescued from the planet Earth seconds before it is demolished by a race of vicious, bureaucratic aliens, in order to make space for an inter-galactic freeway. And so the novel begins, with Earth and almost all of humanity destroyed. The two main characters, Arthur and his alien savior Ford Prefect, are sent into outer space where they end up on a spaceship with an eccentric President of the Galaxy, a human girl Arthur once met at a party and a very depressed robot.

            It would be a shaky, even depressing plot if not for Douglas Adams’s writing style. The surrealist humor Adams employs, with its creativity and witticism, reminded me of Monte Python; although everything is turned upside-down, the humor still works. In these pages you can find everything from an infinitely useful translating fish to the answer to the meaning of life; each is treated in the same, ingenious way. While this work is science fiction, the style of writing and the light content sets it apart from most other literature in the genre. You need not necessarily like science fiction to enjoy this book. It’s also a fairly quick read, though at times the author’s habit of going off on mini-tangents about certain topics in his “universe,” to further the humor, can be a little distracting.

            Overall, though, I definitely recommend The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It’s a light, humorous, extremely creative read, and definitely a nice change of pace. It’s also the first book in a series, so if you enjoy the first, definitely check out the later books.

Review by Julia Walker, A&S '16

"Divergent" by Veronica Roth

2/5/2013

Title: Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Genre: Science Fiction
# of Pages: 487
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Recommend: Yes

Divergent is the first book in a trilogy by young novelist Veronica Roth. Beatrice ‘Tris’ Prior lives in a dystopian society that is divided into five factions, each of which highlights a particular virtue: Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). Although each child is born into a faction, at the age of 16 members of society are allowed to pick which faction they will dedicate the rest of their lives to. When the time comes for Beatrice to choose her fate, she struggles between her loyalty to her family and her own desires. Her surprising choice leads to an intense and competitive initiation that challenges her mental strength, her physical capabilities, and the durability of her friendships. As conflict brews and her seemingly perfect lifestyle begins to unravel, Tris realizes that her most closely guarded secret might be the key to saving the people she loves.

Through the development of a society characterized by divisions and faux peace, Veronica Roth plays on stereotypes, human nature, and the danger of conformity while building her scene. There are few lulls in the action, and I actually felt a sense of urgency to push forward while reading this novel. It was as if the next important event would have gone on without me if I set the book down for just a moment. With a defiant teenage girl as the leading character, a futuristic, bleak setting, a budding romance, and a fascinating blend of excitement, dread, and mystery, I could not help but compare the first book in this trilogy to The Hunger Games. Do not start this book if you have any enticing plans for the next eight hours. Or during finals week, like I did. It started as a casual read that I hoped would calm my nerves, but instead I ended up pulling a non-academically related all-nighter to finish it.

Honestly, the only real downside to this book is that conclusion of the trilogy will not be released until next fall. In Divergent, some questions remain unanswered and many situations do not make sense. I am expecting that these issues will be resolved in the second and third books, though. I’m not one for patience and would have preferred to read all three books in close sequence, but as far as flaws go I would say that this is a minor one. While Divergent is not for everyone, if you enjoyed The Hunger Games series I advise you to pick up this Veronica Roth novel!

Review by Christie Wentworth, A&S '13 Illustration by Patrick Hughes, A&S '14

"Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs

10/23/2012

Title: Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children
Author: Ransom Riggs
Genre(s): Thrillers/Suspense, Action
Number of pages: 352
Year published : 2011
Rating: 4 Stars (out of 5)
Recommended? Yes

When I picked up Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, the vintage photographs interlaced throughout the book immediately caught my attention. Ransom Riggs spent years collecting these old, haunting photographs before he decided to publish them with a book. These photographs add another dimension to make this novel unique and they complement the story perfectly. The images add rich details that help the reader visualize the setting, but still leave room for imagination.

The story kicks off when the grandfather of the main character, Jacob Portman, is mysteriously attacked and dies while going for a walk. Jacob suspects that this is no ordinary wildlife attack – he believes monsters murdered his grandfather. To investigate further, Jacob convinces his parents to let him go to Wales for the summer, where he encounters an orphanage full of children with rare and strange talents and qualities. Jacob is trying to find out what this place had to do with his grandfather when he discovers what he thought was the impossible. The plot is interesting from the prologue on and the action keeps the reader on his toes.

One downside to this novel is the character dynamic. Frankly, they are not as developed as I would have liked. Jacob is a moderately relatable character who is adventurous, brave, and curious. The people he meets are interesting and different, but throughout the book I always wanted to know more about the grandfather and the children. If the characters were more deeply developed, I think I would have gotten more out of this book.

I would recommend Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children because it’s one of those books that you really can’t put down – I read it in two days. It was a very easy read that is meant for younger readers, but possesses qualities that make it enjoyable for any age. It was suspenseful, mysterious, and thought provoking with a plot that is complex, surprising, and intriguing. Ransom Riggs is actually an old college friend of novelist John Green, so if you are a fan of Green’s novels, definitely check this one out. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is haunting and mysterious – a relevant and quick read for the Halloween season!

Review by Colleen Brady, A&S '16

"Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury

9/13/2012

Title: Fahrenheit 451
Author : Ray Bradbury
Genre : Science Fiction
Number of pages : 179
Year published : 1953
Rating : 4 stars (out of 5)

Imagine a world where firemen start the fires instead of putting them out, the roads have speed minimums instead of speed limits, and libraries are not only non-existent, but they are also illegal. Fahrenheit 451 follows the life of Guy Montag, a “fireman” in this future world who starts to feel lost in a society where his job is to burn books and everything around him suddenly seems empty and meaningless. Technology permeates every aspect of his life, from the firehouse watchdog, to the mechanical toaster that automatically butters his bread every morning.

He never questioned it—never imagined life any other way—until he meets a young girl named Clarisse, and she opens his eyes to a new perspective of the world around him. Curiosity overcomes him, and he begins to steal novels from the houses he burns, to see what books like The Bible are all about. The journey that ensues is captivating, and offers an insightful underlying commentary on the direction society is headed today.

I don’t read much science fiction, but I thoroughly enjoyed this quick read—it only took me a few days to finish. All my friends told me it was one of their favorites in high school, so I had to check it out, and I’m glad I did. I especially enjoyed the Afterword and Coda by Bradbury, where he goes on to explain alternate endings and post-novel lives of the main characters that he never officially wrote into the book. (Note: I think they are only included in editions published after 1979). I would definitely recommend it, especially for those of us who couldn’t imagine life without literature. This one is for the book lovers!

Review by Kristie Dickinson, CSOM '13