The Book Bros

We three bros, blogging our reading journey. book reviews + book selfies (sometimes) + a book title acronym.

[bookbros]

Bro n.1 discovers the secrets of the universe

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe By Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Bro 3 encouraged me to move this up to the top of my list of TikTok-sourced LGBTQ fiction this year, and maybe that was a mistake, because this was incredible. It’s one of those books you wish you could read for the first time again. I nearly started up again on page 1 when I finished, but I thought I’d give it a year.

(Lite™ Spoilers) I could go on about how I’ve never read a book with better pacing of plot or growth in its characters, beautiful prose, or how grateful I am to have a sad, beautiful tale about LGBTQ kids that still ends happy (that’s a soapbox of mine, LGBTQ kids don’t need all these tragedies, we’re plenty traumatized already), but I’d say @poetrylesbian​ summed it up best with:

“do you ever just cry”

I’m going to go out on a limb and give this my first 6/5 desert stargazing trips. V highly recommended. (Also listen I’m not doing the book title thing and I ain’t sorry, this title has 56 letters in it)

[bookbros]

Bro n.1 realizes he never posted about the conclusion to the Remembrance of Earth’s Past Trilogy

Death’s End By Cixin Liu

WOW what a ride this is. I started the trilogy because Obama loved The Three Body Problem and asked Liu for an advance copy of the third book when it was out, as it gave him a cosmic perspective (have I mentioned I’ve missed having a president who knows how to read?). Each book in the series had a more human feel to it, and this one was told from the perspective of a woman, which was a good change of pace. Book 1 was excellent, but a little sterile. Book 2 was more human, but hardly emotional. This book brings the best of all the books together.

Spoilers: Wow, okay, so a lot goes down in this book. Like literally, it takes place over the course of eons, and across four dimensions. It’s hard to figure out where to start. Starting alongside the time that Luo Ji is made the fourth Wallfacer, our protagonist, Cheng Xin, is developing a way to get a human brain to the incoming Trisolaran Fleet. She asks an old friend, Yun Tianming, who bore unrequited love for her, because he was dying of cancer anyways. His brain is sent into space and Xin is put into cryosleep, where she periodically awakens to find humanity’s advancing story. Eventually, she is awoken and told that Yun made it to the Trisolarans who revived him, and wants to communicate. He tells a fairy tale that bears clues to lightspeed travel and how to avoid being hunted in The Dark Forest, a few of which are understood by humanity, but not all. Meanwhile the few space cruisers that escaped Trisolaris’s Water Droplets are still attempting to flee into deep space, pursued by the newly allied Earth-Trisolaris fleet, but are able to disassemble the Water Droplet when they accidentally stumble into a pocket of four-dimensional space. It turns out, alien civilizations have been waging absolute war against one another for time untold, using weapons of mass destruction that collapse existence by a dimension, destroying their enemies while modifying their own species to survive lower dimensional space. There had been more than ten dimensions initially. I could go on, but the book is so complex that I’d still be here all day. By means of concepts, this one is unmatched by it’s peers. Dimensional pocket universes, black hole theory, alien warfare, the threat of eventual heat death of the universe and end of the universe’s rebirth cycle, and thus all of life and existence for all of eternity. 

End spoilers. WOW. And it was readable in a way that I could understand it all. I’m not exaggerating to call this a masterpiece. Am I crazy about Cixin’s thoughts on masculinity versus femininity? Absolutely not. Was it a relief to get some named female characters? Absolutely. Now, it has been a while since I read this, but I’m going to safely give it a 5/5 space-faring godlike civilizations. It was just incredible.

Despite evolutionary advancements, the humans succumb.

End nigh, dawg

[bookbros]

Bro n.1 ends an axiom

Axiom’s End By Lindsay Ellis

Lindsay Ellis is Bro n.1′s second favorite YouTuber of all time (rest in peace Jenna! We love and miss you!). Her work is mostly video essays on film and television. She has a remarkable way of teaching about media in an accessible, engaging, interesting, and hilarious way. So I was ecstatic to hear that she’d written a book that she (jokingly) described as “American Three Body Problem for girls.” Every word of that made my mouth water. Spoilers: Protagonist Cora Sabino, daughter of a Julian Assange-type leaker on the wrong side of the Bush administration, finds herself falling into a pit of decades long kept secrets as she becomes the interpreter for a lone alien “invader”, codenamed Ampersand. One of Lindsay’s videos is called “My Monster Boyfriend” (Beauty and the Beast, Shape of Water, etc.), if that tells you a little about the direction this book boldly takes.

I found myself really surprised that, for me, her ability to recognize great story structure in film and television didn’t translate here. I SO wanted to like this book more than I did. And I did like it, for the largey-most part. I will definitely finish the trilogy as it is released, but in part due to the fact that I am very loyal to Lindsay, I love incomprehensible aliens invading us story setups, and I believe her writing will continue to improve, as she has said herself on her channel. But there were parts where I just could not follow her writing. And I’m not only talking about the INSANE amount of codenames she uses in the opening chapters as setup; I’m talking major story beats. Entire scenes would come across with the same clarity as Sirius falling behind the curtain, and no amount of rereading them would illuminate them better, and actions that had consequences that were set up to be dire weren’t even thought of later on. It almost felt like she was writing to a different audience, who, while we spoke the same language, had a different body language that would convey 85% of the meaning of her message.

2.5/5 2000′s references

Lindsay’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/chezapoctube A few recommendations: Protest Music of the Bush Era; Why is Cats?; The Ideology of the First Order; and both parts of her Post-Game of Thrones review.

Aliens, xenophobic initially observe mankind sanctimoniously, Even, nowadays, dangerously

[bookbros]

Bro n.1 lets TikToks determine the course of his life

Red, White, and Royal Blue By Casey McQuiston

There are TikToks that say if you put a hydrocolloid band-aid on acne, it will cure it and keep you from picking at it. So that’s what’s right between my freshly Just For Men’d eyebrows. There is also a TikTok audio that people use to share books that meet two (2) qualifications:

It’s gay

It slaps

I can get on board with those needs. Since A. I have been on a monarchy kick ever since the newest season of The Crown dropped; and B. This was the first book shown on the original TikTok; C. It was available at my library; and D. It set gay stuff (which I love) on a global political scene (which I also love) it felt like a good place to start.

Set in an alternate timeline branching off at about 2015/16 or so where a woman was elected president after Obama, her son Alex, FSOTUS, gets himself, and possibly the whole administration, in trouble when he appears to get into a fight with the Prince of England. To smooth over diplomatic relations, the two must undergo a campaign of friendship to be broadcast on social media. But accidentally, the friendship digs a little deeper, and the two find themselves in love in a world that just won’t allow a same-sex relationship between two people who, despite their apparent power, have very little control over their own lives.

Spoiler - they DO end up together, the WORLD shows overwhelming support, and it is a VERY happy ending. There are some sexy scenes, but I thought the author did a good job balancing actually having some sex (sometimes sex, especially gay sex, is just hinted at because publishers might say “ew”) without it feeling pornographic.

Is this book believable? Well, given how 2020 has been, believability ceased to matter a while back, and I’d MUCH rather be in McQuiston’s timeline. Did the structure have maybe a few too many smaller-scale acts? Sure. Was Alex a little bit of a Gary Stu? Arguably. And if rating is based on how much I wanted to dive right back into the book when I’d get home from work, then it’s 5/5 October Surprises for me, bab-e

Rambunctious energetic diplomat, White house invitee? two: english, American nerds develop Romance. ornery. you’ve absolutely love Bea. leave unhappy endings.

[bookbros]

Bro n.1 has his Heart Heartstopper’d

Heartstopper By Alice Oseman

There’s a TikTok audio that people use about books that fulfill two simple requirements:

1. That it’s gay 2. That it slaps

Heartstopper, the graphic novel series written by Alice Oseman (always reading more female authors!) appeared on many of these lists, and I can see why. It is SO UNBELIEVABLY CUTE. Perfectly simple and small-scale, Charlie, the only out boy at his school, falls head over heels for his new best friend Nick, who may not be as straight as Charlie, or even Nick himself, had believed. It covers

Sure, sometimes it toed the line on being maybe(?) too(?) sweet(?), it’s just so nice seeing a book making teenage gay protagonists at the forefront, not having to suffer massive trauma or losses, celebrating victories and love together, helping each other thought life’s troubles, like coming out and dealing with eating disorders. I think if I had had books like this growing up, it would have made my life easier, so I cannot recommend it enough, especially to middle and high school students.

If it’s like a food, it’s like some sort of delicious homemade dessert. Perhaps over-sweetened... but then again who the fuck cares, sugar is delicious, I’ve eaten fifty in as many minutes, and I’d honestly change nothing about it, so 5/5 shockingly diverse friend groups, can’t wait for the next volumes, I want these children all to be happy.

Here’s endlessly affectionate reading to stop thinking on pandemic problems. enjoy, readers!

[bookbros]

Bro n.1 Wades Back in with Less

Less By Andrew Sean Greer

Bro n.1′s sister bought him this book at the beginning of Quarantine, because she heard about it on NPR, I think it was. To me, it was of a similar flavor to The Picture of Dorian Gray (in style rather than subject). Aging gay author Arthur Less has been invited to the wedding of his younger former lover, and can’t bear the thought of going. What to do without looking like a defeated spurned ex in front of all their mutual friends? Accept every invitation from around the world he’d normally ignore and go on a whirlwind tour of self-discovery.

For most of the journey I had no idea where we were going, but Less tries to show us that life is lived in the journey, not the destination. It was really a lovely excursion around the world, and it has led me to begin to read many more books with gay protagonists. I have given up on reading about straight protagonists, I am proud to say! It was a lovely read, like a piece of blueberry lemon cake on a summer evening.

5/5 of Less’s signature blue blazers with pink silk lining

Lovers, exes, sight- seeing

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Penguins new ad campaign celebrates well-read books

This new ad campaign from Penguin appeals to those of us who think beat-up, torn, taped, scribbled-upon books are more appealing than pristine ones. I wondered if the books photographed here were found as is, or lovingly distressed by the art director, then I saw the small print in the lower right of each ad, which suggests they were found that way.

https://boingboing.net/2019/07/05/penguins-new-ad-campaign-celeb.html

[bookbros]

Bro n.1 The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu (my Chinese professor told me it’s pronounced Lee-oo Tsuh-sheen)

So I read this book a few months ago, I’ll try to remember it. Lots of spoilers!

Built on the back of The Three Body Problem, The Dark Forest opens up to a world with the knowledge that an impossibly advanced alien civilization is inbound to conquer Earth, and will arrive in 400 years or so. Factions begin to open up rifts in society between those who welcome the invaders, the Escapists who want to focus resources on leaving the planet to find a new home as a nomadic race, and those who want to defend the planet.

Four individuals are chosen from the population by the UN known as Wallfacers. The Wallfacer Project gives these four unlimited resources and absolutely no oversight to come up with possible strategies on how to defeat the inbound Trisolarans. Three make sense: a scientist, a politician, and a rebel leader. But the last, a lazy, uninspired college professor of sociology, is also chosen. For some reason, the Trisolarans have ordered him killed by their human followers, the only person on Earth who they seem to consider a threat.

The Dark Forest builds on the Three Body Problem and does a much better job at giving a human drive to the arc, and in my opinion was the strongest of the trilogy -- the ruminations of the author regarding intergalactic sociology, cynical as they are, seem distressingly logical to the point of quite likely.

(Spoiler: the “Dark Forest” theory refers to the idea that the universe is a dark forest, where all the inhabitants, who will never be able to communicate in an efficient way, will annihilate one another in the name of self-preservation. Resources in the universe are limited, and if you allow your neighbors to evolve, they may evolve to become dangerous enough to threaten you. You are either an attacker or a hider, but anyone who makes their presence known is going to be targeted.)

Trisolaris hates easy-going

Drunkard and readies killers

For operation relocate to earth, save trisolarans!

10/10 annihilated planets, one of the best books I’ve ever read

[ourcamplife]

Lazy Sunday 🙌 Photo by: @elbunt #ourcamplife

[bookbros]

Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi

Do you like Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson) books? Do you like Indian mythology? Oh boy. Do I have news for you! But first let’s discuss Riordan. Together with Disney, Riordan has created an “imprint” which you can learn about here. Long story short, Riordan (and his editor) are helping to publish books by other authors that he thinks his audience will also like. I find this cool on a number of levels, namely that it’s giving attention to smaller writers and they’re all people of color!

Now that we have the background: How is the book? Well it’s a lot like the Percy Jackson books, so it has a lot of the same pros and cons. Pros being it’s well written, fast paced, funny, and charmingly educational! Cons: it’s pretty obvious it’s written with a middle school audience in mind, which can be tedious to read as an adult at times. It’s best quality is, much in the same way as Riordan’s books, it’s not lacking substance, just because the intended audience is young. For Riordan this substance took a few books to really be prominent (not that it wasn’t there in The Lightning Thief, but it increased and improved with each volume). Roshani Chokshi knocks it out, right out of the gate. Her ability to really make you feel what the characters are feeling is what makes this narrative so compelling, it in no way relies solely on action. Another plus, the characters are funny and have relationships that feel authentic. Not to mention Aru, the protagonist, spends the majority of the book in Spiderman pajamas.

5/5 Lonely palaces

Always Relating Untrue

Stories Has Awful Harvest

I've reviewed YA on this blog. On one hand I enjoy providing some variety. On the other I feel like I should contribute more "grown up" content. All this is to say I have several other YA books I've read recently that I will be adding. But I'm also really wanting to get back to my pile of half-finished books.

I'd also like to note that at the beginning of this blog I was really not in a reading headspace. I used to read like crazy as a teen but I had lost the habit. Even though it took a while, I'm glad that habit has reformed. I'm glad I found books that got me excited to read again through this journey. I'm glad OverDrive exists and I'm able to enjoy a ton of audio books (that's how I read Aru Shah) and that it allows me to download books to my Kindle to read. I've been reading a lot but I haven't been blogging, but I want to change that. I read the book from this review quite a while ago and I have other books I've already finished I'd like to add. I don't want to overwhelm people, but I'm hoping I'll be posting more.

[bookbros]

Bro n.1 -- Dracula

So, like, I get that you need the ground-breaker to start a myth, but GOD, did I find this book dull. The first quarter is actually pretty engaging and some very isolated parts were satisfactorily scary, but as a whole, it is bogged down in... well, it’s hard to even say what was even happening, now that I’ve finished it. 3/10 trashy sexy novel spinoffs.

Dracula realizes a church, understandably, lacks ambiance

[bookbros]

Bro n.1 ABSORBED a book and has to talk about it.

The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu translated by Ken Liu

I recently collected the Alien Anthology of movie films, which has it’s hits and misses, but it made me really want to dig into a nice piece of sci-fi. This one came up on several lists, and has been praised by President Obama, and if it’s good enough for him, it’s good enough for me. (Remember when we had a president who read? That was cool.)

Basically, this is a story of an the effects of an alien invasion, but on a much more theoretical level than a practical one. It also calls to attention what would happen if China from the Cultural Revolution was the first to make contact.

Spoilers: The planet of Trisolaris suffers from chaotic gravitational pulls of three suns, which is going to destroy the civilization of the advanced Trisolarans. But when a message from Earth is intercepted, they begin their plans for invasion, laying out the groundwork to bring Earthlings to their side via a strange video game called Three Body.

If it sounds weird, it is. There’s a lot of technical aspects to the book, and it’s heavy on the Science side of sci-fi, but it reads so easily I read the latter half in a single afternoon, which I NEVER DO. 5/5 Sophons, you must read it!

Trisolarans harken earthlings

To hate, really, everybody. enlist

Biologists, oBGYNs, doctors, yale

Professors: revolutionaries of beings’ long envisioned migration.

[mysharona1987]

[necclibrary]

YES.

[towardsmorning]

I once saw someone point out something I hadn’t really considered before- libraries are one of the only places that are warm and dry where you can stay for long periods of time if you have no money. If you’re someone with nowhere to go during the daytime, they provide a safe environment in which to keep a roof over your head for a while- and all while you can access information.

So yes. This.

[edwardspoonhands]

It’s weird…libraries almost feel /wrong/ now. It’s like I walk in and think “This is great…where do I put my money?”

[standbyyourmantis-deactivated20]

I used to work on a campus library and if you want someplace to put your money, so to speak, make sure you put books back in the designated areas. I know you think you’re being helpful by reshelving, but even if you pull something out to read a couple paragraphs just stick it in the basket for things you didn’t want. I don’t care if you know EXACTLY where you are. In academic libraries (at least in Texas) our funding was determined by how many books people looked at. So we got additional funding based on books not being reshelved. If there’s a designated shelf/basket for things you don’t want, stick things in it!

[gingerjab]

What @standbyyourmantis said about not reshelving is true for public libraries, too. Our funding is dictated largely by how ‘used’ we are, so we scan all the items that are laying about as In House Use. That, tied with Reference Count and Door Counter numbers (we have to manually put in the time we take for references) to prove we’re providing a needed service. We also have to count the number of people who come for our programs, which not only helps funding but shows that the programming/services are needed, as well. So, basically, if you want to feel like you’re making sure we’re getting paid and staying around, keep these in mind.

[queenquong]

I didn’t know that’s why you’re not supposed to reshelf!

[rosalarian]

Wow! That’s astounding!

[davidhuyck]

LIBRARIES!!!

[citylightscomebackinjune]

I’ve lost how many times I get asked about how much it costs to get a library card. It’s free. Everything is free unless it’s late or you lose an item. Free. Free. Free. Free.

[nationalbook]

“If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.” ― Oscar Wilde

[bookbros]

Multi-Level Marketing Book Review

1) Harry Potter + The Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling

(No kidding, even though this is a screen-grab, I bought this awful book cover at an Oxfam store in Ireland) (Truly this is the worst thing) (Unless it’s representing JK Rowling, drowning in our money) Loved it then, love it now, will love it always. I know Jo said many people would hate it, and yes, I do miss Hogwarts, and yes, the ending sequence is less than subtle, I love it all. 

Btw, no, I’ve never heard of Cursed Child, don’t ask me that.

5/5 Horcruxes destroyed on what, the second to last page?

2) Red by Jacky Colliss Harvey

Okay, now I’m not prejudiced (in that 100% prejudiced voice) by why don’t brunettes get a book? Where’s the celebration of, like, our hairstory? This is reverse hairism.

Seriously, it actually was really interesting to get an in-depth look into something that I myself honestly never would have paid that much attention to (this was the recommendation of Bro 2). It’s so weird that red hair on a girl sends so much of a different message than red hair on a guy, kind of, reaching into my own experience, a history of public feelings towards homosexual women varies greatly from a history of homosexual men. 4/5 shades of red, because 1: it would be cultural appropriation to claim I understand it enough as a brunette, and, more importantly, 2: it felt like Harvey was reaching to hard sometimes. Like, the painting is a billion years old so we don’t know WHAT color it was originally, but JUST IMAGINE IF SHE WERE A REDHEAD LIKE I PICTURE HER. THAT KIND OF CHANGES THE NARRATIVE. Just stick to your stronger, more interesting points -- you’ve got them!

3) Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

wat tha fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucc

wtf/5 for some plot points that were messy for me, and for the “Now a Major Motion Picture Starring White Man #8″ sticker.

[cryptidbitch-deactivated2017080]

“hey bro” “yeah bro?” “i wanna live in ur socks” “hahah, why bro?” “so i can be with you every step of the way” “…oh m y god… bro :’)”

[bookbros]

Person: Bro n.1 Book: HPatHBP Author: JKR Category: That’s so last year

Not as good as OotP due to alarming lack of Bellatrix and Umbridge cameos. It’s crazy rereading these things and finding things you missed. I’d completely forgotten that Harry bumped into Mundungus in Hogsmeade and saw Sirius’ stolen heirlooms. I was always confused as to how the mirror had ever come into Mundungus’ possession in the first place, or even that Sirius had ever given it to him. I don’t think they ever used it, Harry and he? All in all, by this year, the formula was starting to show it’s stitches. I’m glad Deathly Hallows went in a new direction. That’s not to say that this book doesn’t fully earn it’s 5/5 stars. It’d be unthinkable not to.