Kevin Brockmeier's
Brief History of the Dead is the first book I've ever "read" by listening to the audiobook. I downloaded it from the library, put it on my mp3 player and listened to it here and there. Not a bad experience, but I don't think it will ever replace really reading a book for me. As for the book itself, it presents a fascinating idea of the afterlife.
Labels: audiobook, books, Brockmeier, fiction, reviews
posted by kristin at 4:07 PM
I read Nikita Lalwani's
Gifted a few weeks ago and was a bit at a loss right away for the right description of it. The main character is a gifted girl in Wales, the daughter of Indian immigrants. It reminded me a bit of Jhumpa Lahiri's
The Namesake (given the whole Indian-immigrants-trying-to-adjust-to-a-new-society thing) though I didn't like it as well. Not bad, just not as compelling a read.
Labels: books, fiction, immigrants, review
posted by kristin at 1:56 PM
Hooray for
ILL I'd been wanting to read
Paul Di Filippo's novel
Spondulix ever since reading the short story (of the same name) that it was based on in his collection
Strange Trades but could never bring myself to pay $50 for it. I got it from the library a few days ago and finished it last night. Good stuff. Set in Hoboken, NJ, the book features an ex-Olympic diver, ex-circus performer who creates an alternate form of money called Spondulix in a moment of desperation. You probably can't imagine where it goes from there.
Labels: fiction, review, sf
posted by kristin at 12:34 PM 
