Book Review - Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde

Why did I read this book?

This book had been on a list (in my head) of books I’m super interested in, if I ever find them. I had first heard about this book like 5 or 6 years ago, before that other stupid book came out. So no, this has nothing to do with 50 Shades of Grey (which was awful) and because of when that book came out, it made it nearly impossible to find this book anywhere. I hated that the two were so close in title because they have nothing to do with each other. Well I finally came across this book at Powells in Portland and I’ve only just now gotten around to reading it.

What is it about?

It takes place in a futuristic society of sorts. It’s a society where your standing in the community depends on what colors you can see.  The rules of the society can be quite ridiculous at times but they are usually followed and never questioned. The story follows Eddie as him and his dad head to a new town on the outskirts of society where they are taking on some new temporary jobs. All this is happening at a time right before Eddie is moved into being a productive member of society and marriages are decided. All this is told in a way that makes you think how ridiculous this society is and how they do things just because they are following the rules.

Why you should read it!

The ridiculousness of parts of this story lead to it being a very humorous book. Which I didn’t really expect, and led to a very enjoyable read. Starting the book took me a while to realize how weird it was and what was going on, but once I got into it I always enjoyed reading it. The society truly is ridiculous, but it also pokes fun at how there are ridiculous things in our current society. There wasn’t very much information about how society had gotten to this point, but that would’ve taken away from the ridiculousness of it all. If you like science fiction with a bit of dry humor I highly recommend this book, and give it a chance don’t put it down after 50 pages or so, cause if you do you will be missing out!

Book Review - Atomic Lobster By Tim Dorsey

How did I come into possession of this book?

This is a somewhat longer story than the usual, oh I just picked it up at the library.  My partner, Rob, teaches zumba and it is pretty rare that he ever gets guys to come to his classes.  Well one guy who was coming to many of his classes in Kentucky became a friend (even though he played football at notre dame and was quite a bit older that us).  We invited him and his wife over for dinner and had some good conversations, well of course books and reading came up.  When we mentioned we really liked the Carl Hiaasen books they said we have to look up Tim Dorsey and his series of ridiculous books about Florida.  A couple months later one of the kindle daily deals was a book by him, not the particular one they recommended but I thought I’d give it a try anyway.

What is it about?

It is basically a convergence of a bunch of individual story lines that all revolve around a particular area of Florida and a group of bad guys that the government is trying to catch.  Immediately you are introduced to some of the most ridiculous characters around.  And they are mixed in with what seem like perfectly normal people.  The further into the story you go the more the story lines cross and every time they cross it is in a more ridiculous manner.

What did I think?

I thought this book was hilarious, there were points where I giggled and some crazy scenes where the more I pictured them, the funnier they got! With all the hilarity and ridiculousness I do think there was some lack to the plot, which is too bad.  When the book ended, it all wrapped up within like 5 pages and I felt like that could’ve happened anywhere in the book, so it didn’t quite leave me satisfied.  But it did leave me laughing and for that reason I would read more books by him.

Who would I recommend it to?

Definitely if you like Hiaasen you will like this guy.  I also found his book not to be as involved as some of Hiaasen’s book so it might make for a faster read.  But I also thought this book was a bit more violent than Hiaasen’s tend to be so keep that in mind if you have a weak stomach while reading.  I love throwing in a humor book every now and then (especially a fiction one) and even though it might not’ve been the best literature I’ve read I enjoyed reading it from start to finish.