Book Club Reads (October-February)

I recently took all of the above books out of the library for the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth book club meetings I attended. It was actually quite the adventure getting Robopocalypse to read. I first took the ebook out of the library to find that I didn't have the right software to read it with. After downloading some Adobe nonsense to read the book I was told that my file had expired :( which is sad since you are supposed to be able to take ebooks out for 3 weeks. Anyways, I almost gave up hope of reading this book before the assigned book club meeting when I walked into my local library branch and saw it on display! This is hilarious because online the library had a 22 person queue to take out the book, eat that system! The adventure of getting Robopocalypse was definitely worth it, so far it has been my favourite book club read. Thanks Gina for picking such a wonderful book :) Learning from my mistakes with Robopocalypse, I picked up The Time in Between and I Was Told There'd be Cake much earlier from the library.

Through book club I have experienced books for all sorts:

• Something for the Sci-fi lover who also enjoys a post-apocalyptic setting
• Something for the lover of rich cultures and travel
• Something for those who enjoy witty repartee and a good laugh
• Something for the psychological thrill seeker
• and something for the teenager in all of us that imagines a fantasy world

Robopocalypse by David H. Wilson is exactly as it sounds: robots cause the apocalypse on earth. A neat fact about the author is that he has a PhD in robotics; he knows what he's writing about! What I most enjoyed about this particular rendition of technology turning on the human race is how the narative is told. Each chapter is narrated by Cormac Wallace as he describes logs of other survivors. It is interesting to note the survival techniques of different groups of people around the world. To paraphrase Doctor Who human's always find a way.

The Time in Between by David Bergen was somewhat of a disappointing read for me, there were no characters I really connected with and the climax of the novel occurred too soon for my liking making me lose interest in the rest of the novel. The main story centers around a brother and sister duo, Ada and Jon, who go to Vietnam to find their missing father, Charles, who is a veteran of the Vietnam War. I will say that the book did do a great job of describing the still present tension that that war has left behind.

I Was Told There'd Be Cake was a welcome comic relief. Sloane Crosley presents a series of witty short stories dealing with occurrences in her everyday life. Also, it was an good excuse to have cake to eat at the book club meeting!

Before I go to Sleep by S.J. Watson deals with a woman who has recurring short-term amnesia which occurs when she goes to sleep. There were some plot twists I didn't see coming which made for an enjoyable read that kept me on my toes. This novel deals with methods that are actually used with patients who have memory loss, be it from Alzheimer's or amnesia. It gives a great example of how the mind often tries to protect us from traumatic events of our past by making us forget them.

Shadowfell is a fairly predictable teen fantasy novel. I think sometimes when we are reading we look for predictability to give ourselves a break. I personally do love a teen fantasy novel that follows all the stereotypes, it gives me a sense of normalcy. Even if the happenings in the book are far from normal considering they are fantasy after all. All that being said as Juliet Marillier's first endeavor for teens I give her two thumbs up (I haven't read any of her fantasy novels but hear quite good things about them). And I will probably read the sequel, I don't like leaving stories unfinished.

Daniel H. Wilson
David Bergen
Sloane Crosley
S.J. Watson
Juliet Marillier