World Made By Hand

In a lot of post-apocalyptic novels, the world ends in a ridiculous explosion of explosions and vampires and zombies and vampire zombies and then the narrative is about the normal people left over trying to fight off zombie vampire explosions. This quiet book takes a different tack, imagining a world that, ok, ended in a couple of big explosions and then just slowly churned on. Basically everyone is forced to become Amish, except people still fight back when they get ice cream cones shoved in their faces.

I liked this book but I wished for a bit more drama. Also the food descriptions got a little pornographic. I guess when there's no electricity you embrace the simple pleasures but I got a little tired of reading about creamed chicken stew and pullet eggs.

An enjoyable but forgetful 2.5 handmade beeswax candles out of 5.

Ravens

Airport book. About a 2 hour flight long. Definitely requires the old imagination to stretttttch a bit at times, but I kept turning those pages. The basic premise is a dysfunctional family in a small town wins the mega mega mega millions, and some drifters (or grifters? I wouldn't want to paint all drifters with the same brush, I'm sure there are nice ones out there) get wind of it and one of them decides to "encourage" the family to split their winnings with him. The problem with having a psychopath as one of your main characters is that the reader has to deal with pages of crazy ramblings. They get old. Still, some authors can handle it better than others, and this guy was able to edge things closer to the Stephen King end of the scale, as opposed to the Dean Koontz end.

3 psycho rambling monologues about God and destiny and evil out of 5.

Dexter by Design

Oh, book Dexter. You are so similar too, yet crucially different from TV Dexter. I like you both, I do, but I have to tell you that TV Dexter is much more likeable. And he has better plot-lines. AND he doesn't pun nearly as much as you do. So I'm leaving you, book Dexter. While you've been a nice piece on the side between seasons, I feel it's dishonest to continue to half-heartedly read you while picturing Michael C. Hall. For what it's worth, I do really prefer your plot-line for Lt. Doakes. Good luck in the future. Please don't call.

2.5 bloody knives out of 5.

Stories: All New Tales

An adorable sea monster on the cover? Love at first sight. The stories were a mixed bag - some were great, others forgettable, others skipped. Some of the highlights were Kurt Andersen's Human Intelligence, which had the great image of an alien base hidden under the arctic ice; Carolyn Parkhurst's Unwell, which features a not-so-nice little old lady; and Neil Gaiman's story about crime and punishment in "The Black Mountains."

3 adorable sea monsters out of five.