The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak

The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This has a great setting (the 1980s), and it has some delightful nerd culture.

I wanted to give it more stars, but there are some things that occur that just didn't work for me at all. I'm not going to speak in depth on it, but I had some big issues with the whole last 1/3 of the book and how some of the situations worked out. I also took issue with the extreme nature of some of the characters actions and mistakes, and how easily those mistakes were brushed aside and resolved, without consequence.

Book 32 read in 2019

Pages: 285

Cancel Your Own Goddam Subscription: Notes and Asides from National Review

 Cancel Your Own Goddam Subscription: Notes and Asides from National Review
by William F. Buckley, Jr.
Pages:295
Rating:3 out of 5 stars

After having worked at a couple of small newspapers in mid-Missouri and having dealt with publication renewals for a couple of libraries on the other side of the phone line, this title intrigued me. Conservative writer and public figure, William F. Buckley Jr., kept a file of what he considered the most interesting letters to the editor from the National Review. As the founder, publisher and editor-in-chief he had access to all of these letters. Here is his collection of these letters often with his reply. Sometimes funny, sometimes biting and rarely politically correct, this is a brief window into the 1970s and 1980 news and politics. With letters from Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, Auberon Waugh, John Kenneth Galbraith and Arthur Schlesinger Jr. 

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Bono met his wife in high school, Park says.
So did Jerry Lee Lewis, Eleanor answers.
I'm not kidding, he says.
You should be, she says, we're 16.
What about Romeo and Juliet?
Shallow, confused, then dead.
I love you, Park says.
Wherefore art thou, Eleanor answers.
I'm not kidding, he says.
You should be.

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits-smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you'll remember your own first love-and just how hard it pulled you under.

During the years I taught high school, this book made the rounds.  I have always avoided it because my students warned me it was romance based, and I have always been vocal about how idiotic I find most YA romance.  However, I think this book has an entirely different vibe from other YA romance I've read.  There is a realness to the main two characters and their families (both bad and good), and the teens sound and act like teens (to the point that I felt frustration often).  This may be the only romance novel in my entire life that I've stayed up past bedtime for.

4.5

336 pages

Tokyo Woes by Bruce Jay Friedman

(Posted for Paul Mathews)

Crazy Californian goes to another country; he’s a wanderer, but this time it changes those he was with away and at home.

Audio:  4 hrs. 19 min.

Print:  187 pages

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This YA Sci-Fi novel is fantastic. It's full of nerdy 80s references that made me want to relive my youth.

Don't read this one. Instead, listen to the audiobook, which is read by Wil Wheaton, because it's excellent.

Pages: 400
Listening Length: 15 hours and 46 minutes

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Summary: "Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits--smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try."


Eleanor faces a very tough home life with an emotionally abusive stepfather, but she finds peace in a growing relationship with her new friend Park. Eleanor and Park have a rocky start to their relationship when they are forced to sit next to each other on the school bus. Eleanor struggles with being bullied at school because of the way she looks and dresses (her family is  very poor), and Park struggles with how to handle his fondness for Eleanor while dealing with the way everyone else treats her.


328 pages

"Look Away Silence" by Edward C. Patterson

This is a beautiful and funny yet heart wrenching story of Martin and Matt, two gay men in their early 20s facing AIDS.  Told in Martin's uniquely humorous voice, the reader follows their story of meeting and falling in love in New Jersey in the mid-1980s.  Matt is a transplant from Texas, a computer whiz mourning a dead lover who was beaten by homophobes.  Martin is a world weary local with a gorgeous singing voice who covers his quest for love with a snarky attitude.  Somehow they are perfect for each other; even Matt's family accepts Martin without question.  However, their happy life is shattered when Matt is diagnosed with full blown AIDS.

I really cannot describe what a good book this is.  The writing style and phrases were a bit different but really gave Martin's character depth and helped the reader better understand his motivations.  Additionally, the many and varied characters worked well to take the reader back to a time less than 30 years ago when gay men were dying in droves and no one in power was doing anything about it, especially the federal government. The scene that takes place at the first AIDS memorial quilt showing on the National Mall in 1987 was especially touching.  I found it apropos that I read this book while "The Normal Heart" debuted on HBO at the same time, because ACT UP is also mentioned in the story.  The author does a great job of describing the downward spiral the body goes through, and how tough it is for patients and caregivers to deal with.  I chuckled and cried for Matt and Martin and their friends and family. This is an unforgettable book - highly recommended.  286 pages (Kindle edition).

"More Sniglets" by Rich Hall & Friends

I found this book in my mom's garage, and it brought back many memories of watching "Not Necessarily the News," a fake news show on HBO, when I was a kid.  A sniglet, according to this book, is "any word that doesn't appear in the dictionary, but should."  It originated on "NNtN" and caught on quickly, resulting in several books full of odd words for everyday things.  Some of my favorites are:

• "caltitude - n. The height to which a cat's rear end can rise to meet the hand stroking it."

• "houndwounding - n. Canine act of circling a spot three or four times before settling on it."

• "pockalanche - n. Perpetual action of reaching down to pick up an item fallen from a shirt pocket, only to have another item fall out."

Some of the entries are not funny, and some are badly dated (it was published in 1985), but this little book was a silly read with a few illustrations.  There's even an entry in the back to send in your own sniglet, by snail mail, of course.  93 pages.

"In the Pleasure Groove: Love, Death & Duran Duran" by John Taylor with Tom Sykes

John Taylor is the bass player for my favorite band, Duran Duran.  Although he's not the first band member to write an autobiography, his is the first I've read.  He covers his life, from his birth to middle class parents in Birmingham, England, to the band playing at Coachella in 2011.  This is not a typical kiss-and-tell, rock-n-roll bio, as the only person JT blames for his many mistakes and self-destructive behavior is himself.  

As a longtime fan, I already knew quite a bit about the DD story, how the five guys formed the band, the chronology of their albums, their videos, and all that.  But now I got some of the details, especially how JT and DD co-founder Nick Rhodes met when they were young boys and how the Birmingham night life and music of the 1970s influenced just about everything they did.  I finally got JT's version of how the band lost two of its members after their Live Aid performance in 1985.

But parts of the DD story seemed missing.  They were music video pioneers, but surprisingly little is mentioned about MTV, where most of the world first saw the band (and on which my best friend, Tina, and I spent many hours watching for their videos).  I also thought many relationships were glossed over instead of being deeply explored.  Maybe JT did not feel comfortable with that or maybe he just couldn't remember some of the 1980s and 1990s because he was full of alcohol and drugs.  I commend him for his bravery in telling the world that he's an addict and continues the struggle to remain sober. Still, it's difficult to realize that someone you once idolized was hammered when you did so.  Overall, this was a very interesting and quick read by a man who's survived rock stardom at a young age and now appreciates all that life has brought him.  387 pages. 

"Talking to Girls About Duran Duran" by Rob Sheffield

I read this book for one reason - because Duran Duran has been my favorite band since 1983.  I'd first heard of this book when it was featured in Barnes & Noble's book blog last year.  The title alone had me asking for it for Christmas, and, surprisingly, I received it from my sister.  I guess I shouldn't be too shocked, though, since she saw Duran Duran in concert along with me twice in the 1980s.

The entire book is not about DD but the author's love of 1980s music and how it has played such an important part in his life.  He's three years older than I so I'd heard of most of the music that he mentions.  My entire teen years were spent in the '80s, and it was fun to remember forgotten bands, videos, and song lyrics that Sheffield mentions throughout the book.

To me, the best parts are the introduction and the final chapter because they are both all about DD.  Sheffield considers himself a true fan and marvels that DD is still producing music when most of their contemporaries bit the dust long ago.  (In fact, their latest album was just released last month.)  In the final chapter he writes, "Duran Duran are a girls' band who have stayed famous by being true to their girls."  As one of their girls, I agree!  269 pages.