"Dark Matter" by Blake Crouch

This book had such great reviews that my expectations for it were (in retrospect) unreasonably high. As soon as I heard that it was a sci-fi novel dealing with quantum mechanics, I was intrigued. I am by no means an expert, but I have read some popular science books and find quantum physics fascinating. So I did think that the concept of the infinite number of universes where all possible choices are played out was quite interesting. However, I had some major issues with the novel.

First of all, the pacing did not always work for me. The book is written like a thriller: i.e. some portions are incredibly dragged out, and some are action-packed and move incredibly fast. In addition, I thought the main character was annoying at times: especially when he would get distracted in a parallel world by an unfamiliar version of his family even though as a physicist, he clearly realizes that this is not his reality. Aside from these minor issues, I thought the story had some bigger plot holes. For example, if so many versions of our original Jason ended up flocking to our world, how come there was only one Jason2? Supposedly, he had also wandered various worlds for a while and had made some choices that would result in a split-off. Finally, the ending was completely unsatisfying to me. It felt more of a cop out.  Basically, Jason left a mess in his world and who is to say that that mess is not going to follow him wherever he goes? I really expected Blake Crouch to come up with some elegant science-y solution, which unfortunately did not happen. Instead, the novel felt somehow unfinished or not well thought out. Despite these numerous issues, I still think the novel is entertaining and well-written. 3 out of 5 stars.

"Waking Gods" by Sylvain Neuvel

Waking Gods is book 2 in Sylvain Neuvel's Themis Files. I received an ARC from Netgalley. The book officially comes out on April 4, 2017.  I highly recommend reading Sleeping Giants and Waking Gods back to back. Book 1 basically sets the scene for a full-on alien invasion that the earth deals with in the second book, and I think the story flows much better and makes more sense when the books are read close together.

The sequel just like the first book is written as a collection of interview transcripts, news broadcasts, letters and journal entries. Unlike Sleeping Giants, this book is action packed. It starts out with a giant robot materializing out of thin air in the center of London. We also finally learn the identity and background of the anonymous all-powerful man who manages and largely orchestrates the activities surrounding the Themis project. However, I personally thought his back story was not compelling enough and was frankly hard to believe. Overall, I enjoyed this installment slightly better than the first book simply because we learned more about the characters and background of the events, and a lot more was happening in terms of action. I did however, feel that the first book did a much better job relaying the politics and the international diplomatic situation surrounding the discovery of Themis. The second book that deals with a global catastrophe dedicated an abysmally small amount of attention to the international politics. We get snippets of information about actions undertaken by various governments, but there isn't much about the debate or panic at the global level that was done so well in Book 1.

Now that I finished the second book, it is clear that the author might right more books in this series as the set up for the next installment was clearly revealed at the very end of the book. Overall, 4 out of 5 stars. 

"Sleeping Giants" (Themis Files #1) by Sylvain Neuvel

Sleeping Giants is the first book in a sci-fi series called Themis Files. A young girl named Rose rides a bike in a wooded area near her house in South Dakota, when she falls into a hole in the ground. When she is discovered, the hole turns out to be a giant metal hand. Fast forward several years into the future, and Rose is now a young scientist who is recruited to work on a secret project tasked with figuring out the origins and purpose of the giant hand she fell into when she was little.

This is pretty much all I knew going into the book, and it is a very intriguing synopsis. What I did not know was how much this book is about politics, scheming and power race at the international level. The book is written in the form of recorded interviews and journal entries (hence the name of the series "files"). Most of the interviews are conducted by an anonymous powerful man (we only know that his first name is Robert). He has a direct access to the U.S. President, vast financial, intelligence and military resources at his disposal and significant skills in diplomacy and manipulation. I am now reading the second book in the series and I still do not know who this guy is or what agency he works for, which is a bit frustrating.

The dossier format of the book works well, but it does get a little dull/dry towards the end.  Despite the fact that by the end of the book, we learn quite a bit about the metal giant, nothing of interest actually happens in terms of military action. So overall, it is an interesting book, but you will have to wait until book 2 if you are looking for some sci-fi action. 

"The Watchmaker of Filigree Street" by Natasha Pulley

Ironically, I picked up this book only after I received an ARC of Natasha Pulley's new book that is coming out next month. The new novel is supposed to have some cameo appearances from The Watchmaker so I figured it would make sense to read it first.

I was not disappointed. In many ways, this book reminded me of reading The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton. Don't get me wrong, there is no circus in Pulley's novel. However, the slow pace narrative, the eerie and magical atmosphere, even the Japanese settings reminded me of The Night Circus.

As for comparing it to Burton's novel, The Watchmaker was satisfying in all the ways The Miniaturist was not. There is the same sense that someone is deliberately staging all the events that happen to the characters. The Watchmaker sets the mechanism in motion, and every gear turns the way he intends it to with a clockwork precision.

The story takes place in Victorian London (late 1800s). Our main character Thaniel Steepleton works as a telegraphist at the Home Office when one day mysteriously someone leaves a gold pocket watch in his apartment. This watch unexpectedly saves Thaniel's life six months later. From there, we meet the watchmaker - an immigrant from Japan Keita Mori, and are plunged into the magical world of clockwork creations and impossible coincidences. I really enjoyed this book. But I do think readers should be aware of the slow paced atmospheric narrative. If this is not your thing, you will not enjoy it as much. Five out five stars. Cannot wait to read Natasha Pulley's next novel.

"The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath

I listened to The Bell Jar in an audio format. It is a fairly short novel so it was perfect for listening during my commute to and from work. I've been curious about Plath's only novel for some time and decided to pick it up in my attempt to close the gaps in my reading of literary classics. In addition, at the end of 2016, a friend of our family was dealing with a terrible tragedy: their 22-year old daughter, a senior at an Ivy League school, committed a suicide. I think this tragic event influenced the choice of this book as I was trying to wrap my head around mental illness, depression and suicidal tendencies.

In The Bell Jar the main heroine Esther Greenwood, a brilliant and successful college student who wins an internship at a prestigious magazine in New York City, begins to slowly fall apart. She stops eating, reading, sleeping and becomes more and more depressed. She feels trapped "under a bell jar" suffocating in apathy, despair and utter senselessness of it all. In addition to detailing Esther's gradual decent into clinical depression, the novel is filled with feminist themes. Marriage, sex, childbirth, career opportunities are frankly and openly discussed. Esther, in whose voice the novel is written, blatantly exposes gender disparities, and even though a lot of her thoughts need to be taken through the prism of her mental illness, she is right on point in the feminist themes. It sort of reminds me of holy fools who could tell the truth under the guise of insanity.

Plath's writing is unbelievable. Her choice of words is so precise that the descriptions are starkly vivid and characters real and ready to jump off the page. Her novel is deeply autobiographical. She basically described her own battle with clinical depression, and even though her heroine Esther does get out from under the bell jar at the end of the book, there is this dark premonition that the bell jar is not gone. It simply lifted for a while, but might at any moment come crashing down trapping her once again.

Needless to say, I enjoyed the book immensely. I think it tackles important subjects that are still relevant today. 5 out 5 stars.

"The Inexplicable Logic of My Life" by Benjamin Alire Saenz

This is Benjamin Alire Saenz's most recent book (publication date is March 7, 2017). I read an advanced copy provided by NetGalley. There are several over-arching themes in this book that I really liked.  Dealing with grief as a result of losing once's mother is one such theme. All the main characters have to grapple with grief. Another subject that Saenz explores in this novel is the concept of family. In a way, the three teenagers in the story are all orphans in the traditional sense of a family. Their biological parents are either dead or absent. However, Salvador's adoptive gay father ends up taking on the role of a parent for all three of them. Thus, Salvador's already non-traditional family grows even further as two of his friends become his de facto siblings. Thus, Saenz really hits the nail on the head: family is not about biology and blood ties. Family is people supporting each other, caring for each other, those who are there for you no matter what. I have always believed that all of us have opportunities to express mothering/fathering qualities regardless of whether we have any biological children. By the same token, children can find mentors, role models and father/mother figures outside of their immediate biological relatives. And this is perfectly fine. Family so much more than nature as Salvador comes to realize.

I did however give this book only 2 stars. And this is largely because the writing style just did not work for me. Parts of the book dragged or sounded unbelievably corny and trite. Overall, I thought the book at times was taking on a quality of a Hallmark channel movie, and did not rise to the level of "Aristotle and Dante". So I would say this book is fine for YA audiences and for the author's fans. But it is definitely a cut below of what this author did in "Aristotle and Dante".

"Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay" by Elena Ferrante

This is Book 3 in Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Quartet. After reading the first book in paper format, I switched to audiobooks for the rest of this series. The narrator is wonderful and I will be listening to the final book on audio as well.

In Book 3, we continue to follow the lives of Elena and her friend Lila as the two women grow even further apart. Elena gets married and moves to Florence, where she falls into the routine of being a full-time wife and mother of two little girls. While Lila's life continues to be messy as ever.

The themes that I particularly appreciated in this book deal with feminism and social inequality. Ferrante continues to be very frank about Elena's sexual experiences and disappointments. She also lays bare all of her insecurities and questions about life, being a woman, a mother, a writer. Elena constantly questions her own intelligence and education and feels the need for validation which she cannot find in her husband or her best friend Lila. Her story continues to sounds very genuine and real, and I cannot wait to read the conclusion of the series. 5 out of 5 stars for Book 3.