Kruse's Keys: Read "Artemis" For Fast-Paced Ready for the Big Screen Action*

NOTE: I don’t typically provide the set Kruse’s Keys set of notes for books that I listen to on Audible.  It’s pretty much impossible/dangerous to take notes while driving so I instead try to jot down my overall impression.

I read author Andy Weir’s blockbuster debut novel The Martian back in 2015 (before the movie) and loved it (I also loved the movie).  So when Artemis came out I added it to my Audible queue.

Artemis is the name of the colony/city/development located on the moon at some point in the future.  The story focuses on a young smuggler/dreamer named Jazz.  As the daughter of an immigrant from Saudi Arabia, she was pretty much raised on the moon and has developed a pirat-ish code of conduct aimed at eventually moving her up in the stratified social order of life on Artemis.

Early on, Jazz is offered a deal that’s too good to be true (of course) and hijinks ensue.  The narrative moves quickly with dialogue and action but Jazz irked me--she comes across as a little bit too enamored with just how cute and clever and irreverent she is (or rather, thinks she is).  This lack of humility and maturity grated me as the story progressed--in fact it ended up distracting from the novel itself at times.

One gets the sense that Weir wrote this novel to become an eventual movie--rather than to exist on its own.  The voice that reads the Audible version, for instance, is the actress Rosario Dawson.  This likely drives the reader to envision what one hears in the realm of a movie on the big screen.  But you know what, I’d probably be doing the same thing if I possessed his drive and talent so good on him.

So Jazz’ personality aside, Weir has done what talented authors do: create a previously unknown world and open its door to readers everywhere.  Buckle up.

My 7 Favorite Books of 2015

My full 2015 Reading List is here.  

Below are my 7 favorite reads from 2015.  The two most entertaining reads were War of the Encyclopaedists and The Martian.  These were both funny, well-written and easy to read.  From an haut literature standpoint Light Years  and The Fishermen had the best writing--both authors are flat-out phenomenal writers that stand above and apart from their peers. Fearless is the go to pick if you want something inspirational, amazing and tear-inducing (*rubs "dirt" from his eyes).  Finally, Redeployment is the book every American should read (since most haven't served in the military)--it's a funny, sad, terrifying and honest collection of stories that examine what it is to fight and then return to what is supposed to be home.  

The Martian

I will be the first to admit--I didn't understand even half of all the technical jargon that Andy Weir throws down in The Martian.  But Weir can write--I tore through this tale of intergalactic ingenuity and relentlessness in three days.  Thrilling--yet lined with humor--this is a perfect read for a plane ride or road trip. FOR THE RECORD: I read this before I even knew it was going to be a movie:)

War of the Encyclopaedists

Kovite and Robinson have written something special together--they've penned a story that is gripping and unique, funny and sad--a book that's hard to put down.   

War of the Encyclopaedists is a story about war, love and friendship.  And like all good books there's a love triangle, an IED, an Iraqi kid named Monkey, a sperm bank and a sleep study.  With moments of humor and horror, passion and punch, the authors are part of the growing crop of writers (e.g. Klay, Fountain,  Lish, and Roxana) that are setting the war in Iraq into a context that the greater American culture can digest.  The ability to find and create this context in a balanced manner takes grit and talent--Kovite and Robinson have proved they have both in spades.  

One of my favorite lines from the book:

There is no definitive moment when two people become a couple. Elements of intimacy accumulate, and what makes a couple a couple is the gradual recognition of this accumulated intimacy.

My complete notes and highlights on it are here.

The Fishermen

This is Obioma's first novel and it has been met with widespread critical acclaim in places like the Times; it also made the long list for the 2015 Booker Prize.  And for good reason--Obioma stands as the heir apparent to Achebe because of his writing acumen in translating and capturing complex political events with parables and fables (personally, I like Obioma's writing better).  In Fishermen, we hear the tale of a family falling apart amidst the backdrop of the turbulent 1993 elections.  As the family arcs toward destruction, Obioma offers insights about Nigerian family life: the switching between Yoruba, Igbo and English in a single conversation and headscarves tied to indicate you've been praying.  Perhaps one of the best things about this book is that Obioma's is still in his 20's and just beginning. My complete notes and highlights on it are here.

Light Years
 

This is a heart-breaking novel about love, marriage and the danger ignoring the slow cracks that seep into relationships.  This novel is chocked full of beautiful lines, so I will just leave you with a couple of my favorites:

• What confidence, what success there is in a man’s face at thirty.
• Her laugh was gorgeous, it was like applause.
• “The only thing I’m afraid of are the words ‘ordinary life,’ ” Nedra said.
• “You’re so American. You believe everything is possible, everything will come. I know differently.
• “Nice. Didn’t that once belong to Italy?” “Everything did once,” she said.
• It happens in an instant. It is all one long day, one endless afternoon, friends leave, we stand on the shore. Yes, he thought, I am ready, I have always been ready, I am ready at last.

 My complete kindle highlights are here. 

Fearless

Fearless is one of the most incredible life stories that I ever heard.   And happiest.  And inspiring.  And most tragic.  And saddest. And unforgettable.  I don't care who you are or what you believe.  Just pick up this book and read about a man named Adam Brown--his story will stick with you--and might even make you a better husband, father and/or christian.  I read this book in three days. 

Redeployment

 
With less than .4% of Americans serving in the military, this is the book the other 99.6% should read.  The idea of coming home as another deployment aptly captures what it's like for so many of our troops who fight our wars and then are supposed to just come back to a place that doesn't feel like home anymore. Klay has a beautiful line in one of the early stories:  "Getting back feels like your first breath after nearly drowning. Even if it hurts, it’s good."  Ultimately, reading this book serves as a cathartic communion of sorts for the reader, a chance for those who haven't served to break bread with those who have sacrificed so much.    My complete notes and highlights on it are here.

The Shell Collector: My Notes and Kindle Highlights--Read It Because Howey Is One of the Best Thriller Writers Out There Today

Complete 2015 Reading List

Read It Because: The same reason you read all of Howey's books--they are thrilling speedy reads with a driving narrative that grips you from the first few pages.  That said, this isn't his best but I applaud his efforts in branching out of his comfort zone.  This tale might be categorized as an "eco-thriller.  You won't see too many highlights below because Howey isn't Faulkner (thankfully), nor does he aspire to be.  I will continue to happily buy and read everything he writes.

The Shell Collector by Hugh Howey

You have 1 highlighted passage

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Last annotated on December 20, 2015

The sudden infusion of so much threatens to cheapen the intense enjoyment of so little.Read more at location 1211

Half Way Home: My Notes and Kindle Highlights

2015 Reading List



You'll see there aren't a lot of highlights from Halfway Home--look, you aren't reading Howey for lyrical lines that you can tuck away your whole life.  But I look forward to new books by Howey almost more than any other author.  As soon as you open of his stories you know that it will consume the next few days of your life--you will spend the spare moments of your day tearing through an adventure.  The speed with which Howey moves the narrative reminds me of those choose-your-own-adventure books from when I was a kid, except in this case Howey is at the helm--leading us on an incredible story about resilience and bravery amidst overwhelming odds.

Oh yeah.  I should probably give you a teaser as to what this book is actually about:   A master planet sets out to colonize the universe. If one of its ships lands on a planet that is deemed inhabitable, the entire colony is killed off before they can be hatched from their fully grown cryogenically(ish) frozen state.  Until the kill sequence is interrupted and a group survives...

Half Way Home by Hugh Howey

Intellectual property rights now serve as an ephemeral gold, weightless and invisible, priceless artifacts one can slip into the folds of his or her brain and smuggle anywhere, undetected. These tidbits can then be traded by the devious for real wealth or spread by the loose-lipped like a disease. Either way, information and patents are now worshipped by all. Including the colony AI,Read more at location 68

Oliver was the colony philosopher, one of the lowest jobs within our hierarchy.Read more at location 291

“Free rider,” I said, turning to him. “It’s a problem in game theory, one of the last things I was learning for my profession.”Read more at location 547

“Well, the problem arises when people figure out they can take a little more than they’re putting in and nobody will notice. It makes sense, actually, for each individual to think this, but when everybody does it, you get problems.”Read more at location 552

And that’s when I realized I had been wrong. Hickson and I were nothing alike. Our bodies might be similarly starved, but our brains were still intact. Intact and different. Whatever disease of hate and fear-mongering he had been born with made him something far worse than I would ever be capable of emulating.Read more at location 2844