Thursday, January 17, 2013

Book Review: Ubik (And thoughts about SciFi)

Title: Ubik
Author: Philip K. Dick
Genre: SciFi
Rating: 5/5
Publication Date: (originally) 1969

Story Notion: (Initial thoughts upon finishing) It is 3am and that was fantastic. Ahhhh. Oh my god such a good first book of 2013. And now I must read everything by Philip K. Dick.

Plot summary: (From Goodreads)
(NOTE: I'd suggest not reading the plot unless you REALLY want to know exactly what it's about. It doesn't have spoilers, but it's better for this if you're learning as you read, I think, at least).

Glen Runciter runs a lucrative business—deploying his teams of anti-psychics to corporate clients who want privacy and security from psychic spies. But when he and his top team are ambushed by a rival, he is gravely injured and placed in “half-life,” a dreamlike state of suspended animation. Soon, though, the surviving members of the team begin experiencing some strange phenomena, such as Runciter’s face appearing on coins and the world seeming to move backward in time. As consumables deteriorate and technology gets ever more primitive, the group needs to find out what is causing the shifts and what a mysterious product called Ubik has to do with it all.

Review:
This is the first book I read by Philip K. Dick and I'm really glad it was. It's taken me a couple days to fully soak in this one and still my initial thought on it is still "oh my god what did I read? It was soooooo goooddd." Which is good, but not good for trying to tell you why I loved this book so much, or to help you in deciding tor ead it.

I learned about it through Sword and Laser, they had that video in the middle of their video show talking all about Philip K. Dick, who I had never heard of until then (which is shocking considering how much I feel like I'm hearing about him now). I'm not big into SciFi, but it's not because I feel against it (I feel the opposite, really), but I'm never been sure where to start. I've read SciFi before, and some of my favorite shows are SciFi, but I've definitely read more Fantasy.

In that video previously mentioned it says Ubik is comparable to Inception, which is probably the best way to introduce it to someone because it's hard to explain otherwise. (I told my mom it was like Inception times 10). And I think the best thing about this book, besides the fantastic character, plots, attention to detail, is the fact that it's easily understood. I grew up watching Stargate SG-1 so I'm not new to the science jargon that kind of makes sense (theoretically), but this is just normal people and they're just as confused as you are at the beginning.

I just want to mention the other things I briefly said up there, characters, plot, and attention to detail. The thing is, I loved the details in the book, the writing, and the way somethings were described was just so well done that I could see it. And I love that. A lot. The characters are also so interesting and complex and the whole plot. I'm not going to say a word about it, but - it was amazing, I'd suggest giving it a try if any of my rambling have ignited some interest.                            

Saturday, January 5, 2013

January TBR (2013) + 2013 challenge(s)

For 2012, I challenged myself to 100 books and I barely scraped by and I know that this year is going to be much more stressful, it already is, so - I'm not going to go for 100, my initial goal is 50, but I'm really hoping to get more then that.

I don't know what other challenges I'll take on, I was thinking of doing the A-Z author challenge, but I'm bad at things like that, since I normally just pick up with I feel like reading.

My TBR this week is kind of short, also, I would like to finish up some books (The Hobbit and Throne of Glass), but besides that, I'm not really sure. Here are some possible books I'll end up reading.


  • The Walking Dead: Book Two 
  • Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
  • Hunter's Prayer (Jill Kismet #2) by Lilith Saintcrow
There are a lot of others, I have a lot of books I want to read, but I don't want to hold myself to any books this month because I just don't know. I'd really like to get back into Walking Dead, I read the first omnibus of comics and completely loved it, so I don't know why it's taken me so long to read it.

Do you guys do TBRs or do you just leave it up to whatever you feel like? I guess I kind of do both, really, but - there are too many books right now. Way too many. And I hope all of your years go swell, yes I said swell, and that 2013 is kind to you and to me.

Thursday, January 3, 2013

December Wrap-Up (2012)

And it's the end of the year! I don't even know what to say, this year went by so fast and I'm not ready for it to end at all. Anyway, though, here we go for my December Wrap-Up.

World War Z by Max Brooks (5/5)
I posted a review of this early in the month which you can find here. Review in a sentence: I really, really loved this one.

Succubus Blues (Georgina Kincaid #1) by Richelle Meade (5/5)
For a bookclub on the Goodreas and surprisingly really, really enjoyed this one.

Jack the Ripper: Hell Blade, Vol. 1 (2/5)
We're pretending this never happened, why did I read this. I kind of love Jack the Ripper stuff (Maureen's book coming out last year was just like me squealing), but this was just - weird. Very, very - just no.

How They Met, and other stories by David Levithan (5/5)
I always love David's books so I wasn't surprised at all when I was reading this one and found myself feeling the same why. I always end up getting all teared up, though, but they're just so very good.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (5/5)
This took me too long to read, but it was like I had to soak up what I'd read and kind of let it sit. It was so very good, though.

Daughter of the Blood (The Black Jewels #1) by Anne Bishop (4/5)
Really good, I've been 'currently-reading' this book for months and finally just sat down and finished it.

Working for the Devil (Dante Valentine #1) by Lilith Saintcrow (4/5)
I liked this one, but there was something that just stopped me from giving it the full 5, I felt like there was something off about it. To me, at least.

Ender's Game (Ender's Saga #1) by Orson Scott Card (5/5)
This book took me a very, very long time to read, but it was worth it. There was something about it that I couldn't read too much at a time until I just sat down and finished it.

Night Shift (Jill Kismet #1) by Lilith Saintcrow (5/5)
This book was really good. I don't know why I liked it more then the other Lilith Saintcrow book, but for some reason I did.

I also read two others that were short and really not worth mentioning. I finished my 100 book challenge by the skin of my teeth, but at least I finished it.